Rotsen sighed as he closed the calendar window he had opened up at his side. He rested the empty wooden cup on the table, running a hand through his inky hair. He was sitting in the back of an inn. He was in the village that was at the entrance of the main dungeon, the one that held this floor's final boss. It had been over a month already and over two thousand players had already died from mobs, suicide, and other players. In that month no one has even found the dungeon boss on the first floor. What was worse was that people were starting to lose hope, increasing that suicide rate. A few of the other optimistic players already held a meeting yesterday, out by the entrance of the dungeon. He stayed at the outskirts of the small crowd, listening to them. The only Intel he got was that there were a noticeable number of players who hate Beta Tester's guts. He heard enough once they brought in the book he and the other testers had written for the players. He planned not to help them out. He thought if they were going to be negative about the Beta Testers for not helping then they're ignorant enough to die without their help. Besides, if that party gets demolished then later he can go with a few other high level players and sweep the boss.

He stood up from his table, leaving a copper coin on the table. He idly walked out of the inn and headed for the metal shop. He needed a new weapon since the sword wasn't doing it for him anymore. Mobs were starting to get stronger and it was starting to get unconformable for him to hold and attack with. He already upgraded his gloves and tunic, now having dark blue gloves that increased his attack speed and a black leather clock that decreased his armor but doubled his evasion.

He passed a few handful of players and NPC's outside, players were either heading for the meeting place or just shopping around while the NPC's were either just walking on their programed routes or were trying to sell stuff to players. It didn't matter to the American; he simply ignored the commotion and headed for the metal shop.

The shop looked like every other shop on the streets; only thing separating it from the rest was the sign that held a hammer crossed over an anvil. Rotsen slowly steeped in, surprised that a bell went off as he entered. He appreciated the small addition to the shops before taking in the shop.

It was a cozy and hot room made of a mix of bricks and planks. The Beta Tester had to remind himself that lower level shops aren't supposed to look nice. There were armor stands on the walls and handful of weapons hanging on the walls separate from the armor. At the end was a black brick counter; behind it was an overly built African American blacksmith NPC working at the small forge behind the counter.

Rotsen started to browse the armor, being a little disappointed that there wasn't any lighter armor. When he was tired of looking at heavy metal armor he made a quick turn to the weaponry, hurting his head from making head to head contact with someone.

He fell to the floor with a thud, groaning as he rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, god damn…"

"Hey, watch it!" A feminine voice called back near him, also sounding in pain and annoyance.

Rotsen's eyes widen as he heard the familiar voice. He stood rubbing his bruised head and looked across from himself, seeing Lisbeth also sprawling on the floor with materials all over the floor. What was odd about her was that she no longer had her short brown hair but had changed it to puffy pink.

"Are we seriously going to keep doing this?" Rotsen said slyly, having a playful grin as he gotten Lisbeth's attention.

Her eyes widen a little as she finally looked over to him. Her eyes were a little glassy as she roughly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck, almost chocking him to death. "Thank god you're not dead!" Lisbeth's eyes widen a little as she realized what she was doing. Her face reddens from sheer embarrassment from her impulsive act. She quickly let him go; pushing him square in the chest so he was on his back. "I mean, I thought you would've died to some slim or something out there."

Rotsen groaned a little, feeling a little upset from the push. "And for a second I thought you actually cared."

Lisbeth huffed, crossing her arms as she got up, looking away from him. He raised an eyebrow, not sure what she was doing. "Uh, what?"

"It's your mess, you pick it up. " She said coldly, still looking away with an angry expression.

The American sighed as he picked up all the resources and dumped them in her crossed arms. "There, happy?" His face quickly reddens when he noticed after the whole month of separation He was actually a noticeable inch shorter than Lisbeth, embarrassing him.

"Over joyed." She said as she put everything back in her inventory, not noticing his blush. "So anyways, hey! How come you haven't messaged me?"

"Sorry 'bout that, been really busy with level grinding and getting some gold. What's your excuse for not messaging me then?"

"Level grinding and collecting resources, mostly. That and I found out about the Skill Workers."

For the first time in the whole month Rotsen had never been genially surprised by anything. "Skill Workers? What the hell are those?"

"Oh, something Mr. Beta Tester, doesn't know?" Lisbeth had a very playful and smug grin on her face, enjoying her friend's distress. "Just so you know it was actually a last minute update they added in. Basically you can get skills to get you materials, make certain things, and get some money in your pocket and Exp. Like for the blacksmith skill, it allows you to make weapons and mine certain ore others can't get. It also increases my damage dealing and tanking. Leather working helps your agility and speed, cooking and alchemy helps out your status resistance, and tailoring just helps you get a lot more money than the others."

