Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

Sorin was already using the team voice chat when he said that. He had already run out when Kirito asked the question, sticking his head out from behind a large rock with 98K.

"Kirito, keep an eye on that guy at 235. If he tries to get closer to the airdrop crate, just force him back. Don't even think about killing him... you probably can't hit him anyway, so this is pointless."

Sorin observed the supply crate, now free of red smoke, through his scope. He saw three or four people lurking around the crate, all within his firing range, but he didn't make a move. He knew that there were more than just the three of them waiting to reap the benefits, and if they acted now, even if all three were equipped with silencers, their approximate location would be revealed.

As for the consequences of revealing their location... he wasn't sure what the situation was like on Sinon's side, but poor Kirito would definitely be the first to suffer the most, since he was the weakest.

"What do you mean by 'I can't hit him anyway'... He's moved now, should I shoot or not?"

Kirito's voice echoed in his ears, and after hesitating for a moment, he decided that he could sell Kirito out and then test the reactions of the other hidden individuals.

"Fire ten shots, then quickly retreat. Prepare smoke grenades in advance. If someone shoots at you, throw a smoke grenade and retreat towards the vehicle. If possible, report the approximate direction of the enemy."

"Understood." Kirito replied, then poked his head out from the initial cover and aimed at the guy in the grass-green clothes he had just seen. "I'm going to kill him today and show you, Sorin, you can't make fun of people like that."

Sorin nodded earnestly, saying things like, "Okay, okay, my little Kirito is the cutest," before watching Kirito fire three shots that grazed the guy's sides. This wasn't unexpected, but what happened next was a little strange.

Upon noticing he was being shot at, the guy began frantically weaving and dodging. There was nothing wrong with that response itself, however… the man shooting him with the City MDR was Kirito, the strongest swordsman in The Division 3. His godlike marksmanship and surgically precise aim rendered all his maneuvering futile. Before he could even run five meters in his S-shaped dodges, he was hit in the head by three consecutive 5.56mm bullets, instantly depleting his health bar and collapsing to the ground. A kill notification flashed in the upper right corner of everyone's view: [Kirito killed Index with the City MDR assault rifle].

"Wait, is this the legendary 'better to catch than to hit'? This is too unbelievable... This game can be played like this?"

Sorin was completely bewildered, and not only him, but also Sinon behind the tree had a look of utter disbelief on her face.

"I'm now wondering what the point of spending so much time practicing my aim is... This looks like league-level tracking, and you're telling me this is from a complete FPS newbie who knows nothing?"

This was Sinon's question, and Sorin didn't know how to explain it. He could only give a helpless, bitter smile and continue observing his surroundings, hoping to see who had been forced out by Kirito's bold move. However, the situation didn't turn out that way. There wasn't a single person nearby who tried to shoot Kirito. They were probably scared off by Kirito's sudden display of skill, afraid that if they fired, they would reveal their position and be instantly killed by Kirito's accurate headshot.

"This... Sinon, let's just get started. Clear out everyone nearby, then come and gather, and prepare smoke grenades." Sorin sighed and directed through the voice chat, "Kirito, listen to our commands. When I say 'smoke,' just throw smoke grenades near the vehicle and your position, then get in the car and wait for us."

Kirito nodded blankly, he hadn't expected to achieve such a terrifying result. In fact, he was quite aware of his marksmanship, and his earlier statement about taking down that guy was just a subconscious threat.

What happened next was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Only about three or four enemies remained near the airdrop crate. After Sorin and Shino each took one down, they didn't dare linger near the crate and quickly moved away from the troublesome area. Now, only the three of them remained on the vast plain.

"Let's divide the loot after we get to the school. Let's go pick up the airdrop first and hurry up. If I'm not mistaken, we might have to storm the building later."

263. The Crisis That Seemed to Be Resolved

Retrieving the airdrop wasn't too difficult. Sorin sealed the vehicle with smoke, grabbed the contents, and then sped off. Though countless gunshots rang out behind them, it was merely impotent rage. Their vehicle's durability was reduced to half, but that was all the guys, intimidated by Kirito's marksmanship, could manage.

"I think this mechanism is still acceptable. In the old version, getting a 98K from an airdrop felt like eating shit. Now, thankfully, it gives you parts so you can craft your own gun."

Solin parked his car behind a low wall behind the residential building, then got out and placed everything he had just taken from the airdrop crate on the ground. The crate contained enough armor materials to make a full set of level 3 armor, plus high-level parts to craft two guns.

"Make two helmets, one for me and one for Sinon. As for guns, make an AWM for Sinon, and a Groza for Kirito... Kirito, can you control the Groza?"

