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Ochese: There won't be any Player who isn't Japanese... unless they happened to be in the country at the time and were rich and connected enough to snag something for themselves... Don't *pft!* worry about it.

Guest: Sure, why not.


Chapter 02: Party


'RUN! RUN! RUN!'

They were right behind him, not the same ones but they were all after him. He wasn't sure where he currently was anymore. If he could just slow down to see-

'DON'T STOP DON'T STOP THEY ARE RIGHT BEHIND-!'

He could outrun them, but there were just so many and they were everywhere.

'RUNRUNRUN-'

His breath was stuttered, his eyes were stinging from the terrified tears dripping down his face, he was so confused and panicked and tired and-

'ARGH OH GOD IT GRABBED ME STAB IT STAB IT-'

Twisting about, he brought down his dagger into the head of the monster than had bitten into his leg, thankful for the lack of pain before moving on again. Clutching hard onto the dagger and another hand pressed hard on his midriff, he jetted down the path. A turn here, a twist down those bushes-

'NO! BACKTRACK! BACKTRACK!'

Turning frantically, one foot tripped on the other, throwing his balance off. There was a standstill moment of muted disbelief before he sprawled across the grass, chin smacking on the ground bone-jarringly hard.

'NO!'

This was it. This was the end.

'I am going to die here. I am going to die without meeting Akiko, Mum and Dad again. I am going to die here, in some crazy game I went and Beta Played. I don't want to die. I don't want to die this way. I am going to die without fulfilling my dream.'

Oddly enough, it was the last thought that stayed with him, reverberated the loudest in his mind. Desperate, he pushed himself up onto his knees and pointed his dagger at the snarling wolves that had him backed up against the cliffside, but the pathetic trembling that was wracking his limbs and making his knees shaking and weak just wouldn't stop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

With a shout bursting with raw emotion, a form suddenly slammed into the lead wolf from above, the impact kicking up a plume of dirt and not even giving the monster a chance to move before it was broken apart into a flurry of pixels.

He blinked in at the one who'd literally dropped down to save him, recognizing that fluffy nest of brown hair. "S-Sawada-san?!"

"Irie-san! I'm so glad that you're okay!" Sawada replied in relief, keeping his gaze trained on the wolves before him with the sword in his hands much steadier than the rescuee expected.

Giving only low growls as warning, two more of the remaining four wolves pounced at their new prey, only for the 'prey' to slam his fist into the closer wolf's face. The monster was launched away from him, yelping as it was painfully recoiled from the punch. In the same motion, Tsuna brought his sword up into a familiar stance as the second wolf came dangerously close.

"What?!" Shoichi Irie gaped as he recognized the Sword Skill. "Sawada-san, no! You can't use a {Slant} on-"

*CLANG!*

'Huh?' Shoichi's jaw dropped as the metallic sound of a successful {Slant} rang through the air when Sawada inexplicably trapped his blade between the clasped jaws of the wolf and promptly split the monster in half.

Half-blinded by shock and awe, Shoichi stared at Sawada's form as the pixels briefly floated around him. 'Wait, is it just me or did his eyes always look that orange-'

"Amazing, Tsuna!"

Shoichi blinked as a girl approached them with a spear in her hands, the last two wolves dying behind her. "Wh-Who are you?"

"Irie-san, this is Chrome." Sawada introduced the girl, who actually curtsied and made the Beta Tester feel like he should reciprocate with a bow. "Chrome, this is my friend. The one I told you was one of the Beta Testers."

"Irichi. My avatar name is Irichi." 'Irichi' clearly stated. "Sawada-san, tell me your avatar name. We can't be carelessly addressing each other by our real names in here."

"..ah, right." Sawada nervously shifted about. "The name I chose to use... was 'Tsuna'."

Irichi blinked and turned to stare at his friend. "What."


Savannah Field, Tolbana, Floor 001 (10:00, December 2nd 2022)

Tsuna groaned as he collapsed onto his butt, paying no heed to the exhausted belly flop of Irichi near him or Chrome as she slumped down to her knees and used her spear to support herself.

None of them paid much mind to the {Congratulations!} they'd received for finishing the mission.

Due to Irichi's warning about the variations he'd found different from the Beta Test, the bespectacled boy had recommended that they all needed to reach at least Level 10 before so much as thinking of finding the 1st Floor Boss room.

Unfortunately, high EXP missions weren't easy to come by, so Tsuna had decided that they simply do everything that they could find, hoping for the EXP to accumulate and stockpile.

