# E1 - The World of Guns
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/GYX0M03MR/the-world-of-guns)
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
**[00:14] Z**
The idea that agility is the only stat
that matters is only an illusion.
**[00:20] Z**
Sure, agility is an important stat.
**[00:23] Z**
Firing speed and dodging...
**[00:25] Z**
If you were good at those two things,
you were good.
**[00:28] Z**
Until now, anyway.
**[00:30] Z**
But that's all in the past now.
**[00:33] ---**
And to those of you who spent
**[00:35] ---**
the past eight months never
leaving the house, raising that stat...
**[00:38] ---**
Sucks to be you.
**[00:43] MC**
That's what we'd expect to hear
***SIGN*** Zexceed
***SIGN*** Dark Wind
***SIGN*** Presenter
**[00:46] ---**
from the top player of the most hardcore
VRMMO, Gun Gale Online.
**[00:50] MC**
Pretty extreme!
**[00:52] Z**
Well, I may only get one chance in
my life to be on MMO Stream...
**[00:56] MC**
Oh, don't say that.
**[00:58] MC**
Aren't you aiming for the next Bullet of Bullets?
**[01:00] Z**
Of course.
**[01:02] Z**
If I'm going to enter,
**[01:03] Z**
I'll play to win!
**[01:07] Guy**
But you know, Zexceed-san...
**[01:09] Guy**
BoB is a solo tournament, with random encounters.
**[01:12] Guy**
Doing the same doesn't guarantee
you'll get the same result.
**[01:15] Guy**
I'm not sure you should be chalking
your victory up to your status type.
**[01:19] Z**
No, the results were indicative
of a broader trend within GGO.
**[01:24] Z**
You're an agility-based character, Dark Wind-san,
**[01:26] ---**
so I can understand why you'd want to deny it.
**[01:30] Z**
It's true that, until now, the strongest strategy
**[01:33] ---**
has been to raise your AGI, and fire a powerful
physical weapon as fast as possible.
**[01:37] Z**
But the balance of a MMO
changes all the time.
**[01:41] Z**
In particular, games with levels
don't let you re-spec your stats.
**[01:46] Z**
You need to constantly predict the future
when you spend your points,
**[01:48] Z**
because the best style for your level zone
won't always stay the same.
**[01:53] Z**
Minimum strength requirements
and accuracy bonuses
**[01:56] ---**
keep increasing for new equipment introduced...
**[02:01] Guy**
Zexceed always used to talk about how
awesome agility-based characters were.
**[02:06] Guy**
I can't believe I listened to him.
**[02:13] Guy**
Zexceed... False victor...
**[02:17] Guy**
You will now be judged by true power!
**[02:36] Z**
So you see...
**[02:37] ---**
In the end, what's really important
is the player's own ability—
**[02:50] MC**
Oh, my...
**[02:52] MC**
Looks like we lost the connection.
**[02:54] MC**
It should be back in a second,
**[02:56] MC**
so don't touch that dial!
**[03:03] Guy**
This is true power!
**[03:05] Guy**
True strength.
**[03:06] Guy**
Fools... Remember this name, and fear!
**[03:11] Guy**
The name this gun and I share! Death Gun!
***SIGN*** The World of Guns
**[03:30] [Messenger] A**
Be sure to be home
by dinner.
**[03:30] [Messenger] A**
Mom
**[03:30] [Messenger] A**
I'll be home by 6.
**[03:33] A**
December, 2025...
**[03:37] A**
Soon, it'll be a year.
**[03:49] A**
What's the difference between
the real world and the virtual one?
**[03:54] K**
The amount of information. That's all.
**[03:59] A**
You surprised me...
**[04:01] K**
I got here right on time.
**[04:06] A**
I guess I was running on autopilot.
**[04:08] A**
Anyway... Hello, Kirito-kun.
**[04:12] K**
That's dangerous.
**[04:14] K**
Hey, Asuna.
**[04:17] A**
Wh-What?
**[04:18] K**
It's just...
**[04:19] K**
Those clothes look good on you.
**[04:22] K**
They bring back a lot of memories...
**[04:25] A**
Yeah, but I don't have a rapier.
**[04:29] A**
And I see you're wearing a lot of black today.
**[04:32] K**
Well...
**[04:33] K**
Sugu washed all my clothes this morning.
**[04:35] K**
This was all I had.
**[04:37] A**
That's why you shouldn't let
your laundry pile up!
**[04:41] A**
So we both happen to be wearing
our old colors today...
**[04:44] A**
What are the odds of that?
**[04:46] K**
Well, if we meet all the time over a year—
**[04:49] A**
Just say, "Yeah, you're right!"
