SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online-Fatal Bullet

by The Celestial Sky Dragon

Kazuharu was a young man, bored at the thought of always being alone. He didn't have any friends not real ones, and his only friend lived miles away. But his immense luck granted him his own AmuSphere and at the suggestion of his friend, got himself Gun Gale Online. Now, he will join her and many others in a mission to clear the SBC Flugel. His choices will be faster than a bullet.

2. The First Venture into VR

A/N:

Hey guys, welcome to chapter 2 of This Fatal Bullet story. I wanted to thank those who reviewed and followed the story, it means a lot that you have. This chapter is a little shorter than Chapter 1, but contains a bit of exposition. Last chapter we got to know about Kazuharu, the main character and how his real life luck got him an AmuSphere, but today you all get to see him venture into GGO for the first time, as well as meeting his best friend Kureha. I know that she said her avatar and her look IRL are drastically different, but I tweaked that part so that she looks like her real self, with minute cosmetic differences, her hair and eyes being the only difference. For the most part she will remain the same, but I got some serious Tsundere vibes during my playthrough, so I might give her a bit of a tsundere personality, while also caring a lot about her best friend.

You all get to see Haru's first battles in GGO while he gets into the system. Rather than dropping him into a tournament, I felt that it would be better to get him some real training with both guns and some experience gain. I will also keep the Experience Gain from falling other Players thing, as it was an exploit in the game, though I will make a note to "Patch it" later on in the story, when one of the higher ups in Zaksar realized that people were abusing this exploit to gain experience, which disappoints people, but also makes the game way more fair. After all, in this timeline, it's only been about three months since GGO was released in Japan, so it will have a lot of bugs that were probably missed in the Beta.

I have also decided to include some other SAO characters in this story, I wanted to make Haru be the main character, along with the new characters of the game, while keeping Kirito and the others in the background. They will still be there, but it will be mostly centered around Haru's own Squad, and Kirito will be the leader of his own Squad, rather than the PC managing such a large Squad by himself. He will still party with them for special events, like with Asuna and Sinon, but for the most part, I want to keep them separated. So I hope you look forward to this. Updates will be slow since I am working on my Magnum Opis, Through the Looking Glass, but I will make sure to update frequently. I hope you all like this story, lemme know what you all think! See you later!

SAO Alternative

Gun Gale Online: Fatal Bullet

Chapter 2

The First Venture into VR

Haru opened his eyes for the first time, his vision finally clearing. He looked down seeing a cold steel floor beneath his boots. He looked at his hands, opening and closing them a few times, looking at every single one of his fingers. He finally looked up, jaw dropping as he laid eyes on the world around him. The SBC Glocken was just like had seen in the screen shots. It was a large city like space ship that was floating in the air right above the desolate and abandoned Earth. All around him, tall sky scrapers rose high into the air. There were holographic screens all over the place, on the city streets people could be seen walking and talking with friends. There were nearby shops filled with various players and NPCs. In the distance was the Governor Generals office, the largest building in the game, it was far taller than others, with a large floating orb right in the center, which not many people knew what was for, but most likely was there for aesthetics. He walked off the glowing teleporter, doing a 360 to look at his surroundings. He really didn't want to look like a noob, but with how he was acting, it was obvious that he was one. A few other players were pointing at him, some laughing, recalling memories of their first steps into the Glocken.

He walked toward a nearby rail, looking down at the plaza below seeing even more people beneath him. There were various other stores and shops, and roads leading away from the main area. He could see people walking in and out of various shops, he even spotted a building with the glowing sign displaying the word Casino on it. There were paths that lead to back alleys and various other areas of Glocken. One of the most prevalent things he did see on the players that walked past were the weapons. He saw a great many number of firearms on them, handguns, assault rifles, shotguns, he even saw one guy walking around with a Gatling Gun, raving about how he finally had enough money to purchase it. He also saw one girl walking around with a few canisters attached to her belt, Flash Bangs, he figured. He nodded to himself, glancing up at the crimson skies above.

"So, this game really is gun central. I've never play anything like this before, how the hell does this even work? Full three dimensions? It must have taken so much data to code on fragment of this railing, let alone an entire fucking world."

"There you are, sheesh...it took a little longer to find you."

Haru pushed himself away from the railing, turning around to face a girl that had approached him. He looked her over, not at all recognizing her. She was a pretty tall girl, only being an inch shorter than he was, and had long vibrant pink hair, tied into a side ponytail with a silver hair tie, which was glowing slightly. She had a mostly pink themed outfit, a short sleeved pink and white coat with white belts and black markings on it, along with a high collar, which was white in color and lined with black threads.

She was wearing a short sleeved halter top, which left part of her midriff exposed. She was wearing a mid length white skirt with black markings on it. On her legs she was wearing mismatched stockings, the right being black, while the left was a dark pink color, she also wore long knee high white boots. Across her waist, she had a large pink pouch, which she most likely used to keep her ammunition. She also had white gloves on her hands, which reached almost to her elbows.

