Inside the small booth, they waited in -they, being Kirito, Sinon, and McKnight. Sinon quite annoyingly, asked once again, "You two really have never played BoB?" Her arms and legs crossed, going with her wistful state already.
"Er-No," Kirito admitted, sheepishly. "No, we haven't." He took the opportunity to look over to McKnight, who was too busy placing his fist under his cheek in boredom. "Right?" He muttered to a whisper.
"Hai," The khaki uniform teen gave him a reproachful stare. "ma'am." Which made Kirito want to mutter something not too lady-like at him, either. But not in front of Sinon -not that it mattered anymore when he got found out on his true gender. The fact he was able to convince -actually, no, pester- Sinon enough to maybe, explain how things worked in the tournament on the way here.
The contest recently extended to another five minutes due to "Balancing Issues."
After another minute had passed by of waiting, Kirito groaned silently whether Sinon would tell them anything. Again the image he saw of her in her...underwear popped in his mind. Reminding him shamefully. McKnight, on the other hand, whistled willfully. Enough that Sinon grumbled and turned back around. "Fine! I'll explain the minimum, but that's it."
He brightened. "Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!" Kirito exclaimed, thanking her.
"I'm not doing this because I've forgiven you." Sinon reminded him. "So, listen closely because I won't repeat myself."
Explaining the situation. Sinon started off by saying how, when the big clock over the tall pyramid in the center of the room went 0. Everyone in Block D -their block- would be teleported to their respectful matches. With each map being utterly different in terrain, time, and weather. The goal, being, to eliminate the opposition for you to advance further into the qualifiers. With the other person, most likely being eliminated from the tournament right there.
And since the fights here were duels, one-on-one matchups, each map's size would be 1 km square region with invisible barriers locking off most areas inside. Both players spawned 500 meters apart to prevent any flashpoint battles too close to give one party the unfair advantage. "Since there are sixty-four players in each Block, a total of five victories will take you to the main tournament," Sinon explained. Her body reshifted away from the duo and she paused for a short second, "Usually only two players from each area can advance to the main tournament. But, with what's been going on, I wouldn't doubt if more than two can make it to BoB...If you're good enough."
"You mean because...the rumors going around Gun Gale Online?" Kirito knew but asked anyway.
"I never said anything like that." Sinon shrugged. Then admitted: "They have been drastically reducing GGO's normal player-count, though. Block N and O are entirely empty, so I'm going off of that instead."
"Entirely empty, huh...?" Sinon nodded. Kirito mumbled in concern. I guess I was wrong thinking things were better then. He thought, with much more than worry.
Sinon frankly didn't care about that detail as much as another. "Sōda, I won't explain further or answer anymore questions." She stiffened, again not turning back to face them. "From now on, we're enemies."
"Arigatō. Thanks again, Sinon." Kirito smiled. Especially for the new information about the other brackets.
Sinon fixed her frown down to the glass floor beneath them. "I taught you enough, Kirito." She began sharply, "the only thing I did regret not teaching you sooner was the taste of defeat when my bullet slams into you. Believe that when we meet." She warned, no promised when they would.
Most people perceived that as fighting words -they were. But, Kirito, from what's happened all day. Decided to take it under the chin and face forward. "Okke, then." He nodded in anticipation. "Like we agreed earlier, back at the registration if we fight each other, no holding back." Were that the nerves talking? Or him walking into something that was going to land him into more trouble again? Only time will tell.
It definitely did when Sinon rolled her eye, then swung her gaze over to McKnight who was surprisingly quiet. "And don't think I ever once for a second forgot about you, mercenary. I'll make sure I get even with you for humiliating me last Sunday."
Kirito's partner, as scripted from a school play, played his role just the same around her. "If it's anything like last time, it won't be my boot that buzzes you in half this go around, sniper." He shot back. As they sent glares across the table. Kirito shook his head amazingly and felt like a child between two parents fighting once again.
The ex-sword art online Beater had to admit to one thing. He might've known McKnight for only a few days -and Sinon less than one- but he was glad their fury and rivalry was more focus here in the video game. Than anywhere else. He couldn't imagine them being in the same room in the real world. They'd probably kill each other from how they're acting, now. He took a wild guess.
Someone then called out, "Sinon-chan?"