**[04:51] A**
Come on. Let's go.
**[04:57] K**
Hey, don't you think the palace
is kind of interesting?
**[05:01] A**
Interesting?
**[05:02] A**
How?
**[05:04] K**
It's 2 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide.
**[05:08] K**
It covers 20% of Chiyoda Ward.
**[05:10] K**
No tunnels or subways run under it.
**[05:13] K**
Planes aren't allowed to fly overhead, either.
**[05:14] K**
It's a giant off-limits zone
in the middle of Tokyo.
**[05:21] K**
And it's cut off, not only physically,
but information-wise, as well.
**[05:25] K**
See that security camera?
**[05:28] K**
This place has its own unique closed network,
**[05:32] K**
and you can't access it from outside at all.
**[05:35] A**
That's a strange-looking camera.
**[05:37] K**
Yeah.
**[05:38] ---**
This place is in the middle of Tokyo,
but it's also its own, isolated world.
**[05:43] K**
Maybe that's taking it a bit too far.
**[05:47] A**
Maybe.
**[05:56] K**
This is where Edo Castle's
inner citadel used to be.
**[05:58] A**
Let's go.
***SIGN*** Former Cannon Emplacement
**[06:17] A**
Hey, remember the survey about
what we'll do after graduation?
**[06:21] A**
What are you planning to do with your future?
**[06:25] K**
I think I'm going to go
from a player to a creator.
**[06:29] A**
A creator?
**[06:31] A**
What kind of game will you make?
**[06:32] K**
Not a game... A man-machine interface to replace
**[06:35] ---**
our current full-dive technology.
**[06:37] K**
I've been frequenting a lot
of tech forums, to study.
**[06:40] K**
But they're all in English, so it's pretty rough.
**[06:46] A**
I want to stay with you forever, Kirito-kun.
**[06:50] A**
It'd be great if Yui-chan could
be with us here, too...
**[06:54] K**
That'll be possible,
**[06:56] K**
once we can use an augmented reality
environment whenever we want.
**[07:00] K**
Right now, there's too much difference
in the amount of information.
**[07:03] A**
You were saying that earlier, weren't you?
**[07:06] A**
The real and virtual worlds are
only different in the amount of information...
**[07:10] A**
What does that mean?
**[07:12] K**
Well...
**[07:13] K**
You know how there's a difference
between holding hands like this
**[07:16] ---**
in the real world and in ALO?
**[07:20] A**
You're right.
**[07:22] A**
I can feel a lot more from your real hand.
**[07:25] A**
Oh!
**[07:26] A**
That's what you mean by more information.
**[07:28] K**
Yeah.
**[07:29] K**
But what if, someday, we could replicate
the sensations your skin feels?
**[07:33] K**
Could you tell
**[07:35] ---**
the difference between a real hand and
an avatar's hand just by touch?
**[07:38] A**
I could.
**[07:39] A**
If it were your hand.
**[07:42] A**
It isn't only touch.
**[07:44] ---**
Don't sound and taste convey a lot
more information in reality, too?
**[07:49] A**
So even if the Amuspheres had AR capability...
**[07:54] K**
Yeah.
**[07:54] K**
You'd know whether something was real or not
the minute you saw or touched it.
**[07:59] K**
But if there's a huge technology
breakthrough someday,
**[08:03] K**
and we're able to receive
**[08:04] ---**
a large amount of sensory
information in the real world...
**[08:08] A**
We could cross the boundary between worlds
and be with Yui-chan all the time.
**[08:13] A**
That day is coming, right?
**[08:15] K**
Yeah.
**[08:16] A**
Make something like that for us, okay?
***SIGN*** About 4 hours earlier
**[08:39] Guy**
Welcome.
**[08:42] Ki**
Hey, Kirito-kun!
**[08:44] Ki**
Over here!
**[08:53] Ki**
I'll pay, so order whatever you want.
**[08:57] A**
I'll do that, then. Thank you very much.
**[08:59] Ki**
Oh, don't be so formal...
**[09:02] Ki**
Just talk to me like you would in ALO.
**[09:05] K**
S-Sure... I'll have...
**[09:15] K**
Um...
**[09:16] K**
I'll have the parfait au chocolat,
the framboise mille-feuille,
**[09:20] K**
and a hazelnut latte.
**[09:23] Ki**
Sorry to bring you all the way here, Kirito-kun.
**[09:26] K**
If you're really sorry, don't bring
me all the way to Ginza...
**[09:29] K**
And don't call me that in front of others!
**[09:34] Ki**
You're so cold...
