Sword Art Online Alternative – Gun Gale Online - Volume 7 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 
The Things That Happened Before SJ4 
August 20th, 2026 (Thursday) Midday 
“Why did I participate in Squad Jam? Because…a team-based battle royale sounded like fun? What other reason would there be?” The answer was as breezy as the person responding was handsome. 
“…” 
Green-haired Shirley was at a loss for words. 
She’d started playing GGO just to practice her marksmanship. She had no desire to shoot “people,” but to be a team player, she’d accepted the invitation to join SJ2. Despite her reluctance, through some trick of fate, she’d discovered she was a devastating sniper. 
Shirley turned to her “partner,” Clarence, a woman good-looking enough to play a male role with the all-female Takarazuka Revue, and said as brusquely as she could, “No reason. None at all.” 
The two women were in hiding within Gun Gale Online (GGO). 
It was a rarity in this game: a grassland zone. Despite the off-kilter red atmosphere, they were surrounded by knee-high blades of grass. It was a dull color, like green paint with a dollop of brown mixed in. It wasn’t appetizing enough to try eating, no matter how starving you might be. 
The grass grew thick and solid on the essentially flat ground, like a tasteless rug. The whole area around them had an eerie green color, and crumbled sections of concrete were scattered about, suggesting that people once lived here. 
The two were lying low in this zone. 
They stacked pieces of concrete around a slightly recessed dip in the ground, then dug a shallow hole and covered the edges with a large cloth that matched the color of the grass. They sprinkled ripped stalks on top for good measure. They had created an impromptu base. 
The space was compact, just about six feet across, but it was enough for the two of them to hide facedown. It would be impossible to see their hiding spot for what it was unless one was both close and paying attention. 
Shirley had her favorite gun, the Blaser R93 Tactical 2 bolt-action sniper rifle, propped up on a bipod in firing position. Its black muzzle hid in a small crack between two stones. 
She wore her usual forestry jacket covered with images of trees. On her head was a baseball cap turned backward, with the same camo pattern printed on it, all but hiding the brilliant green color of her avatar’s hair. 
Clarence was lying prone immediately to her left—almost close enough to be spooning her—watching through binoculars. She had a handsome face, short black hair, and a generally low-pitched, masculine air. Most people in GGO probably wouldn’t realize she was a woman unless they saw her character ID, which took the form of an in-world business card. 
Like always, Clarence wore a black battle outfit like some kind of heavy special-ops uniform. Her magazine-pouch-lined combat vest was black, too. 
Of course, she’d stick out in this environment in those clothes, so she was currently wrapped in a green poncho for camouflage. 
Positioned before her eyes was a special AR-57 assault rifle. A Five-Seven pistol that used the same ammunition was in her right thigh holster. On her back, dangling like some fashion accessory, was a plasma grenade about the size of a mandarin orange. 
They were both player killers. 
In other words, they were GGO participants whose primarily purpose was to kill other players—PKers. 
Rather than engaging in the typical gameplay loop of defeating monsters and killer robots or beating events to earn experience points, they aggressively hunted humans on the map for fun. 
They didn’t think this was a bad thing, either. In GGO, monsters weren’t your only enemies. So here they were, in the middle of the wide-open field, hanging out in their own little sniper’s den, waiting for prey. 
“Hmm, no targets coming along,” Clarence murmured—more like grumbled—as she stared through the binoculars. 
Since they’d started trekking across the map, found a good spot, and set up their camp to wait, over two hours had ticked by. And time in the game world passed at the same rate as it did in the real world. 
It was basically unthinkable to remain totally still in one spot for so long. Nearly every player would get bored long before this point. Clarence’s and Shirley’s patience and perseverance were remarkable. 
Unfortunately, not a single person had passed by in that time—or perhaps fortunately, from the perspective of whoever might have gotten shot. 
Shirley’s sniper rifle was high-precision, equipped with exploding rounds that were essentially guaranteed fatal. Furthermore, as a hunter of Yezo sika deer in real life, she was an excellent marksman. 
She could calculate the natural drop of a bullet over any distance all on her own, so she didn’t need to make use of the “bullet circle,” GGO’s offensive assistance system that showed the shooter roughly where the bullet would land. 
That meant the defensive assistance system for other players, the “bullet line” that indicated its flight path, wouldn’t show up, either. 
The maximum distance Shirley could almost assuredly land a shot was about half a mile. That was far enough that most people could barely see a person at all with the naked eye. 
Any targets entering her “kill zone” would die one after the other by successive explosive rounds without ever realizing where the attack was coming from. 
“You can bounce if you want,” Shirley said bluntly, pulling her face away from her scope to rest her eyes. In this context, bounce meant log out of the game and go back to reality. 
“It’s no problem. I’ve got nothing to do today or tomorrow anyway. It’s fun just being inside the world of GGO. Plus…” Clarence turned her handsome face toward Shirley. 
“Plus what?” 
“Who’s going to watch your back if you don’t have me?” 
“…Good point,” said Shirley, her face devoid of a smile. 
In SJ2, Shirley had discovered that killing people with her sniper rifle was exhilarating, and since then, she’d obsessively studied the topics of sniping and snipers. She read books about the history of sharpshooting, watched movies about snipers, and searched for more information online. 
