After a year after Sword Art Online(SAO) was
cleared. Players online were in a bar on another VRMMO game, Gun Gale Online(GGO). The players were watching the livestream of «This Week's Winners», which was featuring the winner and runner up of the last Gun Gale Online tournament, called Bullet of Bullets: XeXeeD and Yamikaze.

XeXeeD: The idea that agility is the only one
that matters is only an illusion. Sure, agility is
an important stat. Firing speed and dodging.
If you were good at those two things, you
were good. Until now, anyway. But that's all
in the past now. And to those of you who
spent the past eight months never leaving the
house, raising that stat.... Sucks to be you.

Moderator: just what you'd expect from the top player of the most demanding of today's VRMMOs, Gun Gale Online—your comments are quite extreme!!

XeXeeD: well, this could be the first and only time I'll be invited onto M-ST.

Moderator: oh please!! You've set your sights on the upcoming Bullets of Bullets, too, haven't you?

XeXeeD: damn right I have set my sights on Bullets of Bullets. And as long I'm competing, I'll be gunning to win!!

Yamikaze: but listen, Mr.XeXeeD. BoB is a solo encounter-oriented game. Meaning there's no guarantee that doing something twice will give you the same results.  I'm not very sure why you'd imply that you won based on the attribute type.

XeXeeD: no, no-you could say that this results exposed the overall trend within GGO. You're AGI-oriented, Mr.Yamikaze, so I get that you're in denial...

Yamikaze:...

XeXeeD: yes, until now!! Boosting your AGI -'d pumping live bullets from powerful firearms was the best style. But by their very nature, MMOs go through ever changing shifts in balance. Especially since with level-oriented games, you basically can't switch out your attributes. You have to constantly think ahead snd be smart about using your points. It's not given that the best style in one level zone will be best in the next. The firearms of the future will have higher and higher requirements for STR and Accuracy.

Random Player: huh! Years ago, XeXeeD was the one who wouldn't shut up about the AGI type being the strongest. He scammed us, the bastard....

One of the two hooded figures stands up and walks towards the screen where XeXeeD was shown as he take out a Mauser C96.

????: XeXeeD!! You false victor!! Face the justice of true power now!!

They all laugh at him as he shot a bullet to the screen.

XeXeeD: that's why...In the end, the full power of the player himself will-

Then he was disconnected.

Moderator: oh my!! His connection seems to have been lost. I'm sure he'll be up and running again soon, so don't change the channel, ladies and gentlemen!!

The players see another hooded player joining the first one.

Second Hooded Player: This is true power. This is what true strength is all about!!

First Hooded Player: you ignorant dumbasses, carve our names into your minds and souls-with fear and despair!!

Second Hooded Player: my name, and the name of this gun...is Death Gun!!

First Hooded Player: for me just call me....The Fallen!! Remember don't get so cocky!! I'll be a god!!

——

(One Month Later)
(Time: December 7th, 2025. Sunday)

Sachi: December 2025...

She mutters before she looks forward

Sachi: Soon it'll be a year.

She said before she walked out of the sub-
station underground stairs. Standing in
waiting at the East Garden of the Imperial
Palace, Sachi waits for her boyfriend and
daughter. She then felt a breeze and she looks
up, seeing a leaf flying in the breeze.

Sachi: what is the difference between the real
world and the virtual one? It's difficult to see those two.

???: Mama!!

A voice shouted as Sachi looks at her right in
surprise. But then, she smiled in delight as
she kneels and spreads her arms to catch a
running Yui in her arms.

Sachi: Good morning, Yui.

Yui: Good morning, Mama.

After she said that, Sachi stands up and
smiled down at her daughter.

Yami: well made it here on time.

At the voice, Sachi looks up at the smiling
Yami, was wearing his red coat when he wore it with Rika during SAO at the moutains.

Smiling at her boyfriend, Sachi watches him walk towards her closer before she felt an arm wrap around her waist and she smiled in comfort, seeing as she was in his warm embrace.

Yami: Good morning, Sachi.

Sachi then wraps her arms around him and
hugs him.

Sachi: Good morning, Yami

After the greeting, the two pull back and Yami looks at Sachi dressed in a light blue jacket with her wearing a royal blue sweater under and her sweater is a black tee shirt.

Yami: you look great today Sachi.

Sachi blushes before smiling at him and
looking over his attire.

Sachi: you look very handsome.

Yami: thanks.

She turns her attention to her daughter and
notices that she wore a white dress that reaches all the way to her knees. Memories begin to flash in her mind and she smiled nostalgically.

Sachi: You look adorable in that dress, Yui. Where did you get it?

Yui: I spotted it in a store when I, Papa, Uncle Kazuto and Aunty Rika were going out before. After that, I asked Papa to buy this. It's just like my dress in SAO and it's comfortable to wear.

