One month has passed since the game began.
December 2nd, 2022 1st Floor • Tolbana
During that time, two thousand people have died.
Yet not a single person has managed to clear the 1st Floor.
Even though I was a beta tester, I still haven't found the boss room.
Today, we're finally holding a meeting on how to defeat the 1st Floor's boss.
Beater
Okay!
Let's get this meeting started!
Thank you for coming today at my behest.
My name is Diabel.
I like to think of myself as a knight.
There's no job system in this game!
A knight? You should take this seriously!
Is this whole meeting a joke too?
Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower.
Really?
We need to defeat the boss, reach the 2nd Floor,
and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it's possible to beat this game.
That is the duty of everyone here today!
Don't you all agree?!
Okay, let's start working this out.
First, divide up into parties of six.
A single party has no chance against a Floor Boss.
We'll be in the same party, of course.
Well then, I'll be the leader.
We need to form a raid group composed of multiple parties.
Create
Invite
Disband
Create
Invite
Let's do this.
Accept invitation to join party?
Nobody wanted to party with you either?
That's not the case.
I just stayed out of it because everyone seemed to know each other already.
So you're a solo player.
Do you want to form a party with me?
He said we can't beat the boss on our own.
We can party just for this fight.
Accept invitation to join party?
Okay, has everyone formed their parties?
Then—
Hold on a moment!
My name's Kibaou.
I wanna say something before we take on the boss.
Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand people who've died!
Kibaou-san, could you perhaps be referring to the beta testers?
Obviously!
The beta guys ditched us beginners and disappeared the day this stupid game started!
They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger.
They couldn't care less about the rest of us.
I'm damn sure some of you were in the beta!
They should get on their knees, apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded!
Otherwise, we can't trust these party members with our lives, and they shouldn't trust us!
May I speak?
My name is Agil.
Kibaou-san, let me get this straight.
You're saying many beginners died because the beta testers didn't take care of them,
and that they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation.
Is that it?
Y-Yeah.
You got a copy of this guidebook, didn't you?
The item shop was giving them away.
I did, yeah.
So what?
It was compiled from data provided by the beta testers.
Really?
Listen up.
Everyone had equal access to this information.
Still, many players died.
I thought we would be discussing what we could learn from their deaths and how that can help us defeat the boss.
All right.
Let's continue, then.
The latest edition of that guidebook was just published, and it contains information on the boss.
According to it, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord.
He is guarded by underlings known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
He is armed with an axe and a buckler.
He has four HP bars, and when the last one enters the red,
he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a talwar.
His attack pattern changes as well.
Wow...
Amazing.
This concludes the briefing.
As for how the spoils will be distributed, money will be automatically shared amongst all players,
EXP will go to the party that defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item gets to keep it.
Any objections?
Okay, we leave at ten in the morning tomorrow.
Dismissed!
It's pretty tasty, isn't it?
Can I sit here?
Do you really think it's tasty?
Of course.
I've had at least one of these every day since I came to this town.
I do change it up a little, though.
Change it up?
Trying putting some of this on the bread.
Cream?
It's the reward for a quest called "The Heifer Strikes Back" at the village before this town.
If you'd like, I can get you started.
Good food isn't the reason I came to this town.
Why did you, then?
So I can still be me.
I'd rather remain myself until the very end than sit and rot away at some inn in the first town.
Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game—to this world.
No matter what.
I wouldn't want a party member to die on me.
So don't die tomorrow, at the very least.
December 2nd, 2022 1st Floor • Forest Field
Let's go over the plan again.
As we were unable to form a full party, our job is to target the boss's underlings, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
I know.
I'll use sword skills to knock away their poleaxes.
The moment I do, switch in.
Switch?
Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?
Yes.
Listen up, everybody.
I have but one thing to say.
Let's win this!
Let's go!
Commence the attack!
Squads A and C! Switch!
Here it comes!
Squad B, block!
Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch on my mark.
Now!
Draw back and flank it!
Squads D, E, and F,
keep those sentinels away from us!
Roger!
Switch!
The third one!
I thought she was just a beginner, but she's really skilled.
She's so fast that I can't even follow her blade.
Good job.
Looks like that guidebook was right on the money.
Stand back.
I'll finish him!
But this is where the whole group is supposed to hem the boss in.
That's not a talwar! It's a nodachi!
It's different from what it was in the beta test!
Stop!
Retreat as fast as you can!
Diabel!
Why did you face it alone?
You'd know why...
...if you were also a beta tester, right?
You wanted the rare item from the last attack bonus.
You were a beta tester too?
Please...
Defeat...
Defeat the boss.
For everyone's sake...
Since this death game began, I had only been thinking about my own survival.
Well, see you, Klein.
However, Diabel, though you were a beta tester,
you never abandoned the other players.
You led everyone and fought brilliantly.
You tried to do what I couldn't.
I'll go too.
Thanks.
We'll do it just like we did with the sentinels.
Got it.
Switch!
Asuna!
He's coming back!
Crap—
Go!
We'll hold him off until you recover!
You're...
Watch out!
I'll get you first!
Asuna!
We'll execute the last attack together!
Got it!
We...
We did it!
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
Good work.
That was splendid swordsmanship.
Congratulations.
We owe this victory to you.
No...
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
Why?!
Why...
Why did you let Diabel die?!
Let him die?
That's right!
You knew the techniques that the boss used!
If you had given us that information from the get-go, Diabel wouldn't have died!
He must've been a beta tester!
That's how he knew all the boss's attack patterns.
He knew, but he didn't tell us!
There are other beta testers here too, right?!
Show yourselves!
This is bad.
At this rate...
For everyone's sake...
Hey, come on...
A beta tester, you said?
I'd rather you didn't compare me to those newbies.
Wh-What?!
Most of the thousand SAO beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up.
You guys are better than they are.
But I'm not like them.
I made it further up than anyone else during the beta test.
I only knew about the boss's katana skills because I fought katana-wielding monsters on floors far above here.
I know a lot more than that.
Way more than any information broker.
Wh-What?
That's way worse than a beta tester!
You're cheating! You're a cheater!
Yeah, a cheater!
A beta tester and a cheater...
He's a beater!
A beater...
I like the sound of that.
That's right.
I'm a beater.
From now on, don't put me with those other testers.
LEATHER COAT
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
LEATHER SHIRT
LEATHER BAND
LEATHER ANKLES
LEATHER SHIRT
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
LEATHER SHIRT
LEATHER ANKLES
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
LEATHER SHIRT
LEATHER ANKLES
COAT OF MIDNIGHT
LEATHER SHIRT
Wait.
You called out my name when we were fighting.
Sorry I referred to you so impolitely.
Or did I mess up the pronunciation?
How did you know it?
You can see another HP gauge below yours, around here, right?
Don't you see something written next to it?
Ki-ri-to...
Kirito?
Is that your name?
Yeah.
Oh, so it was there the whole time!
You'll soon become really powerful.
So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down.
There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player.
But what about you?
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Disband the party?
Disband