Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

January 2026

LLENN, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Hey, LLENN, do you know about Squad Jam?

Squid Jam?

Squad Jam Coming Soon

Don't make me picture something weird!

But isn't that just salted fermented squid paste?

Well, that's true.

But that's "squid."

"Squad" is a small number of soldiers assigned to a task.

Then what about "jam"?

There's the kind you spread on bread,

but here it means to squish a lot of things together.

Oh, like when bullets get jammed in a gun. So, squads are jammed together?

Right! Squad Jam is a tournament where teams compete in a battle royale.

Fan Letter

Squad Jam, shortened to "SJ."

A battle royale is where everyone fights each other at the same time, right?

Right.

LLENN, do you know about "Bullet of Bullets"? Everyone calls it "BoB."

I know at least that much.

Thirty of the players who made it through a one-on-one preliminary tournament

kill each other until only one remains to decide GGO's strongest player.

Right?

I actually participated in the last tournament, which was the third one.

Really! How did you do?

I was killed during the preliminary. And it was only the second round.

Oh. That's too bad.

Well, I was taken out by a sniper, so I was just unlucky.

But in the finals, something unusual happened.

Two players worked together as a team until just before the end.

It was a blast to watch! I was on the edge of my seat!

So this Japanese guy who was watching BoB live had an idea.

He said, "I want to see a team battle royale like this!"

Hmm.

So he sent a message to ZASKAR, the company that created and operates GGO.

Dear Everybody, I want to see a team battle royale, so please hold one. Best regards

Don't tell me they granted the request of some random guy?

It's true.

He told ZASKAR that he'd be a sponsor for the tournament.

I wonder how much he spent.

His real-life identity has been revealed. I believe he's a novelist in his 50s

who has such a pathological interest in guns that they're in all of his stories.

There really are all kinds of people.

Well, he's a gun freak and also a novelist. This is what you get when they're combined.

If he's walking around town, he should probably be arrested.

Pito, do you have a grudge against the author?

Not especially.

But his enthusiasm paid off, since Zaskar responded,

"Okay, we'll hold a single sponsor mini-tournament on the Japanese server."

That's SJ, Squad Jam.

They're looking for teams to participate now.

It's being held next Sunday, February first.

I wonder if they'll get a lot of people.

It seems a decent number of teams signed up as soon as it was announced.

I'm sure the powerhouses who made it to the BoB finals will all pass.

I don't think they play well together.

You don't say.

You don't seem interested.

Because I'm not suited for a PvP tournament.

That's coming from someone who's a nasty PKer.

Th-That's...

Let me get to the point.

LLENN, enter SJ.

What?

Me? Form a team with you?

No. It's a huge disappointment, but I can't participate.

On the day of the tournament, I have to go to the wedding of my best friend since middle school.

If she ever found out that I blew it off to play in a game tournament,

even if I won without dying...

Yeah. You'd be killed in real life, huh?

I know, right?

But are you free that day, LLENN?

Do you have a friend's wedding, or your own to go to?

I don't think I have anything.

Then you're in! I'll take care of your registration.

Wait a second! What makes you think that?

Anyway, this is a team battle, right? Who would I team up with?

So you are interested!

I'm just asking!

I know this strong player.

He's a man, and well, he's weird,

and to be blunt, he pretty much has the mind of a criminal, but he's not a bad guy.

Not that he's a nice guy, either.

Team up with him, okay?

What? Just two of us?

Yeah, just you two.

Everyone else I had in mind is busy that day.

Pito...

Do you really think I'd respond with, "Yay! I'll do it!"?

Anything new you do is an experience.

Well, but...

Hey, LLENN.

I get the feeling you're really burdened.

Huh?

In real life, you're depressed about something, aren't you?

So, to put it nicely, you came to GGO to blow off steam.

To put it not so nicely, you came to escape.

Your expression says, "How did you know?" but it was easy to tell.

After all, I'm the same way.

There are too many things in real life I resent or I can't do anything about, so I let loose here.

Here I can blast away to my heart's content, murdering monsters and humans.

Pito...

I'm saying whatever we can't do in reality, let's take them to the extreme here!

Let's go wild, LLENN!

If I don't hear from you by Wednesday morning, I'm taking it as a "yes!"

I didn't agree to that!

Whatever, just do it!

I told you...

Mow 'em down!

Squad Jam? A team battle?

What? That sounds awesome!

But...

I'm kind of scared of fighting people face-to-face.

And even if he knows Pito, I'm not really comfortable teaming up with a stranger.

If I get in his way, I'll just be a nuisance.

What do you think I should do, Miyu? As a VR game veteran, I want your frank opinion.

If you think it could be fun, you should do it!

Well, yeah, but...

Huh? Wait a second.

Pelawsom

Squad Jam is on February 1st?

Yeah.

That's the day of Elsa Kanzaki's concert. We talked about trying to get tickets!

I forgot about that! Sorry.

If we can get tickets, of course we'll go. And you can stay over here.

Okay. But what do we do if we can't get tickets?

To be honest, our chances are 50/50.

When will we know for sure?

Tuesday at 16:00.

Tell me as soon as you find out.

If we get tickets, I'll definitely say no to the tournament!

The rules are basically the same as the individual battle royale, BoB.

Outline

The match begins after the participating teams are teleported to the field.

The team that survives to the end is the winner.

Field

These are sample images

The setting is a special field.

The teleportation is random, so any advantage or disadvantage is luck.

The players can use any weapon at their disposal.

They can use any vehicles in the field, too.

Normally, corpses disappear right away, but in SJ, they linger for ten minutes.

Satellite scan.

So these are terminals given to the participants

that periodically display the opponent's positions for a short time, huh?

January 27th

Please let me get a ticket to see Elsa Kanzaki.

Please let me get it.

- Hey, did you see her? - She really stands out.

Yeah. She's so tall.

Kohi, I'm sorry! I couldn't get us tickets for Elsa Kanzaki's concert!

I see. Yeah, that's too bad.

Thanks for letting me know.

Let's go wild, LLENN!

I'll go wild, all right.

LLENN!

Up here!

I knew I could count on you!

Ow! That hurts, Pito!

So, I asked the person you're going to partner with

to do something for me in real life, so we'll have to wait a bit.

So Pito knows him in real life.

Is he her boyfriend? Lover? Husband?

Even her father or son are possibilities.

By the way, did you read the SJ rules?

Knowing you, I bet you read every word!

Y-Yeah.

Then let's go over the important points for SJ.

Teams of two to six people can take part.

An accidental shooting or friendly fire will cause damage to your teammates.

In BoB, you can't communicate with other players, but team members can here.

Naturally, you can't contact other teams.

In SJ, corpses disappear after ten minutes and are returned to the saloon.

At the beginning of the game, all enemies are at least 1 km apart,