Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online Chapter 12

The time was 15:19:20.

“Scan in 40 seconds.”

Boss’s voice reached even Tanya.

The previous time, she had watched the rear for Tanya, but this time it was the exact opposite.Boss was probably glancing at the satellite scan terminal behind her.

During the scan, they stopped moving and watched over their surroundings. Tanya stopped moving at the side of a rock that she had been next to, and assumed a half-rising posture.

At that moment, a pink rabbit jumped out of the rock in front of her.

Unluckily for Tanya, Boss’s announcement that reached her ears diverted her attention from the light footsteps that approached her.

It was an incident that lasted merely 10 seconds from the beginning to the end.

The 15:20 satellite scan had yet to begin.

They had run around and fired close to 100 bullets in total,

“I did it……”

LLENN had decreased the number of members in the enemy team by one, but at the next moment, she felt a dull pain in her left shoulder, and saw the shining hit effects before her eyes.

‘Run!’

Due to her almost instinct-like intuition, LLENN broke into a run. 

She did not see the Bullet Lines, but she clearly heard the sound of sand crackling, and the extremely noisy gunshots of machine guns.

She sprinted back from where she came at full-speed, hid behind a large rock, and this time the rock was hit. The sound was so violent that the attack of her opponent moments ago seemed like child’s play.

“Uhyaa! Uhyaa!”

Without the time to enjoy the fruits of her battle or to reload her empty magazine, LLENN immediately began escaping.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

While loudly shouting, and,

‘How many times has it been todaaaaaaaaaaaay!”

Shouting this in her mind, she continued running away from the hail of bullets.

Her surroundings once again lit up with red lines like a concert hall, and with the unending roar of bullets, the sand kicked up by their impact flew in her face and into her mouth.

“Peh!”

To survive, she had to put in some distance no matter what.

She did manage to defeat that first enemy with a mix of chance and luck, but if she was caught in that extreme firepower, there probably wouldn’t be a second time.

“Hiiiiiiii!”

While giving a scream that was close to being a cry, LLENN ran and ran, and finally, after who knows how many tens of seconds of running, the world became silent.

After all that merciless running and running away at a full-speed sprint, she no longer knew how far she had travelled.

“Haah……”

LLENN finally took a breather. Running did not take one’s breath away, but it did result in extreme mental exhaustion.

LLENN hid in the shade of a large rock and stopped her small body.

First, she confirmed her own hit points, which she had not had the time to do while she ran. At any rate, she was sprinting at full-speed at a speed similar to a bicycle, so if she did not look forward, she would likely have crashed into a rock.

The hit on her shoulder seemed to have only been on the level of a light graze, as her hit pointgauge was still at seventy percent. Nevertheless, it was on a level where it was possible to die from 2 or 3 shots, even if they did not hit the vitals. And she had no healing items.

And, even though it had probably ended, she checked her satellite scan terminal. As expected, the scan was over, so she returned it to her chest pocket.

Next, she reloaded her now empty P90 magazine. Although unexpected, she had wasted a lot of bullets during her unrestrained shooting, and she had used up two magazines.

She immediately operated the storage, materialised the last one, and put it into her pouch.

Even adding all of them up,

“Six of them. Only 300 bullets, huh……”

That was all that LLENN could fire in SJ.

She did take one down, but if she had to use another 100 for the next one, she naturally would not have enough of them. With all that flashy shooting, there were probably more than just three people.

“If there are five of them, then 60 bullets per person……”

If she used more than that in the battle, she wouldn’t be able to do anything but resign. Though she did have two plasma grenades and a knife,

“Hmm, should I use them for suicide……”

Were her very pessimistic words.

To flush out LLENN, machine guns started roaring from afar.

“Uhya!”

The chills went through LLENN’s spine, causing her to jump and drop low to the ground.

The 1st bullet hit her left arm.

Her entire arm became numb, and lost its strength.

Immediately afterwards, the 2nd bullet hit her left waist.

Luckily, it hit the P90’s magazine pouch, making one of the magazines inside unusable.

While she was falling because the hit to her left waist broke her balance, the 3rd bullet grazed the nape of her neck.

“Gya!”

Giving a shriek at the dull pain in the upper left part of her body, LLENN nonetheless sped up. At the same time, she tried finding out where she was being shot from based on the sound——

‘I couldn’t hear it!’

She was astonished at this truth.

The moment she was shot was a quiet moment, exactly between the two intervals of the machine gun’s fire.

It was a moment where she could even hear her own footsteps.

And yet, she was suddenly hit with three consecutive attacks, and she did not hear any sounds at all.

She had even thought that, rather than being shot, she had been stabbed with a spear by someone nearby whom she did not notice, but this was not the case.

