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SECT.5 - The Beginning of the Tournament
4th of April, 2026. Sat.u.r.day.
As the clock approached 1200, the number of people diving into the j.a.panese GGO server from all over j.a.pan continued to increase.
In a room of a certain tower apartment complex in a rather open area of Tokyo, whose residents were currently enjoying warm weather,
“Alright……, ready!”
Having closed the curtains to keep out the light coming from the clear sky, changed into her pale yellow pyjamas before adjusting the AC and humidifier,
“Now── time for the battle! And thus── I, am going to save, that person!”
And having carefully put the AmuSphere on her head, Kohiruimaki Karen lay down on her bed.
In the dining room of a certain detached house in Hokkaido, where snow fluttered about.
“Ooopsie, it’s already this late, huh. Not good not good.”
Miyu, who had been eating instant yakisoba, shoveled what remained into her mouth in a hurry, and finished eating the soup in the cup. She then shoved tea from a PET bottle down her throat in several gulps with great force.
Miyu noisily went to the toilet, then entered her room and, without changing her indoor clothes, flopped down on her bed.
“Welp, time to go wild.”
And so, she extended her arms, and grasped her aged AmuSphere.
“But, before that, maybe I’ll get some ice cream for dessert!”
Miyu put down her AmuSphere, left her room, and headed towards the refrigerator.
A number of high school girls put on their AmuSpheres in their respective homes.
A number of men, and a few women, throughout j.a.pan put on their AmuSpheres.
And──
In a certain metropolitan, high-cla.s.s apartment complex room with closed curtains,
“Ah, this is so heart-pounding!”
A young woman said in breathless excitement.
She was standing nude in a very dim room. To her side was a huge, close to 3 metre-long, coc.o.o.n-like ma.s.s.
“Now then.”
After the woman held out her hands, a part of the huge coc.o.o.n opened up. Inside, where red LEDs were s.h.i.+ning, was a gooey, 40 cm-deep liquid.
This was a machine called an 《Isolation tank》── or a 《Floatation tank》.
In which one’s body was suspended in a liquid, highly concentrated with salts and warmed to body temperature, and once the tank closed and the lights were turned off, it became a world where one could no longer feel sound, light, smell, touch, nor even gravity.
It was a machine used for ultimate relaxation by cutting off all five human senses to rest a tired body and mind, but, naturally, it was also used for FullDive technology.
A normal AmuSphere cuts off almost all sensations too, but a wee bit of noise was still transmitted.
By entering this isolation tank, the user could come close to almost complete isolation. Thus, it was only natural for serious players who wanted to be entirely in the game to desire a device like this.
Such isolation tanks were installed in relaxation establishments and net cafes as rentals, but the cheapest one would cost as much as a Kei-car(1), while expensive ones cost as much as a luxury car.
It was impossible for a player to install one at home unless they were highly affluent.
“Well then, I wonder if I’ll get out of this alive……?”
Having muttered this in joy just now, the nude woman entered the tank.
Next to this tank was another, completely identical, tank.
And, a hasp was welded on the cover──
A ma.s.sive padlock was hung on it to prevent the possibility of the tank being opened from the inside.
The headquarters for the SJ2 tournament was the same large bar in SBC Glocken that had been used for the previous tournament.
The partic.i.p.ating players, aiming to arrive at 12:40, gathered and waited until they were all simultaneously transferred to the standby area at 12:50.
10 minutes were given to prepare one’s weapons and equipment. And then, at exactly 13:00, SJ2 would start. Everyone would be transferred simultaneously to some part of the field.
As of that moment, the merciless killing fest would begin, and last until there was only one teamleft standing.
A broadcast of the battle would be provided by the management. Numerous markers indicating the position of cameras would fly around in the sky, searching for cool angles.
The spectators who wished to watch the live broadcast, and the partic.i.p.ants who dropped out after being killed could enjoy themselves watching the broadcast of the battle in the bar, while eating, drinking, and saying whatever they wanted.
The previous tournament had concluded in 1 hours and 28 minutes, but there were twenty-threeteams that partic.i.p.ated without any preliminaries. This time, a full thirty teams would partic.i.p.ate, so would it take longer or, instead, become a fiercer battle and end quicker? It was anyone’s guess.
After 12:20, the number of people in the bar grew considerably.
The partic.i.p.ating players gathered in groups of twos and threes. ‘Good luck’, ‘You can’t lose’, ‘Blow them all away’ and various other phrases were thrown around.
Speaking of SJ2, as was the case for the previous tournament, there were no sports gambling events like those which were held for the BoB. This was because the management lacked the resources to check for cheating ── so-called unfair actions, as severely as they did for the BoB.
Instead, the 『Predict how many bullets will be fired till the end of the tournament』 gambles were once again held, and once again spread excitement. Everyone resolutely entered larger numbers than for the previous tournament.
Among this commotion──
There were a few teams that caused the tumult to abate in a wave when they entered the bar.
The first was the team that took third place last time and was seeded, MMTM.
The name was abbreviated for display purposes, but their official team name was 《Memento Mori》.
It was Latin for 〝Don’t forget that you will die one day〟. It was an idiomatic phrase for ‘People eventually die no matter how hard they struggle, so enjoy the moment and live your life without regret’.
The six-man team, who used death as their motif and had skull emblems with knives in their mouths on their shoulders, moved through the bar.
Last time, every one of them wore their favourite gear as individuals, but this time, they wore perfectly matching uniforms to psyche themselves up.
Their garments were the camouflage uniforms used by Sweden’s army in Scandinavia. It was a rather stylish design that consisted of a simplistic mix of various shades of green, with barely any other colours.
Like others characters, they were dressed solely in camouflage from top to bottom aside from their boots. Their weapons and equipment were all left in their storage instead of being materialised, but those who had seen footage of the previous tournament knew what they were.
Their weapons were an 《HK21》 7.62 mm machine gun as their main source of firepower, and 5 European high-powered a.s.sault rifles. Of course, that is, if they had not changed their a.r.s.enal in 2 months.
They were undoubtedly one of the favourites for this tournament.
“If there were any bets, I’d put my money on those guys.”
“Well, that is a safe bet. Their team coordination is the best.”
Such opinions could be heard around the bar.
The six women that entered shortly after them also gave off enough pressure to cause the once again bustling bar to quiet down.
Wearing camouflage with countless, small, green dots──
Was a group of six amazons, each having a unique look: a braided gorilla, a blonde, sungla.s.s-wearing beauty, a very short and stout dwarf, a downtown lady, a silver-haired fox-eye, and acool noirette.
While it’s true that they were rare female characters in GGO,
“Hey hey, girls!”
There was not a single person in the audience who gave such a vulgar jeer.
These women from s.h.i.+NC took second place in the previous tournament, and were the best teamin terms of players slaughtered. A lot of the characters in the bar were probably killed by them at some point.
MMTM’s leader had the skill to take part in the BoB, and was a handsome character. He abruptly parted from his circle of friends just as they were about to raise a toast, and stepped up to thegorilla woman who had the const.i.tution of a pro-wrestler, Boss.
