Arriving in front of the Governor General's office, Akiri stopped the car with a slide.

Girl: We can still make it, come on!

Akiri: Right

Akiri and the girl quickly got out of the car and ran straight towards the building. As they entered the building, Akiri looks at the players that were around.

Akiri: (thoughts) Any one of these guys could be Death Gun... The question is... which one?

Girl: Here

Akiri and the girl then reached the sign in area.

Girl: You can enter the tournament here. It's a normal touch panel terminal. Do you know how to use it?

Akiri: Yeah, I'll be fine

The girl went to the terminal next to him and Akiri walked up to his.

As he went to enter, he was shocked to see that it was asking him for his real-life information.

Akiri: (thoughts) Real info...?

They were asking him to put in his real-life address, name, phone number and e-mail address. He saw that it was so that the game could send players rewards.

Akiri: ...

He then began to type it in.

Akiri: (thoughts) Address; Wakanda. Real name; Jeff

He pressed enter and surprisingly the system accepts the input.

Girl: Are you done?

Akiri: Yeah. Thanks again for the help

Girl: No, it was kind of fun, riding in that car. Anyway, which block are you in?

He looked back towards the panel he signed up at.

Akiri: Block F-37

Girl: I see. I'm in Block F as well. Maybe because we signed up at the same time. I'm in F-12, which means...

She then looks over at her screen.

Girl: That's good. Even if I run into you, it'll be in the finals

Akiri: And why's that good?

Girl: As long as you make it to the final battle of the qualifiers, you can participate in the battle royale main tournament. So it's possible we could both get to the main tournament

Akiri: Oh

Girl: But if I do see you in the finals, even if it's a qualifier... I won't go easy on you

She looked at him in the eyes.

Akiri: Of course. I won't expect anything less. I do have to warn you though...

He smirked.

Akiri: I'll be doing the same

The two then started walking through the lobby.

Girl: We need to get to the tournament-qualifier area. Are you ready?

Akiri: Yeah

The girl then lead Akiri to an elevator and they went down to reach the tournament-qualifier area.

As the elevator door opened, Akiri looked around the area and saw many kinds of players, all geared up and ready, brandishing their firearms, and he narrowed his eyes.

Girl: Is everything okay?

She asked and Akiri nodded.

Akiri: Yeah. Of course

Girl: The changing rooms are over there. Go change and I'll see you in a few

She then walked away and Akiri continued looking at the players, scattered around.

Akiri: (thoughts) Any one of these players could be Death Gun. I better find a way to determine who it is before he could harm any more people...

??? 1: You're that guy who won the untouchable game!

One of the players shouted and that made every player nearby to gather around him and he was quickly surrounded.

??? 2: What's your build type?

??? 3: What hacks are you using?!

??? 4: Could you show us how to do it?

Akiri was overwhelmed as he was kept being bombarded with questions, one after another.

Akiri: Uhh... Umm...

He then thought of an idea.

Akiri: Hey, what's that?!

He pointed towards someplace else and everyone looks to where he is pointing.

While they were distracted, Akiri quickly went through a nearby door and closes it behind him. He lets out a sigh of relief and takes a look around the room he found himself in.

Akiri: That's funny... This kinda looks like a changing...

He then saw the girl from before and to his horror, she was in her underwear, caught in the middle of changing her clothes.

Akiri: ...Room... Uh oh...

Girl: You...

Akiri: Oh come on, this is so cliche...

He muttered as he had already accepted his fate when he saw the girl raising her arm.

Girl: Pervert!

She shouted as she slapped him right in the face.

(Timeskip)

After the whole shenanigan, Akiri has changed into his combat outfit.

With a red handprint still clearly visible on his face, he is currently walking along with the blue-haired girl, who is now wearing a different outfit and has an annoyed look on her face.

Girl: Go away

Akiri: I said I was sorry, okay? Besides, it's not like I-

Girl: Stop following me

Akiri: Come on, I truly didn't mean to, it was an accident! I really need your help on what I'm supposed to do next

Girl: You could stop following me

Akiri: Okay look, I'll do anything to make it up to you

Girl: Okay

Akiri sighed in relief.

Girl: I want you to go away and stop following me

His relieved face quickly changed into an annoyed expression.

Akiri: Oh come on! Anything besides that

The girl stopped and looked at Akiri and she sighed. She then dragged him to a table and sat across from him, looking the other way.

