Hold over Myriad of Worlds

Without wasting too much time, I ran to the nearest vantage point from where I would have an outlook on Shinon's and Death Gun's current position. At the same time, I sent my drone to where Shinon was hiding, making it visible at some point so that she could notice it.

I was not worried that Death Gun would 'kill' Shinon; after all, I had seen through his virtual-to-real-world murder strategy long ago. The main issue was how to find his nickname while he hides under his optical camouflage. I remember all the nicknames shown on the last scan, but I couldn't be sure which one, or even if his was among them. At the same time, I had to force his real-world cooperators to make a move.

I was sure that I was his main target, but as a past member of Laughing Coffin, I couldn't rule out that he first planned to deal with other players. What's more, we weren't sure how many accomplices he has, so my idea was to work with Shinon, forcing him to either choose one of us, mainly me, or make his possible hidden accomplice deal with us both at the same time.

With him hunting us, I would be able to lure him into my EMP traps, disabling his camouflage and finishing my task. But that required me to first deal with the situation at hand.

Arriving at the vantage point, I quickly prepared to make a shot, aiming at Death Gun's legs to incapacitate him. As I was doing so, I made my drone fly to Shinon, connecting to her comms through it.

~"Do you hear me?"

-"Eh..? Y...Yue?"-Shinon's surprised and trembling voice sounded through my earpiece.

~"One and only. Listen. I will help you get out of this predicament, but I need your cooperation now and later to deal with that guy."

-"This..."

~"No time to hesitate. How long before your crippled status is cured?"

-"Five minutes."

~"OK, we can't wait that long. See that shop at the corner of the streets?"

-"I see it."

~"I will make a smoke screen and try to disrupt that guy. In the meantime, move to that shop and exit through the back exit into an alleyway. I will join you there."

-"Why..."

~"No time. Be ready, as soon as you hear shots, get moving."~I interrupted her and cut comms to make her unable to speak.

From her tone of voice, I heard that she was heavily shaken, to the point that she tried to give up and just wait for her opponent to finish her off. Not having the time to play psychiatrist on the battlefield, I had to order her around to disrupt her negative mindset and get her to act. Leaving dealing with her for later, I made last corrections before pulling the trigger, announcing the start of my first confrontation with Death Gun.

As the sound of shots rang out, Death Gun proved his sharp senses and rolled to the side, trying to evade. While this wasn't enough to dodge the bullets, he still managed to avoid losing his leg. Correcting my aim, I continued to shoot at him, forcing him to seek cover.

Shot by shot, I was able to shave his hit-points to about half before my 20-bullet magazine was emptied. Standing up, I reloaded my gun and started moving toward the next point from where I could continue shooting, not forgetting to leave a mine and visual decoy for any player trying to fish in muddy waters.

As I was running through a corridor, I heard sounds of bullets hitting walls where I previously was. From the impact, I was able to identify the shooter's weapon to be a sniper rifle, though as the bullets lacked some strength, it must have been suppressed. Thanks to that, I knew that Death Gun was unaware of my movements.

Ten seconds later, I arrived at the second spot and quickly prepared to shoot. This time, I also sent a drone out with a modified smoke grenade. I couldn't directly eliminate him, as this would result in his nickname remaining hidden, and later might lead to complications when trying to prove his identity. So I had to end our fight, disengaging while remaining in a stronger position for future combat.

Ideal situation would be to inflict some lasting status like crippled leg on him, but as this was unlikely, I had to either keep him occupied until next scan or find a way to track him. As there were still around six minutes before the said scan, it was unrealistic to keep him that long; as such, the second plan of action had to be taken.

I occupied Death Gun's attention with my shots, while the drone I sent previously closed on his location. As soon as I ran out of bullets, the big plume of smoke covered the whole floor where Death Gun was hiding. However, rather than normal white or gray smoke used to create a smokescreen, this one had a bluish hue.

This was because of the modification that grenade underwent; the gas particles were full of small nanobots that clung to any surface they came into contact with. Those bots will then act as a reflective surface for scanning devices or radars, allowing me to trace Death Gun even if he remains invincible.

With this done, I left my spot and moved to where I was to meet with Shinon. My exchange with Death Gun took less than a minute, but it would be enough for her to arrive there.

As I entered the small alleyway, I was greeted by a trembling girl trying her best to stifle sobs.

~"Shinon."

-"Ugh."-She looked at me, showing demeanor entirely unfit to her usual big sister appearance.

~"Excuse me."~I said as I picked her up and started to move away toward a building, that I had my last drone scout some time ago.

Despite the awkwardness of our heights, I easily carried her while avoiding any open spots as well as I could. When we arrived in the safe spot, I let her down and moved around, setting some traps and rudimentary defenses. After I was done, I returned to Shinon's side and sat next to her, not exactly knowing what to do in such a situation.

We sat in silence for some time. Shinon's face remained buried in her knees while I monitored the surroundings with my drones and traced Death Gun's location. After our fight, he left the center city, most likely to heal and prepare for his next attempt on our lives.

In such awkward silence, time slowly passed until Shinon finally calmed enough to look up and speak.

-"Thank you."-She spoke softly.

~"Don't mind it."

-"Yue..."-She spoke slowly, considering how to word her sentence.-"Can you tell me: how can you be so strong?"

~"What do you mean by that?"

-"How can you be so calm and composed, always making the most correct decision?"

~"Well, it's hard to give you any meaningful answer other than that it's just how I am, though I can't agree with saying that I'm always correct."

-"Then how can I be like you?"

~"Why would you like to be like me? I believe I'm not a person worth imitating."

-"Well..."-She hesitated for a while, but ultimately decided to share some of her past with me.

~"I see..."

-"Aren't you repulsed?"