"That's pretty cool, and over powered."

"Not really, you can only have one skill at a time. If you max one out and want another you have to give up your previous one and get the new one, losing your buffs."

"Speaking of skills why not we head out to an inn I know, they have really good hot chocolate."

Lisbeth pretended to think it over, giggling to herself when she saw Rotsen's impatient express. "Sure, why not? My friend's gonna be busy all day with that dungeon raid anyways, and before you ask yes I am worried but I know she can handle herself without my help."

As the two started to leave the metal shop a thought came across Rotsen's mind. "Speaking of which, you never had told me your friend's name, and please do add you month's adventure."

"Her names Asuna, a really good friend of mine and an amazing player, better than you for sure." She grinned a little as Rotsen rolled his eyes. "She's a little shy, no scratch that, very socially awkward when it comes to new people. Before she left she had to use a brown cloak we gotten from a monster drop. No armor whatsoever, it's more of an accessory, and-"

The American had to cut her off as the two entered the inn, not wanting to hear her ramble on about an accessory. "Are you really going to ramble on that cloak?"

An NPC waitress walked towards them as they sat at the back of the inn, sticking to her programing. "What can I get you two?"

"Two hot chocolates and two strawberry cake slices." Rotsen raised two fingers, holding ten copper coins between them, breaking into blue code and disappearing.

The waitress smiled as two cups, forks, and plates materialized in front of them. The cups were quickly filled with hot chocolate and the plates held small slices of vanilla cake, decorated with whip cream and a strawberry. "Enjoy your stay."

When the NPC was gone Lisbeth finally spoke, picking up her fork. "I'm not gonna do that. Basically we've been exploring the edge of the west and northern quadrants of the 1st floor. There were some close calls here and there but we were able to get out of them all, no sweat." She poked her fork at the cake, almost questioning its existence. "Another noob question, we don't have to eat, do we? Asuna I and haven't eaten for a while. Longest had been two weeks."

"You don't have to eat but it helps your mind and stomach. You'll feel a lot better and be able to keep on doing what you've been doing." As a demonstration he got a piece of his slice and ate it, enjoying the flavor. "Sadly you can't live off this stuff. I heard a few players died from not eating anything IRL way back when this was in Beta. If your folks were smart to all the hospital they should be feeding you regularly."

"I hope so…" Lisbeth started to get a little depressed, her mind wandering back to her real home. She was so occupied with her thoughts she was oblivious to the fact that she was stirring her hot chocolate with her unused fork.

Rotsen felt the sadness coming off her and quickly came up with an idea. He dipped his thumb into his cake slice, getting frosting on his thumb. He stretched over the table and whipped it on her nose, causing him to laugh as she blinked and blush from both embarrassment and anger.

"You eat your food, not play with the utensils." Rotsen joked, dodging a glare from Lisbeth "Go on and eat. It won't bite."

Lisbeth growled loud enough for him to hear as she whipped the cream away and took a piece, grumpily eating it. Her eyes widen as she tasted it, falling in love with the sweet, creamy strawberry flavor. She took several more quick bites and didn't stop until it was all gone. Her let out a disappointed whimper that Rotsen thought was too cute for her to do, causing him to chuckle.

"Not bad huh?" He asked aloud as he finished his slice, washing it down with the rest of his hot chocolate.

"No, it wasn't…" She crossed her arms, her face going a little red as she looked away. "Thank you for the meal."

"No problem," He laid down a copper coin on the table, disintegrating into blue code and disappearing.

Lisbeth's eyes widen slightly as she watch the coin disappear before her. "What happened, why'd you do that?"

"There are always these hidden quests in inns and other shops. If you can find it and complete it then you have two choices; either take a large amount of coin as a reward or get a share of the shop. With that share you have to always donate at least weekly to the shop and by the end of the week you should have a nice share of the profit the shop had made from other players. Donation varies on the floor level. You can either keep it like that or save up, not collecting the money, and later get another quest from the shop. If you can complete it without fail then you get the shop for yourself. Downside is whatever that shop was that's what it'll stay as. If it's a bread shop then it'll stay a bread shop but you can decorate it however you wish."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

"Then c'mon," the American stood up from the table, already finished. "NPC's don't like it when players hang around for long if they're not going to order more."

