When I was in fifth grade,
I killed a man with a gun.
Hey, you! Come here, and fill the bag!
Hurry, or I'll shoot another person!
I'll shoot!
You little...
Give that back. Give that back!
You stupid kid!
I pulled the trigger three times.
Ever since the incident at the post office,
just seeing a picture or a video of a gun
was enough to send me into a PTSD-induced panic attack.
No drugs... No counseling
could cure my terror.
I look terrible...
Even here, in a Tokyo school, far away from my home,
my symptoms barely improved.
Bang.
I don't regret pulling the trigger, to protect my mother.
But I'm not strong enough to say that that was the best choice.
It was my only friend in Tokyo
that invited me to Gun Gale Online.
His name is Shinkawa Kyouji.
You're amazing, Asada-san.
That isn't true!
In the last qualifier, didn't you reach the semifinals?
No, it's no good.
Agility-types can't go much further without a really amazing gun.
I spent my status points wrong...
Then you aren't entering the next BoB?
Yeah, there's no point.
Oh, sorry...
I've got to go.
Thanks for the tea.
And, seriously, thanks for helping me.
You were really cool.
I wish I could always protect you.
Um, listen...
Should I walk you home from school?
I'm all right.
I need to become strong.
Back then, it was all I could do to think about myself,
and I didn't realize how Kyouji-kun really felt.
In GGO, I became the sniper Sinon,
and all I wanted was to fight the strong.
Next!
He's strong enough to smile on the battlefield.
I'll kill him.
And I, too...
The stronger Sinon gets, the stronger the real me will get.
I believe that, and I'll keep fighting with the Hecate II.
The end.
Yes, it's my first time playing.
I'm looking for somewhere to get cheap weapons,
and a place called the governor general's office.
The day of the qualifiers for the third Bullet of Bullets tournament,
I met a player named Kirito.
He made me kind of mad, pretending to be a girl,
and waving a sword around, in a game about guns.
No way.
You're a guy?
With that avatar?!
You...
As he fought, he carried something heavy with him, too.
Just like me.
I'll hit him, no matter what.
Does he think he can dodge my bullet whenever he wants?
He isn't interested in dodging it?
Screw...
S-Screw you!
Why?
Does a fight with me not matter? Is that it?
My only goal is to make it to the main tournament tomorrow.
I have no more reason to fight.
Then shoot yourself with that gun!
"This is just a single match, in a virtual game."
I know that's what you think!
But don't assume I think the same way!
Sinon, would you give me a chance to make it up to you?
Fight me once more.
Okay, here I go.
No!
That's impossible!
I was aiming for your left leg...
How could you predict where I was firing?
I could see your eyes on the other side of the scope.
He predicted the bullet's path on his own?
He's strong.
That strength goes beyond a virtual game!
If you're that strong, what are you so afraid of?
This isn't strength.
It's only skill.
You're lying... You're lying.
Technique isn't enough to cut through a bullet from the Hecate.
You must know that.
How can I become strong like that?
I...
I'm trying to learn that.
If...
If that bullet could also kill a player in the real world...
And if you didn't shoot them,
you or someone you loved would be killed...
Could you still pull the trigger?
Death Gun's gun shattered my vision of Sinon's strength.
A Black Star Type 54...
That gun...
What...
What is it doing here now?
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! I can't...
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.
Tell me what to do.
Defeat Death Gun.
Hecate II, please...
I'm weak. Lend me your power.
Give me the power to stand and start walking again!
Concentrate...
Feel his killer instinct.
Kirito!
There he is.
He's strong.
One moment...
I just need one moment.
If I can break his rush...
Right now, Kirito is trying to translate his words into action,
by stopping the criminal named Death Gun,
who carries the darkness of SAO.
He can't do it because he's strong.
He does it because he accepts his weakness.
He worries, suffers,
and tries to move forward anyway!
Is there anything I can do?
Kirito!
This attack via prediction line is an illusion
containing all of Sinon's experience, insight, and fighting spirit.
I can't waste this last attack... This phantom bullet!
It isn't over yet...
I won't let it end until they find out, and...
No, it's over, Zaza.
We'll find your partner.
Laughing Coffin's murders are over.
It's over...
Yeah.
My name is Asada Shino.
We need to end the tournament.
Yeah, we do.
Asada-san...
I thought that if I became strong in Gun Gale Online,
my real self's weakness would also disappear.
Asada-san... Asada-san! Asada-san! Asada-san!
Asada-san! Asada-san! Asada-san!
But I wrong.
Run, Sinon!
C-Crap...
Sinon and Shino and are both me.
It'll take a long time before I'm ready to face those memories.
But even so...
Little by little,
I need to keep moving forward.
It's okay.
Because this world is really so kind...
And so warm.
Next Time The Queen of the Lake