Fatal Bullet (Various x Female Reader)

Chapter Thirty-Five (Gatekeeper Part 2)

        After Hikaru and I defeated the Gatekeeper in front of the SBC Flugel, we returned back to Kirito's place with Zeliska and Daisy in tow. When we entered, everyone seemed to be waiting for us.

"Guess who's back!" Hikaru exclaimed upon entering. I smiled softly at him. Asuna sighed in relief.

"Hikaru, you're back! Thank goodness. I was so worried about you..." Leafa nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we really missed you. We were sweating bullets after you went missing." Hikaru frowned upon hearing their words of relief.

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I went and caused you all even more trouble. But guess what?! Master and I went back to the SBC Flugel, and we were able to defeat that gatekeeper all by ourselves! Aaaaand we have a new friend joining us!" Hikaru gestured to Zeliska. She smiled at everyone.

"I... guess I should introduce myself for the handful who don't know me, huh? I'm Zeliska, and this ArFA-sys here is Daisy." Daisy bowed.

"Greetings. It's my sincere pleasure to meet you all." Kureha gasped in shock.

"Are you for real? Zeliska's teaming up with us?! How the heck did that happen?!" She exclaimed. Sinon, along with everyone else, looked to me for answers.

"Yeah, I don't get it myself either. Mind filling us in, (Y/N)?" I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well, Hikaru and I wouldn't have figured out how to beat the Gatekeeper if it wasn't for Zeliska's help." I told them.

"So you managed to get past the opening gate for the ship, huh? Nice work! Now we can finally make our way through the interior." Kirito praised.

"Thanks! It was Master who did all the hard work, though." I nodded to that. Hikaru's stats are more set up to be a support, rather than an offensive attacker. Everyone looked over to Itsuki as he spoke.

"I just can't believe you actually forgot such a crucial condition for entering the ship despite being the so-called "key"... You sure you're an AI?" He asked Hikaru. Yui nodded.

"You could argue that an AI being able to make mistakes and forget anything at all is a sign of just how advanced it really is. What I don't get is why things were set up that way in the first place. I just don't see the point." Yui wondered.

"I almost wonder if it was just kind of... for kicks, you know?" Kirito asked, unsure and Zeliska nodded.

"There are definitely people out there who'll take things too far just for the hell of it, that's for sure. Even in my own company, there's... Eh, nevermind that. All that matters is you guys figured out what the problem was." She stated. Yuuki agreed.

"Yeah. At this point, now we basically know what it takes to get past that initial gate." Sinon folded her arms in thought.

"So, only one player can bring an ArFA-sys with them when they first approach it. That wasn't the case last time, so we-" Klein cut her off.

"Got the bad ending for that quest, basically." He complained. Kirito placed his hand on his chin in thought.

"But we still were able to escape even in that instance, which makes me wonder if there were other ways of avoiding that fight altogether." He wondered aloud. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I, for one, would have liked to have found an alternate way in. Man, I used so much ammo on the boss. I hope I still have enough money for the month after all this." I complained. Everyone began to laugh, both at me and with me. After we got over our laughing fit, Agil spoke up.