Sword Art Online 05: Phantom Bullet Part 14

"Uhh ... I'm sorry but, I'm a guy."

That voice too, though slightly lower, was sufficient to be a tone widely used by girls. Dejectedly, while I was waiting for an answer, the guy, after becoming speechless for a short while, started to talk on and on with vigor.

"Then, then, is that M9000 type!? That's, that's amazing .. Then I'll give you four, no, five megacredits. Sell it to me, by all means, sell it to me please!!"

Selling it, let alone giving it to you, I wanted to exchange it with your outward appearance but, unfortunately, that isn't something that I can do.

"Um, this isn't my initial character but a converted one. It can't easily be exchanged for money. Sorry."

"I ... I see ..."

The guy, with a characteristic face of disappointment, observed me from all sides but before long, pulling himself together, he asked, "Gossip then, that rare avatar seems to have been used for a long time in a previous account. As a reference, can you count up your previous account's play time for me?"

"What? My, my play time?"

I suddenly thought about it. The account before I converted, basically, the play time of the swordsman Kirito that went from SAO to ALO was at least around 2 years... in other words, seven hundred and 30 days multiplied by twenty-four hours.

"Uhh... ten thou ..."

I started to answer truthfully, but I quickly caught myself. Because it has only been three years since the VRMMO game genre came out, the only ones who have up to ten thousand hours of dive experience are the former SAO players.

"Uh, around one year. That's why, of course it's a coincidence right?"

"I see ... well, if you change your mind, please contact me."

After saying that, he pushed an item resembling a transparent card on to me and reluctantly departed. These were cards that had the character name, s.e.x, guild and other things written on them, but then it disappeared into light particles while I was looking at it, but the data had probably been added to the address book or something else in the system window.

With a sidelong glance, I still glared at the me that was unrelentingly reflected in the evil gla.s.s, and I wondered if there was something that I could do about it, but nothing came to mind.

This conversion log is embedded into my character data so when I returned to ALO I will be in Kirito's pointy-haired Spriggan form, but if I convert to the GGO world once again, I will get a.s.signed to this avatar which one couldn't tell apart whether male or female.

'Looking for good luck inside of misfortune' is my motto so I, for a few minutes, thought about this and that and finally, I spun out a "good thing."

The reason that I came to this world was solely to contact the rumored player who was called "Death Gun" and although I didn't want to be attacked, it was the only way in deciding the authenticity of that power by any means possible. For that reason, as long as I showed off my strength, I would definitely stand out.

Because GGO, from the nature of the game, probably has a very small amount of female players, this form that looks like a pretty girl at first glance will definitely stand out in a way that I didn't want to. They would be extremely unlikely to wish for even a fragment of such things like the intimidating air of a battlefield, but here, there is no choice but to covet more combat capability.

In relation to advertising strength, for now, there is one way.

With the common gameplay-in other words, with things like dungeon clearing, and something I don't want to do, namely player killing, time is needed for your name to become famous. However, fortunately, in this game, in just a few days, the event to decide the strongest player "Bullet of Bullets" will be held. I'll register for that event and advance to the finals of the battle royal match. If I cut to the top, I would certainly be noticed by "Death Gun" or perhaps, depending on the circ.u.mstances, there is the possibility that the person himself would show up on that stage.

Diving into a game for the first time, I felt uneasy about how I was going to fight or how much, but anyway, I couldn't do anything but try and find out. Fighting against someone who fights with a gun is probably not the same as fighting an archer or a mage in ALO but, generally speaking, there are limits with VRMMO's; there should be a decently common feature. I can only try as much as I can - if I can't reach that power, at that time, it would become the responsibility of Kikuoka who forced this unreasonable task on me.

Anyhow, first is the tournament entry procedure and then the equipment purchase.

I looked at my body one last time, sighed, turned in the direction of the main street, and then started to walk. Immediately afterwards, I realized that I was unconsciously fingering the hair that was swinging against my cheek and was a.s.sailed by a dark and gloomy mood.

-After a few minutes, all too quickly, I was lost.

