(Y/n) POV

'It has been one month since this death game began, 2,000 players have died already. After all this time, not one person has found the boss room on floor one, not even me. But today, we are having a meeting about it.' I thought

When we get in the meeting area, a man with blue hair claps his hands for attention. "Okay people, now that you're all here, lets get this started. My name is Diavel, and the job I role is Knight." He says as everyone starts laughing.

"Dude there's no job system in this game!" Some random guy yells out.

"Do you guys want to here this or not?" Diavel asks

'Finally, someone who is trying to keep order between all the players.' I thought

"Anyway, here's the deal, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." Diavel explains

"What seriously?" Someone asks

"First, we need to beat the boss, and then make it to floor two. Then we need to tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings, that it is possible to beat this game." Diavel says "Fact is it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree or disagree?"

After a while of murmuring in the crowd, someone starts clapping, and then the rest of the crowd starts to clap and cheer.

"Okay! Glad to know you are all with me on this. Now, let's think of how we are going to beat the boss." Diavel says "First off, we'll team up in parties of 6."

"Wha-" I say shocked, and looking around as everybody is teaming up.

"A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a boss. We need a group made up of multiple parties." Diavel continues

As I look around, I see everyone is already in a party. When I look to my left, I see a girl in a cloak alone. I scooch over and start talking to her.

"So, you got left out to, huh?" I ask

"As if, I wasn't left out. It's just, everyone seems like they are already friends." The girl in the cloak explains.

"So, you're a solo too. You wanna form a party with me?" I ask, as she looks at me. "You heard what the guy just said, we can't beat the boss on our own. And it would only be for this fight." I explain, as she nods her head. I pull open the menu and invite her. I look over, and see that she accepted it. 'Her name is Asuna.' I thought

"Alright, looks like everyone's teamed up. Now the-" Diavel starts, being cut off.

"Hold up a sec!" A man at the top yells,  and starts jumping down, step by step. "My name's Kibaou, and I need to get something off my chest! We all know about the 2,000 players that have died playing this game, yea? Well some of you need to apologize right now!"

"Kibaou, the people you are referring to, they're the Ex Beta Testers, right?" Diavel asks

'Great, another lunatic hating on the Beta Testers, I'm so done with these guys.' I think, as I start sweating.

"Course I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started, the Beta Testers just up and vanished! They ditched all the beginners! Snagging all the good hunting spots, and taking all the easy quests too! They were the only ones getting stronger! They all ignored us like we were nothing!" Kibaou says "Hell, I bet there are some here right now! Come on out Beta Testers! We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them give out all the money and items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them, when they don't trust us! Why should we?!"

When he finishes, I feel nervous, and close my eyes.

"Can I say something?" A man asks

"Huh?" I ask myself, as I see a big man get up, and walk down to the center of the stadium.

"Hey, the names Agil, Kibaou right?" The Agil asks "I wanted to make sure I'm understanding you. You say the Ex Beta Testers are responsible for the rookies death, and you want them to apologize, an give up their winnings, did I leave anything out?"

"No, you didn't." Kibaou says

Agil goes into his pocket, and pulls out a book. "The item store hands out these for free. It's a guide book, you got one, didn't you?"

"Sure I got one, so what about it?" Kibaou asks

"You know who was handing these out? The Ex Beta Testers." Agil says "Listen up, everyone had equal access to this information, even so, lots of people died. Now I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone, I came to figure out how we are going to best the boss."

I look shocked at seeing someone stand up for the Beta Testers.

After some silence, Agil looks back at Kibaou, and Kibaou just goes back to the seats, and sits down, followed by Agil.

"Okay, can we get back to the meeting now?" Diavel asks "For info on the boss, it's all in here, the guide book you just heard about."

"Huh?" People ask in confusion

"According to the book, the bosses name is Illfang the Kobold Lord, also, he will be surrounded by his minion, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels." Diavel explains "Illfang carries an axe, and a buckler, he has four health bars. When the last one turns red, he switches to curved sword type weapon, called a Talwar. It can also change its attack patterns too. That's it for the briefing, as for distribution of loot, money will be divided equally between everyone. The party that defeats the boss, gets the XP, and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" When no one answers Diavel starts talking again. "Good! Meeting adjourned people!"

As everyone starts to leave, I hear Asuna leave, and look after her.

~Time Skip~

When night time comes, everyone from the meeting throws a little party of sorts. When I start walking in, I see Asuna eating.

"Those are pretty good, aren't they?" I ask, after I ask, she looks at me. "Mind if I sit down?" At this question, she looks away, so I sit down. When I sit down, she scooches a little farther from me.

"You really think these taste good?" Asuna asks

"Uh-huh. Since I came to this town, I eat at least one a day. Course, I have a trick to make it taste better." I explain

"What trick?" Asuna asks me, as I out a jar down between us.

"Try it with some of that." I say, as she taps the top, and her finger starts glowing. After that, she puts it on her food.