Lisbeth stood along with him, the two walking out and were caught off guard by the sun already setting.

"It's already getting late, I have to go."

"Where to?"

"I promised Asuna that I'd wait outside the entrance to the dungeon."

"I'll walk with you," he sped up, making Lisbeth walked faster to stay at his side. He laughed a little, seeing her annoyed look and slowed down. "I got nothing better to do for the day."

"I appreciate it," Lisbeth teased, sounding very sarcastic. She quickly dropped it and started to get serious. "You think they beat the boss?"

Rotsen hesitated, biting his tongue so he wouldn't say what he was truly thinking. He would bet a gold coin that they'd all die, if not several survivors. He had to be positive, for her sake since she did have a friend that probably didn't make it. "Yeah, no doubt they already beaten then boss and are heading here now."

"Do you have any friends here?"

The question caught the American off guard, making him stay quiet for a moment, letting his untamed inky hair drape over his face. "Only one I have is you, as my friend." He could feel intense emotion forming around them. He didn't like the situation and so he changed it quickly. The entrance could already be seen and numerous of players could be seen. He swished his head, making his hair move out of his face and revealed a positive expression. "Hey, there they are."

Lisbeth scanned the group of players flowing out, noticing it was missing about a quarter of players. She started to run when she couldn't find her friend. Rotsen ran after her, mentally preparing himself if Asuna didn't make it. When he caught up with her he wasn't surprised to see sad expressions on players. He was relieved when he saw Lisbeth hugging a player taller than her. She was a brunette in a white tunic and red armor with a Wind Fleuret at her side, a relatively rare monster drop. She had a dull and broken face, as if someone back stabbed her.

Rotsen walked over, hearing Lisbeth mumble out her famous words of kindness. "Thought you'd died, dummy."

"No way," she said softly, trying to cover up her hurt expression. "We beat the boss and opened the door to the second floor. We just came back since we needed to regroup."

"What happened to everyone?" The American couldn't help himself; he had to ask what had been bothering his mind ever since yesterday after the meeting. "There's gotta be a quarter of this squadron missing?"

"I'll tell you what happened," yelled a player with spiky brunette hair that went by the name of Kibaou. He was obviously livid from who knows what. "We did lose comrades, all because of a Beater!"

"A Beater?" Rotsen asked, having one of his rare surprised moments.

"It's a Bata Tester and a cheater." He answered back, stepping closer to him. "A player by the name Kirito didn't tell us anything about the final boss drop and what we should be watching out for! Damn Beta Tester should be killed on site for not telling any of us! They could have saved those dead players if they weren't so self-centered and took all the good grinding areas!"

Rotsen was clenching his fist the whole time. He heard enough from Kibosh yesterday and he wasn't quite in the mood for someone to be blaming deaths on him. "Hey, we tried to help you guys! We wrote that book for you all! If you weren't all idiots then you would have all survived the first week no sweat!"

Everyone grew silent as they all stared at Rotsen. The air seemed cold as the silence started to grow older than the noise that once filled the area. It didn't break until Kibosh spoke lowly.

"Y-you're a Beater?" Whispers started to arise, all being able to be heard.

"Seriously?"

"He doesn't look like it,"

"How come he wasn't with us?"

"He must be cheating too,"

"We can't trust him,"

It didn't stop until one player in the back shouted. "We gotta kill this Beater."

"The hell?" Rotsen yelled back, taking a step back.

"He's right, Beaters can't be trusted!"

"Get him!"

With that final shout the whole crowd went wild. They all charged at him, drawing out their weapons. Rotsen reacted fast, leaping to the side and jumping to the side of the coliseum like entrance. He took advantage of the other player's confused state and looked at Lisbeth. She had a hurt and confused expression, locking eyes with him. The American trembled a little, thinking about the crowd that was still confused. He knew now people weren't going to take Beta Testers too lightly, meaning if anyone here spreads the word about him he'd be killed on sight if he was seen by anyone like them.

He locked eyes with Lisbeth one last time before raising his pinky, his way of telling her he'll see her when he could. He looked away, raising his hood from his cloak and jumped back to the area and ran into the dungeon. He had a new plan. He had to be aggressive if he was going to survive now. He was going to have to be a Beater if he was going to survive now. He made a promise and he was going to see that through.

Sorry that it wasn't longer but I thought I'd cover what players would be doing after the first dungeon.

If you guys don't like this story then please don't hesitate to stop reading.

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Till next time guys!