The trio turned, and everyone but the person whose name was called out, replied, "Spiegel? This is a surprise," Sinon sounded as much. "I thought you said you weren't going to sign up for BoB?"
Spiegel, Kirito didn't think that was the tall, much more slender gray-hair player's real name. Did gathered that the other teen in the ponytail was probably a friend for how quick Sinon's stern expression lower when she made room for him to sit inside the booth. Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, the camouflaged teen said, "Actually, I came by since you were running late and got worried." He answered truthfully.
"E e, sorry about that," Sinon told him. "I had a few issues to settle with earlier today."
"'Issues?'" Spiegel's gray eyebrows raised on his long face. "What issues?"
Sinon's eyes returned to how they were until he showed up. Like a hunter, they shifted steadily across the table. "Those two."
Spiegel's gray eyes followed and were entirely oblivious to the two other boys (one of them) until now. Kirito smiled happily enough. "Hai, I'm one of those two." He returned to using part of the girlish manners he learned the past day and today. "Ossu!"
"Uh. H-Hi, o-oai dekite kouei desu," Spiegel greeted, sounding off guard. "Are you a friend of Sinon's-?" Then he paused. Seeing and recongizing the second boy in khaki, grinning shrewdly at him. "Wait." He turned back to Sinon, "I-Isn't that-?"
"It is." Sinon expressed without much acknowledgment. Adding, "And don't be fooled by the one in the black armor half-skirt, either. She's a he." Which made Spigel's mouth, along with his shrinking pupils, widen big enough to rock his person. If he wasn't sitting down already.
"Yup, I'm a guy." Kirito's smile hadn't faded, either. "Sinon's been a big help. In a lot of ways!"
"Not according to earlier," McKnight reminded him.
Sinon gaped. "Wh-What the hell is that supposed to mean? I don't even know you two, and stop calling me by name!" She directed that last salvo to Kirito.
He acted hurt. "But...you spent the last hour helping me with my gunnery?"
"Th-That's only because you-!"
The lights from the pyramid that told the time inside the center of the room beamed out, divinity. "We apologize for the small delay." The female computer announcer echoed out softly this time, in contrast to the cheery one. "The Bullet of Bullets 3 Qualifying Tournament will now begin. After the countdown, all who have entered the tournament will be automatically transported to the first-round field map. Un ga ii."
Roars of shouts and nearby automatic rifles sounded off the fairly crowded room everyone resided in. Sinon stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Kirito and McKnight. "You two better make it to the finals!" She swore at them. "I'll kick both your butts there."
Kirito grinned and got up as well. "If that's an invitation, I hope we don't miss it." He returned. "Wouldn't you say, too, McKnight?"
"I don't know about you," he grounded out. Then, turning back to the sniper, he left off: "Try not to miss me this time." Before walking out of the booth, Kirito closely behind.
"Y-You," Sinon clenched her fist at them as they walked off towards the neon-lights flashing towards them.
Kirito, admittedly, wanted to tease Sinon a tiny bit more after his halfhearted response towards her by raising his hand back to her as a see you later type of gesture. But decided against it after his partner salted the wounds between him and her.
However, he did notice Spiegel glaring at him. Both of them actually, now. Maybe we took it too far? He winced. Kirito managed to tell McKnight, "Good luck out there." Seconds when the bubble aura around him transported him to his first-round.
Barely hearing the American begin to say, "Try not to get killed in there," dubiously.
Kirito did not expect anything different from him after a week since they met.
His match, broadly and efficiently, was over by the time he knew how to blink.
Spawning into a hilly and mostly green forest clearing, Kirito was nearly attacked right away a minute or two hiding behind a windmill near a farm. Sure enough, the other player gave him a terrible scare that the shock made Kirito barely evade to cover with little more than a scratch -from the fall.
There were, no point in lying about it when Kirito thought this game was more demanding than it was. He might've had very great trouble predicting the Bullet Lines from the opposite player's automatic gun.
But, when he calmed himself down. And, found the player's killing intent after throwing, what looked like, a smoke bomb...Kirito had rushed him by the time it fell out of his hands. Losing the time, the opposing player had to steady his aim when Kirito -clumsy but good enough- shot his opponent's chest several times. Getting close. Then, cutting him down with his photon sword with a single strike.