What she’d learned was that, unlike what they showed in movies and comic books, snipers almost never acted alone in real life. A sniper had to have a partner, a “spotter” who carefully monitored their surroundings. That was true of police snipers going after deadly criminals and military snipers in war zones. 
Spotters had a number of duties: keeping a wider eye out in all directions, measuring distance and wind strength to the target, communicating over wireless, and so on. They were also armed with an assault rifle to protect the sniper. 
Shirley carried only a bolt-action sniper rifle, which required a manual pull to load each bullet, and a long knife called a ken-nata. She wouldn’t stand a chance against a player bearing an automatic firearm or a group of monsters. 
So having Clarence, with her AR-57, pistol, and grenade, was a big help when it came to protection. It left Shirley able to focus solely on her sniping. 
Rustle, rustle. 
Once a minute, Clarence would move, switching positions to watch the grassy plains to the right, left, or rear with her binoculars. It often meant that Clarence rested her stomach against Shirley’s butt in an overlapping cross, but Shirley didn’t complain, of course, and it caused no system warning against sexual harassment. 
Clarence had finished checking their surroundings from under the tarp covering their little base, and there was nothing moving out there, whether player character or monster. There wasn’t even any breeze over the grass. 
“All green, then,” she said, rotating herself carefully to face forward again. She peered through the binoculars, searching for potential targets. Without turning her head toward Shirley, she said, “By the way, about that…” 
“About what?” asked Shirley, right eye to the rifle scope, left eye still open. In GGO, it wasn’t rude at all to speak to someone without looking at them. Better to keep your eyes trained on the area around you. 
Some people who got way into GGO found they developed a habit of keeping an eye trained for danger even in real life, to the point where it affected their regular lives. 
Clarence explained, “The reason I play in Squad Jam. Well, I was in SJ2 with my squadron, but nobody else wanted to join when SJ3 rolled around.” 
“Mmm.” Shirley wasn’t that interested in her story. However, because there wasn’t currently any prey to shoot, she had no choice but to listen. 
That made her realize something. Without taking her eye away from the scope, she said, “Hang on. You were in SJ3, though.” 
“Yeah, I was. I mean, duh.” 
They met after engaging in a tremendous one-on-one battle to the death in SJ3, so of course they remembered it. 
“I wasn’t done with the story. I asked them to help us fight as a team of six in the preliminary round, but in the final event, it was just me and Sam.” 
“Ah, yeah, that’s right.” 
What Shirley didn’t know—and what Clarence was avoiding saying—was that she’d threatened her squadmates into participating. Clarence had entered the final as a pair with her teammate Sam, and it was Shirley who’d slaughtered him with an exploding round. 
“I should have shot you first,” Shirley said sadly, but she hadn’t had a choice, given the circumstances. 
Sam had been standing behind Clarence. When the person in front gets sniped, the person in back instinctively ducks down out of danger. When the person in the back gets shot, though, the one in front always turns around, making them an easy target. Shirley’s strategy was solid. 
Clarence did turn away, in fact, but Shirley’s second shot was a bit delayed, giving her prey time for evasive maneuvers. Shirley replayed the sequence in her head and said ruefully, “It’s the biggest regret of my GGO life.” 
“Well, that’s not coming back around.” 
“Heh.” 
“Anyway, as for Sam, he really didn’t seem to like my Super-Awesome Betrayal plan…,” Clarence said, pouting. 
They had participated in a plan among the lesser squads to fight together against one of the heavyweights, but then Clarence had betrayed them, shooting them in the back. Sam was merely an unhappy accomplice. 
Of course, SJ3 itself later implemented a special rule that forced chosen players to form a team of betrayers. It was a deeply unpopular change among the tournament participants. It hadn’t affected Clarence or Shirley, though, because they’d killed each other before it got to that point. 
“Poor little me—removed from my squadron. Stripped of all rank and privilege. In fact, my only registered friend in the game now is the lovely Shirley.” 
“I don’t blame them, knowing how crazy you are. They must be pretty nice if all they did was kick you out. Did you pay them back?” 
“Wow, you are brutally frank, you know that? Don’t you know what an embolism is?” 
“Of course. It’s a kind of blood clot.” 
“Huh…? No! Crap! I meant euphemism! Don’t you know how to mince words, Shirley?” 
“I don’t want to hear that from you. But don’t get the wrong idea—I’m not criticizing your insane actions.” 
“You aren’t?” 
“That’s right. This is a game. My game self and my real self are different…and that stands to reason.” 
“Treason? Are you a traitor?” Clarence asked, all innocently. Shirley, annoyed, narrowed her eyes. 
“Have you actually had your compulsory education?” 
“Not to my knowledge.” 
“…Well, what I meant was, they’re supposed to be different.” 
“That’s exactly it!” 
“What is?” 
“The reason I teamed up with you, Shirley! In real life, I would never work with such a menacing and dangerous person!” 
“Keh!” Shirley snapped, but now there was a grin on her lips. Not that Clarence could see it with her attention on the binoculars. 
Shirley clutched her sniper rifle and muttered, “This is a game. Killing people with a rifle and stabbing them with a ken-nata are things you do because it’s a game. I’d never do these things in real life. Not even if I was going to die. I wouldn’t consider it for even a second.” 
