November 4th, 2025, After Survivor's School

"You look exhausted."

I drop my head on the door of my locker after slamming it shut. Beside me, Rika giggles at her oh-so-obvious comment of my physical status. Rolling my eyes and groaning, I stand up and sling my backpack over my shoulder, following her out the school. "Really, you think I'm tired?"

"Oh, everyone knows, I'm just kind enough to voice it. Anyway, how do you feel about that statistics test coming up? You're good with that subject, aren't you?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Well, do you think you could spare a few hours to study sometime this weekend with me and Asuna? I think we both could use the help. But that's only if you're not going to drop dead on us." I yawn as we exit the school building and head for the parking lot. If only she knew how late I accidentally stayed up last night playing Gun Gale Online, she would berate me. But I have a good reason, one she understands as a friend of mine and Kazuto.

But first, I should explain the last two months: In September, I joined GGO at the request of my childhood friend, Momiji Takadane, known as "Kureha" in the game. On my first day, we participated in a tournament, but the real news that came out of it was the finding of a rare item, a Type-X Artificial Financial Adviser System Artificial Intelligence. The owner just so happened to be the new player, me. After learning that a new update would be coming that utilizes the Arfa-sys, which I named "Rei", Kureha and I searched over the various lands of the game to collect Rei's missing parts to prepare for the update. Along the way, I made a few new friends: Itsuki, one of the top players in the game who I met during the tournament and later joined our group; LLENN and Pitohui, the two players who were close to obtaining Rei before I accidentally claimed her; Fukaziroh and M, friends of LLENN and Pitohui; and Zeliska, another top player and owner of of Type-X named Daisy. Together, we are Crimson Squadron.

The reason I was up so late is because we became stuck in the new update. Rei and Daisy's home, the SBC Flügel, launched this past weekend, so the entire squadron is now in a race with other groups to find what lies within. However, we got barred from going deeper in the ship by a large door. It requires key cards to gain access, so last night, Rei, Kureha, LLENN, Fuka, and I went searching for the second key after Itsuki, Pitohui, M, and Zeliska found the first. However, I promised another friend of mine from GGO that I'll meet up with her today for a while before resuming the search for the second key.

But it would be nice to take a break from GGO once we have all the keys. I haven't spent time with Asuna or any of our friends in the real world outside of school since I moved to GGO, so it'll be a nice thing to do. Only Asuna, Rika, and Strea know why I haven't been in Alfheim Online for two months, while everyone else assumes it's because of my "work" with my family's company that's stealing my precious game time. I'm actually proud Strea hasn't spilled the beans yet, I'll have to applaud her when I get back to ALO.

"Joshua? Joshua!"

"Huh?"

Rika frowns at me, her arms across her chest. Beside her is Keiko, who must've joined while I was unattentive. "I asked if you want to go get an after-school snack with me and Keiko. You sure you're fine? What the heck are you even doing in GGO?"

I shake my head as I unlock my car. "No, I'm good. Everything is good."

"Uh huh."

Later, Gun Gale Online

"'Master, we found the location of the second key. We'll take care of it and meet you in the Glocken.'" I close the message from Rei and step off the teleportation platform of the main hub, the SBC Glocken. Just logging on, I guess all I have to do today's meet up with my friend and wait on the team. And there she is, right by the teleporter. Dressed in green and white combat armor and a white muffler around her neck, the pale-blue haired girl leans over the railing that prevents anyone from falling into the abyss. Due to her slim figure, positioning and very short shorts, I quickly call and gain her attention before my eyes linger on her too long. "Sinon."

"Hmm?" She turns around, gasping when she spots me. "Oh, it's you. Hey. I didn't see you log in."

I point back to the teleporter as I stop beside her. "Yeah, I actually just did."

"Well, it's been a few weeks since we last saw each other. How's the gaming? Rolling in credits yet?"

I chuckle. "'Rolling' is an understatement, I might have to give Rei a raise in her allowance. As for the gaming, well, the SBC Flügel update did release, so we're working on that. How about you?"

She sighs. "I'm doing...okay myself. I get the feeling I'm almost at the next level, but I'm not quite there yet. Especially if I'm going to compete in the third Battle of Bullets next month."

