Chapter 294: -290- What you're trying to do
"Boom!"
This was the sound caused by the transformation of the Kobold Sentinels into polygonal fragments and their subsequent disappearance.
With the defeat of the guardian boss, the Kobold Sentinels were no longer allowed to exist according to the settings. Thus, they vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Even the previously vibrant surroundings gradually dimmed, returning to their original darkness.
At first glance, it seemed as though nothing had happened, making people doubt whether the battle that had just occurred was merely a dream.
However, this was definitely not a dream.
Because before all the players, windows displaying the experience points, money, and loot from this battle appeared in front of each player. This informed them that everything was real.
As a result, the players cheered and even embraced their companions, immersing the entire boss room in joy and celebration.
"Gu!"
Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the Rainbow Flower Butterfly also danced happily, fluttering around in mid-air, sprinkling luminous phosphorescent powder.
Of course, these were merely special effects, not the abilities of the Rainbow Flower Butterfly.
"Phew…"
Rozen also let out a sigh, recovering from the state of his〈Mind's Eye〉. He wore a genuine smile of relief.
After all, this time Rozen had managed to activate the〈Mind's Eye〉for several minutes, a rather pleasant surprise considering that he had entered the state of〈Mind's Eye〉in just a few seconds.
Though he hadn't dealt the final blow to the guardian boss or recorded the Kobold Lord as his familiar, it was a bit of a pity. However, the Kobold Lord was merely the guardian boss of the 1st floor, theoretically the weakest guardian boss in all of Aincrad. Even if he hadn't recorded it, it wouldn't be much of a loss.
Rozen walked over to Kirito, who had just recovered from the stiffness caused by using sword skills, and extended a hand towards him.
Seeing this, Kirito seemed to realize what had just transpired. He had personally taken down the 1st-floor guardian boss and wore a slightly stiff expression of delight. He also extended his hand, giving Rozen's fist a fist bump.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
A round of applause erupted from behind the two brothers, drawing their attention.
"You guys are amazing. I'm really impressed, ZenZen, Kirito."
Argo clapped vigorously and grinned.
Despite Argo's relatively low profile during this guardian boss battle, in reality, the agile information broker had been active from the very beginning. She provided support to players lacking recovery potions, those too tired to move, and those who retreated to the rear. She transported recovery items and provided cover, even distracting the Kobold Sentinels to serve as bait. Her workload wasn't light.
Beside Argo, Agil, who had stashed away his dual battle axes, also gave a thumbs-up to the two.
"Who would've thought you guys were this strong, and your coordination was so perfect, especially the execution of sword skills. I'm amazed."
Agil praised wholeheartedly.
Naturally, players from the beta test period cheered, shouted aloud, and bantered.
"Great job!"
"Well done!"
"Are you guys even stronger than during the beta test?"
"You guys look like you're cheating!"
"Teach us too!"
"Don't be too stingy!"
"Hahaha!"
The beta testers burst into hearty laughter, their happiness palpable.
On the other hand, the regular players, while happy about the successful defeat of the guardian boss, also recognized that the beta testers had contributed the most to this battle. Consequently, they couldn't help but feel somewhat disgruntled.
Nevertheless, overall, everyone was in good spirits.
"In that case, can we proceed to the 2nd floor now?"
"Will news of this floor's conquest immediately spread back to the Starting Town?"
"At least the players should feel a glimmer of hope now."
"Exactly."
One after another, players expressed these sentiments.
There were only three people who couldn't find much joy in this situation.
"Hope… huh…?"
Asuna, wearing a cloak and gripping a rapier, stood at the outer edge of the crowd. She lingered in a corner where no one paid her any attention, murmuring to herself.
"To think that the beta testers would steal the spotlight…"
Kibaou, amidst a group of regular players, wore a displeased expression.
"..."
Diabel, who was busy recovering lost HP by drinking potions, remained completely silent.
In this state of affairs...
"Well then, it's our turn to talk now."
Rozen approached Diabel with these words, his gaze fixed on him.
This puzzled all the players present.
"What's going on?"
"What else is there to discuss?"