Sorin lay on the ground, crafting a level 3 helmet with his crafting skill while looking at Kirito with a suspicious gaze.

"I just showed off my skills, and you're still doubting my marksmanship? Do I look that unreliable?"

Kirito muttered to himself, then looked up defiantly, only to find Sinon and Sorin staring at him and nodding with approving expressions.

"Don't pretend. Sometimes you have to face your true self. For example, you're just bad right now, so don't pretend." Sorin retorted mercilessly. "This game doesn't have recoil macros for you. Just use your superhuman strength to control the gun. I believe you can do it. You are the strongest swordsman in SAO."

"Then what are you?" Kirito suddenly asked, somewhat amused.

“I’m a weapons master, you know what I mean.” Sorin shook his head and replied casually, then picked up the AR-15 he had just tricked Kirito out of and walked in front. “Go straight into Building One. When we get there, Sinon and I will stand on the roof, Kirito, keep an eye on us, whoever comes near will die. Keep quiet, we’ll go straight upstairs in a bit. As long as we run fast enough, they won’t be able to keep up with us even inside the building.”

"Okay, okay, you're the boss, you make the decisions. I don't need to go first this time?"

Kirito replied irritably, then saw that Sorin didn't respond but just made a shushing gesture, so he stopped talking and obediently followed behind Sorin.

Building Number One is the name of the tallest building in the residential area. From its rooftop, one can see the rooftops of the other four buildings in the area, as well as the entire school and the surrounding fields—a truly excellent view, making it a strategically important location. If you said there was no one here, Solin certainly wouldn't believe it.

However, after he led Sinon and Kirito all the way to the rooftop, he discovered that the building seemed to be completely empty. All the doors to the rooms were wide open, and there were no useful parts on the floor, indicating that the people who had searched the area might have moved elsewhere.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here. What do we say now?" Kirito looked around twice but still didn't see anyone hiding in a secluded corner like the toilet. "We can't just wait here, can we? This is already the edge of the safe zone. According to what you said before, the next safe zone is unlikely to be here."

Solin had previously explained a basic concept about safe zone refreshes to him: the exact center of each safe zone will always be within the range of the next safe zone, but it's not necessarily the center of the next safe zone. For example, the residential area was actually the exact center of the previous safe zone, but after the safe zone refreshed, they were now on the edge. Although the safe zone hasn't shrunk yet, it's already time to consider retreating to the next location.

"Don't rush. Look on the bright side. It's relatively easy to escape from this position. There are less than twenty people left now, which is within their control."

Solin glanced at the "Remaining Numbers 19" displayed in the upper right corner and calmly replied. Now, excluding their three relatively safe allies and Deathgun himself, only fifteen people were potentially at risk from Deathgun. And fifteen locations… that was more than enough for the Rainbow Squad members to monitor each one. In other words… time was running out for Deathgun.

Despite saying that, Sorin had a bad feeling. He vaguely sensed that things weren't so simple. After all, according to Sinon's description, this wasn't the first BoB, and every BoB finals used a battle royale game mode. Death Gun couldn't possibly be unaware of this. Yet, he still chose to appear before the public at this time and try to create panic in his own way, which made Sorin wonder if they had other tricks up their sleeves.

"That's really something to be thankful for, but it seems like two more people just disappeared without any kill notifications... If Twitch and King Kong TV are still streaming, then Death Gun's goal should have been achieved, right?" Sinon asked with some concern as she observed the situation in the distance.

We have stopped all live streams of BoB. Those who just disconnected were not victims; we simply intervened beforehand, asked them to log off, and protected them. There's no need to worry.

A comment suddenly appeared in Sorin's comment assistant; it must have been a message from the Rainbow Team after hearing Sinon's question. Sorin nodded slightly and then relayed the message to Sinon and Kirito.

"If that's the case... we don't need to kill Dead Gun, his plan will automatically fall apart, that should be how it is."

Kirito tentatively asked a question, and although Sorin did not give a definite answer immediately, judging from the information on paper alone, it was indeed as Kirito said, that their work had become meaningless.

“…Something’s not right, something’s still not right. If this plan were thwarted so easily, they wouldn’t have taken such a big risk to break into my house and try to stop me from continuing my operations.”

He forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart and turned his attention to the distance. But at the same time, a group of uninvited guests suddenly arrived at a suburban villa far from where he was.

264. Did you hit a brick wall?

"If I remember correctly, I should only have one appointment today. If it's convenient, please explain the purpose of your visit. Please make an appointment for your consultation. Thank you for your cooperation."

