Episode 9 "One Step Towards Tomorrow"
This will be the final episode of GGO.
It's almost going to be a briefing session, but since I have to explain the orientation settings, it's been a long time.
There will be a lot of conversation scenes, but I hope you can forgive me.
Then go ahead!
With the Souvenir Grenade, Kirito and Sinon won the championship at the same time, and the 3rd BoB ended.
Since it was the result screen, I was transferred to the waiting room that I used in the preliminary round.
So I was looking at the standings...
(In addition to the Pale Rider, there was another person who cut the circuit... after all, there were more than two accomplices in the real world...)
When the time limit reached zero, I stopped thinking and felt my consciousness recede. Now the first priority is to return to the real world... First of all, we have to ensure the safety of Sinon... Shino...
"Yeah... Uh-huh..."
"Kazuto-kun! Kazuto-kun!"
"It's okay now, Asuna."
"... Huh? Asuna...?"
When I returned to the real world, I heard Asuna's voice. Kazuto's voice answered.
"Ah, Ren-kun... that's good."
"···Why are you here?"
"Well... I asked Kikuoka-san where Kazuto-kun and the others were..."
"ah I see"
In other words, the reason why we went to GGO was found out.
"... That's right! Sinon...! I have to go...!?"
“A-Kazuto-kun…!?”
"Sorry, Asuna. I have to go now...! Ren, please contact Kikuoka!"
"Oh, I see... be careful!"
Kazuto panicked, forcibly removed the electrodes, asked me to do so, and left the hospital room.
"Wait a minute! Kirigaya-kun!?"
"Mr. Aki! I want to contact Mr. Kikuoka right now! Can I ask you something?!"
"...! Okay, wait a minute."
Perhaps realizing that my swordsmanship was not a trivial matter, Mr. Aki immediately moved to get in touch with Mr. Kikuoka.
"Wh-what are you talking about, Ren-kun...?"
"I'm going to talk about it now... I have to ask Kikuoka-san..."
"...Hello!...Otoya-kun, we're connected!"
I stopped the bewildered Asuna and received a phone call from Mr. Aki.
"Thank you! Hello, Kikuoka-san!"
"It's Kikuoka. Otoya-kun, what are you doing!? ? 』
"There are two requirements! First of all, I want the police to be dispatched to a certain person immediately! Her name is Shino Asada. She is one of the players targeted by Death Gun! Maybe she can be harmed!
Kazuto is on his way, but just in case, please make a request to the police! address·····"
I summarize the main points and convey the information to Kikuoka-san. Mr. Kikuoka didn't ask me anything unnecessary because it was an emergency.
"Do you get it. Attract people immediately. Hey, send the investigators right away! address·····"
They were probably waiting so that they could move people immediately. I heard Mr. Kikuoka's voice over the phone giving instructions.
“And one more thing! ? 』
"As for the identity of the Death Gun...you may already know, but the culprit is the remnants of the former 'Laughing Coffin'."
"..."Laughing Coffin"...as Asuna-kun and the others said."
"Yes... but the culprits were murdering in conjunction with the real world and the virtual world."
"What do you mean...? 』
I explained to Mr. Kikuoka, who answered the phone, and Mr. Asuna and Mr. Aki, who were there.
The fact that the players calling themselves Death Gun were SAO survivors "Red-Eyed Zaza" and "Kibaou",
Death Gun shoots the player with a gun in the virtual world, and at the same time, the accomplice was murdering in the real world with drugs or poison,
that there were two deaths in the tournament,
I briefly talked about them.
"...that's it. There is a high possibility that the accomplices in the real world are also SAO returnees and Red Players. Please investigate immediately!"
"···Do you get it. yes···? wait a minute...? 』
"···What's wrong?"
"No, I just accessed 'Red-Eyed Zaza''s personal data and was looking at Amusphere's history... He looks like a doctor's child. He seems to have a brother in it.'
"What's wrong with that...?"
"No, it seems like that little brother is also doing GGO...according to Amusphere's history, his avatar name is 'Spiegel'."
"·····eh?"
At those words, my thoughts stopped for a moment and accelerated at once.
<He is Spiegel. He was my friend in real life, and he taught me about GGO, so I started.>
<Because I have friends I can trust living nearby>
"...it's bad!"
“Re, Ren-kun!?” “Otoya-kun? Otoya-kun! ? 』
I threw the phone away at the worst possible thought, shook off Asuna's restraint, and rushed out of the hospital room.
Just like that, I jumped on the parked bike and immediately rushed to Sinon's house.
