Bang!
The heavy sniper rifle roared, and the bullet instantly emptied the target's HP, forcing her offline.
"Hm?"
Kain studied the player ID displayed in the system notification with interest.
Sinon.
In the original story, she wasn't supposed to start playing GGO until next year.
Then again, most games in this world seemed to have launched ahead of schedule. It wasn't strange that she had started playing this one early as well.
Kain had logged into the game to entertain himself after everyone else had gone to bed.
Tomorrow, he also planned to visit Akihabara and purchase a few things. Once he returned to his own world, he could ask Asuna to transmit them to him.
Coincidentally, tomorrow was also the premiere of the movie about the SEED world. He definitely intended to watch it.
Lacus's world was now unlikely to follow the movie's original plot, but the film could still provide them with important intelligence—such as the specific identities of the Accords.
Once they knew who the Accords were, Lacus could either prepare for them in advance or eliminate the threat before they made their move.
Returning to the game, Kain had asked 6O to install a device that would allow him to play under the same rules as ordinary players. He didn't want another incident where the system locked his HP and made him impossible to kill.
He would have exactly as much HP as the game assigned him. If it reached zero, he would die and respawn at the designated location like everyone else.
The scene changed, and a girl appeared in front of Kain, glaring at him through gritted teeth as though she wanted to bite him.
Her anger was understandable.
They were currently inside a special event map where players could respawn without limit.
The player who accumulated the highest number of kills before time ran out would be declared the winner and receive the event reward.
The event was almost over, and Kain had already killed Sinon thirteen times.
The first time, he had taken her out with a headshot. After that, his mischievous side had gotten the better of him. He kept moving closer and targeting her in increasingly humiliating ways until her HP was emptied.
Suddenly, a strange sensation alerted Kain that something was happening in the real world.
Whatever it was, it didn't appear dangerous. Otherwise, his danger instinct would already have forced his body to react.
It was probably another one of 6O's schemes.
During the fireworks display, he had already sensed that she was plotting something.
"Trade."
Kain sent a trade request to the girl he suspected was the real Sinon.
"What?"
"I sent you a trade request."
Although she had no idea what he was planning, Sinon eventually accepted the request.
Kain placed the gun he had just won into the trade window and immediately confirmed the transaction.
She wouldn't need to offer any money or items in return. All she had to do was press the confirmation button, and the weapon would become hers for free.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of confirming, Sinon frowned and glared at him.
There was anger in her eyes, as though she felt he was humiliating her even further.
"I
Bang!
The heavy sniper rifle roared, and the bullet instantly emptied the target's HP, forcing her offline.
"Hm?"
Kain studied the system notification with interest.
The player ID of the person he had just killed was Sinon.
In the original story, she shouldn't have started playing GGO until next year.
Then again, most of the games in this world seemed to have been released ahead of schedule. It wasn't particularly strange for her to have started playing this one early as well.
Kain had logged into the game after everyone else went to sleep, hoping to enjoy himself for a while.
Tomorrow, he planned to visit Akihabara and purchase a few things. Once he returned to his own world, Asuna could send them to him.
Coincidentally, tomorrow was also the premiere of the theatrical film about the SEED world. He definitely intended to watch it.
Lacus's world was unlikely to follow the movie's plot anymore, but the film could still provide valuable intelligence—such as the specific identities of the Accords.
Once he knew who they were, he could warn Lacus about them in advance or simply deal with them before they became a threat.
Returning his attention to the game, Kain had asked 6O to install a device that would allow him to play under the same conditions as an ordinary player. He didn't want another incident in which the system locked his HP and made him impossible to kill.
Now, he possessed only as much HP as the system assigned him. If it reached zero, he would die and return to the respawn point like everyone else.
The scene changed, and a girl appeared in front of Kain, gritting her teeth as though she wanted to bite him.
This was a special event map where players could respawn indefinitely.
The player with the highest number of kills when the event ended would be declared the winner and receive a special reward.
With the event almost over, Kain had already killed Sinon thirteen times.
The first time, he had taken her out with a clean headshot. After that, his mischievous side had taken over. He repeatedly closed the distance and targeted the most humiliating hit zones he could find until her HP was depleted.
Suddenly, an unusual sensation alerted Kain that something was happening in the real world.