Congratulations!
Kirito Wins!
Fanning the smoke Kirito shook his head when he almost placed his sword on his back again. He sighed. "And I have to do this four more times?" He groaned sadly. Seconds until getting teleported.
. . .
Ruin Factory Junction, it was called. Sinon shook her head after equipping her Hecate II and extended-round glock pistol. Guessing they, the developers, couldn't come up with a better name for the place. Specifically, the Japanese ones who translated the game to play here in the first place?
She guessed that it didn't matter. This was a map she'd played on the last tournament for the qualifiers.
When her boots first landed and touched the asphalt floor between two destroyed train carts, Sinon realized what part of the map she spawned on. And was incredibly glad she did so.
Players here in GGO's BoB preliminaries spawned 500 meters away from one another. They had plenty of space, to -an extent- setup. And if she landed just right, then the tallest enterable building was not at all too far away.
Leaving the two wrecked train lots behind herself as she dashed out. Sinon darted her head northwest and, besides the railroad that ran from left to the right side. More trains and pieces of trains were scattered and buried inside dirt with smoke emitting out of their stacks.
Sinon spotted the oversized and, equally as beaten up, Crayon factory directly in front of her spot. She got moving.
Apparently, this whole area was once a regular old factory site for making kid-style school supplies ranging from colored-books, binders, folders, and, well, crayons according to the game's lore. After war-ravaged this side of the place, and humanity eventually left Earth altogether for a short while. This once happy-go-lucky place to provide a child, a sense of need became a wasteland in on itself.
When humanity did return with SBC Glocken, the super-city now GGO's starting area. This place served a more immediate purpose as a staging area. A launching point, with rails and time schedules. Hauling men and supplies over what was left of a previous civilization destroyed and nearly buried and started new fights. With the gray and colorless sign of -maybe once a giant red?- crayon amongst the four-story building. It fit well with the uneasy feeling of desolation.
Sinon, earnestly, would've enjoyed the place some much more if it didn't have so many bushes and smoke to hid in as she advanced to the front gates. The last thing she wanted was to give the other player a chance to take her off with her back turned.
Continuing up a fleet of rusty old iron stairs. Sinon had to quite literally jump over a few that were missing or had blown off. "Kuso!" She cussed when her foot missed, and she stumbled forward, almost dropping her rifle down a story or two. Luckily she held on the entire trip.
Once she reached the third story and ran down the shadowy hallway to the back. Sinon blitzed to the closest available, blasted open window.
Glass crunching under her boots. Sinon lay down and got to work setting up. My opponent is another sneezy sniper named Simo. Sinon remembered as she firmly set her rifle's bipod to the factory's flooring.
Adjusting her sniper's windage and elevation to the range she believed the other player was coming from. Sinon placed the butt of her rifle against her shoulder. Peering through her scope.
He has an old, bolt-action Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle variant from the Soviet Union. She remembered from the last time they fought in the 2nd primaries. Since he was quite good with it. If he wants to win, he'll have to force me to fire first through a trick. My rifle's powerful, no doubt, but his is faster and quicker to recover. Looking out into the destroyed overgrown parking lot with overturned cars and debris, she scanned the area.
Suddenly, Sinon felt glaringly unnerved. Mostly to not only her goal of not just winning this match and, hopefully, winning up to the primaries' finals and beyond to the battle royale.
About her plans when she got off...with Reggie.
The American boy since the day Sinon -or Asada- met him a few days ago left an odd impression on her. She wasn't at all used to talking to boys, except a few instances here and there. She didn't have much trouble hanging out with Shinkawa either in Gun Gale Online or in the real world (eventually). But Reggie was a different story altogether.
The first day they talked, it was much more than Sinon could've handled since her conversions with anyone -especially those who knew her- ended pretty badly. Even when she was trying to help out in some way. When she tried returning the western boy's code to the lock for his apartment door, he not only talked to her sensibly. But also gave her his family name!
Or she believes it was. She wasn't that acquitted with American culture and customs besides a few things.
Every time Sinon interacted with him throughout the rest of the week, she admittedly felt bubbly and strange. When they were at the park. Coming out of school and being assaulted by Endou and her other bullies. To this morning, when Reggie had a case of the sniffles, worse than she'd seen him. And she gave him her mother's old scarf she wore to school whenever the weather got cold like this. Making him feel better.