He also noticed the weapons she was carrying with her. The first was a sub machine gun, it looked like a downgraded Uzi, as it was silver in color and had a brown colored stock, which she kept folded up. She had a fifty round magazine in it, by the looks of it. It was attached to a pink holster that was strapped to her right hip. Around her leg she was wearing some sort of ammunition carrier, as he spotted six loaded magazines inside it. Across her back, he saw some sort of rocket launcher, white in color but didn't look like anything he had ever seen before. The girl who had remained silent for a few moments sighed, shaking her head a bit as she crossed her arms.

"Are you gonna stand there staring at me or are you gonna greet me?"

"I...sorry, it's my first VR game...I'm waiting for my friend Momiji, she said she'd meet me here."

"Duh...it's me you idiot. How did you not recognize my voice?" the girl replied. He blinked a few times, flushing a bit in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I just...wasn't expecting this...I mean, you don't look like you normally do." he admitted, earning another sigh from the girl.

"First off, it's been how many years since we've seen each other? People grow, they mature...I paid quite a hefty amount to make this avatar look as close to me IRL as I could. The only difference is my hair and eye color, but everything else is pretty much the same. You on the other hand, look nothing like you do IRL." she said, looking him over.

"Yeah, it was randomly generated and...wait, you can pay to edit your avatar? That's so bogus! Why can't you edit it outright when you first log in? That's so cheap!"

"Have you heard of microtransactions? Yeah, GGO wasn't spared from that shit. You want to edit your avatar to look like you, you gotta pay a shitload of money for it. Although people come to this world to forget their real life problems, I just like looking like myself here. I don't need glasses to see at least." she admitted.

"Glasses huh? Does that mean your addiction to shooters finally started eating at your eyesight?"

"Shut up! I play a lot at night, big whoop. Anyway, some ground rules while we are here, it's taboo to talk about the real world. We all come here to forget that shit...so no using our real names. My avatar name is Kureha...I guess it's nice to meet you." she said, holding her hand out. The boy wrapped his arms around her instead, giving her a tight hug, much to her surprise. She hugged the boy back, a small smile on her face.

"Sorry, it's just...been so long you know? My name is Haru here, I guess it's also nice to meet you." the boy replied, once he had pulled away from his embrace.

"Good, I was expecting you to name your avatar after yourself. A lot of people do that and it really isn't wise. Anyway, the tournament I mentioned doesn't start for two hours. That gives us enough time to get you through the first round of combat training. Have you decided what kind of avatar you are looking for?"

"Not really...I just decided to use my skill points toward all my stats until I decide. There are so many weapon types to choose from so I can't really decide."

"That's true...it took me awhile before I stuck with SMGs. Well there's no harm in that, just ask me before you do anything. When you level up, you get CP which are used to increase one of your six skills. Strength, Vitality, Intelligence, Agility, Dexterity and Luck. I'm sure you can figure out which attribute does what just by name alone. You start out with 1,000 credits, which isn't enough for anything. But you thankfully have me as your friend." she said, opening her menu. The boy mimicked her actions, opening his own.

He saw the menu was quite extensive, separated into various categories. The first screen showed his skill tree, which would show him what skills he would eventually unlock. He currently only had Healing Bullet 1, Dash, Power Up and Armor Up. He saw various other skills, some that aided in health regen, others that aided in strengthening allies and weakening monsters, there was even a skill that would make the player unable to flinch for a few minutes. He would definitely try and get that one in the future. He saw his manikin which showed his current equipment, a Battle Jacket M which was the attire for beginners. It he was also wearing Durable Jeans and Combat Boots. It was pretty basic starting equipment, which he hoped he could switch later on. He received a message right after, which he tapped with a finger.

"There, I sent you a friend request, that way you can add me to your party and vise versa. I asked you here solely because I needed a partner, there's a rumor going around that today's tournament has a special item. It's one that I've been looking for, so you're gonna help me get it!" she said cheerfully.

"Ugh...really? You brought me here to help you get an item? That's so wack."

"Hey hey hey! I didn't just bring you for that item, I brought you here so we could hang out. You've wanted to meet up IRL but I got too much crap to handle, so we can just hang out here. Now come on, let's go to the Gun Store to get you a weapon." she said, gesturing for him to follow along.

He closed his menu and followed Kureha through the streets of Glocken. He glanced down at the lower areas, seeing the expansive plazas and other stores that caught his interest. There were some player owned bars as well as other shops as well. A few people were walking into a back alley, and he briefly wondered what was going on back there, most likely some black market dealings, higher grade weapons instead of the stuff bought from a store. Kureha glanced over her shoulder, pausing when she noticed how slow the boy was walking.

"Come on Haru, step it up! We only have a limited window of time here."

"Sorry, it's just...so big, this world I mean."

