The Battle of Guns Versus the Phantom Nightmare

Chapter One- The Investigation into The Phantom Deaths!

Jake's POV

*October 15th 2025, Pudsey Bus Station, 3:35pm*

"It's been one year and three months since I reunited with Yuuki after I got discharged from the hospital after needing rehabilitation once I cleared the death game known as Sword Art Online by defeating the creator of the game called Akihiko Kayaba or as he was known inside Aincrad the floating castle inside Sword Art Online, Heathcliff the commander of the strongest guild the Knights of the Blood Oath. Since I came back into the real world it's been hard to adjust too, but finally after all this time, myself and the other Sword Art Online survivors are slowly but finally getting back our lives in the real world" I thought to myself with a distant look on my face.

Suddenly I was snapped out of my deep thinking and reminiscing state of mind by the sound of a nearby bus which had just pulled into its stand, I smiled happily while I watched the departing passengers walk past me as I waited for one person in particular to step off the bus. A moment later after almost everyone had departed the bus, I saw the girl I loved most in the entire world step off the bus and on to the platform of my local town's bus station. Her name was Yuuki Konno, she had long flowing purple hair with a white headband placed in the middle of her hair, she was wearing a white t-shirt covered by a light purple coat which was zipped all the way up, she wore a dark purple skirt and white trainers with a black Nike branded tick on the side of them. She looked up from her phone and smiled warmly as she laid eyes on me.

Yuuki's POV

Once I got off the bus I quickly ran towards my boyfriend and the love of my life Jake Nicholls. I embraced him firmly and tightened it- almost as if I were scared to let go in case he disappeared and I never saw him again. After a few seconds Jake coughed slightly which snapped me out of my embrace and made me look around at the nearby people who were smiling and laughing happily at our embarrassed faces. I looked my boyfriend over casually with a playful grin plastered on my face. He was wearing a plain dark blue t-shirt with black trousers, a white hoodie which was unzipped and bright red trainers- just like what he normally wears almost every single time since we started dating in the real world over a year ago once we cleared Sword Art Online.

Jake raised his eyebrow in a curious and playful look, he poked my shoulder lightly and looked at me with a look of both slight confusion but also playful annoyance "Hey what's so funny little missy? He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing silly hehe just reminiscing about old times, plus we both wore our original colours, today didn't we?" I replied questioningly with a giggle.

Jake smiled back at me "Yeah I guess we did I guess some habits aren't that easy to kick after all, shall we get going then?" He responded questioningly.

I twirled around in a circle and laid my head in his warm comforting chest "Of course my hero hehe" I replied with my signature grin which I knew he liked.

He blushed slightly before he held my hand firmly which made me blush too- even after a year of dating I'm still shy and embarrassed about showing affection in public even if I do love him with all my heart.

Jake's POV

We exited the bus station and walked down the road leading to my house. While we walked, I looked at Yuuki and smiled at things she said and the way she smiled while I tried to push the events of earlier today from my mind and focus on my beloved Yuuki. That would prove to me quite difficult and the memories of earlier today unsettled me a great deal.

*Flashback*

*4 Hours ago, Weatherby Whaler- 11:30am*

I arrived at the restaurant and glanced around to check if the person I was meant to be meeting was nearby. He wasn't which means he must have been inside, I sighed before I slowly walked towards the restaurant doors, opened them, and stepped inside. Once I was inside, I could see him- the man who had asked me to come to this restaurant in my local area so he could discuss something with me. I walked towards his table towards the far end of the restaurant. Once I approached his table, I looked at the man who was at the table with a menu in his hands. He wore a dark green suit with a purple tie, he also had black hair and a casual smile on his face when he noticed me standing at the table- this man was Seijirou Kikuoka, the man who worked for the Ministry of Internal Affair's Telecommunications Bureau's Advanced Network Division, also known as the Virtual Reality Division.