She didn't fully know what made her do it. She just did. Then, when Reggie finally brought the attention to tutoring her for her final exams next week: she felt ecstatic.
Even if he doesn't honestly know the real me, Sinon thought with deep regret, despite being in her avatar's body. She felt terrible for not bringing her past up to him. I have to tell him sooner or later. She thought, making a hesitant note of it. Deep down she didn't (couldn't) want to.
Around the same time, she gave the other pale teen the library's location and time. Sinon paid a call to her grandfather and had told him what had happened since moving way out here in Tokyo. She hadn't had any recent major panic attacks and made a few friends for a while anyway. It wasn't an improvement. An upbeat more when she used to live back in her hometown, sure. But not an improvement. Far from it actually.
That's what made this day more important than ever. She wanted to get even, too.
Kirito, the cross-dressing prevert, who tricked her into believing he was a girl. And that damn light-brown mercenary, McKnight. The one who she fought up in the Wastelands, who without much hurry, shot her while she was fake surrendering to blow him up into pieces with a grenade.
Her anger and frustration towards them fueled her. Sure she helped them in a way to understanding BoB -neither of them knew what they were doing here. But that was to make sure she ran into one - or both- of them further down the tournament. She wanted them dead.
Starting with McKnight, that bastard. Sinon scorned, wanting to wipe that smug look on his red-eyed face in particular. Kirito might've made her hit-list. Yet, McKnight ranked number one and more. The other boy was a very close second.
Suddenly, a ruff scuttle, sounded out to Sinon's right side.
instinctively, her sniper's barrel bolted to the source of the sound but found no one there. "Hm," Zooming out from her cross-hairs to see if she can get a better overview of the environment. She grumbled out. "He's not making things easy."
The location the noise came from was at a burnt-out blue four-wheeled car with its windows, tires, and most of its roof gone. With large brushes of yellow -nearly white- strains of grass punching there way out of the concrete that lid them shut around the parking structure. A few feet away. A red bus that was in a similar condition layed turned that way ever so slightly.
Her heart, quite literally, punched out her ingame throat when she saw the shape of a steel helmet rise up from behind the turned bus' middle-left window. Her finger eased the trigger till the helmet awkwardly stood still.
Without the sun's glare helping her out, the thin piece of string connected a bit below the helmet towards the lower right, wouldn't have revealed itself.
When Sinon realized what Simo was trying to accomplish and understood why she heard a ruff thudding sound by the destroyed car. She shook her head in disappointment. He was buying time to set up his decoy behind the destroyed bus by taking my eyes off and pointing them to the car. That way, when I shot it, he'll know my exact location and try to pull a fast one. Sinon connected the dots with certainty. But, if he's attaching some string to raise his dummy off the ground from the bus's middle, That means he's… "There!"
Sinon directed her gun's sights to the far right of the bus. Elevated the barrel and steadied her breathing while the Bullet Circle expanded but swiftly shrunk to where she wanted it. Then, she fired.
Boom! The blast out of her Hecate's literal cannon mount roared. Shredding and blowing part of the bus' tail to the sky and across the broken downfield. Sinon worked on the lever of her rifle to get another shot in -if her opponent somehow wasn't there or, how unlikely it is, dodged. She eased up when Simo, who was on the receiving end of that explosion, layed stiff as a statue with half his lower torso blown off. His wooden gun in the same condition until he went up in red pixels.
Had he been able to convincingly made her fall for the trap, he may have, at the very least, made her waste her sniper's hidden first shot and used his own to outgun her. Yet, by making a mistake himself, he spelled out his own doom. Too bad. Sinon thought, slugging up her rifle.
Congratulations!
Sinon Wins!
The trumpet music and blares cheerfully singing out. Sinon looked at -no, through- the yellow text display with reason. The first of many victories, she was hoping.
Now the question was, how were the other two fairing?
. . .
The heavy sound of a waterfall somewhere McKnight couldn't see didn't make him dive into the closest foxhole. Or what counted as one. Something that sounded awfully like a machine gun crack! passed above fifteen yards inside the forest, over a hundred yards, north of him. According to the Bullet lines he caught a glimpse of.
