"Dyne!"
"Ginrou!"
With just a brief exchange of glances, the two fell into step as a matter of course. Their destination: King of Lions, Richie. Having known each other for a long time, their unspoken coordination was top-notch.
"Man, trying to solo this time around is definitely suicide, huh?"
"Right on!"
"I mean, are the two of us even enough to take on Llenn...?"
"...Right on."
"Plus, there's Hachiman, Kirito, and a whole lineup of other dangerous monsters out there."
"...Right on."
"Well, we've got nothing to lose anyway. Nobody's expecting us to win, so let's just take it easy!"
"Right on!"
Laughing together, they cut through the urban sector toward the spot where Richie was supposed to be. But when they arrived, Richie was nowhere in sight.
"Huh...?"
"This was the place... right?"
"Definitely."
"This small abandoned fort is where he sets up his favorite machine gun to fire wildly, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Where'd he move to? Who else was around this area?"
"Ah."
Ginrou racked his brain, recalling the player map he'd frantically tapped through earlier, and remembered a key name.
"Come to think of it, I think M-san was to the northwest."
"Huh? But isn't M-san definitely meeting up with Pitohui?"
"Like that idiot king would care about a thing like that."
"Fair point... Alright, let's track him down. If we run into M-san and Pito, we pull back immediately. I don't shoot women."
"...Right on."
Ginrou agreed, though secretly thinking Dyne just knew they couldn't win.
Leaving the city behind, they headed west. Soon, the towering frame of the King of Lions appeared ahead. Realizing their luck, they began closing the distance.
"This is our chance. Let's take him out from behind."
"Got it!"
They carefully crept forward, reaching a distance where a kill was practically guaranteed. But as they did, a strange voice drifted toward them.
"...Hey, do you hear something?"
"Yeah..."
Holding their breath, they tried to make out the words.
"M-saaaan! The King of Lions comes to serve you! With this starting layout, it's clearly fate that brought us together! Please wait for me!"
"..."
"..."
"How does a person's mind even work like that?"
"I'm starting to feel a little sorry for him..."
"No matter how you look at it, he's just gonna get shot the moment he waltzes up to them completely defenseless."
"...Right on."
"Let's just put him out of his misery already."
Exchanging a quick nod, the two dropped low and carefully aimed at Richie's exposed back. Concentrating their gunfire, they swiftly reduced the King of Lions to a silent corpse.
"Gwahhhhhhhh! M-saaaaaaaaaaan!"
"..."
"..."
And just like that, the King of Lions, Richie, was eliminated early from the stage.
Meanwhile, Pitohui and M were heading toward the estimated rendezvous point of Yamikaze and Lightly Salted Cod Roe.
"The next satellite scan is coming up. As long as we spot the enemy first, we can take them."
"People tend to let their guard down right around now. Though I'm not particularly thrilled about dealing with the tuna guy."
"True. It's much more fun to overpower a resisting Llenn, after all."
"Personally, I prefer tying Lady Llenn down so she can't move and slowly picking her apart."
"Heheh, heheheheh."
"Ufufu, ufufufufu."
The two looked at each other with sinister glee, completely in sync. Typical of them, they were talking about Llenn instead of their actual targets.
It was a tragedy for Yamikaze and Cod Roe, who had to deal with this terrifying pair. Yet both men were well aware that they would never be the targets of such twisted affection. Whether that was a blessing or a curse depended entirely on one's own preferences.
Incidentally, this conversation was captured crystal-clear by the broadcast camera—evidence that Llenn would later use to successfully escape their clutches.
"Almost scan time, partner."
"Yep. Pito's squad probably went after Llenn, so the real fight starts after this next scan."
Yamikaze and Cod Roe were chatting innocently, completely oblivious.
Why had neither of them considered the possibility of being targeted first? The answer was simple: when eating a meal, both were the type to eat their favorite food first. Pitohui and M, on the other hand, saved the best for last.
This utterly trivial detail would prove fatal.
"Alright, let's see how the positions shifted..."
