Day 3…

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"Thank you for you purchase. Please come again." The Workshop NPC of the Shopping District spoke up as Xena purchased a ton of items leaving her with only 1000 Col left, but despite that, the young ginger-haired girl looked up with solid determination in her eyes.

"Don't think for a second Kayaba…" Xena spoke to herself as she saw the virtual Sun beginning to rise over the town. "Don't think I'll just cave in and die doing nothing. You hear me?! I'm going to beat this game, even if I have to do it myself!"

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2 Hours later…

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Screaming to the top of her lungs, Xena began to fight any mob she saw, no matter their difficulty. Using all the knowledge she possessed, remembering their fighting patterns, even trying to remember any skills they may have, Xena rushed forth without hesitation. One boar after another, one wolf to another, even to the large wasps she rushed forth.

Anytime she noticed her health low, she would stop and grab a health potion before continuing. Despite being exhausted, both physically and mentally, Xena kept this pattern up for who knows how long. The young girl eventually made her way to Medai Village after the virtual Sun rose over a new day.

Leaning against a tree just outside the gates of the village, Xena began to take some necessary breaths as she tried to calm herself down. As she did, she noticed other players beginning to make their way to the village as well. While she was looking down on the ground to try and control her breathing, two other players began to stand over her.

"Hey there lil' lady." One of the men spoke. His voice, already annoying Xena to the point that she felt her head ready to explode. As she looked up through the breaks her hair, she noticed that the two men weren't even that good looking. "You look tired, want some help?" As the man asked he reached out his hand to try and grab Xena's arm.

"Yeah, some help?" The other man spoke after the first.

"Πάρε το διάολο μακριά μου*." Xena spoke as she looked up with eyes filled with annoyance as she slapped the first man's hand away from her.

"Geez! What's your problem?!" The first man spoke, but not saying anything, Xena stood up and walked away from village and back out onto the fields.

Taking out another Dire Wolf that was larger than the previous ones she fought, Xena heard the Lvl Up announcement, and as she turned around, she noticed a board pop-up in front of her showing her level had gone up from Lvl. 8 to Lvl. 9.

"This is as far as I'm going to make it on this floor." Xena thought to herself as she was about to close the window, when she realized that an item had listed itself with her Lvl up board. "Wait…hold on….is that….?" Stunned at the new item she had received, Xena quickly opened her menu and pulled out the sword that was listed as new. "It is!" Xena equipped the sword and pulled it from its sheath that hung from her back. "The Azure Sky Blade! A rare blade like the Anneal Blade, that has an upgrade enchantment of 5, but this has a 6! AWESOME!" But her celebration was short lived as she heard the low chuckle of someone else.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your celebration, but I was just passing by when I heard you yelling." The man, in a bronze armor set, sky blue hair and blue eyes, with a large longsword handing from his left waist, and a kite shield on his back, approached the ginger-haired girl as her head creaked as it turned. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone about your short celebration." The man spoke with a wide smile. This caused Xena's face to blush so severely, it felt like she was having a fever. "Oh, where are my manners." Placing his right fist on his chest, the man spoke once again. "My name is Diavel, and I am currently on the search for players such as yourself to help me find the boss room."

"Huh?" Was the only thing Xena could think of at the moment as she was still frozen from embarrassment. "Hi." Was her only response. But despite that, Diavel still stood firm and brave, waiting for her response. "Are you sure you want me?" Xena asked, now fully understanding the situation.

"Yes, I happened to be walking around all the 1st Floor for player's help in finding the Floor 1 Boss, so we can move up." Diavel looked up towards the sky. "I want to be free of this death game as much as anyone, but that won't happen unless someone takes a stand and moves forward." His words struck a chord in Xena's heart. "So, could I count on you for help?" This time Diavel stretched out his hand to Xena.