Yui turns to twirl, making her dress
harmonize by following her movement before
she stops. Yami had another heart attack of cuteness.

Sachi: oh my!! Yami are you okay?

Yami: yeah just too much cuteness. Strange how the colors you're wearing is nearly same as your avatar.

He stated as Sachi pretends to grab her
spear around her back as Yami chuckles.

Sachi: Yeah, but we don't have our weapons.
For me, I don't have my spear. Anyway, why
are you wearing a lot of red, Yami?

Yami: Yeah, well you can say red looks great on me. It matches the white color of my hair and looks great with any color combination. Other than that, this whole outfit brings back memories of when I wore red in SAO when players called me player in red coat. Also reminds me of a certain someone who wore red.

He explained as Sachi smiled and lead Yui to
stand between them and hold their hands.

Sachi: Since we happen to be wearing our
colors today... What are the odds of that?

Yami: Its fate.

He simply stated as Yui nods before looking
up at Sachi.

Yui: Yes. It's fate, Mama.

That causes Sachi to giggle at them.

Sachi: Yeah, maybe it is. Anyway, let's go!

With that, the three of them headed off
towards the East Garden's entrance.

After a while of walking, the three of them
stood in front of the board that showed a map
of the East Garden of the Imperial Palace location. After choosing which place they wanted to go, they headed to the said place.

Yami: This is where Edo Castle's inner circle of
defense used to be.

He said as he looking at the flower field at his
left and a distance away from the field was the
former castle tower of Edo Castle.

Yami: never been to Japan in my life.

Sachi: really?

Yami: yeah I've only gotten these are from looking them up on Google or playing RPG where Japan is the main location for some story about chaos, law or none.  Speaking is the one thing I'm worried about since I can't speak it and finding one is difficult but now I'm good.
(I'm not)

After walking around the place, Yami, Sachi,
and Yui decided to take a rest. Currently, Yui
is run across the flower field with her dress
flowing in the wind as she playing tag with
Yami along with well his summons Jack Frost one of Yami's early demons summons.

Yui: Papa, you can't catch me!

Yami We'll see, Yui.

Jack Frost: Hehoo!! We'll try our best, Yui, Hehoo!!

Yami smiled before he runs towards her
daughter but reduces his pace to not let the
fun go away with her daughter. Just as Yami
went to capture in on Yui with his arms, she
barely escaped by crouching down before
running forward.

Yami: You're getting smarter by that!! But the fun is just started!

As he said before he continued to chase Yui.
Meanwhile, Sachi looks at the two happiness, watching both of them run freely in the flower field.

Yui: Mama, help me!

Yui laughed as she hugs Sachi, much to her
surprise.

Sachu then looks up at the smirking Yami,
who was slowly walking up to her and Yui, who hid behind her.

Yami: There's no way you can escape now, Yui. You're cornered!!

Suddenly, Yami watches as Sachi raised her
hand to block him from Yui. At that moment.
a smile slips past Sachi's lips as she and Yui
run past Yami.

Sachi: If you want to win, you have to catch
both of us, Yami!!

Looking at where her boyfriend and daughter
stood, Yami stood in his spot in silence before
he chuckles. He then turns his head to look at
the two, standing a few distances from him.
He watches as Sachi pulled her tongue out at
him playfully while Yui waved her hand.

Yui: You can't catch us, Papa!

Yami: It's on!!

He then turns around and opens the top
buttons of his jacket, revealing his red collar shirt.

Yami: Don't think you can get away!

After he said that, they immediately gave chase
and the two girls instantly run from them.
Smiles were present on each of their faces as
they're having fun as a family.

(Time Skip)

After playing around, Jack Frost vanished, he asked a person.

Yami: Excuse me, would you mind?

He gives his camera to a foreigner, who takes
it with a smile before preparing to take a
picture. As the foreigner adjusts his aim,
Sachi smiled as she was on Yami's arm as she had her hand up. Yui was being carried by Yami's arm as she holds Sachi's hand while Yami holds his girlfriend's arm.

Foreigner: Say cheese!

The foreigner stated as Yami smiled along with
Sachi and Yui. A couple of shots could be
heard before the foreigner let down the
camera and gave the camera to Yami, who
thanks him in return and grab his camera.

(Not the best description)

After bidding farewell to the foreigner, his
wife, and his twin daughters. Yami and his
family continued to explore the East Garden
of the Imperial Palace.

Yui: that's a large castle!!

Yui exclaimed looking awestruck at the stone
remains of the former castle tower of Edo
Castle.

Yami: Do you want to go over to the top?

He said while pointing his finger at the top of
the castle.