Looking at the upper left part of her body, she saw her upper arm flashing in a red hit effect, and her hit point gauge decreasing further with a *guu* sound, until it stopped at around forty percent.

As for her left thigh, a large, diagonal hole had been opened in her pouch,

“Ugh……”

And from it she saw a largely destroyed magazine. The number of bullets that she could fire -minus 50.

However, if the impact was even slightly off, it probably wouldn’t have ended with just leg pain and damage. With her leg becoming numb, she would have tumbled, become an easy target, and be dead now.

“I-I am——”

While running away, LLENN muttered in a half tear-stained face.

“S-still lucky……”

Just like how they tricked LLENN now, they would intentionally fire their machine guns like mad without aiming, drawing the attention of their opponents, and,

“Heheh! Those guys are panicking!”

Would invite such negligence.

And when the enemy nonchalantly and carelessly drew near——

In an area with a clear field of vision for long-range attacks, they would snipe them with the 2Dragunovs.

In a narrow place with numerous opportunities for cover, they would take them down by having the quick-witted Tanya assault them with her submachine gun.

Or, just like in LLENN’s case, Boss would draw near unnoticed, and take the target down with her silent sniping. Alternatively, Tanya and Boss would make a combined attack. Sometimes attacking at the same time as a two man cell, sometimes attacking from the left and right in a pincer attack.

In this way, the girls had been reaping victories in the SJ’s battlefield thus far. Following Boss’s orders and instructions, in perfect team play.

When they had camped at the advantageous ruins, they drew in three teams as their opponents, and even managed to get them to fight each other at the same time.

In the end, teams that did not have cohesive cooperation, and used improvised formations, were no match for the girls.

‘The 2 core firepower machine guns can’t really be decoys——’

Such teams also did not notice the attackers until they were wiped out.

“Uhyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

LLENN shouted.

‘I’m done for I’m already done for I’m done for at last I’m really done for I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’ll be shot I’m gonna die I’m gonna die!’(3)

Today, she had been under fire from machine guns time after time, but she had not been as scared as she was now.

The rock that she had her back to, and was probably a good-for-nothing lump that was only several hundred kilograms in weight, was shaking irregularly. And, from the opposite side, it was giving an unpleasant sound of being shaved off.

And, Bullet Lines, as well as bullets, came flying incessantly in the surroundings, and kept raising pillars of sand, unlike waterspouts, atop the pebbles.

The gunshots could be heard clearer than ever before, as if showing off that the enemy was close. The sound of bullets piercing the air resounded from the right, left, and above.

‘Can I escape……?’

There were roughly 20 metres till the next rock in the direction opposite to the enemies. Beyond that point, the rocks were closer to each other, thus it seemed like it would be easier to hide, but——

‘It won’t woooooork!’

Bullets were relentlessly hitting the ground even there.

Right now, she would be hit the moment she jumped out, much less reaching the rock. And herhit points, which were but forty percent full, would undoubtedly be depleted if a single bullet hit her.

‘Then, what would happen if I stayed here the whole time?’

The answer was simple. The other enemy members were undoubtedly closing in towards her, and would either attack from the side or throw a grenade, either way it was certain death. Yes,game over.

The next moment, she imagined that a plasma grenade rolled right next to her, and mercilessly exploded,

“Uugh……”

LLENN shivered lightly.

At the same moment——

‘Plasma grenade(4)’

She remembered that she had them as well. She put her hand on her left waist, and found the two spheres still there.

The place where they were hanging was not even 5 cm away from the hole of the shot pouch.

Plasma grenades were cheap and very powerful, but it was too easy to use, thus it was relatively simple to induce an explosion by shooting it; this aspect was the trap that the grenades came with.

That’s why everyone would hand them as far to the back of their waists as possible. Weighing the ease of instant use and safety, it was deemed that this was the best position. Though as for explosions caused by being shot from the side, one could only put up with that risk.

‘If that attack moments ago had hit it, I would have died even if I my remaining hit points were at max, huh’, LLENN was amazed by her good luck.

However, she now had such a scary thought specifically because she survived——

While under fire, LLENN detached a grenade from her waist, and stared fixedly at the black ball.

By turning the knob on its top, she could set the timer for the explosion, but by default, she could press the button and it would go *bang* after 3 and a half seconds.

If she tried to press it now, including the time it would take for her hit points to go down with a *guun* sound, she’d be blown out of SJ in 5 seconds, and she would probably feel easier.

“…………”

LLENN’s eyes became serious.

Eyeing it as if she was trying to stare a hole through it,

“I’m counting on you.”

She pressed the button.

O~ne.

1 second had passed. Even in that time, the pebbles in the surroundings were whirled up by the impact of the bullets, and the rock continued to shake.