And then,
“Yo, ladies. We didn’t get to meet last time, but I look forward to having an audience with you in battle this time. Don’t die until then, okay?”
He gave her these words with a brazen smile.
Boss grinned, and with an expression that was more fierce than bewitching,
“Of course. You misters be sure to give your names before you are killed. Otherwise, we might not notice you.”
Responded in a feminine tone with words that could be regarded as nothing but provocation.
This immediately caused the bar to get excited, and even his MMTM mates, who should have felt that their leader was made a fool off, accepted it well. The five surrounding their table laughed as they clapped their hands.
Even the leader wasn’t an intolerant man who would be angered by this,
“This one’s interesting! I’m really glad they’re partic.i.p.ating!”
He waved two of his fingers with a smile, and returned to his mates.
Around 2 minutes after the amazon group disappeared into a private bar room──
“Oi, it’s him……”
A mountain-sized giant suddenly entered the bar.
It was a nearly 2 metre tall man with a chest as bulky as a breakwater, arms as thick as an earthen pipe, a foreign body builder-like figure, and brown, wavy hair.
He was wearing gaudy green camouflage pants that looked like they would be ripped apart by his thighs, and a T-s.h.i.+rt that clearly showed off his muscles.
To those who had seen the previous SJ, there was no need to explain who he was.
His name was M.
He was the man who teamed up with the pink chibi and entered the tournament as part of a merely two-man party, and although they did not have many battles, they were able to pull through every crucial part of the tournament and deal with the amazon group during the final battle. He was a highly skilled M14 EBR sniper with a powerful s.h.i.+eld that could deflect 7 mm-cla.s.s bullets.
He was also the man who aimed his pistol at his chibi companion mid-way during the battle, and fired, but missed and had the tables turned on him, then went off on his own for a bit.
Various guesses about the reason for the abrupt fallout came from the audience.
Some thought that there was simply a disagreement about their future plans, but there was even a conspiracy theory that it was an elaborate plan to invite the negligence of the amazon group by spreading false information to them via the audience.
In the end, it remained a mystery, and there was no one who had the courage to ask the person himself.
The man joined the battle at the very last moment, and supported the chibi, who was putting up a hard fight alone, with his high-precision sniping. He took down three of the amazon group’s members, and pulled off a marvelous win.
Having seen M in the distance, members of MMTM, who were wiped out by him and the chibi during the lake battle,
“So he did come…… The Line-less man……”
“ Revenge time. We’re doing things as planned if we encounter him.”
Had such a conversation.
Five of them were taken out by M’s special skill, sniping without Bullet Lines. They should have quite the grudge against him.
People who were probably his team members entered after M.
They were four men.
All of them were dressed in the same camouflage.
The camouflage pattern had an eerie design that was reminiscent of a reptile’s skin, with a gradient of brown and green that looked highly effective in both wildernesses and among greenery.
“What… the?”
What surprised the audience was the fact that all four of them had their heads and faces entirely covered by camouflage masks. Additionally, they had even equipped coloured goggles. With this, it was impossible to tell who was who.
‘It would be understandable to wear camouflage masks and goggles in battle, but was there really a need to wear them now?’
Everyone in the bar had the same idea.
The only way to distinguish between the four members was by their figures, which were greatly rich in variety.
One of them was short── in terms of men in GGO, so he was still at least 165 cm tall.
One had a large build── not to the extent of M’s, but he still had a muscular, large build and was over 180 cm tall.
One was slender── about 170 cm tall, but had limbs as long and thin as poles.
One was fat── and had the silhouette of a stout, pot-bellied, ranked sumo wrestler.
Without saying a word and while facing forward, the four men followed M.
Although they were in a VR game that created fake sensations, the aura that their demeanor brought about was still conveyed.
The large number of characters in the bar,
“They look… tough.”
“Yeah…… They might be hiding their faces because we know their mugs and names.”
“Could they be a group cut out to take part in the BoB?”
Felt that these four men were probably equally talented.
What kind of battle style would M, a member of the winning team from the previous tournament, and the ominous guys that he teamed up with show? This team became more and more interesting.
Under this tension,
“Yahoo! Thanks for waiting everyone!”
A laidback woman’s voice came in.
Everyone who had been following M’s party with their eyes looked over at the entrance, and saw a female character who had entered a bit late.
She was an approximately 175 cm-tall woman who had her hair tied into a ponytail at a high place. Her garments consisted of dark blue overalls, clearly showing off the lines of her body.
She had a brown complexion. Far from being fat or stout, her body was so firm that it looked like she had nothing but muscles on her.
She was a beauty with a sharp and well-featured face, but the geometrical-patterned, brick-coloured tattoo on her cheeks brought about a rather eerie vibe.
“Hey hey hey! Thanks for waiting, gentlemen! You’ve come to see me s.h.i.+ne, right! Great! Look forward to it, okay!”
The woman smiled at everybody in this excessively high-tension situation,
“…………”
But all the bar patrons opened their mouths flabbergasted, not knowing how to react.
She was the sixth one including M to come in, so she was definitely a member of his team.
But, compared to the other five, her tensionless vibe was out of place.
“Thanks! I’ve kept you waiting! Thanks for your cheers!”
With a sociable nature that begged the retort ‘Are you running for elections!’, the woman moved through the bar, restlessly looking around and waving her hand.
Everyone spoke, not caring about the person herself hearing their conversation.
“Who... is that? Is she another one of M’s team members?”
“I guess so. But…… that one alone is completely out of place, right?”
“So is she the hime-sama to be protected by her knights?”
“There was the term 〝Otasā no hime〟 for it 10 or more years ago.”
“Never heard of that obsolete phrase. Is it related to arasā (2)?”
“No. 〝An otaku circle’s hime-sama〟. The sole woman in a female-less group. It means 〝a hime-sama no matter what kind of girl she is〟, as she’s pampered.
“Could it be that you are quite elderly?”
“Hey, quit using keigo all of a sudden.”
“So those men…… those other four guys, are they hime-sama’s escorts? So you have no intention of going after her seriously? It’s a shame if that’s the case……”
“Miss, you look great. If you didn’t have that tattoo on your face, you’d really be my type. Have you just started? I could teach you, in great detail, how to shoot……”
“You perv.”
“So, you’re saying that you’d let a good-looking girl like that walk right past you? Are you a geezer in RL?”
“Only brats ask about RL.”
“Whatcha say?”
“Stop it, you’re being indecent. There’s no proof that the woman is of the same age in RL……”
While the men kept spouting whatever was on their mind, the woman disappeared into the private room that M had entered.
“That’s…… Pitohui, huh…… Does that amateur…… still hate GGO……”
In response to the man who muttered this,
“You know her? Leader.”
The HK21 machine gunner Jake asked with an expression of surprise. And then, the othermembers of MMTM tilted their heads as well.
‘It’s rare for our leader to know the name of a female character.’
They all shared the same thought.
Because, he was stoically immersed in the game, and intentionally ignored women. The amazonsfrom before were an exception among exceptions.
The leader answered the question of his mates with a not-really-happy expression.