In real life, Shirley was a twenty-four-year-old woman by the name of Mai Kirishima. She lived in Hokkaido, where she worked as a nature guide and hunter. She owned a hunting rifle for which she’d gotten a permit in accordance with Japanese law. Her claim had weight behind it. 
It was the kind of statement that deserved to be heard by the big shots who claimed that “gamer brain” was a thing—that playing video games limited a person’s ability to distinguish games from reality—even though they’d never had any experience playing games themselves. 
Beneath the binoculars, Clarence’s mouth curled into a grin. “Yeah, I’m a saint in real life, too. If memory serves, I’ve never once shot a person to death in the real world.” 
“Then I’ll have to pray for the accuracy of your memory.” 
“I’m not old enough to be going senile.” 
They spoke very openly and bluntly, but whether in a full-dive VR setting or not, any online game where players used avatars as fictional personas wasn’t somewhere you were supposed to ask others details about someone’s real life. 
If you wanted to reveal specifics about yourself, that was up to you, of course. It was also evidence that the two of them were reasonably friendly. It was common in online games to share more and more detail over time, until you knew so much about the other player that it seemed pointless not to meet up in person. 
“So what I’m saying is…,” Clarence prompted, pulling away from the binoculars. 
“Hmm?” 
Shirley glanced to her left, sensing Clarence’s eyes on her. She saw a handsome face with a very expectant smile. 
“Let’s meet up in person! I’ll visit you!” 
“Ugh, not this again…” 
Shirley frowned a bit. Since her partner was so insistent, though, she gave away a snippet of information. “I live on the outskirts of Japan. You still think you could make it?” 
“Is it far? Far from Tokyo? Like, a pretty expensive bus trip?” 
“So you live in Tokyo.” 
“H-how did you figure that out…? Wait, are you psychic?” 
“Well, you’re pretty far away from me. Buses in real life can’t cross the ocean.” 
“What? You live in another country?” Clarence asked, shocked. 
Shirley repeated her jab from earlier. “Have you actually completed your compulsory education?” 
“Not to my knowledge.” 
“We’re playing GGO on the Japan server, so of course I live in Japan. On the very edge of Japan. On a different island than Honshu.” 
“Ohhh, so you’re far away. Yeah, that might be tough, then,” said Clarence in what passed for a gloomy tone by her standards. 
“…” Shirley was taken aback by her reaction. “All I’m saying is maybe it’s not meant to happen. We can easily meet up here—it’s fine,” she said reassuringly. 
“Mmm.” Clarence pouted, returning to her binoculars. She had forgotten to execute her customary check of the surroundings, which she’d been doing every minute previously. 
“By the way,” said Shirley, changing the subject and not scolding her for being forgetful. 
“Whut?” 
“If there’s another Squad Jam, are you in?” 
“You bet I am!” Clarence exclaimed. “Let’s go in together, like with that playtest! Just the two of us, on a huge map, against a ton of enemies! Yahoo!” Despite the cramped area, she kicked and fidgeted like a child. 
“Don’t lose control of yourself in here,” Shirley snapped. “Anyway, I’m all right with that, but…” 
She trailed off. Clarence stopped squirming, sensing the answer already. She made what qualified as a somber look by her standards. “Yeah, I get it. The prelims are always tough…” 
“That’s the problem.” 
The source of their gloom was Squad Jam’s preliminary round. With the increase in teams wanting to enter, there was now a seeding system in which the top four teams from last event got a bye, while everyone else had to win a preliminary competition to place in the finals. 
It was a head-to-head, two-team match taking place on a long, narrow map. Since Squad Jam featured six-person teams, trying to win the prelims with a two-person squad that specialized in sniping would be very difficult. 
In SJ3, Shirley got through the preliminary round with Team KKHC, the Kita no Kuni Hunter’s Club. Clarence threatened her teammates to get a group of six just for the prelims. 
They wouldn’t be able to use that strategy this time. 
The rest of KKHC had been inching away from GGO, intimidated by Shirley’s intensity, and Clarence’s teammates had plain ditched her. 
“What should we do?” 
“What should we do?” 
They sighed in unison. 
Then a voice from above said, “I’ve got a great idea!” 
“Aaah!” “Aieee!” 
The two women bounced straight upward from their prone positions, like a gag in a comic book. They turned to face the cloth draped over their hiding spot, but it had been torn away, revealing the red sky. Against the light, pointing the muzzle of an assault rifle in their direction, was a woman wearing a lumpy green suit. 
“Dammit—!” 
Shirley twisted, trying to point the R93 Tactical 2 at the enemy, despite knowing there was no way she’d make it in time. 
Shpak! 
A bullet went through her shoulder. 
“Fiiinally found you! Man, it was hard to track you down!” 
There stood Pitohui, canvas shelter sheet in one hand, HK416C shortened assault rifle that she’d used in the recent playtest in the other. It was aimed right between Shirley’s furious eyes. 
The lumpy, all-green outfit she wore made her resemble some forest fairy. That was thanks to the ghillie suit—a type of camouflage with strips and scraps of fine fabric that completely hid the user when worn against a background of the same color, as long as she didn’t move. 