**[09:35] Ki**
After you woke up in the hospital a year ago,
I was the first person to visit you.
**[09:42] K**
*He's right.*
**[09:45] K**
*He was my first visitor after I woke up.*
**[09:47] K**
*The leader of the response team.*
**[09:50] K**
* Kikuoka Seijirou, of the Ministry of Internal*
* Affairs Telecommunications Bureau,*
**[09:53] ---**
* Advanced Communications Networks*
* Promotion Division Section 2,*
**[09:56] K**
*AKA the Virtual Division.*
**[10:03] K**
Well, what else do you need?
**[10:05] K**
I told you pretty much everything
there was to know about SAO...
**[10:09] Ki**
I want to discuss something else today.
**[10:14] Ki**
Look at this.
**[10:17] K**
Who's this?
**[10:18] Ki**
Hmm, last month, on November 14th...
**[10:23] Ki**
The landlord of a Nakano, Tokyo apartment
building smelled something while cleaning.
**[10:28] Ki**
She got worried and opened
the electronic lock on the door,
**[10:33] Ki**
and discovered the body of this man,
Shigemura Tamotsu, age 26.
**[10:37] Ki**
He'd been dead five and a half days.
**[10:38] Ki**
His room was messy but hadn't been ransacked.
The body was on the bed.
**[10:43] Ki**
And on its head...
**[10:45] K**
An Amusphere?
**[10:47] Ki**
Exactly.
**[10:48] Ki**
Given the possibility of foul play,
an autopsy was held.
**[10:52] Ki**
The cause of death was acute heart failure.
**[10:54] K**
Heart failure? His heart stopped?
**[10:58] K**
Why?
**[11:00] Ki**
We don't know.
**[11:03] Guy**
Here you are.
**[11:07] Ki**
Given the time of death,
**[11:10] Ki**
and the low probability of a crime,
a thorough autopsy was not conducted.
**[11:15] Ki**
But he'd been logged in for two full days
without eating anything.
**[11:20] K**
That isn't so unusual.
**[11:24] K**
What's so special about this case?
**[11:25] Ki**
The game he had installed was Gun Gale Online.
**[11:29] Ki**
Do you know it?
**[11:30] K**
Sure... It's the only game in
Japan with pro players.
**[11:35] Ki**
He had won a tournament in
Gun Gale Online, GGO for short,
**[11:39] Ki**
that was held in October,
to determine the strongest player.
**[11:43] Ki**
His character name was Zexceed.
**[11:45] K**
Then he was playing GGO when he died?
**[11:48] Ki**
No, he was appearing on a program called
MMO Stream, as his Zexceed avatar.
**[11:54] Ki**
We know the time from the logs.
**[11:57] Ki**
And this hasn't been confirmed,
**[12:00] Ki**
but another user wrote on their blog
that something strange happened
**[12:04] Ki**
in GGO at the same time as his heart attack.
**[12:07] K**
Strange?
**[12:08] Ki**
At the exact same time this was happening,
**[12:11] Ki**
a player was acting strangely in a bar.
**[12:14] Ki**
He screamed something about "judgment"
at the TV Zexceed was appearing on,
**[12:20] Ki**
and fired his gun.
**[12:22] Ki**
One of the players watching this
**[12:24] ---**
happened to have an audio log running,
and uploaded the file to a video site.
**[12:29] Ki**
The file contains a counter
in Japan Standard Time.
**[12:33] Ki**
The shot was fired at the TV
**[12:35] ---**
at almost the same time Shigemura
disappeared from the program.
**[12:40] K**
That's just a coincidence.
**[12:42] Ki**
There was another one.
**[12:44] K**
What?!
**[12:45] Ki**
This one happened on November 28th.
**[12:48] Ki**
Somewhere in Saitama City, Saitama.
**[12:50] Ki**
Another body found in a room,
in a two-story apartment.
**[12:54] Ki**
A newspaper salesman looked inside
**[12:56] ---**
and saw a man, lying on a futon,
wearing an Amusphere...
**[12:59] Ki**
Another horrible smell.
**[13:03] Ki**
Well, skipping the particulars of the corpse...
**[13:06] Ki**
Another acute heart failure.
**[13:09] Ki**
He was also a highly skilled GGO player.
**[13:12] Ki**
His character name was...
**[13:13] Ki**
Lightly Salted Tarako?
He was playing the game at the time.
**[13:17] Ki**
He was at a meeting with his squadron...
**[13:21] ---**
I guess that's what they call a guild...
**[13:23] ---**
in a Glocken City plaza...
**[13:26] Ki**
When he was shot by another player.
**[13:30] K**
Was it the same guy as Zexceed?
