After the boss fell, there was a moment of silence followed by an explosion of joy from everyone.

They all held hands and congratulated each other on their efforts.

After the temporary celebration died down, there was no one to take charge,

Everyone gathered together with people they knew to some extent, and then started going on vacation separately.

Hachiman must have been tired, as he sat down on the sidelines and sipped his usual drink.

Asuna walked over to Hachiman and sat down as well.

Hachiman took out a drink and handed it to Asuna.

Kirito also seemed tired as he made his way over to Hachiman and sat down next to him,

Noticing that the two were drinking something, he asked Hachiman.

"What's that you're drinking?"

"Is it this? This is a pseudo-thing."

When Hachiman told Kirito the name of the product, it seemed he already knew it.

"I really don't like that kind of thing..." he muttered,

He took out a drink from his own storage and began drinking in the same way.

"That's the first step, Hachiman."

"It's only one layer though."

"But it's an important step."

"Oh, it's just starting."

"...Hachiman, do you think this will end without any incident?"

"That's probably impossible... I've lost too much. I just want to go home and get some sleep, you know."

As expected, Kibaou took the lead and started making noise with some of the other players.

"Why did Diavel have to die?!"

Kibaou first aimed his anger at Kirito.

I wonder if Kirito knew about the sword but hid it from her.

And there's no doubt now that Kirito is a beta tester.

Maybe it was because he had just lost his pillar, Diavel.

The atmosphere at the meeting gradually shifted again to criticism of the beta testers.

"What should we do, Hachiman?"

"Honestly, the only thing I can think of is to refute everything with sound reasoning,

I'm not sure if it will be accepted. It might even cause more resentment."

The story of Kibaou came again, just like at the meeting.

The general consensus was that beta testers were dirty after all.

And just as the attack was about to head towards Hachiman and Asuna,

Suddenly Kirito stood up and began rambling on to Kibaou.

"Why do you guys praise such beta testers?

It actually sounds like he's praising them, saying that they're always ahead of the game and are sneaky.

Look, as you all know, there are only a thousand beta testers.

How many of them do you think were top people from other MMOs, if not VR?

Just because they're beta testers doesn't mean they're all amazing.

But not me. I was always the first to get there, the first to get to the top floor.

I know things you guys don't know. Don't lump me in with the beta testers."

Hearing these words, cheers rose up from the crowd.

"What the heck is that? That's cheating!"

"That's cheating!"

"Beta tester, cheat, beater!"

"Beater! Beater!"

Kirito operated the menu, changed into a black coat, and said.

"This is the equipment that just dropped from the boss.

What do you think? Isn't this a fitting look for a beater?

For this purpose, I made use of two people there who seemed to be quite skilled for amateurs.

They were naive and had no idea that they were being used.

I'll activate the teleportation gate. Go back to town and behave yourself."

With that, Kirito climbed the stairs to the second floor alone.

"Don't mess with me, Beater! Apologize to Diavel-san!"

Someone shouted, and everyone joined in, yelling abuse at Kirito as he walked away.

However, for some reason, Kibaou had a confused look on his face.

It was a strange expression, one that seemed to be a mixture of hatred and suspicion.

Hachiman and Asuna, confused by Kirito's sudden behavior, were whispering to each other.

"Hachiman-kun... is that... is that really what it was?"

"Yeah, I think that's right. Just like me back then."

"What are you going to do?"

"It is possible to turn this current big negative into a small negative.

The only problem is whether I can get everyone to listen to me in this situation..."

"I guess I need some kind of impact."

"Well... something amazing would be needed to distract us from our anger."

Hachiman took a sip of the drink he was holding, trying to gather his thoughts.

Asuna asked Hachiman as if taking him by surprise.

"Hey, Hachiman. What did you think when you first saw my face?"

Hearing those words, Hachiman spat out the drink in his mouth.

"Eh, ah, is that something you need right now?"

"Ah, yeah. I mean, it's not like it has any weird meaning."