"Oh yeah." GGO's premier tournament is the Battle of Bullets, in which players compete in three rounds of preliminaries before a 30-man battle royale commences until there is one gunman or woman standing. I didn't take part in the one held last month, but watched Sinon make it to the battle royale, although she took 22nd place, but with my skills coming to form, I decided to take part in the upcoming tournament. "Well, I think you're pretty strong anyway. Who knows, you might come close to winning this time."

She turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "Come close?"

"I'll let you have 2nd place, guaranteed."

"Ha, okay, Lucky Red. Anyway, I just need to put in the time and effort. Well, nothing to it but to do it… Hey, do you--"

"There you are, Sinon. I was looking for you." I start to feel nauseated as an avatar with silver hair and camo armor approaches up. His golden eyes glare at me as he comes close to Sinon's side.

"...Spiegel?"

Spiegel looks at Sinon, totally ignoring me as he usually does around her. "I'm glad I found you. I've got something I want to tell you."

"Really? You could've just emailed me."

"No, no, no, this is something I wanted to tell you in person. Besides, I wanted to see you. The GGO you, Sinon. Not the girl from school."

Sinon uncomfortably looks away and takes a step back towards me. "O-Okay… But don't bring up school or real-life here again. Got it?"

He chuckles. "Oh, sorry. It just slipped out."

"Yeah, be sure it doesn't happen again. Now, what did you want to tell me?"

His small, piercing eyes beam with excitement"Listen to this, Sinon! I think I might get my hands on the best sniper rifle in the game."

"What? Explain. Now."

"I heard that a new boss spawned in this dungeon, and it drops a super-rare sniper rifle. There have been bosses that dropped pistols and SMGs before, but this is the first one that can drop a sniper rifle. Or at least, that's the rumor. And even better, not many people know about it yet. From what I can determine, this boss will only spawn a few times. And the drop rate on that rifle won't be that high. In other words, you need to move fast or this chance will pass you by. Here, take this. It's the dungeon's coordinates."

Sinon takes the data and looks over it. "Th-Thanks. You sure you want to just give me this info?"

"Of course. I want you to be the strongest player in all of GGO, Sinon. If you had a super-powerful weapon, no one would be able to stand in your way. Then you won't need friends here anymore, especially people like Jaymes. You can go back to being the real you." I make a very offended step forward to speak my mind, but Sinon slips her hand in one of my own. A silent message to let Spiegel's words pass, something I see Spiegel enjoy despite not seeing the reason holding me back. "I'd love to go with you, but I promised my brother I'd help him with something. It's very important. It's a shame I won't be able to see you get it, but i'm happy just knowing you'll have it. Good luck, Sinon." He pats her on the shoulder and leans in close while making eye contact with me. "I'm always watching out for you." Raising up, he quickly turns away and logs out of the game.

Sinon faces the railing, holding on to it as she sighs. "He's gone."

I scoff. "He acted as if I wasn't here."

"Who knows what he's thinking… But I'm pretty sure he noticed you, at least. He did say your name, after all. Anyway, forget about him. This info he gave us comes first." She glances over the data once more. "A powerful new sniper rifle, huh… Honestly, I want it. Bad. I don;t think I;ll be able to live up to Spiegel's expectations, but I do want to get stronger. And I think he's right on this one. I have to move fast or I'll miss out. He said not many people know about it yet. That means at least a few people know, and I've got competition. I'll need to head to these coordinates ASAP. Um…" Sinon looks up at me, blushing a little bit. "I know you have your duties to your squadron, and this is a pretty selfish request, but can you back me up? Even if that sniper rifle does drop. I won't be able to give it to you. But I can make it up to you in some other way. Please?"

I already made up my mind about it when Spiegel first gave her the information. I, too, want to see Sinon stronger, but unlike that asshole I want to prove that even the strongest player needs someone on their side. "Sure. I'll let Rei know where I am just in case they get back before I do."

Sinon smiles as she holds her fists up. "All right! Let's go."

"If Spiegel's coordinates were on the mark, then this is the place."

I scan the underground corridor. It reminds me of another place that held a boss elsewhere in the game, if not the exact same surroundings. Placing my hands on the twin holsters that hold my pistols, I pause in front of Sinon as I hear a growl echo across the room. "Well, what do you think now?"

