[Gun Gale Online, SBC Glocken, Main Square]
[Malzeno's POV]
The faint smell of gasoline in the air, the dampness of the thin layer of fog that shrouded parts of the city below and afar, it was like I never left. The cyber city, forged around a massive spaceship lies atop the ruins of humanity before, creating a city layered atop itself, rising higher towards the spire, the centerpiece of the city.
Skyscrapers pierced the heavens, and neon lights and advertisements filled the steel city with colour, amplified by the world's bleak wasteland. The many streets found through dark alleys and a web of pathways and bridges, all converging on the Strip that led from the bottom of the city to the upper-class to the north.
I stood waiting outside the starting point of all newbies, a large circular gazebo with four black pillars holding up the domed roof with neon purple lines to fill the gaps at the top. Another white flash of light drew my gaze to the place that doubled as a respawn point, feeling my eyes tunnel to the brightest thing in Glocken.
"Woaaah~!" Yuuki was speechless, as expected, she's never been to GGO until now, and to the neon city among the wastelands.
Yuuki's long, purple hair and vermillion eyes never changed, but her outfit was far more fitting for a new player, rather, something I gave her as a welcoming gift to better suit her style, call me pampering but with all Yuuki does for me, it's the least I could do so she didn't feel out of place.
Her outfit was a skin-tight purple shirt, exposing parts of her biceps with two red lines down her torso from under a black breastplate. A pair of purple, fingerless gloves that covered her forearms, a pair black wristbands for each arm. Red combat shorts and a holster on her bare right thigh. Lastly, some black, knee-high socks that melded with her boots and purple kneepads.
Overall? I whistled. "Man, am I good at fashion choices," I patted myself on the back for this one.
Peeling her eyes away from Glocken to look at me, I saw that glint in her eyes and mischievous smirk form. "Oooh? Any reason behind my outfit choice, Mal~?" Even fluttering her eyelashes to boot, she's scary good at this.
"Hey, I could've made it skimpy but I have enough self-respect for myself and in you to not do that," I defended, arms crossed. "...you look both cute and badass, Cupcake,"
That drew a delighted smile out from her, hopping over to kiss my exposed cheek. "Thanks a bunch, I'll owe ya for this-but look at you! You look so metal!" She pumped her fists as I stood back to give her a proper look at my attire.
Instead of my brighter colours in ALO, in this game I wore mostly darks. I had a torn cloak with a hood down, marked with the symbol of several arrows in red. My body covered from the neck-down in a sleek armour fitting for an assassin in shades of dark grey to black. As Sinon once described me-A Zer0 cosplayer. Well, I like Zer0 so it stuck.
My face was also now covered by a distinct mask with two large eyes that glowed blue, the LEDs changing to visibly represent my expression, it also creeped people out so like my outfit, it stuck. "Like it? An Info-Broker's gotta stand out a little from the crowd, and the brokers here are some vicious people, yeesh,"
"Hm, then it's a good thing I have my own reliable source," Yuuki winked, so with a smile I stretched my arms out wide, the spire of Glocken in the distance to my back.
"Welcome to Gun Gale Online, the closest thing to a gun-focused Dark Souls game, complete with unwanted invasions," It was one of many ways to put this unforgiving game, but I was just showing Yuuki around for the day before we took a crack at anything crazy. Then again, I'm talking to a girl obsessed with action, so we'll see how my hindsight fares.
"Oh!" I blinked and Yuuki was already gone and pointing at something further down the street. "Let's check this place first, all these colourful lights!"
"Her inner moth has come out once again," Rolling my eyes, I tucked my hands into my pockets to follow her. "Right behind you, Cupcake,"
She had spotted everyone's stop from all walks of life in GGO, The Gun Market. Simple and gets to the point. The sign outside transitioned between various colours, special offers and deals visible on the glass or within the scrolling text below the main sign. Yuuki was quick to take my hand as she dragged me almost by the heels to look around.
The damp air was now replaced with a relaxing, warm humidity, many players dotted around either to look at guns or see the Offer of the Day that NPC girls physically displayed on a stage. There were dozens of weapon archetypes either kept separate by type or gathered in their respective manufacturer.
