Eri pulled a Glock 19 Gen5 out of her pocket, then walked to the floor behind a window that faced the forest.
She opened the window, aiming the gun into the sky while her left hand was busy grabbing a full magazine loaded with tracer rounds.
Then, she inserted the magazine into the feeding system of the pistol, then pulled the slide back, loading the first round into the firing chamber.
As everything was ready, she pulled the trigger, firing the first round.
The sound of gunshot echoed everywhere in the sky.
From a distance, a muzzle flash was sparking the dusk sky, then a red tracer ammunition came out and flew into the air.
As the tracer round flew far enough, it disappeared into the shade of red of the sky.
As she fired about 6 rounds, she immediately switched the firing mode to full automatic, spraying red tracer bullets into the dark forest behind the building.
The slide kept blowing back and forth, ejecting bullet casings as they fell to the floor and echoed inside the room.
As the gun ran out of bullets, she ejected the magazine and threw it out of the window.
“Remember what I taught you?”
She asked Ayame while inserting a new magazine into the feed of the gun.
As the magazine entered, she flicked the firing mode to SAFE and spun the gun in her finger, holding the barrel while giving the handle to Ayame.
“Don't bend your fingers too much when you're firing.”
Ayame only nodded, then received the gun from Eri's hands.
There were only the two of them inside the soundproof room, the setting sunlight illuminated into the room.
Ayame caressed the body of her gun. The handle had tilted square patterns, and it was somehow prickly to touch.
As she took a breath, she quickly aimed the pistol out of the window, as Eri moved aside.
Steady, she released the safety then pulled the trigger.
A muzzle flash sparked in the dark, blinding her eyes for a while, as the slide blew backwards then returned to its original position.
Almost at the same time, a green tracer flew out of the barrel, going into the forest, illuminating the trees for a while before disappearing.
After she saw the first round falling into the trees, she immediately lifted her arms and looked into the iron sight with her right eye, trying not to close her left.
Adjusting for a while, she fired 5 bullets.
The recoil of the gun was really light. It was not so overwhelming that each shot would shift the barrel of the ground into another direction.
The tracers flew in a line behind each other without much spread.
After a few seconds, the lights faded and they disappeared into the sky, leaving only the echoes of them cruising through the air from afar.
Then she switched into full automatic, spraying the rest of the magazine into the forest while trying her best to keep her arms straight.
As all the bullets were gone, the slide remained open and the last casing fell to the floor, bouncing a few times.
“The recoil is lighter than I thought!”
Ayame signed before talking, she was worried that she was underqualified.
“That's one of the guns with the least recoil force. Though recoil isn't a big problem for you, your hands are still not steady while firing.”
Eri commented.
“I suggest you stay in semi-automatic settings unless it's necessary to spray all over the place.”
“I see.”
Ayame deployed the safety and reloaded the gun, then placed the gun inside her skirt.
After several seconds of a silent period between them, Eri walked to the window facing a sports field and leaned against the window frame, inhaling the air and slowly releasing it.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Weirdly enough, this building in the future would have a lot of stories to tell.
The basement was Resistance's base and quarters, the place where they would discuss things and store valuable items.
Above the basement was an active school building with actual students.
Down there, there were a lot of students of PE class running circling the field.
Ayame looked at Eri's hair fluttering with the wind that blew into the room.
“This school is very big…”
She mumbled, not expecting Eri to answer him.
“Yeah.”
Eri briefly answered before pausing, then continued.
“It can house up to 40000 students at once. 8 apartment sized dormitories for boarding students and 4 metro stations.”
“40000 students?! Metro station in a high school?!”
“Well, it's a game. Though we can't enter the station, it's like when you try to enter a part of a map but it has an invisible barrier, and if you happen to noclip into it you'll just crash over the railway and die.”
“So we're in a game?!”
“Well, this is literally a game. You didn't realize it?”
“I didn't pay attention there…”
“We're supposed to experience things we didn't experience when we were still alive. That's about it.”
“Pretty cool, though I haven't ridden a train yet. That means I can't feel it here either.”
“Poor thing I'd comment.”
“Uh…thanks I guess?”
Ayame looked at Eri with an unhappy expression.
Eri glanced at her for a while, before looking into the sky and smiling a little teasingly.
“I don't know how they can program such a game though, it's not even available commercially. In real life I've never seen a high school with a very complete facil—”
Eri explained to her heart's content. Suddenly, Ayame interrupted.
“Hey, aren't we talking too loud up here?”
“Don't worry, we're not talking about serious stuff here.”
“Are you sure we won't get caught?”
“Nah. You look worried as a first-timer. Why, wanna resign?”
“Nah.”
Ayame answered quickly, pointing to the large field with countless people doing sports.
Behind her, Eri was still smirking ironically.
“Who are those guys?”
“Right now people are busy with PE clubs.”
Carina explained, looking at 6 people down there racing each other in a straight line until the finish.
“You guys don't do it?”
“Of course not. Our goal here is not for that. Besides, joining in one wouldn't end well for us anyways.”
“Like?”
“Well, we're racing against time and Marika. Joining it is a waste of time.”
The sun began setting behind the airfield sized sports field.
From a different angle, a few more fields were revealed, placed beside each other, separated by a staircase.
The one nearest to the building they were in were a sprinting track and a long jump pit respectively.
The further ones after the stairs were a basketball court and a volleyball court.
“Are they not humans?”
“Yeah. They're human mobs.”
“Mobs?”