"Is it about distributing the loot?"
"Haven't we agreed that whoever picks up the dropped items gets to keep them?"
One after another, players expressed their confusion.
Only Kirito, Argo, Agil, and even Asuna seemed to sense something amiss. They remained silent and turned their gaze towards Diabel.
Only then did the atmosphere in the area begin to change slightly.
"What do you guys want?"
Kibaou stepped forward from the crowd, as if indicating that he and Diabel were united in this matter. He glared at Rozen.
"Don't think that just because you guys made a big contribution, you can do whatever you want. Don't even think about taking advantage of us regular players!"
It seemed Kibaou believed that Rozen and his group intended to make unreasonable demands, such as insisting that the regular player groups didn't contribute much and thus should give up all the dropped items.
As always, this person held the view that beta testers were a selfish bunch who only aimed to get stronger for their own benefit. While he might not be as hostile as before, he still hadn't extended any recognition.
However, how could Kibaou know?
"Doing whatever you want after making a big contribution? Isn't that what you're trying to do?"
Rozen delivered these words without reservation, causing Kibaou's fierce expression to freeze, and Diabel's complexion to grow darker.
Witnessing this, the players present finally realized that something was happening behind the scenes.
"What's going on, ZenZen?"
Argo spoke on behalf of everyone, voicing the question on their minds.
Kirito, Agil, and Asuna, who stood in the corner, all directed their gaze at Rozen.
To this, Rozen offered a simple explanation.
"Diabel wanted to snatch the last-hit reward for the guardian boss, so that's why he rushed forward earlier."
This straightforward statement completely changed the expressions of the players present.
They turned from surprise to shock.
Chapter 295: -291- The man behind the transaction
—"LA."
This is just an abbreviation.
The formal term should be—"last attack."
In SAO, players who deliver the final blow to a monster receive many rewards.
For example, they gain the monster's experience points.
Or increase the likelihood of obtaining dropped items.
Furthermore, when the target is a boss-level monster, they also receive additional rare item rewards.
For instance, Rozen's "Thousand-Layer Robe" was obtained as a last attack reward from a mini-boss in the 1st floor labyrinth area.
These kinds of last attack rewards from boss monsters are usually rarer and more powerful than regular items.
So, for SAO players, monster last attacks are synonymous with significant spoils of war.
During the beta testing phase, countless incidents of chaos and disputes occurred due to players trying to secure last attack rewards from bosses.
Now, Rozen has revealed to everyone.
Diabel had his eyes on the last attack reward from the guardian boss, which is why he rushed forward earlier.
No, he didn't just suddenly do this now.
In fact, Diabel had been planning this for a while.
Rozen was simply exposing Diabel's actions.
And the response he received was a roar.
"Nonsense!"
The one who let out this furious roar wasn't Diabel, but Kibaou.
"You think Diabel is one of you selfish beta testers?"
Kibaou pointed at Rozen and spoke loudly.
"Diabel has been fighting all the way to free all players from this damn game. Don't even compare him to the likes of you!"
Kibaou's fervent shout was met with agreement from Diabel's teammates.
"That's right!"
"Who do you think Diabel is, compared to you beta testers?"
"Don't look down on people!"
"If Diabel hadn't rushed forward earlier, it would've been you beta players who almost got killed by the boss changing its attack pattern!"
"What an ungrateful bunch!"
Diabel's teammates angrily shouted.
Clearly, these people genuinely believed that Diabel had rushed forward because he saw the guardian boss change its attack pattern and was worried about the safety of the beta player group.
However...
"We already knew that the guardian boss's attack pattern was going to change. If you wanted to remind us, you could've just shouted. What was the point of rushing forward on your own?"
Rozen didn't look at the rest of the players; he simply fixed his gaze on the silent Diabel.
This only fueled the anger of those defending Diabel.
Especially Kibaou, who, on behalf of the silent Diabel, glared furiously at Rozen.
"Just because of this, you're accusing Diabel of wanting to snatch the boss's last attack reward?"
This was indeed lacking in persuasiveness.
Just rushing forward and accusing someone of wanting to snatch the last attack reward—wouldn't that lead to more disbelief among those who didn't already believe it?
