02x11 - What It Means to Be Strong

[bunniefuu]

So...

Death g*n was a member of

this Laughing Coffin that you fought?

Kirito... Just tell me one thing...

Those memories... how did you...

How did you overcome them?

How did you conquer your past?

How can you be so strong now?

I haven't overcome them.

Last night, I kept dreaming about

those three guys who were k*lled by my sword,

and I hardly slept a wink.

Their faces the moment

their avatars vanished...

...their voices... their words...

I'll probably never be able

to forget them again.

N-No way... Then...

What should I do?

I...

But you know what, Sinon?

That's probably how it should be.

I should have embraced, and never stopped

contemplating the significance,

the weight, of having k*lled them

with my own hands.

That would be the least I could do

to make amends... That's how I see it now.

Embrace, and never stop

contemplating it...

Without a second thought, right now

Take aim at this paradox-ridden world

And fire with your own two hands

Thanks to the warmth of your falling tears

I thought that I'd realized what kindness was

So why do we keep hurting each other

And create even more hatred?

If this pain that grates on me

The strength that I've discovered

Will someday gently envelop the future

Without a second thought, right now

Take aim at this paradox-ridden world

And fire with your own two hands

Take this sorrow

Drenched with red tears

And embrace it tenderly

So that these blasts ringing out

Will be transformed into the sounds

of a new beginning

"What It Means To Be Strong"

Death g*n...

So inside that ragged cloak

is an actual, real person, right?

Yeah...

Once I know what his name

was during SAO,

I should be able to figure out

his real name and address in the real world.

That's what I came to this world for.

I see...

So that guy couldn't forget what happened in SAO, and

got the urge to PK again... that's why he came to GGO?

I have a feeling it's not just that.

When he sh*t XeXeeD

and Usushio Tarako,

and also when he took out Pale Rider

during this tournament,

he always went for the biggest audience.

Like that exaggerated sign of the cross...

He was grandstanding

before the general public.

Probably...

Letting everyone know that he had the power

to actually k*ll from inside the game...

But how could he do

something like...?

From what I've heard, XeXeeD and Usushio Tarako's

cause of death wasn't brain damage, but heart failure.

Heart...? You mean...

To be honest, I have no clue

how he m*rder*d them.

I'd like to think that there's just no way to stop a living

player's heart just by f*ring a g*n in a virtual world...

No, but wait...

Come to think of it...

That's kind of weird.

What is?

Back at those ruins,

why did Death g*n go out of his way to switch

to a r*fle instead of f*ring that black handgun?

If he'd been using the handgun,

he could've k*lled me...

True, you have a point.

Could it be that...

It wasn't that he didn't sh**t,

but that he couldn't sh**t?

The black handgun...

Why he couldn't sh**t... r*fle...

Crossing himself...

The invisibility cloak...

Conditions... Rules...

Seriously... I was so relieved to hear you

put that conclusion into words.

It's not possible to k*ll someone

by f*ring a g*n from inside the game, after all.

Just sh**ting in a virtual world

isn't enough to meet all the conditions.

What do you mean?

For example, to sh**t someone dead

from inside a game,

you need to set it up somehow

in the real world...

In the real world? Set it up?

If you're right about that, then how would you

get those players' real-life info?

When there's no way

to tell who anybody is?

No...

Any player can find out

their target's address...

It's the Governor's Office.

All BoB contestants input their real names

and addresses into the terminals there.

There weren't any private rooms--

it was an open space, remember?

Oh, please! Are you saying that

he peeked at the screen from behind?

How could you not notice

someone lurking so close?

What if he used a scope or binoculars?

How reckless would that be?

You'd be crucified for breaking etiquette!

If... I'm just saying...

What if Death g*n's cloak works even in the city?

So he turned invisible

and peeked at the terminal?

But since Death g*n's logged into this game,

there's nothing he can do in the real world, is there?

No.

No... He can!

Death g*n is...

Two people...

There are two of them!

The first person...

Specifically, that avatar in the ragged cloak

sh**t their targets in-game.

At the same time, the second guy breaks

into the target's apartment in the real world,

and kills the player

as he lies there helplessly.

Even if they found out their address in the real world,

how did they get the key to sneak in?

What about the other people

living there?

As far as XeXeed and

Usushio Tarako are concerned,

both lived alone, and they lived

in old apartment buildings.

Most likely, the electronic locks on their doors

were insecure, first-generation models.

Also...

While the targets are diving in GGO,

their physical bodies are totally unconscious.

Even if took some effort to break in,

there's no fear of getting caught.

Th-Then what about cause of death?

You said it was heart failure, right?

How could they stop someone's heart by a method

that not even the police or doctors can figure out?

They must have injected

some kind of drug, I guess...

But they'd detect something like that

if they investigated, right?