"I know, but you can sight see later. First, a rundown of the local shops...the store we're going too is an NPC shop. It's got cheap guns that are at good prices. Eventually, you can get better guns from monster drops or from Player shops. I'll tell you now, player made weapons and monster drops are classified by rank."

"Yes, I read about those. Gray is Common, Red is Uncommon, Blue is Rare, Yellow is Epic and Green is Legendary. Green weapons and accessories are very hard to get a hold of, so a lot of players usually save up and buy them from Player shops instead. I read all about the Miasma Claw++, a Legendary Class Handgun that barely anyone has." Haru replied, earning an impressed look from Kureha.

"You really did do your research, I'm glad...makes things easier on us. Well here we are, let's see if we can find you anything. I'm giving this to you as a loan, once you get that item for me we'll be squared, deal?"

"Sure, I have no issue with that...you're helping me, so I'll help you." he said cheerfully. She walked further into the store, coming to a stop at the very back, where the screens were displaying the various weapons they had on sale. She saw the boy glancing at the rifles, a pensive look on his face.

"One thing I forgot to say, sometimes you need a certain stat to wield these. You'll need the appropriate Strength and Dexterity to wield some of the higher class guns. You can't buy a Gatling Gun or a Rocket Launcher and expect to be able to fire it day one. Stay to the handguns and SMGs for now."

"Okay." the boy replied, glancing at the handguns. He noticed one that was on sale that had piqued his interest. It was a Beretta M9, which was a sleek black color. He read the print, saying it was chambered in 9mm Parabellum, and came with two fifteen round magazines. It also looked like it had a threaded barrel, meaning he could attach a suppressor to it. Kureha followed his line of sight, tapping his shoulder.

"Is that the one you want? The M9? It's a pretty cheap gun to start, only 9,435 credits."

"That's cheap?" the boy asked.

"Cheaper than say, a Colt 45, which I know you can't use. The M9 is a gun that requires little strength and dexterity to use, a popular choice for beginners. Not to mention the one thousand credit upgrade, you get two extra magazines and a suppressor. I got no issue buying it for you."

"Okay, if you're sure." he said. She pressed her hand on the panel in front of her, a menu screen opening up before her. She scrolled through the firearms until she reached the Beretta M9 and purchased it, along with the two extra magazines and the suppressor. A small bot came to a screeching halt before her, speaking to her in English before handing her the items she had bought. Once she had gotten them, she placed them into the transfer screen, sending them to Haru.

"There you go...it's in your inventory now, so I'll teach you how to use it later. Now you need a main weapon, how about a Mack 11? it's a pretty cheap SMG, and one good thing about it, is that it uses handgun ammunition, so you can buy a shitload of it and be set for awhile."

"I dunno, I don't want to make you spend so much money on me."

"Like I said, it's fine. You get me that item and we'll be squared, it would only be 20,000 credits total anyway, that's 2,000 Yen in the real world you know. Maybe you can just wire me the money if you feel bad." she said, giving him a smirk.

"I suppose...then again I could just go on a hunt and get a weapon drop from a monster."

"You could, but it's a good rule of thumb to at least get a main weapon. You can sell it later on for a bit of pocket money. Let's just look around, what are your preferences? Maybe a cheap assault rifle? The A.K. 47 is pretty cheap, and the ammunition is cheap too."

"Yeah, but I what about my Strength and Dexterity? What if I can't use it?" he asked, a dejected look on his face. She frowned, giving him a nod.

"You're right, well I guess a handgun can do for now. We'll get you some grenades, frag grenades don't require much Dexterity, a First Aid Kit would do you well, since you are level one right now."

He glanced over to one of the panels, stopping when something caught his eye. He was looking at a panel that was displaying a weapon that surprisingly enough wasn't a firearm. He looked it over, seeing it was actually a cylindrical type of weapon. It was around fourteen inches in length, and was a bright blue color. It had a small clasp on the hilt where one could clip it onto their belt loop. He started reading the stats, realizing what the weapon was, it was a Photon Sword, one of the weapons people often ignored. It reminded him a lot of the Light Sabers used in the Star Wars films, and was in fact added into the game as a reference to the one of the greatest film series in the world. Kureha who realized was talking to herself, stopped and turned around, glancing at the weapon he had his eye on.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking of making me buy this thing?"

"Come on, it's a freaking Light Saber! How could you not want one of these, you could slice people in half with this."

"Yeah, provided they don't turn you into Swiss cheese first. There is a reason why people don't buy these, because they only do heavy damage at close range." Kureha said, causing the boy to frown.

"It's a powerful weapon though...I mean look at the power, this thing is strong as hell, and it only takes five STR points to equip it, which I have at level 1. Come on Kureha, could I please have this?" he asked, giving her a pleading look. She sighed, brushing some hair out of her eyes.

