12Aincrad 1st Floor, December 2022
4:00PM
Two months has passed since the launch of this death game, Sword Art Online. If you die in this game, you die in the real world, and to escape, you have to beat the game. Over 2000 people have already died and not one level has been cleared yet. It was the day of the long-awaited First Floor Boss Strategy Meeting.
"Wow," Kirito mumbled, "There are barely 40 people here".
"Listen up people!" yelled a person with blue hair. "Thank you for responding to my invite to this conference. My name is Diavel and I will be leading the boss raid tomorrow. I'd like to consider my class to be 'Knight'"
With that, multiple snickers could be heard and various cries were flying across the coliseum
"SAO has no classes!"
"Is this meeting a joke too?"
"Settle down people," sighed Diavel. "Today, on the highest level of this floor, level 20, my team found the entrance to the boss' dungeon".
The players rustled and became noisy amongst each other.
"How?"
"We were still at level 15"
"Finally!"
Kirito smiled inwardly. That's the level where I grind daily. I found that level two weeks ago. I'm currently level 34. . . My level is three times higher than that of an average a front liner.
Diavel continued, "We have to beat this floor, not just for us, but to prove to the players in starting town that this game can be cleared! It's our responsibility, don't you agree everyone?"
Slowly but surely, the coliseum filled with cheers, claps, and whistles
"Now, let's discuss our battle strategies" Diavel said as his expression became serious. "As a start, let's split into parties of around five."
As Diavel said that, Kirito began to panic.
"We can't defeat the boss with simple parties"
Kirito started to frantically look around. Then he saw a hooded figure, sitting away from everybody else. He quickly scooted to the hooded figure. "Did you get left out too?" I asked.
"No," the hooded player replied. "I just don't know anybody else, or anybody in general"
Wow. It's a girl. "So, you're a solo player?"
"Yes."
"What about partying with me then?" I asked, "Don't worry, it's only for this once. He said that this boss cannot be fought alone"
She then nodded.
I swiped the air in a downwards motion and then came a menu. There it wrote "Level 34, Equipped Weapon: Anneal Blade+4, One Handed Sword 192/1000, Sprint 124/1000, Searching 102/1000, Hiding 90/1000, Parry 130/1000, EMPTY." I then clicked the party button and invited the girl. As she pressed accept, a smaller health bar and a name appeared underneath his. Asuna huh.
"Alright, are you guys done partying?" the blue haired player asked.
"Hold it right there!" yelled a person whose hair resembled a cactus. He then jumped down the seats of the coliseum until he was level with Diavel. "The name is Kibaou. There's something I must get off my chest before we raid the boss tomorrow. I'm sure that there are some of you that should be down here right now apologising to those who have died so far."
Multiple murmurs could be heard amongst the crowd.
"That's right, the beta testers!" Kibaou said in anger. "On the day of release, the beta testers disappeared and abandoned all us beginners who had no idea what to do! They took all the good hunting spots, looted all dungeons, and prioritised themselves over everybody else. I'm sure some of you guys here are beta testers. You guys should bow down to us and hand over all the money and items you have hoarded! I will not entrust my life to such people!"
"This guy is an idiot," I muttered nonchalantly.
"Mind if I speak?" asked a bulky brown man. "My name is Agil."
As Agil walked up to Kibaou, the latter looked intimidated by massive man.
Agil proceeded to talk, "So you're saying that the beta testers should take responsibility for the many deaths inside this game by apologising and making reparations because they did not look after the newbies, right?"
"Y-yes"
"This is a guidebook, I believe you have one too, everybody has one. It's up for free at the item shop after all"
"I do. So, what about it?" Kibaou replied.
"The people who wrote and distributed this guidebook were the former beta testers."
Collective "Reallys?" could be heard among the crowd.
"Listen up, this information was available to everybody, yet, many people died." Agil said. "I thought we could be planning on how to defeat the boss using what we have learnt from the deaths of these players"
Kibaou then went and sat back down out of frustration.
"May I continue?" asked Diavel. "The truth is, this guidebook contains information about this floor's boss. According to this guidebook, the boss' name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Furthermore, he has mobs called Ruin Kobold Sentinels guarding him. He is equipped with an axe and a buckler but when his last of the four HP bars become red, he will change weapons into a curved sword called a talwar. His attack patterns will also change.
The crowd became noisy yet once again.
"Amazing"
"The information is thorough"
"Wow. . ."
"That concludes the conference," Said the blue haired player, "Lastly, concerning the loot distribution, money is automatically distributed, EXP goes to the party that lands the last hit and items belong to whoever gets them. Any objections?"
"Sounds good," I said.
"Okay, we'll leave at ten in the morning tomorrow. Good night!" Diavel concluded.
I turned around to face Asuna only to see that she had already walked away.
"Hmmphf"
A/N This is my first story so please go easy on me. This chapter is pretty similar to the anime and light novel. Nothing is really happening yet this chapter. I still don't know my update schedule yet. I think I'll update once a week, more or less.
Reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated as they help me write better.
Peace out!