“Shortly after GGO had begun, that would already make it a year ago…… for a very short time, I had formed a squadron. At the time, she didn’t have that tattoo, her hair was short to be more suitable for battle, and she wore different garments.”
“Oh. First time I've heard of it.”
Said Jake.
“Because I've never told anyone about it. At the time, all players were still fresh meat, but even so, grasping cheap and weak guns, everyone worked hard to become the strongest. It was a nice period……”
“ Leader, you sound like an old man.”
“But, like, why didn’t you fight together with her afterwards? Was it… because that woman was weak?”
‘You got it wrong’, the leader said, drinking up the alcohol── that, however, would not get him drunk, in his cup.
“That woman, was strong. Her moves were fluid, to say the least. I don’t know the details, but she should have been proportionately immersed in FullDive games by then.”
“Then, you could have just maintained contact with her?”
“It was impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because that woman didn’t think of her comrades as comrades. Whenever she was about to die, she’d gladly use her allies as s.h.i.+elds, and, without hesitation, she’d throw grenades when we were in the same room as a monster. As a result, her allies died, and she’d give a smile; that’s the kind of woman she was. Even when she died herself. I couldn’t bear playing with someone so〝eager to die〟. I lived under the principle 〝don’t forget about death〟, but that woman seemed to be leading a 〝I want to forget about living〟 lifestyle.”
“That sounds dangerous…… I’d get the heck out of that.”
“I’ve heard that she’d leave one squadron and join another, only to repeat the same thing over again. Eventually, n.o.body wanted to let her in, and she stopped trying to find one to enter as well. Among the veterans who know of this, the name Pitohui is a taboo.”
At his words, some of MMTM’s members were surprised, some were amazed and shrugged their shoulders. One of them said,
“Then, why is she partic.i.p.ating together with M this time?”
“I don’t know…… I don’t know, but don’t let your guard down. We will, of course, exact ourrevenge, but brace yourselves. They’re the kind of group that you don’t know what to expect from, in my opinion.”
The five nodded at the leader’s excessively serious expression in silence.
Lastly, the leader asked as if he suddenly thought of it.
“Does anyone know the origin of the name 〝Pitohui〟?”
“Nope, I can’t come up with any ideas.”
“None at all.”
“Like he said.”
“Only that it sounds cute.”
“A fairy?”
After hearing the five replies, the leader gave the answer.
“It’s the name of a bird. If I recall correctly, it’s a bird only found in New Guinea.”
“Oh. That’s cute.”
Jake’s impression escaped his mouth, and the leader’s eyes narrowed.
“Cute he says. A pitohui is a bird with a neurotoxin so deadly that it can kill any man who touches it. It suits her perfectly.”
At the table that went quiet,
“Don’t let your guard down.”
The leader‘s short phrase resounded.
Although groups of five or six players that entered the bar were typically partic.i.p.ants, none of them stood out enough to draw the attention of the bar. They were simply ignored.
It was easy to imagine,
“Heh, their opinion of us will change by the time this is over!”
That they had such a thought. That they thought ‘I’m gonna be the next hero/heroine’.
Among them, there was a team that consisted of four men and one woman. When the men came into the bar, they had expressions of happiness on them,
“…………”
While in contrast, the woman had a very sullen expression of great displeasure.
Based on the appearance of her avatar, she was in the latter half of her twenties. Her face was that of a tidy beauty.
Her pretty bob cut hair was vivid green like fresh leaves. It was not a very common sight in RL, but it wasn’t entirely unnatural in the SF world of GGO. There were people with anime characterhair colours that stood out more.
As for her garments, just like her four group members, she were brown cargo pants and boots. And for her top, she wore a simple, black T-s.h.i.+rt. The bulging of her large chest was eye-catching, even if this was not her desire.
There was quite the number of male characters who were fascinated by her appearance, but no one dared to strike up a conversation with her due to her excessively sour look.
And so time pa.s.sed, until there were only a few moments until the start of the second Squad Jam.
The men, and very few women, who seemed to be partic.i.p.ating finished up their virtual food and drinks one by one. Naturally, tension could be felt in the air.
In this bar swirling with fighting spirit──
A single question came to everyone’s mind soon enough, and people began noisily talking about it.
They unanimously said.
“Still not here? She’s still not here yet?”
“The winner of the previous tournament, the pink chibi… is still not here?”
The time was 12:45. If she did not enter the bar within 5 minutes, she would be disqualified due to being late.
“Oi oi, she’s still not here……”
Slightly opening the curtain of their private room, and sticking her head out, the very short-haired Tanya muttered in worry,
“Keep calm.
And was chided by Mother Courage Rosa sitting next to her.
“…………”
Boss stood like a rock without the slightest quiver on her rough face.
Soon, 2 minutes pa.s.sed, then 3──
‘Is she really going to be late.’ At 12:48, just when people thought ‘The champion of the previous tournament is going to drop out of the game just like this?’
“We ma~de it!”
“Whew! That was clo~se!”
Giving high-pitched screams, two characters entered the bar.
Both of them were hiding their bodies and faces beneath brown robes, but everyone could tell who they were based on their height and female voices. It was definitely that chibi. The previous victor of the tournament that rampaged to oblivion.
She came in with another female who was also rather chibi-sized. It seemed that this girl was her current partner.
As they avoided the blockheaded way of dropping-out, commotion and cheers arose in the bar.
“She’s here! The previous champion! LLENN-chan!”
“She’s gonna partic.i.p.ate as part of a two-person-only team again? She sure is confident……”
“So she’s going for two highly-skilled members rather than six useless ones?”
“I’m expecting more slaughter than last time!”
“That other one seems to be a girl as well underneath the robe. I can tell by her smell.”
“I see, you’re a perv, huh.”
The men exchanged whatever thoughts that came to their minds again.
LLENN and f.u.kaziroh did not have the time to care that they were showered with attention,
“Do we have time to drink something? LLENN.”
“You still want a drink? It’s not like you’re going to get thirsty, so who cares!”
“It’s for the mood, for the mood. Let’s have a drink! To celebrate our upcoming victory!”
“By mood…… you mean that you still have diarrhea?”
“Geez, I got what I needed out of my system, so no problem!”
The truth is that both LLENN and f.u.kaziroh should have been here 20 minutes ago. They planned to meet up in an easy-to-find place, and go to the bar with LLENN leading the way.
However, the moment they started walking together, f.u.kaziroh’s AmuSphere’s safety device activated, and forced a shutdown. She suddenly disappeared right in front of LLENN as if she was spirited away.
And so, after waiting for minutes and not seeing f.u.kaziroh coming back, LLENN sent her amessage in fear, and received this answer from Miyu’s smartphone.
『c.r.a.p. I ate some ice cream in a hurry and now my stomach is growling.』
“Whaaaaaaaa?”
LLENN thought that this excessive shock would have forced her own shutdown.
Afterwards,
『Done yet?』
『It’s still growling.』
『Done no~w?』
『I’m wiping my behind. Uwa, out of paper!』
『Just get over here alreadyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!』
And so, they regrouped, and rushed to the dash with a full-speed dash, and barely made it.
“Aah……”
LLENN felt as if she had already fought in a battle.