Pitohui even wore camouflage face paint, covering up her famous cheek tattoos. Her gun was green as well. 
“Goddamn you!” Shirley swore, her angriest outburst of the day. Bright-red polygonal effects shone from her shoulder, the visual sign of damage unique to GGO’s bullet wounds. A bullet line pointed directly at the center of her chest. 
“Oh my!” exclaimed Clarence, her eyes wide. Then she said, “Oh, Shirley? Just so I’m not confused, when you said ‘Goddamn you,’ you weren’t referring to me, right? I mean, I know I kinda slacked off on keeping an eye out for a bit, but that was because I was so engaged in our conversation, and you totally forgot, too! And you didn’t warn me to pay attention!” 
“Shut up and shoot her! Do it right now!” 
“No way! If I shoot now, she’ll shoot and kill you.” 
“…Why are you bothered by that?!” 
“I’m not! But I’m gonna get shot and killed after that, too! I don’t want that!” 
“That’s your argument?!” 
“Yes!” 
At the end of this little comedy routine, Pitohui glanced at Clarence. She still had her finger on the trigger of the HK416C, of course. 
“That’s very perceptive of you, little Miss Takarazuka. This is our first real conversation, isn’t it? My name is Pitohui. Nice to meet you,” she said, dipping into a different language at the end. 
“Whoa. I got complimented? Nice to meet you, crazy ponytail face-tattoo lady who kicked all kinds of ass in SJ2 and SJ3. My name’s Clarence. By the way, what language was that at the end?” 
“It’s called English. Ever heard of it?” 
“Oh! English! Yeah, I know that one! It’s the language my English teacher can’t speak!” 
“You’re very funny, Clare,” said Pitohui. The pair seemed made for each other. 
“Enough of this, you two!” snapped Shirley. Despite the gun pointed at her chest, she mounted a verbal assault. “Pitohui! How dare you shoot me! I’ll kill you someday! Remember that! Don’t forget it!” 
It was none other than Pitohui who’d helped turn Shirley into the person she was today. 
A game was a game, so she didn’t bear a true personal grudge, but if Shirley saw her rival on the battlefield, she would absolutely aim to shoot and destroy her. Consequently, completely losing the initiative and being conquered without a chance to fire was supremely frustrating. No wonder she was swearing. 
Pitohui just grinned and said seriously, “Very scary. You got me with a good shot in SJ2, if I recall. I’d have died if it had been an exploding round—of course I’m going to be careful around you.” 
“Keh!” 
“Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about this today. Can I move on to the point of this interaction?” 
“Sure thing!” Clarence chirped. 
“Wait! What do you mean, ‘the point’? What you came to talk about? You weren’t trying to kill us?” Shirley demanded, shocked. 
GGO was a game that was very proactive and friendly in encouraging its players to kill one another. With her sudden appearance, Shirley had just assumed Pitohui was attacking them. Could she have been wrong? 
“Non, non, non! I’m here to talk! Words! Dialogue! Get it?” 
Shirley was stunned. Eventually, she exhaled, the tension easing from her shoulders. “Speak, then…” 
“Okay! The thing is, I’ve been searching for you two ever since that playtest, but I couldn’t find you in town at all. Eventually, my search took me out into the wilderness! And I finally found you about three hours ago! This is my lucky day!” 
“What’s that supposed to mean…?” grumbled Shirley. The anger was gone, replaced by exasperation. The expression on her face said she was in the presence of an unbelievable idiot. “So you’ve been waiting to sneak up on us since the moment we set up our sniping position?” 
“That’s right.” 
“How?” Shirley wondered, truly curious. 
“Yeah! I was keeping a strict eye out! Until the last minute, that is!” Clarence added, outraged. 
“I did it with an army crawl, of course. From about two-thirds of a mile away? Crawling the entire way. I knew that Clare was doing a full perimeter search over the course of each minute, though, so…” 
Pitohui tapped her ear, a gesture that indicated she was using a communication item. Then she pointed to the sky. 
“I had a friend in a much more distant location watching you like a hawk.” 
In other words, M was somewhere else, observing from far above with the drone he’d bought for the playtest and practiced with since. He’d been giving Pitohui directions based on what he saw. 
Shirley and Clarence were stunned— 
“What the hell…?” 
“Whoa, that’s amazing!” 
—stunned or annoyed, or maybe a bit of both. 
Even with the backup, she’d army-crawled the better part of a mile for two hours. Moving slowly, sometimes stopping, then resuming, all to ensure she wasn’t spotted… 
For both the person making the approach and the one providing direction, this was an even more superhuman feat of patience than Shirley and Clarence’s use of their sniping hideout. 
Real war was one thing, but this was a VR game. People didn’t bother with these things. 
“And then, once I got close enough that there was no way to hide if you looked at me, that’s when it was really tough. I waited a really long time for my chance to arrive, and therefore, now I have appeared.” 

“Wow, that’s amazing!” 
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Clarence forgot about her weapon and started a round of applause instead. 
“…” Shirley shot her a withering glance but said nothing. 
“Anyway, back to the point. I have gone to these great lengths to bring you two an invitation! To what? Do I really need to say it? You know what it is, right? I mean, it would be crazy if you didn’t, right?” 
