"Hey, did you buy the free Strategy Guide from the item shop?!"
"Yeah! That person calling themselves 'Rat' must be a beta tester, right? Damn it…"
"Still, the guide is really thorough. This'll finally come in handy!"
"Don't be stupid! They definitely still have more important information they didn't release! This is just basic stuff to shut us up and placate us!"
"Exactly! That has to be it!"
Players were discussing heatedly at the village entrance. Lillian and Terusuke, having just finished buying supplies, passed by nearby. Lillian glanced at Terusuke—and as expected, his expression was extremely unpleasant, his brows tightly furrowed.
After leaving the village, Terusuke finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Those people are way too vicious! Rat spent so much time making that guide just to help them!"
"Yeah," Lillian replied.
"I almost couldn't stop myself from going back and teaching them a lesson just now!"
Watching the young man clench his fists, Lillian had already come to understand Terusuke's personality over the past few days. He was the typical hot-blooded type, and his guild members were more like friends than subordinates. To be honest, that kind of relationship was very good—but if he wanted to become the number one guild in the future, it wouldn't be easy.
That said, Lillian had no intention of lecturing him. His only goal was to clear the BOSS as soon as possible and open the teleport gate to the second floor.
"Lillian," Terusuke said while walking, clearly troubled, "when the guild is officially established in the future, how do you think we should deal with people like them?"
"Just don't recruit them."
"Don't recruit them…? But we only have a little over thirty people right now. Isn't that too small?"
"It's fine."
In SAO, there were originally around ten thousand players. By now, the death toll had already surpassed one thousand. That meant that by the time guilds started appearing around the third floor, there would probably be no more than eight thousand players left—likely even fewer.
From that number, subtract a few thousand who would stay in towns doing nothing, and the number of players actually fighting monsters and leveling up would be surprisingly small. Under those conditions, a guild with a hundred members would already count as a large guild—and even then, those numbers would be heavily padded.
Why was Kayaba Akihiko's Knights of the Blood Oath able to become the top guild in the original story with only a few dozen members? Because in RPGs like this, the gap in individual strength becomes absurdly large in the later stages.
At that point, a high-level player with good equipment could stand still and let a group of low-level players attack for half a day without dying. A player with top-tier gear could easily one-shot others of the same level. Under such mechanics, individual ability mattered more than sheer numbers. An elite guild was naturally far stronger than a mob of poorly organized players.
Of course, games like World of Warcraft or JX3 were different. In those RPGs, no matter how strong you were individually, you couldn't take on a whole group in the open world. You were still affected by crowd control, and situations like "can't break defense" or "auto-healing faster than damage taken" didn't exist.
That was why Kayaba still clung to personal heroism—why he ultimately wanted one person to stand before him and duel him alone. Thinking about it carefully, did his actions really have that much meaning? In the end, it was probably just the fulfillment of a childhood fantasy. His goals could have been achieved without resorting to such extreme methods.
While talking, the two arrived at the labyrinth. Terusuke's people were already waiting. Including Lillian and Terusuke, there were thirty-six players in total—perfectly divisible into six parties.
"Too bad. If we had twelve more people, that'd be ideal," Terusuke said regretfully.
In SAO, a BOSS raid could deploy up to one full raid force—eight parties, forty-eight people. But clearly, they couldn't gather that many right now. In Lillian's view, it wasn't necessary anyway.
He knew his own strength well. Being worth ten people by himself wasn't an exaggeration. If this raid failed even with him there, then there really wouldn't be a chance to succeed anytime soon.
"Guild leader, with you as the tank, we'll definitely clear it!"
"Yeah! We've practiced coordination so many times these past few days—and we've got Lillian with us too!"
"That's right! Lillian's greatsword hits so hard, the damage is insane—we'll be fine!"
After days of grinding together, Lillian had become fairly familiar with them. Overall, they were good people. More importantly, they were extremely loyal to Terusuke.
Having served as a deputy commander for a long time himself, Lillian was fairly good at judging people. He could tell that they followed Terusuke because of his personal charisma. That was an incredibly powerful quality.
Just like Mihawk's evaluation of Luffy in One Piece: "That man possesses the most terrifying power on this sea—the ability to make everyone around him his ally, one by one, without relying on abilities or techniques."
Because of that, Lillian held Terusuke in high regard. What had started as a job taken purely for Col had gradually turned into a desire to see this man grow stronger. If Terusuke's guild could rise, perhaps the overall pace and environment of clearing the game would improve as well.
With that in mind, the group cut through monsters along the way and quickly arrived at the BOSS room entrance by following Lillian's route. Staring at the massive double doors, everyone couldn't help but feel tense.
"Relax, everyone!" Terusuke said. "We're all beta testers, and we've fought this thing before. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves! Other than switching weapons at the last HP bar, the BOSS is the same as in beta! As long as we follow the strategy, we'll be fine!"
"OHH!!"
The group shouted to psych themselves up. In truth, none of them were bad at games—on the contrary, their skill levels were quite high. They were just nervous because dying here meant dying in real life. It was the same as how someone could walk easily on flat ground but freeze up at heights—psychological pressure had a huge impact on physical performance.
"Don't worry," Lillian also spoke up at this point. "The BOSS room doesn't lock. If things go south, everyone retreat. I'll cover you."
That reassurance eased everyone's nerves. Over the past few days, they had seen Lillian's terrifying strength firsthand—almost no normal monster survived more than two hits from his sword. In fact, it was precisely because his farming efficiency was absurdly high that over thirty people could take turns partying with him to share EXP. Otherwise, it would've been impossible for everyone to reach an average level of 9 in just a few days.
As for Terusuke, he had pushed himself relentlessly—sleeping only four hours a day and spending the rest grinding monsters—finally reaching level 10 on the last day.
Lillian himself was still level 10, but his EXP bar was already four-fifths full. Even if the BOSS EXP was split among thirty-plus people, it would still be enough for him to reach level 11.
"Alright—get ready to go in!" Terusuke placed his hands on the door. Even he was nervous now. Staring at the grotesque carvings and the beast-headed humanoid reliefs on the door, he gritted his teeth.
"We're the first group to arrive here. We will take down this BOSS! Open!"
Clack—clack—clack—!
As Terusuke pushed with all his strength, the doors emitted an unpleasant grinding sound before slowly opening, revealing an enormous rectangular chamber.
The room was about twenty meters wide, but from the entrance to the far wall, it stretched nearly a hundred meters. Even with over thirty people entering, they seemed insignificant within the vast space. The emptiness itself inspired unease. Several people glanced back at the doors—just as Lillian had said, they hadn't closed.
If things went badly, retreat was still possible. Because that escape route existed, everyone felt a bit more relaxed. Of course, retreating meant exposing one's back to the BOSS—an extremely dangerous prospect—but since Lillian had promised to cover them, that fear never fully took root.
"Move in!"
Terusuke's demeanor completely changed. He became serious and focused, gripping his massive shield tightly. He followed a shield warrior build—high HP, high defense—the party's main tank. That also meant standing on the very front line, making him bear one of the most dangerous roles.
As his voice echoed, a loud boom rang through the chamber. Torches embedded along both walls ignited one after another, their orange-yellow flames casting the party's shadows onto the stone and outlining the massive figure seated on the throne at the far end of the room.
Sensing the intruders, the king upon the stone throne opened its eyes. Sharp golden light burst from its pupils, making everyone feel as though blades were scraping across their skin. A chill ran through the room.