Chapter II
December 2nd 2022 First Floor: Talbana
"Interesting,"
This came from one Naruto Uzumaki who sat on one of the steps of the place he was going to meet other players on how to pass this floor. At the moment he was looking through his list of skills, which were currently not that high besides the ones he had altered himself.
It's been a month since the game began, and he regrettably hasn't made much progress, which frustrates him. He needed to put in some effort soon, granted he was at level ten, but he didn't see himself getting any stronger on this level, he needed more of a challenge.
Two-thousand people have died since the launch, no player has been able to clear floor one. The location of the boss room was a mystery, even to him even though he was a beta tester. So for now, he was simply trying to figure out all the skills he's can improve and there was quite a bit that he wasn't able to do before he entered the game.
He half paid attention to the meeting that was held by a blue haired player named Diabel. The other half of his attention was being given to his unique skill sets which were currently locked. He hummed, he had implemented his own unique skills but he figured they would have already been unlocked. Maybe Kayaba had something to do with it.
"I guess it simply makes this game a bit more fun," he grumbled to himself. "If you take out the fact that you really die," he sighed. Leaving the menu, he suddenly realized that everyone was grouping up into six, which left him surprised as he had sat all the way at the top from everyone. "Damn!" he cursed before he found someone not too far from him wearing a brown cloak, a hood over their head.
"Hey did you get left out too?" he asked and his retort was a slightly cold one, filled with not much emotion.
"Not even, it's just that everyone here seems like their already friends," the person said, their voice being delicate and feminine, which made Naruto assume he was talking to a girl. He hummed before he gave a grin, and held out his hand.
"Well we can be friends, I'm Naruto! Nice to meet ya ttebayo!" he introduced himself. The girl looked towards him, seeming surprised as he held out his hand. She slowly reached for it, and shook it.
"Asuna, my name is Asuna," she told him. And he smiled shaking her hand delicately.
"Asuna, thats a beautiful name. So Asuna-chan, want to form a party with me?" he offered which surprised her a bit more but she slowly nodded. "Cool ttebayo!" Naruto grinned as he activated the menu and sent Asuna a friend and party request. Even though he couldn't see her expression due to the hood, he could feel that she was overwhelmed.
With simple two taps, Asuna was his friend and part of his party. As Diabel was about to resume the meeting, it was interrupted when a man jumped down the steps and into the ring with Diabel, he had orange hair with random spikes and a small beard.
"My name is Kiabaou, got it?" he growled as he thumbed to himself. "Before we take on the boss I want to get something off my chest! We all know about the 2000 people that died so far yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!"
"Kiabaou, I think I know who you're talking about. You mean the ex-Beta testers right?" Diabel assumed and Kiabaou nodded his head as he turned back to the crowd.
"Hell ya I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started, the beta testers ditched us beginners! They snagged the good hunting spots, the easy quests too! They are the only ones getting stronger in here! Then they ignored us like we're nothing! Hell I bet there is some of them here!" Kiabaou snarled, glaring across the audience.
"We should make them apologize to us! And we should make them give us all of their money and items! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us!" Kiabaou stated. "Why should we?!"
Naruto looked on with a visage of annoyance, and was about to speak to put the trash in his place, but before he could, a big dark skinned man stood up and walked over to Kiabaou, towering over him. "My name is Agil, Kibaou right? I want to make sure we're on the same page,"
Kibaou narrowed his eyes at him as Agil continued on, "You say the Beta Testers should be blamed for the rookies deaths because they didn't help them. And you want them to apologize and give up their winnings, I leave anything out?"
"No,"
Agil then pulled out a small brown book, showing it too Kibaou, "The item stores hand these out for free," Agil stated. "It's a guidebook, you got one didn't you?"
"Of course I got one, what about it?"
"The ones handing these out, were the ex-beta testers," this surprised the audience and Kibaou. Agil then turned to face the audience, speaking to them now, "Everyone had a chance to get these, even so lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone; I'm here because I want to learn from those players deaths, I'm here because I want to find and kill the boss!"