Girl: I'll explain the bare minimum. After that, we're enemies, got it?

She said, still not looking at him.

Akiri: Got it

Girl: Don't get the wrong idea. I haven't forgiven you

Akiri: That's understandable...

Girl: Once that countdown hits zero, all entrants here will be automatically transferred to a battlefield, containing them and their first room opponent

Akiri: Right

Girl: The field is a one-kilometre square region. The terrain, weather, and time are random. You'll start a minimum of five hundred meters apart, and once the match ends, the winner is sent back here. The loser is sent to the first-floor hall. If you lose, there aren't any random equipment drops. In Block F, there are 64 people. So five victories takes you to the finals and gives you the right to enter the main tournament. I won't explain further or answer any questions

Akiri: Okay, I think I've got it. Thanks. And again, I'm sorry about earlier

The girl looked at him and rolled her eyes.

Girl: You better make it to the finals. I've taught you so much, and I want to teach you one last thing

Akiri: And what's that?

Girl: The taste of the bullet that means defeat

Akiri: Is that a challenge? I'll be looking forward to it, then. But what about you?

Girl: If I wash out in the qualifiers, I'm retiring. This time... This time... I'll kill all the strong ones...

When she said that, Akiri narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. She then looked at him and brought down her menu and showed it to him.

Girl: This will be the last time we talk like this, so I'll give you my name. It's the name of the one who will someday defeat you

She said as she showed him her profile. Akiri looked at her menu and saw her name, and also her equipped weapons, some sort of sniper rifle and a pistol.

Akiri: Sinon, huh? Well, the name's Akiri. Nice to meet you

He said, lifting his arm for a handshake, but the girl, now known as Sinon just turned her head away from him and he just sighed and dropped his hand.

???: You're late, Sinon. I was worried you wouldn't make it

They saw a player walking up to them.

Sinon: Hi, Spiegel. I got caught up in something unexpected. But... Didn't you say you weren't going to enter?

The player named Spiegel then sat next to Sinon.

Spiegel: I thought it might be a pain, but I came to cheer you on. You can watch the match on the big screen here. By the way, what did you mean by something unexpected?

Sinon just looked at Akiri with an annoyed look.

Sinon: I was showing "that" person the way here

The player turns his head towards Akiri, giving him a friendly smile. Akiri noticed that the smile seemed fake and insincere.

Spiegel: Oh, nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Sinon's?

Akiri: I think friend is a very strong word to describe me right now... I'm Akiri. Sinon here has been a big help

Sinon: Shut up. I'm not helping you with anything! And I don't want you calling me by that name

Akiri: Come on, don't be so cold

Sinon: Cold? I don't even know you!

Akiri: But we spent the whole day together, didn't we? I even told you my name...

Sinon: T-that's because-

Suddenly, a bright light started to shine and a voice could be heard.

System announcement: We apologize for the wait. The Bullet of Bullets 3 Qualifying Tournament will now begin. After the countdown, all players who have entered the tournament will be automatically transported to the first round field map. Good luck

Everyone around had started cheering, firing their guns in the air. Sinon then stood up and pointed at Akiri.

Sinon: Get to the finals! I'll kick your butt there!

Akiri just smirked at Sinon before getting up from his seat.

Akiri: If you're inviting me, I'll be there. But be sure you make it there as well

He taunted and Sinon looked at him annoyed.

Sinon: Y-you...!

With that, Akiri walked away and he looked back to see that Sinon is still looking at him annoyed and Spiegel was glaring at him for some reason.

Suddenly, he was teleported and he found himself in an empty black space, only standing on a small hexagonal platform and he looked up and saw a screen that said he was up against a player named Uemaru.

Akiri pulled down his menu and equipped his photon sword and his FN Five Seven pistol.

As he was waiting, he then thought back to what Sinon said to him before he left.

(Flashback)

Sinon: If I wash out in the qualifiers, I'm retiring. This time... This time... I'll kill all the strong ones...

(Flashback over)

Akiri: (thoughts) Is it possible...? That she's Death Gun...? Which is the real Sinon...?

He looked back in front of him to see that the timer has almost reached zero.

Akiri: (thoughts) Well, no matter... Once we cross swords... No, guns... I'll find my answer...