The city with the strange name of "SBC Grokken" seems to take the form of a huge floor with many multilayered structures seemingly piled on top of one another. In front of me while I was standing still, there were a series of hierarchical buildings like a smaller scale of the floating city Aincrad, the colors of the sunset peeping through the apertures in the distance. The buildings, lined up as if to penetrate the layers and connected with escalator and elevator like corridors through the air, shining and sparkling were, truthfully, beautiful but, in all practicality, were also rather complex like a dungeon.

Of course, I could have brought out a detailed three dimensional map from the main menu but, with my current position, in actuality, it couldn't compare to the scene spread out right before my eyes.

If this was a standalone RPG, I would recklessly walk around in desperation, and even have to walk back to the starting point, but fortunately, this is an MMO. At times like these, there is a measure that one could take.

I found the tag of a person coming and going in front of my eyes that were not of an NPC but a player, and trotting over, called out from the rear.

"Excuse me. I seem to be a little lost..."

And then, immediately thought that I had messed up.

It was because, however I looked, the person turning around was a girl.

The thin pale blue swaying hair was casually short but there was a tuft of hair tied up on both sides of her forehead. Under her distinct eyebrows, large indigo colored eyes that gave off a feline ambiance were shining, and a small nose with a color that continued to her thin lips.

Unwillingly, I had a thought that by some possibility, this person was the same as me and was a boy with a girl-like avatar and ran my eyes over her body with lightning speed but, under the sand-colored scarf, through the open zipper of the jacket, the shirt visually expanded out. Furthermore, she had a considerably small stature. Why I didn't realize that was because my line of sight had also been considerably lowered.

In VRMMO's, situations when a male player who calls out "I've lost my way" to a female player, up to 70%, were entirely to flirt.

-However, unexpectedly, that kind of facial expression immediately disappeared.

"... Did you just start this game? Where are you going?"

The mouth that talked in a clear and pretty voice even had a faint smile appearing. Puzzling it over in my mind as to why that could be, I finally hit upon the reason. This girl was making the same misunderstanding as the avatar buyer who had talked to me earlier. That I was a girl like her. How the h.e.l.l did this happen.

"Ah...um..."

On reflex, I thought to clear up my gender but right on the verge of doing so, I stopped.

There is a certain reason to this, as the circ.u.mstances of this situation seem to be good. After this, at another time, if a male player were to call out to me and misunderstand that I am female, it can become a little bit of a difficult situation. 'Use whatever you can use' is my second motto so, though it is a bit mean to this girl, it's best to just leave this misunderstanding as it is.

"Yes, it is my first time. Where would a cheap weapons shop and the administrative building be? I want to go to those places but..."

After answering with a comparatively, slightly less husky voice, the girl inclined her head in confusion.

"The administration building? What are you going there for?"

"Well... to register for the battle royal event happening soon..."

The moment she heard that, the girl's big eyes grew wide and started blinking with surprise.

"Uh...uhhhh, even though you just started today? Well, there is nothing about who can or can't register for the event, but your level is probably not sufficient..."

"Ah, this isn't an initial character. It was converted from another game...."

"Wow, so that's how it is."

The girl's indigo blue eyes momentarily flashed, and this time, her mouth rose up in a clear smile.

"Is it alright if I ask? Why did you decide to come to this game that's full of dust and reeks of oil?"

"That is... uhh, until now, I've always been playing just fantasy games but, I thought once in a while, I should try a cyber-like game... something like a gun battle seemed interesting."

Well, this wasn't exactly a lie. How far the VRMMO sense of someone like me who specializes in fighting with swords can go in GGO somewhat interests me.

"I see. That's why you suddenly want to attend the BoB. You've got guts."

The girl, after a laugh, nodded.

"Alright, I'll show you around. It just so happens that I'm also going to the administration building. Before that is the gun shop right? Is there a gun that you like?"

"Uh, well..."

Even though she said it, nothing immediately came to mind. After I couldn't come up with an answer, she smiled again.

"Well then, let's go to a market with many different types. This way."

Immediately turning around, I frantically chased after the tail of the scarf worn by the girl who had already started to walk.

