October 4th 2022 2 pm

After the incident at the boss meeting, Kirito and the others were a subject of interest. It had gained them a lot of good and bad publicity. It made those who disliked beta testers hate even more and made neutral and positive people like them more. It was the day before the boss fight. Chie had not really spoken with the newest member of their party but was jealous when he heard that Kirito had told her where to get his special sauce, something he had not even told Chie and the others.

They had been grinding their levels for the past few days. Chie was the highest at level 5, Kirito and Leafa at 4 and Kina at 3. They were considered the strongest group, though because of their conflicts, they were given a minor role in the boss fight.

October 5th 2022 1 pm

"So, now that we are all gathered, I have one thing to say to you all." Diavel begun, "Let's win!"

Kirito had set out his group's positions yesterday evening. Chie and Asuna (the new girl) were to be the DPS. Kina and Leafa, the tanks. And he would be an all-rounder. It was all set. Nothing should go wrong. Never say that... something will go wrong...

Oops.

They all charged into the boss room to see a name tag and , more importantly, a monster. It had red and blue-grey fur. Bloodthirsty red eyes. And a weapon. An axe it seemed. They were all in place as the great beast commenced its opening scene. 'Immortal Object', the game rendered when a beginner started to hack away. The boss roared. The name 'Illfang the Kobold Lord' showed. It was time.

Just like they had planned, Chie and Asuna were dealing with the 'Ruined Kobold Sentinels' and when they had to recover, they would switch with Leafa and Kina, who would take damage for them. As Kirito watched, he saw an almost perfect team, though, occasionally, he had to help out. As the first health bar dropped down to the second, he could see the difference: an increase in speed and three more Ruined Kobold Sentinels were spawned.

They carried on with the strategy, all the way till the last health bar. Illfang should draw out its talwar now. It should.

But shocking many, Illfang the Kobold Lord did not draw out a talwar, it instead drew out a nodachi, a sort of long sword that had further reach than its axe. Chie despaired as he saw this, whats more, it seemed like Diavel was still going in. 'The last attack bonus' Chie thought, 'He's going for the last attack bonus, he was in the beta too!'

Beside him, Kirito shot out a warning, "Wait, that's not a talwar, it's a nodachi."

But it was too late, Diavel was already in the bosses range. Chie ran, surprising not only the others, but himself too. 'Am I really going to do this?' Chie thought. But now he had no choice, he was already in the bosses range. He tried to aggro the boss. The boss lunged forward. It was too late. Diavel was hit.

Chie got a potion out of his inventory. "Drink the potion Diavel", Chie muttered, only to get it pushed away. "You were a beta tester too." Diavel murmured, "Show everyone that we can win the game, Chie. Your a good lad."

"Drink the goddamn potion Diavel," Chie shot at the wounded an beside him, tears flowing through his eyes. He's not going to drink it, is he? He wants to die a hero. I would too.

"Remember what I said." were the last words that Diavel told Chie before bursting into millions of polygons.

"Wait-" Chie was about to say but his senses had come back, a person had died. A good man. Someone who could've helped.

Chie stood up. Just looking at the boss. It was time. Chie ran towards the boss. Dodging the many attacks that were thrown at him. He found that Kirito was also running too, nut rather then attacking, Kirito was defending and taking pot shots. Chie looked to his top-left corner to see that Kirito had little to no health left. Chie shouted for Kirito to attack while he tanked. It seemed they were more alike than they knew, as Kirito had said the opposite thing that Chie had said.. They duo could see that only a slither of health was left. Maybe a dozen attacks would do it. No, I need to end this as quickly as I can.

"Lion heart strike!" Chie shouted, while looking at the effects of his attack. Though he was paralysed by the giant attack, ten shots were coming at every angle of the boss. Surely the boss wouldn't be able to take it. No... It has 748 health left. Chie looked to his health, it was rapidly decreasing. A side effect of 'lion heart strike' was that he would have no defence for a few minutes and would carry the burn effect. At least, maybe, Kina could get out one day if I die.

Chie parried the next blow from the boss as Kirito got into an all too familiar stance. He's going to perform a linear to boos himself forwards to the boss.

