Chapter 5 (1/2)

SECT.5 - The Beginning of the Tournament

1st of February, 2026. Sunday.

Beginning around noon, a corner of SBC Glocken, the central city in Gun Gale Online, began bustling with activity.

It was a large bar on a broad main street.

Although it was called a bar, it also included a restaurant, a coffee shop, with a shopping malladjacent to it, alongside having a game corner, a casino and even an indoor shooting range.

Even on a regular Sunday, this establishment would be reasonably crowded with players who liked it, but it was more crowded than usual today.

There was just one reason for this. It was because this venue became the base for the „firstSquad Jam“.

It differed from a major tournament that raised the profile of GGO like the BoB, and thus this bar, rather than the central inst.i.tution called the «Governor's Office», was used for the tournament.

The partic.i.p.ants temporarily gathered here and, when the time came, would be transported to a small ≪standby area≫ for each team to prepare.

While there, within the 10 minute countdown, team members could take out equipment from their storage, and hold a strategy meeting. Then, at exactly 14:00, they would be transported to the battlefield without knowing which terrain they would be on.

The battle scene would be broadcasted by a great number of cameras.

If it were a tournament on the level of the BoB, the situation would be broadcast via the netbroadcasting station ≪MMO Stream≫, so people connected to the Internet could watch anywhere, but the SJ did not go so far.

People could either watch it in this bar while clamorously enjoying themselves via the largemonitors hanging on the walls and ceiling, watch the broadcast inside GGO, or watch the video recording on another day.

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

As the appointed meeting time for players partic.i.p.ating 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.”

Excitement within the establishment reached the ears of the pair, who decided to wait leisurely until it was time.

On the screen of the monitor, a middle-aged man, the novelist who became the sponsor for this tournament, took the role of covering the event as his RL self, rather than his avatar.

The filthy man with a beard seemed to be rather euphoric as he said things like ‘well, this will be fun’ or ‘everyone, shoot each other in the game to your heart’s content’.

“So, the guy who brought up the idea for the tournament isn’t partic.i.p.ating himself!”

One of the audience retorted, and immediately afterwards, someone else,

“Well, although the guy’s RL ident.i.ty is exposed, his avatar isn’t, so ain’t he gonna partic.i.p.ate sneakily after this coverage is over?”

“That’s right! It’s the opposite of normal, right!”

“It is an unusual pattern……”

“Then, do we get a bonus if we kill that guy?”

“I wonder, how much did he spend to organise a tournament of this size?”

Such conversations could be heard.

LLENN and M saw a list of partic.i.p.ating teams on a window that floated in front of their eyes.

In total, twenty three teams. Considering that BoB had several hundreds in the preliminaries narrowed down to thirty people, it had to be said that this tournament without preliminaries was really of a small scale.

However, taking into account the fact that each team could register up to six people, the maximum number of partic.i.p.ants is one hundred and thirty eight, thus it was true that the game taking place in a field of the same size as the one used for the BoB would be considerably „packed“.

“It would be nice if the bar won’t become empty right after the tournament begins.”

M said. Having imagined that, LLENN unintentionally chuckled.

However, as one after another player intruded on LLENN and M after they entered the private room, that worry was unnecessary. The first Squad Jam was unexpectedly thriving.

As for the names of the teams on the partic.i.p.ation list, LLENN and M’s was ≪LM≫.

LLENN and M, it was actually just that. LLENN being first was either simply because of thealphabetical order, or to show respect to the leader.

The other team names, like ≪DDL≫, ≪ZEAMAL≫, ≪SYOJI≫, ≪CHBYS≫, ≪DanG≫, ≪s.h.i.+NC≫ and so on, were all short and simple as well.

A lot of them looked like abbreviations, so they probably came up with their name during the registration by abbreviating their own names. Considering this, LLENN thought that LM was fine as a simple name.

What’s important was that the number of people in a team was not written anywhere.

With this, they could only fight under the a.s.sumption that every team had six people. On the contrary, the fact that LLENN and M were just a two-people party could be used to provoke their opponents’ negligence.