“…” Shirley immediately knew what it was but didn’t say a word. 
“I got it!” said Clarence, a second later. “The next Squad Jam! Your team has that man as big as a mountain, and—” 
“That’s M.” 
“—the tiny little pink one, and—” 
“That’s Llenn.” 
“—the tiny little grenadier!” 
“That’s Fukaziroh.” 
“That’s only four, and you want the two of us to fill it to maximum!” 
“Correct! Brilliant!” Pitohui crowed, grinning. The combination of her green face and wicked smile was positively demonic. 
Shirley asked the demon, “What…are you thinking…? You know that I’m just dying to kill you…” 
“Yeah, you said that already. Why would that be a reason not to team up?” 
“…” 
Shirley had no quick answer to that. 
“She’s right, Shirley! We should join them already! That way we won’t have to fight in the prelims! And when the final event starts, you can shoot her in the back!” Clarence suggested. Nobody could accuse her of not being true to herself. 
Pitohui said, “Well, I’m fine with that. If you want, the two of you can even break off from us right at the start and do your own thing.” 
“Really? Yippee! We’re in, we’re in! Hey, you wanna friend me?” 
“Sure thing! One friend, coming up!” 
“…” 
With undisguised annoyance, Shirley watched the two frolic. Eventually, though, she made up her mind. There wasn’t a better way to get into Squad Jam at this point, she realized. 
She looked past the muzzle of the gun Pitohui still had pointed at her and grunted, as though wringing her voice from the depths of hell. “Fine. I’ll join your squad this time. And…” 
“And?” 
“I’ll do whatever I want as soon as it starts. If I get the chance, I’m going to shoot you!” 
“Can’t wait! Let’s go with that plan, then!” said Pitohui. She let the HK416C drift away. 
Shirley and Clarence both rose to their feet. There were no stiff shoulders or cramps in the virtual world, but mental exhaustion still took a toll. They took their time, allowing movement to feel natural again. 
Clarence and Pitohui waved their arms and hands in midair. They were calling up status windows to register each other as friends. Shirley scowled at the smiles on their faces, and when they were done, she muttered, “By the way, Pitohui…” 
“What is it, Shirley?” she replied. It was a modicum of courtesy that they called each other by name. 
“You leaked our information, didn’t you?” 
Clarence looked stunned. Pitohui asked, “What information?” 
“You told people someone was lying in wait in the grass here, hoping to PK anyone who came by. No wonder we weren’t seeing any targets!” 
Pitohui said nothing. She only smiled. That was all the confirmation Shirley needed. 
 
GOT TWO MORE MEMBERS! NOW WE’VE GOT A FULL SLATE OF SIX! said the message on the screen of the smartphone. 
Yesssssss! 
Miyu Shinohara threw her shoulders back and raised her arms to the sky, like a soccer player celebrating a spectacular goal. In her mind, at least. 
In reality, she did no such thing, because she was on the train. 
JR Hokkaido’s Super Ozora was hurtling through the greenery of the mountains, its blue cars tilting to the side as the track curved. This was an express train that left Sapporo, ran through Obihiro—Miyu’s home—and onward to the city of Kushiro. 
Miyu was sitting in the window seat in the last row of an ordinary coach car. Around her in the box seats, which were flipped to face each other, were three teenage girls wearing plain clothes rather than school uniforms. Unlike Miyu, who had been hanging out in Sapporo yesterday, these girls seemed to be heading all the way to Kushiro. 
They were having a great time chatting, the conversation rapidly flitting between topics like the upcoming school semester, their eventual college entrance exams, the programs that had aired online last night, a rumored boyfriend one of their friends had supposedly started seeing, and so on. 
Outside the window, the sights of Hokkaido at the end of its short summer sped by. Fall would arrive soon, followed by the long winter, when the temperature would drop to around zero. 
With the high school girls around her, Miyu focused on her smartphone and typed her response. Her fingers moved like lightning. 
OH YEAH, BABY! SAWEET! YOU DA BEST! MY GOD! she typed. 
The “message seen” receipt appeared immediately. 
KNOCK IT OFF. I KNOW ALREADY, came the reply. 
NO, YOU’RE EVEN MORE OF A GOD THAN YOU REALIZE! 
OKAY, ENOUGH OF THAT. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN. IF YOU DON’T GET LLENN IN, YOU’RE IN BIG TROUBLE, YOU KNOW THAT? I’M GONNA KILL YOU. IN THE GAME. 
I WILL DO MY BEST NOT TO INVOKE THE WRATH OF A GOD, Miyu typed. At that very moment, the teenage girls changed topics again. 
“Isn’t Elza Kanzaki’s new song just the best?” 
“Yeah, and she’s awesome. It’s so cool how she plays guitar and sings with that little body of hers.” 
“I wish I could be as beautiful and delicate as her,” they said, utterly enraptured with the pop singer. 
GOOD LUCK. I HAVE TO PREP FOR TONIGHT’S WORK. GOT A BIG DINNER MEETING WITH SOME DISGUSTING FATTY COMB-OVER HARASSING BALD-ASS DEATH-STENCH FREAK WHO’S A BIG SHOT AT A MAJOR PUBLISHER. REAL SUCK-ASS JOB, IF YOU ASK ME, said the message from the person on the other end. 
