Matthew nodded as he took some notes. I turned my head when I heard the sound of something being pushed towards me. Turns out, it was a glass full of water. I looked up at Nancy, who gave me a sympathetic smile. I smiled slightly and nodded before I picked up the glass and started drinking from it.

"So, you were all trapped in the game," Matthew said. "Did you wonder whether or not that it was some kind of a ruse?"

"No," I said as I sat my glass down. "For one, those sites he showed were legit. At least, the ones that was in English, anyway. Plus, even if I did consider that it might have been a ruse, I wasn't going to risk my life trying to call his bluff."

At that, Matthew nodded. "So, you were rolling with Agil in the beginning. What did you two do?"

"Well, Agil is a levelheaded man. So, I followed his lead. He did the wisest anyone could have done in that situation."

88888888888

"I'm so glad that this game at least translates the manual," I said as I read through it.

"I'm glad that the Beta Testers didn't skimp on the details," Agil added. "Though, it should come with a grain of salt."

"Why? You don't trust them?"

"It's not that. A lot of the information they're providing are based on the Beta. Things can change during the development process. Still, it's good to read over it."

The two of us were in a tavern on the first floor. It was dimly lit by candlelight and it was half empty. The people that were there were still talking about the bombshell that was dropped. As we continued to read, I made a note to pay attention to the weapons that dropped from enemy encounters.

"Speaking of trust," Agil stated. "Forgive me for asking, but I do want to know – is it true what you said? About how you got into the game, that is." I looked over at him. "I just happen to notice the scar across your face, and it makes me wonder about your story."

"…My story was mostly true," I said slowly. I paused for a bit. I didn't want to tell him, but the man already shared a lot about himself already. If we were going to have each other's backs, then he had the right to know who he was rolling with. "I'm not at a boarding school. I'm in a juvenile prison. The floor I referred to was actually a cell block. But everything else I said was true."

"I see," he said, not even a hint of judgement in his voice. "What were you in for?"

"Aiding and abetting in drug trafficking," I said.

"Was the charge just?"

"No. I mean, technically, I did do it. But I didn't know what I was doing until things started to go left."

"Okay." He then went back to reading. I looked at him for a few seconds afterwards. I expected him to say something else on the matter, but he didn't. Deciding to let it go, I kept on reading myself.

"So what's the game plan?" I asked. "Are we fighting, or are we just going to wait this out?"

"We'll need to find the floor boss," he said. "And we'll need to get stronger along the way. Also, you'll need to learn Japanese." I looked over at him. He looked up from his manual and gave me a very serious look. "I have no problem being your translator, but there may be a chance I don't survive this game. If that were to happen, I don't want you to be by yourself with no one to really communicate with."

"That's logical… and a bit morbid," I replied with a nervous chuckle. I didn't even want to think about that possibility. I only knew the man for some hours at that point, but the fact that there may be a chance that he could die before he was reunited with his wife bothered me quite a bit.

During the first month, we went on different quests, stocking up on items and Cor. Every day, we spent at least an hour on him teaching me teaching Japanese. I thought it was hopeless at first. But over time, I was able to understand bits and pieces of what the other players were saying. Agil still needed to translate for me, but progress was progress.

I would have been happier about it all had it not been for the fact that no one founded the first boss yet and around 2,000 people died during that time. And from what we heard, it wasn't always by creatures or traps in the game. It was hearsay, but there have been rumors of suicides and a group of players that banded together to do murders for money. I wasn't too optimistic to think that everyone who was in the plaza during that fateful day was going to make it out the game alive. But there were 100 floors we needed to clear, and we lost 2,000 people on the first floor alone in a span of 30 days. Add the apparent suicides and threat of players killing other players and… well, it was pretty disheartening.

"You know," I grunted as I pulled the sword from the neck of the masked man. "I hope we find this boss soon enough." The Congratulations message appeared above my head. "Because I'm a bit afraid that I'm we're going run out of quests."

"You and I both," Agil replied in agreement as he walked up to my side. We went through the drops we received. I scrolled through it before I stopped at one weapon item. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to read the item's name. "Thief King's… Grappling Hook?" I looked over at Agil. "Did I read that right?"

"You did," Agil said. "It looks like the main prize for this quest." He then nudged my arm with an elbow. "Keep it."

"You sure?" I asked.

"I'm sure." He smiled. "Besides, Battle Axes are more of my thing."

"Alright." I accepted the awards that were given, including the kill bonus. I then opened up my menu and went about equipping the grappling hook. My sword disappeared. Then the grappling hook appeared in my hands. I examined the weapon, taking note of the four-pronged hook. I looked around the Thief King's Lair until I spotted a statue off in the distance.

"Okay, let's see if I can use it properly," I said. I swung the hook around in my hand. Once I felt it vibrate, I released the rope, letting it fly. I watched it as it embedded itself in the statue. Smiling, I pulled on the rope, causing the statue to topple over. I smirked. "I think I'm going to hold on to you."