“You've never played games before? They're computer controlled mobile characters. Something like Artificial intelligence but way more intelligent.”
“Not like that—wait I missed a question: What do you mean this game isn't commercially available?”
“You can only access it from a device, and you need to buy the device from a deep web hidden below an ordinary link.”
In the lobby gate, those human mobs interacted with each other while sitting on the stairs.
“I see.”
Some were walking back to the dorm, some were heading to the subway station, some were running to meet friends, and some walked alone with a walkman.
“Will they keep doing the same thing over and over again each hour and return the same answer to you?”
“Go try it for yourself. Since you're new here I doubt you'll notice the difference between us.”
“You mean they actually converse with the flow?”
“Just go and grab a man in the balls. They'll probably say you're crazy or strip you off on the spot.”
“So they're like actual men…!”
When Eri explained to Ayame about that, Ayame's face became disgusted.
“Just kidding, they'll either report you to the student council or hook you up in the dorm.”
“They're well made at least. Is that even normal—No, more importantly, how'd you find it?”
Ayame hesitantly answered her.
“That's a secret I won't tell. I'm quite surprised you're disgusted by the fact most men would do that kind of stuff, despite you're a man in real life too.”
Eri answered her.
“That, uh… well.”
Ayame was speechless as well. Then she came up with another question
“Why did you call those maids a ‘he’ when we first met on the mountain?”
“Well, all the girls in this world are actually men in real life.”
Ayame looked at Eri, her eyes widened, astonishingly surprised.
“Why are girls in this world actually a guy in real life?”
“I personally have no idea since I'm a girl in real life…”
“...I don't believe it…”
Ayame hesitantly answered.
“Your choice.”
Eri answered.
Ayame sighed a few seconds later.
“Quick note though, mobs don't age, just like all of us. Any questions?”
The PE coach blew his whistle as he yelled at a student impatiently. He violently gestured for the student to sprint over again, his frustration evident in his furrowed brows.
Ayame watched that student struggling to run one more lap, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“Um, yeah. Who is Marika? You've mentioned her multiple times but didn't elaborate any further.”
Eri sighed as she looked into the sky, a shadow of past memories crossed her face.
“An old acquaintance. We used to be close before the disappearance incident happened.”
“Thanks, but that's not the answer I'm looking for.”
Eri sighed and crossed her arms, leaning against the balcony rail.
“Then what do you want to know?”
Ayame leaned in, her eyes sharp.
“Is she actually that dangerous? Like, would it take a lot of effort to kill her personally?”
“Well, she's just a player like the rest of us. The soldiers around her are her decoys; they'll only buy us time assassinating her.”
“Then why don't we just rush in groups when the opportunity is right?”
“Easier said than done. Moreover, there's no point in assassinating her because we're looking for the compass.”
“I see…”
Ayame exhaled, her mind was still thinking of other solutions.
As she looked down from the balcony, she noticed three girls in black clothes and brown hair walking towards a vending machine.
Two of them wore sailor uniforms with skirts, while the third was dressed in a classic buttoned black shirt and black jeans.
The girl with the shortest hair had a camera hung around her neck. She stood beside the vending machine as another girl with curly hair and a revealed forehead ordered some drinks.
The tallest one stood a few feet away, arms crossed, waiting for the others.
Ayame's eyes fixed on them.
Meanwhile, Eri pulled a bar of food out of her skirt and quickly ripped the packaging off.
She bit into the solid food, and the crunch got Ayame’s attention.
“Chocolate bar?”
Ayame asked, glancing at Eri's snack.
“Nah. Protein. It replaces food. A bar is enough to fill me up.”
“You get hungry too?”
“Yeah. Gastric acids work here.”
Eri chewed thoughtfully, then she extended another bar towards Ayame.
“Want some?”
“No thanks, I don't need it now.” She pointed at the girls down below. “Who are they?”
Eri's eyes followed Ayame’s finger.
“They are girls from another faction. The shortest one is Japanese, the one with curly hair is Indian. The tallest one standing behind them—I rarely see her around, so I don't know.”
“Are they players or NPCs?”
“The ones in the sailor uniforms are players. They're not our enemies, but not our allies either. We sometimes hang out at each other's headquarters.”
Eri's tone was nonchalant as she finished her protein bar.
“Damn. How many factions are there?”
“Four so far. Two in this school, another two in Marika’s turf.”
Eri brushed some crumbs off her skirt.
“Ah… That could be a problem…”
Ayame muttered, her mind calculating the potential issues.
“Yeah. Marika imports the bot soldiers from them. They produce thousands in a month.”
“The bot soldiers?”
“Remember those guys who fired mortars and stuff, the ones we abandoned behind?”
“Yeah?”
“They are the bot soldiers. They'll obey the commands of whoever activates them first.”
“I don't understand…”
“It's like Minecraft. When you're the first one to create an iron golem, it will be your ally. If you hit a random golem, it will attack you.”
“So if I made one, it would fight yours to my command?”
“Exactly.”
“I see.” Ayame replied, looking up at the sky, then back at Eri. “By the way, speaking about bots. Have you ever met the AI God before?”
“Oh, that pile of CRT that talks? Yeah, everyone has met him once from the day they entered this world. Why?”
By that time, the girls around the vending machine were walking back to the school building.
“Did he ever say something or do something to you?”
“We talked. The rest…I forgot it.”
“What did that AI say to you?”
“It's a long story. Wanna hear it?”
“You don't mind telling me?”
“Everyone in the group has heard it. I have no reason to keep it a secret.”
Eri said with a shrug.