Yui spread her arms out as she felt the breeze
of wind hitting her as she stood at the center
of the castle tower. Suddenly, Yui's eyes widen as she felt herself being lifted before she saw the sight of the flower field she ran in.

She smiled as she gazes upon the flower field
before she looks at the other places that she
could see, much to her happiness of seeing
new places.

Yui: Thank you, Papa!

Yami: No problem, Yui, no problem.

Next to Yami, Sachi gazes upon the sight that
greeted her and she smiled.

Yami: It's great, right, Sachi?

Sachi: It's beautiful.

Yami: I'm glad you like it, thanks.

(Time Skip Location: Former Cannon Placement Former Cannon Emplacement)

It was noon. After spending their family date,
the three of them sat down on a bench at the
corner of one of the pavements in East Garden. Sachi sat on the left side of Yami while Yui sleeping on Sachi's right side between Sachi and Yami

Sachi: Kazuto told me that you're already graduated. What are you going to do now?

Sachi asked as she strokes her daughter's
head.

Yami: Hm... I didn't give much thought to it
since I'm away from my job. I think I'll doing some stuff about work here and there. What about you Sachi?

Sachi: I want to stay with you forever, Yami. Both of us, Asuna. Rika, Keiko, Suguba, Yuna, Kazuto, Raikou, and Yui, we'll be together forever as a big happy family.

Sachi smiled in a whisper.

Yami: We'll be. I can promise that.

He answered as Sachi looks at him in
surprise, not knowing that he can hear her. At
his last words, Sachi smiled.

He said as he brushes his thumb across Yui's
cheek, which caused her to smile.

Yami: Anyway, I heard that you ask a question
to yourself earlier. What's your question
about?

At this, Sachi looks forward and ask the
question that remained unanswered.

Sachi: What's the difference between the real
world and the virtual world?

Yami: The difference? Which should I start?

Sachi: Virtual?

Yami: Well, if it's a virtual world. Then, there
are many possibilities such as fighting
opponents that are stronger in real life. See
the world in many different aspects that are
difficult to find in real life where you have to
crossover the entire world to see that those
kinds of aspects. Something that would be possible in the virtual world Whereas within the real world, it's difficult to even move from place to place without money and would be impossible because it's fiction.

Sachi: That's true.

Yami: Anyway, the amount of information is
different between both worlds. In the real
world, you can feel more when you hold
hands like this.

He holds Sachi's hand.

Yami: it's more than in SAO and ALO.

Sachi: Oh, that's what you mean by
information. Anyway, doesn't sound and taste
convey a lot more information in reality, too?
So even if the Amusphere had AR capability..

Yami: even if technology were to do that it's not truly the same. But I think we shouldn't worry about that now, don't you think, Sachi?

He asked with a smile. At his statement,
Sachi looks confused before she looks down
at Yui and smiled in realization before she
nods.

Sachi: Yes, I think we should just enjoy
ourselves as a family today than worry about
the future and what it could do to further our
technology.

Yami: We have Yui now, right? We can spend
time in both the real and virtual worlds. As a
family, wouldn't you say?

He stated as Sachi rested her head on his
shoulder.

Sachi: Yeah and for that I'm grateful.

She mutters before she and Yami look down at
Yui with a smile. Yami then looks at the yellow
sky with a serious face while in the thought of
what happened 4 hours earlier before he
picked up Yui and met with Sachi while he was with Kazuto for a meeting.

(Flashback - About 4 Hours Earlier)

Currently, Yami and Kazuto stood in the elevator while holding his smartphone in his right hand. He looks at the message that Savhi just sent that said "I'll step out soon, Yami."

He smiles at the message and then the
elevator opens up. Yami turns off his phone
and put it inside his jacket pocket.

They then exited the elevator and was greeted
by a waiter at the receptionist counter.

Waiter: This way.

The waiter gestured at the right side and Yami and Kazuto bows their heads slightly before following the waiter to the entrance of the restaurant.

???: Here, Kitsune! Kirito!!

They both then looked over at the person who
called him and it was none other than
Kikuoka Seijirou from internal Affairs. They
just sighed and walked over and sat down
from across him.

Kikuoka: I'll pay, so order whatever you want.

Kazuto: Thanks..... I guess.

Kikuoka: Oh, don't be so formal.... just talk to
me like you would in ALO.

Yami then looked at the menu and order what
he wanted some same with Kazuto After that, he looked at Kikuoka again.

Kikuoka: Sorry to bring you all the way here,
Kitsune and Kirito..

Yami: If you're really sorry, don't bring us all
the way to Ginza... And don't call us that in
front of others!

Kikuoka: that's pretty cold. Wasn't I your first visitor a year ago when you came to in the hospital?

Kazuto: that I give you credit for that.

Kikuoka was looking up his menu.