After all, Diabel had a pretty good reputation and charismatic leadership. Even his teammates were convinced by his persuasion to leave the Starting Town and had been following him all along. For them, it was only natural to believe in Diabel rather than Rozen.
But Rozen wasn't the type to casually make baseless claims.
Facing everyone present, Rozen looked at Kibaou.
"So Mr. Kibaou." Rozen spoke confidently to Kibaou, "It's been said that you were the one who commissioned Argo to persuade me and Kirito to sell you the two enhanced 'Anneal Blades,' right?"
Upon hearing this, Kibaou's expression of anger momentarily shifted to a hint of panic.
However, he quickly composed himself and admitted, "Yeah! What's the problem?"
Kibaou's response carried a sense of suppressed intensity.
Rozen simply smiled.
"Aren't you quite hostile toward beta testers?" Rozen said with a half-smile, "Kirito I can understand, maybe you didn't know he was a beta tester, but the fact that I'm a beta tester is practically common knowledge among all players. And yet, you, who despises beta testers, actually bought weapons from one? Doesn't that contradict your stance?"
Because of this, when Argo mentioned Kibaou as the one behind the transaction, Rozen immediately noticed.
"This is probably a lie, isn't it?" Rozen continued, "Someone else was interested in buying our weapons, but because they knew that Argo is a shady dealer who could potentially expose their identity by selling their information, they found you and asked you to represent them and commission Argo."
With this, Rozen glanced at Argo with a somewhat irritated tone.
"A certain information broker should have realized this possibility a long time ago, right?"
Hearing this, Argo chuckled wryly.
In other words, someone wanted to commission Argo to buy weapons from Kirito and Rozen. However, they were concerned that Argo, being a shady dealer, might expose their identity and sell their information. So, they went to Kibaou and had him act as their representative to commission Argo.
And the reason behind this action was simple.
"They wanted to weaken Kirito's and my weapons, reducing our attack power, so that we wouldn't be able to secure last attack rewards."
Rozen stated firmly.
"As for why they targeted both of us, it's quite simple. During the beta testing period, Kirito and I had a certain reputation."
During beta testing, Rozen led the front-line player group to the 10th floor, and he didn't shy away from fighting either. For the purpose of honing his 'Mind's Eye' skill and to personally kill monsters and turn them into familiars, he had taken last attack rewards from many guardian bosses.
While Kirito might not have stood out as much as Rozen, his exceptional gaming skills allowed him to perform remarkably well in guardian boss strategies. He had even calculated the remaining HP of bosses on several occasions, competing with Rozen to secure last attack rewards.
It was precisely because they knew about Kirito and Rozen's prominence during beta testing that they were worried the two brothers might snatch the last attack rewards in the upcoming 1st-floor guardian boss battle. This led them to orchestrate this plan.
And only one person could have concocted such a plan.
"The commission was sent before the strategy meeting for the guardian boss had even started. So, the one who issued it must not have been a player who only joined the strategy meeting after discovering that the guardian boss's room was found. Instead, they were the one who initiated the strategy meeting planning after discovering the guardian boss's room."
Rozen turned his gaze to the still-silent Diabel, and spoke word by word.
"That person is you, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present exchanged perplexed glances.
Kibaou was about to respond, but Rozen cut him off without hesitation.
"Are you implying that this is my fabrication? That Diabel found out Kirito and I are beta players, and he learned about our actions during the beta testing period, so he commissioned you to buy our weapons to prevent us from seizing last attack rewards and weaken us?"
Rozen posed this question.
"But have you ever considered why Diabel, knew that Kirito was a beta player and that we frequently secured last attack rewards during beta testing?"
This question stumped Kibaou and everyone present.
Indeed.
Rozen could be explained, but why would Diabel know Kirito was a beta tester, and know both of them frequently obtain last attack rewards during beta testing?
There was only one reason.
"Diabel."
Rozen looked directly at Diabel and spoke in a calm tone.
"You're a beta tester too, aren't you?"
As these words hung in the air, everyone present was left stunned.
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