"Linear!" Kirito shouted, before dealing the boss one last blow.

Congratulations, Kirito

Cor: 4200

Last attack bonus: Coat of Midnight, equip now?

Chie saw that he also got a screen

Congratulations, Chie

Cor: 4500

Overall most damage dealt: Coat of the Horizon, equip now?

But in Chie's eyes, this boss battle was a failure, their leader, Diavel, had died. And whats more, Chie, too, was closing the gap. "Here, Chie." Kirito gave Chie a health crystal as his own health went back up to full. Kirito and Chie both sat down, they were exhausted.

In the distance, he could see everyone celebrating. They had at least gone to the second floor. Even if it cost them a death. But it was better than the beta, in the beta 28 people had died, due to lack of knowledge. The handbooks had helped a lot.

"Hey you!"? shouted, "How could you let Diavel die like that?"

Why is Mizettosaboten mad at me? Diavel didn't take the potion.

"What are you talking about, Mizettosaboten (*1)" Chie shouted in return. He was sure Kibaou would be annoyed by this.

"Why you..." Kibaou said before storming off. He didn't go without one last motion though. He stuck up his middle finger as he left. "Idiotic beta's, your not betas, your cheaters. You knew that Illfang was going to do that, but you still didn't let us in. Your worse than betas and cheaters. You beaters!"

Kirito stood up, as did Chie. Hes going to do it isn't he.

Yesterday night, Kirito and Chie had thought of a plan to pull off if blame was ever put on the betas. They would turn all the blame to themselves exclusively. That way, the other 998 betas would rest in piece.

"Beater. Hmm, I like the sound of that. You know why?" Kirito shot at Kibaou, making him turn back.

"Why then, enlighten me?" Kibaou said, with more than a trace of sarcasm.

Chie stood forward. "Because we are going to be the ones to beat the game. Don't compare us to beats, most of them noobs couldn't even hold a sword properly."

Kibaou thought for a few seconds before speaking up, "And who are you to talk?"

"Wow, you got me there." Kirito said mockingly, "I'm Kazuto Kirigaya, 2nd place in the world Kendo championships, he's Reo Takahashi, and in our group is our sisters plus a random stranger we picked up at the first meeting." Kirito finished with a smirk.

"Prove it then."

"If you insist. You and anyone else can go against me and Kirito, while we wear no armour and use basic weapons." Chie replied.

Kibaou and his group all shot at them, Chie could easily handle them. Even though most of what he said was untrue and twisted, one thing was true, most people couldn't hold a sword properly. This gave them a very bad balance. He took down 1. 2. 4. 7. He saw that Kirito probably got the same amount as he did. That was all.

"You idiots! First Strike!" Kibaou shouted, and got propelled in a spinning motion towards Chie. This is going to be bad, even if I had my armour on, this is half of my health. First strike goes through armour.

A person from the crowd, whom Chie didn't recognise, got to them and deflected the shot. Good, it was one of the tanks.

"That was some fine swordsmanship, you two, good job." the unknown face complimented, "The names Agil, nice to meet you." Agil put his hand out, both of them shook it.

"Thanks, I guess." Kirito replied.

"Haha, 'mizettosaboten', where did you think of that." A familiar voice joined into the conversation. It was Kina, shortly after joined by Leafa. Chie sighed, at least they were safe.

Both Kirito and Chie equipped their new equipment before walking out. Followed by the rest of their party

"Hey wait." Asuna said, "Can I... Can I stay with you guys? You see, I haven't really got a place to stay."

Do I really want to let a stranger live with us? I know she doesn't have a place to stay, but is this the right idea? Kirito looked at Chie who had the same expression he always had when in a boss fight. Kill. Kill or be killed. You could still tell, though, that he was thinking of Diavel.

"Sure, we were just going to an inn on the second floor." He replied

Authors note

To Reader,

Hi, it's me again. Here are a few things to say.

*1 Mizettosaboten means 'midget cactus' in Japanese.

*2 Yes, there are a lot of references to my favourite fanfictions, just like the one above.

Bye,

From Smartyul, the author.

Edit: This chapter has been edited as I was not happy with its length