Naruto gazed at Agil with an interested eye, as he and the other one both sat down and let Diabel continue on. "For info on the boss, it's all in here," Diabel stated as he held up the guidebook. Everyone paid rapt attention, well it seemed like it. Naruto himself wasn't, in his own thoughts. And neither was Asuna, because he could tell her eyes and most of her attention...
Was on him.
"Hey Asuna-chan, why you in this alley eating by yourself?"
The cloaked Asuna stopped her munching on the tough bread and looked towards Naruto who sat down beside her with a curious expression. She said nothing in return, looking away. "You know these things are good, but I got a trick to make it taste better," Naruto smirked as he pulled out a thing of butter and placed it on the bread before he chomped down and gave a sigh of relief. "Ah!"
Asuna looked towards the bread before looking away, but was a bit startled when Naruto slathered some of the butter on her bread, "Go ahead and try it," he suggested. Asuna gazed at the buttered bread for a bit before she took a small bite. Naruto watched her with a knowing smirk, and within moments she was chomping down until there was no more.
"Thank you, it was good," she muttered and he gave a knowing nod before eating his own buttered bread. "So, what are you here for Asuna-chan? I mean yeah everyone is trying too get to the next floor, but you could have waited for it to be cleared like everyone else," he shrugged.
"I'm here so I don't lose sight as to who I am," Asuna answered. "I don't want to lock myself in a room in the town of beginnings and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am till the last moment, even if a monster beats me and I die. I won't lose, to this game or this world,"
Naruto gazed at her for a bit before he looked up to the sky and gave a small smile, "You sound very determined, that's good. I wouldn't let my comrades die, not if I'm still breathing," he stated. "So, don't worry Asuna-chan, you won't die, not when I'm around,"
Asuna was silent before she spoke, "How can you be so sure?" when Naruto didn't answer she looked towards him to see he was still gazing at the stars with a nostalgic smile on his face. After a few moments he looked towards her and gave her a grin while he rubbed his nose.
"Because, I'm the best player that ever lived ttebayo!"
"Listen up everyone!"
Everyone paid attention to Diabel as he stabbed his sword into the ground, standing in front of the large door. "I only have one thing to say to you!" he stated while everyone made sure their armor was ready. "Lets win!"
Determined, they pushed the door open and walked into the dark room, weapons ready. Suddenly the lights turned on, and a roar was heard, coming from a 9ft tall red monster wielding a pole axe and shield. It jumped from it's throne and landed on the ground, giving another powerful roar.
It's name appeared above the monster as "Illfang the Kolbold Lord". Four health bars appeared, all full. It's glowing red eyes gazed upon them as if they were prey, and they all held their ground. Naruto and Asuna stood in the back, with their weapons at ready as well. Naruto held a regular double edged sword while Asuna held a Rapier. Suddenly around Illfang, several armored minions wielding maces appeared in blue flashes, ready for battle.
The enemies charged them and Diabel ordered for attack. The players rushed past Diabel, with Kibaou being ahead. Naruto and Asuna stayed behind for a few moments, both surveying the situation. Diabel stood in the middle handing out orders which the players followed immediately.
Naruto rolled his neck, and with an excited smirk, he took off slashing away at a minion, "Switch!" Naruto barked and Asuna zoomed past him, which surprised and impressed him a bit. Asuna charged her sword, and stabbed right through the minion; glad he knew he didn't have to babysit her, Naruto began to have his own fun as he blocked a minion and slashed right through it before zooming into the fray, slashing through multiple minions that tried to attack the players focusing on Illfang.
Illfang gave a mighty roar, which caused Naruto to stop and notice that it's health bar had reached red. It threw away it's shield and axe, and grabbed the Nodachi strapped to it's back. "Stand back! I got it!" Diabel exclaimed as he rushed forward, charging his sword, Naruto took notice and narrowed his eyes to see Diabel have a smirk on his lips.
"Oi! Stop! Diabel it's no good! Get out of there!" Naruto barked, as he realized that this boss was nothing like the beta. Illfang jumped up and bounced against the pillars, confusing Diabel before crashing down upon him, inflicting heavy damage. It then zipped towards him and slashed him again, before disappearing.