We walked through winding paths, walkways, alleys, and staircases from one to another that I thought were impossible to remember and after walking a number of minutes, we reached the main street that the path had opened up onto. Positively, I saw a dazzling shop that I thought was a major company's foreign investment group.

"Over there."

She smoothly wove her way through the crowd and approached the shop.

The large interior of the shop was full of various colored lights and noises that it was like an amus.e.m.e.nt park. The NPC clerks were all beautiful women scantily clad in large silver costumes and lavishing an innocent business smile, but what was shocking was what they were all holding and what was adorning every wall. Shining with a black light, they were all hand guns and machine guns and the like.

"It's... It's certainly an interesting store."

After saying so, the girl next to me also let out a wry smile.

"Truthfully, rather than at the overall shops aimed at beginners, you can find better bargains at the more specialized shops. But anyway, if we can find the gun type that you like, then that's fine too."

Even if she said so, there were many players wearing flashy colored clothes loitering around the inside of the shop, who, compared to the desert color of this girl, gave off the feeling of being beginners.

"Now then, what kind of player are you?"

After being asked, I immediately thought about it. Due to converting from the other world, the tendency of the character's abilities would have been brought over.

"Umm, main focus is strength and then speed... I guess?"

"A strength-agility type huh. Then, probably the type who carries a heavy a.s.sault rifle or a large diameter machine gun for the main arm and a handgun for a sidearm would be good... but, you just converted right? Then, money is..."

"Oh... right"

In a flash, I shook my right hand and brought out my window. Even if my abilities were transferred by the convert, it couldn't transfer over items and money. Therefore, the amount of money shown at the bottom of the storage column was- "Um... 1000 credits."

"... So the initial amount."

When our gazes met, I was met with a troubled smile.

"Yeah..."

Her expression returning, the girl touched her thin lips with her fingertip and inclined her head.

"...With that amount of money, you probably can't buy anything more than a small ray gun... for a live ammunition gun, a second hand revolver... what to do... umm, if it's okay..."

Guessing what she was trying to say, I hurriedly shook my head. No matter what MMO, a newbie who receives too much help from a veteran cannot be praised. I didn't come to this game to have fun but, even so, as a gamer, there is a line that I cannot cross.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to do that. Um... is there somewhere where I can make some money fast? If I'm not mistaken, I heard that there was a casino in this game..."

The girl, as expected, showed a smile that was slightly amazed.

"For such places like that, it would be better if you have an excess amount of money. That said, around here, there are both small and big ones. If I remember correctly, in this store..."

Pivoting her head, she pointed to the inside of the shop.

"There's a similar kind of gambling game. Look."

Looking closer, it was a large walled off area that, in terms of game machines, was an excessively large subst.i.tute.

It was roughly 3 meters wide and 20 meters long. Laid out on metal tiles, surrounded by a waist high fence, an NPC dressed with a gunman b.u.t.t strap was standing the furthest inside. At the front, instead of a fence, there was a metal closure bar where I could see a square cashier-like pillar.

Behind the gunman, who would sometimes draw his handgun from the holster on his hip twirl it around with the end of his finger, on the brick wall with countless bullet holes etched into it, at the top, there was a pink neon sign with the word "Untouchable".

"...This is?"

After I asked, the girl, while shifting her finger, explained it to me.

"It's a game where you enter the gate in front of you and while avoiding the gunfire of the NPC inside, you try to see how close you can approach. The highest score until now is, look over there."

Where her index finger was extended and pointing to, in the inner part of the fence on the floor, there was a thin, red, luminescent line. It slightly exceeded two-thirds of the entire area.

"Wow, how much can you receive?"

"Um, it costs 500 credits to play and you get a 1000 if you break through ten meters, and 2000 for fifteen meters. And if you can somehow touch the gunman, you get all of the money that players have poured in up until now."

"All, all of it!?"

"Look, the sign indicates that there is a carry over. 1, 10, around 300,000 huh."

"That ... that's an incredible amount of money."

"But it's impossible."

The girl immediately replied and shrugged her shoulders.

"That gunman, once you cross the eight meter line, will respond with cheating quick draws. Even though it's a revolver, with an unreasonable high speed reload, it does a 3-round burst fire. By the time you can see the prediction line, it's already too late."