Now, full seconds after being teleported to what looked like an incredibly large forest clearing with two or three destroyed water shrines. Concrete walkways and many more Budda designed statues, McKnight was right back to another fight. The way things should be.
A small battle or skirmish or, possibly, someone having too much fun yanking the lanyard off an artillery piece turned the whole landscape around him into a death zone. Smoke radiating off a broken white pillar nearby came over and hit his virtual nostrils. Giving a nice dose of gunpowder and burnt pork meat.
The uppity sniper girl, Sinon, ran by him and the Black Swordsman what to expect with this game mode's rules, admittedly, okay enough. You spawned in a roughly medium-sized map with one other guy. The two of you fought it out, and whoever was left standing moved on. At the same time, the loser most likely was eliminated out of the tournament entirely. Which was something McKnight and Kirito, to a degree, understood from the get-go. And didn't want to do. Sinon also had mentioned that due to lack of player participation in the other blocks. There may be a chance for more than two people to advance to the Bullet of Bullets event. Which caught his attention to an extent.
It wasn't a sure way from how the blue-haired girl said it. If somehow, the Hero of Aincard didn't make it…
He shrugged. If something happened, it happened. There weren't any guarantees, especially for a business like this. Plus, he wouldn't have lost any sleep over it. He was better off alone if it came down to it.
McKnight peeked his M1A1 Thompson behind a different part of his position if the other guy wanted to get an easy kill from where he dove. McKnight couldn't see who was there from his spot -too far away.
There was another water temple -or fountain, from the looks of it- surrounded by four pillars. upahead Only this one looked to be in worse shape. Two of the white visible stones were burnt and at half-length. While the one in the back left collapsed adjacent on top of the tiny shrine. Creating a tiny pool of water and rubble only reason McKnight had such a moderately clear view of this was not only did his visor did wonders blocking out the sun's rays.
It acted as a way for him to temporarily zoom a couple of yards away as if he was aiming down the sights like a pair of mini-binoculars.
He rarely used it, though; it didn't display things as clearly as he would've liked. But they were better than nothing.
However, if the Bullet Line came north of him. There happened to be a perfectly defended piece of destroyed cover at the temple. When you added two plus two and got four. The other guy was there, for sure.
Back in the Guild Wars, McKnight was not only hired to serve as another piece of machinery to the rapid complexes of unfavorable leadership war typically proves, mostly. But also as an observer and leading the boys in the colors he was fighting in into battle. Whenever they enter a town or city, mountain range, valley, canyon, or just plainly anywhere with a concealed position. You best believe there was a machine gun ready to spout death at a moment's notice. What was even worse was when the crew would play possum after going silent from a direct hit from small-arms fire or, from time to time, a rocket launcher.
Some players would be sent to slowly, yet steadily, advance forward to make sure it was down for the count. Then, when enough of the opposing team was in perfect range out in the open: they'd open up again and caused some more men to go down. Either for cover or screaming out for a medic. Bastard's probably hunkered under that destroyed pillar too, I reckon. McKnight thought, however unsure.
He didn't see the other guy do it, and he hadn't heard any other movement since then to confirm so. It was a shot in the dark. But, how to validate without getting shot and kill was a different story. "Only way to find out for sure..."
Taking one last look from a different side, his tiny hole of a trench. McKnight scrambled out of his foxhole. Guardedly walking out and crouching to make himself as small a target as possible out in the open. There was a dirt path that led nearly to the temple; McKnight believed the gunner was inside. If he could see the Bullet Line -or, more importantly, its muzzle flash- he could run and dive for the piece of a statue perpendicular from him.
Taking another step. The rapid flash of a machine gun went off right underneath the destroyed pillar. Barely giving McKnight time to see the Bullet Line and dive across for protection. Rounds flying and whizzing past his head a second time.
By the time he checked if he had been hit for his risky adventure and found only five bullet holes down inside his trousers' ankles. "Whew," He fixed his helmet. Waiting till the other player had to reload -or maybe adjust his aim- McKnight leaped out of his position and rattled out a hail of bullets from his submachine gun towards the ruin. Pieces of rock and dirt thumping all over. He wasn't close enough for his own weapon's firepower to outgun the machine gun. However, it kept the player's head down for what McKnight did have planned. As he advanced to another piece of cover.