"Diabel no!" Kibaou shouted before he and the others turned around to see Illfang right behind them, roaring at them. Illfang raised it's blade, ready to hack them to pieces and brought it down upon them.
"Get away!" they all heard, and saw a golden and brown blur. Illfang gave a roar as its attacked was blocked away by a sword; giving a snarl the beast tried again and speared through Asuna, only for Naruto to pull her away. As a result her cloak was shreded, and Naruto took off towards Illfang, having it roar in pain as it was vertically cut in half upward. After shuddering it suddenly disappeared, into particles, just as Naruto came down from the air, landing safely. He sheathed his blade before walking over to Diabel. "Baka, what were you thinking? I mean you were a beta tester, you should have..."
"Guess I just didn't notice. Good job, Naruto," Diabel smiled before he vanished into particles, leaving a sullen Naruto.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Everyone suddenly began cheering as they realized they had one, all of them glowing gold due to leveling up. Naruto gazed at the pop-up screen in front of him, Congratulation: You got the Last Attack Bonus. Then another pop up screen appeared, the bonus item: Cloak of Helios
"That was some fine swordsmanship," he heard Agil say from behind him. "Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you,"
"Yeah, Nice job," he heard Asuna say. Standing up he looked to them and was surprised by the beautiful girl that stood beside Agil. Asuna has long orange-brownish chestnut hair with goregous hazel eyes, she wore a dark red leather tunic with a lightweight copper breastplate and leather pants with boots up to the knees. Her skin was fair and looked incredible soft, her lips were supple, and her body was slim yet curvy. From looking at her, he had to guess she was in her mid to late teens.
"No," Naruto shook his head but the others began cheering and applauding him which made him frown even more.
"Stop cheering!" Kibaou shouted. Which caused them to turn to the man as he sat down on the ground. "Why'd you do it huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?! Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was going to use!"
Naruto said nothing as he let the man ramble. "You could have told us! Then Diabel would have stood a chance! He wouldn't of had to die!" Kibaou snarled.
"I know why he knew! He used to be a beta tester! That's how he knew all the bosses attack patterns!" one guy shouted. "He knew but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta tester here! C'mon! Show yourselves!"
This caused unrest among them as they began to question each other. Naruto watched them with unamused eyes before he gave a chuckle and rolled his neck then his shoulders. "So you think I used to be a beta tester? Don't insult me by comparing me to those losers," Naruto spoke up gaining everyone's attention.
"What did you just say?!"
"You heard me baka, most of those beta testers who won those 1000 slots were beginners, they didn't even know how to level up. Even you dummies are better than they were, but me? Don't even compare us," he chuckled as he walked passed the group.
"I knew about the boss, because I reached higher levels than anyone else. I fought monsters with way more skills and higher levels. I know a bunch of stuff that you can't even think of," Naruto smirked, as his blue eyes flickered red for a few moments.
"If that's true...you're worst than a beta tester! You're a god damn cheater! That's what you are! You're a cheater!" Kibaou exclaimed and Naruto stood there beside Asuna with a blank expression.
"He's a beta and a cheater! He's a beater!"
"Beater huh? Meh, I guess it'll catch on," Naruto shrugged as he opened his menu, looking for an item. "Just make sure you don't confuse me with those other losers, okay?" he smirked before he pressed on an item and suddenly appearing on his back was a dark maroon leather jacket with the shoulders and collar being black along with the outlines and cuffs. Printed on the back of the jacket was the symbol of the sun colored pitch black.
He then gave them one last smirk before he walked off, heading towards the exit. As he walked up the steps, he paused. "Wait!" Asuna called stopping right behind him, he looked back toward her with a raised brow. "You're just going to leave? No goodbye or anything? I thought we were friends," Asuna muttered.
Naruto remained silent for a moment before he gave her a small smile, "Of course we're still friends Asuna-chan. And this isn't goodbye, this is more like a see you later. I'm pretty sure we'll meet up again, and when we do, I'm hoping for a good match ttebayo," he grinned at her, making her blush lightly.
