Bab 1782: -1762- [ Sterben ]
The girl's crying by the riverside seemed to have lasted for an unknown amount of time.
During this period, the receiver appeared to be available for use once, but Rozen did not take it out to use it. He silently sat there, letting Shinon cried out loud.
During this time, no player came near them, and it was unclear whether it was sheer luck.
However, the sight of Shinon crying in Rozen's arms was likely noticed by the viewers on the other side of the screen.
Rozen could roughly guess how perplexed and confused they must be seeing this.
Especially Asuna, Yui, and even Suguha, who must also be watching the BoB tournament's live broadcast. What would they think of this scene?
Rozen couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed just by thinking about it.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on those thoughts.
It wasn't until the receiver could almost be used again that Shinon finally stopped.
The girl seemed to have released all the emotions she had been holding back, her cries growing softer until they stopped completely. By the time she stopped, the effect of the neurotoxin on her had already worn off.
But it seemed like the girl had lost the will to fight. She hugged her knees and sat under the tree's shade, looking so fragile.
Seeing this, Rozen sighed and stood up.
This movement finally caught Shinon's attention.
"...Are you leaving?" Shinon looked up at Rozen with swollen eyes, her expression full of helplessness and vulnerability, making it hard for anyone to bear.
Unfortunately, Rozen had to leave.
"I've already wasted too much time. It's time to settle the score. I can't let that guy continue to act so recklessly."
Rozen spoke as such.
Shinon immediately understood that the "guy" he referred to was undoubtedly Death Gun.
This made Shinon speak up.
"Are you really going to find that guy?" Shinon whispered, "You said it yourself, that guy is a murderer who can truly kill people. Aren't you afraid?"
This was the question any normal person would ask.
Knowing that the other person could really kill you, why would you want to meet and even fight him?
Even Kirito and the others had such thoughts, let alone Shinon.
But they didn't know that, to Rozen, this was nothing.
Kill someone?
Rozen himself wasn't unfamiliar with killing.
Let alone, in Rozen's eyes, Death Gun was nothing at all.
Compared to the enemies Rozen had faced in the past, this guy was just a side character in a game, nothing more.
If Rozen really took it seriously, there were many ways to make that guy wish he was never born.
Even without considering all that, Rozen had no reason to be afraid.
After all...
"This same danger, almost every player in SAO has faced it."
Rozen simply said this.
Shinon was left speechless.
But it was exactly like that, wasn't it?
In SAO, encountering any player meant they could truly kill you.
Once your HP was depleted, any player would kill you, and your real-world body's brain would also be destroyed.
Compared to that, the threat posed by Death Gun was nothing.
"Besides, if I'm not mistaken, that guy can't kill me."
Rozen suddenly said.
"Can't kill you?"
Shinon was taken aback.
What did that mean?
As Shinon pondered this, Rozen changed the subject.
"The problem is, how do we find him?"
Rozen now seriously considered this question.
"How to find him?" Shinon was confused. "Don't you know Death Gun's character name?"
If they knew the character name, they could use the receiver once it was available to locate him, right?
That's what Shinon thought.
However...
"Even if the receiver is available, we probably won't be able to find Death Gun."
Rozen said this unexpectedly.
"Why?"
Shinon was stunned.
Seeing this reaction, Rozen finally revealed his thoughts.
"I may not know Death Gun's character name, but after eliminating possibilities, I found that two players are highly likely to be Death Gun himself. They are 'Sterben' and 'Pale Rider', the two mysterious contestants."
Before Rozen used the receiver to find Shinon, he hadn't seen the player named Sterben.
So it seemed that the player named Pale Rider was Death Gun.
However...
"When I discovered you, I saw on the receiver's map that Pale Rider was chasing another player near the forest's edge," Rozen glanced at Shinon and said, "From that position to the abandoned city, unless you have a vehicle like an off-road bike, it would take at least ten minutes, even with high AGI. I only took about five minutes to reach the warehouse where you were, and it took about three minutes to rescue you, so the total was only eight minutes. Yet, that guy managed to get from there to the abandoned city and snipe us. Do you think that's possible?"
"This..." Shinon furrowed her brows.
Indeed, thinking about it, it seemed impossible for him to do all that in such a short time.
"Also, after we left the abandoned city, I used the receiver again. I found that Pale Rider was still hunting other players in a different area. From the timing, he couldn't have been sniping us and then quickly found another player and fought them right after," Rozen calmly analyzed.
This clearly pointed to one fact.
That was, Pale Rider wasn't Death Gun.
"The real Death Gun should be Sterben," Rozen said firmly.
Shinon, however, disagreed.
"But you said Sterben could no longer be found on the receiver. Doesn't that mean he was eliminated?"
That was Shinon's assumption.
That was also what Rozen had initially thought.
If Sterben was Death Gun, then none of this made sense.
After all, Rozen had confirmed Sterben was no longer on the receiver before he found Shinon, but when Rozen found Shinon, Death Gun sniped them. If Death Gun was Sterben, then how could that all be explained?
Rozen smiled.
"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Rozen looked at Shinon.
"Wasn't that something Sherlock Holmes said?"
In other words, since it was already confirmed that Pale Rider couldn't be Death Gun, the remaining suspect must be the criminal, no matter how improbable it seemed.
"Even though we can't find him on the receiver, that doesn't mean he's eliminated. None of us have seen him be eliminated, right?" Rozen shrugged. "With that, the possibility that he's still in the game is quite high."
"So... why can't we find him on the receiver?" Shinon asked.
"This question isn't something you should ask me. It's something you should ask the satellite that flies over the isolated island every fifteen minutes," Rozen shrugged. "Don't forget, the receiver shows whatever it scans."
This indicated one thing.
"That Death Gun might have some item that lets him evade the satellite's scan."
Rozen said with certainty.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone