Disclaimer - I do not own Konosuba or Sword Art Online. Konosuba is owned by Natsume Akatsuki. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

...

A month has passed since the initial release of Sword Art Online, and in that period of time, over 2,000 people have died. Strangely enough, not a single person has been able to clear the first floor yet.

"You'd think there'd be someone strong enough to clear the first floor by now, but no. Not even the beta testers? Just how bad at this game were they if the first floor hasn't even been cleared yet?!" Kazuma frustratingly whispered to himself. "Well, there's still the boss fight conference today, so that may change something."

Skip forward a few hours, and countless players could be seen gathered around in a colluseum-like area. A sole figure stood on what would be the stage. He had pale skin, and his baby-blue hair easily made him stand out.

"Alright! I'll be starting the conference now!" The person shouted. "To those of you who responded to my invitation, thank you. My name is Diabel, and my class is... informally, Knight!"

Though most of the players around him bursted in laughter, Kazuma found no amusement in Diabel's joke.

"Just get to the point! This isn't a peaceful haven, it's a death game!"

Diabel signalled with his arms to quit the laughter. The once bright, enthusiastic face the "knight" had worn instantly grew serious.

"Today, my party found the location of the boss room on the highest level of this floor!"

Everyone, including Kazuma this time's attention locked completely on to the man speaking up front. Some people doubted he knew, but others completely trusted Diabel.

"By defeating the floor boss and reaching the second floor... we'll be able to prove to everyone in the Starting Town that this hellish game can be cleared! It's up to us to do so! Don't you agree, everyone?"

Tons of players looked towards some familiar faces, others brand new, seeking their opinion on the man's speech. After a few seconds, a sole player took charge in clapping for Diabel. Others quickly followed, recognizing his leadership. Even Kazuma himself began clapping.

Once the clapping died down, Diabel went on to the subject of battle strategy.

"First, we're going to split up into parties of six."

Unfortunately for a certain someone, this was where the death game really began.

Kazuma broke into a nervous sweat. For his entire time being in the game, he hadn't even made a single friend. Almost everyone else around him began talking to those they already knew from their time in the game. Everybody around him was already discussing formations, leaders, invites, you name it. It got to the point where Kazuma's personal stress blocked out whatever Diabel was saying.

However, in the corner of his eye spotted a boy with short black hair which ran down to the bottom of his neck. His shirt was a yale shade of blue, the top of which was covered with a leather breastplate. Kazuma immediately made a break for who could potentially be his teammates.

"S-so, you an outcast too, huh?" Kazuma greeted the boy.

It was as if a weight had been taken off the boy's back. His shoulders relaxed, and his face loosened.

"Oh, yeah. It's hard not knowing anyone in-game here, huh?"

Kazuma couldn't help but smile. Finally, someone here who understood how he felt! Kazuma quickly sent the boy a party invite. The boy accepted. Underneath his own health bar, Kazuma noticed another one added right below his. The name read Kirito.

"Well, nice partying with you, Kirito!" Kazuma gave Kirito a confident smile.

Kirito nodded, extending his hand out for a handshake. Though he was somewhat hesitant, Kazuma agreed to shake the swordsman's hand. Kirito's attention shortly directed towards a figure in a red cloak. Before he could invite them to his party however, they got up off their seat and left.

Diabel's voice struck through the silence in the air. Before he could get on to the next point however, an unknown figure jumped onto the stage. Kazuma groaned at the interruption.

"The name's Kibaou. There's something I need to get off my chest. I'm sure that there are some of you here that should be apologizing to those who have died so far!"

At this statement, Kirito's face grew tense. Kazuma's attention slightly shifted towards his new teammate.

"Kibaou, the people you're referring to are the beta testers, correct?" Diabel questioned.

"Of course I am! The day this crappy game started, all the beta testers pretty much vanished, abandoning us beginners to die! They took over all the good hunting grounds and quests, putting their own lives over ours. Afterwards, they became ignorant for doing so!" Kibaou ranted. "Some of you are definitely beta testers! We should have you kneel apologetically and hand us over any good items and the money they've kept to themselves! I cannot and will not entrust my life to people such as them!"

Kazuma quietly noted on how much of a nuisance he was, and threatened to use only the best weapon he had to knock some sense into his head. Kirito on the other hand, began feeling guilty for something he couldn't control. Then, Kazuma slowly got off his seat and made his way to the stage.

"Huh? What do ya want, kid?" Kibaou gave Kazama a menacing look.

"All I got from your lousy excuse of a rant is that the beta testers, people who have had prior knowledge of this game didn't protect people like you, who never even bothered to gain information in SAO before it released, like they did!"