Well, good luck to you, too, thought Miyu as she closed the messaging app. The contact name listed at the top of the chat window said GOD. 
 
Around the time Miyu was trading messages with the singing sensation she idolized, Karen Kohiruimaki was being introduced by her father. 
“This is my youngest daughter, Karen.” 
Today, she wasn’t dressed in her usual, low-key fashion of a shirt and pants, nor was she done up in GGO -style combat fatigues. In fact, she was wearing an elegant pale-blue party dress. 
At this hour the day before, when buying the dress at the department store near the train station, the sales associate had gushed over her, saying, “Ma’am, you must be a model! I think almost anything would look good on you, so I’ll bring a large selection!” 
All she’d wanted to do was rush right out of the store, though. 
Across from her was a man in his sixties, the same generation as her father. “Aaah! Is that you, Karen? I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl, back in Hokkaido. And now you’re…so…big,” he said haltingly. 
Now that she was trapped here with no way to escape an awkward situation, she wanted to run away even more. 
She was standing in the glamorous reception hall of a famous luxury hotel in Tokyo. It was a hallowed, coveted space—the kind of room where celebrities held their wedding receptions. 
Karen’s father ran his own company, and his line of business held a yearly gathering of companies for social purposes. The party didn’t have a fixed date each time, but this year it happened to be today, August 20th, at this location. 
Her father took part in it every year, and so he traveled to Tokyo each time. Typically, Karen’s mother would accompany him—she looked forward to an annual trip to the capital, too. But alas, a nasty summer flu had knocked her out this year. 
When such things happened, one of Karen’s two older sisters would be called upon to serve as a “replacement escort,” but as luck would have it, both of them had firm prior engagements that kept them away. 
That left Karen as the last option. 
She’d been relaxing after her return to Tokyo when the news hit her like a shot out of the blue the morning before. 
Why can’t you just go and have fun with the guys?! she had raged internally, but there was no use complaining about a social world that didn’t make sense in the first place. 
She didn’t hate her father, though, and didn’t want him to be embarrassed, so she had no choice but to prop up the family business and take one for the team. 
And precisely as she knew would happen…she stood out above the crowd. 
There were hardly any Japanese women who were six feet tall. Among the elderly men and their wives was one young woman with Hollywood-actress height and slim proportions, done up with the makeup style her sister had forced her to learn. Her presence had enough impact to stop the conversations of all those wineglass-swirling old men as soon as they saw her. 
“I’m so glad to have you here with me, Karen,” said her doting father, clearly pleased that his youngest daughter was the center of attention. “Maybe I should have you come to all of these from now on,” he suggested, smiling. The idea was so terrifying that it stimulated her fighting spirit, as if she were battling Pitohui and Boss. 
“Okay, Dad. But I’ll have to tell Mom, and I don’t know if you’ll survive to see the party next year…” 
“Well, well… Look who’s got a razor-sharp tongue…” 
She didn’t feel like threatening her father beyond that. Karen gave up and decided to wait it out until she could leave. 
Fortunately, her father was as dedicated to his job as he was to his children, so once enough introductions had been made, he let her see to her own affairs and proceeded to engage in business talk with his industry peers. 
Karen was twenty, of legal age, but didn’t drink alcohol, so she ordered a grape juice. She sipped it, decided that a luxury hotel certainly did serve fine juice, then retreated to the side, leaning against the strangely patterned wall of the banquet area. 
She glanced at the delicate wristwatch her sister lent her, so fragile it seemed likely to break at a single touch. About an hour remained of the party. 
Karen found herself nostalgic about the display readout that Llenn wore as a watch in GGO. It made her wish that the AmuSphere could be as small as a pair of glasses so she could dive in right here. 
One glance at her watch made it feel like her heart had just jumped into GGO—as if she’d gone from a giant in a dress to tiny, energetic, active Llenn. To her other self. 
The last time she’d played was last Sunday, the sixteenth—the playtest. 
She’d logged in with Miyu’s extra AmuSphere at her friend’s house, fought a bunch of powerful AI characters, and failed in various ways—but overall, it had been a very entertaining and fulfilling day. 
When it was over, she’d spent time at the bar with M, Pito, and Fukaziroh, having a little party. In fact, at the time, Pitohui had said something about the fourth Squad Jam being announced and opening for enrollment soon. 
Karen went back through her memories, realizing that all the twists and turns of Squad Jam had happened this very year, 2026. 
The first was held on February 1st. 
She’d fought with M on Pitohui’s introduction, defeating the team of professionals, MMTM, and though there had been some personal difficulty at the end, they’d even overcome the mighty SHINC and won. 
Up to that point, Llenn had only won PvP battles by sneaking up on people from behind, so it had been a valuable combat experience. It certainly gave her lots of confidence. She’d become friends with the gymnastics team from the high school affiliated with her college. 
SJ2 was on April 4th. 
M had begged Llenn to save Pitohui by killing her in the game, so the speedy pink girl had entered the competition with her trusty companion, Fukaziroh. They’d kicked a lot of ass, destroyed some annoying obstacles, and engaged in a stunning battle to the death with the wicked boss Pitohui at the end. All in all, it had been great fun. 