"T-there's so much here!" Yuuki gawked, trying to analyse all of it at once, a bad idea honestly. "I knew there were as many firearms as melee weapons but this is insane!"
"Welcome to a gun-nut's paradise," I led her to a section fitting for new players, not that here measly 1000 Credits would buy much. "There's weapon archetypes, and those types can have sub archetypes depending on their modifications, like full-auto or semi for example. Then there's weapon manufacturers to take into account as certain weapons from certain groups will offer different stats and modifiers. Basically, it makes almost all loot, bought or found, a big ol gamble,"
"You sound like Argo when you said that," She snickered as my fingers flicked her nose, making her sneeze. "Ahem, so, what's your recommendation?"
I paused, crossing my arms for a moment as my brow furrowed. "No offense, Cupcake, but you have about as much money as a bum off the street, to put it bluntly," That gleeful expression of hers faltered, the edges of her smile twitching, "Best you can afford is a ray gun," Then her mood grew cloudy, "I doubt there's even a spare revolver you could buy,"
Now she slumped forward, "Wh-why is the starting weapons so expensive?" She whined, her head shooting upright to grab the edges of my chest plate with a desperate look I knew all-too-well. "Mal, we need cash stat! I'll even break my oath and play stupid casino games with you, this game's gotta have those, right!?"
My mask's eyes blinked, startled in her pleading gaze as I pulled her hands off me. "W-While that is a heart-warming gesture to my gambling heart; I'm pretty sure the spirits of your family would lynch me if I allowed it. And I don't need that spiritual pressure-so, we'll just have to go with a pretty bog-standard for a large sum of players. Monster hunting,"
"There is another method if you need Credits fast,"
A tap on my shoulder nearly sent me through the ceiling, drawing several gazes as I stumbled and spun around on my heel sharply, my eyes narrowed as I fumed. "Aaah, Sinon, why do you keep doing that!?" I growled as she lowered her hand.
"Woah, you look so cool..." Yuuki, on the other hand, was enraptured by Sinon's appearance like most that saw her in GGO.
Shino's avatar has thin, pale blue swaying hair that was casually short, but there was a tuft of hair tied up on both sides of her forehead, and indigo coloured eyes. Her combat attire consisted of a desert-coloured military jacket, bulletproof armor of the same colour, and combat boots, as well as a white muffler around her neck.
"Not bad looking yourself," Sinon smiled briefly. The ice-cold sniper herself passing Yuuki a curious look. "You picked up GGO? Never pegged you to like gunplay,"
Yuuki smiled, hands to her hips. "I'm all for a new experience, and Mal's always said it was a brutal game to get stronger in, what's not to love?" Then she gave me a pat to my shoulder as my heartrate calmed. "Malzeno bought me a month subscription so I could test the waters- soooo, what's this about another method?"
Sinon glanced at me with that inquisitive stare and neutral frown. "Don't look at me, I'm not pushing her to do this,"
"...the other method's likely your best shot, and given what I've seen you do, I'm confident you can handle it," Sinon replied, gesturing for us to follow her to a large section of the market cornered off for a specific pastime if you had the Credits to burn.
The game takes place in a walled off area, roughly three meters wide and twenty meters long. The area is laid out on metal tiles, surrounded by a waist high fence. An NPC was present, dressed as a cowboy within the western-styled runway.
Some players were present, obviously failing as one walked back to the gate entrance with four glowing spots through his chest and out the back. "What's with the genre shift?" Yuuki commented, inspecting the area.
"Welcome to everyone's pain and suffering turned into a delightful spectacle," I remarked, gesturing to Sinon. "If you may, Milady,"
"Mm, the game, Untouchable, has you perform a twenty meter sprint down a shooting range. The NPC will get progressively faster with each hurdle crossed, your goal is the touch the NPC to win the accumulated Credits up there," Sinon pointed to the current score. A juicy 100,000 Credits.
"So I have to evade gunfire?" Yuuki blinked at us, wincing at the holes in the man currently being laughed at with his group. "Uh, is this like... your arrows?"