Without the energy to go into a private room, she found an empty table close to the entrance, and dropped down on the sofa surrounding it.
f.u.kaziroh followed, and immediately ordered lemon squash and iced tea. Which popped out of the table.
There was not even a minute left. LLENN feebly looked up, and,
“Yo! LLENN-chan!”
She was called by a familiar voice,
“…………”
And she faced the owner of the voice.
The Pitohui that she saw for the first time in a while was still the same Pitohui. She felt both nostalgia and fear.
“Congratulations on your previous win!”
Seeing her familiar, carefree smile,
“Thanks!”
LLENN forgot everything for a moment, and answered.
At that moment, the announcement, made 30 seconds before the SJ2 partic.i.p.ants were transported to the standby area, was streamed,
“Whoopsie, seems like we don’t have the time for a carefree talk.”
Pitohui narrowed her eyes above her tattoos, seemingly feeling disappointment deep down.
“Pito-san──”
LLENN stood up with a gla.s.s of iced tea in her hands.
“Hm?”
“I am going to do my best, so please have your expectations high. Please don’t forget── your 〝promise〟.”
Pitohui’s eyes blinked.
“Hm? I don’t really get it── well, I do. Oh, and keigo is a no-no! There’s not much time, anything else you wanna say?”
LLENN was asked by Pitohui,
“I’m definitely… going to kill you.”
LLENN replied immediately.
“Aha!”
After Pitohui left with a carefree smile, LLENN sipped up all her iced tea with her straw in an instant, and faced the sitting f.u.kaziroh,
“Let’s go, partner.”
“Right!”
At that moment, the transfer began.
The grim-faced LLENN,
“Hey, I wanna drink a bit mo──”
And the panicking f.u.kaziroh, who held a straw in her mouth, became particles of light and disappeared.
Each character used the 10 minutes in dim standby areas to materialise their weapons and equipment.
LLENN taught f.u.kaziroh how to use the satellite scan terminal, and being quick-witted, she quickly understood it.
This smartphone-like device would be SJ2’s lifeline. It could not be destroyed, but the possibility of losing it was not zero, thus it was necessary to be careful not to drop it.
As LLENN had expected, it was politely announced that this time, it would not have the 《indestructible object》 status. It would exist as an object, but every kind of attack, including bullets, would pa.s.s through it.
In front of the two in the dark room with nothing in it,
『Standby Time 04:33』
Was a large numeral that was counting down 1 second at a time. LLENN stored her full set of equipment, became a pink soldier, and waited for the count down to finish.
Her garments were exactly the same as the previous time.
Her uniform was a given, but she was pink from her boots and the tips of her gloves to the knithat on her head. And there was a pink bandana on her neck.
Her armament was a P90. She hung the second generation P-chan on her shoulder by its sling.
In her pouches on the left and right of her thighs, she had a total of six spare magazines to allow for quick reloading. Any more would have made movement difficult, thus she chose a number that she was used to.
However, there were another nine, three times more than last time, stocked in her storage. A P90 boasted 50 bullets per magazine, so the total of sixteen magazines held 800 bullets.
This time, she had an optional part for her P90, but it was still in her storage.
Like a true sport, she did not bring a single plasma grenade, a throwable weapon.
There was the possibility that one hanging on the waist could be shot, explode, and result in instant death, so she exchanged them for an equivalent weight of more spare magazines.
And, as the last of her last weapons, she had a 30 cm-long black combat knife equipped on the back of her waist so that she could draw it out with her right hand.
The sole hit point recovery item used during SJ2, a cylindrical injector called a 《first-aid kit》 was automatically distributed to everyone’s storage. Each could restore 30 percent of the user’s lost hit points, but it took 180 seconds for it to finish, thus it could not be used mid-battle.
Nevertheless, LLENN fully used all three of her kits during the last SJ. If she had not had their help, she would have died. Although she hoped that she would not need them, she hung them in an easy-to-reach place on the front of her body.
Although she wanted to keep her gear as light as possible, she had judged that a monocle with a rangefinder was absolutely necessary, thus she placed one in a pouch at the back of her waist.
Just like the knife, she had borrowed one from M the previous time. This time, she bought one for herself using the credits earned during training.
She, of course, had not forgotten to place several camouflage ponchos, suited for the various terrain, into her storage for disguise. They were light, thus it was no big loss to have them.
“Still not time yet?”
f.u.kaziroh, waiting beside LLENN for the countdown to finish, had finished her preparations for slaughter as well.
On top of her head with her blonde hair tied up was a large helmet. She was wearing a greenvest with a bullet-proof plate and extra MultiCam-wear.
As for her weapons, she had an MGL-140 on her right and left shoulders each.
Incidentally, f.u.kaziroh named the MGL-140 in her right hand 《Uta》 and the other 《Sako》. (3)
The sling for the one in her right-hand was placed on her left side, and the one for her left-hand was placed on the opposite, but the slings could have their fittings switched with one touch.
“They look exactly the same, so can you tell which one is Uta and which one is Sako when you take off the slings?”
When LLENN once asked this,
“That’s totes simple! Of the 2, the one in my right hand is Sato, ya know”
f.u.kaziroh replied. In other words, it seems it did not matter which one was which.
The backpack that f.u.kaziroh wore on her back was filled entirely with grenades.
There was a part.i.tion inside it to pull out a grenade from either side by extending either of her hands to her back.
Even her storage was crammed full, just barely a step from going overweight and suffering the movement penalty.
An M&P pistol on her right thigh. Three spare magazines, making up four x 17 bullets in total. And of course, the first-aid kits.
f.u.kaziroh asked LLENN a question.
“What equipment are the others going to come with, I wonder?”
“I don’t know. Though, M-san is probably going to use the same gun and s.h.i.+eld as last time, I think.”
“And Pito-san?”
“I truly don’t know about that. Because that person has used a different gun every time we met. But, she does have quite high Strength, so I believe she’s able to equip a lot of suitably strong guns. I believe she has considerable firepower, so we have no choice but to deal with it.”
“What about the other four?”
“No info at all……”
Answering the question, LLENN felt belatedly uneasy.
From this moment on would be the beginning of the game tournament, but to Pitohui and M, it would be a battle with their lives on the line.
‘Can I, whose life is not at stake, actually stop that? Wouldn’t I lose in zeal?’
LLENN’s face became gloomy.
*Bas.h.i.+n*, f.u.kaziroh struck her back.
“Now, now. There’s also the possibility that Pito-san’s team will end up winning, aight?”
“True……”
It’s not like she could rely on that hope and do nothing.
The most certain thing is that she had to quickly take down Pitohui. That… was the reason why she was here now.
Of course, if their and Pitohui’s teams ended up being the last two standing, she could just resign at that point, but she believed that the killing route was proper manners as a gamer.
“Eei!”
LLENN slapped her cheeks.
‘Don’t waver anymore!’
‘Fight!’
And──
‘Kill!’
The minute counter for the waiting time had reached zero, and now, only the second counter── 43, 42, 41, 40, 39── mercilessly counted down.
LLENN pulled and released the P90 loading handle, and the first bullet was loaded into the chamber along with a dry metallic sound.