"Baka," she grumbled, looking away. Naruto turned his grin back into a soft smile before looking forward.
"Get strong as you can Asuna, whether you're solo, or in a guild, there is no limit as long as you put your mind to it. I'll see you around," he waved before he walked off, passing through the doors and entering darkness. Asuna stood there on the steps in slight awe before slowly nodding her head.
"See you around...Naruto-kun,"
December 25th 2022
"Hn, how interesting,"
This came from Naruto as he sat on one of the highest branches in the tree, going through his unique skill menu. He had checked his unique skills a while back before he faced Illfang to see they were all locked, but now he was checking and he saw that three of them were unlocked.
One of the abilities was being a sensor, right now, it only allowed him to sense negative emotions, which was mainly monsters, and that was only in a 2 mile radius. He saw the skill very useful if he could master it. He remembered during the war against the white zetsu how useful it was, applying it to the game would be awesome.
The second ability was un-rivaling luck; meaning when it came to most things such as sales and winnings he was pretty lucky. That too would be a useful ability once mastered, he could already imagine it.
The third ability which he saw just as useful as the sensor, was weaponry. He guessed no one else could be able to have this skill. Everyone player used some kind of sword, whether it be a double edge, or a dagger, if it was sword thats what they could use because that was the system. Monsters were the only ones that could use weapons that were not swords. If he could grow this skill, he bet he could wield any weapon possible. Such a badass skill.
Humming to himself he reverted back to the normal skill menu, and looked over the lists categories, there was characteristics, battle, unique. He clicked on battle, to see the subjects in the category which was armor, then strength, speed, endurance etc. For sure he knew he was going to raise all of his skills, it was part of conquering the game. Working the way up to become a god, instead of already being a god.
He would need to find an area not many people were privy too and would help him level up such skills. Pressing back he then clicked on characteristics, looking over the subjects, which were basically essentials for living a "Normal" life. Two skills Naruto saw as the most useful was cooking and blacksmithing.
After a few minutes of switching screens back and forth, he finally closed it. Coming up with a plan. First thing first, was money. That was one thing he didn't bother adding in the mod, he liked to earn his money then already be filthy rich. With lots of money he could invest in plenty of things, new upgrades, houses, shops etc. He just needed a lot of it.
Good thing he knew plenty of ways on how to get it, one of the ways being his dominate way to live way back when, selling his services. Hopping off the branch he rolled his neck and shoulders before he kept walking, heading to a village.
"Let's see who needs a mercenary,"
Naruto strolled through the village at a leisure pace, sipping on a cup of tea. He ignored the other players that took notice of him and he began talking about him. None of them really mattered to him, he no longer cared if he was the outsider or not, he lived for 23 years being an outsider, even when he was the leader of the people who made him an outsider.
He suddenly stopped as he noticed something, there was quite a bit of people standing beside a bulletin board, he walked towards it and gave it a good look over. His eye brow raised as he drank his tea; the board was a quest board. He looked for the one that would pay the highest, which would be the one with the highest danger level.
A few moments and he found it, he took the paper from the board and walked off, looking over the contents of the paper. The quest was to reach the boss of floor 4 and retrieve the stolen item of the client. He hummed and put the paper away, heading for the tower, he had a level four boss to beat.
It took Naruto at least twenty minutes to clear the dungeon completely of it's monsters, which racked him good exp and a bit of cash, placing him at level 26. He reached the door of the boss and was about to open it when he strangely heard, noises inside. Noises that sounded like...fighting?
Quickly he opened the door, and ran inside to see what looked to be four people fighting against a giant centipede like monster. The upper half of the monster was somewhat humnoid as it had a humanoid torso even though it was quite beastly, being that of a bull, it had multiple arms, about 7, each hand holding a bladed weapon. On its head were strong long horns, it's eyes glowing a demonic yellow.
It was currently fighting against the four players that looked to be tiring out. They did their best clashing against and blocking against the large swords but they didn't seem to be affecting it very much.
