Then Death Gun was a member of that guild you fought, Laughing Coffin?
Kirito,
tell me one thing.
How did you overcome those memories?
How did you keep them from controlling your life?
How are you able to be so strong now?
I haven't overcome them.
Last night,
I had a dream where I saw the three I killed over and over again.
I could barely sleep.
Their faces when their avatars disappeared...
Their voices, their words...
I'll never
be able to forget them.
Th-Then...
Then, what do
I do?
But, Sinon...
I think that's necessary.
I needed to accept what killing them meant,
the weight, and to keep thinking.
Doing that is the bare minimum of atonement I can do.
Accept? Keep thinking?
The Meaning of Strength
Death Gun...
Whoever is wearing that cape is a real person,
who actually exists, aren't they?
Yeah.
If I knew their name from SAO,
we could find their true name and address.
That's why I came here.
Oh...
Then he can't forget about SAO,
and he came to GGO because he wants to PK again?
I think it's more than that.
When he killed Zexceed and Lightly Salted Tarako...
And when he killed Pale Rider in this tournament...
He chose times when a lot of people were watching.
That exaggerated cross sign...
He's probably trying to appeal to a large mass of people.
To show them that he really has the ability to kill people from a game.
But how is that possible?
From what I heard, Zexceed and Tarako
didn't die of brain damage, but heart failure.
Heart failure?
That's...
To be honest, I can't even imagine how he's doing it.
I'd like to think that
there's no way to stop a player's heart by shooting them in a game.
No, wait.
Come to think of it...
It's kind of strange.
What is?
Why did Death Gun use his rifle to shoot at me back there,
rather than his handgun?
If he'd used his handgun, he could've killed me.
That's true.
Maybe it isn't that he didn't use it.
But that he couldn't use it.
That black handgun.
A reason he couldn't shoot it.
His rifle.
That cross sign he made.
A cape that hides you.
Conditions... Rules.
Well, I'm relieved to hear you say that aloud...
I knew it.
You can't really kill someone with a gun in a game.
Just shooting them with a gun in the game wouldn't be enough.
What do you mean?
What if you needed to make some preparations in the real world
to kill someone by shooting with a gun here?
Preparations in the real world?
If that was the case,
how would he find the player's real-world information?
He doesn't know who they are.
User Information Name Address Phone Number
No, even a regular player could find the target's address.
The governor general's office.
BoB players enter their true names and addresses into that terminal.
It's an open space with no privacy.
No way.
When we entered them, he was looking over our shoulders?
If someone was that close, we'd have noticed.
What if he was using a scope or binoculars?
That's impossible...
He'd get his butt kicked for bad manners.
What if, just hypothetically, Death Gun's cape worked in town?
He turned invisible and looked over our shoulders?
But Death Gun's logged into the game.
He can't do anything in real life.
No.
No, he can!
There are two Death Guns...
Two of them!
The first of them is the avatar in the beat-up cape.
He shoots the target in the game.
The second enters the target's room in the real world
and simultaneously kills the defenseless player.
Even if they knew the targets' true addresses,
they'd need a key to get in.
What about others in their houses?
Zexceed and Tarako both lived alone, in old apartment buildings.
The electronic locks on the doors were probably older ones with bad security.
And when their target is diving in GGO,
their actual body is completely unconscious.
Even if they had trouble opening it, there's no way they'd be noticed.
Th-Then how do victims die?
You said it was heart failure, right?
Could you stop someone's heart in a way that's undetectable to police and doctors?
Some kind of drug...
Maybe?
But wouldn't they find that?
Like a pin prick from the injection...
The bodies weren't found for a while, so they were badly decomposed.
And it isn't unheard of for hardcore VRMMO players
to die of heart attacks after not eating or sleeping.
No way.
Why would Death Gun do all that?
Yeah.
But he must've wanted to keep being a red player.
For example, part of me still remembers being a swordsman.
I kind of understand that.
Sometimes, I think to myself that I'm a sniper.
Then the other Death Gun who's killing people in the real world is also...
Yeah.
He might be another Laughing Coffin member.
But he needs to check that the time closely aligns with his real world partner,
or he wouldn't be able to do it.
That's it.
Maybe that cross gesture
is to camouflage checking his wristwatch.
I see...
Sinon,
do you live alone?
Y-Yeah.
The door's locked, though.
I have an old electronic lock, too.
The chain...
Might not be locked.
All right...
Listen.
Stay calm and listen.
When he was firing at us from his robot horse,
he was aiming at you.
That means the preparations are complete.
Preparations? For what?
Death Gun's partner is in your room right now,
watching a video of the tournament and waiting for you to be shot.
It's possible, anyway.
No... No!
No! I can't...
No, Sinon!
If you automatically log out now, you'll be in danger.
You can do it. Calm yourself.
Until Death Gun shoots you, the intruder can't do anything to you.
That's the rule they set for themselves.
But if you automatically log out and see his face, you'll be in danger.
So for now, calm down.
But... But...
I'm scared! I'm scared!
Chrysheight!
You're late!
I c-came here at top speed from the save point.
If ALO had speed limits, they would've taken my license.
What's going on?
It might take a while to explain the whole thing...
And I don't even know where to start—
Trying to talk your way out of it?
Then I'll handle it.
On November 9th, a player calling himself
Death Gun fired a shot into a monitor in GGO.