4th of April, 2026. Sat.u.r.day.
As the clock approached 1200, the number of people diving into the j.a.panese GGO server from all over j.a.pan continued to increase.
In a room of a certain tower apartment complex in a rather open area of Tokyo, whose residents were currently enjoying warm weather,
“Alright……, ready!”
Having closed the curtains to keep out the light coming from the clear sky, changed into her pale yellow pyjamas before adjusting the AC and humidifier,
“Now── time for the battle! And thus── I, am going to save, that person!”
And having carefully put the AmuSphere on her head, Kohiruimaki Karen lay down on her bed.
In the dining room of a certain detached house in Hokkaido, where snow fluttered about.
“Ooopsie, it’s already this late, huh. Not good not good.”
Miyu, who had been eating instant yakisoba, shoveled what remained into her mouth in a hurry, and finished eating the soup in the cup. She then shoved tea from a PET bottle down her throat in several gulps with great force.
Miyu noisily went to the toilet, then entered her room and, without changing her indoor clothes, flopped down on her bed.
“Welp, time to go wild.”
And so, she extended her arms, and grasped her aged AmuSphere.
“But, before that, maybe I’ll get some ice cream for dessert!”
Miyu put down her AmuSphere, left her room, and headed towards the refrigerator.
A number of high school girls put on their AmuSpheres in their respective homes.
A number of men, and a few women, throughout j.a.pan put on their AmuSpheres.
And──
In a certain metropolitan, high-cla.s.s apartment complex room with closed curtains,
“Ah, this is so heart-pounding!”
A young woman said in breathless excitement.
She was standing nude in a very dim room. To her side was a huge, close to 3 metre-long, coc.o.o.n-like ma.s.s.
“Now then.”
After the woman held out her hands, a part of the huge coc.o.o.n opened up. Inside, where red LEDs were s.h.i.+ning, was a gooey, 40 cm-deep liquid.
This was a machine called an 《Isolation tank》── or a 《Floatation tank》.
In which one’s body was suspended in a liquid, highly concentrated with salts and warmed to body temperature, and once the tank closed and the lights were turned off, it became a world where one could no longer feel sound, light, smell, touch, nor even gravity.
It was a machine used for ultimate relaxation by cutting off all five human senses to rest a tired body and mind, but, naturally, it was also used for FullDive technology.
A normal AmuSphere cuts off almost all sensations too, but a wee bit of noise was still transmitted.
By entering this isolation tank, the user could come close to almost complete isolation. Thus, it was only natural for serious players who wanted to be entirely in the game to desire a device like this.
Such isolation tanks were installed in relaxation establishments and net cafes as rentals, but the cheapest one would cost as much as a Kei-car(1), while expensive ones cost as much as a luxury car.
It was impossible for a player to install one at home unless they were highly affluent.
“Well then, I wonder if I’ll get out of this alive……?”
Having muttered this in joy just now, the nude woman entered the tank.
Next to this tank was another, completely identical, tank.
And, a hasp was welded on the cover──
A ma.s.sive padlock was hung on it to prevent the possibility of the tank being opened from the inside.
The headquarters for the SJ2 tournament was the same large bar in SBC Glocken that had been used for the previous tournament.
The partic.i.p.ating players, aiming to arrive at 12:40, gathered and waited until they were all simultaneously transferred to the standby area at 12:50.
10 minutes were given to prepare one’s weapons and equipment. And then, at exactly 13:00, SJ2 would start. Everyone would be transferred simultaneously to some part of the field.
As of that moment, the merciless killing fest would begin, and last until there was only one teamleft standing.
A broadcast of the battle would be provided by the management. Numerous markers indicating the position of cameras would fly around in the sky, searching for cool angles.
The spectators who wished to watch the live broadcast, and the partic.i.p.ants who dropped out after being killed could enjoy themselves watching the broadcast of the battle in the bar, while eating, drinking, and saying whatever they wanted.
The previous tournament had concluded in 1 hours and 28 minutes, but there were twenty-threeteams that partic.i.p.ated without any preliminaries. This time, a full thirty teams would partic.i.p.ate, so would it take longer or, instead, become a fiercer battle and end quicker? It was anyone’s guess.
After 12:20, the number of people in the bar grew considerably.
The partic.i.p.ating players gathered in groups of twos and threes. ‘Good luck’, ‘You can’t lose’, ‘Blow them all away’ and various other phrases were thrown around.
Speaking of SJ2, as was the case for the previous tournament, there were no sports gambling events like those which were held for the BoB. This was because the management lacked the resources to check for cheating ── so-called unfair actions, as severely as they did for the BoB.
Instead, the 『Predict how many bullets will be fired till the end of the tournament』 gambles were once again held, and once again spread excitement. Everyone resolutely entered larger numbers than for the previous tournament.
Among this commotion──
There were a few teams that caused the tumult to abate in a wave when they entered the bar.
The first was the team that took third place last time and was seeded, MMTM.
The name was abbreviated for display purposes, but their official team name was 《Memento Mori》.
It was Latin for 〝Don’t forget that you will die one day〟. It was an idiomatic phrase for ‘People eventually die no matter how hard they struggle, so enjoy the moment and live your life without regret’.
The six-man team, who used death as their motif and had skull emblems with knives in their mouths on their shoulders, moved through the bar.
Last time, every one of them wore their favourite gear as individuals, but this time, they wore perfectly matching uniforms to psyche themselves up.
Their garments were the camouflage uniforms used by Sweden’s army in Scandinavia. It was a rather stylish design that consisted of a simplistic mix of various shades of green, with barely any other colours.
Like others characters, they were dressed solely in camouflage from top to bottom aside from their boots. Their weapons and equipment were all left in their storage instead of being materialised, but those who had seen footage of the previous tournament knew what they were.
Their weapons were an 《HK21》 7.62 mm machine gun as their main source of firepower, and 5 European high-powered a.s.sault rifles. Of course, that is, if they had not changed their a.r.s.enal in 2 months.
They were undoubtedly one of the favourites for this tournament.
“If there were any bets, I’d put my money on those guys.”
“Well, that is a safe bet. Their team coordination is the best.”
Such opinions could be heard around the bar.
The six women that entered shortly after them also gave off enough pressure to cause the once again bustling bar to quiet down.
Wearing camouflage with countless, small, green dots──
Was a group of six amazons, each having a unique look: a braided gorilla, a blonde, sungla.s.s-wearing beauty, a very short and stout dwarf, a downtown lady, a silver-haired fox-eye, and acool noirette.
While it’s true that they were rare female characters in GGO,
“Hey hey, girls!”
There was not a single person in the audience who gave such a vulgar jeer.
These women from s.h.i.+NC took second place in the previous tournament, and were the best teamin terms of players slaughtered. A lot of the characters in the bar were probably killed by them at some point.
MMTM’s leader had the skill to take part in the BoB, and was a handsome character. He abruptly parted from his circle of friends just as they were about to raise a toast, and stepped up to thegorilla woman who had the const.i.tution of a pro-wrestler, Boss.