"Dammit, fine! I'll get you the stupid Photon Sword...you remind me of the time you didn't get the toy you wanted from the capsule machine. I had to trade with you just to get you to stop crying."

"I wasn't crying!" the boy countered, earning a chuckle from the girl, who gave him a smirk.

"Yes you were. You were just lucky I already had that toy and didn't have the one you got...but since you are my best friend, I can't exactly say no. So I do hope you have fun with your beam sword." she said, opening the menu, she scanned the colors briefly, turning the hilt of the sword black before buying it. It was a rather cheap weapon too, only costing her three thousand credits. The robot returned, handing her the Photon Sword, which she instantly transferred to the boy.

"Thanks Kureha, you're the best." the boy said, a smile on his face.

"Yeah yeah, let's get you some ammunition, extra magazines and some grenades...you're gonna need them if you wanna have a sword fight." she said jokingly. The boy followed suit, listening to all of the advice she was dishing out at him.

After twenty more minutes within the store, Kureha had lead Haru down to the Gun range. Along with all of his ammunition, she had bought him several magazines, and a magazine holder, which he had strapped to his left leg. They took some time to load some magazines with ammunition, which was in fact an easier task than Haru had thought it to be. In total, he had thirty magazines filled with fifteen bullets each, which totaled four hundred and fifty-five rounds. It had been all the ammunition they had bought, and since he had a sword, he was hoping to limit the use of his handgun until he could buy more magazines and ammunition. He was at least glad he had a lot of space in his inventory which allowed him to carry the maximum capacity of ammunition, 4,000 rounds. One they were done, they tossed the empty boxes into the trash, and put all of the spare magazines in their pockets.

"Alright, here comes the practical part of this. I'll talk about two things, the first is the Bullet Circle. In order to make it a bit easier to shoot, GGO was implemented with an assist, the Bullet Circle. When you take aim, you'll see a small circle if you are looking through a scope or down your sights. Load up your gun and take aim at the target, you'll see what I mean." Kureha said. The boy nodded and grabbed one of the magazines, sliding it into the receiver, pulling the slide back. The gun felt a bit heavier in his hand, he had been expecting it to feel a bit lighter. It was weird for him to be holding a real gun in his hand, well...real in terms of VR.

Looking down his sight, he saw the growing and shrinking circle. He held his gun tightly in his hands, steadying his breathing a bit seeing the circle had shrunk entirely, focusing on the center of the target. He felt Kureha place a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her.

"Loosen your grip a bit, I feel like your gonna break that poor gun." she said, fixing his hands a bit. He sighed, chuckling a bit.

"Sorry, just a little nervous. It's the first time I've held a gun."

"Hey, no harm no foul. I was the same, when I first fired a .44 Magnum the gun flew out of my hand and I screamed like a banshee. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life...I did the same when I fired my friend's Desert Eagle for the first time. I realized then that high caliber handguns weren't for me. Just relax, work on your accuracy, you're gonna need it if you plan to stun someone long enough for you to get close with your sword." she said. He nodded, once again taking aim at the target. When he was ready, he squeezed the trigger, the kickback of the gun making his hands raise a bit.

He let out the breath he had been holding, once again fixing his aim. He had missed the target the first time, having gotten a bit nervous at the last second. He fired again, and again until he had virtually emptied his first magazine, the dull echo of the empty shells hitting the ground. He set his gun down after pulling out the empty magazine, hitting the target return button. The metal target came back, showing him his spread, he had at least hit the target near the center, which wasn't bad for his first time.

"Not bad...now let me show you how its done." Kureha said, a smirk on her face as she unfolded the stock on her gun. She raised it to her shoulder, narrowing her eyes a bit. A short burst came from the weapon, striking the target down range. He watched as the girl continued firing at the target, hitting it in the same area for most of the time. Her gun clicked empty and she returned the target to her, showing him the spread.

"Wow...you got him in the head and the chest."

"GGO is a rather realistic game. If you take a hit in the arm or the leg, you'll take a few points of damage sure. But there are areas of the body that need to be protected. The vitals, IE, your organs. That's why we wear armor, so we can lessen the damage. A shot through the heart, the guts or the head is instant death. I saw one guy get split in half with a single .50BMG round fired from a sniper at close range. You don't want to be that guy."

"It...it doesn't hurt right?" he asked.

"Hell no, GGO has a pain absorber, so you don't feel shit. All you feel is numbness and a slight tap whenever your shot. Unless you take a shotgun blast to the chest or get sniped, you don't feel a lot. Oh, there's a lot of rattling if your being shot at with assault rifles and Gatling Guns, and there's nothing left of you if you decide to hug a rocket."

"Got ya, I'll try to avoid those...though taking down a Gatling Gun user would be easy for me. Their guns are heavy, so as long as I have cover, I can close the distance and slice them in half."

