Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online Chapter 5

According to the digital wristwatch on her left wrist, LLENN, who was dressed in a robe, entered the establishment at 12:45.

As the appointed meeting time for players participating in SJ was 13:40, the appointment with M was at 13:30, so she had a lot of time to spare.

After LLENN entered the crowded establishment, she looked for a vacant private room. This was to quickly hide herself and not give any information to the opponents she would be facing.

There were quite a few players showing off their beloved guns in the bar, but it was all just a foolish act that helped their enemies come up with counter-measures, thus she was warned never to do such a thing by M. Of course, there was also the possibility of someone intentionally showing off a weak gun, then using a powerful rare gun in the real battle.

LLENN entered a private room and closed the curtains. She then mailed the number of the room to M as promised.

Without even having to wait a few minutes and before she finished her first ice tea, M turned up. As ever a mountain-like giant, though LLENN no longer feared it.

“Yo. Let’s do our best today.”

“Likewise.”

The place that LLENN and M were transferred to at 13:50 was a dim and small room.

In front of their eyes was a countdown watch 『Waiting time: 09:59』. Decreasing in intervals of 1 second. When it reaches 00:00, they will be transferred to some place in an unknown field and the battle will begin.

“All right!”

LLENN said, as her excitement grew.

Whether she liked it or not, she could no longer escape from the match. Shouldn’t she go wild without restraint to vent her anger from RL?

For that, she needed to make preparations.

Firstly, in front of her eyes, a screen, denoting that the satellite scan terminal had been distributed, appeared.

LLENN touch the screen with her hand and a terminal that was like a largish smartphoneappeared in front of her eyes.

The instructions for how to use it were also displayed. By pressing the two main buttons, a large map would appear either from the screen in one’s hand, or in front of one’s eyes. When one wants to see it stealthily - via the screen; when one had time to spare and wanted to see it with their comrades - in front of their eyes; it seemed that those were the possible choices. The scale of the map could be changed by pinching and spreading one’s fingers, just like with asmartphone.

The map of the real stage was still unknown, so right now a large „sample” was displayed. 

During the satellite scan once every 10 minutes, white light dots would be displayed. It would be the location of the participating team’s leader. The dull grey dots would be the last position of ateam that was wiped out or surrendered. The way to use it was very simple. It seemed that she would not have problems with it.

Placing the terminal at her feet for the time being, LLENN changed to her pink combat uniform under her robe. On her head she of course wore a pink knit cap. On the nape of her neck - a pink bandana. As for the unnecessary robe, she put it in her storage.

Next up was her equipment. Her beloved gun P-chan, a P90 dyed in pink, appeared in her hands. On the sides of her thighs, a pouch with three spare magazines each.

LLENN liked liked the fact that her clothes changing instantly with just the operation of thewindow screen was like the transformation scene of a magical girl anime that she saw in the past.

She believed that pretty much no one would be using optical guns in a battle against people like SJ, but there were eccentrics everywhere. For peace of mind, LLENN also equipped a largebrooch-like item, a defence field generating device.

There was room to spare on her waist belt, so she equipped a cylindrical first-aid kit pouch on the side of her magazine pouch. A first aid kit was a recovery item that, if tapped on the skin, would restore 30 percent of one’s lost hit points. However, it would actually take 180 seconds for it to finish, so it was awfully useless in the midst of a battle.

The satellite scan terminal placed at her feet completely fit in the large chest pocket of her combat uniform.

“All right.”

With this, LLENN’s preparations were complete.

And then,

“Take this.”

M, who had materialised his M14 EBR and placed it at his feet, presented something to LLENN.

“Hm?”

While tilting her head to the side, she accepted it; a combat knife in a scabbard.

The green scabbard was made of plastic with a black cover made of nylon, while a knife with a black grip was sheathed in it. Its overall length was approximately 30 cm. The length of its blade alone was probably a little less than 20 cm.

LLENN timidly unfastened the flap, drew the knife from the scabbard and a very very evil-looking, matte black blade that did not reflect light appeared.

Although she used a kitchen knife for cooking, it was her first time holding such a large knife. Coupled with the smallness of LLENN’s hands, it looked as if she was holding a nata knife(2).

Although it was the same blade as a kitchen knife, it was a more immediate „weapon“ than a gun, so it made LLENN feel considerably scared,

“…………”

She ended up immediately returning it to the scabbard. After fastening the flap as well, LLENN faced M.

“M-san, what am I…… supposed to do with this?”

“Your strength value should still allow it, so have it as an additional armament. Otherwise, when you run out of bullets for your P90, you won’t be able to do anything.”

“But, I’ve equipped seven magazines, so that’s 350 bullets, you know?”

LLENN objected.

Three in each pouch on her thighs and one equipped on the P90. That was a considerably large number of bullets that could be carried by one person. That was the result of the P90’s large quantity of bullets per magazine.

Because of that unique layout, changing the magazine for the P90 takes quite some time compared to other guns, but considering LLENN’s tempered agility and dexterity, she could easily and quickly handle it even while flying in mid-air.

Additionally, she had another three in her storage, so she could equip new magazines in-between battles.

LLENN had never had trouble with running out of bullets for her P90 so far. For that reason, she did not equip a side arm.

However, M did not yield.

“Although GGO is about gunfights, in considerably close combat in narrow rooms, it is possible to encounter hand-to-hand combat occasionally. All the more so in SJ as there are a lot of people. It is possible that I’ll give you the instruction „use a knife that doesn’t make any sound“”

Even LLENN could not deny that.

Even during monster farming, there were plenty of cases of her coming too close to her opponent and unleashing her bullets at point blank range. If she had a knife in those cases, she could indeed use slash and stab attacks. Moreover, it wouldn't make a sound.

