"Human nature's fatal flaw…"
Staring at the treasure chest before him, Lillian had to admit—it was curiosity. Humans were like this. If what lay here had been a ready-made suit of armor or a visible weapon, he might have been able to resist.
But a treasure chest was different.
A treasure chest didn't just represent loot—it represented surprise and the unknown. That was the most irresistible temptation of all. And ever since game developers learned to exploit that instinct through gacha systems and random draws, players had suffered endless wallet destruction.
At this moment, Lillian was no different. He knew full well that danger lay ahead, but powerful curiosity—combined with confidence in his own strength—still pushed him forward. If things really went south… he still had a Teleport Crystal on him. On the first floor of the labyrinth, there shouldn't be any crystal-nullification rooms.
When he reached the treasure chest, a prompt window immediately popped up.
[Do you want to open the treasure chest? Yes / No]
"…"
Lillian glanced around. The room was completely empty—aside from this single chest. After hesitating for a moment, he chose Yes, then instinctively stepped back several paces. The odds were low, but who knew—maybe a pair of long legs would suddenly burst out from under the chest and it would transform into a mimic that ate people. Better to keep a safe distance.
[Click]
With a soft sound, the chest opened. Lillian could see a glowing mass of light inside—clearly an item.
"So it really is trea—"
Bzz—Bzz—Bzz—
A shrill alarm suddenly blared. The wall behind him, which had previously turned transparent and vanished, instantly reappeared as a solid barrier, sealing off his escape. At the same time, three massive doors materialized on the left, center, and right walls. All kinds of kobold monsters poured out from them, and the entire room flashed with a dangerous red glow.
"Tch…"
Lillian raised his greatsword. More or less what he had expected.
His gaze immediately locked onto the dagger-wielding kobolds among the thirty-plus monsters that had appeared. The instant he spotted them, he didn't hesitate—he drank the last anti-poison potion in his inventory, then used the broad blade to block four or five arrows shot from the right.
[You have acquired a new skill]
A system notification rang out, but Lillian had no time to check it. In such a cramped space, facing this many enemies, he couldn't afford the slightest carelessness. If he got caught in a combo, death was a real possibility.
He quickly retreated, pressing his back into the corner of the wall where he had entered. That way, at least, he didn't have to worry about being attacked from behind—he only needed to deal with what was in front of him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Once the kobolds finished teleporting in, they all charged at him, swinging their various weapons. Seeing this, Lillian felt a sudden surge of gratitude for the greatsword in his hands.
Whoosh—!
The one-and-a-half-meter-long blade swept out in a wide arc, smashing into the crowd. Four or five orcs were sent flying at once. The second wave met the same fate. Under Lillian's rapid swings, anything that got hit was knocked away. This was the advantage of a large, wide weapon—if he were still using a one-handed hammer, he'd probably already be using a Teleport Crystal to escape.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The archer kobolds fired cold shots from the back. Lillian dodged as best he could, but one arrow still struck him, dropping his HP by about a tenth. It wasn't serious, but he responded immediately. Once all the kobolds had gathered in that corner, he bent his legs and leapt—springing three to four meters into the air, passing over the kobolds' heads, and landing in the opposite corner of the room. Before they could react, he cut down several kobolds in quick succession.
"Roar!"
The kobolds snapped back to their senses and charged again. Lillian repeated the same tactic—jumping to the other side and picking off a few more. Back and forth it went. Five minutes later, every kobold in the room lay dead, victims of Lillian's righteous indoor kiting strategy.
Crack!
As the final kobold shattered into fragments and vanished, Lillian planted his sword into the ground, braced his hands on his knees, and took several deep, rapid breaths. Even with his outstanding stamina, repeated high jumps on flat ground placed enormous strain on his body—especially his legs.
At that moment, the red glow filling the room receded like a tide, returning to its original white light. The wall behind him also turned transparent once more, reopening the exit.
After resting for half a minute, Lillian walked back to the treasure chest and reached for the glowing mass inside.
---
[Nightwalker]
[Refined Iron Ore]
Two items acquired. Opening his inventory, Lillian was surprised to find that the first item, [Nightwalker], had no stat bonuses at all—it was a cosmetic item.
A black bamboo hat.
He chose to equip it. Immediately, half of his face was concealed in shadow beneath the brim. Looking at his reflection in the wall—which conveniently functioned like a mirror—he felt his image was drifting dangerously close to that of an assassin, exuding a gloomy, secretive aura. Though, admittedly, assassins usually didn't carry giant swords on their backs.
The second item was a material.
[Refined Iron Ore]
[Type: Material]
[Description: Can be used as a material for equipment enhancement]
…
Useful enough. Even though no equipment dropped, this was still a decent haul. Lillian thought that this first-floor trap room wasn't actually that dangerous—assuming a team was involved.
A full six-person party with appropriate levels and gear, plus basic coordination, could safely handle these orcs by holding a corner. But for solo players, it was extremely dangerous. This trap room was likely designed by Kayaba with parties in mind. As for solo challengers—if you had the guts, you could try. If you died, there was no one to blame.