"Good luck with that. You wanna practice some more or do you wanna get practical?" She asked, earning a curious look from the boy.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We take a quest, duh. We got time before the tournament starts, and I've already signed us up. I didn't have to put in your name because as soon as I added you to my party you were automatically registered. So come on, let's go to the Remnant Wasteland and light some shit up!" she eagerly cried, placing her SMG in her holster.

"Alright, I guess I'm down. I've been dying to see how combat works here...so let us quest!" he said happily. She sighed, gesturing for him to follow.

xxx(Remnant Wasteland)xxx

One of the beginner maps of Gun Gale Online was an area just beyond the Glocken. The ship itself was still airborne, kept in an unmoving position, there was even a dungeon underneath it, but no one she knew had ventured inside it yet. The Remnant Wasteland was an area where a city had been located. The broken remains of said city only encompassed a part of the map. There was an Extinct Civilization Laboratory to the East, a Control Facility to the West, and if one kept traveling, they would run into a cave. Towards the North East part of the Map, there was a Sea Watch Tower, which would allow players to look into the distance at the next area of GGO, the Solitary Sands, a desert bordered by the radioactive ocean. The game was so far in the future, that no one knew where exactly they were located, all they knew was that they were on a continent on Earth, unrecognizable from the war that had taken place a millennium ago.

Aside from these areas of interest, there were some mutated creatures sprawling all over the place. There were some Needle Beetles on the prowl, green Scorpion like monsters that served as the local mob. The entire map was crawling with them, and unnerved Haru quite a bit. Aside from that, there were some Automatons walking around the abandoned city, armed with assault rifles. There were some handgun drones as well, drones that had been equipped with optic weapons that fired light based bullets at their targets. There was even a few Sniper Automatons hanging around some of the taller buildings, scanning the abandoned streets for unsuspecting players. Mutated Bees were flying around, their stingers sharp and ready to stab the flesh of any would be traveler. The wind was blowing a bit of red sand, the scent of death and oil filling the area. Haru could barely hear some gunfire being carried on the wind, letting him know that other players were running around the area.

"Alright Haru, this is where I have to teach you another aspect of GGO. It's something called the Ballistic Prediction System, basically when you are about to get shot, you'll see a red line predicting where the bullet is likely to hit. This gives you a chance to dodge them, when you decide to fire back, you will also have one but you won't see it. Enemies will dodge your bullets, so make sure you got a good aim before shooting at them."

"Okay, that seems simple enough...what are we supposed to be hunting?" he asked curiously.

"We are gonna go after some Needle Beetles. Those green scorpions crawling around, we gotta kill four of them. They're easy pickings, and if you kill enough of them we should get you to level five before the tournament. One thing I noticed, is that level doesn't matter in this game, if you have enough bullets and lots of patience, you can kill anything." Kureha admitted. She walked out from around their hiding spot, some large rock formations, and started walking toward the outskirts of the nearby city.

Haru did the same, holding his M9 in his right hand, while keeping a hold of his Photon Blade in the other. He scanned the area, trying to find their enemies, when he heard the sounds of chattering beside them. He jumped back, dodging the claw swipes the sickly green scorpion had thrown at him. He saw the name and cursor, seeing it was the Needle Beetle Kureha had mentioned, he took aim at the creature, pulling the trigger three times, his bullets striking its claws. It let out a little screech, aiming its tail spike directly at his leg, which he was luckily able to dodge.

"Come on Haru, it's only level three, you got this!" Kureha said, keeping her sights trained on the creature. Haru hissed in annoyance and unhooked his Photon Blade, turning it on. The glowing purple blade shot out of it, glowing brilliantly as it did.

Haru ran at the creature, shooting at its face before taking a swipe at it. He sliced its tail clean off, watching it burst into orange polygons, all slowly being reclaimed by the system. The creature hissed loudly in pain, swinging its severed tail around. The black haired boy moved back toward the creature, spinning his sword around his hand before jumping right at it, driving his sword into the middle of its back, running the blade straight through it. The creature swelled for a few seconds before exploding, the menu screen appeared before him, telling him how much EXP he had gotten.

"It was a little sloppy, but you did well. You know, you sort of remind me of this other guy who runs around with a Photon Sword, he made the leader boards not that long ago. Up until he showed up, no one bothered with swords, but now they've been getting a bit more recognition. They're totally broken when it comes to fighting though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because this dude can slice bullets apart with ease. And before you say, I wanna try it, don't. A lot of people have ended up getting killed for mimicking his fighting style. Come on, I can see more Needle Beetles over there." she said, jabbing her thumb behind herself.

After about ten minutes, they had taken out several of the green scorpion like creatures. Haru had decided to focus more on his sword fighting while facing ground enemies, while using his gun on the flying Bees and Drones. He had gone up to level three rather quickly, since he had been taking on stronger enemies with Kureha's help. She would spray whatever she found down allowing him to take the final hit to get some easy leveling in. They had however taken shelter behind a building near the southern entrance of the town, having heard voices not that far from them.