Looking down at his hand, Xena was hesitant. For one: She was a beta tester. Every single player wanted nothing to do with people like her. Two: The player before her didn't know she was beta tester, and if she were to reveal that, he'd drop his hand and walk away. But just as the young girl made up her mind and was about to speak, Diavel spoke first.

"I could tell you might need some time to think about it, so meet me in Tolbana when you are ready." But before he turned his back, Diavel spoke once more. "And I know you are a beta tester." Shocked at his words, Xena gripped her new sword tightly. "Because I'm one too." And with those words, Diavel began to leave.

"Wait." Xena called out as she grabbed Diavel's hand.

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2 Weeks Later…

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"It's been about 3 weeks since we've been stuck here and we still haven't been able to find the Boss Room, huh?" Sean spoke up as he took a bite of his bread as he sat at a table with the two other players.

"Yeah." Sayori answered as she leaned on her chair and looked up towards the sky. Her blue eyes reflecting the light from the virtual Sun.

"Well what can you do." Thinker spoke up. "There's not a lot of people who are willing to go out on the front lines to try and find it. In fact, I've heard that a man dressed in blue was only able to get about 10 people to follow him to each of the pillars to try and find the Boss Room."

"OH, you mean Diavel?" Sean spoke up after Thinker's speech.

"You know him, Sean?" Thinker surprised that Sean, a man who hadn't left the Town of Beginnings at all in the 3 weeks since the Death Game began, heard about the man on the newly formed Front Lines.

"He tried recruiting Sayori." Sean pointed to the woman, who smiled proudly.

"Really?" Thinker asked as he looked towards the brown-haired woman.

"Yeah, but I told him I was busy protecting someone else, and he let it go." Sayori answered as she looked toward Sean with an evil grin, which made Sean shiver.

"Well…anyways…" Hearing some people whisper just behind him, Sean placed his finger on his mouth to quiet down the other two.

"Did you hear?" A player spoke

"About what?" Another answered.

"About the Red Hunter! What else?" The first player spoke loudly at the shock he had just witness. "How have you not heard about that player yet?"

"Oh, the Red Hunter." The second player, now realizing what the first was talking about knew where the conversation was going. "I've only heard the rumors but apparently, someone wandered into one of those giant pillars and noticed it was empty, so they followed the open path and noticed someone dressed in red coat dealing a ton of damage to the monsters and vice versa."

"Yeah, I heard this player continues fighting even though their health was in the red." The first player followed. "I also heard that the Red Hunter may have maxed out their speed and dexterity, so that's why their able to deal so much damage."

"Man, what are they, a Beta Tester?" The second, annoyed that the Red Hunter was strong than them, huffed.

"Who knows?" The first responded.

"The Red Hunter, huh?" Sean spoke up after a while.

"What's going on?" Sayori asked as she noticed Sean standing up.

"We're going to Tolbana." Sean answered.

Leaving at the same time, with her face as red as a tomato, Xena rushed out as fast as she could to the Teleport Plaza, while holding tightly onto the hood of her crimson red cape.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HOW EMBARRASING!" Xena yelled in her head as she ran straight for the teleporter. "If only I knew someone was watching I wouldn't have done what I did. I mean I wasn't entirely focused on my health at the time and only focused on clearing the Pillar as fast as I could! But still…"

Teleporting to Tolbana, Xena ran towards an alley to calm down. Her sudden popularity, despite them not knowing what she actually looked like, caused the young girl to become a bit more wary of her surroundings. Breathing out a sigh of relief as she made her way into Tolbana, via teleporter, Xena began to aimlessly walk around trying to figure out what she should do.

"Hey there." A familiar voice spoke up as Xena continued walking.

"Huh?" Now realizing that someone was talking to her, Xena looked around to notice Diavel to her left. "Diavel!" Happy to see someone familiar, Xena practically skipped to the blue-haired man. "What's up? You need something?"

"OH, well I need your help with something, if it's alright?" Diavel spoke oddly, which made Xena skeptical of what he was going to ask.