**[13:33] Ki**
Probably.
**[13:34] Ki**
He said the same things about
power and judgment,
**[13:37] ---**
and used the same character name.
**[13:40] K**
What was it?
**[13:42] Ki**
Death Gun.
**[13:44] K**
Death Gun?
**[13:53] K**
You're sure it was heart failure, right?
**[13:56] Ki**
What do you mean?
**[13:58] K**
There wasn't any damage to their brains?
**[14:02] Ki**
I wondered that, as well.
**[14:04] Ki**
I spoke to the coroner who
handled the autopsies,
**[14:07] Ki**
and they said there was nothing
wrong with their brains.
**[14:10] Ki**
And what's more,
**[14:11] Ki**
the NerveGear used microwaves
powerful enough to burn out
**[14:15] ---**
the signaling devices
and destroy part of the brain.
**[14:19] Ki**
But the Amusphere is designed for that kind
of power emission to be impossible.
**[14:23] Ki**
The developers were insistent on that.
**[14:25] K**
You've done a lot of homework, Kikuoka-san...
**[14:28] K**
All this for something that seems like nothing
more than coincidence and rumor?
**[14:32] Ki**
Well, I'm ninety percent sure it's coincidence,
or someone's making it up.
**[14:36] Ki**
So we're speaking hypothetically here.
**[14:39] Ki**
Do you think it's possible
**[14:41] ---**
to stop a player's heart with a bullet fired
from within a video game?
**[15:05] K**
I don't think so, but assuming this Death Gun
**[15:10] ---**
could send some kind of signal to Zexceed's
and Lightly Salted Tarako's Amuspheres...
**[15:16] K**
Some sensation of touch that
would stop their hearts...
**[15:19] K**
Or taste, or smell, or sight, or sound...
**[15:22] K**
Some kind of sensory information...
**[15:27] K**
Hey, wait.
**[15:29] K**
You've already looked into all this, haven't you?
**[15:32] K**
If you smarty pants have thought this through,
**[15:34] K**
there shouldn't be much left for me to do.
**[15:37] Ki**
No, no...
**[15:38] Ki**
I'd never do that to you, Kirito-kun.
**[15:41] Ki**
I enjoy talking to you.
**[15:43] K**
I'm done.
**[15:45] ---**
Here's my conclusion.
**[15:46] ---**
Stopping a player's heart from
within a game is impossible!
**[15:50] ---**
The gunshots and heart failures are unrelated—
**[15:52] Ku**
W-Wait!
**[15:53] Ku**
You can order another slice of cake.
**[15:55] Ku**
Just stay for a while!
**[15:58] Ku**
Well, I'm relieved to hear you say that aloud...
**[16:03] Ku**
I was thinking the same thing.
**[16:06] Ku**
These two deaths
**[16:07] ---**
weren't caused by gunshots
from within the game.
**[16:10] Ku**
So I'd like to ask you...
**[16:13] Ku**
Will you log into Gun Gale Online
**[16:15] ---**
and make contact with this Death Gun?
**[16:19] K**
Why not just say it, Kikuoka-san?
**[16:21] K**
"Go get shot."
**[16:23] Ki**
Well...
**[16:24] K**
No way in hell!
**[16:25] K**
What if something happened to me?!
**[16:28] Ki**
We both just agreed that was impossible!
**[16:31] Ki**
And it looks like Mr. Death Gun has
pretty strict criteria for his targets.
**[16:37] K**
Criteria?
**[16:39] Ki**
Yes.
**[16:41] Ki**
Zexceed and Lightly Salted Tarako
were both renowned top-level players.
**[16:46] Ki**
In other words, he won't shoot you
unless you're good. Probably.
**[16:49] Ki**
Kayaba-sensei recognized you
as the strongest player—
**[16:52] K**
That's impossible...
**[16:53] K**
GGO isn't that easy a game!
**[16:55] K**
It's filled with pros.
**[16:57] Ki**
That's it.
**[16:58] Ki**
What does it mean to be a pro?
**[17:01] K**
Just what it sounds like.
**[17:02] K**
Gun Gale Online is the only virtual MMO
**[17:06] ---**
that lets you exchange
game coins for real money.
**[17:10] K**
Basically, you can take the
money you earn in-game
**[17:13] ---**
and exchange it for real cash.
***SIGN*** Description Amount Deposit 1 GGO 132,000 yen Deposit 1 GGO 65,000 yen Deposit 1 GGO 157,000 yen
**[17:16] K**
The pros are the ones who can earn
money in GGO every single month.
**[17:21] K**
A top player can make anywhere
from 200,000 to 300,000 yen a month.