T~wo.

The 2nd second had passed, and LLENN threw the grenade with her hand behind her back.

Th~ree.

The 3rd second had passed, with her back turned to the rock, she assumed a half-rising posture, and prepared to dash.

“Ta!”

The beginning of LLENN’s dash, and the explosion of the plasma grenade on the other side of the rock were simultaneous.

The explosion that blew away anything within a 2 metre radius greatly shook the heavy rock, but it could not destroy it.

However, all the bullets in the air at that moment got hit by the impact. As they were repelled upwards or sideways, their course changed——

And became a shield that protected LLENN’s back as she began running.

‘It worked It worked It worked It wooorked!”

LLENN did not know whether the plasma grenade’s explosion would become a shield against bullets or not. It was an all-or-nothing gamble.

However, having succeeded, LLENN obtained a new refuge for the time being, and still continued running.

There were plenty of rocks, thus if she dashed at full-speed, there was the danger that she would not be able to dodge them, and thus she considerably slowed down her speed.

And, as she ran and ran——

‘What do I do?’

LLENN suddenly thought.

What would happen if she ran away.

“…………” 

She slowed down her run.

While strolling through the space covered in rocks, LLENN thought.

‘The opponents still number at least three. Actually, I should think that there are more.’

‘Their weapons are: 2 7.62 mm class machine guns that scatter bullets in a hail, at least 1 automatic sniper rifle that can be be used 600 metres away. Additionally, 1 mysterious gun that can shoot soundlessly.’

‘As for me, I have a P90, which can be used 200 metres away at best, even when I aim calmly, 1plasma grenade, and a knife.’

‘Huh? Doesn’t this mean——’

‘That by keeping my distance, I’m actually I put myself at a disadvantage in proportion to the distance?’

‘I took down one of them some time ago, but how did I win? How did I manage to win?’

‘No, I’ve slaughtered five people until now, but in what situation did I pull off such a result?’

“…………” 

She stopped walking.

‘Close. Until now, whenever I took down anyone, I was extremely close to them.’

‘That’s it——’

“I can’t run away……”

LLENN looked at the P-chan in her right hand.

The atypical-shaped gun painted in pink,

“That’s right LLENN-chan! You’ve finally realised it, huh! Now then! Don’t run away from enemies anymore! Go towards them yourself! Make the best use of your nimbleness and dexterity, and fight like LLENN-chan should! I’ll be at your side, okay! No matter if we die or live, we’re in this together!”

Gave such a cheerful speech, she thought, but——

She of course did not want to become a madwoman who could communicate with a gun, thus,

“No no.”

LLENN deemed that it was her imagination.

“Let’s do it!”

Having descended from the rock with a back spin, LLENN firmly landed on the ground with her feet, and once again sprung up.

LLENN did not run away.

She already understood. That if she turned her back at this range, she would merely become a target.

‘I won’t turn my back anymore. Then what do I do?’

‘I close in on them myself!’

LENN suddenly jumped on the rock that she had been sitting on moments ago. Then, she immediately leaped up with her maximum force. She made a great jump with all her might, with her agility being used to the limit.

While soaring in the air, LLENN saw. That below her were three enemies.

‘A middle-aged woman that was making her way forward while shooting with her machine gun.’

‘On her left was a blonde with sunglasses who was holding a long and narrow sniper rifle.’

‘And on the right side was a rough woman who was shouting something. She’s the woman who I met eyes with.’

LLENN began choosing her prey.

‘Now, who should I start with?’

A pink chibi descended at the collapsed Rosa’s side from the sky.

“You bastard!” “Shit.”

Anna and Boss aimed their muzzles at the chibi at the same time——

Just as they were about to pull their triggers...

Their bullets would undoubtedly hit their ally if they fired.

The pink chibi magnificently landed right in the middle between then, and turned forward at the next moment.

Everyone one saw it.

How the person holding a machine gun was engulfed in multiple bluish-white lights.

Obviously LLENN, as well as Boss, who was diagonally downwards right next to her.

Tohma, who had her Dragunov at the ready to support her comrades, and Sophie, who was holding a PKM, also saw it from the top of a rock that was about 40 metres away.

And——

And another person, who was the farthest away, as well.

1. ^ Abbreviation for “background music”

2. ^ The expression used here is 悪運の強いヤツ (akuun no tsuyoi yatsu). It means “lucky in a bad situation (usually the kind caused by the person themselves)”.

3. ^ There are no punctuation marks to denote breaks in the original text, imply rapid speech or thoughts. This happens several times throughout the story, so this note applies to any similarly structured sentences.

4. ^ Plasma grenade is written in hiragana, rather than katakana, in this case.

Chapter end