After that, she’d met her favorite singer, Elza Kanzaki, in person, an encounter she would never forget for the rest of her life. Though she’d successfully forgotten about the kiss. 
The last Squad Jam, SJ3, was on July 5th. 
That was the first time she’d successfully teamed up with Pitohui. It was supposed to be her big chance to engage her age-old rivals, SHINC. 
Unfortunately, because of a stupid rule that took a member from each team to form a new team of betrayers after a certain point in the game (a rule implemented by that goddamn writer—no, excuse me, let’s clean that up a little—by that writer afflicted with serious personality issues) she’d gone through hell. 
Of course, all’s well that ends well. When it turned out that Boss was also a betrayer, she got to fight alongside her, which had been quite enjoyable in its own way. 
So what would happen in SJ4? 
SJ3 had been a moderate success, and given that she hadn’t seen any obituaries for the author sponsoring the events, it seemed all but certain there would be another tournament. 
Pitohui and M were speculating it might come as early as the start of next month or even the end of this one. Naturally, that transitioned into a discussion of what to do about their team lineup. Should they go in as the four-person LPFM team again? Or should they recruit another two to fill out the roster? 
The best regular teams in Squad Jam were getting tougher all the time, especially ZEMAL, the All-Japan Machine-Gun Lovers. The gymnastics team (SHINC) and Memento Mori (MMTM) were sharpening their claws, too, waiting for the opportunity to avenge their prior defeats. 
The thought of going in as a four-man team was a bit intimidating now. Their rivals would certainly be trying to maximize their manpower, for one thing. 
But which two players would be both capable enough to add something to the team and agreeable enough to deal with a group full of powerful, eccentric personalities? Llenn couldn’t think of anyone right off the bat. 
At the time, Pitohui’d had a scheming expression on her face, but then again, she always looked that way. Of course, that’s because she was scheming. But Karen decided not to think too hard about it. 
“Need something to do?” 
It took someone speaking to her directly to pull Karen’s mind back out of distant GGO. She craned her neck to the right toward the voice and saw no one. Just more of the banquet hall, same as before. 
Oh? She could have sworn she’d heard a man’s voice. Was she hearing things now? 
“Now look down,” said the same voice, from very close by. 
“Mmm?” 
She tilted her head down, lowering her field of view. At last, she saw the man. He was right in front of her—and had been there the entire time. 
“I’m pretty small, aren’t I?” 
He was right. He was so short, she’d failed to spot him. In fact, he was barely five feet tall, nearly as short as Llenn in GGO. He was also notably wide, so he seemed as round as an egg. 
He didn’t seem to be in his twenties or his forties, so she guessed he was thirty-something by process of elimination. Like all the other men at this party, he wore an expensive-looking suit, and his short hair was slicked firmly back with gel. 
The man beamed, his face as round as his body. “I’ve always had a complex about my appearance, being so short and round. People have laughed at me my entire life. I’ve always lamented why I had to be born small and fat,” he said, a surprisingly frank admission. “Are you going to laugh at me, too?” 
It all came in a rush. His voice was gentle, but the look in his eyes was deadly serious. 
“No,” she said immediately. “I’ve always been laughed at for being tall, so I would never make fun of someone else for a body type they can’t do anything about.” 
That was her honest opinion. She knew exactly how much she’d been mocked and scorned by others and would never forget that, which was why Karen would never do the same to someone in a similar situation. That was a promise she wouldn’t break to her dying day. 
The man grinned again. “I’m glad I spoke to you, then. Nice to meet you. My name is Fire Nishiyamada.” 
“Huh?” 
Karen’s mind froze. He’d said something, but it certainly didn’t sound like a name. 
The man’s smile never faded, as though he’d anticipated her reaction and enjoyed it. “When you write my surname in kanji, it means ‘paddy on the western mountain.’ And my given name is the kanji for fire, but pronounced like the English word. It’s pretty wild, huh? Basically no one at school or work has ever read it properly on the first try!” 
Well, of course they haven’t, Karen thought. With the ice broken now, though, she no longer had any innate resistance to talking to this man named Nishiyamada. 
“I’m Karen Kohiruimaki. It’s written with the kanji for fragrant lotus, and my last name is small, comparison, type, and wrap. People often tell me that my family name is exotic.” 
The list of descriptions for the kanji for her name was a sequence she’d been saying since she was a child to introduce herself to others. Miyu said it was cool because it sounded like something an idol singer would say. 
All young women, not just Karen, would be cautious around an unfamiliar man, but as this was a gathering of her father’s industry peers, everyone here was accountable in some way. She felt safe enough to give her name without worrying about it being used against her. 
“Kohiruimaki is a name you see a lot in the city of Misawa in Aomori Prefecture. Are you from there?” 
“Yes, my father is. I was born and raised in Obihiro, Hokkaido.” 
“Obihiro, Hokkaido! I’ve been there a number of times! I know it’s famous for its pork bowls, but I happen to really like the local chain’s curry! What about you, Karen?” 
“Oh, I went there all the time in high school with my friends.” 
“You did? Boy, it would be great to have that every day. I also remember that huge temperature gauge outside of Obihiro Station…” 
Well, well! Nishiyamada was equipped with quite the conversational skill. His knowledge was impressive. He knew a lot about Karen’s native Hokkaido and kept the small talk moving without getting awkward. 
