In just half a month since the open beta, the number of "deaths" among players had already reached nearly two thousand.
Even though now, SAO's casualties only fell into a coma after death…
Within the game, no one knew that.
The oppressive atmosphere lingered among the player base. Even though, with time, the daily death toll was decreasing...
The fear still very much existed.
Most obviously—
According to the closed beta's progress, by the end of the first week, players were already beginning to challenge the first-floor boss.
But now, even among those fighting, they were only grinding levels—no one was actively searching for the boss room.
Additionally, clear divisions had started to form within the player community.
The Town of Beginnings, the starting point of SAO, not only had limited monster resources outside the labyrinth…
More importantly, many quests there were also limited in quantity.
For example, a hidden quest for martial arts—only a few players who took it early could gain experience and unlock hidden skills.
There were many such quests in the Town of Beginnings.
Though not all offered rewards like martial arts...
They still provided decent experience and gold, which was a valuable sum in the early stages.
And the majority of players who obtained these quests were closed beta testers.
After all, beta testers didn't need time to adapt like newbies and had access to tons of early-game intel.
Compared to regular open beta players, their advantage was huge.
If SAO were a normal game, no one would complain.
After all, beta testers had invested money and time too.
But now SAO was a death game.
Any imbalance became a serious matter.
As the saying goes: "It's not the scarcity that breeds resentment, but the inequality."
Many open players had already formed small groups, openly resisting beta testers.
They demanded beta players hand over large amounts of gold, gear, and share their intel.
It sounded completely unreasonable. Yet it still gained support from many. After all, when self-interest is involved, fairness rarely survives.
This led to one direct consequence:
All beta testers began hiding their identities.
Originally, these beta testers—seasoned veterans—should've taken up the role of guiding newbies and leading the player community in resistance.
But now, not a single beta tester dared to step forward.
They were all afraid of becoming targets of hatred.
This, in fact, was a key reason behind the exaggerated death toll.
SAO's beginner guidance was extremely poor, forcing players to figure everything out themselves.
Without veterans to guide them, the cost of trial and error became unbearably high. Now, even Argo had to carefully conceal her identity...
To avoid being recognized.
Today, a player named Agil put out a call, hoping to organize a raid on the first-floor boss.
To Argo, this move seemed more like a declaration of forming a faction. Even though it wasn't yet possible to form guilds in-game, once that became available, it would be too late to recruit.
Though she knew his intention, Argo still planned to attend.
No matter what, someone standing up was better than no one at all. The gathering was held at a small plaza in the Grassland Town.
Currently, the Grassland Town had become a common base for players.
The monsters outside its borders had been completely cleared out. Calling for a meeting here was likely to draw the most attention.
Argo entered the plaza and found a quiet corner to sit, pulling her cloak's hood even lower. By now, some players had gathered in the plaza—
But the number was pitifully small.
And they stood far apart from one another.
Looking at this scene, Argo sighed helplessly.
In this death game, if players couldn't even unite, death only awaits them. Eventually, more players gathered in the plaza over time.
At the very least, they were all high-level players who could fight.
Agil finally stepped up.
Standing at the center of the plaza, he first thanked the gathered players, then delivered a passionate motivational speech.
This kind of recruitment tactic was common.
It didn't require real-world management experience. Just having run a major guild in-game before was enough.
After his pep talk, Agil dropped a major bomb:
He—or rather, his player team—had found the boss room for the first floor.
And on the spot, Agil shared the map location of the boss room with all the players present.
This action immediately shocked the crowd.
Even the earlier motivational speech now seemed more convincing.
"We should unite as one and clear this death game together! I've called everyone here to take the first step—form a raid party and conquer the first floor!"
So said Agil.
It was a clever move.
His goal was clearly to build his own faction, but he didn't state it outright. Once the first floor was cleared, he could announce the guild's formation. By then, with a proven success, it would be easier to win support—people would rally behind him.
However, at that moment, someone interrupted.
"Before that! I have something to say!"
Everyone turned toward the voice.
Many immediately recognized the person.
Kibaou.
He was the guy who publicly opposed beta testers and caused a big scene in the Town of Beginnings, so many knew of him.
Now that he stepped forward...
His intentions were obvious.
"You people—some of you are beta testers, aren't you?! Two thousand players have died already! And it's all because of you beta testers! Snatching rare quests, stealing XP spots! You're all selfish leeches!"
"I support forming a raid party—but first, the beta testers must come forward! And take responsibility for the two thousand dead players!"
This rhetoric was a blatant distortion of the truth.
But it worked.
All the players in the plaza fell silent, their eyes growing wary of each other.
Kibaou looked smug.
Using the anti-beta tester sentiment as leverage—he aimed to extort.
Argo, still sitting in the corner, looked conflicted. At this rate, the fragile unity they'd just built would crumble again.
No beta tester would dare come forward.
Should she stand up and say something?
At the very least, she had created a beginner's guide—something she worked hard on...
Argo was torn.
As a professional player, she should prioritize her own interests and safety. But at this moment, she was genuinely concerned about the future of all players.
"I…"
Just as Argo was about to speak—
Someone suddenly gasped aloud.
Everyone turned their attention.
Kibaou eagerly awaited to see which unfortunate beta tester dared step forward.
He was ready to milk them dry.
But the player who cried out wasn't a beta tester.
And the reason for the exclamation...
"Look at the map! The teleport point to the second floor is activated!"
That sentence stunned everyone in place.
They rushed to open their maps—
And indeed, at the floor transition point, there was now an option to teleport to the second floor.
And the appearance of that option could only mean one thing—
The first-floor boss had been defeated.
In that moment, the plaza fell into deathly silence.
Because it was simply impossible.
The players currently in the plaza represented the first-tier elite group. Precisely because of this, they knew just how hard that first-floor boss was.
Most of the top players hadn't even reached the safe level for challenging the boss yet.
And the majority of them were right here.
So who could've possibly cleared it?
And right then, a name surfaced in Argo's heart.
It had to be him.
The image of a boy appeared in her mind.
Argo felt both disbelief and inevitability.
If it was Haru… any miracle was possible.
For a moment, the plaza was filled with an odd atmosphere.
Many players rushed to the labyrinth zone, wanting to see the boss room with their own eyes.
Meanwhile…
At the first-floor boss room.
Not long ago, Haruto had finally found the damn place. And the labyrinth's exploration rate had reached an astounding 100%.
Keep in mind—Haruto hadn't accepted any shared maps. He had explored it all himself. With his hand on the door, Haruto was ready to push it open.
Argo had long since privately sent him all the intel about the first-floor boss.
Though, Haruto never actually asked for it.
The boss—Illfang the Kobold Lord.
Along with it, three elite mobs would spawn: Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
SAO's bosses were designed to be nearly impossible to solo. That was a fundamental part of the game's mechanics.
It was pretty much common knowledge among players.
But Haruto didn't care.
Just then—he heard footsteps behind him.