~"No. It might sound cruel, but I don't value life like you. Not to mention my hands are covered by more blood than you can imagine."

-"..."-She looked at me, trying to see how I could be so serene despite this burden.

~"Sigh."~I looked her in the eyes and spoke seriously.~"Shinon, I'm most likely the worst person to serve as an example or model in your situation. But, if I were to give you any advice, then it would be to ask yourself: Do you regret the outcome? Would you risk changing what had happened in order not to use that gun in the past?"

-"I..."

~"Don't rush to answer. Just calm down and think."~I pat her on the shoulder.~"Everyone deals with trauma differently, but the first step to recovery is rationalization."

With that, we returned to silence. As it was almost time for the scan, I tried to cover Shinon with my cape, hoping that this and the floors above would be enough to hide her, but as I was doing so, she leaned into my chest and hugged me. Knowing that she was still shaken, I let her be, silently praying to Loki that no mischievous camera catches us in this situation. A short while later, I heard her smooth breathing, signaling that she had fallen asleep.

As I was now unable to move, I fully focused on my drones and what was happening outside. First, after the scan, the amount of still-alive players was confirmed to be three, and adding Death Gun, Shinon, and me, put the total at six. Their locations were just outside the central city. Two of them were in the forest close to each other, and will most likely soon engage in a fight, while the last one was followed by Death Gun as they were traversing the grassy plains.

Assuming that two players will soon be eliminated, this would mean that the BoB was entering its end game. The last player was not important for now, but I could use him to occupy some of Death Gun's attention. After calling my drones to me, carefully as not to wake Shinon up, I set props for our last play.

To my first two drones, I fixed decoy grenades so that I and Shinon would appear on the next scan. The last drone was rigged with EMP charges. Its last mission was suicide dive into Death Gun to disable his camouflage. After they were done, I sent them out for their last scouting mission to pick the best spot for the fight.

I finally settled on a road junction with two high buildings overlooking it. Issue now was how to lure the last player there before the scan. In the end, I decided to risk one of my drones by affixing a black cloth underneath it with some ballast to make it look like a running player and send it to act as bait.

As I was working on my contraptions, Shinon woke up, but she remained still, trying to covertly look at me, closing her eyes every time I glanced at her. This troubled me slightly, as I was already imagining Elysia adopting yet another 'sister' for herself, and by extension, for me. Deciding to ignore it, I continued with my preparations.

~"Shinon."

-"Hmm?"

~"I'll need your help."

-"I'll do what you ask me to."

~"Then my plan is to lure the last player and fight with him a few streets from here. This will most likely also attract Death Gun, but he won't act until only he and two of us remain. I want to prolong my fight as close to the scan as I can."

-"Scan?"

~"Well, I took part in the BoB to unmask that guy, but to be certain that he can be found guilty, I need to prove what his nickname is. Meaning, I need him to be scanned so that it confirms his real character name. I will have one of my drones detonate EMPs to disable his cloaking just before the scan."

-"I see. What am I to do then?"

~"I want you to remain hidden while I will make one of my drones act as you with a decoy as additional lure. Your job is to finish Death Gun sometime after scan."

-"I won't miss."

~"Of course you won't."

-"This... Can we meet after the BoB?"

~"We will. Because of the Death Gun, I ordered my people to be stationed near all participants, and as you were seen with me, I sent one of my closest coworkers to your location. She will keep you safe, and I will join her there after the tournament."

-"What?! You mean in real life?"

~"Yes."~I explained to her modus operandi and methods of Death Gun.

-"You mean someone is in my house?"-She panicked after understanding the situation.

~"Most likely, but they won't stand a chance against the person who guards you, so don't worry. Just don't be surprised by their presence later."

-"Mhmm."-She nodded, but for whatever reason, her face slowly turned red.-"You mean you prepared someone to guard me long before?"

~"Yes?"~I looked at her, feeling that we understood this little differently.

-"..."-Hearing my answer, she lowered her head even further as her ears turned red.

Deciding not to step into this mine for now, I focused on finishing my preparations. A few minutes later, I was ready, and so I stood up and prepared to move.

~"My drone will take you to the spot I found where you will be safe. Remember to shoot only after his nickname is shown."

-"Of course."

With that, we moved into action.

My drone with dummy player underneath was spotted, and as I predicted, the last player followed it, trying to close the distance to fire. I hid behind one of the aisles in the shop next to the place I picked previously, waiting for it to fly this way. Checking the time, it was still three minutes to next scan.

Taking out my P226 pistol, I prepared to engage in close combat with the last player, who appeared to be last year's runner-up Yamikaze, an AGI-type player. With my surroundings filled with EMPs and smoke grenades, it should give me enough of an advantage to control the flow of our fight and keep Death Gun at arm's length.

I placed my M110A1 in the storage to lower my character weight, as it would be useless in this combat. I only kept some of my grenades, five magazines for P226, and my bow, everything hidden under my cloak. With that, I should be able to keep up with Yamikaze's speed, though I still needed to heavily depend on my overwhelmingly superior reaction speed.

Soon I heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and as my drone flew next to me, I pressed the detonator connected to all surrounding grenades. Faster than one could blink, the whole shop filled with smoke along with harsh sounds of all electronic equipment around short-circuiting.

I also moved, jumping from around the corner, and discharging my P226 at my enemy, aiming to injure his arms and legs to lessen the gap in our speeds. As I was immune against EMP, my equipment was still fully functional, giving me almost full combat efficiency in the smoke, while Yamikaze was blind as one could get. To prevent him from leaving, I threw three frag grenades at the entrance, burying them in rubble.

Stage was set, now I had to wait for the last actor. Looking at the time, two minutes and forty seconds left to scan. Showing a slight smile, I started my part of the performance.