"Cream?" She asks

After I use it, the jar breaks and goes back to my inventory, then I take a bite out of it. After Asuno takes her first bite, she just sits there, and I look at her. After a while she eats the rest in a few seconds, then sighs.

"I got it from the Heffer Strikes back, the quest in the village before this one. Wanna know how I did it?" I ask

"Uh-uh. I appreciate the offer, but I didn't come to this town to eat good food." She explains

"Okay, then why are you here?" I ask

"So I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't wanna lock myself in a room in the Town of Beginnings, and slowly rot away." Asuna explains "I'd rather stay the way I am to the last moment. Even if a monster beats me and I die, I won't lose, to this game or this world. No matter what."

After she finishes, I throw the rest of my food in my mouth. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me. So try not to die tomorrow." I say

~Time Skip~

It's now morning, and we are all walking to the boss room. Me and Asuna are in the back, talking about the plan.

"Lets go over the plan one more time." I say "We're the backup, so our target is going to be the minions, the Ruin Koblod Sentinels."

"I know." Asuna says

"I'll use a sword skill to knock the weapons out of their hands, and when I do, switch with me." I say

"What's a switch?" Asuna asks

"Okay, level with me, is this the first time you've ever been in a party?" I ask

"Uh-huh." Asuna replies

After she says that, I stop, when Asuna notices, she stops too, then I sigh. When we start walking again, I explain to her what a switch is.

When we get inside, Diavel sticks his sword on the ground, "Listen up everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Lets win!"

'Really, that's it? No inspirational speech to get us more enthusiastic?' I though

"Come on!" Diavel says, opening the door.

When he opens the door, the dark room is illuminated, and Illfang roars after jumping in front of us. It's a giant red monster, with a blue-gray diamond on its stomach, and a blue-gray dot in the middle. He has a tail, and is holding his axe and shield. Then his 3 minions spawn in. They start running at us to start an attack.

"Commence, attack!" Diavel yells, pointing his sword in front of him, as everyone runs up and attacks Illfang and his minions. Kibaou makes first contact with a minion, as the fight keeps going on. "Squads A and C, switch in!" Diavel yells, as Illfang puts his axe in the air, ready to strike. "Here it comes! Squad B, block!" Diavel orders, as Agil blocks the axe, and Kibaou strikes Illfang. "Squad C, keep guarding, and prepare to switch. Everyone else, when you fall back, flank them. Squads D, E, and F, keep those minions off us!"

"No problem!" I yell, attacking one of the minions "Switch!" I say, as Asuna runs past me.

"I'm on it!" Asuna yells

'I thought she was a beginner, but she's got good skills. I can't even see the tip of her sword.' I thought, as she kills one of the minions. "Right on." A minion jumps up and tries to strike me, as I push him off with my sword, and run after him.

Illfang roars, as I see his health is red in the final bar. He then throws his sword and shield away.

"Looks like the guide books was right." Kibaou says

"Stand back! I got it!" Diavel yells

'The plan was everyone is supposed to surround it.' I thought, as Diavel smirks. Diavel starts a sword skill, then Illfang pulls out a sword. 'That's not a Tawlar! It's a No-Dachi! This isn't like the beta!' I thought, pushing a minion away. "Wait, stop!" I yell, as Diavel charges it "It's no good, get out of there!" I yell, as Illfang jumps up, jumping all around the room, then striking Diavel.

"AGHH!" Diavel screams, then gets struck again.

"Diavel, no!" Kibaou yells, as Illfang lands in front of everyone, then roars.

"Diavel!" I yell, running to him, getting a healing potion from my inventory. "What the hell were you thinking?" I ask, about to break it over him, but he stops me.

"You know, you were a Beta Tester too, weren't you?" Diavel asks

"You were after the last attack bonus, the rare item." I say "You're just like me, a Beta Tester."

Diavel smiles and starts talking. "Please, you have to...defeat the boss. For everyone here." Diavel finishes, as his avatar explodes into pixels.

'When this death game started, all I could think about was how I was gonna survive. Nothing else mattered.' I thought, as I had a flashback.

~Flashback~

"Take care, I'll be seeing you Klein

Then a flashback of Diavel at the meeting came up.

'But you weren't like that Diavel. You never abandoned the other players. You brought them together.' I thought as another flashback of Diavel at the beginning of the fight pops up. 'You fought brilliantly, and tried to accomplish something I couldn't.' I thought

~Flashback End~

As the flashbacks ended, I looked back at Illfang roaring at everyone. Then Asuna falls back next to me.

"I'll go too." Asuna says

"Okay." I say, as we start running. "We'll hit him just like the minions."

"You got it." Asuna says

"AHHH!" I yell, as I block Illfangs sword. "Switch!" I yell, as Asuna starts winding her arm back, then Ilfangs eyes open. "Asuna!" After I yell, Illfang destroys Asunas cloak, as the pixels sparkle. Asuna then starts a sword skill.

"AHH!" Asuna yells, striking Illfang.