Bang, bang-bang!
The moment Yamikaze muttered those words, light gunfire echoed out, and Cod Roe standing next to him was instantly turned into Swiss cheese.
"What—"
Yamikaze couldn't see what was happening from his position, but Cod Roe had a clear view of Pitohui and M.
Pushing Yamikaze aside, Cod Roe stepped in front of him, standing tall like a shield.
"C-Cod Roe...!"
"Yamikaze, run! It's Pitohui and M! They came for us! With your speed, you can escape them! I'll handle the rest!"
"B-but—"
"Just go! We're friends, right?! It's only natural I cover for you!"
"Ugh...!"
With a choked cry, Yamikaze beat a rapid retreat.
"Ghhhhhh! I'm sorry, partner!"
Cod Roe shouted after Yamikaze's retreating back:
"I'm counting on you, partner!"
Turning around, Cod Roe charged recklessly toward Pitohui and M. Until his remaining HP ran out, he fulfilled his role as a decoy brilliantly—even managing to sink a single bullet into Pitohui's shoulder.
"Tch, cocky little roe..."
"Well, since we're the ones getting him off, I'm sure he's secretly thrilled inside."
"So..."
"So?"
Stopping in his tracks, Cod Roe used the last of his strength to scream:
"KEEP THAT STUFF IN REAL LIFE, PLEASE!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
"Gross."
"Guh..."
Whether that emotional blow was the final stroke or not, Cod Roe collapsed into a corpse a second later. With the satellite scan already past, this outcome wouldn't be revealed to the remaining players until the next scan.
"Well, one got away. What should we do?"
"Wait for my healing to finish first?"
"Then I'll keep watch over the perimeter."
"Thanks, M. As a reward, I'll let you have the first turn with Llenn."
"My, how generous. I accept with gratitude."
"I can't wait."
"Yes, indeed."
"Lady Llenn, does this mean Snake is definitely Death Gun?"
"It seems very likely, but... something feels off."
"What is it?"
"Sorry, but could you draw the player map you saw on the ground again?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Musketeer X pulled ammunition from her inventory and laid the bullets out on the ground.
"It looked like this, Lady Llenn."
"...The ones who took down King of Lions Richie were almost certainly Dyne and Ginrou based on location. But who killed Garrett and Steven...?"
"That's true... Could they have taken each other out?"
"Maybe Kirito and Sinon did it, but the positions look unnatural for that. Moving this far out would raise some real questions."
"Agreed..."
Meanwhile, Pale Rider was playing it safe, moving slightly northwest while essentially maintaining his starting position to observe the situation.
"What's Pale Rider going to do? With Garrett and Richie dead, there isn't really anyone left for him to team up with... except maybe Snake?"
"That's dangerous. If Snake is Death Gun, their positions are getting uncomfortably close."
"Snake headed west, right? They might encounter each other soon."
"Should we head that way?"
"Let's do that..."
They decided to head toward Pale Rider for the time being.
Meanwhile, Hachiman was hesitating.
(I've confirmed Llenn's location, but I can't grasp the overall situation. Maybe I should head closer to the center and wait there.)
"Kirito, Steven... is gone."
"Yeah... he wasn't there..."
Receiving the latest scan results, the two were puzzled.
"But there shouldn't have been any other players nearby."
"Yeah, it doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it."
"Could there be a way to hide from the scan?"
"Let's test out a few theories."
After bouncing several ideas off each other, they reached a single conclusion.
"Is it really that?"
"It's the highest probability. The scan only covers the ground surface and above. Anything below that—like inside a river—is out of range."
"What should we do? Should we verify it right now?"
"Fortunately, there are no enemies nearby. Let's move to the river and test it. If Steven reappears on the next scan, it'll confirm there's a way to evade it. And if I dive into the river and don't show up on your scan, that confirms it too."
"Then let's move carefully."
"Yeah. We can't rule out the possibility that Death Gun is nearby."
Prioritizing their experiment, the two set off—and with that, the tournament came to a brief standstill.
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