Here we go, begin!

Chapter 3: Beginner's Luck

The first field was a tower in a sunset sky, with pillars nearby and surrounded by a forest as Dumas quickly got behind a pillar. Pulling out his saber, he took a deep breath as he peeks to search for his target. The leaves were rustling as the wind blew, getting stronger rather quickly from his right, making him look towards it. He was lucky as he saw a shine in the bushes.

"Shit!" He said to himself as he turned on his saber. The bullet was fired, but was quickly taken out by the glowing blade as the enemy stood up, taking aim. Dumas sprinted as the bullets flew, deflecting them as he ran along to another pillar. After he pressed his back against the wall, he saw two on his left leg and one on his left hand. Uemaru continued to fire at the pillar until he ran out, which the sound of reloading was heard. Dumas took that chance and sprinted out, quickly diving behind some bushes into the trees nearby to hide.

Silence then quickly fell as the wind blew, the trees moving to it as the sun beamed down on the tower. As the shooters were hiding, the sound of moving grass was very audible in the silence. Then... all hell broke loose.

Gunshots were fired as the two ran through the forest, bullets flying as they hit the ground and the surrounding trees. Dumas then quickly hid behind one of the trees as Uemaru stopped as well, firing the surrounding trees to keep the pressure on. He then sprinted down to find his opponent as he occasionally fired at the trees to keep up the pressure. Dumas waited as he heard the footsteps rapidly approaching, then stop.

Uemaru stopped as he saw the faint glow of the saber behind a nearby tree. Aiming his gun at the tree, he fires a armor piercing bullet. As time slowed down, the bullet inched ever closer to the tree until...

SLASH!

The bullet, along with the tree, was sliced in half when the saber was swung. Uemaru was caught off guard by this and tried to fire again, but finds himself empty. Dumas took this opportunity and dashed straight right at him. Uemaru tried to run, but quickly struck down.

"Gotcha."

He disappeared as Dumas walked out of the forest, seeing the message of congratulations.

"Short, but swift." Dumas said to himself as he transported again.

He puts the saber back on his belt as he sees that he's back in the tournament lobby from earlier. Looking around, he sees the screens of the matches, but doesn't see Sinon. However, a voice catches your attention.

"Are you the real deal?" Turning around, he sees not a face, but a mask. He then backs away a bit for room as he talks back.

"Depends. Who are you?"

The masked figure simply faced himself towards Dumas, "Do you know Kirito?"

"Oh, that name. Yeah, I'm familiar with him."

"Are you sure you aren't him?" The masked figure questioned before letting out smoke from his mask.

"I'm pretty sure. You're asking because..."

"No business of yours." The masked figure then turned around to leave.

"OK..." Dumas said to himself before hearing someone call out to him. "Dumas!"

He turns around to see Sinon coming up to him, stopping as she spoke. "I was wondering when you're going to finish."

"Wait, you already won?"

"Of course. You surprise me though, winning with a melee weapon."

"I'm full of surprises. Say, you don't mind celebrating this occasion, do ya?"

"Oh? Well, I don't mind."

"Cool, my treat."

As the two walked to find a place for their celebration, Dumas was walking in front with his mind in thought.

"OK, that guy in the cloak earlier was definitely Death Gun, no question about it. Asking about Kirito means he's definitely confident in his work. However, this also means he's an SAO survivor like me. He basically looks like a masked Laughing Coffin member with guns."

He then stops, "Then in that case, he must have a partner who actually does the killing in the real world. The entry info wanted my real name, address, and the works. He spies on the terminals from afar, tells his partner the info, and waits until the time is right to kill them."

Dumas simply stood there before muttering to himself, "Why should these people always make a VRMMO a death game? It's honestly getting frustrating."

Sinon stopped behind him and asks, "Hey, you good? You're talking to yourself."

Dumas then realized Sinon was there, "Oh, sorry. Just been thinking about other stuff."

Next thing he knew as they continued to walk, he then has Spiegel popped into his mind. The glare he gave him before the first match...

"I better keep a close eye on him."

Done! So, I'm changing the rules in the tournament. Each round takes place after one day to at least have better pacing.

Ex: Round 1 today, Round 2 tomorrow.

Anyways, see ya later!