On the same day, in a Nakano Ward apartment,
a player in full-dive died of unnatural causes.
Well, that's a surprise.
You gathered all that information in this short a time,
and reached that conclusion?
Any interest in a part-time job with the Virtual Division?
No, I'm sorry...
At this point, I'm not going to try and lie to you.
The little one's explanation is right.
All of it.
Hey, Mister Chrys...
I heard you're the one who hired Kirito.
So you knew
about those murders and had Kirito convert his avatar anyway?
Wait a second, Klein.
They aren't murders.
What?
An Amusphere couldn't hurt a hair on your head,
no matter what you did with it.
And it certainly can't stop a heart that it isn't even connected to.
Last week, Kirito-kun and I had a long debate about it,
and ultimately reached that conclusion.
A bullet in a video game can't kill a body in the real world.
Then why did you ask my brother to go to GGO?
You felt something...
No,
you still do.
That player named Death Gun has some kind of terrifying secret, right?
Chrys-san...
Death Gun is an SAO survivor like us.
And a former member of Laughing Coffin, the worst of the red guilds.
Is that true?
Yeah.
I can't remember his name.
But Klein and I were part of the fight against LC.
H-Hey, Asuna...
Does Chrysheight know about SAO?
You said in the real world,
he's some government employee who does some kind of network stuff.
And as part of his research into VRMMOs, he's playing ALO...
That's right, but I used to have another job.
I was
part of the SAO Incident Task Force.
Not that we were actually able to respond in any real way.
Chrysheight,
wouldn't you be able to find Death Gun's real life name and address?
If you have a list of the surviving Laughing Coffin members,
and you check with their service providers to see if they're playing GGO right now?
No, that's impossible.
Just knowing that they're a former Laughing Coffin member
wouldn't tell us their true name or address.
Then why don't we ask the game's owners?
GGO is run by an overseas company.
So it'd be hard to do it now.
I'm sure my brother is on that battlefield to learn their name right now.
When he came back yesterday, my brother looked really scared.
I think he realized during yesterday's qualifiers
that someone from Laughing Coffin was playing GGO.
And that they might be trying to kill again.
So he went to finish things with them.
To find their old name and to make them stop PKing.
Kirito-kun...
You...
You always...
You always are...
You idiot!
Why didn't you tell me?!
If you had, I would've converted, too.
That's right.
But Kirito-san wouldn't do that.
If he thought there was any danger at all,
he wouldn't try to involve us.
That's the kind of person he is.
Yeah...
He's always been like that.
In fact, he's probably protecting someone
who's supposed to be his enemy right now.
Chrysheight, you must know where Kirito-kun is diving from.
Y-Yes, I suppose.
I do.
Actually, I had the place set up for him.
The security's perfect, and so is the monitoring.
There's someone right next to him,
and I can say for sure that his real body is in no danger—
Where is he?
It's an Ochanomizu hospital, in Chiyoda Ward.
A hospital in Chiyoda?
The one he went to for rehab?
Yes, that's right.
I'm going to the place he is in the real world.
Tell me what to do.
Defeat Death Gun.
Then his partner will disappear, unable to do anything.
But even without his Black Star, he's pretty good.
Didn't you see him dodge a shot from the Hecate at a hundred meters?
And I don't think we can hide like this forever.
The other players will realize that we're hiding in this desert cave.
At any second, we could be attacked with a grenade.
I see.
We've been a pair this far.
Let's fight together to the end.
But if he shoots you with that handgun...
That thing's just an obsolete single-action.
Even if he shoots at me, you can use your sword to deflect it easily, right?
Yeah, I won't let him hit you.
But I still think it's better if he didn't see you.
But...
No, I'll gladly accept your offer of help.
But, Sinon, you're a sniper.
You're best firing from long range.
That's true.
Let's do this.
During the next satellite scan,
I'll show up on the map alone and draw out Death Gun.
He'll probably hide far away and try to shoot me with the rifle.
We'll use his shot to find his location, and you shoot him.
How about it?
You're going to be a decoy?
Fine...
We'll do that.
But just be sure you don't get killed by the first shot.
I-I'll try.
But his rifle doesn't make any sound,
and you can't see a prediction line on the first shot.
Who was it that said you should anticipate the prediction lines?
Um, that aside, Sinon...
Crap.
I should have paid more attention.
Uh, what is that?
The live broadcast camera.
Normally, it only focuses on battles,
but there aren't many players left, so it came here.
That's bad.
Our conversation...
It's okay.
It won't pick up voices unless you yell.
Why not wave?
Or is there someone you don't want seeing this?
N-No, well...
Wh-What about you?
I think most people seeing this will assume we're both women.
I-It's fine. I don't care.
If a rumor goes around that I'm into that,
it means fewer people will go after me.
Then I have to keep pretending to be a girl?
Don't tell me you forgot...
The first thing you did was pretend to be a girl to make me—
It's gone.
It's nearly time.
There are two minutes until the next satellite scan.
I'll stay here,
and you'll go outside and check your terminal, right?
Oh, come to think of it...
What now?
There's no time to change the plan.
No, the plan stays as is.
Not that...
I was just thinking that, in the end, Death Gun's true name...
Or I guess his actual character name is "Sterben."
Oh, I see.
I guess so.
What does it mean, I wonder.
If I get close to him, I'll ask.
Okay, I'll be outside.
Be careful.
Next Time Phantom Bullet