“In close-quarter combat, knives are often stronger than guns. More so when a person’s agility is as high as yours, LLENN. Equip it horizontally on the back of your waist. When you need to use it, draw it with your right hand in a backhand grip——”

While saying this, M moved his own right hand and lectured her.

“Your opponents should be bigger than you LLENN——”

Well, there wasn’t any chance of her opponent being smaller than her.

“If you are confronting them directly, assault them, pass under the enemy’s groin, and cut at either the left or right inner thigh. A femoral artery runs there, so it will cause considerabledamage. Sometimes, greater than when hit with a bullet.”

“…………”

It was an unpleasant lecture which was far too realistic.

GGO’s damage setting reproduces human vitals quite well.

If the centre of the head or the medulla oblongata is shot, even if the bullet is small, an instant death with one bullet was possible. Even if that didn't happen, spots that could cause great bleeding and spots that could lead to the person being unable to move one’s body if injured lead to far greater decrease of one’s hit points when hit.

LLENN thought, ‘With a gun, there wouldn’t be that much resistance, but with a knife, you’d really want to avoid using it’. But she felt a bit relieved that no matter how long someone was engulfed in playing GGO or how many times one shot someone, they definitely wouldn’t be able to commit murder in RL.

But then, aside from magic attacks, ALO, the game that LLENN first tried playing with Miyu, was a meatgrinder(3) game where everyone would cut each other with swords.

M’s „murder technique“ lecture continued.

“Additionally, if your opponent comes pointing his gun at you, cut at the interior of his upper arm from below with an uppercut. That also leads to a lot of damage, and the person may drop his gun because of pain and numbness.”

In VR games, when someone gets hit, cut, struck with magic, shot and, on top of that, bitten by a monster— „receive damage“ in any way, they would feel pain.

How much pain—— or rather, a „feeling that simulates pain“, that a player felt depended on thegame, but in GGO, the pain was considerable.

It is said that the feeling of being shot was close to the feeling of „an acupressure point being pressed“.

In shiatsu(4) and other therapies, when a painful acupressure point is pressed, the surrounding area becomes numb with a throb and the energy in the vicinity is released; it was a feeling like that. When shiatsu is over, the pain is immediately allieved, and no injuries remain on the skin, so it was quite similar.

The hands and arms were especially sensitive to the pain of being shot, so dropping whatever was in one’s hands in such a situation was quite common.

“Even if the opponent drops their gun, there’s no need to pick it up. Follow up by aiming and slicing the interior part of the thighs or the hands. Humans who came to fight with just their guns won’t be expecting hand-to-hand combat.”

M’s lecture still continued. The fact that he was saying all of that indifferently was considerably scary.

“If an opponent that you hadn’t noticed comes attacking from behind, aim to strike the Achilles tendon slightly above the boots on the side while lowering your back. Then, even if the opponent is downed, there will be a protective plate on their abdomen and chest, so your blade won’t go through much. In that case, the first thing you should aim for is the neck. Make a cut as long as you can along the nape of the neck. It should be like brushing the neck in a semicircle.”

“…………Yeah……”

While giving a half-hearted reply, LLENN

‘M-san, what kind of person are you!’

Had such an idea in her mind.

He was excessively knowledgable. Nothing but eagerly desiring in-game knowledge.

“If aiming for the head, go for the eyes. Human bones are surprisingly sturdy, so even if you thrust violently at them, the blade won’t go through easily. The exception is the eye socket. If an eye is stabbed, the damage even reaches the brain. In GGO, when aiming for an instant death with one blow in a knife battle, the neck and this are probably the only viable options.”

While shouting ‘ugee’ in her mind, LLENN listened to what her lecturer said and put it all in her head. She was serious at heart, thus her common sense lost out at times like this. She gained a lot of knowledge that an ordinary female university student could do without.

“That’s all.”

In the end, LLENN could not get M to take back the knife, so she reluctantly equipped it at the back of her waist. As she was in-game, through operating the window screen, she equipped a beautiful belt.

LLENN held her P90 on her left shoulder via the gun's sling and extended her right hand towards the knife.

With her thumb, the well-made strap was unfastened without a sound, and the knife was drawn out smoothly. While holding it in a backhand grip, she tried lightly swinging it in front of her. She hadn’t felt such heaviness.

LLENN was a character with high agility, so if brandished it while making serious effort, she would probably be able to slash considerably quickly.

“All right.”

M said a short phrase in approval——

While returning the knife to its scabbard, LLENN thought that she definitely wouldn’t need to use it.

The digit denoting the minutes of remaining waiting time had already reached zero. 

Only the digits representing seconds, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39—— relentlessly continued to decrease.

“All right…… Let’s do this, shall we.”

M’s composed voice reached her both directly, and through the communication item in her left ear. Hereafter, the switch would not be turned off until the game ended.

“Roger!”

LLENN pulled and released the loading handle, and with a dry metallic sound, a bullet was loaded in the gun chamber.

M also pulled the loading handle of his M14 EBR, and a thick metallic sound resounded farther than the P90’s.

This sound of loading the chamber was not a sound that would rouse LLENN’s will to fight.

Along with the feeling of excitement, the countdown continued——,

The moment all digits displayed zero, the two were engulfed in light.

1. ^ Betting which team would win, similarly to how people do so for for sport events.

2. ^ A wide blade knife (similar to a machete, but not so large).

3. ^ The original text uses the word 肉弾戦 (nikudansen), which means “warfare in which enemies fling themselves at the enemy”. The closest expression I could come up with was “meatgrinder”, in the meaning of “a slaughterhouse for soldiers”.

4. ^ Shiatsu (指圧, lit. “finger pressure”) is the name of a finger pressure massage/therapy in Japanese.

Chapter end