"Nice to see you again Jake, please sit down and order anything you like, it's on me so please don't worry about the price" Kikuoka said with a smile of politeness.

I sat down at the table on the chair opposite his, I took a menu and quickly scanned it, once I had made my choice a waiter walked over to our table and I gave the man my order along with Kikuoka's, the man smiled and left us in peace.

After a few moments of tense silence, Kikuoka chuckled lightly "You don't have to so uptight and formal around me Jake, just talk to me like you would inside ALO" He said with a smile.

"Right well if you say so Mr Kikuoka, so why did you ask me to meet you here today, if you wanted to ask me about Sword Art Online I've told you everything I know" I sighed exhaustedly at the thought of having to retell every traumatising detail of what happened inside that death game once again.

Kikuoka's smile grew thin, he looked at me with a look of genuine concern which alarmed me. He reached into his bag and rummaged around looking for something "Actually the reason I wanted to talk to you was about this" He replied with a concerned tone of voice and troubled look on his face. He retrieved his hand from his bag and handed me a small tablet with a man's face on the screen I wanted you to look at this" He continued with a hint of concern in his voice.

I looked at the tablet screen and saw a man's face on the screen, he appeared to be in his late 20s, he had short brown hair in a mohawk hair style with shaven sides.

I raised my eyebrow slowly and turned my attention back to Kikuoka "Who is this person?" I asked curiously not sure why I was being shown this.

"That man is called Nicholas Dreaver and he was found dead in his apartment last month on September 7th a landlord in Bramley noticed a putrid odour coming from one of the apartments he had rented to somebody, so he used his key to enter the building, when he did he checked all the rooms and found this man dead in the living room, Nicholas was 25 and he had been dead for six days, his place was relatively messy but no signs of a break in, he did have something intriguing on his head though" Kikuoka replied with a concerned expression on his face.

I narrowed my eyes "It was an AmuSphere wasn't it?" I replied with a hint of unease in my voice. Surely something like what happened with the Nerve Gear couldn't happen again… could it?

Kikuoka looked at me with a grim expression on his face "Yeah, it was ruled an unnatural death so they didn't autopsy" He replied while he flicked to a photo of the man wearing the AmuSphere while his eyes and mouth were wide open which is not normally what is supposed to happen while someone is wearing the AmuSphere… that is unless something happens to his body in the real world I suppose.

"Did anyone figure out what the cause of death was?" I asked in surprise and shock that someone died while wearing a virtual reality device. My mind instantly flashed back to the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online… surely that couldn't happen again? I thought that nightmare was finally over!

Kikuoka continued to flick through the file on the tablet while he kept his eyes focused on the screen "The cause of death was found to be acute heart failure"

I perked up my ears and raised my eyebrow "Heart failure? So his heart stopped, did they find out why?" I asked with a look of concern and confusion on my face.

"No they didn't unfortunately" Kikuoka replied. A moment later the waiter came and brought us our food, he handed them to us then left noticing that we were talking about something important.

"Unfortunately since so much time had past and foul played had been ruled out due to the lack of signs of burglary the autopsy wasn't as through as it normally would have been, they were able to determine that he hadn't eaten hardly anything in days and had been logged in for three days straight" Kikuoka continued.

I listened with a look of confusion and pain on my face "Well that's not that unusual hardcore players do it all the time" I replied slowly as I was processing all this sudden information. A few long tense seconds later a thought appeared in my mind and I looked up at Kikuoka and raised my eyebrow questioningly "Wait why are you telling me about something like this?" I asked curiously with a look of uncertainty.

"He had a game installed on his system called Gun Gale Online have you heard of it?" Kikuoka asked questioningly.

"Yeah of course I have, it's the only MMO with professional players" I replied.

"This past month there was a tournament to decide the strongest player in the game called Bullet of Bullets, the guy who died was one of the participants, he finished in 8th place out of the total 30" Kikuoka replied with a look of fear on his face.