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An Hour Later…

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Taking out another mob, while Ember began walking around with her menu open, Xena looked around and noticed no other mobs spawning in.

"Hey, it's safe up ahead." Xena called out to Ember, who had remained quiet the entire time. "At least tell me it's an escort mission, κώλος**." Remembering the conversation she had back in Tolbana only made Xena angrier.

"If you don't mind, would you mind partying up with a player named Ember. She's our best scouter at the moment, so she shouldn't cause too much trouble. Just be there for her when she needs it." Diavel said as he gave the location on where to meet the player named Ember.

Sighing at the task she was given, Xena continued forward without much care, when out of nowhere, Ember grabbed Xena's red coat, and pulled her back and practically slammed her against the wall.

"Ow, what was that…" But Ember covered Xena's mouth as she looked over her shoulder. As Xena looked to see what had gotten Ember so worked up she noticed a giant Kobold Knight walking around with what looked to be a spike ball and chain as it dragged behind the giant. "Oh…" Xena thought to herself as she remained perfectly still.

With the monster walking away, the duo rose to their feet. After doing so, Ember bowed to the young girl, more than likely apologizing for her behavior, or so Xena liked to believe.

After another few minutes of walking, the duo came to a large hallway that led to a pair of large, metal doors.

"Is this it?" Xena asked as she noticed Ember walking towards the doors. "Hey."

But as the ginger haired girl noticed Ember trying to open the door, she also noticed that it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pushed. Looking back, Xena began to think.

"Hey, I think that giant Kobold Knight was the key to open the doors." Xena spoke up to grab Ember's attention, only to see Ember nod at her response, before typing something and began walking back to her.

Making their way back to Tolbana, Ember and Xena separated at the entrance.

"See ya." Xena spoke to which Ember just slightly bowed before continuing forward. "Not much of a talker, huh?" Now thinking as to what she should do for the time being, Xena was in deep though before coming to a decision. "Might as well get mats for upgrading. If we have to face that monster, I need to be as prepared as possible."

"SHIROU!" A voice yelled out, a voice that sounded like crystal, clear water. But the voice startled Xena quite a bit.

As Xena turned around, she noticed two players, a woman of deep brown hair, beginning to discipline a boy of silver-blue hair, as he held his hands up like he was caught being guilty of something.

"At least they are having fun." Xena said out loud as she walked out of Tolbana.

Seen poking Shirou's cheek, and digging her finger in said boy's cheek, Shirou took it as Diavel approached.

"Are you sure you two aren't dating?" Diavel asked as he approached.

"I can assure you we are not." Shirou answered as he grabbed Shimizu's wrist and pulled her hand away.

"Alright, let's go with that." Diavel answered with a small smile. "Are you going out tomorrow?" The sky-blue hair man asked.

"We are." Shirou answered. "We were told that there was still one pillar left to check, so my party and I were going to check it out. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I sent a party up to another pillar close to here and…they may have found the Boss Room." Diavel answered as his expression became serious.

"Really?" Shimizu asked again, hoping she didn't hear wrong.

"Really." Diavel answered, giving the answer Shimizu was hoping for.

"After a whole month, we can finally move up." Shimizu spoke as her voice cracked.

"We'll finish our little side job as quickly as we can and meet you later." Shirou spoke up after the other two spoke.

"We were about to have meeting, so you should join it first. We'll be meeting in the Amphitheater." Diavel added before he walked away.

As Diavel left, the two young adults looked at each other.

"Want to go?" Shirou asked.

"Well, if anything the twins are probably already there." Shimizu answered. "So, yes." She spoke with a smile. "Let's go."

.

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Author's Note:

These are rough translations, sorry if I made any mistakes.

*- Get the hell away from me

**- A**hole

Another Author's Note: While I am still taking OC, this might be my fault for not writing it, but please don't go giving your characters op skill or abilities such as Dual Wielding, since I want to keep the story in line with the original as much as possible while making as original as I can. Thank you and sorry for not mentioning this in my Character Sheet.