March 1st, 2026
A week of hype led to one of the largest VR events in Asia. The entire city of the Old South was closed off for this duel. The forums were filled with bets, predictions, anything you would do before a major fight. Kato grabbed a pair of gloves made with black-iron thread. Attached to his left thigh was a sai made out of SBAP. He didn't run any armor and only had a vest to hold three magazines each for his MK18 and P227. The MMO stream played in the background as he filled the last pistol magazine.
"Here we have a GGO expert, Jaeger!" the announcer stated, "So what do you think of the matchup we're having today?"
Jaeger's avatar sat next to the announcer in the press area. He had a stoic look on his face but his tone sounded more excited than usual. He mentioned how Pito was one of the greatest hunters on the leaderboard. She also held the highest bounty on record of one and a half million credits. Kato on the other hand had received more attention since his comeback and the one-week survival period. His net bounty was now three million dollars, which means he now holds the highest bounty on record.
"I have my faith that Pito is going to put up a good fight," Jaeger said, "In fact, we're going to see one of the greatest fights in all of GGO."
"What makes you think that?" the announcer asked.
"Kato is a great person alone. Put him with a squad, however, and he'll lead them to victory. That is one of the greatest strengths he has. Pito fights with no pulled punches however, whatever blow you see is one with no limiter."
"Who do you think is going to win today?"
"To be frank. It's going to be a toss-up on who wins today and who loses."
Kato turned off the holo-TV and listened to the peace for the moment. He grabbed the P227 and pulled back on the slide. He revealed the brass casing before releasing the slide. Kato repeated the process with the MK 18 before leaving the apartment. He teleported into SBC Glocken with a shemagh covering his lower face and his identity hidden. People were gathered around bars and holo-TVs to watch the pregame. When he reached the bridge to Old South, two players approached him.
"Verify your identity," the player ordered, "We're only allowing the contenders through at this point."
Kato lowered the shemagh to reveal his face. The player looked in shock and stepped to the side. Kato continued his journey to the center of the Old South City. Monster spawning was disabled by Zaskar in this region, who were adamant about making money on this fight. Kato stood in the center of the city and saw the drones circling him. Kato's headset played the audio link
"The first player to arrive is Kato!" the announcer said, "But where's Pito?"
Kato stood still in the center and waited patiently. The voices from the live stream started to fade into nothingness. Then, he heard the crunch of rocks nearby.
"It's a good thing you didn't back off. Otherwise, I would've hunted you down to the ends of the earth," a female voice spoke.
Kato turned his attention to the origin of the voice. Standing there was a tall and slender woman with dark hair. There were red tattoos on her cheeks. Observing her weapons, he noticed the F9 on her side as well as dual-wielding pistols in the snap holsters. Her rifle was unknown and she wore a MOLLE vest instead of normal body armor. Her headgear was reminiscent of a boxer's headgear and the color was black.
"How couldn't I refuse an offer like this?" Kato asked.
Kato stalled for time to get any information out of observing her body. He hovered his hand over the UFG and waited for Pito to make the first move. The most important part for Kato was to disable her weapons. It was a tactic that he successfully used multiple times. One person stood in-between us in full body armor. He raised a bullet and announced the rules.