"I'm guessing he was playing Gun Gale Online when he died?" I asked questioningly with a sense of fear creeping up on me as my chest tightened.

"Yeah he was, the player was out in the field hunting either monsters or other players I'm not sure, when suddenly this player approached him and his squadron which is like a guild in Alfheim Online, then the player started ranting about that player who's avatar name was called Alexie being an arrogant player who deserved judgment" Kikuoka replied with a bitter reaction almost as if he was disgusted at something "The players just laughed and ignored him, they were preparing to leave the area when the mysterious player pulled out a sub machine gun called a Sturm KZ and fired only one bullet and the avatar named Alexie, the bullet grazed his arm but didn't do any serious damage, the members of Alexie's squadron prepared to attack, suddenly a few seconds later the player was riving in pain, he clutched his chest before he was disconnected from the game, the other members of Alexie's squad all seemed frightened and left the area before the mysterious player did" Kikuoka finished with a grim and unsure look on his face.

"Did you know what that mysterious player looked like?" I replied.

"No they didn't but he said his handle in Gun Gale Online, a type of nickname I suppose" Kikuoka responded.

"What name did he give them players?" I questioned worriedly not liking the sound of his voice.

"He said his name was Phantom Star" Kikuoka responded with a tone of confusion in his voice.

"Phantom Star? That's an ominous name it makes them sound dangerous but I guarantee it's nothing more than a coincidence" I replied as I ate my food. I was sure no one could die from an in-game death while they wore the AmuSphere… but on the off chance it could actually happen. I had to find and this person before a repeat of Sword Art Online happened again!

"There was another death as well, on September 23rd a man who lived in an apartment in Armley, the place was quite well kept, however the person who lived in the apartment was found dead after three days, the cause of death was heart failure the same as with Nicholas, the person was called Alex Ushigi and he was also a player of Gun Gale Online his avatar name was Ushigi Wagatari he placed 11th in the last Bullet of Bullets" Kikuoka responded grimly.

I dropped my food while I sat there listening to this information, two people who both played Gun Gale Online and who were both relatively high in the rankings were both killed in the real world with the same cause of death. Is it really possible for something like Sword Art Online to happen again?

"Was this Alex Ushigi person playing Gun Gale Online when he died?" I questioned nervously already anticipating the answer.

"He was, this person was with his friend both in game and real life, they worked in the same supermarket and they were both part of the same squadron however most of the members were off scouting for nearby monsters to ambush when a mysterious player approached both Ushigi and his friend, he started ranting about judgement and how arrogant Ushigi apparently was then he shot him in game and the times match up from when his avatar got shot in game and his real body's heart stopped matched in time" Kikuoka replied firmly with a grave look on his face.

"How was he found?" I asked questioningly.

"He had ordered a delivery for a takeaway pizza, the man arrived on time, he knocked the door multiple times but there was no answer, he looked inside the window and noticed something weird so he rang for an ambulance and spoke to the landlord who he was friends with and he let the paramedics into the apartment to check on the condition of the body, they noticed he had been playing Gun Gale Online for what could have been days at a time with hardly any time in the real world" Kikuoka replied worriedly.

I sat at the table and absorbed all this information. Two people had both died of heart failure who were relatively high ranking Gun Gale Online players, they both had been approached by a mysterious player who ranted about how arrogant the players apparently were and about how they needed to receive judgement then they were shot by this strange player in game only once, but then a few seconds later or a minute later at most the player begun to rive in pain and got disconnected from the game only to be discovered dead a few days later… is it really possible for someone to die in game and die in real life while wearing the AmuSphere which was supposed to eliminate the risks that the Nerve Gear had so an incident like Sword Art Online could never happen again? But on the slight chance it could happen…. On the slight chance people were killing just like in Aincrad, I had to stop it or at least try!

