Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online Chapter 10

LLENN remembered Pitohui’s words.

“There are good things, LLENN-chan. You see, since GGO is a game, a lot of things can be done in simple way. Which is strikingly obvious in shooting.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, that took place in the ruins of a subway station.

It was conversation that took place after they wiped out about three dozen cleaning robots, whose AI had went mad and started attacking people, while they drank tea from a thermos flask in front of a pile of scrap that was illuminated by an eerie-coloured LED.

“Shooting is simple? What do you mean?”

“Yeah. For example, if we tried giving the real LLENN-chan a real P90. Well, let’s forget about the Japanese Swords and Firearms Control Law for this. If we do, you’d be able to smoothly insert the magazine, pull the cocking handle to load the bullets, and even get into a proper stance with the gun, right?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“But, do you think you’d be able to shoot a human-size target 100 metres in front of you, like you can in GGO?”

“Eeh? Well…… I’m not really sure……?”

“Although there’s a small chance that you’d be able to do it, it would probably be impossible. There’s but one reason for that - there’s no assistance.”

“Which……means?”

“In GGO, you see, if you aim your gun to some extent towards a target, and it falls into the area of the Bullet Circle, the game system will make the decision to „help adjust the aiming for you to hit the target“.”

“The-then……, that means that we’re „not actually aiming accurately“?”

“Right. GGO players think that they can hit the target with their violent shooting skills, but actually, they’re being helped tremendously by the game system. As the characters playing the game level up and acquire guns with high accuracy and power, this assistance becomes more and more pronounced. In other words, you don’t need to aim properly for the hit to be registered. It’s something like ≪Sword Skills≫. GGO players „can shoot more easily“, so they become stronger.”

“I see…… It’s something like my speed, huh.”

“I’ve tried it out before; I took and steadied a high-precision sniper rifle, and seized the moment when the target was at the centre of the Bullet Circle seen through the scope—— and then, I pulled the trigger violently, with the gun shaking, no matter how you look at it. Now, what do you think could have happened to the bullet I fired?” 

“It hit……. the target?”

“Correct, right in the middle, just as the Bullet Circle showed. That’s how I confirmed. That GGO’s gun triggers are „bluntly put, kinda like the manipulation of a controller’s button“.”

“I see…… So, that’s what you meant that „they’re being considerably helped“, huh. Then, Pito-san, what would happen if GGO truly reproduced severely real shooting?”

“Let’s see. In that case, it would probably either be an Everest-like difficulty shit game, where even after tens of hours of shooting practice on the level of actual soldiers, people would only be beginners, or a laugh-inducing shit game where almost everyone would be firing with assault rifles 100 metres away from each other.”

“Uhyaa.”

“A game’s a game. It can’t be helped even if you take reality too seriously. GGO’s fine as it is.”

“I see…… Then, Pito-san, a question.”

“Yeah, this proactive attitude of yours is a very good thing about you. Expect this to be reflected on your school report.”

“Thank you very much! ——What would happen if a person who was sufficiently good at realshooting played this game?”

“That’s a really good question. I give you a perfect mark.”

“Thanks! ——So, what about the answer?”

“I’ve harboured the exact same question, and decided to test it. I invited an acquaintance of mine who’s a gun maniac and good at shooting with live ammunition.”

“A-and then?”

“He was a bit bewildered at first, but once he grasped it, he instantly became able to hit the target by shooting violently. „As I expected, it’s reproduced well precisely because it’s anAmerican game“, that’s what he said.” 

“Hoo! It’s a thing that you mentioned earlier - what a person can do with their player ability rather than their character ability.”

“Right, that’s exactly that. However, that guy added this. „The Bullet Circle assistance is a two-edged sword“, that’s what he said.”

“Which means?”

“The answer is that it tells you where the bullet will fly before you fire. That’s why, „Even if you don’t aim properly, you can still fire, thus this game cannot be used to practice RL shooting. On the contrary, it would probably dull your skills. It could probably only be used for practicing to grasp the timing of firing.“ The observable difference is disgustingly wide”. 

“I see…… But, well, I wouldn’t be able to play without it. ——So, what’s the good point?”

“Yeah. „Because of this, long-distance sniping becomes overwhelmingly easy.“ You see, shooting at a far away enemy with a gun is absurdly difficult. You know why you can’t just aim at the centre of the scope?”

“I learnt that from the NPC demon sergeant’s sniping tutorial. Bullets are pulled by gravity and fly in a parabola, so you have to aim upwards, accounting for how much the bullet would fall based on the distance.”

“That’s not all. When aiming at a target who is above or below you, the descent of the bullet decreases in proportion to the angle; if the temperature and altitude are high, the air becomes thin, and so the bullet can fly better; if there is wind, it, naturally, blows the bullet; the bullet also drifts in the direction that it rotates; and if you’re aiming for super-long-distance sniping at a target 1 km or farther away, you also have to consider the „Coriolis force“, caused by the rotation of the Earth.

“Sensei, I don’t get it anymore.”

“Well, the point is, a lot of calculations and experience is required for long-distance sniping.Real snipers get familiar with all of this by shooting hundreds of bullets to practice, observing how their bullets fly from their guns. But——”

“I get it! The Bullet Circle does the calculations completely automatically like a computer. Thesystem tells you ‘right now, you will hit here’. It becomes super simple.”

“That’s right.”

The team that was given the name „foxtrot“ some time ago——

Boarded the large truck stopped at the back of the mansion one by one.

To go after and take down their last prey.
 

1. ^ 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire for the bolt-action Mosin-Nagant rifle, and is still used nowadays for sniper rifles like the Dragunov, and some other guns. The R in mmR stands for "rimmed".

2. ^ Japanese name for creme caramel or custard pudding.

3. ^ In Russian, Пулемёт Калашникова (Pulemyot Kalashnikova). Technically, it means “Kalashinikov’s (possessive case) machine gun”.

Chapter end