#4: December 2, 2022
One month. The same amount of time that the beta test lasted for. In that same amount of time, the beta testers got to floor eight, with players like Kirito leading the pack. But now? We haven't even made it past floor one.
Yet after one month, I, Haiyamoto, have managed to make it to level five despite my inexperience. Right now, it doesn't seem to be that impressive, but in this game of death, it's at least better than being level one or, even worse, dead. Even though I haven't partied up with anyone ever since Kirito left, I've seen death claim many of the 2,000 who have now ceased to exist.
Things seem to be looking up, though. After I reentered the Town of Beginnings today, I caught wind of a meeting, discussing the next course of action to be taken. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I can only guess that someone FINALLY found the dungeon's boss. That seems like a long shot, but it's something to string some hope on.
I decided to make my way to the meeting place: an old coliseum made of a white stone, maybe marble. Walking along with the dozens of others who plan to clear the game was both intimidating and disheartening. On the one hand, the fact that nearly thirty players were prepared to risk their lives to crack the first boss was inspiring, even to a beta tester like me; on the other hand, it was disappointing to see that these thirty out of nearly 8,000 players were the only ones deeply concerned with the game being cleared.
Anyways, we continued down the street, surely with pained looks of anxiety painted on most of them. Suddenly, I noticed a brown shroud slip past my left side. At first, I thought it was Kayaba, spying on his subjects, but I quickly dismissed that idea; I reassured myself that he would instead try to hide in plain sight. Knowing that, this player was the peak of my interest with their shadowy attitude. So, despite the risk, I nudged past the elite players to catch up with the robed figure.
I almost lost him when I walked up to the coliseum; it truly was a marvel, painted in a brilliant white and towering several stories high. I quickly snapped out of my trance, refocusing my efforts at tailing the robe again. It wasn't too hard, as I quickly relocated him and took a seat a few paces to the left of him.
But yet, something was off about this person. If you were to look at me, I'm dressed in an outfit composed of a black shirt, crimson shoes, deep blue pants, and a deep blue jacket; I couldn't hide myself even if I tried. But with this person, the robe seems to hide something they wouldn't want anyone to see.
That was it. My curiosity took over.
"H-hey there," I began. "What are you doing over here by yourself?"
The robe turned towards me, and I got a look at the face. I saw no eyes, but it was oddly shaped with smooth curves and decorated with light pink lips. At that instant, I knew what was going on.
"What does it matter?" the voice asked earnestly. It was clear I was speaking to a female player, as her voice reminded me of my sister. I also took note of the chestnut hair that continued past her shoulders under the hood.
"W-well, I j-just think that y-you should, umm…" I don't know why, but I was flustered. I knew quite a few girls in the real world, but something felt wrong about her. Maybe it was just because of her resemblance to my sister, but I felt very awkward around this girl.
"Hmmm?" she continued. "What do you want?"
"Oh, it's nothing." I squeaked out. She turned her head back towards the stage without another word. What was wrong with me? I never have so much trouble with girls, but what was wrong now?
"Can I have your attention, please?" A blue haired player called out from the stage. I guess the meeting was about to get underway now.
"Now then," he continued, "I would like to start by thanking all of you for coming. My name here is Diabel, a knight of this world." I chuckled. There was no form of job system here, but his dedication lightened me up a bit. Everyone in the stadium also agreed with me, shouting out similar remarks.
"H-hey," he interrupted. "Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" The stadium once again grew silent.
"One of the parties found the boss' lair today, at the top of the tower." Everyone, including myself, finally grew interested. After a month of leveling, everyone was anxious to finally get a chance to move onto the next floor. And traversing the labyrinths was the only way to unlock the next floor. As soon as the boss is beaten, though, the teleport gate is opened, and players can travel freely between floors.
"As you know," Diabel continued, "the next step is to beat the boss, continuing onto floor two. After that, it is our duty to inform all of the Town of Beginnings' residents that it is possible to clear the game. Am I wrong?"
He wasn't wrong, of course. Perhaps if the others are shown it's possible to clear the game, maybe there will be more confidence in the others to join the front line, wasting no time in getting home safely. Just then, the crowd broke into applause, and I generously joined in. But, the girl sitting next to me did nothing. What is with this girl?
"As to how we'll beat the boss, we'll start by grouping into parties of four to six players each." I twitched. Everyone in the first few rows vigorously formed their parties without a problem. I turned back to the girl almost immediately.
"H-hey," I started again. "Wanna party up? It's not like we can beat the boss as solo players." That was ironic coming out of me, but what choice did I have? There was no one else to party up with, so she was my first option.
Instead of a rejection, she just nodded. "Ok," she followed. I sent her a party request almost immediately, and she just as swiftly accepted. Her username, in turn, showed up in my window: Asuna.
"Asuna," I spoke out loud. "That's a pretty name. Is it part of your real name?" She said nothing as I realized how wrong that sounded.
"W-wait, that came out wrong. I…"
"H-hey, can I join your party?" asked a familiar voice. I looked past Asuna's head to discover Kirito sitting right next to us.
"K-kirito?" I asked.
"That you, Haiyamoto?" he asked back. I was instantly relieved to see him again.
I smiled. "Yep, buddy. It's me."
"Well then, mind if I join your party?"
"Sure thing, pal." I would be stupid not to. I looked at Asuna. "Don't worry. This guy is one of my friends. We can trust him." She silently nodded as I sent Kirito a party request. His health bar appeared in my window as a sign of his acceptance. I turned back to Diabel once more.