And then,
“Yo, ladies. We didn’t get to meet last time, but I look forward to having an audience with you in battle this time. Don’t die until then, okay?”
He gave her these words with a brazen smile.
Boss grinned, and with an expression that was more fierce than bewitching,
“Of course. You misters be sure to give your names before you are killed. Otherwise, we might not notice you.”
Responded in a feminine tone with words that could be regarded as nothing but provocation.
This immediately caused the bar to get excited, and even his MMTM mates, who should have felt that their leader was made a fool off, accepted it well. The five surrounding their table laughed as they clapped their hands.
Even the leader wasn’t an intolerant man who would be angered by this,
“This one’s interesting! I’m really glad they’re partic.i.p.ating!”
He waved two of his fingers with a smile, and returned to his mates.
Around 2 minutes after the amazon group disappeared into a private bar room──
“Oi, it’s him……”
A mountain-sized giant suddenly entered the bar.
It was a nearly 2 metre tall man with a chest as bulky as a breakwater, arms as thick as an earthen pipe, a foreign body builder-like figure, and brown, wavy hair.
He was wearing gaudy green camouflage pants that looked like they would be ripped apart by his thighs, and a T-s.h.i.+rt that clearly showed off his muscles.
To those who had seen the previous SJ, there was no need to explain who he was.
His name was M.
He was the man who teamed up with the pink chibi and entered the tournament as part of a merely two-man party, and although they did not have many battles, they were able to pull through every crucial part of the tournament and deal with the amazon group during the final battle. He was a highly skilled M14 EBR sniper with a powerful s.h.i.+eld that could deflect 7 mm-cla.s.s bullets.
He was also the man who aimed his pistol at his chibi companion mid-way during the battle, and fired, but missed and had the tables turned on him, then went off on his own for a bit.
Various guesses about the reason for the abrupt fallout came from the audience.
Some thought that there was simply a disagreement about their future plans, but there was even a conspiracy theory that it was an elaborate plan to invite the negligence of the amazon group by spreading false information to them via the audience.
In the end, it remained a mystery, and there was no one who had the courage to ask the person himself.
The man joined the battle at the very last moment, and supported the chibi, who was putting up a hard fight alone, with his high-precision sniping. He took down three of the amazon group’s members, and pulled off a marvelous win.
Having seen M in the distance, members of MMTM, who were wiped out by him and the chibi during the lake battle,
“So he did come…… The Line-less man……”
“ Revenge time. We’re doing things as planned if we encounter him.”
Had such a conversation.
Five of them were taken out by M’s special skill, sniping without Bullet Lines. They should have quite the grudge against him.
People who were probably his team members entered after M.
They were four men.
All of them were dressed in the same camouflage.
The camouflage pattern had an eerie design that was reminiscent of a reptile’s skin, with a gradient of brown and green that looked highly effective in both wildernesses and among greenery.
“What… the?”
What surprised the audience was the fact that all four of them had their heads and faces entirely covered by camouflage masks. Additionally, they had even equipped coloured goggles. With this, it was impossible to tell who was who.
‘It would be understandable to wear camouflage masks and goggles in battle, but was there really a need to wear them now?’
Everyone in the bar had the same idea.
The only way to distinguish between the four members was by their figures, which were greatly rich in variety.
One of them was short── in terms of men in GGO, so he was still at least 165 cm tall.
One had a large build── not to the extent of M’s, but he still had a muscular, large build and was over 180 cm tall.
One was slender── about 170 cm tall, but had limbs as long and thin as poles.
One was fat── and had the silhouette of a stout, pot-bellied, ranked sumo wrestler.
Without saying a word and while facing forward, the four men followed M.
Although they were in a VR game that created fake sensations, the aura that their demeanor brought about was still conveyed.
The large number of characters in the bar,
“They look… tough.”
“Yeah…… They might be hiding their faces because we know their mugs and names.”
“Could they be a group cut out to take part in the BoB?”
Felt that these four men were probably equally talented.
What kind of battle style would M, a member of the winning team from the previous tournament, and the ominous guys that he teamed up with show? This team became more and more interesting.
Under this tension,
“Yahoo! Thanks for waiting everyone!”
A laidback woman’s voice came in.
Everyone who had been following M’s party with their eyes looked over at the entrance, and saw a female character who had entered a bit late.
She was an approximately 175 cm-tall woman who had her hair tied into a ponytail at a high place. Her garments consisted of dark blue overalls, clearly showing off the lines of her body.
She had a brown complexion. Far from being fat or stout, her body was so firm that it looked like she had nothing but muscles on her.
She was a beauty with a sharp and well-featured face, but the geometrical-patterned, brick-coloured tattoo on her cheeks brought about a rather eerie vibe.
“Hey hey hey! Thanks for waiting, gentlemen! You’ve come to see me s.h.i.+ne, right! Great! Look forward to it, okay!”
The woman smiled at everybody in this excessively high-tension situation,
“…………”
But all the bar patrons opened their mouths flabbergasted, not knowing how to react.
She was the sixth one including M to come in, so she was definitely a member of his team.
But, compared to the other five, her tensionless vibe was out of place.
“Thanks! I’ve kept you waiting! Thanks for your cheers!”
With a sociable nature that begged the retort ‘Are you running for elections!’, the woman moved through the bar, restlessly looking around and waving her hand.
Everyone spoke, not caring about the person herself hearing their conversation.
“Who... is that? Is she another one of M’s team members?”
“I guess so. But…… that one alone is completely out of place, right?”
“So is she the hime-sama to be protected by her knights?”
“There was the term 〝Otasā no hime〟 for it 10 or more years ago.”
“Never heard of that obsolete phrase. Is it related to arasā (2)?”
“No. 〝An otaku circle’s hime-sama〟. The sole woman in a female-less group. It means 〝a hime-sama no matter what kind of girl she is〟, as she’s pampered.
“Could it be that you are quite elderly?”
“Hey, quit using keigo all of a sudden.”
“So those men…… those other four guys, are they hime-sama’s escorts? So you have no intention of going after her seriously? It’s a shame if that’s the case……”
“Miss, you look great. If you didn’t have that tattoo on your face, you’d really be my type. Have you just started? I could teach you, in great detail, how to shoot……”
“You perv.”
“So, you’re saying that you’d let a good-looking girl like that walk right past you? Are you a geezer in RL?”
“Only brats ask about RL.”
“Whatcha say?”
“Stop it, you’re being indecent. There’s no proof that the woman is of the same age in RL……”
While the men kept spouting whatever was on their mind, the woman disappeared into the private room that M had entered.
“That’s…… Pitohui, huh…… Does that amateur…… still hate GGO……”
In response to the man who muttered this,
“You know her? Leader.”
The HK21 machine gunner Jake asked with an expression of surprise. And then, the othermembers of MMTM tilted their heads as well.
‘It’s rare for our leader to know the name of a female character.’
They all shared the same thought.
Because, he was stoically immersed in the game, and intentionally ignored women. The amazonsfrom before were an exception among exceptions.
The leader answered the question of his mates with a not-really-happy expression.
“Shortly after GGO had begun, that would already make it a year ago…… for a very short time, I had formed a squadron. At the time, she didn’t have that tattoo, her hair was short to be more suitable for battle, and she wore different garments.”