If he was the accomplice... I blew the accelerator while praying that my guess was wrong.
When I arrived at Sinon's house, I immediately saw the room where Kazuto's motorcycle was staying and the door was left open. I immediately ran into the room.
“Kazuto!? Sinon!?”
"Ah... huh, n...?"
"Yo, yo... lotus"
There, Kazuto was limp as if leaning against the bed, and a girl with grayish hair...a girl who looked like Sinon was beside Kazuto. And it seemed that someone had fallen down inside.
“…Are you safe!?”
"I don't know..."
“……Could it be this person?”
He approaches the Japanese and asks them if they are safe. He seems to have been hit several times, but he seems to be fine. . Then, I asked a question to the person in the back who was lying unconscious.
"...Yeah. Death Gun's accomplice...so..."
"Sinon...you don't have to say anything more than that."
"···yes"
Apparently, he is Death Gun's younger brother and accomplice...
"The police will be here soon."
"·····yes"
Shortly after that, the police arrived and we were to be questioned.
"Hey, Kirigaya-kun, Otoya-kun. Nice to meet you, Shino Asada... I'm going to be like this."
"H-hello..."
I, Kazuto, and Shino who Kazuto brought me to a high-end coffee shop in Ginza where I heard about Death Gun before (I read it by my last name at first, but he asked me to call him by his first name. , decided to do so) had an appointment with Mr. Kikuoka.
Shino was perplexed when she received a business card from Mr. Kikuoka with the formal and difficult-to-understand department written on it.
"Don't be so nervous...for now, you can order whatever you like."
"Then... 'Today's seasonal dessert' and 'Darjeeling tea'."
"Eh, uh... with coffee."
"Kazuto... I think I'd recommend this 'Gateau Chocolat'."
“I-Is that so? Or rather, why are you so used to it, Lotus…!?”
“I do things like cooking, so I only know about it from reading magazines like that.”
"... Hmmm"
"Shino. If you're worried, how about 'Earl Gray Tea' and this 'Mille-feuille'?"
"... that's right.
After finishing each order, I started listening to Mr. Kikuoka's story... By the way, it's a secret that the cake I recommended to Kazuto and Shino was a pretty good price.
"Now then... I'm sorry that I got involved in a dangerous incident this time, and I'm sorry to hear about it."
"No, no...it's fine."
At Kikuoka-san's apology, Shino was humbled and bowed her head. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that if she did that to Kikuoka-san, who was unusually serious, she wouldn't look black.
“Well then, Mr. Kikuoka… as far as I know, can you tell me what you have to say?”
"Ah... for the time being, speaking as far as I know...
First of all, the number of death guns that have been identified so far is four.
Arrested leader...Shoichi Shinkawa of "Red-Eyed Zaza" aka "Stelven"
Kobold aka Kibaou Koyama Onihei,
Kyoji Shinkawa, Shoichi's younger brother who attacked Mr. Asada as the attacker in the real world.
...and there's another one, but I'll explain that later."
We each nodded at Mr. Kikuoka's words.
I was curious about the other accomplice, but I thought it would be bad to break the order of the story, so I listened intently.
"The origin of the matter was Shoichi Shinkawa. He is the eldest son of a family who serves as the director of a general hospital, but he seems to have been in and out of the hospital many times due to his weak health since childhood.
Because of that, he was late to enter high school, and it seems that his father gave up on him. Kyoji was chosen as his heir, and while expectations were placed on him, Shoichi seems to have become isolated."
“…So, didn’t the relationship between the brothers get worse?”
"Ah, it seems like that never happened. It seems that my younger brother Kyoji started playing VRMMO because of the frail Shoichi's obsession with it.
Furthermore, it seems Shoichi only told his younger brother Kyoji about the killings in SAO."
"... Shinkawa-kun"
There was something about Mr. Kikuoka's story that caught my attention, so when I asked him about it, he replied. On the other hand, when Shino heard about her friend's situation, she had a sad expression on her face.
"And after returning from SAO... Shoichi, who was invited by his younger brother to start Gun Gale Online, purchased an optical camouflage cloak through real money trading, which seems to have been the catalyst for the birth of Death Gun. Using a cloak and binoculars, Shoichi seems to have been intent on collecting the player's personal information."
Kikuoka drank water in the middle of the conversation. At the same time, I took a sip of tea and waited for the continuation of the words.
"... On the other hand, Kyoji was worried about his character development policy, and seemed to have developed a lot of resentment against 'Zexceed', which changed the direction of the character build. It seems that I gave him personal information about Zexeed.
