"I see. Ginrou and Dyne were near the central zone earlier, weren't they? Maybe they took down Richie."
"That is a possibility."
"No matter. Let's keep pushing toward K-8."
"Yes, ma'am."
After the initial scan, Sinon had climbed to high ground and remained on standby. She reasoned that if she waited there, Kirito would eventually cross her field of view.
"A-Ah, is that him...?"
Kirito appeared to be sprinting straight for the central sector. At this rate, he would pass right by without noticing her. Realizing this, Sinon fired a warning shot well ahead of his path.
"Ngh...! A sniper shot deliberately aimed away... Is that Sinon? Where is she?"
Kirito glanced around rapidly before catching sight of Sinon waving from atop the rocky outcrop. Altering his direction, he bounded up the incline and safely linked up with her.
"Yo."
"I figured you'd head this way, so I waited. We're going together, right?"
"Yeah. Looks like almost everyone formed pairs to counter Shana and Hachiman."
As expected of Kirito, his combat awareness was exceptionally sharp.
"By the way, you were running full tilt just now. What was the plan?"
"Ah, actually, I set a meeting point with Shana at K-8."
"K-8..."
Sinon opened her terminal map and zoomed in, confirming the terrain at K-8 was an urban ruins zone.
"Looks like there's a city layout over there."
"Right. Let's head there for now."
"Understood."
"There should have been a few players ahead of us. We need to stay sharp."
"That player named 'Steven?' and Garrett were nearby, and slightly to the south was someone named Snake."
"They might be paired up too. Either way, caution is key."
"Agreed."
Exchanging notes as they moved, the two made a break for K-8. After running for a short while, they reached sector T-9.
"Wait... Is that... Death Gun?"
Kirito spotted the figure first, bringing them both to a sudden halt.
"Where?"
"Over there."
"...It really is. That tattered mantle and skull mask... there's no mistaking it."
"Is there anyone else around...?"
"Ah! That's Garrett over there! It looks like Death Gun is targeting Garrett!"
"This is bad!"
Kirito immediately surged forward to intervene. If left unchecked, Garrett was in grave danger of being murdered in real life.
"Their obsession with PK is pathological. It might already be too late, but if we stop him from pulling the trigger inside the game, there's a chance he won't be able to carry out the murder! That won't trigger the real-life injection mechanism!"
"I see... Eek!"
Sinon suddenly let out a sharp, terrified gasp.
"What's wrong?"
Sinon gave no immediate answer, her expression turning visibly pale and unstable.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
"T-That... that gun..."
Breathing with difficulty, Sinon pointed a trembling finger toward the black handgun Death Gun was drawing.
"What about that gun?!"
"I'm sorry... I just... I can't stand that gun... A Tokarev... the Type 54 'Black Star'... Whenever I see it, I... I get overwhelmed with terror..."
Watching Sinon hyperventilate, Kirito hesitated on what action to take. In that split second of delay, tragedy struck.
Sterben ambushed Garrett, pumping multiple rounds directly into his chest. A moment later, Garrett began contorting in agony before vanishing into thin air. In standard tournament settings, a corpse icon should remain, but it appeared his connection had been forcibly disconnected.
Watching the scene unfold before his eyes, Kirito froze in horror.
"Don't tell me... he's dead...?"
In that heavy silence, Death Gun's gaze swung around and met Kirito's eyes directly.
"XaXa... You... You bastard...!"
Trembling with rage, Kirito reached for his blade to charge Sterben. However, Sterben turned on his heel that very second and began fleeing at full sprint.
"What...?!"
It was a pragmatic move. Although Sterben had just successfully carried out a real-world PK on Garrett, his remaining targets were Pale Rider and Sinon. Had he spotted Sinon standing next to Kirito, things might have unfolded differently; but believing Kirito was operating solo, Sterben chose to disengage and fall back immediately.
"What do I do... Should I give chase...?"
Kirito hesitated for a fraction of a second, but he couldn't possibly leave Sinon in her current state.
"Sinon, can you walk? Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes... If it's just walking..."
"We're pulling back south into the rocks to reset. Let's go."
"U-Uh-huh..."
The two retreated south into the rugged rocky terrain, ducking inside a hidden cave to take cover.
"Alright, we'll wait out the next scan here."
"Right..."
"Who do you think Death Gun actually is?"
"Positional-wise, it's down to either Steven? or Snake. But since those two were the only candidates from the start, we haven't really narrowed anything down..."
Sinon offered her analysis while still breathing somewhat heavily.
"Yeah..."
"Anyway, we still have some time before the next scan. Until then... could you tell me what happened to you?"
Hearing those words, Sinon knew the moment had finally come.
"...Shana told me something once."
'Someday, when you meet a player you feel you can trust completely, try telling them your story. It can't be us. And through that encounter, I'm certain you'll finally be freed from your curse. I guarantee it.'
"She said that to me... I guess right now is that moment. As expected of Shana... did she predict this would happen?"
"She said that to you?"
"Yeah. So... I'll tell you about my past."
"...Alright."
As Kirito listened to Sinon's past trauma, he realized with a jolt how strikingly similar her experience was to a tragedy he had gone through himself.
" reached out to the Moonlit Black Cats, huh..."
"Hmm?"
"I went through something very similar in the past."
"...You did? How did you manage to overcome it?"
"In my case, hearing a message left behind specifically for me by someone who died played a huge role. But in your case, it seems a little different. Don't worry—he's probably already set things in motion behind the scenes. I'm certain that after this tournament, your trauma will definitely be overcome. I guarantee it too."
"Now I've had it guaranteed by two heroes," Sinon said with a faint, gentle smile.
"You like him, don't you?"
"...Yeah."
"Then trust his words, and trust the words of his best friend. If he said that, then just meeting me means most of your trauma has actually already been resolved. All that's left is a final push."
"A final push?"
"He's taking care of that on his end. So trust what he said, and let's focus on fighting the enemy right in front of us."
"...Yeah. Got it."
For the remaining time leading up to the scan, Sinon spoke to Kirito about her initial meeting with Shana and how he had supported her in her personal life. Kirito, listening to the sheer absurdity of Shana's actions, could only shake his head in grand disbelief.
And then, the time for the next satellite scan arrived.
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