"Looks like you guys did well again, Irichi and co.."

Tsuna instantly sat up, his gaze directed to the hooded girl up high in a nearby tree. "Argo-san?"

It would take a very disinterested ISF player to not know of the game's most reliable informant.

"What are you doing here?" Irichi moaned as he got up and sheathed his knife. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah. It's finally time to go up." Argo dropped down before them and pointed upwards. "Up to the 2nd Floor. The Floor Boss Chamber has been found and the news is spreading. You guys should get going before you get left behind. Irichi, I want to finetune some of the stuff I asked you about yesterday."

Argo turned her gaze from Irichi to Tsuna. "The location is at the nearby amphitheater by 4PM. Don't miss it."


Amphitheater, Tolbana, Floor 001 (16:02, December 2nd 2022)

"Wow... Look at all these people..." Tsuna muttered at the surprisingly large turnout. "Despite all the deaths and knowing that it's up against the strongest one yet..."

"They aren't all that pure in their motives, Boss." Chrome said as she sat down beside him. Ever since he had invited Irichi into their Party, she'd taken to calling him 'Boss' after the Cardinal System made him the Party leader, despite his protests. When he'd stated that he liked it when she called him by name, Chrome had blushed before firmly sticking to it. Irichi, the bastard, went along with it. "While I don't doubt that there are some with the desire to clear the game and go home, most of the people here just seem competitive."

"Yeah." Irichi nodded in agreement. "Despite the circumstances... or maybe even because of them, most of the people in ISF are still gamers, Tsuna-san. They relish the challenge."

"Thank you all for heeding my call today! You are the best and brightest of ISF!" A blue haired man adorned in equipment far better than everyone else's clapped his hands to catch their attention. "My name's Diavel and I like to think myself... as playing a {Knight}!"

Many of the players all laughed at him for his self-proclamation to his class.

"Now, you're all top players in the game and I hardly need to remind you of why we're here."

Chrome blinked and turned to spy Argo casually standing beside a pillar, the informant's {Hiding} Skill masking her from most of them. Apparently, she realized that she'd been noticed when she gave a small wave at Chrome's direction.

"Today, our Party discovered the Floor Boss Chamber!" Diavel declared, instantly getting all of their attention. "The time has come to beat the Boss and reach Floor 002!"

"Hieee..." Tsuna sighed in a mix of relief and worry. The good news was that they had really found the Floor Boss. The bad news was that Tsuna would definitely have to fight it. He didn't want to, but he had to clear the game and go home.

"It took an entire month, but now we have the chance to show everyone that someday... we can beat this game of death! Am I correct in believing that everyone here agrees with me?!"

Diavel's question was met with whistles and mutters of approval, with Tsuna joining the applause that soon started up.

"Hang on just a sec, sir knight!"

The figure who shouted hopped across the seats and onto the stage. "Gotta get this offa my chest before we can start playin' like we're all pals!"

"What's on your mind? Diverse opinions are always welcome." Diavel easily welcomed him to his side. "Although, you still have to introduce yourself."

"The name's Kibaou and also..." Kibaou turned to face the stands, a cruel glare on his features. "C'MON, YOU COWARDLY BETA TESTERS! SHOW YERSELVES!"

"I know there's five or ten of 'em here! Come out and name yerselves!" Kibaou snarled, his eyes raking the disturbed players before him. "You owe an apology to the 2,000 people who already died because you were too busy hoggin' everything to yerselves! Now get out here, get on yer knees and donate yer stockpile of Col and Items!"

Irichi shook nervously beside Tsuna. During the initial period, Irichi had spend most of his time hiding away from everyone, only venturing outside for basic amenities as he was too terrified to even wander around the Safe Zone.

Not only was it a total accident that he had wandered into a spawning zone and had been saved by Tsuna, Irichi refused to ever be alone from either him or Chrome afterwards.

Now, Tsuna was aware of why Irichi had done so.

"Don't get up or say anything." Tsuna ordered Irichi, grabbing his arm for emphasis. "That guy doesn't really care for the people that died. He's using them to extort Beta Testers of all their stash."

Chrome nodded in agreement. "He's saying things like 'compensations' but I don't think that he wouldn't use it all for himself, instead. He's like a mix between a scammer and graverobber."

Irichi gulped nervously, but stayed quiet as his shaking slowly subsided.

