Lizbeth's suggestion piqued the interest of the other four, who nodded eagerly. Asuna used the inn's console in ALO to connect externally, quickly finding a relevant GGO site.
"Uh… 'First Bullet of Bullets Official Broadcast'? Liz, is this it?" Asuna asked.
"Yup, that's the one!" Lizbeth confirmed.
"Alright, let's pull it up," Asuna said.
She worked the console, and a desolate urban battlefield—likely the tournament stage—appeared on the monitor before them. Two players faced off on the screen.
"Wait, isn't this a shooting game?" Yuiyui said, tilting her head. "Why do they both have knives?"
One player held a knife and a handgun, while the other wielded dual knives, with a long rifle discarded behind them.
"Looks like one got close to the sniper, forcing a melee," Yukino said, hand on her chin. "This game seems to allow knives and swords alongside guns."
Yuiyui turned to Yukino with a basic question. "Yukino, a sniper's the one who attacks from far away, right?"
Asuna answered instead. "Yeah. I saw it in a movie with Hachiman-kun once. They're sharpshooters who take out targets from a distance."
"So, without their gun, isn't that Shana person at a disadvantage?" Yuiyui asked.
"Common sense says yes," Lizbeth replied. "No time to grab that rifle back there."
"But Satrizer's not moving," Yumi noted. "They've got the upper hand, so why?"
The screen showed the handgun-and-knife player as "Satrizer" and the dual-knife sniper as "Shana." At the edge of the screen, a third player, "Zexceed," crept closer, clearly aiming to capitalize on their standoff. Neither Satrizer nor Shana seemed to notice—or care—keeping their eyes locked on each other. Zexceed, raising their gun, inched forward to get both in range. Then, it happened.
Without breaking eye contact with Shana, Satrizer suddenly fired at Zexceed. The shot narrowly missed, and Zexceed scrambled to aim back. But what followed was astonishing. As Zexceed fired at Satrizer, Shana darted in, stomping on Zexceed's gun. Using the momentum, she leaped, landing behind Zexceed, and sliced them clean in half from head to toe. A "DEAD" mark flashed above Zexceed's crumpled form, but Shana didn't spare them a glance, her eyes still fixed on Satrizer.
Satrizer said something, and Shana responded, but their voices were too soft to hear. Then Yukino spoke up.
"'Damn, what an interruption.' 'Yeah, no kidding.'"
"Yukino?! You heard that?!" Yuiyui gasped.
Yukino shrugged. "No, I read their lips."
"Lip-reading?!" Yuiyui exclaimed.
"You're unreal…" Yumi said, half-impressed, half-exasperated.
As the two continued talking, Yukino narrated. "'This tournament was just for kicks, but there are some real monsters out there.' 'Right back at you. You're ex-military, aren't you? American, maybe? You've got blood on your hands.' 'Oh, you can tell?' 'Don't want to remember it, but I've fought someone with eyes like yours before.' 'You a soldier too? Or some washed-up mercenary?' 'Nah, I'm just…'"
The camera angle shifted, obscuring their mouths, so Yukino stopped. "That was intense…" Yuiyui said.
"Seems Satrizer's a real soldier," Yukino said. "Shana's something else, though. Those moves—who is she? And Zexceed… kind of pathetic."
"Zexceed's probably skilled to make it this far," Yumi said, "but even to an amateur like me, those two were on another level."
"As a blacksmith, Shana's weapons looked mass-produced," Lizbeth said. "It's gotta be pure skill."
"They're still talking," Yukino said. "What about?"
"So curious!" Yuiyui added.
Yukino, clearly itching to know, turned to Asuna. "Can we adjust the camera angle from here? Asuna? You listening?"
The others followed Yukino's gaze. Asuna was muttering to herself. "No way Satrizer's him… But from their talk, the 'guy with similar eyes' might be… No, it doesn't feel right…"
"Asuna? Yo, Asuna, something up?" Lizbeth asked, shaking her.
Asuna snapped out of it, looking at the four. "Oh, sorry. False alarm, I guess."
"If something's wrong, tell us right away," Yukino said.
"Yeah, we're your crew," Yuiyui added.
Yumi and Lizbeth smiled encouragingly. Asuna, touched, grinned back. "Thanks. I thought Satrizer might be the leader of that murder guild from SAO. But I was wrong."
"What? You mean PoH?" Lizbeth said, shocked.
The other three, less familiar with PoH, looked uneasy at "murder guild." Asuna and Lizbeth explained PoH's history.
"What a lunatic," Yukino said.
"Like, totally different values," Yuiyui said.
"Even I'm creeped out," Yumi said. "Guess it's their upbringing."
"How'd you know it's not PoH?" Lizbeth asked Asuna.
Asuna hesitated. "Just a hunch…"
"A hunch?" Lizbeth pressed.
"Yeah, that's all," Asuna said.
"If you say so, I trust you," Yukino said.
Asuna blinked. "You believe me?"
Yumi chimed in. "I thought you'd say, 'That's unscientific nonsense. Show me logical proof.' Weren't you like that before?"
Yukino puffed out her cheeks, mildly annoyed. "Mimicking me? Maybe the old me would've said that. But not now. It sounds pretentious, but fighting's taught me a thing or two. I've had those gut feelings too. I can't dismiss them anymore, no matter how unscientific."
"Fair point," Yumi said.
"Especially you, Asuna," Yukino continued. "You've fought through worse than I have. Your hunch is probably backed by experience, not just instinct."
"Experience, huh," Lizbeth mused.
"Could be," Yuiyui agreed.
Asuna nodded deeply at Yukino's words. Suddenly, Lizbeth shouted, "Look! The fight's started!"
The four whipped around to the monitor. Satrizer and Shana were locked in a ferocious battle, their skill rivaling even Kirito and Hachiman's in the girls' eyes. Minutes later, the outcome arrived. The handgun's presence proved decisive—Satrizer's bullet finally struck Shana, who collapsed. Satrizer slumped to the ground, exhausted. Yukino resumed her narration.
"'Phew, that was close.' 'You're damn strong. I'll pay you back someday.' 'Hah, if we get another shot, I'll take you down again.' 'See ya, Satrizer.' 'Yeah, see ya, Shana.'"
With that, a "DEAD" mark lit up above Shana, and Satrizer vanished, hunting their next target. Satrizer's later battles, shown on the monitor, were one-sided slaughters. To the girls, that initial fight felt like the true championship. In the end, Satrizer won, and the first Bullet of Bullets concluded.
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The battle isn't over... and the truth has yet to be revealed. Read the next chapter now on Patreon! [patreon.com/Greyhounds]