Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online Chapter 4

All that remained was an unexpected unpleasantness.

It wasn’t as if being alone with a male was dangerous. In VR games, a person who came in physical contact with someone of the opposite gender would result in a ≪harassment≫ warning. If the person did not abide by this warning, the penalty increased, and would ultimately result in the account being suspended.

Since puberty, Karen barely had any experience with talking to a member of the opposite gender with no one else around. The reason it wasn’t zero was because she had two older brothers, and after her sister married, a brother-in-law as well. Thanks to that, she didn’t have a phobia of males such that she absolutely couldn’t talk to them, but…

“…………”

It wasn’t an atmosphere where she could take the initiative to say something. The other party looked like a giant who would end up eating her from top to bottom.

At the same time, she somehow ended up understanding the feeling of people who saw her in RL, and felt a bit gloomy again.

As LLENN was thinking „I really want to log out and escape“ with downcast eyes, something reached her ears,

“Em……, well, you shouldn’t…… be so tense, le-let us go. No, let’s go…… If I use keigo, that bastard Pitohui…… will beat me to a pulp.”

A stuttering voice with tension mixed in. Naturally, it was M’s voice.

‘Ah, I’m not the only one who's scared’, LLENN felt a bit relieved. This large man also imagines being beaten to a pulp by Pitohui—— violence isn’t good, but it was a slightly heartwarming scene.

“Ah——yes. I mean, yeah, so please.”

Looking a person in the eyes when talking was a rule of the Kohiruimaki household. Her businessmen parents had strictly taught her that. While looking at M’s rough face, LLENN,

“Since we decided to participate with all our might, I’m looking forward—— to your help. M-san.”

“Me too. Since we’re aiming for victory, let’s do our best. LLENN—— can I drop the honorifics? I, quite dislike…… attaching -chan to others names.”

LLENN nodded. It seemed that M’s personality wasn’t as scary as his appearance.

‘I wonder, what kind of person is controlling this rough character in real life? LLENN’s interest was sparked again, but she threw out her thoughts with her best efforts. If she continued thinking about that, she thought she’d end up carelessly asking about it again.

“What have you heard from Pito? Before I came, what were you talking about?”

Seemingly having conquered his tension as well, he took the glass of ice coffee that came from the hole after he requested for it, and then talked to her very normally.

Having the feeling „This person is my oji-san. An older person that I can talk casually with.“, LLENN decided to talk.

“Re-confirming the rules of SJ, the use of wireless items, and for some reason, the fact that I became the leader.”

“I see. Anything about the reason for us meeting face-to-face?”

“Nothing yet.”

LLENN answered as she shook her head.

Speaking of which, what was the reason?

Without saying the reason, Pitohui had asked if she was free for 3 hours from 21:00 on Friday. As Pitohui would be attending a wedding on the day of the tournament and would probably be busy, LLENN was glad that she was introduced to M before that, but there probably was no need for it to go on for 3 hours. Moreover, contrary to her expectations that the three of them would gomonster farming to deepen their friendship, Pitohui had left quickly.

At LLENN’s answer,

“Honestly.”

M let such a reaction slip out, and laughed lightly. His grim expression, even if just a little, loosened up, and LLENN had strange thoughts like ‘ah, even such a character can laugh’ and ‘there are graphics prepared for laughing’.

“Neither of us know each other’s abilities. I’ve heard a bit from Pito, but I want to go to the practice grounds and confirm it.”

A practice ground was a place that was literally as the name implied. 

In a field where various terrain and buildings could be selected, unlike indoor shooting ranges, it was possible to practise movement and long-range shooting, making use of the terrain adapted for actual combat, and it was possible to practise without dealing damage to each other. And there was no worry that they would be attacked and killed by monsters or other players during that time. However, to use it, reservation was necessary, and the fee was considerably high.

“I see. ——But, no matter what, one thing concerns me……”

“What?”

“Why am I the leader? I mean, without confirming it, I may not have, such a capability, right?”

As LLENN was complaining frantically with her small body, M laughed a bit again.

“No worries. There’s a plan, so you're just the leader in name only. I’ll handle the actual operational command.”

For approximately 2 and a half hours, LLENN was asked by M to do various things.