**[17:26] K**
For that reason, the high-level GGO players
**[17:29] ---**
spend far more time and passion
on their game than other MMO players.
**[17:35] K**
I can't just log in and expect to match them.
**[17:38] K**
Find someone else.
**[17:39] Ki**
Wait, wait...
**[17:41] Ki**
I don't have anyone else!
**[17:43] Ki**
If you don't think you can fight the pros,
**[17:45] Ki**
I'll pay you to cooperate with the investigation.
**[17:48] Ki**
This much.
**[17:51] K**
Why is this such a big deal to you?
**[17:54] K**
It's just another Internet horror story.
**[17:57] Ki**
You see, my bosses are worried about this.
**[18:01] Ki**
The effects of full-dive technology
on the human body
**[18:05] ---**
are the single biggest focus
of research right now.
**[18:08] Ki**
I want to know what's really going on
**[18:11] ---**
before they start trying to use this
to restrict the technology.
**[18:14] Ki**
I want to be sure.
**[18:16] Ki**
How's that for a reason?
**[18:18] K**
Wouldn't it be faster to ask the administrators?
**[18:21] K**
Zaskar, the company that
develops and operates GGO,
**[18:25] K**
has its servers in America.
**[18:27] K**
The real company's address, phone number,
**[18:30] ---**
and e-mail are all confidential.
**[18:32] K**
Since The Seed went public,
**[18:34] ---**
all kinds of shady virtual worlds have popped up.
**[18:39] K**
Which means the only way to get at the truth
**[18:43] ---**
is to make contact with them within the game.
**[18:46] K**
Of course, we'll take every safety precaution.
**[18:49] K**
And I won't tell you to get shot.
**[18:51] K**
Just tell me your impressions,
and give me your judgment.
**[18:54] K**
Will you go?
**[18:59] K**
*Four thousand people died in Aincrad.*
**[19:04] K**
*After a year, I've almost put that behind me.*
**[19:09] K**
* But now, more people are being*
* murdered in virtual reality,*
**[19:13] K**
*and I'm being called back.*
**[19:16] K**
*It's like someone is telling me not to forget.*
***SIGN*** Former Cannon Emplacement
**[19:25] A**
I think I understand
**[19:27] ---**
why you brought me here.
**[19:30] K**
Y-Yeah?
**[19:33] A**
If the world is composed of an axis called
time and a plane called space,
**[19:38] A**
then Tokyo's center—in other words,
our reality—is this place.
**[19:44] A**
The center of the endlessly expanding
virtual worlds, thanks to The Seed,
**[19:49] ---**
is the castle that's gone, right?
**[19:52] A**
That's why this twilight brings
back so many memories.
**[19:57] K**
I see...
**[19:58] K**
You're right.
**[20:00] K**
There's something your words just
now helped me to understand.
**[20:03] A**
Huh? What?
**[20:05] K**
The shape of Aincrad.
**[20:07] K**
It's possible that its shape represented
an axis of time and a plane of space.
**[20:13] A**
But that would mean that the world
the commander tried to create
**[20:17] ---**
was intended to taper off to a point,
and someday disappear.
**[20:22] A**
And a certain person made it explode midway.
**[20:26] A**
Without waiting to see the end.
**[20:28] K**
I'm s-sorry, Miss Second-in-Command...
**[20:37] K**
Asuna, listen...
**[20:42] K**
Nothing, it's getting cold.
**[20:44] K**
Let's get going.
**[20:46] A**
Yeah, let's come back with Liz,
Leafa-chan, and the others.
**[20:50] A**
I'm sure eating lunch on that lawn would be fun!
**[20:52] K**
Yeah, in the spring.
**[21:10] Gu**
I'm in position.
**[21:11] S**
Roger.
**[21:13] S**
The enemy hasn't changed course or speed.
**[21:16] S**
They're 400 meters from you, 1,500 from me.
**[21:19] Gu**
That's pretty far.
**[21:21] Gu**
Can you do it?
**[21:22] S**
I'll be fine.
**[21:23] Gu**
Okay, open fire.
**[21:25] Gu**
I'm counting on you, Sinon.
**[21:27] S**
Roger.
**[21:32] S**
*This pressure, this unease...*
**[21:36] ---**
*This terror...*
**[21:38] S**
*1,500 meters?*
**[21:40] S**
* That's like tossing a wad of paper*
* in a wastebasket.*
**[21:46] S**
*Yes...*
**[21:47] S**
*Yes... Compared to that time...*
**[22:02] S**
Next.
***SIGN*** Next Time: Cold-Hearted Sniper