"I'm guessing you all have your parties formed by now." He implied. "Now then…"
"Wait just one second!" a voice from the crowd called out. However, when I turned, the man was standing on the top of the coliseum. He didn't stay there for long, as he jumped down from the top all the way to the stage at the bottom. As soon as he landed, I took note of his appearance; he was around my height, had red hair, and wore one of the standard outfits found at one of the NPC shops.
"Now listen up," the man started. "My name's Kibaou, got it?"
Sure, I thought. How could we not with your yelling?
He continued. "I want to let everyone know something that's been bothering me for a while. You all know about the 2,000 people dead so far, right? Well, some of you need to apologize to them right now!" He was practically screaming as he pointed to the crowd. What the hell is this guy's problem?
"You mean the ex-beta testers, don't you?" Diabel requested.
"Who else would I be referring to?" Kibaou replied. "As soon as this stupid game started, those bastards took off, taking all the easy quests and good hunting spots for themselves and leaving us beginners in the dust." He stared angrily at the crowd. "Hell, I'd be willing to bet there are some of them here now."
The feeling of shame he was trying to instill was nonexistent. In fact, I felt nothing but bitter hatred towards this bastard.
"In fact," he continued once more, "we should make them get on their knees, apologize, and relinquish all the money and items they stole as compensation for their greediness. In fact, why should we trust them in our parties when they don't trust us in the first place?"
It was taking all of my strength not to slug this asshole right in his jaw after what he was suggesting. Who the hell did he think he was, Akihiko Kayaba? I swear, I haven't felt this pissed in a long time. Why I oughta…
"Mind if I say something?" I heard another player say, and that snapped me out of my anger fit. It was a large, brown brute I was sure could pass for a barbarian with the right outfit. As he walked towards the front, I noticed an axe sheathed on his back, and when he stood in front of Kibaou, he looked like a giant.
"The name's Agil," the brute began. "Kibaou, right? So, let me see if I heard you correctly. You're saying that since the ex-beta testers didn't stay to help the beginners out, they should be punished and stripped of their items. Did I leave anything out?"
"You sure didn't," Kibaou replied.
Just then, Agil pulled out a brown book with a blank cover out from his pocket. "You know they still give these away for free, right?" Agil asked. "The guidebook?"
"Yeah, I have it, too. What about 'em?"
"You know who was handing these out?" Kibaou looked as if he didn't.
"No, who?"
"The ex-beta-testers." The crowd instantly began to murmur loudly. I knew all about that, too. But I guess only people like me care to know something like that.
"Listen up," Agil announced to the crowd, "Everyone had equal access to all of this information, but many players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers, I came here because I want to learn from their mistakes, to defeat the boss."
I was awestruck. I don't know very many people who don't hold a grudge against the beta testers, but Agil is definitely the most inspiring of them all.
He turned back to Kibaou. "Anything else you want to add?" Kibaou just grunted and stumbled back to a seat with the crowd. Agil retreated as well to his seat.
Diabel took center stage again. "Alright, back to the meeting." He continued. "Now, in the guidebook you just heard about, there is information about this floor's boss." The murmuring quickly grew in volume with this additional insight.
"The boss' name, according to the guidebook, is Illfang the Kobold Lord, and he will also be surrounded by a group of Ruin Kobold Sentinels, his servants."
At this point, the description seems very long winded. Now that I think about it, how did they get so much information about the boss?
Diabel continued. "The boss itself carries an axe and a buckler, and has four health bars. In addition, when the final bar is in the red, he switches to a curved sword called a Talwar and it shifts its attack patterns as well." To be honest, hearing the explanation regarding the boss nearly lulled me to sleep. I knew most of this information firsthand, so I really didn't need to come today.
"That's it for briefing," Diabel proclaimed as he shut the book. "Now, in terms of loot distribution, it will work like this: money will be divided equally amongst all players, the party that kills the boss gets the XP, and any dropped items go the player who receives it. Any objections?"
Personally, I had no issue with it at all, and I could tell everyone else was fine with these terms as well. I peeked at Kirito, and he just nodded in confirmation.
"Wonderful!" Diabel exclaimed. "Then the mission will start at 10 in the morning. Everyone is dismissed."
It's about time. As the parties slowly filed out the way they came in, I turned to look at the crowd gathered at the bottom. It seemed like Kibaou was apologizing to Diabel for interrupting the meeting; with the way he was speaking, he's lucky I don't take out half of his health with a single slug. I turned back to talk to Asuna and Kirito, but I noticed they weren't sitting; in fact, they were already walking out of the stadium with the other parties.
On that note, I stretched out of my seat and rushed to catch back up with them.
Greetings, readers. Once again, thanks for reaching the end of the chapter. As you see, I have shifted the perspective from third person to first person, inside Haiyamoto's head. I hope this shift will make the story more interesting for you. Also, I haven't really shifted the story much besides adding my character. I've still got a bit of world building before the story can truly shift. I've got some big plans for the future, and Asuna will help out with that in a big way.
Lastly, expect some decent gaps in between chapters, since I'm still a high school senior and all. However, I'll still support this fanfiction as well as my Gran Turismo and Crash Bandicoot as much as I can. *shameless self promotion* In fact, you should go read those those as well if you get bored here. *shameless self promotion*
Once again, thanks for reading, and look forward to the next chapter.
-rjm324
P.S. I promise less dialogue and more action next chapter!