"Worse, actually," I heard her gulp as I explained. "There's a mechanic in the game called a Bullet Prediction Line, basically a glowing red line with a reticle that lets you know where a bullet's trajectory will go, with the exception of the first shot fired from a sniper rifle. Use those to evade in this game,"
Then I frowned, leaning towards Sinon. "Downside, Yuuki here didn't transfer her data over, so all her stats are null at the moment," A small smile then curled onto my cheeks. "But I'm betting you knew that,"
"When you said she was effectively broke, I had a feeling," Sinon shrugged, gesturing to the game. "Yuuki, there's a trick to this, actually, only a very few number of players have beaten it because they have something the others don't,"
"That being?" She asked as Sinon smiled confidently at her.
"Reaction time," Finally, the dots connected in the cute purplette's head, and her expression brightened like a roaring flame and a toothy grin.
Without a word, she marched over past the other players to deposit all her Credits with a simple hand press. Now all eyes were on the new girl, but they had no idea what was waiting for them. "The Credits built up quickly this time," I commented under my breath.
"After Kirito, everyone's been eager to try and replicate what he did," Sinon pointed out, tucking her scarf over her mouth a little. "That idiot's stirred the pot,"
I snorted a laugh, "Figures, Blackie has that mystical art with many,"
"Seems Yuuki's about to do the same," Oh, I knew that, and I had already hit the 'Record' in my menu, this was gonna be sweet. That didn't mean I couldn't feel Sinon's icy eyes on my face. "...you knew this would happen, didn't you?"
"I haven't any idea what you're talking about, my dear Sinon," What Yuuki doesn't know won't hurt her, and it certainly won't hurt me a dime. "Hehehehe..." My sinister laugh went unnoticed as the game commenced, and the doors swung open for Yuuki.
"Try not to bite it in the first hurdle, squirt!" One player laughed.
"She's a cute newbie though," Another remarked as Sinon slapped my chest to keep me from commenting.
"You're dead, runt!" The Cowboy declared in a thick Texian accent, twirling his revolver as Yuuki burst forward with an average speed, but her posture was low, arms back, and her eyes cutting forward like a blade.
I couldn't see it, but when her eyes widened slightly, I knew she could see them now, the prediction lines. Thinking fast, Yuuki angled herself, kicking off the nearest fence to throw herself over six shots, landing with a roll to continue her sprint as the crowd grew quiet.
She crossed the fifteen meter line, and the Cowboy's reload speed increased. "I'll fill ya with lead!" It yelled, firing down lane as all bullets whizzed through Yuuki's hair, the teenager making subtle adjustments to her lithe body to weave between the bullets. Almost like she was dancing. "Not a meter more!"
Another round of gunfire filled the air, and all the bullets bounced off the barrier around the firing lane, Yuuki having slid to her backside to evade and dive into the ten meter mark and beyond. Each round of bullets failed to make Yuuki panic and slip up, now, she was within striking distance.
"Come on, Yuuki, dodge it..." I couldn't refrain from saying, this was a true test of her reaction speed.
"Die, loser!" Without reloading, the barrel of the Cowboy's revolver took on a bright blue light, akin to a laser weapon. Yuuki's breath caught in her throat, but she quickly twisted her footing, and narrowly spun around with the grace and ferocity of the wind, gliding sideways, evading the rapid-fire lines of laser fire that burned into the ground.
With a single pat to the chest, Yuuki exhaled, smiling. "Game over, loser," She teased, stepping back.
"Nooooo!" The Cowboy wailed, falling to his knees as the door and windows of the building burst open with a fountain of gold coins for Yuuki's viewing pleasure, leaving those around me and Sinon speechless as she and I smirked smugly.
Accepting the 100,000 credits, they vanished and the game reset whilst Yuuki skipped back.
"Nooo, I was so close too!" One player wailed.
"What the hell's with newbies winning lately! It's gotta be a buff or rigged!" Another grunted.
"Where did she even transfer from? What game let's you get that good!?" All couldn't fathom the raw talent the purplette had as she waved and giggled at their shocked expressions as she made it back to us, throwing up a peace sign.