The two of them went to the reserved practice grounds. It was a wasteland with a crazy-coloured sky and where rocks and abandoned vehicles stood out. In the distance, there was a mountain with inclined buildings and with craters. In appearance, there wasn’t anything different from a normal field, but there was an approximate 2 km movement range restriction, and there should be a transparent wall that „does not allow one to advance any further“.

“Put on all your equipment. Also, give me a communication item.”

Were M’s first words. LLENN operated her menu screen, and materialised the equipment held in her storage. Her usual pink combat uniform and P90. While changing clothes, those currently worn would temporarily vanish, so one would only be dressed in underwear in that moment, but it was fine as long as a robe was equipped .

And so, LLENN was asked to do various things.

『40 metres ahead, there’s a drum can. I want you to aim for its centre, and shoot while standing. 10 bullets slowly in semi-auto, 10 bullets as fast as possible. And the remaining 30 bullets in full auto.』

『There’s 200 metres from here to that abandoned truck. There are hard rocks underfoot. I want you to sprint towards the truck with all you have while carrying the P90. When you touch thetruck, sprint back here with all you have.』

『This time, shoot while running. Sprint with all you have towards the drum can, and at my instruction, discharge your entire magazine in full-auto while running. When you have 8 bullets or less in your magazine, immediately reload.』

『By eye-estimation, how many metres do you think separates you and that sharp rock? How about the hole on the other side?』

Up to this point, she understood it as ‘ah, he's examining my fighting ability’, but

『There’s nothing beyond this point. I want you to close your eyes and walk. As normally as possible, and in a fixed manner. Upon my instruction, turn based on the angle I give you.』

『Slow walk, normal walk, jog, sprint with all you have——at my instruction, switch from one of these four to the next.』

『I want you lie down on your face. Once 1 minute or more has passed and I abruptly give you the signal, stand up and run in the direction I indicate. Upon the next signal, lie down on your face again.』

『Run as fast as you can backwards. There are stones, so if you trip, rotate to fall to the ground with your stomach.』

『Crouch and roll into a ball as small as possible. And then, try rolling along a hill road.』

When he said things like that, LLENN didn’t understand what it would be useful for.

In the world of a VR game, no matter how much one moved, it wouldn’t result in physical fatigue. If the brain gave an order to „run as fast as possible“, the body could continue to run for as long as one liked, as if it was operated with a controller button.

LLENN had completely no idea what he was doing, so, although she was mentally exhausted, she did as she was told.

“Yeah, I get the picture now. Thanks.”

As LLENN was thinking whether it was over with this, M called out his storage operation screen, and called out his own gun.

What appeared in front of his eyes was a large and strange-looking rifle.

It was big, long rifle with a lot of rough ups and downs. It gave LLENN the impression of a construction site machine. A seemingly solid bipod and scope were attached.

As for its colour, it had a tawny-brown and green camouflage coating. As it was discoloured here and there, and its colours were fading as it was chafed, she could surmise that it had been used for a considerably long time.

“Is that your main arm, M-san? It’s the first time I've seen it, what’s it called?”

LLENN asked, thinking that it looked strong, but heavy, and that she probably wouldn’t be able to equip it.

While LLENN was sealing her fan letter to Kanzaki Elza with a cute seal——

In various places around Japan, there were men, and women, who were preparing for the tournament the next day.

At another place, one man was talking as he faced six other men.

“At last, it will be tomorrow, but well, this tournament is just an experiment, so even if it doesn’t go well, there’s nothing to fret about. With you regular gentlemen, we will probably get a considerably high rank. But, if we’re about to win, we’ll surrender and leave the game as planned. That’s all, expect a hard struggle.”

In yet another place, there was a naked man and woman embracing each other on a bed, and exchanging words.

“At last, it’s tomorrow huh, do your best, darling!”

“…………”

“Don’t worry. Even if you die, you’ll just die.”

“…………”

“If you’re feeling so tense, you’ll do well no matter what happens!”

“I——”

“Listen! It will be fine! Look, we still have time, so once more!”

“I’m troubled about tomorrow’s job……”

“That much won’t discourage me. And what about you, have you already become an ojii-san?Darling.”

1. ^ Seems to be a fancy way to say “spawned more stuff to crowd the world with”.

Chapter end