CH 83

[Attack! An Assassin from Another World!]

“Gahaaa?!”

“Z-Zansword?!”

Amid the fluttering cherry blossoms shone by the moonlight, a tragedy occurred.

Zansword’s body was split in two as he vomited blood. Both of his arms were then mercilessly cut off and he fell to the ground with a thud!

I hurriedly took out a healing potion and tried to rush over to him, but…

“Oh no, you don’t, young one. I am not letting you heal him♡.”

“Y-you…!”

The mystery woman who had cut Zansword stood in my way.

She dressed like a courtesan and she held a gold smoke pipe (kiseru) in her hand.

However, despite her glamorous looks, Zansword’s blood that splattered on her cheek and the sword she was holding in her other hand made her look horrifying.

“What’s your deal…! Sneak attacking Zansword, that’s dirty!”

“Huh, dirty? This is why you battle maniacs are insufferable. Sneak attacks and assassinations are commonplace in ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’, you know?”

“‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’…?”

No sooner had I muttered “What the hell’s that?” than the woman swiftly thrust her sword at me!

“Hey, I thought we were in the middle of a conversation?!”

I barely managed to dodge by turning my body sideways at the last second, but her attacks didn’t stop there.

“Ahahaha! In ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’, attacks are conversations! Now, die, die, dieeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

The mystery woman relentlessly aimed at my neck, chest, wrists—all my vital points and places where, if cut, would render me unable to fight.

I also tried to counterattack with my swords, but her swordsmanship was way above my league.

As a result, the tip of her sword grazed me many times, and the dress I was wearing soon turned into rags…!

“Fuck, stop it for a second, will you, lady! I’m getting exposed here…!”

“Huh, you still have room to mind about your appearance, I see!”

The mystery woman (introduce yourself already, dammit) glared at me with an annoyed look on her face.

Receiving her glare head-on, I smiled and answered, “I mean, duh. I’ve got a reliable war buddy, after all—!”

Then, in the next moment…

“—I’m sorry, I’m cutting you down!”

“Wha?!”

…Zansword slashed the mystery woman from behind her!

“Z-Zansword-han… since when…!”

The mystery woman collapsed to the ground. Zansword answered her, “I used a healing art called ‘Zen Meditation’. Well, I’m not sure if lying on the ground with only my upper half can be called sitting… but in any case,” pausing for a moment, he narrowed his eyes, “what are you doing here, Kirika? Aren’t you the top player in ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’?”

“…!”

The woman whose name was apparently Kirika didn’t answer Zansword’s question.

However, hatred filled her eyes and she had a terribly resentful look on her face.

“Oi, Zansword… I’ve got no idea of what’s going on between you two, but she’s your acquaintance, I take it? So, what’s this ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’ you’ve been talking about? Can’t say I’m a fan of being left out of the loop.”

“Oh, sorry. ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’ is the name of a game specializing in PVP battles that were released in the early days of VRMMO…”

Zansword gave me a rough summary of the game.

—It was set in the Sengoku period. Apparently, the players were the Dead that escaped from Hell to the World of Darkness, and at the start, they could choose which world of suffering they escaped from—e.g., Asura Realm and Preta Realm. Depending on the choice, they would be given appropriate powers.

Then, by killing other Dead (players), they could elevate their level of existence—or in other words, level up.

“—It is an interesting system. By killing an enemy player, you can devour their level entirely.”

“W-what the hell’s that?! Doesn’t that mean a newbie can become a top player in one go?”

“Yes. That’s why, although there are monsters, no one touches them. They are all about preying on low-rankers or mobbing high-rankers. Just like the ‘Dead’ that they are.”

Uwa… what a brutal game.

If she came from such a game, no wonder Kirika was that way.

“Sounds like a crazy game, but kind of interesting, too…!”

“Yeah, it was interesting, indeed. However—a system where you lose everything upon dying once is too tiring to do in the long run.

“That’s why many people quit it. I, too, eventually sought a new battlefield, and ended up in this BSO.”

Wow~… even online gamers had their own circumstances, huh.

Looking back, Zansword also sneak-attacked me the first time we met, didn’t he? In a cave where it was difficult to keep a distance, too. Other archers would have been felled by him.

“Hey, now that I think about it, you’ve got no right to criticize Kirika. You sneak-attacked me

“If you think about it, you can’t blame Kirika for the sneak attack. You did the same to me.”

“Muh, I had no other choice! My Dead Rate was at an all-time high back then!”

“What the hell’s Dead Rate?”

Somehow, a mysterious term popped out…!

As I tilted my head, wondering what it meant, Kirika, still lying on the ground, roared, “Sought a new battlefield? Don’t give me that rubbish, ya!”. Ya, she said! (Cute)

“Zansword-han, you just ran away! To be flirting with a cute girl in such a warm and friendly game, you have lost your Dead Rate!”

“Again, what the hell’s Dead Rate?”

And I’m not a cute girl, okay? And we never flirt, okay?

“Can’t you shut up for a minute?! –Zansword-han, to get rid of you, the Dead amongst Dead who have abandoned ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’, I accepted this game’s developers’ invitation…!”

“Invitation…?! (And what the hell’s the Dead amongst Dead?!)”

—As I was baffled, Kirika’s body released a blast of dark red aura!

It pushed me and Zansword back. And in the next moment, Kirika gently floated in the air—!

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・World News!

Now at 00:00 AM, the event [Assassins from Other Worlds] is starting!

Yuri and Zansword encountered [Kirika of the Asura Realm]!

The live broadcast of their battle against the assassin player is starting!

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“What?!”

A huge message and window popped up in the sky.

The window was displaying me, Zansword, and Kirika with our swords drawn—!