The timer then hit zero and Akiri was teleported. He looked around to see that he is at a ruins of an old temple and he started to look around for Uemaru.

Akiri: (thoughts) Now... Where could he be...

While he was still searching for his opponent, he then saw a glint coming from the bushes and then multiple bullet lines started to appear on him.

Akiri: Shit!

Akiri quickly jumped out of the way and Uemaru started to fire at him. Akiri managed to dodge some of the bullets, but a few of them hit him and he took cover behind a stone pillar as Uemaru continued shooting at him.

Akiri: (thoughts) Getting close is going to be a problem...

He thought as he looked down at his photon sword.

Akiri: (thoughts) If I could deflect a few of them, I can get in close and take him out. But I'd have to predict the bullet trajectories...

He then remembered about how the bullet line mechanic works.

Akiri: (thoughts) No, I don't have to. It tells me exactly where they go

After a moment, Uemaru had stopped firing and Akiri peeked around the pillar to find his opponent, but he was nowhere in sight.

Akiri: (thoughts) He's trying to flank me. I need to figure out where he is before he gets into position

He then knelt down and closed his eyes, trying to focus, listening to the environment to spot any noise that sounded out of place. After a short while, he then heard the sound of grass being shifted as if someone was crawling through it and he looked over his right side with a smirk.

Akiri: Found you

Akiri didn't waste any time as he quickly ran out of cover and ran straight for Uemaru, who then got up and looked completely shocked as Akiri activated his photon sword. Uemaru then aimed at him and multiple bullet lines started to hit Akiri.

Akiri looked at all the bullet lines and he started to deflect the bullets that were going to hit his body and started to get closer to Uemaru.

Uemaru: No way!

He exclaimed in disbelief as he went to reload his weapon. Akiri then unholstered his pistol and fired a few shots at him, which causes him to flinch and stop reloading.

He then leapt into the air and landed behind the player and slices him in half before he could even react, ending the match.

Akiri: Whew... That was a good warmup

He said as he twirled his photon sword around and deactivated it before clipping it to his belt.

Akiri: So I need to do this four more times, huh? Let's hope the others would be more of a challenge or I'll get bored to death

He was then teleported back to the waiting room and he looked around and saw the large screen up top with live footage of different fights taking place.

Akiri: Now, where's Sinon?

???: Are you the real thing?

His eyes widened when he heard the voice behind him and he jumped back while instinctively grabbing his photon sword at the same time, getting into a defensive stance.

He saw that it was someone wearing a black cloak and had a metal mask with visible teeth and red glowing eyes.

Akiri: What do you mean, the real thing?

The person didn't say anything as they walked right up to him.

???: I saw your match. You killed your opponent with a sword, didn't you?

Akiri: So what? You want some too?

He said as he points his sword towards him, but the person was unfazed and leaned towards him.

???: I'll ask you again. Are you the real deal?

Akiri: (thoughts) This guy...

The masked man opened his menu and looked at the tournament standings. He then found Akiri's name on the list.

???: With that name... that fighting style, that red sword and red outfit... Are you the real deal, or what?

His eyes widened as he realized what the person meant.

Akiri: (thoughts) He knows about me... That could only mean one thing... He's an SAO survivor... But the question is, who exactly is he...?

He searches through his memories, trying to remember who the person in front of him is, but he couldn't recognize the guy even a bit.

Akiri: (thoughts) Who the hell are you...?

As the person lowered his hand, Akiri's eyes widened in shock as he noticed something familiar on the person's arm, a tattoo of sorts, the mark of the infamous red guild of SAO; Laughing Coffin.

Akiri: (thoughts) Laughing Coffin...

He recalls every crime, every murder that the red guild had committed. But most importantly, he remembers what he himself did.

Akiri: ...

The grip on his photon sword tightens, to the point that his arms are trembling.

???: Do you not understand my question?

Akiri: I don't know what you're talking about...

???: That's fine. But whether you're a fake using his name or the real one... Someday, I'll kill you...

The person threatened as he walked away, disappearing into the shadows.

Akiri: ...Not if I kill you first...

Akiri muttered as he deactivated his photon sword and clipped it to his belt.

Akiri: (thoughts) Looks like the past has finally caught up to me...

He looked back to where the masked man disappeared to.

Akiri: (thoughts) And I can no longer run from it...