"Players...be careful, this game is heavy on the PvP. It isn't like other games where you'll be ignored." Kureha whispered. She knelt down beside a freight container, keeping the hold on her SMG firm.

He couldn't exactly see how many people were around the corner. Haru decided to creep along the other side of the container, keeping himself pressed tightly against it. He spotted three players not that far from where he was, about two blocks away in fact. He narrowed his eyes a bit, seeing there was a girl among them, toting a shotgun. He briefly imagined what it would be like to be gunned down by that, but quickly pushed it out of his mind. He had another idea worm its way into his mind.

"Hey, Kureha...do you get experience points for taking down other players?"

"I think so...you also get their drops if your luck is high enough. Since you won an AmuSphere from a raffle, I think your real luck could be useful here. You thinking of taking them down?"

"Yeah...I got a suppressor remember? I can easily get close and take them down. There's a projectile user, a girl with a pump action shotgun, twelve gauge from the looks of it. The others have optic weapons." he said, seeing the players had come a little closer, not at all worried about being taken down.

"I see that too...if you can handle the shotgun user, I can take out the other one. Suppressed weapons don't show a bullet line on the first shot, so you only get one shot. Since it's silenced, it'll be hard for them to pin point a location. That just leaves the third guy, ready to use that sword to use?" she asked, earning a nod from the boy.

"Hell yeah." he said with a grin.

Once they had a plan, Haru started moving down the side of the road, keeping himself hidden behind the police cars that had been left on the side of the street. There are large holes in the ground, most likely from powerful explosives, even parts of buildings had been broken apart. There was broken glass everywhere, making it a bit hard to remain silent. He came to a stop next to a broken down deliver truck, which provided a nice cover for him. He slowly and quietly opened the door, climbing into the cab without being seen. The three players came to a stop directly across the street, scanning the area for something to kill, most likely a Sniper Automaton or some Drones.

Haru reached for his M9, pulling out the suppressor, screwing it onto the barrel as quickly as he could. He waited for them to turn around, their backs facing the truck. He faintly heard their conversation, they were speaking about the tournament, and were wondering if it should be time for them to call it a day and head back to Glocken so they wouldn't miss it. He was glad the window was broken, because it made taking aim at the shotgun toting girl a lot easier. He held his gun tightly in his hands, focusing on maintaining his breathing steady. He was glad the other two players didn't notice him from their peripheral, or else that would have been bad. Once he had lined his sights, he squeezed the trigger, a muffled sound coming from his firearm. It struck the girl in the back of the head, causing her to fall forward, bursting into pixels, her shotgun hitting the ground.

"Holy Shit!"

"Sniper!" the other cried, quickly dashing behind cover, aiming at the building behind Haru. The boy smirked, climbing out of the delivery truck, keeping his hand on his sword. They had started shooting their weapons at the windows above, not at all suspecting it to be another player. A light burst of gunfire came from the other side of the road, taking out the second player, causing the third to start running.

"There's no way in hell you are gonna kill me!" he cried, loading a new magazine into his gun. He stopped behind a car, resting his gun on the hood, aiming right down the straight where Kureha was hiding. The light bullets were denting the metal freighter, until one ended up punching a hole right through it.

Haru quickened his pace, closing the distance as fast as he could. The other player stood up, pulling a new magazine from his pocket, not at all noticing the young boy approaching him. He finally saw him, turning around too late. He let out a single shot, striking Haru in the arm, not at all slowed down by this, the boy jabbed his sword forward, running it right through the other player's chest. He screamed in pain as the energy sword's crackling blade pierced right through him. Haru let out a grunt as he pulled the sword up, slicing the player apart. He let out a distorted cry, before bursting into pixels right after. He got a pop up right after, seeing he had gone from level three to level six.

"Nice hustle! You did a great job, I think I may have doubted those energy blades." Kureha said, placing the shotgun on the hood of the car.

"Thanks, you know it was rather fun to do that. It made me feel almost like a covert operative hunting down his targets!"

"Mhmm, that's the allure of GGO. You also got this sweet shotgun, an Ithaca M37 riot shotgun. It can load six rounds in the tube and one in the chamber. Sadly your Strength needs to be at around fourteen to actually use it."

"That's not a bad thing, I can save it for later. We should get out of here, before we're the next ones taken down." he said, placing the shotgun in his inventory.

"You're right, come on, I know a shortcut. It's filled with love level monsters, so you can get some more Experience in."

"Awesome, I wanna slice some bastards up!" he said cheerfully, spinning his Kagemitsu around his hand. She rolled her eyes, leading the way out of the city.

xxx(SBC Glocken)xxx

They had returned to the ship with half an hour to spare. They would be automatically teleported to the tournament grounds, which would be randomly selected. Haru and Kureha had gone back to the store, deciding to purchase some extra ammunition, as they had made a bit of money from their recent hunt. Kureha had also explained the Bounty system to him, telling him that the higher he went in the leader boards, the higher his bounty would go. Newbie players didn't have a particularly high bounty, but veteran players had bounties in the millions. They were in a plaza at the moment, loading up a few extra magazines with the ammunition they had bought. Once he was done, Haru opened up his menu glancing at the skill points he had accumulated.