"Nailed it flawlessly, I get it now, those prediction lines aren't all that hard to dodge if you time it right, like a perfect parry," She critiqued, brow furrowed. "Though, how come a gun can just switch from live ammo to a laser? Is that one of those sub-archetypes you mentioned?"
"Sorta, I've never seen a weapon like it... yet," I briefly looked sideways, then gave her a pat on the head. "You did great, man their looks after you wiped the floor with them were priceless,"
She shoved my hand off, giving me a wary smile. "Why do I feel like there's more to this than you're letting on?"
Flinching at her sharp intuition, I turned to march on, "C-come now, we've got cash to burn and monsters to slay!" I heard Sinon sigh but thankfully say nothing, thank goodness...
After returning to the stores and expertly avoiding Yuuki's questioning stare; Sinon took over as Yuuki's weapon handler, her equipment was basic but it could handle a firefight if we ran into players. So far, with all of Yuuki's Credits, she bought a white-rarity semi-auto rifle, or Scout Rifle as people called them. They had very good accuracy and range, which would suit her for the time being as she got used to a new playstyle. However...
"Yuuki, catch," I threw something toward her as she quickly caught it, fumbling with the item for a moment to inspect it. A long, black handle with a familiar shape and form to a sword grip or a certain sci-fi series in space. Judging by her befuddled expression, she hadn't twigged on. "Sinon's right about you needing a knife, but I feel this'll give you a familiar comfort if needed,"
"Is this..." She held it out, finding a small slide to push with her thumb as it ignited the vibrant, purple blade of light. If her eyes hadn't sparkled before, I sure as hell saw the stars now. "A lightsaber!"
"Photon Sword," Myself and the sniper cut in.
"Or Light Blade, Beam Sword, anything non-copyright is acceptable-thanks Disney," I spat off to the side, gesturing to the radiant blade in hand. "The Kagemitsu G4, it's a niche weapon given you're up against gunners but those that can master it are some scary SoBs-like Blackie,"
"And you?" She quipped, which honestly surprised me at her non-direct curse towards me. Almost brought a tear to my eye whilst Sinon almost burst out laughing, hiding her smile behind her hand.
"H-he's right though, it's not something players use, more of a novelty item but someone with your reflexes would adjust quickly to it," Sinon concurred with my hypothesis. "They're not cheap either,"
"Eh, I got coin to spare, surprise," I gave a little flair with my hands at Yuuki's shocked face. "Don't give me that, it's fine, I wanted to buy it. Got my own somewhere in my inventory-"
Sinon kept quiet as Yuuki lunged in to hug me tightly, burying her face against my chest plate. "You're the best boyfriend ever and I will repay you tenfold when I get the chance," She murmured, my hand coming to hold her back with a small laugh under my sigh.
Good thing I wore a mask in this game, it was getting stuffy under here... "H-hey, come on now, this is nothing new from me... ready to hunt, Zekken?" I remarked as she leaned back, cheeks rosy with a loving smile.
"Ready!" She swung the still-lit Photon Sword around, then shut it off, clipping it to her waist. "You coming too, Sinon?"
The sniper shrugged, "Sure, I've got time to kill before my partner shows up for something important," Vague but I wasn't about to pry, Sinon was unreadable sometimes.
[IRL, Yanaka Cemetery, Memorial of Swordsmen]
[Malzeno's POV]
After mine and Yuuki's time in GGO for a few hours, going on a monster hunt to get the swordswoman used to gunplay, I had one last thing planned today. It wasn't a long journey, at least, it didn't feel that way when we got there, herself peering through the probe mounted to my shoulder.
"Y'know, you didn't need to come," Not that I didn't like the company as I strolled beneath arching trees and passing rows upon rows of graves from various decades.
~Nope, you said you wanted to do something about your old friends, so there's no way I'm letting you go alone~ She was stubborn. It had been three days since we defeated Primordial and effectively freed Pix and the others. The quest... never showed up again, it didn't even exist in our quest logs...