"Uhh-" I say, as I stare at her, and the pixels still sparkle around Asuna, and her brown hair is blowing from the impact, with an intense look in her brown eyes. Then Illfang roars. "He's coming back!" I yell, as I deflect his sword, and Asuna strikes him. Then I run in front and block the sword three times. 'Oh no!' I thought before being hit by the sowrd, and thrown back into Asuna. When I hit her, my sword is thrown out of my hands, and my health depletes, but is still green, and I get up. Then Asuna and I get shadowed by Illfang, getting ready to hit us again, but Agil hits the sword with his hammer, blowing him back.

"AGHH!" Everyone yells. charging Illfang.

"We can hold this bastard off until your healths back up!" Agil says

"You got it." I tell him, smiling.

Everyone starts striking at Illfang, but only managing to hit his sword, then all of them gets blown back by one swing of the sword. Right after, Illfang jumps in the air, starting a sword skill.

"Watch out!" I yell, starting my own sword skill. "You're going down!" I yell again, striking Illfang, as he falls to the ground. I roll when I land, and start running towards him again. "Let's go Asuna! One last attack!"

"You got it!" Asuna yells, running towards Illfang.

"AHHHHHHH!" We yell simultaneously, as I hit Illfangs sword, and Asuna tries to stab Illfang, but is dodged. Then I slice my sword through his shoulder, down to his waist. Then I stab my sword through him and start slicing from his waist, up through his head.

"AGHHHHH!" I scream

After I slice through his head, it flies in the air, and explodes into pixels. After Illfang explodes, everyone is just staring at me in silence. After a while, the congrtualtions screen pops up, and everyone starts cheering, as I fall to my knees, and start breathing heavily. Then the room goes dark, and I look down to see a screen saying I got the last attack bonus. It says that I got the rare item called a "Coat Of Midnight".

"Nice job." Asuna says, walking up behind me with Agil.

"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations. Todays victory is all thanks to you." Agil tells me

"No..." I say

"Yea!" People in the crowd start yelling and clapping.

"You rock man!" Another person says, as I look at the crowd and smile.

"STOP CHEERING!" Kibaou yells

"Huh?" I ask

"Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diavel die?" Kibaou asks

"Let him die?" I ask

"That' what I said, admit it. You knew the technique the boss was going to use1" Kibaou says with tears in his eyes. "You could've told us! Then Diavel would've stood a chance! He wouldn't have had to die!"

"I know why he knew! He used to be a Beta Tester!" Someone random yells out "Think about it! He knew the bosses attack patterns! He knew, but kept it from us! And, I bet he's not the only Beta Tester here, come on, show yourselves!"

Murmuring around the crowd grew louder.

'This is bad. At this rate...' I thought, as a flashback of Diavel telling me to beat the boss for everyone here. I looked at my item, then gulped, knowing I had to play the bad guy, so this whole thing would resolve.

"Hey, calm down." Agil says, as Asuna walks up with him, trying to help defend me.

"Heheheheheh! Hehehahahah! Hehehahahahahah!" I laugh, and stand up. "So, you guys think I was a Beta Tester. It's not cool to put in the same class as those noobs." I say

"W-what'd you say?!" Kibaou asks

"You heard me. Most of the people who scored a spot in the SAO Beta were rookies." I say, as i start walking towards them. "They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up! Hell, even you guys are better then them." I continue, stopping in front of Kibaou. "But me, I'm nothing like those guys man. During the Beta, I made it to floors higher then any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss, because I fought way more monsters that had way better sword skills, on way higher floors. I know a lot of other things to. More then you can imagine. More then any Info Broker."

"What the hell? If that's true you're worse then a Beta Tester! You're a god damn cheater, that's what you are!" Kibaou yells, as the whole crowd, besides Asuna and Agil start agreeing with him.

"He's a Beta Tester and a cheater! He's a Beater!" Some random guy yells, as Asuna turns towards me.

"A Beater. Yea, that's good, I like it. Okay, you can call me a Beater." I say, going to my item storage, preparing to put my new coat on. "Just make sure you don't confuse me with those Beta Testers anymore." I finish, as the coat spawns on me, and I start walking away to the next floor. The Asuna runs after me.

"Wait." Asuna says, as I stop. "When we were fighting the boss, you called me by my name."

"I wasn't trying to be rude. Did i pronounce it wrong or something?" I ask

"How'd you even know it?" Asuna asks me

"If you look right about here," I say, pointing in front of me to where her HP gage was. "You'll see another HP gage right under yours. There's a name written right next to it, right?" I explain

Then Asuna look at my name. "(Y/-n)? (Y/n)? Your name is (Y/n)."

"Yea." I respond

"Mhmhmhm!" Asuna laughs, with a slight blush on her face. "I'm so dumb, it was there the whole time, and I never knew."

"You can become strong on your own." I start saying "But when a day comes, when someone you trust invites you to a guild, don't turn it down. Cause there are limits to what a solo player can do."

"But, you're solo." Asuna tells me

After a moment, I finish walking up the stairs. At the top, I open my menu, and dissolve the party.Right after I finish dissolving the party, the doors to the next room open, and I walk through to floor two, without saying another word.