"Oh, right, I see. Well... I was really surprised. In many ways..."

"I'll question you about the various meanings later, but I see, if you were surprised then I guess it's okay."

Hachiman's face was a little red, but when he heard those words, his face turned pale.

"Oh, hey. You're not kidding..."

"I don't think people really listen to people they don't know well.

If Hachiman could just talk, maybe things would be a little better?

So right now, we just need to make sure everyone hears what Hachiman has to say."

"That's true, but placing an unnecessary burden on Asuna..."

"Right now, Hachiman is my most precious friend.

So, if any burden falls on either of us, we'll both bear it.

Let's both bow to everyone and look each other straight in the eye. Let's go, Hachiman!"

"I guess I'm no match for Asuna after all... Got it. I'll go in head-on."

The two stood in the center and raised their voices.

"Sorry, could you please listen to what we have to say for a moment?"

"Please, listen to us."

"What's wrong with you guys? You're not actually his friends, are you?"

"What else is there to ask now?"

If anything, it was Asuna who attracted the most attention.

First, Hachiman removed the hood he was wearing.

However, perhaps because the shadow was faint, there was no noticeable reaction.

However, the next time Asuna removed her hood, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

There, standing there, was a female player who ten out of ten people would say was beautiful.

Having succeeded in attracting their attention, the two of them bowed their heads at the same time.

"I think it's inevitable that everyone's emotions are heightened right now.

You may not want to hear anything at all, but please, ...

Please listen to us."

The two of them continued to bow sincerely. At that moment, Kibaou, who had been silent, began to speak.

"It's fine if you just listen. You're bowing your head politely."

With Kibaou, who had been at the forefront of criticism, saying this, the situation calmed down to a certain extent.

At last, I was able to get my story heard.

"First, let me introduce myself. I'm Hachiman."

"I'm Asuna."

"I was in the guerrilla unit together with that guy from before.

I think there are some people here who think we might be in on it too.

That's why I want to speak as objectively as possible about things that everyone can understand.

As you can see, I'm not good at speaking in front of people, so I might be rude, but

I'll apologize in advance for that. I'm sorry."

First of all, Hachiman strived to be honest and tell only the facts as much as possible.

"First of all, the reason why I wanted you to listen to my story is,

There are some questions I just can't explain."

"Question? What is it?"

"First, about the beta testers. I'm guessing... there aren't that many beta testers here.

That was somewhat proven by the atmosphere up until now, wasn't it?

So, why are there so few beta testers here?

Everyone wondered what he was talking about, but when they heard his next words it all made sense.

"But just think about it. The beta testers were moving forward all the time, weren't they?

So naturally, most of the people here are

Wouldn't it be weird if you weren't a beta tester?

"That's true," voices of agreement were heard here and there.

"Let me just say that I have no intention of arguing with people who dislike beta testers.

Personally, I had vaguely thought that players who had come out of the beta must be amazing.

But when I actually looked into it, this is what the current situation was like. So I thought:

In fact, I think beta testers aren't that different from regular players.

I have knowledge, so I can provide information, but it's not that advantageous.

On the contrary, it is precisely because we only know it halfway that

They may not realize that the changes have been made and may rush ahead, resulting in a high chance of dying."

Some people seemed to think that this might indeed be the case.

"Beta tester criticism is inevitable, so I don't intend to say much about it.

However, just as there are good and bad people in the world, I think that's true of all players.

So, if possible, I would like you to look beyond those things and judge the person as they are.

And... I want you to tell me what you all thought when you saw him in battle."

The whole group was silent, but then some opinions began to emerge.

"His strength was the only thing that was real."

"You said that at the end, but you've helped me out many times too."

"But it's a beater!"

"But in reality, isn't it impossible to advance to higher levels by yourself in this game?"

When we thought about it calmly, everyone began to realize that something was wrong.

So why did he do that?

"I have a few ideas as to what he was thinking when he did that,

I want each of you to think about it for yourself. To be honest, I don't know the answer.