Rebecca stood behind the door, coldly watching the two uninvited guests shrouded in black cloaks through the peephole. Her right hand gripped a short staff about the length of her forearm, covered in intricate patterns, while her left hand shimmered with a pale purple light. Although she didn't know their origins, she had a feeling they were no ordinary people.

"Hello, we didn't mean to bother you, ma'am. However..."

As one of them spoke, he suddenly pulled a detonator from his sleeve and pressed it down forcefully. Rebecca quickly retreated when she saw him take out the detonator, and in the next instant, the seemingly heavy wooden door was blown open, scattering wood chips all over the entrance hall and raising a large amount of smoke and dust at the doorway.

"Changyi, hurry up, we've already broken into Sinon's login location." One of them said this while taking out a walkie-talkie, then took the AR-15, which had undergone countless modifications, from his back and cautiously advanced. "There's only another girl in their house, she should have been killed by the explosives, and no other threats have been detected yet."

The other man, unarmed, followed closely behind the first, his exposed eyes filled with a mixture of tension and anticipation. He gripped a vacuum injector tightly in his hand, the white handle already damp with sweat.

"Mirror, target eliminated. Prepare to execute the plan." The first person took out a specially made phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and confirmed, "You should be able to achieve your goal soon, but you need to leave as quickly as possible. The cops are moving fast."

The guy called "Mirror" nodded nervously, then suddenly seemed to notice something, his eyes widened, he looked up, and pointed straight at a dark figure at the end of the entryway with his right hand, so frightened that he stammered, "Th-th-th...what is that?"

Just as he pointed to the dark figure at the end of the entryway, a crisp and cold voice rang out from there.

"Oh? Are you really sure...?"

Rebecca turned around, glaring angrily at the two intruders. The faint light attached to her left hand noticeably brightened. She swung her short staff in her right hand, casually creating a series of star-like points of light in the air around her. Then, she used the tip of the staff to connect some of the points of light with light purple lines, forming a pattern resembling the constellation Aquarius.

"And hasn't anyone told you that you should knock on the door when visiting someone's home, instead of using such a violent method as blasting the door open?"

Rebecca's voice was filled with anger as she spoke. She had been living in seclusion here for a long time, but she had never encountered anything like this before—that trouble would come knocking on her door after the conflict between the Unseen and the Order of the Ancients had receded from her life, and that this door would be opened in such a scientific way.

But when she felt angry, little did she know that the other person was also feeling just as disgusted.

"Wait... what's going on with your intelligence? You said the other party was just a psychologist? Why is this happening?"

The man with the AR-15 looked at Rebecca in horror, then decisively aimed at her, his taut right hand muscles locking the trigger. Bright flames shot from the AR-15's muzzle, but the hail of bullets seemed to melt away as they approached the Aquarius symbol, without even a ripple.

"So I can confirm that you are the intruders. You demolished my house and even beat me... Who gave you the courage?"

Rebecca swung her short cane in her right hand once more, then slowly walked towards the two men. The Aquarius symbol remained by her side, shielding her from the ensuing second volley of shots.

"I was going to tell you to keep your voices down, the kid next door is still sleeping. But now it seems I don't need to worry about that anymore... Starstorm! Manifest!"

She swung her short staff once more, scattering patches of light in the air around her. These points of light quickly gathered around her, forming a large nebula... or a true stellar storm.

"Um... what do we do now?" Mirror's steps faltered uncontrollably as he backed away, his voice trembling slightly. He was utterly terrified and had lost all sense of reason; the scene before him was beyond his comprehension.

"As long as she gets out... as long as she gets out, that's all that matters. She shouldn't dare to come out like this, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to stay here for so long without anyone knowing her..."

The other man with the AR-15, though equally panicked, still retained some semblance of reason; unlike "Mirror," he wasn't speechless with fear. Of course, his suggestion was probably not a good one either, because the surrounding surveillance cameras had likely captured the explosion, meaning the police and other personnel coming to handle the situation were probably already on their way and could encounter them at any moment.

But those are things to consider later. At least for now, even being arrested and taken to the police station immediately after leaving would be significantly better than the current situation. When the police arrive, they can even feign ignorance with classic lines like "Terminator 3, Jurassic Park 4, Jaws 5, butts eat people, how scary!"... Although, in various ways, this reflects a part of the truth.

"Don't just stand there, let's go!" With that thought, the man's mind became much clearer. He threw down a cylindrical object, then turned around, closed his eyes, and pounced, running out of the villa's gate area before hurriedly jumping into their car parked on the road below.