Yami: more stuff that you need?

Kikuoka: but it's something else today, actually.

He takes out a table as both Yami and Kazuto looked at it.

Kazuto: who's this?

Kikuoka: uh well...this happened last month, November 14. The landlord of an apartment complex in Nakano Ward, Tokyo was cleaning the place when he noticed an unpleasant smell. Wondering what it could be, he disable the automatic lock, and ventured in,  where he discovered this man Tamotsu Shigemura, 26, dead. He's been dead for five days.

He swipes up the photos.

Kikuoka: although the room was untidy, there were no signs that it had been ransacked, and the body was found lying in the bed. And on his head...

Yami: an AmuSphere, great...

Kikuoka: exactly. It was ruled an unnatural death, so there was an autopsy.

Then he shows them that photo.

Kazuto: oh god.

Yami: The cause of death is determined yo acute heart failure. Someone is using Succinylcholine. They would have to target the victims who are in low security homes. That means...shit...I had to deal with those two assholes...

Kikuoka: Oh? You figure out their plans and the item?

Yami: yes, it was stolen.

Kikuoka: stolen?

Yami: yep. What are the name?

Kikuoka: actually two names?

Yami: two names?

Kikuoka: yes it was two people. Death Gun and...Fallen.

Yami:*mind* Two people? This can't be happening, it was only Death Gun during the original timeline both manga and anime. Fallen....who is that person?

Kikuoka: well I never knew about this from you.

Yami: Kikuoka, these two couldn't have been using that weapon in game. It would be impossible unless you have magic but that's in a world of fiction.

Kazuto: the elite guys in suits have already racked their brains, then there shouldn't be anything left for the two of us to do.

Kikuoka: No, no, no. Of course I'd never do such a thing to you two. After all I enjoy talking with you.

Yami: fine, we'll log in Gun Gale Online and deal with Death Gun and this Fallen. Next time have the adults do the dirty work. Kazuto, we need more information.

Kazuto: fine, okay.

They ordered extra cake as Kikuoka speak.

Kikuoka: Kikuoka: Yes. XeXeeD and Lightly Salted Roe were both renowned top-level players. In other words, he won't shoot you unless you're good. Probably, Kayaba would recognize you, the person who manages to defeat him as the strongest player.

Kazuto:: First of all, I rather you not going
around saying that information in public!
And two, GGO isn't the easiest game to get
into. You should find someone else.

Kikuoka: Wait, wait....I don't have anyone
else! If you don't think you can fight the pros,
I'll pay you to cooperate with the investigation.

Kikuoka then held five fingers.

Kikuoka: This much.

Kazuto then looked at him dumbfounded while Yami was trying to hold his laugh.

Kazuto: Are you an idiot?

Kazuto then sighed at this.

Kazuto: Why is this such a high deal to you? It's just another internet horror story.

Kikuoka: You see, my bosses are worried
about this. The effects of full dive technology
on the human body are the single biggest
focus of research right now. I want to what's
really going on before they start trying to use
this to restrict the technology. I want to be
sure. How's that for a reason?

Kazuto: Wouldn't it be faster to ask the
administrators?

Kikuoka: Zaskar, the company that develops
and operates GGO, has its servers in America.
The real company's address, phone number,
and Email are confidential. Since The Seed
went public, all kinds of shady virtual worlds
have popped up.

Yami: also since I own the Seed then I O W N T H E F U C K I N G G A M E!!

Kikuoka: okay, okay, you own the Seed. Which means the only way to get the truth is to make contact with them within the game. Of course, we'll take every safety precaution. And I won't tell you to get shot. Just tell me your impressions, and give me your judgment. Will you go?

Kazuto: as many as four thousand people lost their lives in Aincrad. After a year, those memories are recording into the past...but once again, murders being committed in a virtual world, and we're being summoned to that same world. As if someone is telling us not to forget...

Kazuto gripped his hands as he remembers his time in SAO. He began to breath harder but Yami calms him down.

Kikuoka: so will you do it?

(Present and Meanwhile in GGO)

In a desert area in Gun Gale Online, a group of players were walking around. In a tall place a blue hair girl was using her sniper scoop.

????: They're in position.

????: roger that. No change in the enemy's course or speed. From you, the distance is 400. From here it's 1,500.

????: they're still far off. Can you still make it?

????: no problem.

????: alright. Commence sniping. I'm counting on you, Sinon.

Sinon: roger that.

She looks on one of the players.

Sinon: Pressure like this....Anxiety like this. Fear like this. Distance, 1,500? That's like tossing a balled-up was of paper into a trash can!! That's right....compared to that day!!

She pushes the trigger of her sniper rifle. The bullet was far as it hits one of the players as she gotten a head shot.

Sinon: Next...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

End of Volume.