What bothers me the most is when Diavel gets stunned. He says:

Remember, he told me to run because he'll stun me.

Would someone who had been trying to take advantage of others from the start make such a careless statement?

Isn't it like admitting to being a beta tester?

Rather, I think they would rather just let someone die in order to protect themselves.

But he continued to give orders in place of Diavel,

Furthermore, he put himself in danger many times."

No one could say anything. His actions during the battle and his actions just now were so contradictory.

"Let me finally tell you one painful thing. It was when Diavel died.

Why did Diavel die?

Those words instantly erupted the room.

Everyone started yelling that it was Beater's fault and that he hadn't been able to protect him.

Waiting for that to die down, Hachiman continued.

"I want you to remember. Did anyone give Diavel the order to attack at that time?"

Remembering that incident, the room fell silent again.

I remember when I noticed Diavel...

Perhaps because they had realized this, everyone looked at Hachiman in confusion.

「That's right. Even though he had little HP, Diavel took the initiative and went forward.

Because of that, I couldn't withstand the boss' attacks.

It would have been impossible for anyone to step in front of Diavel and act as a shield when he suddenly charged in."

Everyone was searching for a convincing reason, but no one could come up with an answer.

"From here on, this is just speculation, but I think Diavel was a beta tester."

"What? Diavel-han is a beta tester?"

"At that moment when it seemed like we were close to defeating the boss, Diavel made a move of his own accord.

Apparently, whoever finishes off the boss will drop special equipment or something.

That black coat is proof of that. He said it was a drop from the boss."

"That can't be what you were aiming for, Diavel-san..."

"I don't know if this was a conscious decision or a reflex.

But that's the only explanation I can think of that would make sense.

Even if Diavel had stayed down there, he would have been able to defeat the boss just fine, right?」

Hachiman looked around at the group, who were holding their breath, and continued.

"Let's go back to the beginning here. Even if Diavel was a beta tester,

Does everyone hate Diavel?

"There's no way that's possible!"

"That's right, Diavel-san did an amazing job!"

「That's how it is, I also thought Diavel was amazing. No one can deny that.

So, beta testers and stuff like that doesn't really matter.

I think what's important is what they did and how hard they tried.

I'm not asking you to approve his final actions today.

But I want you to be fair in your efforts from now on. Here it is."

Hachiman and Asuna bowed politely again.

Kibaou spoke, as if speaking for the entire silent room.

"I understand what you guys are trying to say, but I can't agree with it."

"Yeah. It's enough that you listened to the end. Thank you."

"Are you guys going to go after him after this?"

"Yeah. To us, he's a friend after all."

「I knew it when I saw the three of you laughing. It didn't seem like you were being used.

Tell that to him. He's going to make the second floor boss work him hard."

"Yeah, I'll tell them."

The tense atmosphere that had existed there had now subsided.

I think there are still quite a few people who are not convinced.

But, they were able to properly communicate everything they wanted to say.

"Thank you everyone for listening to me until the end."

Asuna gave that final message with a smile, and the two of them followed Kirito.

As I passed Egil, he called out to me, "My best regards to him."

The two of them sprint up the stairs.

From now on, Hachiman will likely be the target of feelings of jealousy and envy,

I had been feeling that kind of gaze being directed at me for a while now,

Hachiman accepted that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hachiman, are you sure this is okay?"

"I don't know, but I think I've said everything I wanted to say. The rest is up to them."

"You're not used to it, is it okay for you to talk for so long?"

"I was so tired and nervous...

More importantly, was there anything I said that you didn't like? Was it okay?"

"No. I understood Hachiman's feelings and I thought it was a good idea."

"I see... then it was worth the effort."

"What should we do when we catch up with Kirito?"

"That's right... First, let's punish Kirito together."

Those who were left behind also rose to their feet and began to return to the city.

Hachiman's point was understood by those who understood it, but was left unchanged by those who could not accept it.

However, there is no doubt that everyone is thinking seriously about this incident.

And thus, the first floor boss battle was finally and truly over.