Whatever it was, it didn't feel dangerous. Otherwise, his danger instinct would already have forced his body to react.
Most likely, 6O was up to something.
During the fireworks display earlier, Kain had sensed that she was plotting behind his back.
"Trade."
Kain sent a trade request to the girl he suspected was Sinon.
"What?"
"I sent you a trade request."
Although she didn't understand what he wanted, she eventually accepted.
Kain placed the gun he had just received as a prize into the trade window and immediately confirmed the exchange.
She wouldn't need to pay him anything or place an item of her own into the window. All she had to do was press confirm, and the weapon would be hers for free.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of confirming the trade, Sinon frowned and glared at him.
Her angry gaze suggested that she regarded the gesture as yet another humiliation.
"I won't have much time to play after this. You can have it."
"Hmph. I don't need your charity."
She proudly rejected his offer.
Kain immediately canceled the trade and threw the gun onto the ground. It became an unclaimed item that any player could pick up.
He then logged out to see what 6O was doing.
Before he even opened his eyes, the sensations transmitted by his body revealed that 6O was indeed up to something.
She wasn't alone, either. 2B was helping her.
He felt someone holding each of his hands. The differences in pressure and touch made it obvious that they belonged to two different people.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a blushing 6O smiling brightly at him. She raised the hand she was holding and playfully brushed a kiss across his knuckles.
"Do you like this, Commander? Judging by your reaction, you must like it quite a lot. Your heart rate just increased. You should try it too, 2B. Let's see how fast we can make his heart beat."
2B prepared to imitate her.
Normally, 2B seemed like an emotionless girl whose expression never changed. Yet under Kain's gaze, a rare emotion appeared on her face.
She was shy.
The contrast was so unexpectedly charming that Kain briefly lost himself in the sight.
Her upturned eyes seemed to plead with him not to stare while she did something so embarrassing.
Seated against the wall behind them was another figure: Asuna Yuuki.
More precisely, it was her android body.
6O had brought the body into Kain's room, claiming that it still required a few adjustments.
She and 2B were supposed to remain at Kain's side and protect him around the clock, so they had decided to perform the adjustments inside his room instead of leaving him unguarded.
Incidentally, none of the three androids was wearing the standard YoRHa combat uniform.
They were all dressed in Christmas outfits.
...
There were only three minutes left until midnight, and Asuna still hadn't fallen asleep.
Kain's gift to her had been a music box. Everyone appeared to have received one, although each box played a different melody.
Asuna's music box, however, had also contained a special card.
The message on it instructed her to log in at midnight using an AmuSphere, the second-generation civilian FullDive device and successor to the NerveGear.
She wouldn't be logging into a virtual game or entering Underworld.
Instead, she was supposed to connect to the YoRHa body prepared for her and enjoy an especially unusual Christmas present—a private broadcast arranged specifically for her.
The promise left Asuna excited and more than a little nervous.
It felt almost as though the person she liked was preparing to confess his feelings to her.
Wait—what kind of comparison was that?
Just because the broadcast had been prepared especially for her didn't mean anyone intended to confess.
While her thoughts ran wild, an alarm suddenly rang and jolted her back to reality.
Asuna had set it in case she accidentally fell asleep.
She picked up the AmuSphere, placed it over her head, and initiated the connection.
After a brief moment of disorientation, Asuna immediately noticed that something had changed.
She had been lying in bed, but now she was sitting upright.
That meant her consciousness had successfully connected to the android body.
Strange.
She tried to move, but her body didn't respond.
Was there a malfunction?
Perhaps 6O was still adjusting the body and hadn't finished yet. Some of its functions might have been temporarily disabled, preventing it from responding to Asuna's thoughts.
She attempted to open her eyes.
Fortunately, that function worked.
The first thing she saw was—
Huh?
Asuna froze, her mind going blank at the scene before her.
6O and 2B were gathered closely around Kain, holding his hands and showering him with deliberately affectionate attention.
Was this the surprise broadcast prepared for her?
The situation felt strangely familiar.
That was right. It reminded her of Professor Yuuko Kouzuki's previous private broadcast.
What was Mr. Kain trying to tell her by showing her something like this?
Asuna's thoughts fell into chaos.
So did her heart.
(End of Chapter)
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