Dodging and firing a stream of his own to get closer, he realized something. This guy was a pretty terrible aim. Maybe it was just because McKnight's character build ran on Strength first and Agility being a close second (the former being meta). Or maybe the type of mg the player used was not used to being stationary, but didn't most machine guns did?
Then the butternut mercenary noticed pretty quickly that this guy wasn't using one after advancing an unprecedented fifty yards inland with little more than dirt on his tunic. He was using an assault rifle. McKnight grin predatory.
When a short burst came his way -this one sounds like a single bullet or two was only salvoing out. That was all the proof he needed. Grabbing and pulling the pin off his time-fused grenade, McKnight tossed the first one high enough for a hail mary, that it erupted and sent smoke and dirt flying in the air. He sent a second one directly onto the pillar, sending more pieces of marble instead.
By the time he slapped in a new 30-round stick magazine into his gun, and full-on sprinted outside his hiding place. The other player began fleeing for the hills -or the forest in this case. He never made it.
The cyan player let out a startled scream when McKnight's gun chattered. Sending pixeled blood out from his back until he crumbled and dove face-first into the ground. Dropping his gun -an AK-47 from the looks of it.
Advancing forward and keeping his gun trained on him. McKnight was somewhat amazed to see that this guy was actually another teen himself. His lightish skin tone and skinny build, toppled by a short brown bowel cut with a pair of glasses, said he was anyways. And ill-equipped one at that. He counted little body armor or secondary weapon inside his belt, besides the bright blue SHOOT ME! attire painted on his back. Sticking out much more than McKnight's colors.
The prone player groaned and squeaked. Reaching for his assault rifle. McKnight moved his crosshairs up to the player's head. "Oh no, you don't!" He swore. Pulling the trigger. The teen went limp and burst into tiny pieces of red shards.
The rolling burst of bugles saluted off with the heads-up displayed showing his victory.
Congratulations!
McKnight Wins!
"One down." He thought. "Four of 'em to go."
Since the fighting was over now. A wild thought of what McKnight had to do after all this was settled for today rounded his mind for a rerun...with Asada and their tutoring session later afternoon out in the blue.
He still wasn't too sure why his brain decided to keep reminding him of something he was also aware of. Pulling onto his collar. He felt the scarf Asada had loaned to him (he wouldn't say keep) earlier that morning when he was sneezing a storm like it was going out of style. The fact it worked and he hadn't thought it before was oddly unlike him. He grimaced.
McKnight knew couldn't get too attached being around in Japan again. He had to remind himself that after the tournament -if he made it that far and found who Death Gun was- his contact was concluded and he'd return home back to America within the few days. Yeah...home. Which him sour more.
After another second of thinking that over, McKnight shook his head in frustration. That part of his day -and weekend- felt like a million miles away. No point in quibbling about that now.
Returning to the waiting room when the game teleported him out. McKnight took a quick scan around and found that he was one of the first people back -or maybe everyone else got sent off again (The multiple floating TVs nearby said it was the first option).
Some players were either standing around in or around the booths. While a couple in pairs or by themselves looked up to watch the other matches. McKnight couldn't find the sniper's skinny friend around. Since he'd figure that guy would stay longer to watch his girl-who-happened-to-be-a-friend fight. Guess not, it looked like.
Shrugging, as his crimson eyes shifted to the left to where the booth all three of them were previously sitting at. He found Kirito nearby there. A mix of grim and dread filling his pale, ghostly face. Two players in cloaks with one holding out his user panel stood infront of him, but he wasn't sure if they were saying anything to him.
The one with the longer piece of cloth then outstretched his right arm to the side of him. Making the swordsman's purple eyes follow then, slowly, widen in alarm and...fear? What the hell?
McKnight quirked with a frown. "Hey, you two!" He started marching over with a purpose.
Author's note: Hello there! Thank you so much for reading. If you want to see more chapters like this one, please support the story by following/favoriting and leaving your thoughts in the reviews -the fate of the 3rd Bullet of Bullets tournament depends on it!
Okay, probably not but it would be greatly welcomed! Thanks again for reading and have a damn good day!