The needle marks, or something...

It took a while to discover the bodies, so they were

likely in an advanced state of decomposition.

And besides, hard-core VRMMO players, so into gaming

that they'd skip meals and sleep, dying of heart failure?

It's not unheard of...

No way...

Why would Death g*n go that far?

I know...

But... He must have wanted

to stay a Red Player.

I mean, deep down I still think of myself

as a swordsman, so...

Well, that much I think I can understand.

There are times when

I think of myself as a sn*per.

So it's not just that guy

in the ragged cloak.

The other one, who's doing the k*lling

in the real world, is also...?

Yeah. He might be a former

Laughing Coffin member, too.

But he has to time his crime with his partner's

in the real world pretty precisely,

or they couldn't pull off these murders...

Oh, right. Could be...

When the ragged cloak

made the sign of the cross,

that might have been him masking the fact

that he was checking his watch on his left wrist.

I see...

Sinon... Do you live alone?

Y-Yes... Although I did lock my door...

We have those first-generation

electronic locks, too...

As for the chain...

I might not have chained the door.

I see.

All right, stay calm and listen.

When he was chasing after us

on that robot horse,

Death g*n actually sh*t at you.

Meaning that...

His preparations must be complete.

Preparations? For what?

Right now, at this moment, Death g*n's co-conspirator

has broken into your apartment in the real world,

and he's watching the live stream,

waiting to see you get sh*t by that g*n...

That's a possibility.

No...

No!

I can't take it...

Not something like that!

Stop it, Sinon!

It's too dangerous for you

to auto-disconnect now!

Hang in there...

Try to calm yourself down.

Until you get sh*t with Death g*n's handgun,

the intruder can't do a thing to you.

That's the agreement those two have.

But if you were to auto-logout

and get a look at the intruder's face,

you'd put yourself in danger.

So for now, you have to calm down.

But... But...

I'm scared... I'm so scared!

Chrysheight!

Seriously, you're late!

W-Well, I did make a mad dash here

from my save point.

If ALO had a speed limit,

my license would be suspended for sure!

What's going on?

If I have to explain every detail to you,

it could take a long time.

Not to mention,

I don't even know where to start—

Are you giving us the runaround?

In that case, I'll do it for you!

On November th, a player

calling himself Death g*n

fired his w*apon at a monitor

inside g*n Gale Online.

That same day, in an apartment

in Nakano Ward,

someone had an unnatural death

during a Full Dive.

I have to say I'm astounded.

To gather all that information

and reach that conclusion in such a short time!

Hey, do you want a gig

at the Virtual Division?

N-No, I apologize.

I'm not going to stonewall you

this late in the game.

What the little tot said...

It's true. All of it.

Yo, Mr. Chrysheight! It was you

who gave Kirito that job, right?

In other words, you knew all about that m*rder

and you still made Kirito covert over to that game?

Just a second, Klein, my man.

It wasn't a m*rder.

What's... that?

With the Amusphere, try as you might,

you can't inflict even a hairline scratch.

Not to mention, stopping a heart that's not even

directly linked to the device would be impossible.

Kirito and I had a full-on

real-world debate on this last week,

and that's the conclusion we drew.

That there's no way to physically k*ll someone in real life

by sh**ting him from inside the game.

Well, Mr. Chrys, in that case,

why did you ask my brother to dive into GGO?

You sensed it, too... No...

You're sensing it even now, aren't you?

That this player named Death g*n

has some kind of terrifying secret...

Mr. Chrys?

Death g*n is an SAO survivor, just like us.

Not only that, but he's a former member of what was

known as the most evil Red Guild - Laughing Coffin.

Is that true?

Yes. We can't remember his name,

but Klein and I both took part in the battle

to subjugate Laughing Coffin.

Hey... Hey, Asuna, does Chrysheight

know about SAO?

I mean, in real life I hear he works for the government,

doing something involving networks,

and that he's playing ALO

as part of his research on VMMORGs...

You're right on the money,

but I once had another job. You see...

I was a member of

the SAO Incident Task Force.

Well, not that we were able to come up

with any actual countermeasures.

It was pretty much in name only...

Chrysheight...

You could find out the real-life address and name

of this player calling himself Death g*n, couldn't you?

If we make a list of all

the surviving Laughing Coffin members,

and ask the provider if any are currently connected

to the GGO server from their home...

No, that won't be possible.

If all we know is that he's a former Laughing Coffin member,

we can't determine his real-life address or name.

Then what if we asked the admins?

The company that operates GGO is overseas,

so we won't get an answer right away.

My brother... I just know that he's on that

b*ttlefield right now so he can uncover that name.

When he came home last night,

he had such a scary look on his face.

I bet it hit him during

the preliminary round yesterday.