"I can feel it… That one." Materializing in front of us is a giant creature that looks like cyclops and a skinned rat fused together named Geospet. Oh yeah, I fought this guy in a dungeon before, but this specific one looks much tougher. "It's big. And you see the name? That's got to be the boss Spiegel was talking about." As it finishes loading up in the area, I take a pistol and hold it up to fire, but the monster doesn't seem fazed at all. Sinon takes a crack at it as she takes hold of her current sniper rifle. "It's not moving. I guess we're still outside of its detection radius, huh? In that case, I'm going to say hello. By getting behind cover and sniping it."

I nod as I watch her move away. "All right, then."

Sinon moves behind a pillar, kneeling down and holding her rifle up. "Hmm, this place looks good. Sorry, Jaymes, but I need you to stay quiet for a bit." She takes a deep breath and fires two shots in succession, both shots hitting just off the monster's weak point, its single eyeball. As its health bar appears, three in total, we see that Sinon's shots did minimal damage. "It didn't make a dent. Wait, maybe it did. A little one. This won't be an easy foe to fell… Actually, I'm not even sure if we can beat it. I think we should fall back for now, and--"

I shake my head as I feel myself about to make a Kirito-esque statement. "If we can hurt it, we can kill it." I take out my second pistol, twirling them both and aiming them at the monster. "Besides, if it's this tough, then it's worth fighting."

Sinon looks at me, first with a face that's ready to retort, but as she sees my confidence, she gains her own. "Yeah, you're right. If we leave, what was the point in coming in the first place? And I'm not alone. I have you as back up. I put our chances at 50/50?"

"Please," I scoff. "Give us some credit...51/49."

"Heh. I like those odds. Hey, Jaymes. This boss is serious business. You sure you want to do this?"

I nod. "I've faced tougher before… Count me in."

Sinon smiles. "Thanks. I'll focus on sniping from here. It's what I'm good at. You fight the way you know best, and we'll figure it out as we go. The boss might end up focusing on you, so I'll do what I can to keep it off-balance. And...if you're in real danger, get out of there. Okay? There's a razor-thin line between bravery and idiocy."

Oh, she's telling the wrong Sword Art Online survivor that. One day, if I can get her to meet Kirito and Asuna, she'll understand that I am the safe one. "Right. Same to you. If he targets you, move and wait for me to regain his attention."

"Right. It's time. Let's take it down...partner!"

37 minutes later

I dodge-roll out the way of the beam that comes from the Geospet's tail and quickly spend two full clips on the beast's face. With probably 10 to 15% of its health remaining, I reload my pistols to prepare to end the fight. Elsewhere, Sinon fires three successive shots, hitting the boss in its eye. That pisses it off. "Watch out! Reloading!"

"Got it." I get up and run towards the bipedal beast. Sinon might be able to take it down in one more shot, so all I have to do is distract it long enough for her to reload and set up a shot. I fire wildly, intentionally missing my shots but gaining its attention. "Yeah, look at me. What are you gonna do, beam me?.. Oh." It raises its tail again, the bullet line painting me red. The tail glows, but my partner fires first.

As it breaks into red light, I sigh and holster my pistols. Sinon makes her way to me, wiping her forehead. "It's...down. Cool."

I nod. "Nice sniping."

"Yeah… Thanks… Sorry, I guess I'm still in shock. I can't believe we won."

A feeling I had almost three years ago, back when we defeated the boss of the first floor of SAO. "Yeah. It was tough. Probably worth the reward."

"Oh yeah. I need to check and see what it dropped." Checking the rewards, Sinon goes silent momentarily before her eyes widen like a child's on Christmas. "What's this? The PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II?" She shows me the weapon along with its stats. "Wow, look at that power. And the range is incredible. Of course, a gun like this requires a ridiculous amount of strength to use. The boss really did drop the strongest sniper rifle I've ever seen."

I give her a thumbs up. "Congrats."