And then, the two of them seemed to discuss how to kill... no, purge...
As the discussions continued, the plan became more realistic, and it seems that they finally came to the conclusion that it might be feasible."
"...no way...then the one who killed 'Zexceed'..."
"Ah... it seems that it was also an experiment. They brought a master key that can unlock the electronic key in an emergency and the powerful drug 'succinylcholine' from the hospital run by their father. I narrowed down to single life with low security.
The murder of "Zexceed" was intruded by Shoichi using a master key in the real world.
…On the other hand, Kyoji uses his brother’s character “Stelben” and shoots “Zexceed” who was appearing in MMO Stream… Shoichi kills Mr. Shigemura at the same time… Kyoji He called himself Death Gun on the spot and made an impression on those around him.
The second victim, Tarako Usushio, seems to have used the same method... phew."
Perhaps tired from talking, Kikuoka sighed and drank water again.
Our drinks were almost gone, so I decided to take advantage of his kindness because he recommended another one.
"...Now then, after killing the two, Death Gun should become famous in GGO...their expectations were greatly betrayed."
“…So far from GGO, in VRMMO that kind of thing was seen as something to be confounded by.”
“…I also thought that story was just an urban legend.”
Shino, a GGO player, agreed with Kazuto's words with convincing power.
"That's right... and that's why I ran into the brutality in this tournament."
"You thought that killing a famous player in a big tournament like BoB would attract attention..."
"Yeah. As Otoya-kun said, the conditions were the same as the previous two cases, 'Pale Rider' and 'Garrett'... and then they targeted Mr. Asada."
"...but there are obstacles to killing multiple people."
"Yes, in order to kill multiple people, the perpetrator must go to each house.
Furthermore, when it comes to a large-scale stage like BoB, it's no longer easy to get in touch with the player in the game."
Mr. Kikuoka replied to Kazuto, who said that after drinking the coffee he ordered as an extra.
"So, with Kibaou as another Death Gun, I made another accomplice in the real world... is that what you mean?"
"Yeah. And it seems Shoichi invited the fourth accomplice, Atsushi Kanemoto, as the perpetrator."
"... is that also the original 'Laughing Coffin'?"
"Ah. Kirigaya-kun and Otoya-kun probably know...his character name in SAO was 'Johnny Black'."
"...that guy"
"···Oh"
Johnny Black...the one I threw into prison in the subjugation battle. I still remember his childish cruelty.
...in the worst sense of course...
"It seems that Kanemoto was in charge of the perpetrators of 'Pale Rider' and 'Garrett', which are close to his house. Kyoji took on Sinon... only this time, it seems that Kyoji stuck to the culprit."
"Um... that story was Shinkawa-kun... no, Kyoji-kun told it?"
"No, the story just now was told by my brother Shoichi. Kyoji continues to remain silent."
"Is that so···"
"Would you like one from me too?"
Taking advantage of Shino's question, I decided to ask her what I was also curious about.
“What is it, Otoya-kun?”
"Kibaou... No, what is the real reason Mr. Koyama participated in this project...?"
"...according to Koyama's statement...it's revenge."
“Does that mean… for me…?”
"No, it doesn't seem like that. After returning from SAO, Koyama seems to have tried to reintegrate into society. However, being an SAO returnee and having an arrogant personality to begin with was a disaster. It seems that he was...
During a regular mental checkup, it seems that he has a tendency to shift responsibility, thinking that society is to blame for what he is now.
After learning that you and Kirigaya-kun, who have a past connection, will participate in BoB, they decided to participate in the plan as revenge."
"·····Is that so"
"Shoichi has stated that everything about this incident was like a game.
Like SAO, collecting information on the target, preparing equipment, and carrying out the attack is no different."
"...the dark side of VRMMO, maybe... the reality is fading."
I couldn't say anything to Mr. Kikuoka's answer and Kazuto's words.
Like us, they went to a school for returnees, and like Klein and Egil, they succeeded in reintegrating into society. I felt like I was taken.
"...how are you guys doing?"
""eh···?""
"I wonder what your reality is..."
At those words, Kazuto and I looked at each other with Shino in between.
Kazuto then began to answer while looking out the window.
"...The things I left behind in that world certainly exist.
That's why I think my current mass has decreased by that amount..."
"What about Otoya-kun?"
"...That's right. For me, there are too many things left in that world.
In a sense, this incident was partly caused by me. What I left behind was about to come back... I feel like I was made to realize that."
"Do you want to go back?"
"Don't ask, it's in bad taste, right?" "It's in bad taste to ask that."