That someone from Laughing Coffin

was inside GGO.

And that this person might somehow

be k*lling people for real again.

That's why he went

to put an end to all that.

To uncover his old name,

and make him stop PK-ing.

Kirito, you...

You're always, always, doing this...

That moron!

Holding out on us like that!

All he had to do was ask,

and I would've converted, too,

no matter where

we were going!

That's true...

But Kirito would never tell us.

If he felt there was even a hint of danger,

he wouldn't get us involved, no matter what.

That's the kind of person he is.

Yes, you're right.

He's always been like that...

In fact, he's probably protecting someone right now,

who's probably an enemy.

Chrysheight, you know, don't you?

Where Kirito is diving from?

Uh... About that... well...

Uh, yes, I do know.

Actually, I'm the one who arranged it.

Security's tight as a drum,

and the monitoring is rock-solid.

There's someone right by his side,

and I can guarantee you that

Kirito's physical body is in no danger—

Where is he?

That location would be...

In a hospital in Ochanomizu, Chiyoda Ward...

A hospital in Chiyoda Ward?

Wait, do you mean where Kirito

was hospitalized during his rehabilitation?

Yes, that's the one...

I'm going over there now!

To where Kirito is in the real world!

Tell me what we need to do.

We're going to take out Death g*n.

If we do that, his co-conspirator,

who's targeting you in the real world

won't be able to do anything,

and will vanish.

But... Even without the Black Star,

that raggedy cloak is skilled.

You saw him dodge Hécate's b*llet from

a mere hundred meters away, didn't you?

And besides, I can't just stay hidden here.

The other players must have realized by now

that we're hiding inside a desert cave.

Any minute now, someone could

toss a grenade in here.

Is that right?

We've been playing as a team

all this time anyway.

Let's fight together to the end.

But... If you get sh*t with that g*n...

Oh, that! It's nothing but

an old-school, single-action firearm.

Even if he does fire at me, you can easily

deflect the b*ll*ts with your sword, right?

Yeah... No way am I

gonna let him hit you.

But if we're going to make this happen,

I really don't think you should

put yourself in Death g*n's path.

But...

Hey, I'll gladly accept your offer

to fight with me.

But Sinon, you're a sn*per.

Sniping from afar is where

you really shine, isn't it?

Well, sure, but...

Let's do this.

Next time they scan, I'm gonna head out so it

intentionally only picks me up, to lure Death g*n over.

First, he'll probably lay low somewhere far off

and use his r*fle to sh**t at me.

With that sh*t, I'll pinpoint his location,

and then you're gonna sh**t him. What do you say?

You mean you're going

to be a decoy?

All right. Let's do it that way.

But listen, don't you dare die on me

getting hit by that first sh*t!

I-I'll do my best...

But that r*fle of his is silent, and you can't see

the prediction line at first, right?

"Predict the prediction line..."

I wonder whose line that was?

Uh... Well, setting that aside, Sinon...

Oh, damn... That was careless of us.

Um, what was that again?

It's a camera for live-streaming.

Normally they only follow players in battle,

but they must be coming around here

now that there aren't many of us left.

Huh? Oh, crap.

Then our conversation's been...

Don't worry. We'd have to shout at the top

of our lungs for the audio to get picked up.

You might as well wave at it.

Or is there someone you don't

want to see this footage?

No... uh...

You're the one who

should be worried, right?

Anyway, don't you think there's a good chance

that people watching this will think we're both girls?

Wh-Whatever, I don't mind. Those...

If people who go for that kind of thing

start gossiping about us,

then at least people

will stop hitting on me.

So I'm gonna have to go on

pretending to be a girl?

Don't tell me you've forgotten.

You were faking it from the start,

making me show you around town...

Hey, it's gone.

It's almost time.

We have two minutes

before the next satellite scan.

I'm going to stay here,

and you're going outside alone

to check your terminal, right?

Hey... Come to think of it...

Hey, come on.

There's no time to change

our strategy now.

No... We're staying the course.

That's not what I'm saying.

So Death g*n's real name, I mean his official

character name turned out to be "Sterben," huh?

Oh, that's right. I guess that's him.

I wonder why he named himself that?

If we get into close combat,

I'll be sure to ask him myself.

All right, I'm going to head out now.

Be careful, okay?

I wished so hard to become stronger than ever

Overcoming my grief

I've turned my back so many times

On the past that will never change

While hiding the scars

I can never show anyone

I will embrace all this pain

that has started flooding through me

I don't need warmth at all

If it will vanish one day

I wished so hard to become stronger than ever

Like a lonely star racing across the darkness

Sunk so deep inside my heart,

I'm so weak and fragile

I can't put it into words, or even speak out

I'm just waiting for the light

Trying not to be found by anyone

Next time: "Phantom b*llet."