"Hmm, 380 points, not that bad."

"Yeah, I normally save them up whenever I level up. If you have a lot of points then you can unlock a lot of skills at once. Did you decide what you want?" Kureha asked.

"Well...I sort of liked sneaking up on people and taking them down silently. I was thinking that maybe I would go for a Sniper class?"

"Sniper eh? Hmm...that means you'll need to level up your Sneaking Skill, Listening Skill, Hiding Skill. You'll also need to know the Trap Skill, it will give you a good chance to run if you get found out. Laser Sight is also a good skill to have, lets you see your bullet line for a short period of time so you can line the shots accurately."

"Hmm...well I don't even have a rifle now so that one won't matter. I'll just plug two points into each of those skills you mentioned." he said, spending his points on the skills that Kureha had listed, unlocking and adding them to his Palette. Those would be Passive skills, so the more he practiced them, the higher they would go.

"Alright, what about some practical skills? How about Stun Bullet? Whenever you use it, you'll turn a single bullet into a stun round that paralyzes enemies. You'll be able to use that to your advantage, especially with your sword."

"Good point, I'll unlock that one right now." he said eagerly.

With her suggestions, he had filled his palette with several useful skills. Healing Bullet 1 was still in his usable skills, but now he had Stun Bullet 1, Armor Up and Conceal 1, which would help with his hiding. That was the palette for his M9, the one for his Kagemitsu G4 were a bit different. Kureha had shown him the sword skills that had been added with the recent patch, and he had decided to get himself four skills to aid him while he worked on getting himself a sniper rifle. He now had Horizontal Square, Star Splash 1 and Sharp Nail. With those three and Armor Up, he would be set for awhile.

He had also increased his Strength, Dexterity, Agility and Vitality, plugging whatever points he had left on Intelligence and Luck. He had finally gotten through setting up his avatar, and felt a bit more confident than before. Kureha had let him know that in order for the skills to work, he would have to either tap the icon or call out the skill name if it was a buffering skill. For the sword skills, she told him that he would have to get into the proper motion for the skills to activate, and when he asked her what those were, she just shrugged, saying she had never used a Photon Sword in her life, so she didn't know what the proper movements were. He felt a bit sad, but knew he would figure it out eventually.

Haru looked up after closing his menu, meeting the eyes of a young looking girl who had a dragon on her head. She gave him a shy wave, returning to her conversation with her friend who was sitting beside her. His focus was on the small furred creature on her head, still not believing that he was seeing an actual dragon in GGO. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Hey Kureha, is that a dragon or am I seeing shit?" he asked, not directly looking at the girl, who had gone back to talking with her pink haired shotgun toting friend. Kureha glanced up, eyes widening a bit.

"It is...the hell? There aren't any dragons in this game, I guess it's a pet...there are other VRMMOs in the world. There's an Avatar transfer system, if you play something like ALO you can use that avatar in GGO. For a small fee, if you have a pet in that game you can bring it here. No idea why she would though, unless that little guy means a lot to her."

"It's really cute, maybe I should play ALO and get myself a cute little dragon like that." Haru said, earning a scoff from his partner.

"You can barely shoot a gun, you actually think you can kill shit with a sword?"

"I dunno, maybe. If not there's magic, Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, this time causing several people to look at him.

"Shut up Jackass! You're making a scene!" Kureha cried, bowing her head in embarrassment as she finished loading her fifty round magazines. She slipped one into her Uzi, shoving the rest into her pouch.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You know I'm low key addicted to Harry Potter. Anyway, you ready for that tournament?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm all set. I got loaded mags, all of my stats are looking good and I got equipment. I should be asking you that question though, you are a bit under leveled for this tournament, so I'll have to cover your ass the entire time."

"I'm fine...I think I allocated my points to the right areas. I got five hundred rounds on me now, and some actual sword skills. Now that I also have Sneaking and Hiding skills, I'll be able to practice them and raise them up a bit."

"Yeah, just try not to get pegged. If you go down in a heavily targeted area, I might have to leave you behind, and I don't want to do that." she said.

"Don't worry, I'll pull a John Rambo and drag my ass to safety. Then I'll give you a thumbs up in the middle of a gunfight." he said, earning a sigh from the girl.

"Sure, whatever. Let's head to the teleporter, I'm getting sick of this overflowing plaza." the pinkette said, standing up from her seat. Haru stood up, giving the dragon girl a wave before following his friend.

