Chapter 87 - Jekyll and Hyde

"This is why I hate sharp brats."

I wished I had been mistaken.

I hoped that I was wrong and that Joe wasn't actually Zodiac.

But as usual, my ominous premonitions were never wrong.

Bang—!

I had been preparing to dodge to the side due to the acrid gunpowder smell that had been vibrating, and as soon as I heard the loud noise, I twisted my body into a falling position.

Thud.

As soon as I fell, I immediately turned my body forward towards the carriage debris.

If I kept hiding behind No Name, No Name would get shot instead of me.

Tap.

But Zodiac... that was, Joe, didn't seem to have any intention of letting me take cover.

Bang—!

Joe, who had escaped from the carriage faster than me, drew quickly and shot at me.

Whoosh—

That speed felt quite fast.

To me with the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait, bullets from ordinary gunslingers felt like dodgeballs, but...

Joe's was somewhere between a baseball and a softball.

Perhaps slightly behind Django, whom I met in San Francisco.

The reason why Joe, who had been living an ordinary life as a coachman in Justice Town, suddenly became such an incredibly skilled gunslinger was simple.

Because Joe had become Zodiac.

NPCs selected as Zodiac suddenly improve their shooting skills and were given the setting of being excellent gunslingers who were actually hiding their skills.

"Amigo, I can't kill Miss Emma because of you. You keep protecting her."

Zodiac was additionally given the setting of actually being a Mexican character.

Joe was originally Hispanic Mexican, so I hadn't suspected him of being Zodiac until now.

Above all...

Because the second victim of Zodiac was Joe's sister, I hadn't been suspicious.

No...?

From the start, I had been complacently thinking that Zodiac wouldn't be among the people I knew.

Click.

I took out my gun from the holster and hid behind the carriage as I had planned.

But successfully taking cover didn't guarantee victory in this duel.

There were many rocks larger than a person's body in the wilderness around Justice Town, and Joe was already hiding behind a rock.

Which rock is he hiding behind?

I hadn't seen which rock Joe hid behind earlier due to the impact of the explosion.

I called out to him both to check where Joe was and to engage in psychological warfare:

"So you also thought Emma was the prettiest woman in town—!"

"Yes, that's right! Honestly, Miss Emma is beautiful, isn't she!"

"You've been saying Emma is pretty since long ago. Do you like Emma? But what can you do? Emma likes me."

"I don't care at all who Miss Emma likes! What I'm curious about is what expression she'll make when she dies."

Joe's words flew savagely through the cold night air.

"That's why I want to kill her! But because of you, Mr. Noah, I never get a chance to kill Miss Emma! So I'm going to kill you and then kill Miss Emma!"

"..."

Joe's tone as he said this sounded quite sincere.

No, it must be sincere.

The voice was the same as Joe's usually cheerful one, but the content was unmistakably that of a crazy killer.

That dissonance somehow irritated me.

But this would soon be over too.

I had roughly pinpointed where he was from Joe's voice just now.

Two candidates left. Joe is behind one of those two rocks.

I watched those rocks warily and shouted again to find Joe's position more certainly:

"Joe, shall we talk about your sister Laura this time?"

"..."

Laura.

Joe's sister.

The second victim of the Zodiac killings in Justice Town.

There was no great significance in my bringing up Laura's story.

I just needed to hear Joe's voice one last time to find his position.

But...

"...Let's not talk about Laura."

When Laura's story came up, Joe's atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

Feeling something strange about this, I continued to provoke Joe, "Why? You killed Laura too. Don't tell me you're feeling guilty now?"

"..."

"You said you're curious about what expression Emma will make when she dies? What expression did your sister Laura make?"

And...

"I said don't talk about Laura, you son of a bitch!!"

The effect was far greater than I had expected.

This was the first time I had heard Joe swear with "son of a bitch."

At that unfamiliarity, I let out a bitter laugh and stood up.

Click.

I had already perfectly pinpointed which rock Joe was hiding behind.

Judging by his voice just now, he was full of excitement...

I planned to shoot and kill Joe as he raised his body to shoot at me.

But...

Whoosh—

Contrary to my expectation that the excited Joe would raise his body to shoot...

"...Damn it."

What greeted me was dynamite about to explode.

There was still dynamite left.

My sense of smell was a bit dulled due to the cold weather.