“Oh. First time I've heard of it.”
Said Jake.
“Because I've never told anyone about it. At the time, all players were still fresh meat, but even so, grasping cheap and weak guns, everyone worked hard to become the strongest. It was a nice period……”
“ Leader, you sound like an old man.”
“But, like, why didn’t you fight together with her afterwards? Was it… because that woman was weak?”
‘You got it wrong’, the leader said, drinking up the alcohol── that, however, would not get him drunk, in his cup.
“That woman, was strong. Her moves were fluid, to say the least. I don’t know the details, but she should have been proportionately immersed in FullDive games by then.”
“Then, you could have just maintained contact with her?”
“It was impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because that woman didn’t think of her comrades as comrades. Whenever she was about to die, she’d gladly use her allies as s.h.i.+elds, and, without hesitation, she’d throw grenades when we were in the same room as a monster. As a result, her allies died, and she’d give a smile; that’s the kind of woman she was. Even when she died herself. I couldn’t bear playing with someone so〝eager to die〟. I lived under the principle 〝don’t forget about death〟, but that woman seemed to be leading a 〝I want to forget about living〟 lifestyle.”
“That sounds dangerous…… I’d get the heck out of that.”
“I’ve heard that she’d leave one squadron and join another, only to repeat the same thing over again. Eventually, n.o.body wanted to let her in, and she stopped trying to find one to enter as well. Among the veterans who know of this, the name Pitohui is a taboo.”
At his words, some of MMTM’s members were surprised, some were amazed and shrugged their shoulders. One of them said,
“Then, why is she partic.i.p.ating together with M this time?”
“I don’t know…… I don’t know, but don’t let your guard down. We will, of course, exact ourrevenge, but brace yourselves. They’re the kind of group that you don’t know what to expect from, in my opinion.”
The five nodded at the leader’s excessively serious expression in silence.
Lastly, the leader asked as if he suddenly thought of it.
“Does anyone know the origin of the name 〝Pitohui〟?”
“Nope, I can’t come up with any ideas.”
“None at all.”
“Like he said.”
“Only that it sounds cute.”
“A fairy?”
After hearing the five replies, the leader gave the answer.
“It’s the name of a bird. If I recall correctly, it’s a bird only found in New Guinea.”
“Oh. That’s cute.”
Jake’s impression escaped his mouth, and the leader’s eyes narrowed.
“Cute he says. A pitohui is a bird with a neurotoxin so deadly that it can kill any man who touches it. It suits her perfectly.”
At the table that went quiet,
“Don’t let your guard down.”
The leader‘s short phrase resounded.
Although groups of five or six players that entered the bar were typically partic.i.p.ants, none of them stood out enough to draw the attention of the bar. They were simply ignored.
It was easy to imagine,
“Heh, their opinion of us will change by the time this is over!”
That they had such a thought. That they thought ‘I’m gonna be the next hero/heroine’.
Among them, there was a team that consisted of four men and one woman. When the men came into the bar, they had expressions of happiness on them,
“…………”
While in contrast, the woman had a very sullen expression of great displeasure.
Based on the appearance of her avatar, she was in the latter half of her twenties. Her face was that of a tidy beauty.
Her pretty bob cut hair was vivid green like fresh leaves. It was not a very common sight in RL, but it wasn’t entirely unnatural in the SF world of GGO. There were people with anime characterhair colours that stood out more.
As for her garments, just like her four group members, she were brown cargo pants and boots. And for her top, she wore a simple, black T-s.h.i.+rt. The bulging of her large chest was eye-catching, even if this was not her desire.
There was quite the number of male characters who were fascinated by her appearance, but no one dared to strike up a conversation with her due to her excessively sour look.
And so time pa.s.sed, until there were only a few moments until the start of the second Squad Jam.
The men, and very few women, who seemed to be partic.i.p.ating finished up their virtual food and drinks one by one. Naturally, tension could be felt in the air.
In this bar swirling with fighting spirit──
A single question came to everyone’s mind soon enough, and people began noisily talking about it.
They unanimously said.
“Still not here? She’s still not here yet?”
“The winner of the previous tournament, the pink chibi… is still not here?”
The time was 12:45. If she did not enter the bar within 5 minutes, she would be disqualified due to being late.
“Oi oi, she’s still not here……”
Slightly opening the curtain of their private room, and sticking her head out, the very short-haired Tanya muttered in worry,
“Keep calm.
And was chided by Mother Courage Rosa sitting next to her.
“…………”
Boss stood like a rock without the slightest quiver on her rough face.
Soon, 2 minutes pa.s.sed, then 3──
‘Is she really going to be late.’ At 12:48, just when people thought ‘The champion of the previous tournament is going to drop out of the game just like this?’
“We ma~de it!”
“Whew! That was clo~se!”
Giving high-pitched screams, two characters entered the bar.
Both of them were hiding their bodies and faces beneath brown robes, but everyone could tell who they were based on their height and female voices. It was definitely that chibi. The previous victor of the tournament that rampaged to oblivion.
She came in with another female who was also rather chibi-sized. It seemed that this girl was her current partner.
As they avoided the blockheaded way of dropping-out, commotion and cheers arose in the bar.
“She’s here! The previous champion! LLENN-chan!”
“She’s gonna partic.i.p.ate as part of a two-person-only team again? She sure is confident……”
“So she’s going for two highly-skilled members rather than six useless ones?”
“I’m expecting more slaughter than last time!”
“That other one seems to be a girl as well underneath the robe. I can tell by her smell.”
“I see, you’re a perv, huh.”
The men exchanged whatever thoughts that came to their minds again.
LLENN and f.u.kaziroh did not have the time to care that they were showered with attention,
“Do we have time to drink something? LLENN.”
“You still want a drink? It’s not like you’re going to get thirsty, so who cares!”
“It’s for the mood, for the mood. Let’s have a drink! To celebrate our upcoming victory!”
“By mood…… you mean that you still have diarrhea?”
“Geez, I got what I needed out of my system, so no problem!”
The truth is that both LLENN and f.u.kaziroh should have been here 20 minutes ago. They planned to meet up in an easy-to-find place, and go to the bar with LLENN leading the way.
However, the moment they started walking together, f.u.kaziroh’s AmuSphere’s safety device activated, and forced a shutdown. She suddenly disappeared right in front of LLENN as if she was spirited away.
And so, after waiting for minutes and not seeing f.u.kaziroh coming back, LLENN sent her amessage in fear, and received this answer from Miyu’s smartphone.
『c.r.a.p. I ate some ice cream in a hurry and now my stomach is growling.』
“Whaaaaaaaa?”
LLENN thought that this excessive shock would have forced her own shutdown.
Afterwards,
『Done yet?』
『It’s still growling.』
『Done no~w?』
『I’m wiping my behind. Uwa, out of paper!』
『Just get over here alreadyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!』
And so, they regrouped, and rushed to the dash with a full-speed dash, and barely made it.
“Aah……”
LLENN felt as if she had already fought in a battle.