Kibaou then pointed out to the youth that only 1,000 people were eligible to beta test the game. Letting out a agitated sigh, Kazuma pulled out a book which read, "SAO Handbook." The boy then noted that even if he had no idea how the game worked before purchasing it, he could have gotten one of these handbooks like the majority of players did. Clicking his tongue, Kibaou went to the stands to sit down, as did Kazuma.

Diabel shortly went back on about his strategy on how to defeat the boss. Opening up the recently mentioned notebook, Diabel read out information about the boss. It was known as Illfang the Kobold Lord. Illfang has mobs protecting it known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. His attack patterns change once his health bar becomes red, it will also drop it's current weapons and instead wield a talwar. Thus, the conference ended. At 10 in the morning tomorrow, the players agreed to meet before battling against the boss. They were all then dismissed.

"Alright. Anyways, let's get going. Kirito."

...

The next day, those that had gathered in the meeting could be seen marching up a pathway in a forest. Fortunately for Kazuma, he went to sleep rather early and is ready for the battle. He, and Kirito followed behind the rest of the group, reviewing their plan.

"We loners will target the guardians known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels." Kirito spoke to him. "I'll the deflect pole axes with a sword skill, then you'll switch in at that moment."

"I got it, I got it! Don't worry, I have it memorized!"

Kirito let out a small sigh before catching up with the others.

...

The group of players reached the gate leading towards where the boss had rested. Diabel had opened the gates for the dozens of adventurers hoping to defeat the boss.

Inside the gates, there was an empty room with nothing but a throne, and a giant, red, minotaur-like creature inhabiting inside the room. It jumped from off it's throne, and let out a piercing roar which sent shivers down Kazuma's spine.

At once, the players and their opponents rushed towards each other. Commencing the battle.

Diabel began commanding the different parties when to switch, when to move, when to attack, etc.

"Squads D, E, F, keep the sentiments away from us!"

"Rodger!" Kirito shouted.

One of the three jumped directly at Kirito, who knocked it away with his sword. Kazuma emerged from behind his partner and impaled their enemy.

"Not bad." Kirito gave his partner a small smile.

Before he could respond, another one of the Sentinels came flying down towards him. From the corner of his eye, Kazuma was able to notice the danger, and dodge it's attack just in time. Unseathing his sword, Kazuma knocked his enemy into the air, slicing it's stomach while he was at it. Pounding into the air, Kirito's sword easily slashed through the Sentinel, causing it to burst into millions of shards.

Before the two could celebrate, a roar could be heard from the Illfang, causing the duo's attention to be fixated on the monster. It was down to less than half of it's last bar of health. Just like what was specified in the meeting, the boss had let go of it's current weapons. Diabel had unsheathed his sword, and got into a stance which made his sword begin to glow.

Unfortunately, some of the information the players had gotten turned out to be wrong.

Instead of the boss wielding a talwar, it had been wielding a nodachi instead!

"Stop!" Kirito screamed out at those near the boss. "Jump back as far as you can!"

Suddenly, Illfang began moving from one place on the ceiling to another, and struck down right to where Diabel was standing. Right after, Illfang had slashed Diabel's back, causing mortal damage onto him. He continued to rampage in the crowd of people who had witnessed this happen.

Kirito immediately came to his injured ally's aid, offering him a potion. Surprisingly, Diabel stopped Kirito from healing him.

"Y-you were one of the 1,000 beta testers, right..? I'm sure you know..."

"The rare item which comes with the final attack bonus... you were a beta tester too?"

Diabel gave his fellow swordsman a weak smile, begging him to defeat the boss. Only a second later, the blue haired swordsman was no more. He was dead. Taking the look of despair off his face, Kirito stood back up, ready to face the boss. Kazuma quickly threw an arm around his comrade.

"Y'know, there's nothing more I want to do than kick this boss's ass. So, what do ya say, Kirito? For Diabel?"

Kirito gave his partner a nod. The two of them then dashed towards the Illfang, going in with the same strategy they had against the Sentinels.

Noticing two new opponents rushing in, the boss pulled it's sword to it's side, preparing for a special attack. Kirito did the same. Once their swords clashed, Kazuma had a chance to strike his opponent while it was still open. Unfortunately for him, Illfang's reflexes were faster than he had anticipated. It's sword slashed down at the young boy, slightly grazing a part of his shoulder, ripping his mantle off in the process. His sword pierced right through the boss, sending it flying backwards.

"It's coming back!" Kirito warned.