"Oh right—the skill notification earlier…"
Remembering the system message, Lillian opened his skill list.
There were three slots total. In addition to [One-Handed Hammer] and [One-Handed Sword], the previously empty third slot was now occupied by [Weapon Defense].
[Weapon Defense]
[Effect: When successfully blocking an enemy's attack with a weapon, there is a small chance to cause the enemy to enter a staggered state. The probability increases with skill proficiency.]
[Current Proficiency: 10]
...
"Weapon Defense… a parry?"
Lillian hadn't expected to unlock this skill, but on second thought, it made sense. Since entering the labyrinth this time, he had blocked a large number of attacks using the broad blade of his greatsword—enough to meet the unlock conditions. This was a very welcome gain.
He was quite satisfied with the skill. Combined with the greatsword's inherent [Poise Break] trait, it would further increase the chances of staggering enemies.
After collecting the loot and checking his skills, Lillian quickly left the room and headed for the exit. He had already used his last anti-poison potion, and the buff had only a little over half an hour remaining. It was best to leave the labyrinth within that time frame.
---
Five days later.
Lillian cut down the kobold in front of him with a single strike and stepped onto the staircase ahead.
Opening his labyrinth map, the very top displayed:
[Exploration Progress: 99%]
"This is it."
He followed the stairs to the top, where a small platform awaited him. Beyond it stood a massive iron gate, covered in strange patterns and exuding an ominous aura.
The final one percent of the labyrinth.
The BOSS room.
"So I finally found it."
Over the past five days, Lillian had lost count of how much ground he'd covered in the labyrinth—how many times he'd gotten lost, how often he'd walked into dead ends. Step by step, he'd mapped out every route, and at last, he had successfully reached this place.
Now, standing before the towering door, he forcibly suppressed the urge to enter. He understood very clearly that a BOSS room and a trap room were two completely different things. The latter he could solo with his physical prowess—but a BOSS? That was difficult. Almost impossible.
Lillian thought that if he could execute everything perfectly, without a single mistake, he might be able to grind the BOSS down. But he couldn't. He knew he couldn't. Even though five days of nonstop combat in the labyrinth had greatly improved his control and positioning—so that he no longer relied solely on raw speed and strength, and his technique had advanced by leaps and bounds—he still believed that soloing a BOSS would be nothing short of suicidal. One slip-up, one or two solid hits, and he'd be instantly killed.
And in this world, Lillian was actually in great danger. Because in his view, monster AI had nothing to do with "sentience"—they were merely preset programs. If he were killed by something like that, there was no chance of revival.
Strictly speaking, if he were killed by a player, he might be able to revive. What the goddess had told him was that as long as killing intent and sentience were present, the method didn't matter. In that sense, "SAO" itself counted as a kind of "weapon." At its core, it was no different from a blade. Being killed by someone wielding a knife, or being killed through SAO—it was all the same: using a "tool." Therefore, the revival condition would be met.
That was also why he wasn't overly wary of other players. At the very least, in this world, Argo knew both his name and appearance. With her memory as a reference, Lillian would have one chance to revive.
"If I could solo it, that would be perfect. The LA—Last Attack—would definitely be mine, and the exclusive drop too… But even without that, I can still maintain an advantage in level and gear. Staying in the top tier is no problem. There's no need to take that kind of risk."
Turning around, Lillian descended the stairs and chose the shortest route out of the labyrinth.
"Ha~"
Stepping out of the labyrinth, he let out a yawn. He genuinely felt his mental resilience was pretty strong. Over the past five days, he'd barely interacted with anyone—just sleeping, eating, and grinding the labyrinth nonstop. It couldn't be helped. He didn't have the luxury to wander around towns sightseeing like other players…
…Someone was waiting for him.
As he walked back toward the safe zone, he checked his status. After grinding for five days, his level had finally reached 10. As far as he could tell, he was currently ranked first among all players—excluding Kayaba Akihiko, of course. Who knew what level that man might have set for himself?
As for Col, Lillian was now carrying a small fortune of forty thousand, along with three instant recovery potions, five slow recovery potions, and three anti-poison potions. Equipment-wise, he'd upgraded two pieces to normal-grade armor. Trash mobs didn't drop good-quality gear, and as for superior-grade or rare-grade items—that was pure wishful thinking.
Overall, his current stats were likely at the very top among all players. Add in his equipment, weapons, and his real-world speed and strength, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that—aside from Kayaba Akihiko—he was the strongest person in SAO at the moment. Even Kirito wouldn't be able to stand up to his cheat-level speed and power.
But that didn't really mean much. Lillian had no intention of competing against other players. On the contrary—he needed them. He needed them to help him defeat the BOSS.
So the moment he exited the labyrinth, the first thing he did was send a message to Argo.
{First-floor labyrinth exploration complete. BOSS room located.}