"May I speak?" A huge dark-skinned and bald man with an axe on his back approached Kibaou, looming over him. "My name's Agil. Kibaou, if I have this right... you're claiming that many newbies died because the Beta Testers didn't help out, so they ought to pay compensations? Is that right?"

"Y-Yeah. They went for the most lucrative hunting spots and Quests, forcing the newbies to venture into dangerous zones and die for that." Kibaou's eyes narrowed. "You know anyone around who fits that bill?"

"Nope. But I do have something that was created by them." Agil reached into his back pocket to pull out a small book. "Every time I reached a new town, this guidebook was freely available at all the Item shops."

"F-F-Freely available?!" Irichi's head snapped up indignantly with a harsh whisper. "Even though Kirito-san and I contributed, Argo still charged us 500 Col each for the finalized version!"

This time, all three of them turned to Argo, only to realize that she had vanished from her spot. Nearby, Kirito swore just as furiously as Irichi mentally did.

"This isn't the time to bring up the ones we've lost, but rather the time to move on and deal with this shitty game with whatever help that we can get." Agil finished, glaring at Kibaou and daring him to continue. "After all, it's not like Kayaba himself spared them from getting them dragged into here."

"I'm of the opinion to take the Beta Tester's help as well, Kibaou." Diavel chirped in. "If we're going to beat the Floor Boss-"

"Diavel-san! Diavel-san!" A random player rushed forward from the side, a new guidebook clutched in his hand. "L-Look!"

Diavel grabbed the guidebook and gawked at the cover. "Wha... A strategy guide for the Floor Boss?!"

"The NPC shop in the square just got them in..." The player panted.

"So that's why she called in me and Kirito-san..." Irichi sighed as he slumped against the stone stairs. "With all the variations, she wanted as much input as possible."

"The Boss's name... Estimated HP... Sword Skills... Attack damage... Even his mobs..." Diavel flipped through the guidebook with Agil and Kibaou looking over his shoulders. As he kept speaking, more players went down from their seats to surround Diavel, staring at the guidebook in awe. "This is pretty informative. Considering the stats here, it looks like that passing rumor to that we had to reach Level 10 before fighting the Floor Boss really was more of a prerequisite. Anybody here lower than Level 9 at least?"

A chorus of cheers and laughs was his reply.

Tsuna (Level 10), Chrome (Level 10) and Irichi (Level 9) sighed in relief simultaneously.

"Wait just a damn second!" Kibaou snapped, pointing at a label on the side of the guidebook. "Look at this here!"

[WARNING! This information is taken from the ISF Beta Test and may not match all details of the current version of the game.]

"I knew it! The informant knows who's a Beta Tester!" Kibaou raged. "In fact... I bet the Rat must be a Beta Tester herself! Maybe we need ta go have a lil' chat, eh?"

Tsuna moved before he could even think, leaping off his seat until he was right before Kibaou. "Don't even think about it!"

"Hah?!" Finally faced with someone shorter and younger than him, Kibaou made to grab Tsuna's collar only for the boy to stop his wrist cold.

"Who do you think you are, making accusations like that?!" Tsuna felt like there was fire running through his blood, thrumming in his soul, but his voice came out steadier than he thought it could. "If Argo-san or any Beta Tester are the ones responsible for this, why are you so dead set on antagonizing them? Just like the guidebook before, this was free, right?"

Tsuna directed his gaze to the player who had brought the new guidebook, making him balk under all the stares he got. "U-Uh, yeah. I didn't have to pay anything for it."

"If Argo-san or any of the Beta Testers she met for that were as selfish as you described, you do realize that the guidebook wouldn't even exist, much less be free of charge." Tsuna released Kibaou, who glared at him while massaging his wrist. "Just like you said, there are about 2,000 players who won't ever have the chance to meet the people they left IRL. You need to remember that no matter what you want to say about Beta Testers, Kayaba stuck them in here too. Plus, we all know that any Beta Tester who becomes unfortunate enough to have their identity revealed won't probably be saved from the lynching that will follow!"

Tsuna stomped forward, which had the effect of making Kibaou step back. "Don't be so eager to make people die for you!"

There was an uneasy silence that followed Tsuna's rant until Diavel flapped the guidebook to get back their attention. "He's right! Our enemy is the Floor Boss, not the Beta Testers. Let us be grateful for this information."

"Yeah." Agil agreed as he patted Tsuna's back. "It'll definitely save us all the reconnaissance missions. We might even be able to win without any casualties."