"Heh. Yeah. I guess some of your trademark luck rubbed off on me." Sinon closes the prompt, then looks off to the side nervously. "So, uh, this is going to sound kind of corny, but… Really, thanks a million, Jaymes. I owe this victory and this gun to you. I wouldn't have had the firepower or HP to tough it out and take down that boss without you. I probably wouldn't even have tried. The only reason I was able to fight today was because I had a partner...and a friend."

"Hey, I'm sure you could've taken it yourself."

She shakes her head. "I think you're exaggerating. Still, I'm flattered you think so highly of me. But remember, I asked you to come because I thought I wasn't going to be able to handle it on my own." She turns away, folding her arms. "That's right… I wasn't strong enough. But with my new Hecate II, I'm a whole lot stronger."

"Sinon." I walk in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are strong. You were when I first met you, you were a month ago in the second BoB, and you were just a minute ago. But as a few friends of mine learned long ago, true strength is not the power your gun has or how many swords you have on your back. It's the number of people you can count on. It can be one person or 11, but as long as you have someone watching your back, nothing else can make you stronger."

"Spiegel said that if I get stronger, I won't need friends anymore." She looks up, a fire in her eyes. "But he's wrong. You're right, friends are friends. Sometimes they help you, sometimes you help them. Strength, skill, what they can do for you: that doesn't even enter into the equation. My quest to empower myself isn't so that I can stand alone or turn my back on my friends. Ever since we met, you've had my back and supported me so much. That's why I want to get strong, so that this time, I can support you."

I smile. "That's a noble sentiment."

She then blushes and holds her mouth. "Oh, uh… Th-Thanks, I guess. Heh. Sorry, that whole speech was kind of out of character, huh?"

I shrug. "I don't know, if Fuka was giving this speech I might have to shoot her."

She chuckles. "Well, while I'm opening up, here's another tidbit. I've got my own personal reasons for all of this too. There's something inside myself I have to overcome. That's a big part of what's driving me to get stronger. In other words, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart."

I nod. "Believe me, I understand that as well."

"Anyway, we've talked long enough. Let's go. We can't let our guard down either. Not with a rare weapon. We'll take the shortest route back. We'll get into a few fights, but… Oh, wait." Sinon makes a face after checking her ammo stores, which by the look of it, there isn't much. "Sorry, I used up a lot of bullets back there. I'm almost out. The Hectate II is really heavy too, so I'm near my weight limit. I don't think I can carry any ammo except what's in the clip right now." As we walk out, she looks at me, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, we're friends, right? Mind if I'm on the receiving end of some help for a bit longer?"

I snicker as I take point. "Of course."

"Heh, thanks. I'll be sure to return the favor… Oh, by the way, what did you mean when you said 'how many swords you have on your back'? I mean, I know you're one of the few who have a photon sword but you don't put it in your back… Have you played other games?"

Whoops.

Three days later…

"This place sure is crowded. It's not usually like this." I hand Kureha her drink as the two of us hang out at our favorite bar. With the keys secured on our end, Crimson Squad will take on the depths of the SBC Flügel in an hour and a half. So while we wait on everyone else to log on and get prepped, we decided to chill for a while in a rare moment of solidarity. I even sent Rei on an errand to "do as she pleases" until I message her.

"Yeah. Check out the monitor. That's MMO Stream, isn't it?"

"MMO Stream?" I was invited to an MMO show before, but I don't recall if it was this one or another. The news that a GGO new ie got the rarest of rare items in the game on his first day sparked waves, of course.

She glares at me. "Come on, you know! It's an internet show that does special features on popular VR games and tricks on how to play them."

"Oh."

"Anyway, there's the top two players of the last BoB. XeXeeD, who won, and Yamikaze."

"That I do remember." We tune into the stream, listening to what XeXeeD has to say.

"These players who think it's all about their agility, ha, they're living in a dream. I mean, sure, firing speed and evasion are important, and time was, if you rocked those two things, it's all you needed to be the best. Til now, that is. Yeah, hate to say it. But it don't work like that anymore. In fact, I got a message for the folks who spent the last eight months indoors boosting their AGI. Sucks to be you right now, don't it?"

XeXeed gets a lot of boos and less than savory comments from those commenting on stream and from around us. Even Kureha scowls at him. "Says the guy who paraded it around."

