Rewinding the clock just a bit—
"Another victim..."
Watching Garrett's avatar vanish on the Valhalla monitors, Chrysheight frantically racked his brain for a way to intervene. At the same time, anxious about how the room was reacting, he kept a close eye on his companions.
The first to react was Klein.
"H-Hey... did Kirito just say 'Zaza'?"
"Yeah, sounded like it to me," Agil replied, standing up. "Are you serious? Why the hell are their names popping up here of all places?"
Lisbeth and Silica stared back blankly. Neither of them had ever been told the names of Laughing Coffin's top lieutenants. Once the SAO incident ended, Hachiman, Kirito, and Asuna had pulled strings behind the scenes to keep the two girls as far away from that dark chapter as possible. The only names Lisbeth and Silica knew were the leader, PoH, and that wannabe member, Kuradeel.
"Their names?" Silica asked.
Klein and Agil hesitated, unsure how much to say. Asuna stepped in, her voice calm and firm.
"It's fine to tell them, guys."
Guessing that Hachiman's tacit approval lay behind her assertive tone, the two proceeded to explain Laughing Coffin to the rest of the group.
"Lieutenants of a murder guild?!"
"Yeah. That guy was Red-Eyed Zaza. He looked pretty much like that back in SAO, too. There was another one named Johnny Black, but it doesn't look like he's participating in this tournament."
"The mood seemed pretty intense... but what's the connection between those lieutenants and Kirito-kun?"
"Kirito was the one who fought Zaza head-on during the Laughing Coffin raid."
"Really?"
"For the record, Hachiman was the one who took on Johnny Black. Naturally, both of our guys won by a landslide."
"I had no idea..."
The group turned their attention back to the screen. On monitor, Kirito's expression was a complex cocktail of trembling rage and profound sorrow.
(So Kirito-kun fought Red-Eyed Zaza directly... I wasn't aware of that,) Chrysheight thought.
He quietly harbored a grim hope: if Zaza forgot his original objective and became hyper-focused on Kirito, perhaps no further victims would fall. Kirito's real-world body was flawlessly guarded; Chrysheight could guarantee absolute safety no matter what happened. But recalling how quickly Sterben had fled earlier, Chrysheight self-deprecatingly conceded that relying on that scenario was wishful thinking.
(Our only choice left is to bow our heads to Zaskar and demand they disclose everyone's personal data... But if we wait on that, we honestly won't make it in time...)
If it were a domestic corporation, he could pull the necessary levers. Mulling it over, Chrysheight considered laying all the cards on the table right here so the group could brainstorm together.
Just then, the room fell dead silent. Surprised, Chrysheight looked up at the screen.
"Kiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiitoooooooooo..."
Lisbeth's voice echoed through the room, dripping with cold fury.
On screen, Kirito was having a friendly, intimate conversation with Sinon, completely alone with her. Seeing that, Chrysheight instantly understood the heavy silence. Small wonder the others had gone quiet.
Amid the tension, Asuna stood up smoothly.
"It's okay, Liz. The one she likes is Hachiman-kun."
"Huh...?"
"Wait, Asuna, what's that supposed to mean?"
"I was wondering why you were being so quiet despite Laughing Coffin coming up..."
(Ah... is Asuna-san finally going to come clean?) Chrysheight mused.
Right on cue, Asuna gave a cute, sheepish "tehee" gesture.
"Sorry! The truth is, that girl is actually my friend. I've actually been playing GGO alongside Hachiman-kun for quite a while now."
"""""""""E-EEEEEHHHHHHH?!"""""""""
Evidently, almost nobody in Valhalla made a habit of watching gameplay videos from other VR games. Only one person in the room instantly reacted.
"Wait... by any chance, do you mean Shizuka of GGO's Ten Wolves?!" Recon blurted out.
"Ah, so Recon-kun knows about it!"
"Yes! I was curious and watched some of their videos before!" Recon declared proudly.
"Ten Wolves? What's that?"
"Ten Wolves as in the Ten Wolves! A coalition of the absolute strongest warriors gathered under Shana!"
"Why does that sound so familiar..."
"Isn't that basically the same setup as our guild?"
"So, judging by the preliminary streams, this 'Shana' person is actually Hachiman... Wait, so that means..."
The group finally put the pieces together.
"So let me get this straight—Hachiman noticed Laughing Coffin operating in the shadows, quietly started playing GGO to investigate, accidentally unleashed his natural charisma, accidentally popped off, and accidentally built the strongest faction in the game?!"
"Y-Yeah... pretty much..."
"The allied forces led by the Ten Wolves literally wiped out an enemy army twenty times their size in a war just the other day!" Recon chimed in enthusiastically.
"Y-You sure know a lot, Recon-kun..."
"Of course! I watched it all the time! I had a tiny hunch that Shana might be Hachiman-san, but hearing it confirmed is insane!"
"Well, to anyone who knew what to look for, it was pretty obvious..." Asuna muttered.
Immediately after, someone pulled up another monitor, suddenly playing footage of Benkei and Rosalia.
"Huh?"
On screen, Shizuka appeared, uttering a line that felt eerily familiar to everyone present:
"With this, you have died once."
"KYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The moment she heard that line, Asuna shrieked, sprinting in front of the monitor while waving her hands in a desperate frenzy.
"With this, you have died twice."
"N-No! I was just completely blinded by rage back then! I mean, sure, I got a little into character halfway through, but it's really not what it looks like!"
"What does 'what it looks like' even mean?"
"Eh, it's hilarious, just let it play."
"With this, you have died three times."
"Ughhhhhhhh..."
Asuna buried her face in her hands on the spot. But since the video was genuinely thrilling, her companions began cheering her on.
"Attagirl! Number one in Japan!"
"Nah, number one in the world!"
"Asuna, you look so cool!"
"Huh? R-Really?"
"Nothing to be embarrassed about! That was awesome!"
"Y-You think so?"
Swept up by the praise, Asuna couldn't help herself. Matching the next line uttered by Shana on screen, she struck a pose and recited along in unison:
"The next time we meet, I won't show any mercy, Zexceed. Every time I find you, I will blow your head off. And when I'm not around, my comrades will beat you into the dirt. That is my punishment for your crime of insulting my friends. Prepare yourself."
"'Just now, you died three times in an instant. Though those were merely temporary deaths... you had better prepare yourself for the fourth!'"
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