"Yiro! Move to left!" one of the players yelled; and as a result one of the three male players did so moving to the left just as the beast turned around and moved to smash four blades down upon them. Luckily they were able to move out of the way before the impact. "Horuda! Attack now!" the player ordered.
The other male nodded and gave a strong shout as charged towards the beast who didn't have it's attention on him. With the large Zanbato he had in his hand, Horuda made to strike the beast but to his surprise the lower half of the monster smacked him away towards Yiro, the two slamming into each other and sliding across the floor.
"Yiro! Horuda! MOVE!" the other yelled, the two finally got their bearings but it was too late as the monster came down upon them, stabbing them through with it's blades. "NO!" the player yelled, tears running down their eyes before he rushed the beast to kill it. "YOU MONSTER!"
"Jikor no!" the female player yelled, but it mattered not, as the beast turned it's sights on Jikor and with all seven of it's arms, slashed Jikor to shreds. Once Jikor's particles had vanished, the monster gave out a roar, and charged at the shocked female player, ready to end them as well.
As the beast brought down it's blade, it was suddenly blocked by another blade, which so happened to belong to Naruto. The blond teen stood in front of the female player, a frown on his face. "What you did there pal, was uncalled for...I'm going to have to put you in your PLACE!" Naruto roared as he managed to push back the monster, making it stumble.
Naruto then crouched back, and lunged forward into the air, slashing off the first offending arm before landing on the ground. His eyes took it in, analyzing the beast to see it's name was Zorch the Ickrad and it had four health bars with the first health bar about to be empty.
Zorch gave a terrifying screech, which didn't scare Naruto in fact it only made him more excited. The beast ran towards him, ready to run him through. With each stab, Naruto avoided them all before he stopped right in front of Zorch and jumped up, dragging his blade along with him.
A vertical cut was made on Zorch's chest, bringing it down to it's second health bar. As he floated back down, he thought of another way to harm it; while Zorch crouched down and jumped into the air to reach him. Surprised by this, Naruto twisted out of the way to avoid it, and in the process he chopped off another arm.
Naruto landed on both feet and turned right around to block the strike aimed at him, which made him skid back. Pushing the attack away, he suddenly ducked underneath the second arm coming at him. Naruto pushed forward, heading to the center of the beast. It snarled and made another attempt to kill him but he avoided it's blades quite a few times before he jumped up and stabbed his sword though it's neck.
"I've had enough!" Naruto growled as he then twisted the blade and with a great show of strength, ripped through it's neck sideways, bringing it's health bar down to zero. Within moments it had exploded into fragmeents.
Congratulations!
Naruto landed on the ground, sliding his sword back into it's sheathe. He and the female player glowed gold, indicating they had leveled up from the experience given. The blond clicked on the item screen to see he got the bonus item and the item he needed to complete the quest.
He exited out and turned around, walking over to the female player that sat on her knees in complete shock. Naruto took a look at her health bar to see she only had two points left. He kneeled down and tapped her shoulder, trying to get her attention, "Hey, are you okay?"
She didn't answer him, still lost in space. Naruto waited for a few minutes but she stayed the same. With a sigh he nodded his head, and pulled out a teleport crystal, grabbing on to it and then grabbing her, he spoke out, "Teleport: Town of Beginnings!" he yelled and in a blue flash of light they were gone.
In the next few moments he and the girl were in the middle of an alley. He picked her up, holding her bridal style and walked to a nearby inn. He spoke to the innkeeper, and he was allowed to place her in a room. He placed her in the bed, noticing she had fallen asleep.
Once he was sure she was settled, he pulled out an arrangement of potions and a bag of money, nothing he would miss. He then thought of something else and found the bonus item: Bandanna of 100 souls. He glanced back to the sleeping girl then clicked on the item, releasing it from his storage.
Appearing in his hand was a dark brown bandanna with a white skull on it. He placed down on the dresser before writing a note. Once that was finished he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Now he could head over to the client and give him his item so he could get paid, sarcastically he muttered out,
"Merry Christmas to me,"