"Now that's the kind of comment we'd expect from the top player of Gun Gale Online, one of the most challenging VRMMOs! Talk about controversial!"

"I guess, but who knows if I'll be on MMO Stream again, so might as well stir things up!"

"Oh, please! So, do you think you have a shot in the upcoming Battle of Bullets?"

"Damn right, honey. I wouldn't be in it if I didn't think I could win it!"

"It won't be that easy, XeXeeD," Yamikaze states. "The BoB's a solo tournament, so it's way different. What worked for you up to now doesn't mean it'll work again. If I were you, I wouldn't chalk up my wins to my status type."

"Yeah, well, if anything, my results point to some big changes happening in GGO. You're all about AGI, Yamikaze. Go figure you'll be in denial. Wake up, people! Til now, the best strategy was boosting your AGI and shooting a powerful gun as fast as you could. But the reality is, the balance of game play in an MMO is always changing, especially in games like this one, with levels that don't let you respec your stats. You have to think ahead and be smart when using your points cause the best weapon in one level zone might not work for you in the next. Besides, the new guns coming out are gonna have higher strength requirements and accuracy bonuses."

Kureha sighs. "Someone please shut him up. But he's right, even though he's a hypocrite. At least you built up your stats somewhat equally, seems you lucked out on that."

"Yeah," I say with a nervous laugh. What Kureha doesn't know about my true stats can't hurt her, right?

"Mhm… Huh?"

"You're nothing but a fake, XeXeeD, and now you'll face judgement from someone with real power." We turn to a guy in a grey cloak standing underneath the projection of the stream. He holds a gun up, as if he's going to shoot XeXeeD. Other players chuckle at the absurdity of the player's comment until he actually fires the gun.

Kureha frowns in disbelief. "Today's bringing out all the idiots, isn't it… Jaymes?" I hear Kureha's statement but I keep my eyes on the shooter. He fired the gun, not that he could actually hit XeXeeD whether he was here or not, but he still stands there...as if he's serious about this "judgement".

"All I'm saying is what's really important in the end is the player's ability to--"

"Joshua!" Kureha calls out my real name in alarm, which means more than anything than my in-game name. Hearing her surprise, I look up at the stream, seeing XeXeeD's pained face as he gasps. He holds his chest, right where the heart is, and is logged off the stream. As everyone else looks in confusion, my jaw suddenly drops. There's...there's no way, but...he fired that gun, and XeXeeD logs out clutching his chest...but there's no way. There's no way that today, of all days, I'm reliving this nightmare. It has been a complete year since most of the 6,000 survivors of SAO woke up. A year since Kirito defeated Heathcliff. A year since I completed my promise to Koharu.

"Uh oh. I guess we have a bad connection here. Don't worry folks, I'm sure he'll be back shortly. Stay tuned for more MMO Stream."

The gunman lowers his gun and faces us. "This is real power, real strength! Let your fear carve one name into your brains… The name I share with this weapon… Death Gun."

As Death Gun proceeds to leave and passes us, Kureha puts herself behind me. Holding her back, I step out behind, taking out my right pistol and pointing it at the player. "Death Gun! What the hell did you do?" He looks over his shoulder at me, letting his red eyes focus and flash. Kureha takes a step forward, but I hold my left arm out to stop her. He looks at her, then back at me. Those eyes flash a second time, but it is a different kind...like recognition. But I don't recognize him, his username is hidden, unlike mine.

"Still the protector of the innocent women? If only Annihilator could get his hands on her...but we both know what you did. Your judgement will come in time, Crimson Warrior."

Frozen in shock, Death Gun logs out free of my questioning. I slowly put my gun down looking at the floor. That's...not impossible, but...the only way to know that is to have been in Sword Art Online… Who is he?

"Joshua," Kureha says as she takes hold of my shoulders, looking at me in confusion and fear. "What was he talking about? Do you know him?"

I have no answer for Kureha. This shouldn't be possible in GGO, or VR anywhere. But the timing...and the fact he knows my other identity and who I targeted back then… He's from SAO, and most possibly, a former member of Laughing Coffin.

I can't think about that now. Sighing, I wave off Kureha's question and holster my weapon. "Don't worry about it, must have me confused with another. We have the Flügel to concern ourselves with…"