Kazuto and I both responded to Kikuoka-san's nasty question.
Then,
"Kirito... you're saying something different than last time."
""eh···?""
"There's no such thing as a virtual world...you said. Reality is where you are..."
(…This is new to me…Did you say that, Kazuto-san?)
With that in mind, I kept listening to Shino and Kazuto's conversation.
"Right now, this world I'm in is the only reality...
Even if this is a virtual world, I think it's real to me."
"...I see. I see...Sinon's words just now may be the only valuable truth in this case."
"No more! Don't tease me!!"
(Right now, the world I'm in is real...)
Shino's words struck a deep chord with me, who came from another world, and they were convincing.
When I came to this world and came back to the real world for the first time... For me, in a way, it was like a virtual world.
...But for me, who lives in this world, even if this is another world, it's a fact that I'm here, and it's a fact that this world is real.
If you think about it that way, Shino's words may indeed be a truth.
"Well, that's all the information I have. Do you have any other questions?"
Kikuoka-san's words pulled back my consciousness.
"Umm... what's going to happen to Kyoji-kun?"
"Hmm... from what they say and do, I think there's a high chance that they'll be sent to a medical juvenile training school.
After all, they have no reality at all..."
"No... I don't think so."
Shino's words surprised not only Kikuoka-san, but me and Kazuto as well.
"I don't know about Onii-san, but for Kyoji-kun, the reality was in 'Gungale Online'. Throw this world away...only in GGO." I think it was decided that it was the true reality..."
Shino's expression was mixed with sadness. She must have felt something because she was close to him and she was in contact with him.
“Aiming to be the strongest, earning experience points every day for hours on end…I’m sure you must have been under a lot of stress.”
“Ge, stress from games?
"Yes... Kyoji-kun literally knocked you down.
...this world and that world
"...w-why did you do that...?"
"I don't know either. But...
Kirito, Von... do you guys know? ”
"...because I want to be strong"
"...I agree with Kazuto."
"... so was I... all VRMMO players may be the same.
…I just want to be strong.”
Kazuto and I quietly answered Shino's words.
For VRMMO players, it may be an unavoidable fate.
"Kikuoka-san...I'm going to meet him. I want to meet him and tell him what I've been thinking about...what I'm thinking about now...!"
"Yes, you are a strong person... Yes, please do so. I will contact you when I am able to meet with you."
As Kikuoka pointed out, there was no hesitation in Shino's eyes, and there was a light of strong will.
"Oops, I'm sorry. It's about time... I have to go."
"Oh. I'm sorry, let me take your time..."
"Thank you for teaching me various things."
"Um, thank you very much."
"No no... it's my fault that I put you guys in danger. I have to do something like this."
Saying that, Kikuoka-san, who was about to leave his seat, stopped moving as if he remembered something.
"That's right... Kirigaya-kun, Otoya-kun... Death Gun... I have a message for you from Shoichi Shinkawa, also known as 'Red-Eyed Zaza'.
It's up to you to decide whether or not to listen... what do you do? ”
Hearing those words, Kazuto and I confirmed our intentions with eye contact.
"of course···"
"Can I ask you something?"
Hearing our words, Kikuoka-san took out something like a letter from the envelope and read out the message.
"This is not the end. You have no power to end it.
You will soon find out too.
It's show time
That was the message from Death Gun Zaza.
After saying goodbye to Kikuoka-san, Kazuto and I took Shino to the "Dicey Cafe", just as we had arranged beforehand. When you open the door...
"Late!!"
I smiled wryly at the insults, and Kazuto was disappointed.
"I ate two slices of apple pie while I was waiting!
If you get fat, it's your fault! ”
"Why is that so..."
"Well..."
We entered the store with Shino while appeasing Kazuto, who was in a bad mood at Rika's words.
"Hey! Hurry up and introduce yourself, Kirito-kun!"
"Ah, that's right... This is Gun Gale Online's 3rd generation champion, Sinon Asada Shino-san."
"No, stop...!"
""... jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
"Ah...go, gohon!?"
"...haa... Shino, they've been friends since SAO.
On the right is Rika Shinozaki, aka "Lizbeth", a blacksmith specialist.
"nice to meet you!"
"So, the girl on the left is Berserk Hee "Otoya-kun...?"... Kohon, Yuki Asuna, also known as 'Asuna', who wields the flashing sword."
“Nice to meet you!…Hong-kun…I’ll talk to you later.”
"·····yes"
I introduced them to Shino, but it seems that Asuna was furious...
"Kukuku...!"
