The +5 Gale Rapier gleamed with tiny sparks. Asuna's delight was unmistakable as she ran her fingers over the blade.
"Excellent," Lillian said, noting the weapon's attributes. Precision had risen to 45; despite lower sharpness, extra critical hits would allow it to surpass higher-sharpness weapons.
"Thank you!" Asuna said sincerely. Lillian shook his head. "Payment first."
"…."
"Kirito, what about you?" Lillian glanced at the boy watching happily.
"Next time," Kirito said. "I haven't gathered enough additional materials yet. I'll come once I do."
"Alright."
They didn't add each other as friends; their personalities weren't the type to say, "Let's add each other."
"I'm packing up now." Lillian stored the tools, and the mat folded back into its cylindrical shape. Asuna looked curiously at the item, unfamiliar with its use. Kirito, however, knew its purpose and value, and understood the high price.
A full set of forging tools plus the material storage item easily cost tens of thousands of col. Kirito noted that Lillian had accumulated wealth very quickly. He had also earned tens of thousands, mostly spent on gear upgrades.
From the start of the game until now, Lillian had earned over 100,000 col, wisely investing where needed. The forging tools had been expensive, but several successful stalls had already returned the investment.
As Lillian prepared to bid farewell, he received a message from Argo:
{!!}
Lillian replied: {??}
{Hurry to the Bison Territory!} she responded urgently. {Terusuke and the others are under attack by other players!}
{…I'm on my way.}
Lillian glanced at Terusuke's name in his friends list. He had told him to message if anything happened, yet no message had come through.
Closing the comm window, his expression suddenly turning grim, Kirito and Asuna exchanged a look. Kirito asked, "Did something happen?"
"My friends were attacked in the Bison Territory," Lillian said, already moving away. "We'll talk next time."
"They were attacked?!"
It took Kirito a moment to react after Lillian ran off. "An open-field PK…"
"Let's follow and take a look, Kirito," Asuna said.
"Huh…?" Kirito hadn't expected Asuna to be interested in something like this. He looked at her in surprise. The smile from her successful weapon upgrade hadn't fully faded yet. She blinked and asked curiously, "Isn't that blacksmith your friend?"
"Uh… sort of?" Kirito scratched his head. They'd only met once through Argo and exchanged a greeting. If that counted as being friends, then he'd have far too many. Still, Lillian didn't seem like a bad person.
"Then let's go!"
Kirito nodded and activated [Search]. Since Lillian had just left, tracking him was easy. The two of them quickly followed after him.
---
At that moment, on the Bison Plains, Terusuke and more than thirty members of his guild were surrounded by over a hundred players. The situation was extremely dire.
"Damn it…"
Terusuke had no idea where these people came from, or why they were so organized in ambushing them.
"You're the ones who cleared the first-floor dungeon BOSS, right?" someone shouted. "Sneaking around and stealing exclusive drops—how shameless!"
"Exactly! Clearing a BOSS should be announced so everyone can participate!"
"We absolutely can't forgive such despicable behavior!"
"You must be hiding even more secret intel, right?"
There was no doubt that those participating in the siege were all open-beta players. Their anger centered on one belief: closed-beta players had hidden critical information, rushed to kill the BOSS, and taken exclusive rewards. They feared that if this continued, closed-beta players would only grow stronger while they themselves fell further behind.
After several days of plotting, they finally gathered a large group, scouted Terusuke's usual leveling spots, and launched their attack today.
"You know why over a thousand players have died these past few days?" A player with spiky, cactus-like hair stepped forward—it was Kibaou, the same one who had previously picked a fight with Lillian. He shouted angrily at Terusuke, "If you people hadn't hoarded everything, do you think those deaths would've happened?!"
"What does that have to do with us?!"
"Guild Leader! Let's fight them!"
"Yeah! Even if we die, we can at least take half of them with us!"
Terusuke's guild members were fired up as well. And honestly, they weren't wrong. Their levels and equipment were clearly superior. With no magic available and only close-range combat, they could indeed drag at least one enemy down with them when they fell.
But that was an outcome no one wanted.
"I think there's a misunderstanding here," Terusuke tried to keep things under control. "Yes, we cleared the BOSS. But how does that mean we caused other players' deaths?" He looked at Kibaou and said coldly, "You say we hoarded information. I admit we used closed-beta knowledge to take some quests—but you've already gotten the strategy guide, haven't you? Everything we know is written in there!"
"You're lying! Who would give away all their intel for free?!"
"Exactly!"
"You're trying to deceive us!"
When people are angry, they rarely think rationally. They pick a stance first, then attack everything the other side says. And when words fail, violence follows.
That was exactly where things were headed. Kibaou was quite pleased—these people were all ones he'd personally gathered, all harboring hostility toward closed-beta players like him. The moment he overheard Lillian and Terusuke's conversation, this plan had taken shape.
"Actually, the one calling the shots among you is that guy with the greatsword, right?" Kibaou shouted at Terusuke. "Send him a message right now! Tell him to come here so we can have a proper talk!"
Terusuke's expression darkened instantly. He could tell Kibaou was deliberately targeting Lillian. He replied coldly, "Not happening." Then he turned to his guild members and shouted, "Prepare for battle!"
"Yes!!"
"Are you people insane?!"
Even the players forming the encirclement hadn't expected these thirty-some people to be this defiant. Their anger only grew. Even though they'd heard the claim about "taking at least half of them down," they dismissed it as empty bravado—or assumed they wouldn't be among that half.
With tensions stretched to the breaking point and neither side able to back down without fighting, Lillian finally arrived.
He approached from outside the encirclement, casually tapping a few players on the shoulder. "Friends, excuse me—let me through."
"Huh? Uh…"
Several players, confused, stepped aside. Lillian walked straight into the circle. Only in the next moment did they realize—wait, isn't that… that guy?!