I never dreamed Joe would have dynamite left.

Whoosh.

The [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait didn't apply to dynamite.

As soon as I saw the dynamite flying, I threw my body to the side to dodge.

But...

Hiss—

Joe had anticipated even that and was throwing dynamite at the position where I had thrown myself.

Ah.

Did I underestimate Joe too much?

Come to think of it, he knew how skilled I was better than anyone in this town except Emma and Bob.

He... had seen how I wiped out the Red Beard Gang too.

He probably judged that he couldn't face me with just guns and prepared.

And that judgment was exactly right.

Whether due to Zodiac's influence, Joe's skill at throwing dynamite was incredible.

I sensed death as I saw the dynamite flying towards me at high speed.

But...

Swish.

Even in that situation, my hand was moving.

No matter how many cheat traits I had, I had faced countless life-threatening situations.

What saved me each time was my instinctive movement as a gunslinger, and...

Bang—!

This time too, it shone.

Snap—!

The bullet that flew without receiving the effect of the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait cut off the fuse of the dynamite that had little left.

Damn, it worked.

This was the first time I had cut a dynamite fuse with a bullet.

It was a rare feat difficult to see anywhere, but there was no time to rejoice at this success.

Whoosh.

As soon as I blocked the dynamite, Joe came out from behind the rock aiming his revolver at me to finish me off for sure.

Swish—

At this, I immediately turned my body and aimed my gun at Joe too.

Two excellent gunslingers.

I had 5 bullets left, Joe should have 6 after reloading.

This was a situation I had seen somewhere before.

Bang bang bang bang bang—!

Originally, Joe was quite good at shooting.

But with Zodiac's traits added to that, Joe did fanning rapid-fire at a speed that ordinary people couldn't even react to... at a level that could be called a master.

I had no time to dodge those while lying down after avoiding the dynamite.

Bang bang bang bang bang—!

I did fanning rapid-fire while lying down and intercepted the bullets in mid-air.

"...!"

Perhaps it was his first time seeing me intercept bullets in mid-air no matter how much he tried... he made a surprised expression.

Whoosh—!

I didn't miss that opening and immediately got up and leaped.

There was a Single Action Army in the holster on the other side, but there was no time to draw and shoot it.

The best move I could make here was to approach in one breath and slash Joe's neck with a knife.

But Joe still had one bullet left now.

Joe's current skill was slightly below Django, whom I met in San Francisco, in my perception.

Then the probability of me not being able to dodge Joe's bullet and dying is about 20%?

Death was not a new beginning.

Death was just the end of everything.

I had tried running a forced happy circuit thinking that if I died in this game, I could wake up again in the original world, but...

Now, I knew.

If I died here, everything just ends.

But right now there was a 20% chance of dying immediately...

Throwing myself into mortal danger was a very chilling thing.

But there was no time to hesitate just because I was nervous.

The more I hesitated, the more I'd lose even the probability I had.

Gunslingers of the Wild West were no different from gamblers always betting their lives.

And I...

Was a genius gambler with a 100% win rate who hadn't lost a single card game in the last 6 months.

"Hey, Joe! Watch my expression right before I die!"

I was smiling.

While smiling, I was persistently following Joe's gun muzzle to see where he would aim at me.

Head? Chest? Or he might unexpectedly aim for the legs.

Anywhere is fine.

Bring it on.

But...

...Hmm?

The bullet didn't fly at the timing I expected.

Is he pulling the trigger half a beat late to make it hard for me to react?

But even after that, no bullet came.

At this, I raised my head and...

"..."

"..."

Looking into Joe's eyes, I felt something was wrong.

Click.

Instead of the knife I had planned, I immediately drew my revolver and pulled the trigger.

Bang bang bang—!

"...Kuhk-!"

Not vital points, but... instead I shot bullets into his arms and legs so Joe couldn't resist, and I immediately got on top of him.

Joe didn't shoot at me in the last moment.

Why was that?

As soon as I saw Joe's face now, I could understand the reason.

"Mr. Noah... please... huu... kill me..."

"..."

Joe's brown eyes were very confused.

Inside them, our friendly neighbor Joe and the serial killer Zodiac determined by the system were fiercely fighting.

"Please... I... uh, huu... hurry..."

This was definitely the Joe I knew.