Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 05

Summary
A year has passed since «SAO» was cleared. «Kirito »is asked by Kikouka to investigate Gun Gale Online, specifically <>, a weapon which seemed to link deaths in the VR world to those in the real world. Upon entering the game, Kirito meets Sinon who teaches him the ropes around the game. They both enter the Gun Gale Online tournament, Bullet of Bullets (BoB). Kirito displays his amazing skill although he is only a newcomer to the game. As the story continues, Kirito finds out that the mysterious deaths were linked to a red guild named Laughing Coffin in<>.

Prologue
In a bar Zenkushiido is on television explaining the failings of AGI types. Most of the people at the bar are grumbling at Zenkushido's speech and end up complaining about how he was cheap in the Bullet of Bullets. A cloaked man then walks in, then makes the sign of the cross, and opens fire on the TV, most people disregard this action until Zenkushiido disconnects suddenly. The cloaked man then makes a proclaimation "I am Death Gun and this is Death pistol soon I will come to bring true death to you."

Chapter 1
Kirito arrives downtown at a high class sweet shop after being called up by Kikouka to discuss a certain incident. He first implores Kirito to order anything, Kikouka begins to explain the situation behind the game Gun Gale Online. Recently, there had been two murder cases within the VR world that seemed to be linked to the real world. The two players that were murdered both showed heart failure after being shot by <>. Kikouka asks Kirito to investigate this situation further by connecting to GGO and confronting <>.

Chapter 2
The chapter beings with Asuna recalling the events of the past year as she waits for Kirito to celebrate their anniversary since confessing their feelings for each other. Following the meeting, Asuna and Kirito explore the Imperial Palace and the Edo Castle ruins. It is there that Kirito reveals the reason behind choosing the Imperial Palace as the location for their date because it was basically the Imperial Palace stands as the representation of the floating castle Aincrad. After the date, Kirito reveals to Asuna that he is going to temporarily convert his avatar to Gun Gale Online.

Chapter 3
The chapter begins in the middle of an ambush that included Sinon, Ginrou, Dyne, and his squadron. As Sinon describes the Dyne and his squadron, she mentions how they appear to be a PvP (Player versus Player) team but in reality, they are a disgusting group of individuals who target weak opponents in groups in order to ambush them and take their items. As Sinon mention, they are "just a bunch of people without pride." The chapter moves on to describing Sinon's first impressions of GGO and how she wished her character to be as a rough emotionless male prior to discovering that you couldn't pick the opposite gender than your gender in real life. Coming back to the ambush scene, they ambush a group of seven that included a cloaked individual known as "Behemoth" whom Sinon asked Dyne to take out first. Dyne declines Sinon's suggestion, ulitmately leading to a disaster. Chapter 3 also describes the two types of guns in GGO, the live ammunition, and the optical as it mentions the pros and cons of each type. In addition, it includes how Sinon obtained her "Ultima Ratio Hecate II." During the ambush, Ginrou's avatar is killed after not listening to Sinon's suggestion of taking out Behemoth first as Ginrou is quickly disintegrated from high speed shots from the Behemoth's minigun. The scene moves on to Sinon running for cover from Behemoth's minigun as she tries desperately to find a way to defeat Behemoth. The chapter closes as Sinon jumps out of a window sill as she fires a final, powerful round at Behemoth, blowing an enormous hole through Behemoth's face and body, and defeats him.

Chapter 5
The chapter starts from the narrator (implied to be Death Gun because later in the chapter it discusses the plan to kill two more people ) viewing the Gun Gale Online news and reading a conversation between players discussing the deaths of Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako regarding their deaths at the hands of Death Gun. After moving away from the web browser, Death Gun recalls his plan to kill two more people in the Third Bullet of Bullets and how his power and identity are unquesitonable unlike «The Black Swordsman » and that no one would ever find out who he is aside from his other half. The chapter closes with death gun viewing Sinon and her "Ultimate Ratio Hecate II" on his hitlist and thinking of how "her mind and body could become his" as he strokes the photo of Sinon.