Without the energy to go into a private room, she found an empty table close to the entrance, and dropped down on the sofa surrounding it.
f.u.kaziroh followed, and immediately ordered lemon squash and iced tea. Which popped out of the table.
There was not even a minute left. LLENN feebly looked up, and,
“Yo! LLENN-chan!”
She was called by a familiar voice,
“…………”
And she faced the owner of the voice.
The Pitohui that she saw for the first time in a while was still the same Pitohui. She felt both nostalgia and fear.
“Congratulations on your previous win!”
Seeing her familiar, carefree smile,
“Thanks!”
LLENN forgot everything for a moment, and answered.
At that moment, the announcement, made 30 seconds before the SJ2 partic.i.p.ants were transported to the standby area, was streamed,
“Whoopsie, seems like we don’t have the time for a carefree talk.”
Pitohui narrowed her eyes above her tattoos, seemingly feeling disappointment deep down.
“Pito-san──”
LLENN stood up with a gla.s.s of iced tea in her hands.
“Hm?”
“I am going to do my best, so please have your expectations high. Please don’t forget── your 〝promise〟.”
Pitohui’s eyes blinked.
“Hm? I don’t really get it── well, I do. Oh, and keigo is a no-no! There’s not much time, anything else you wanna say?”
LLENN was asked by Pitohui,
“I’m definitely… going to kill you.”
LLENN replied immediately.
“Aha!”
After Pitohui left with a carefree smile, LLENN sipped up all her iced tea with her straw in an instant, and faced the sitting f.u.kaziroh,
“Let’s go, partner.”
“Right!”
At that moment, the transfer began.
The grim-faced LLENN,
“Hey, I wanna drink a bit mo──”
And the panicking f.u.kaziroh, who held a straw in her mouth, became particles of light and disappeared.
Each character used the 10 minutes in dim standby areas to materialise their weapons and equipment.
LLENN taught f.u.kaziroh how to use the satellite scan terminal, and being quick-witted, she quickly understood it.
This smartphone-like device would be SJ2’s lifeline. It could not be destroyed, but the possibility of losing it was not zero, thus it was necessary to be careful not to drop it.
As LLENN had expected, it was politely announced that this time, it would not have the 《indestructible object》 status. It would exist as an object, but every kind of attack, including bullets, would pa.s.s through it.
In front of the two in the dark room with nothing in it,
『Standby Time 04:33』
Was a large numeral that was counting down 1 second at a time. LLENN stored her full set of equipment, became a pink soldier, and waited for the count down to finish.
Her garments were exactly the same as the previous time.
Her uniform was a given, but she was pink from her boots and the tips of her gloves to the knithat on her head. And there was a pink bandana on her neck.
Her armament was a P90. She hung the second generation P-chan on her shoulder by its sling.
In her pouches on the left and right of her thighs, she had a total of six spare magazines to allow for quick reloading. Any more would have made movement difficult, thus she chose a number that she was used to.
However, there were another nine, three times more than last time, stocked in her storage. A P90 boasted 50 bullets per magazine, so the total of sixteen magazines held 800 bullets.
This time, she had an optional part for her P90, but it was still in her storage.
Like a true sport, she did not bring a single plasma grenade, a throwable weapon.
There was the possibility that one hanging on the waist could be shot, explode, and result in instant death, so she exchanged them for an equivalent weight of more spare magazines.
And, as the last of her last weapons, she had a 30 cm-long black combat knife equipped on the back of her waist so that she could draw it out with her right hand.
The sole hit point recovery item used during SJ2, a cylindrical injector called a 《first-aid kit》 was automatically distributed to everyone’s storage. Each could restore 30 percent of the user’s lost hit points, but it took 180 seconds for it to finish, thus it could not be used mid-battle.
Nevertheless, LLENN fully used all three of her kits during the last SJ. If she had not had their help, she would have died. Although she hoped that she would not need them, she hung them in an easy-to-reach place on the front of her body.
Although she wanted to keep her gear as light as possible, she had judged that a monocle with a rangefinder was absolutely necessary, thus she placed one in a pouch at the back of her waist.
Just like the knife, she had borrowed one from M the previous time. This time, she bought one for herself using the credits earned during training.
She, of course, had not forgotten to place several camouflage ponchos, suited for the various terrain, into her storage for disguise. They were light, thus it was no big loss to have them.
“Still not time yet?”
f.u.kaziroh, waiting beside LLENN for the countdown to finish, had finished her preparations for slaughter as well.
On top of her head with her blonde hair tied up was a large helmet. She was wearing a greenvest with a bullet-proof plate and extra MultiCam-wear.
As for her weapons, she had an MGL-140 on her right and left shoulders each.
Incidentally, f.u.kaziroh named the MGL-140 in her right hand 《Uta》 and the other 《Sako》. (3)
The sling for the one in her right-hand was placed on her left side, and the one for her left-hand was placed on the opposite, but the slings could have their fittings switched with one touch.
“They look exactly the same, so can you tell which one is Uta and which one is Sako when you take off the slings?”
When LLENN once asked this,
“That’s totes simple! Of the 2, the one in my right hand is Sato, ya know”
f.u.kaziroh replied. In other words, it seems it did not matter which one was which.
The backpack that f.u.kaziroh wore on her back was filled entirely with grenades.
There was a part.i.tion inside it to pull out a grenade from either side by extending either of her hands to her back.
Even her storage was crammed full, just barely a step from going overweight and suffering the movement penalty.
An M&P pistol on her right thigh. Three spare magazines, making up four x 17 bullets in total. And of course, the first-aid kits.
f.u.kaziroh asked LLENN a question.
“What equipment are the others going to come with, I wonder?”
“I don’t know. Though, M-san is probably going to use the same gun and s.h.i.+eld as last time, I think.”
“And Pito-san?”
“I truly don’t know about that. Because that person has used a different gun every time we met. But, she does have quite high Strength, so I believe she’s able to equip a lot of suitably strong guns. I believe she has considerable firepower, so we have no choice but to deal with it.”
“What about the other four?”
“No info at all……”
Answering the question, LLENN felt belatedly uneasy.
From this moment on would be the beginning of the game tournament, but to Pitohui and M, it would be a battle with their lives on the line.
‘Can I, whose life is not at stake, actually stop that? Wouldn’t I lose in zeal?’
LLENN’s face became gloomy.
*Bas.h.i.+n*, f.u.kaziroh struck her back.
“Now, now. There’s also the possibility that Pito-san’s team will end up winning, aight?”
“True……”
It’s not like she could rely on that hope and do nothing.
The most certain thing is that she had to quickly take down Pitohui. That… was the reason why she was here now.
Of course, if their and Pitohui’s teams ended up being the last two standing, she could just resign at that point, but she believed that the killing route was proper manners as a gamer.
“Eei!”
LLENN slapped her cheeks.
‘Don’t waver anymore!’
‘Fight!’
And──
‘Kill!’
The minute counter for the waiting time had reached zero, and now, only the second counter── 43, 42, 41, 40, 39── mercilessly counted down.
LLENN pulled and released the P90 loading handle, and the first bullet was loaded into the chamber along with a dry metallic sound.