What they left on the ground was a crudely made stun grenade. Rebecca wasn't affected by it, but she didn't chase after it outside either. She knew the outside world wasn't hers, and she didn't have the ability to go outside. But this didn't stop her from thinking more deeply about what had happened, since it directly involved her safety and that of Sinon, who was lurking in the next room.

"Someone should know what's going on, let me ask..."

265. The First Encounter with Death Gun

With the farcical incident at the villa, which was less of an intrusion and more of a farce, now settled, we can turn our attention back to the ongoing BoB finals. In fact, the fact that these intruders chose to invade Sinon's current hideout location already indicates that Death Gun is not far from taking him down.

Sorin's luck wasn't exceptionally good. The three of them were in Building 1, which was located on the edge of the safe zone. After the safe zone shrank again and refreshed its location, Sorin found that the next safe zone had become the wilderness area near the river to the north.

The safe zone happened to be located furthest from the three of them, and to move into it, they would have to cross a small plain. Crossing a plain without a vehicle is inherently risky; no one knows if a sneaky sniper with a 98K is hiding behind a tree, waiting to snipe them, especially if they're traveling alone. The risk for Sorin crossing the plain later would only be greater, since there were three of them.

"This is bad. The vehicle is unusable. A vehicle with half health is easily blown up. That means we can only rely on our own two feet now."

Sorin closed the map page and was the first to jump off the edge of Building 1. Residential buildings have a unique characteristic: when you jump from a specific edge, you land on a second-floor balcony, a fall that avoids injury. This was why Sorin had previously said they could evacuate quickly.

"What does 'Route 11' mean?" Sinon asked curiously after hearing Sorin's strange statement once again. "It sounds like the name of a tram or subway, but what does it have to do with the present?"

"It's nothing, it's just that the Arabic numeral eleven has two vertical lines, which corresponds to two legs, in other words, we have to run there." Sorin explained casually, and then told Shino what he had been worried about, "We still don't know where Death Gun is. I have a feeling that their plan won't be cracked so easily. Let's take him out here as soon as possible."

But at that moment, a stray bullet from the shadows struck Sorin in the head. It was clearly the work of a sniper, as the shot cost him 99 points of health, leaving him with only a sliver of health.

"Horror! An assassin! Where did this troublemaker come from?"

Solin habitually uttered a witty remark while rapidly analyzing and determining the enemy's location. Firstly, they were now with their backs to the safe zone, so the enemy couldn't possibly be in the hills behind them; that meant they could only be directly in front. And the sniper position that could see him from within the buildings and accurately hit him in the head… excluding the obviously unreliable possibility of the opponent being a god-like figure who could instantly lock onto him from a kilometer away as he landed, only one possibility remained.

—The enemy was in the most distinctive building in the residential area, the second floor of the red-roofed villa near the school. From that location, you could see directly into the front door of Building 1, and the gunshots just now came from roughly that spot.

"Withdraw! The other side is on the second floor of the Red Building!"

Having figured this out, he shouted a reminder, and with a fluid leap and roll, he opened the door and returned to the first-floor corridor of Building One. Kirito and Sinon, seeing this, quickly followed Sorin back downstairs and closed the door behind them. The second sniper shot grazed the back of Kirito's head and struck the door, giving him a fright.

"What do you say now?" Kirito nervously crouched down next to Sorin, glancing out the window every now and then, only to be pulled back by Sorin.

"Don't go out. The other side has a 98K or an M24. I have a level 3 helmet, so one headshot won't kill me. If you peek out and get hit, you'll be dead on the spot." Solin explained while using a first aid kit to restore his health. "The other side is tough. It took me no more than two seconds from landing to being shot. Considering the bullet velocity, he probably spotted me and started shooting right away."

"That's terrifying. And in my memory, there are no more than ten people in the JP FPS community who can do that." Sinon muttered to herself, then suddenly seemed to realize something and exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, Solin, could this person be..."

“I think it’s possible, and regardless of whether it is him or not, we have to go and take a look. What kind of troublemaker would dare to point a gun at my head?” Solin said, but he was still crouching as he walked towards the back door. “Follow me out the back door, run into the circle first, and if we encounter him on the way, we’ll fight him.”

------

"He still acts like a savior, equipping himself with all the good things, just like back then."

The speaker was the same guy who had provoked Solin several times. He also seemed to have gotten an airdrop crate, and was currently wearing a ghillie suit, holding a jet-black M24 sniper rifle. A wisp of smoke could still be seen from the muzzle; in fact, those two shots were indeed his doing.