As they walked however, they noticed a large group of female players standing near the teleporter. They all seemed to be crowded around a single young man, who looked rather bored. He had dark silver hair, and piercing eyes. He had a very interesting attire, and Haru could tell that he was a higher ranked player. Standing next to him was another young man, with black hair and glasses, who was trying to pacify the crowd a bit. Haru chuckled slightly as he continued walking, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Must be a popular guy."

"He is, his name is Itsuki. He's on the leader boards, he's a really good sniper and has his own squadron named Alphard. They're all really good players, people like him get crowded quite often here." Kureha replied, a slight look of amazement on her face. Haru frowned, not at all looking interested.

"Oh really? Cause he looks like an asshole."

"Get your ass moving Haru, don't make me shoot you!" the pinkette cried, causing the boy to raise his hands slightly as he walked. Itsuki took notice of the two, and quickly parted through the crowd, stopping the two before they got on the teleporter.

"Well, it's been quite awhile since I've seen beginner clothes like this. Did you just join GGO perhaps?" he asked, his smooth voice filled with curiosity. Haru glanced around for a few seconds, wondering why he was talking to him, before giving him a slight nod.

"Excuse him, he's brand new to the game. He doesn't know how popular of a player you are, it's an honor to meet you Itsuki. My name is Kureha, I'm a huge fan."

"Hmm...it's a pleasure to meet the two of you...you're Haru correct?"

"I am...how did you know that though?" he asked, causing the older man to chuckle. He pointed to an area in front of him, near the top of his head.

"Right there, it's your HP bar. It lets people in your squad know how much HP you got and what buffs currently aid you, it also says your name. You should be able to see if you focus on the very left side of your HUD." he said. Haru did what he suggested, finally seeing the green HP bar he had mentioned, he felt like an idiot for not noticing it before.

"Oh...I feel like such a noob now, sorry. This is my first VRMMO so I'm a little confused, it's nice to meet you Itsuki. Maybe one day we'll face each other in battle."

"Perhaps we will, good luck out there you two. There's a tournament later on today, if you two plan to enter it, that battle might just happen a little sooner than later."

"Itsuki, sir we must prepare for the tournament. I managed to dissuade that crowd for now." the black haired man said, earning a nod from his friend.

"Indeed, thank you Taipan. It was nice meeting you two, have fun out there." Itsuki said, bidding farewell to the two teenagers who watched him go.

"Wow, I can't believe it...someone as famous as Itsuki noticed you over everyone else. How lucky are you? I've been trying to get strong enough to maybe party with him, but you just floored me." Kureha said, earning a frown from the boy.

"He's no one special, just another player. You'll be just as good if not better than him in no time. If you help me level up, then I'll help you get on those leader boards, I owe you." he said, giving her a wink. She flushed a bit, keeping her arms crossed as she looked away.

"Thanks...I'd really appreciate that. It's just so...fun not being solo anymore."

"That's something I don't understand, why haven't you joined a Squad? You are an excellent player and you have the makings of a good front line shooter. Why not ask to join a team?"

"If you haven't noticed, GGO isn't exactly teaming with female players. In fact, this game is a damn sausage fest half the time. Out of ten squads, only one will have a girl player in it. The squads I was in only treated me like a mascot or fucking eye candy. I can't tell you how many horny guys tried feeling me up while we were on a hunt. So I didn't stay for long, just long enough for me to get my shit and get out."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I did read there was a harassment system in the game for female players. Don't you have that on?"

"No...it's called the Ethics Code, I find it pointless in a game where you can shoot your harassers. I shot that kid by the way, got me booted from their Squad." she said, stretching her arms above her head.

"Well...I guess it's because the real world and VR are so different. People just naturally assume that women who play these games will be easier to score with. They don't remember that behind that avatar is a real living human being, all they care about us instant gratification. Trust me Kureha, any guy who befriends you trying to get his pole greased is getting an ass kicking from me." he said. She gave him an odd look, but seeing the fire in his eyes made her smile warmly.

"Okay...but don't make me regret it. If you take a bullet through your ass, I'm not helping you up, I'm just gonna walk away."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Aw, you know I'm just playing with you, Haru-Haru~" she teased, earning a blush from the boy.

"Attention all Players. The Tournament is about to begin, all registered players shall now be transported to the battlefield. You may not log out until the tournament is over. Attention all Players, the Tournament is about to begin..."

"Well here we go, any idea where we are going?"

"Not a clue, we usually just get teleported into an empty research lab or some sort of facility. It makes it even playing ground for everyone...here we go, see you there Haru!" the girl said, her body being covered in a brilliant white light. He looked at his hands, his body disappearing as well.

His heart was pounding in his chest, but not enough to give him an alert. He was excited for his first tournament, and even though he knew he was under leveled, he was going to try his hardest to win. Especially because the special item Kureha wanted was located inside this place. He didn't know it, but after this tournament, he would be going on the adventure of a life time, exploring every single area Gun Gale Online had to offer.