"What's GGO? Is that the name of the game?"
"GGO. Its official name is Gun Gale Online," Daru explained. "Just think of it as a game where people kill each other with guns."
"And who's Shana?"
"That's Hachiman's name inside GGO."
"I see."
Hachiman himself offered a quick nod of confirmation.
"Guns? Isn't that a bit… dangerous?"
"Wait, didn't Shino-chi have a massive phobia of guns?" Eiko asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, I remember. Those thugs like Endo used them to threaten her," another added.
"Is that so-nyan? Is Shino-nyan going to be okay?" Faris asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Apparently, she's fine as long as it's inside the game," Hachiman noted. "In fact, she started playing specifically to overcome that trauma."
"I had no idea…"
On the screen, the avatar known as Shana turned toward his comrades and shouted, his voice commanding and sharp.
"Today, we transition to mobile annihilation tactics! Anyone who stands in our way gets cut down. Minamoto Army—move out!"
""""""""""""YEAHH!!!""""""""""""
"Whoa, what's happening? Is this a war?"
"A massive Player-vs-Player war is currently raging within GGO," Daru said, his eyes glued to the monitor. "They're calling it the Genpei War. The leader of the Minamoto Army is Shana—a literal legend in the world of GGO."
"A legend…"
Faris watched Daru's enthusiastic explanation with a playful glint in her eyes.
"Daru-nyan, you're strangely well-informed about all this, aren't you-nyan?"
"Well, of course! VR gaming has been the dream of our generation. I never miss a chance to gather intel."
"That's true-nyan. Still… Hachiman, Shana… how very intriguing," Faris mused.
"Faris-tan, I'll show you some videos of Shana in action later!"
"Thanks-nyan, Daru-nyan."
On the screen, the spectacle unfolded as Shana and his units deployed one by one in heavy-duty Humvees.
"It looks like a scene straight out of a movie," Mii remarked. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wait, look!"
She pointed toward the enemy lines. The Taira Army had lined up their vehicles to form a makeshift fortress—a barricade of steel.
"The Taira aren't idiots," Shana's voice crackled over the comms. "They're trying to compensate for the performance gap of their vehicles with positioning."
"True," Shino's voice replied. "At this rate, wiping them out won't be as easy as before."
"Even our grenades will probably be shot out of the air if they focus their fire," another player added.
Mii leaned closer to the screen. "You said there was a numbers disadvantage, but this is on a different level. There's a sea of enemies inside that fortress."
"Worried, Mii?" Hachiman asked.
"Yeah. Of course I am, Hachiman-kun."
Eiko nodded in agreement. "I wonder what Hachiman-san and Shino-chi are going to do…"
Faris, however, remained unfazed, a serene smile on her face. "If it's our Hero, he'll find a way, just like he did in the old days-nyan."
"The old days? When was that?" Shiina asked, confused.
Faris tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, by this world's calendar, I suppose it would be tens of thousands of years ago-nyan."
"Oh! You mean when the three of us sisters fought for the Kingdom alongside the Princess!" Shiina chirped, catching on instantly.
"Exactly-nyan!"
"Shiina-shi, you're way too good at keeping up with Faris-tan's nonsense…" Daru muttered.
Shiina leaned over and whispered to Daru with a wink. "I'm just ad-libbing, you know."
"Ad-libbing?! Is the Federation's Shiina-shi some kind of monster…?"
"I'm just good at making friends," she whispered back. "And matching their energy."
On the screen, Sinon turned to Shana. "What's the plan?"
"The numbers are against us," Shana replied calmly. "I think we'll take a page out of Kiso Yoshinaka's book."
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