Once we left the lair, the sun was already setting. So, we made our way back to town and went to the tavern to grab something to eat. We were at a table waiting for our food when the front door was kicked open. Everyone in the tavern went quiet as they saw a man run up to the bar counter. He then proceeded to jump onto it. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he turned towards the patrons and yelled out what seemed to be an announcement. When he was done, everyone murmured amongst themselves. Out of everything he said, I was only able to make out a few words – "boss", "meeting", and "tomorrow".

"…Was that something about the Floor Boss?"

"A meeting regarding it," Agil said. "There's a meeting going down tomorrow, and it's open to those who are still training and/or searching for the boss." He smiled. "I think they might have found the boss."

"About freaking time!" I yelled out as I threw my hands up in the air. I got a few looks from people nearby, but I didn't care. "I really hope that's the case."

"You seem rather excited," Agil said as I lowered my arms. "You do remember what's at stake, right?"

"Yeah, I do. I just don't want to sit around and do nothing while other people are fighting. My life shouldn't be totally in their hands." What I didn't tell him at the time was that my faith in the other players (aside from him) took a huge hit when the death toll was announced.

"Just be careful," he warned. "I really don't want you to die before you're able to get released from prison."

"I won't," I said.

We each rented out a room for the night. I sat on my bad and looked over my gear. My sword and grappling hook was good enough for this level – or, at least, I figured, it was supposed to be. But I wondered if I could do any better with the armor. I avoided the metal stuff for the most part, wanting to stay as light as possible.

I valued my speed.

Deciding to just make it a point to hit up the market in the morning, I changed into my sleeping ware – mere grey shorts and a white t-shirt – and went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, I immediately went down to the market to see what they had available. After some searching, I just gave my leather armor to the NPC tailor. From there, I went to NPC Smith to upgrade my sword and hook, upping the accuracy on both. I was finally set.

After Agil and I met for breakfast, we went over to the meeting place, skipping our usual morning grind. A part of me was glad for it. We spent so much time on the first floor that, at our levels, the gains were becoming rather miniscule. Along the way, however, we kept up with the normal start to the Japanese lessons – trying to carry a simple conversation.

"[So, how was your morning]?" he asked.

"[It was good]," I replied tentatively, speaking slowly. My Japanese has gotten a lot better, but I still wasn't fluent, or even semi-fluent. "[I got my armor repaired and weapons upgraded. I think I'm ready for the day.]"

"[Good, good. Question, did you ever play sports before you were… incarcerated]."

"[I played American Football]." I paused for a moment, finding it a bit funny that I had to add the word "American" there to differentiate from what I normally would call football. "[I played Running Back and Free Safety. I wore number 21]."

"[…You know, I think there'd be a team in Japan who'd be interested in you]."

"[I'm serving five years. By the time I get out, I'd be 20 years old. I think my football career is dead.]"

Our conversation ended when we reached the small amphitheater. We took our seats and waited for other people to come. Some people filed in, including this one girl who wore a cloak and a hood. Once it seemed as if no more people were coming, the guy with aqua hair stood up and walked up to the front. He then faced the crowd before he spoke.

As Agil translated for me, the man was named Diabel, and said that he was a Knight. I closed my eyes before rolling them. There weren't any classes in the game, and I really saw no point in embracing a game that could possibly be the death of us.

"Well, on to the reason for this meeting. Most of you may already know this, but it bears repeating – we found the boss room."

Finally! Freaking Finally!

He went on a whole speech about how we needed to beat this boss on the first try due to us spending a long time on the first floor and the amount of deaths that occurred. Most of the people in the crowd cheered. I merely looked ahead, trying to keep calm. After that, he asked us to form groups of six. I saw four people move around us. I then saw multiple friend requests in front of my face. I reached up and hit the blue circle on all of them. I didn't even remember their name at the time.

The meeting was about to continue, but then somebody came jumping onto the stage. I found out later on that his name is Kibaou. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying. All I picked up was "Beta Testers" and "abandonment".

"What's his problem?" I asked. Agil sighed, which made me raise an eyebrow. Agil was nothing if not polite, but that sigh gave me an impression that he had a low opinion of the guy.

"He believes that the Beta Testers amongst the crowd should apologize for the 2,000 deaths and give up all their items and money to the first time players," he replied. I blinked a couple of times and gave him a look of confusion. "He believes that the Beta Testers have taken the best quests and items for themselves."

"…But they're the ones who have been writing the guides…"

"I know. Let me set the record straight before infighting is incited."

He stood up. Once again, I was reminded by how large he was. He spoke to both Kibaou and the crowd, explaining to them that the information was readily available because of the Beta Testers, even pulling out the manual as he did so. During that, I kept my eyes locked in on Kibaou.

I started to have a certain feeling in my gut. It was the same feeling I got when I decided to give a ride to a guy who just happened to be a friend of a friend of mine. And considering that led to me getting locked up for something I didn't really have anything to do with, something told me that Kibaou wasn't to be trusted.

Agil retook his seat next to me. I leaned over to him and spoke in English. "I think we need to be careful around him," I whispered.

"I concur."