"That's indeed something we should strive for." Diavel stated as he held up the guidebook. "It says right here that may be variations different from the Beta Test, which means that if this had to be added in, the Beta Testers were the ones worse off as they might have relied too much on their knowledge. They know the risks even better than we do, so we must use this to our full advantage and win!"

This time, there was another roar of cheers louder than the previous one.

"Now, then. We have to form a proper Raid." Diavel instructed. "Anyone who hasn't joined a Party should do so. When that's over with, we can form a Raid under my own Party."

"Well, that's no problem for me." Tsuna sighed and turned about to head back to his friends, only for an arm to suddenly wrap around his shoulders.

"You were really something there, Sawada!"

Tsuna jilted and instantly turned to see a familiar easygoing smile he never expected to see. "Y-Yamamoto-san?!"

"Hahaha. It's nice... Well, it's reassuring at least to see somebody else from my school here." Takeshi Yamamoto chuckled. "I actually go by TakeSushi here."

"I-I'm Tsuna here. Really, just Tsuna." Tsuna replied. "Where's your Party?"

"I've actually just been playing solo." TakeSushi replied. "What about your Party? Think you can get me an invite from your leader?"

"A-Actually, I am the Party Leader." Tsuna puffed his chest out. "W-Would that be a problem?"

"Not at all." TakeSushi slapped Tsuna's back again, making him cough. "Just send me the invite and I'll be in your care."

"Okay. If you've been playing Solo all this while, you'll at least be reliable." Tsuna sent him the Party Invite, which he instantly accepted. On his status screen, he saw the name under Irichi's, which read "TakeSushi". "You really did take the name of your dad's shop."

TakeSushi simply laughed again while Tsuna went to register his Party to Diavel for the Raid.

"Well, that should do it." Diavel announced after finalizing everything. "We tackle Illfang the Kobold Lord two days from now. Meet again here at 10AM. Use tomorrow to rest up and prepare. Or just get to know each other if today's your first time meeting your Party members. That's all!"


Training Field, Tolbana, Floor 001 (17:47, December 2nd 2022)

"Woah." Irichi gawked at the new knives the Spawn Boss had dropped after Irichi had managed to get a drop on it. There were a pair of kukris with blades that shimmered yellowish in the sunlight. "These are much better than the Iron Knife I usually use."

"I think those are the {Aurora Kukris}." Chrome commented. "Now you just need to upgrade them in town and we'll all be set for tomorrow's battle."

TakeSushi hefted up {Aoigetsu} and looked at his Party members curiously. "People usually give my own Rare Drop Item jealous looks but you guys are fine with these?"

"Other than the fact that none of us actually use knives as extensively as Irichi-san does, we all now have our own Quest rewards or Rare Item Drops." Tsuna explained. "Mine is the {Anneal Blade}."

"And mine is the {Dream Prong}." Chrome held up her spear, which had a spearhead that was split in two and could potentially break a sword caught between it.

"Huh." TakeSushi smiled as he sheathed his katana. "I guess I really lucked out in meeting you guys. "Other than how understanding and close you guys are, there's something reassuring about having a familiar face nearby."

"You too, TakeSushi-san." Tsuna sympathized as Chrome and Irichi started to lead the way towards the nearest blacksmith. "It helps that you're one of the few jocks in school who didn't bully me. I mean, you're nice to everyone but... "

"It's fine... Besides..." TakeSushi looked upwards to the sky. "This might sound weird, but other than really missing my dad, I actually like this place. Here, I don't have to be the Baseball Ace anymore. I mean, I still like baseball and you're probably confused-"

"No, I... I get it. I really do..." Tsuna sighed in understanding, remembering the years of skittishness, inner cold and bullying. Then he remembered the utter feeling of right the moment he entered ISF, along with the respect he'd slowly earned from his fellow players with his skills and feats. Most importantly, the friends he'd made in the death game. "In here, I don't feel like Dame-Tsuna. I'm just... Tsuna. A name I used to own before my bullies twisted it."

"And I'm just TakeSushi, a name that will always connect me to my old man back home." TakeSushi sighed. "Well, it's just nice to have found another Namimori Middle student here too."

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah, just the two of us."

TakeSushi blinked and looked at Tsuna in confusion. "What? No, there're two others from our school here, too."

Tsuna took a second to process that sentence. "...WHAT?!"


KingVessel: Just so that we're clear, neither Hibari nor Ryohei are in the game. Leave your reviews!