Diavel—someone who, by all rights, should have died on the first floor.
Lillian looked at him. Diavel had a friendly-looking face and wore full metal armor. Judging by his equipment, his level was fairly high.
"Is there something you want?"
Lillian held no fondness for this man. In the original storyline, Diavel's death was entirely self-inflicted. Even Kibaou's public attack on beta testers during the strategy meeting had been orchestrated by Diavel behind the scenes.
A beta tester himself, Diavel had pretended to be a public-test player, using Kibaou as a mouthpiece to flush out other beta testers—so he could secure the Last Attack bonus.
Instead, the boss's altered behavior sealed his fate.
That said, personal dislike aside, Diavel did possess leadership skills and considerable strength. It was no surprise he'd already gathered a group around him. If nothing changed, he would likely form a guild sooner or later.
"Exploring the labyrinth alone is much more dangerous," Diavel said.
"Is that really okay for you? If you'd like, we can share some of the map information we've gathered. It could help you avoid unnecessary risks."
"…"
The sudden goodwill puzzled Lillian. Diavel's companions were equally shocked.
"Why share map data with him?"
"Diavel, he's that guy!"
"Yeah, not arresting him is generous enough!"
"If he weren't green-named…"
Their hostility toward Lillian was plain to see. Diavel, however, simply smiled.
"Cooperation between players is important," he said.
"That's how we clear the game faster."
"…No need. Thanks for the offer."
With that, Lillian stepped into the labyrinth.
The smile on Diavel's face stiffened. After a moment, he shook his head helplessly.
"That guy, honestly…"
"Let's just ignore someone that selfish."
"Enough," Diavel said, stopping the complaints. His expression turned far more serious than before.
"We rest for one hour, then return to continue exploring. We must speed things up."
---
What the hell is that about?
After entering the labyrinth, Lillian didn't believe for a second that Diavel was acting out of pure goodwill by offering to share their explored map.
There was an old saying: You feel short-mouthed after eating someone's food, short-handed after taking their gifts.
If you took someone else's map, what exactly were you supposed to give in return?
Back on the first floor, that guy had been desperate to secure the Last Attack bonus—but Lillian, Terusuke, and the others had beaten him to it. There was no way Diavel felt good about that.
So was he aiming for the second floor's LA now, worried that I'd get in his way?
"…Whatever. Who cares."
Lillian drew the greatsword from his back. He didn't care what anyone else thought. His plan was simple: clear this floor within two days and move on upward. As for the Last Attack, he had no intention of handing it over to anyone for free.
Three hours later.
He was rushing through the map in a brute-force manner, trying to locate the boss room as quickly as possible. Just like on the first floor, it was proving extremely difficult to find. The exploration rate on his map had already reached 83%, yet there was still no sign of it.
Most likely, it was hidden away in some tiny corner room no one would normally check.
At that moment, he suddenly received a message. A glance told him it was from Argo.
{The strategy meeting is tomorrow morning. Are you coming?}
A strategy meeting…
A bunch of people gathering together to discuss how to fight the boss and so on. Just thinking about it made the answer obvious.
{No,} Lillian replied. {It's boring.}
There was a brief pause before Argo responded.
{Then you're not participating in the boss battle?}
{Do I need to be part of the strategy group to fight the boss?}
{Huh?! Don't tell me you're planning to solo it? Are you trying to kill yourself?!}
Before Lillian could reply, another message came through—clearly she was panicking.
{Don't be reckless! The second-floor boss is Asterius The Taurus King, and it has two guards—Baran the General Taurus and Nato the Colonel Taurus! They have sword skills that can paralyze players! There's absolutely no way a single person can handle that!}
{I know,} Lillian replied. {It's all written in your guidebook. Paralysis is a bit troublesome, sure—but as long as I don't get hit, it won't be a problem.}
{...}
{Alright, I'm done talking. Going back to mapping.}
After closing the communication window, the heaviness in Lillian's chest eased slightly.
No matter what, the fact that Argo was still willing to message him meant she hadn't completely drawn a line between them.
Even though Lillian didn't expect much, he still felt that being understood—even just a little—was a rare and valuable thing.
After resting briefly, he continued exploring the map.
---
The next day, morning.
Inside a conference room in Urbus, more than a dozen players were discussing strategies for the boss fight.
By the second floor, many guilds had already begun to take shape. Although it was still impossible to accept guild quests or purchase guild territories, that didn't matter. What truly mattered was people.
As long as people gathered together, it could already be called a guild.
The dozen or so present were representatives of the more influential guilds. Among them were Terusuke, whom Lillian knew well, and Diavel, whom he had met once before. Kirito and Asuna were also there, representing the so-called "top-tier solo players."