"Thanks, Yuuki," Turning one last corner, I headed up a white staircase, the sky visible now as the trees were purposefully planted around the edges, giving us a clear view of what lay ahead, a heavy pressure in my heart having grown lighter for the first time in many long months. "We're here... the Memorial of Swordsmen, a title most survivors agreed on, even if not official,"
~That's nice, it suits~ Yuuki's voice was softer as I approached the middle.
The area was wide and circular, made of smooth, white stone with two rings of water with small footpaths over them. Surrounding us at the edges were black marble tablets much taller than me, all with distinct, white names inscribed to the surface.
This place contained the real names and usernames of all players that had died in SAO, so that, even if a person didn't know their real name, they could find their user and learn who they really were. If one looked closely at the ground too, there was a beautiful, etched artwork of swords to decorate the stone.
I ran my fingers along their names, a few I did recognize, pausing for a moment. "Diavel... he was the man that rallied everyone on Floor One's floor boss, and the only casualty, since then, ALS and DKB carried the weight of the frontrunners for a long time-ahem, well, with Kirito's and Asuna's major help,"
~Hah, that sounds like Asuna!~ Yuuki giggled while I rolled my eyes playfully.
"Rest easy, Diavel," I passed his name, moving my hands down until I passed three names dotting the tablets, I had a rough idea where they were from my other visits.
ArcSol | Haru Asahi
Pix | Seras Ito
Mystfit | Isamu Aoki
Setting down a bouquet of red, green, and blue flowers, I stood back, staring down at them for the longest time. Only a faint breeze rustled through the trees while I thought about what I wanted to say, the words that had been kept until now. I hope they reach them now. Funny enough, I felt like Yuuki's hand held my shoulder, silently waiting for me to speak.
"Seras, Haru, Isamu... I don't know if saying this will reach you guys, wherever you are now; Heaven or some other construct of the afterlife. I... wasn't strong for a long time, in SAO, I could never keep up with the amazing people who were so far ahead of me, and even after I... was only ever good at what I used to do before you guys... died,"
Taking a shaky breath, I relaxed my hands. "This is... hard to put into words, but... I'll be okay now, you don't need to worry anymore," Lifting my head, I gave a smile that wasn't full of pain, I still missed them dearly, but I wasn't tethered to them anymore. "I love you guys, and I'll always miss you... but thank you for everything you did for me. T... take care, I'm sure you've told Merida all about the things we did,"
Smiling and wiping a few tears away as I almost choked up again, I gave a deep bow, to the other fallen swordsmen, and to Pix, ArcSol, and Myst, finally saying my last goodbye. "Goodbye, again," Turning to leave, I felt my head turn back for a moment...
Caught in the sunlight, if only a mere mirage that cast for a split second... I saw a man in crimson armour, a guy dressed as some brooding hunter, and a girl swept in a ninja's attire, a sword as crystal clear as the ocean.
My eyes widened, staring back at their figures that blurred and vanished like a fleeting phantom. Feeling my heart clench, I smiled warmly, finally turning away to look toward my path forward with a stronger beat in my heart.
"...hey, Yuuki?" I asked softly, eyeing her probe as the camera adjusted to me.
~Yeah?~
"I think I'm ready to make the same promise as you..." Closing my fists, I felt that weight evaporate. "I dunno what I'm going to do in my future, but it'll be good to know it'll be with you,"
I heard her breath hitch for a few seconds of silence. ~I-I'm glad, took you long enough~ That had me chuckle softly. ~Until the very end, promise~
"Yeah, promise," I nodded, taking my first step forward, weightless.
For the first time since I lost my friends back then, I no longer felt the urge to look back. Whatever comes next, I'll endure it until I die.
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
And we come to the end of Inner Peace, concluding Malzeno's strife to let go of his guilt and anguish. And surprise, Yuuki got her first taste of GGO. I'll admit, letting go of grief isn't easy, and there's times when those emotions can swell up at the memory of someone, but I like to think it's a good reminder that love you had was genuine and strong to still have an impact. That's what I wanted to convey here.
Now, we're onto the shortest arc, Memento Vivere, short as it may be, we got quite the handful of chapters ahead. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next arc, Players!