It was impossible to have a sport(1) gamble about who would win like in the BoB. Instead,

『Let’s predict how many bullets will be fired until the conclusion of the tournament is reached! 500 credits per guess.』

There were such prediction games that weren’t present in the BoB, and people were considerably excited.

Since this was a game world, the system could accurately tell the number of times the partic.i.p.ating characters had fired. The plan was to guess the number of bullets expended by everyone by the time the conclusion was reached.

In the case of someone guessing correctly up to the last digit—— the person would get the same number of one’s desired bullets. However, the upper limit for the bullet size was 7.62 mm.

In GGO, one could buy ammunition themselves (or buy the materials and craft the ammunition), thus if one obtained a large number of bullets, they could play without worrying about the bullet cost for a while after the tournament. Of course, one could also give them to squadron comrades or sell them at a store.

In the case where no one guessed correctly, the prize would be given to five people that were the closest to the number, but the prize would be ranked based on whether the guess was accurate to the tens or hundreds.

Even so, it seems that most people used sub-machine guns and dozens of hand grenades. It wasn’t surprising that it was so lively.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t that simple to predict how many bullets would be discharged. The partic.i.p.ants were entering random numbers from tens to tens of thousands by hitting the windowof their compet.i.tion terminal with the palm of their hands.

Outside this clamour,

“I wonder if Pito-san is in a dress right now.”

LLENN said, thinking about Pitohui who was currently attending a wedding and,

“Probably. She’s most likely grinding her teeth in regret that she couldn’t partic.i.p.ate in the SJ. Hopefully she won’t come up with weird ideas about her surroundings, like „Why is it that my friend the bride looks so depressed? Could it be?“”

M replied indifferently, causing LLENN to burst into laughter.

After laughing, LLENN brought her knees together and straightened her back,

“M-san, I look forward to working with you today. For a long time, I was troubled about whether or not I should partic.i.p.ate, but I think I’ll try playing GGO seriously for a bit more.

And conveyed these polite words to him.

“Gotcha. But, enough with the keigo.”

“Ah———— roger.”

M, with his rough face and body, said in a gentle tone.

“I was told by that Pitohui. „Make sure you win this“”

“Ah, that sounds like Pito-san.”

“My answer was ‘We’ll do as much as we can. But at any rate, we’re just two people. In the first place, we’ll be at a disadvantage right from the start.’ I also said ‘If LLENN is killed in action and there are a lot of opponents, we may have to surrender.’ ‘Well, it can’t be helped’, was how Pito replied.”

“Yeah. That’s fine isn’t it? I did say that we should seriously do our best a moment ago, but agame is a game. Besides, in a real war, if we were no match for our opponents, it would be fine to surrender. I think that if I become the only one standing in our team, I’d end up surrendering quickly.”

“Nevertheless, we should aim for the top as much as we can. It would be fun to find out how far can just one person go.”

At M’s words that seemed like he was instructing himself,

“Roger!”

Just as LLENN cheerfully answered, an announcement by a girl began to be streamed in the bar.

『Partic.i.p.ating players of the Squad Jam! Thank you for waiting! In one minute, the transfer to the standby area will begin. Are all your comrades pre-sent?』

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 b.u.t.tons, 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 partic.i.p.ating 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 quant.i.ty 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 unleas.h.i.+ng 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, a.s.sault them, pa.s.s 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. .h.i.t, 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 s.h.i.+atsu(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 s.h.i.+atsu 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 brus.h.i.+ng 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 st.u.r.dy, 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.

When the remaining time was less the 3 minutes, M’s exciting dress-up was completed.

Just like the other day, gaudy green camouflage from top to bottom. He had a bush hat on his head, but this time there were multiple layers of rectangle-shaped camouflage cloth hanging down from it. It was a disguise for obscuring the most conspicuous silhouette that was his head.

On the upper half of his body, there was a vest with a ma.s.sive bulletproof plate and with plenty of magazine pouches attached. This time, plasma grenades were hanging down from his side, or more like they were mostly hanging down from his back.