Certainly, anyone watching their interaction would think, What a friendly little odd couple they make! After all, they were at least a foot apart in height. Judging by profile alone, they could have been mother and son. 
In the end, they talked for about fifteen minutes. There was nothing particularly noteworthy in their conversation, and when it was over, Karen couldn’t even be sure what they had talked about. It had, however, been a good way to pass the time. 
In fact, it was the first chance she’d had to talk with a young man outside of her family since Goushi, right before SJ2. What if this was the initiation of a pickup attempt? What if he started asking for contact information? 
The thought made Karen wary again, but Nishiyamada simply said, “Oops, I ought to say hello to some other people now. Sorry,” and withdrew without bothering her further. 
On that cue, Karen worried this might be the moment he tried to ask for her information and tensed again, but all the little round man named Fire said was, “Well, so long. This was fun,” and then he promptly turned and left. He slipped through the men in the party around them and was out of sight. 
Phew. I didn’t get hit on, Karen thought, relieved. But before long… 
“Oh…I’d be careful around that guy,” cautioned Miyu over the phone later that night. 
Miyu’s voice sounded echoey over the smartphone’s speaker while she took a bath in her family’s house. She had a habit of taking long baths for her beauty and health, and she usually called Karen during them because she got bored and had nothing else to do. 
After they’d talked about Karen’s dress, which Miyu insisted on getting a picture of, Karen brought up the topic of Nishiyamada, at which point Miyu delivered that warning. 
“Careful…? What do you mean?” 
“I mean that he’s absolutely got his eye on you, Kohi. You can’t help it; you’re a far more appealing woman than you realize. It’s the fate of women like us—you just have to accept it,” Miyu said, emphasizing that she was included in that category. Karen was too overwhelmed by the idea to comment on that part. 
“But, but, but…all we did was waste a little time chatting. He didn’t even ask for my number,” she protested, shaking her head. Her smartphone was resting on the charging stand next to the bed, where she lay facedown. 
“You can’t be too careful. What’d you say this guy’s name was, Fire? He’s going to fill the moat from the outside. You remember the summer campaign of the Siege of Osaka, right? That’s right…it was a hot and moist day…” 
“Stop acting like you were there four hundred years ago. What do you mean?” 
“The fact that he didn’t ask you for your information directly is because he knows he can get it other ways. He works in your dad’s industry, right? All he has to do is ask around about ‘Kohiruimaki from Obihiro,’ and he’ll get all he needs.” 
“Oh…” 
That was a good point. Everyone there had each other’s information saved, of course. But what kind of man would have any interest in a beanpole of a woman like her? Karen thought it was too unlikely. 
Then Miyu said cryptically, “But you know, it’s not a bad thing to have a man’s interest.” 
“Huh? What makes you say that?” 
“Maybe the time is right for you to try dating someone, Kohi.” 
“What? Why should I?” 
“Maybe you and Fire will turn out to be the perfect couple. Who knows?” 
“But… I’m saying…” 
“Call me when you have the wedding planned. And if you need tips on dating etiquette, I can help you out.” 
“Ummm…excuse meee…” 
“By the way, if there’s an SJ4, are you gonna play with everyone?” 
“Huh? Well, um, sure,” Karen admitted. The question came so suddenly that she gave her answer without thinking. 
“Excellent! Well, I recorded this whole conversation, so now I gotta send the file over to Pito!” 
“Wait, was that all you wanted…?” Karen asked, aghast. Miyu didn’t care about the stuff with Nishiyamada at all. 
“That’s right. Pito threatened me, saying I had to drag Llenn into the next Squad Jam or she’d kill me! Open parentheses, inside of GGO, close parentheses. And you know… I value my life… I’m still so young…so beautiful…” 
“Yeah, right. I bet you were happy to oblige her.” 
“Oh, I didn’t know you were psychic.” 
The topic of Nishiyamada had completely left Karen’s mind by now. Mentally speaking, she was back in the wastelands of GGO. 
“The next Squad Jam… This time, this time for sure…I’m going to settle the score with Saki and the gymnastics team…,” she murmured, closing her eyes. She envisioned the sturdy silhouettes of Team SHINC. 
In the midst of them, she saw a gorilla-like woman with braided pigtails, holding the terrifying Vintorez silenced sniper rifle and wearing a smile that would make small children scream and run. 
“Yes. That’s the spirit… Go on…fight, you tiny pink devil… Spill the CG blood of your enemies… Your heart…your throat thirsts for blood…” 
“Ewww! Stop dubbing in creepy narration, Miyu!” 
“Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Anyway, let’s have fun in the next Squad Jam! Guess I should get out now. Thanks for helping me kill time.” 
“Sure. Let me know if they announce it,” Karen said in closing. That was the end of her enjoyable chat with Miyu. “And now I should take a bath myself and go to bed!” 
She had no way of knowing what would happen to her the following day. 
Friday, August 21st. Morning. 
The fourth Squad Jam was announced, and registration opened for all teams. 
At nearly the same time, Karen’s father received a message from Nishiyamada that read: 
I would like to formally begin a relationship with Karen, with an eye toward our eventual marriage.