I slowly raised my head from between my hands and looked at Kikuoka. I had a pretty good guess for why he had asked me to meet him here and why he was telling me all this classified information, I finished eating my food quickly. When I had finished I stared at Kikuoka firmly "So I'm pretty certain I know why your telling me all this information Mr Kikuoka and I think I know I know what you want me to do, the question is, what happens if it turns out to be nothing more than a scare story?" I asked questioningly.

"Kikuoka looked at me with a hint of unease and sweat on his face- he must have been nervous or embarrassed "Well you are right about that, if it turns out to be nothing more than a scare tale and these deaths are nothing more than were coincidences then that'll be the end of it, but if people really are killing people in the real world from the virtual world again, I think we both agree that something must be done about it, so I'm asking you Jake Nicholls as the third best player inside the most notoriously known VRMMO ever will you dive into Gun Gale Online and investigate these deaths, if you come to the same conclusion as me that it is nothing more than a scare story then that'll be the end of it and I'll apologise for wasting your time, you'll be paid for your trouble I promise so will you?" Kikuoka asked and almost begged me with a look of fear and uncertainty on his face.

I nodded my head understandingly. If this did turn out to be nothing but a hoax or scare story then I'll simply log out of Gun Gale Online and go back the virtual world where all my friends would be waiting for me, Alfheim Online. "Sure I'll do it; I'll log into Gun Gale Online and investigate these deaths" I replied with a quick and short nod of my head.

Kikuoka smiled happily "Thank you so much Jake your helping not just me but my bosses too" He smiled approvingly.

"I'll do it but I have two terms that need to be agreed with first" I replied with a serious look on my face which made Kikuoka pause and feel a little nervous.

"What are those terms?" Kikuoka questioned nervously. A small amount of sweat appeared on his forehead- he must have been quite nervous wondering what my conditions were going to be for diving into Gun Gale Online.

"My first condition is a question, if you're looking for talented Sword Art Online players to dive into Gun Gale Online why didn't you ask Kirito or rather Kazuto Kirigaya, I mean you are acquainted with him as well right?" I asked curiously wondering why he had asked me instead of Kirito who was a stronger and a better player of virtual reality games then me.

Kikuoka sighed and relaxed slightly, he returned to his comfortable position in his chair and looked at me with a look of honesty "Actually that's something I was going to tell you, there were some other deaths with similar circumstances but it was slightly different so I asked Kazuto to look into that matter a yesterday he should be logging into Gun Gale Online tomorrow I believe" Kikuoka answered with a smile on his face.

"So I'll be working alongside Kirito?" I asked curiously.

"Not necessarily your cases are different so he'll be investigating his case and you'll be investigating your own case, although I suppose you could work together if you preferred" He replied with a thin smile.

"I'll definitely need to talk to him about that before tomorrow" I whispered underneath my breath to myself. After a few seconds of thinking to myself I returned my attention back to Kikuoka "My second condition is I want to ask three people if they'll help me with this investigation if that's okay with you Mr Kikuoka" I said with a confident voice.

Kikuoka raised his eyebrow and looked at me with a look of confusion and curiosity "You want people's assistance? Well that's fine naturally but just out of curiosity who are these three individuals?"

I smirked cheerfully "You already know them, their Sword Art Online survivors Luke Lawton, Shannon Jade and Yuuki Konno"

Kikuoka smiled widely and approvingly "Yes of course they can join you in the investigation as long as you'll be able to brief them on the details, I'm a little busy after this meeting" Kikuoka replied with a look of satisfaction on his face.

I nodded my head "Yeah of course I will, I'm meant to be meeting them in Alfheim Online later so I'll do it then, well I better be going I have somewhere to be soon thanks for the food Mr Kikuoka" I replied as I placed my half of the bill on the table and walked out of the restaurant and headed back home to prepare for meeting my girlfriend Yuuki later on that day and think of all I had been told and how I would investigate inside Gun Gale Online and most importantly I thought about all the people I met inside Sword Art Online who died and I silently prayed that something like that wasn't happening again inside another virtual reality game!

*End of Flashback*