Kirito rushed in front of his partner. He and the boss had a short-lived clash of swords as it slashed him across the stomach. The young boy got sent flying backwards, slamming into his partner in the process.

Bzzt. Kirito's health went down a bit below half way. Not giving the two any time to get up, the Illfang stood above two duo, it's sword shined a bright crimson-red. Getting on his knees, Kazuma put in an effort to block the boss's attack.

Suddenly, a streak of green light passed by Kazuma.

A tall, bald-headed man with light grey armour's axe collided against Illfang's own weapon. Dozens of other players followed his lead.

"We'll hold him off until you two recover!" He shouted.

"Got it." Kirito weakly smiled.

Countless swordsman pursued from all many directions. At first, it seemed like they would prove to be able to push Illfang into a corner. Unfortunately, it was able to escape from the players offence. Jumping up, only inches away from the ceiling, Illfang prepared a sword skill to kill it's opponents beneath it. Despite his depleting HP, Kirito mustered up the courage to prepare a sword skill of his own.

Kirito was just barely able to slice open Illfang's back, sending it crashing to the ground.

"I sure got myself one hell of a teammate!" Kazuma smirked as he got up off his knees.

"Kazuma! Help me out with this one last hit!" Kirito looked back towards his teammate.

"Don't worry. I'm already on it!"

The duo rushed towards their common enemy. Kazuma hurridly hacked his enemy's gut. It's HP noticeably went down. Before he could get in a finishing blow, Kazuma's stomach got knocked in by Illfang. Kazuma's back heated up as he skid against the ground after the impact.

As soon as the boss's attention had shifted towards Kazuma, that's when it had lost.

Undisclosed to the boss, the black-haired swordsman had begun slicing it open from it's abdomen. Letting out a piercing shout, Kirito put a closure to his finishing blow, separating Illfang's face into two nearly even parts. Not a moment later, it bursted into crystals. They had done it. After a month, the first floor of this death-game had been cleared.

Many cheers of accomplishment filled the once terrifying room. Infront of Kirito, a screen read: "Congratulations! You got the last attacking bonus!" This screen was covered up with another which read: "Bonus Item. Coat of Midnight."

"Hey, Kirito! Those were some pretty great moves!" Kazuma gave his teammate a thumbs up of approval.

"No... I wouldn't have been able to defeat Illfang if it wasn't for you." Kirito returned the compliment.

"Huh, guess that means I'm pretty amazing." Kazuma quickly remarked.

Turning around, Kirito noticed a hoard of players clapping, or congratulating him for his victory. His sense of accomplishment was merely short lived.

Kibaou, the one who interrupted the meeting, had begun questioning Kirito as to why he let Diabel die.

"You knew the boss's moves! If you shared your information on the boss before hand, Diabel wouldn't have had to die!"

Seconds ago, Kirito was getting praised for defeating the boss. Now, the exact same people that appreciated him, respected him, and were amazed by him, saw him no more as a beta-tester who only thinks for his own survival. The room grew with tension as players began mentally questioning those who were once close to them.

The room's silence was broken by the occused's laughter.

"A beta tester? Don't put me in the same category as those newbies. The majority of SAO's 1,000 beta testers... were ameratures who didn't even know how to level. Even people such as you are better than them." Kirito remembered his experience at beta-testing SAO. "But I, for one, am different. During the beta test, I was able to reach levels that no one else was able to. I knew the boss's attack patters because I've fought plenty of katana wielding bosses such as this one on higher up floors. There's a lot more I know than that, too. More than any information broker you'll ever come across."

Kibaou disregarded the fact that Kirito was a beta-tester, and brought up that he was a cheater, which then lead to a figure in the crowd to give him the nickname: "beater."

"A beater? Not a bad name. Yes, I'm a beater. For now on, don't just think of me as being a beta tester." Kirito left the room silent as he equipped his Coat of Midnight. Just like the name specified, it was a pitch black coat which extended down just above Kirito's calf. "Let's go, Kazuma."

Kazuma sighed, starting to think of Kirito as some kind of show off, but made the decision to follow him. The gates creaked open, allowing, for the first time, players to advance to the next floor.

"After a month, I was able to assist in clearing the first floor. Now, this is where my adventure truly begins!"

...

And that's chapter two!

Personally, writing the battle scenes was quite a bit of fun. I hope it was just as fun for those of you reading them. Originally, I wasn't going to have Kirito and Kazuma meet until around the third chapter, but I had a change of plans.

Some people have been asking whether or not I'll add the other characters from Konosuba. At least for Aincrad, I currently have no plans to include them.

That's all for now. See you in the next chapter!