Yes—solo players. Their strength had already been proven and acknowledged by everyone.
Kirito in particular had taken a completely different life path. Without the "Beater" incident, no one knew he was a beta tester—only that he was extremely strong. As a result, unlike in the original timeline, he hadn't become a lone wolf. Instead, he regularly teamed up with Asuna to grind and level.
Also present was Argo the Rat.
She had been specially approved to attend as the "strategy guide author," since her guidebooks had played a crucial role. Even so, many people still looked at her with hostility—after all, she was a confirmed beta tester.
Argo ignored those looks entirely.
Kirito, sitting beside her, noticed her frown and asked quietly, "What's wrong? You look like you're in a bad mood."
They had known each other since the beta, but they were careful not to act too familiar—otherwise Kirito's beta-tester identity would be exposed. He was deliberately keeping his distance.
"It's nothing," Argo replied.
But inwardly, she couldn't help thinking:
That idiot isn't really planning to do something that stupid, is he? Seriously—soloing a boss is basically suicide! No, once this meeting ends, I have to find him and talk some sense into him.
With that, the meeting officially began.
"As for this strategy meeting," the host said, "the first thing we need to discuss is the composition of the raid party."
"All major guilds will obviously want their members included. But a raid party can only have forty-eight people, so we'll need to make some selections."
"Our guild should get at least ten slots," one guild leader said. "Our members are top-tier in both level and combat power. That's a reasonable number, isn't it?"
"There are more than ten guilds here, and you want ten slots all to yourself?"
"I already said—our combat power is strong!"
"I think we should distribute the slots evenly among all guilds. That would be fairer."
"Come on, this is a boss fight, not splitting loot! The priority should be making sure the selected players are strong enough to clear it smoothly. If we fail, that's a loss to our overall strength."
"Exactly. It's best if we clear it in one go."
Everyone talked over one another, all competing for raid slots.
That was only natural. Everyone knew that defeating a boss meant experience points and currency—and there was also a chance to obtain extremely rare exclusive items. In that kind of situation, the more people a guild sent, the higher their chances of landing the Last Attack and securing those items.
"I think the first thing we should be discussing is how to defeat the boss."
A calm, steady voice cut through the noise.
Everyone turned to look—and saw that it was Terusuke.
"Oh? Isn't that Guild Leader Terusuke, the one who cleared the first-floor boss?"
Someone spoke with thinly veiled sarcasm. The crowd's attitude toward Terusuke, a beta-tester guild leader, was far from friendly.
In truth, Terusuke and his group hadn't killed anyone during the earlier incident, which was why they were allowed into this room at all. If they had done what Lillian did—actually killing players—there was no way they'd have been permitted entry.
Even so, being allowed in was all it amounted to.
"Guild Leader Terusuke, your group cleared the boss without saying a word last time," someone said.
"This time, your guild members definitely shouldn't be placed in the first raid party. That's fair, right?"
"Exactly. You already took experience and items once. You can't be in the first wave again—that wouldn't be fair to the other guilds."
"I know," Terusuke replied, meeting their hostility head-on, his gaze unwavering.
"I'm not asking for my guild to be in the first raid party."
"The boss isn't something you can defeat casually. A single mistake could lead to casualties. That's why I believe the priority should be finalizing a solid strategy against the boss—before we decide on the raid party composition."
As he spoke, Terusuke couldn't help recalling the scene of Lillian slamming the Kobold King to the ground.
If Lillian were here, he would undoubtedly be an enormous help to the raid. But… that was never going to happen. There was no way these people would agree to let him join the strategy group.
"Guild Leader Terusuke does have a point," said a guild leader in his thirties with a smile. As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward Argo standing off to the side, openly scanning her up and down.
"Little girl, are you sure the boss skill information in your guidebook is accurate?"
"It is," Argo replied coldly. Being stared at like that made her extremely uncomfortable.
"Don't lie now~" the man said with a grin. "Otherwise, Uncle here might have to punish you."
"Cough—cough!" Kirito coughed loudly on purpose.
Several people looked embarrassed, though others burst into laughter without restraint.
"What are you laughing at?!" Asuna snapped angrily, unable to hold back any longer.
She had always despised this kind of behavior. Unfortunately, in this game, female players were at a clear disadvantage.
First, the difference in numbers between male and female players was extreme. Second, a large portion of female players chose non-frontline roles—fishing around, crafting, or support professions that didn't require direct combat. As a result, the number of female players active on the front lines could practically be counted on one hand.
Naturally, that led to many male players looking down on them, seeing them as "people who need men to support them just to survive."
With that mindset, teasing a little was apparently considered harmless.
Annoyed by the "brat's" interruption, the male guild leader frowned.
"It was just a joke. Why are you yelling? If you don't like it here, then leave."