"Kirito-kun, there are still many things I want to ask you...
see you later? ”
"·······yes"
The smile of Kazuto, who was laughing next to him, froze at that declaration.
...I have no sympathy.
"Shall we sit down for now?"
… Safely (?) After the introduction, we decided to take a seat.
"'Stelven'... wasn't Steven?"
While drinking the drinks Egil-san brought me (ginger ale for me, cocoa for Shino, coffee for Kazuto, and tea for Asuna and Rika), we talked about the death gun character name.
"Death in hospital terms... huh? I wonder what they mean by that..."
"Don't look for more meaning than your name in your character name. You lose sight of it more than you notice it."
“Certainly… even Kibaou’s character name, ‘Kobolt’, was chosen for that purpose…in the end, the only reason is within himself.”
“…Maybe so.
"No more! Don't say unnecessary things!"
Asuna and I gave our own interpretations of Sinon's question. Rika, who played with it, was hit by her elbow from Asuna, but Shino couldn't help but laugh when she saw it.
“Anyway, I’m so happy that I got to meet a female VRMMO player in real life!”
"That's true! Please be my friend, Asada-san."
“Eh… um……………”
At Rika and Asuna's suggestion, Shino made an awkward face and fell silent. So we decided to go according to plan. At Kazuto's signal, Asuna nodded and opened her mouth.
“You know, Mr. Asada… Ms. Sinon. Is there a reason why you came to this store today?”
"······cause?"
Shino was surprised by Asuna's words.
"Shino. I have to apologize to you first."
Kazuto apologized and bowed to Shino.
"...I told Fon, Asuna, and Liz about your past incident."
"·····eh···!?"
"I thought I really needed the cooperation of Fong and the others..."
"Eh...!?"
"Sinon-san. Actually, we used to go to the town where you wanted to live."
"Wh-what!? That kind of thing...!?"
I was so shocked that I grabbed Shino's sleeve and stopped her from leaving the place.
"Sinon, calm down! You haven't met the person you should have met yet...!"
"···eh?"
"We thought of doing that because we thought you weren't hearing what you were supposed to hear."
"............"
Kazuto and I told Shino to stay here.
Kazuto continued speaking.
"Things from now on may hurt you...but!
I thought I couldn't leave it alone."
"... the person I should meet... the words I should hear...?"
Kazuto gave Rika an eye contact, and Rika headed for the back door.
"please"
Parents were standing there. We vacated our seats and handed them over to our parents and children. Shino, who was still surprised by the suddenness, returned to her seat for the time being. Her mother bowed, followed by her daughter.
"Ah, uh... are you...?"
"Nice to meet you. Are you Shino Asada?
My name is Sachie Osawa. This child is Mizue... she will be 4 years old this year."
"Ha, ha..."
"...I worked at the post office until this child was born."
"... ah, ah...!?"
Shino must have remembered those words. Yes, her mother's woman... Osawa-san is the woman who was working at the scene when Shino encountered the incident. When we went to ask her about her story, we told her about Shino, and she asked her to come here today.
"I'm sorry, Shino-san..."
"···eh?"
"I should have met you sooner... without even apologizing or thanking you..."
Mr. Osawa was in tears in the middle of his speech. Her daughter was looking up at it curiously.
"At the time of that incident, I was pregnant with this child. That's why, Shino-san... you saved not only my life, but this child's life as well. Thank you very much." ...!"
"... you saved my life...?"
Mr. Osawa bowed his head. However, Shino was surprised by those words.
"Shino..."
"eh···?"
"You've been blaming yourself all this time... you've been trying to punish yourself.
I'm not saying it's wrong...but you also have the right to think about those you've saved...think about it...you have the right to forgive yourself. is.
I will give it to you... to you...! ”
Kazuto desperately appealed to Shino, even though he was at a loss for words.
"sister"
"Ah···"
Mizue-chan approached Shino and called out to her.
Then he took something out of his bag. It was a picture of a person.
It was probably written by Mizue-chan... Shino took it cautiously.
"Thank you, Shino-neesan, for helping Mama and Mizue!"
"Oh...ah...!?!?"
The words and the picture made Shino shed tears.
"···It was great"
"Oh···"
I called out to Kazuto while looking at Shino holding Mizue-chan's hand.
It may not be possible to overcome everything yet. Even so, I thought that this one step was a small courage to move on to tomorrow. It's not just Shino. Looking at the current scene, I felt that it was the same for me and Kazuto.
Phantom Bullet End
So, this concludes the GGO arc.
Next time... Finally, it will be the Mother's Rosario edition, where the heroine and the owner are the main characters! !
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