With that, Hachiman logged into GGO.
"Rosalia, you there?"
"Oh? Finished with your errand already?"
"For now. I dumped the rest onto XaXeeD."
"I see. And how is his condition?"
"Still waiting on the test results, but it's highly likely to be drugs."
"I figured... Unfortunately, we haven't found any leads on this side yet. Then again, if they swapped out their equipment, they wouldn't be easy to spot anyway. So I suppose everything is going according to expectation."
"Right... Can't be helped, then."
Shana seemed to have anticipated this; her face showed little disappointment.
"I'll keep gathering information for now."
"Thanks. I'm counting on you."
"Ah, right, one more thing. Kirito is looking for you."
"Huh? Me? What's that about?"
"Why don't you ask Sinon? She might know."
"Did she run into Kirito again? What are the odds..."
Shana immediately opened a comm line to Sinon.
A little while prior, Kirito—who had been searching the city for clues regarding Death Gun—happened to run into Sinon.
Sinon had been searching for Death Gun as well, and because both of them were following the primary rule of gathering information, their paths naturally crossed at the local taverns.
"Oh."
"Ah."
The two locked eyes inside a tavern, uttering identical exclamations. Kirito was the first to speak.
"Perfect timing. There was something I wanted to ask you, Sinon."
"What is it?"
"You know that arcade game setup outside the weapon shop we went to yesterday?"
"The game? Ah, you mean the one behind the 'Untouchable' sign with the NPC gunman standing inside?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"What about it?"
Kirito pulled a slightly annoyed face as he answered.
"You know how there was a massive pile of coins stored inside the display case? I was thinking, if I can clear it, I can take that money and shove it right back in that Shana guy's face."
Sinon stared at him, utterly bewildered.
"Wait... do you hate Shana or something?"
"Of course I do! I don't have a single pleasant memory involving that guy!"
"Hmm..."
(I really want to see his face when he finds out Shana is actually Hachiman,) Sinon thought to herself, suppressing a smirk as she walked over to the game with him.
"Here it is. So, how do you actually play this thing?"
"Looks like someone's playing it right now, so let's watch... Wait, he looks familiar... Oh, isn't that Yamikaze-san?"
"An acquaintance of yours?"
"Ah, yeah. More like an ally, I guess. He's probably the top speed-demon in GGO."
"So he's the pinnacle of the pure-AGI builds."
"Exactly."
The game began, and Yamikaze sprinted forward. Executing a series of fluid dodges, he closed the distance to the eight-meter mark in the blink of an eye. At that exact moment, the NPC's AI routine shifted.
"Tch!"
The NPC suddenly switched to rapid-fire mode. Even with Yamikaze's speed, his advance visibly slowed. Still, he pressed forward, inch by inch.
"The attacks got intense real quick."
"This is nothing. No one has ever cleared this game before."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. The accumulated prize money has reached 320,000 credits. Since it costs 100 credits per play, that means roughly 3,200 attempts have failed."
"I can't tell if that's a lot or a little..."
"Well, hardly anyone even tries anymore."
Right as Sinon finished her sentence, Yamikaze took a hit. It seemed he couldn't dodge a point-blank three-shot burst.
"Ahhh!"
"Unfortunate..."
"Dammit! Out at the same spot again!" Yamikaze bellowed.
Realizing his outburst had drawn stares from the surrounding crowd, he looked around self-consciously—and his eyes locked onto Sinon.
"Oh?"
"Hey there, Yamikaze-san. Tough luck."
"Man, you had to see me embarrass myself. I always get taken down right there. By the way, who's the cutie with you? A friend?"
"Pfft!"
"Pffft-hah!"
Both Kirito and Sinon burst out laughing for completely different reasons.
"Wait, did I say something weird?"
"Umm... well..." Sinon struggled to contain herself. "Kirito-kun here is actually a guy."
"A GUY?!"
Yamikaze collapsed to his knees in sheer shock. The reaction was so over-the-top that Sinon looked at him with skepticism.
"I-Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
"You don't get it... I thought a cute girl untouched by Shana had finally appeared..."
"EH?!"
"Ah, so that's what this is about..."
Sinon gave Kirito an awkward look, while Kirito backed away in a panic.
"S-Sorry, but I don't lean that way!"
Kirito quickly stepped up to the game's starting line. Yamikaze, picking himself up off the ground, noticed and turned to Sinon.
"He saw me lose and he's still gonna try it? Guy's got guts. Who is he, anyway?"
"You recover way too fast..." Sinon sighed. "He's supposed to be the Black Swordsman."
"Wait, seriously?!"
"Yeah."
"Now that is a big name... Is he here because of that Death Gun stuff?"
"Looks like it, yeah."
"I see. Rosalia-chan asked us to gather info on Death Gun, but I guess she couldn't mention the Black Swordsman to the other squadrons."
"Keep this between us, Tarako-san, and the members of Juro, alright?"
"Yeah, I got it."
As the two watched, Kirito slotted a 100-credit coin into the machine.
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