Capítulo 301: -297- Extremely good piece of information
Although Rozen and Kibaou never saw eye to eye, Kibaou should have recognized Rozen's abilities to some extent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have willingly let his guild follow the orders of a beta tester he disliked. However, Kibaou's own abilities were ultimately limited, and his impulsiveness led to his downfall.
After the incident, Kibaou and his surviving comrades separated from the clearing group and, similar to Diabel in the past, returned to the starting town of the 1st floor. It seems they merged with the cooperative organization "MMO today" that operated there and renamed themselves the "Aincrad Liberation Force."
"MMO today..." Rozen said thoughtfully, "Isn't that the largest online game information website in the real world?"
"That's right," Argo nodded, replying, "It's said that the administrator of that information site entered this world during the official launch and established a cooperative organization with the same name in the starting town. Their goal is to assist each other to survive actively, manage acquired items collectively, gather information, and they even occupy the Black Iron Palace in the central square of the starting town to stockpile resources and give various orders to their subordinates."
"So, it's about sharing items and rewards?" Rozen chuckled, saying, "No wonder Kibaou decided to merge with them."
Who wouldn't like a group that shared items and resources? Especially someone like Kibaou, who disliked beta testers hoarding items and col.
"Kibaou is now the vice leader of the 'Aincrad Liberation Force,' and the leader is the administrator of 'MMO today'," Argo shrugged and continued, "They've reportedly started issuing uniforms for their members and players even jokingly call them the 'Army.'"
"Is that so?" Rozen replied nonchalantly, "Well, that's nice to hear."
"Could you be a bit more sincere?" Argo gave Rozen an annoyed look, saying, "I came all the way here to provide you with current information about the 'Aincrad Liberation Force.' As the leader of the clearing group, can't you show a bit more concern?"
"Even if you put it that way, what's lost is already lost," Rozen sipped his drink and continued reading the newspaper, unmoved, "If others are willing to trust my command and leave their lives in my hands, then naturally, I'll ensure everyone returns alive. Since Kibaou chose this path, it's not my concern."
Ultimately, the clearing group only recognized Rozen's capabilities and appointed him as the leader of the clearing strategy due to his abilities. He didn't become their superior; he was more like a strategist.
"Are you trying to put the blame for the 'Aincrad Liberation Force's' mistakes on me?" Rozen glanced at Argo.
Argo gave a wry smile. "I'm not going to pin that on you. Rather, players now believe that the 'Aincrad Liberation Squad' deserved what they got. They didn't follow the orders of the 'Magus,' who had a flawless record. It's inevitable they suffered losses. Kibaou leaving the clearing group is largely influenced by public opinion."
But...
"However, losing the strength of the 'Aincrad Liberation Squad' has significantly reduced the clearing group's power," Argo looked at Rozen and said, "Though it's unquestionable that your 'Crimson Wing' is currently the strongest guild, in terms of numbers, Kibaou's guild has the most members."
This was indeed a fact.
Up to this point, Rozen's "Crimson Wing" guild only had 35 members, with less than 50 in total.
On the other hand, the "Aincrad Liberation Force," due to Kibaou's recruitment of general players from the 1st floor clearing team during its formation, had a considerable number of members from the start. The guild had grown to 50 members and nearly comprised half of the clearing force.
"Having lost nearly half of their combat power, the current situation of the clearing group isn't looking good, is it?" Argo stared at Rozen and remarked, "I heard that after successfully clearing the 25th floor, the clearing group is still stuck on the 26th floor. They're hesitant to even leave the town, fearing that the monsters on the 26th floor might be much stronger than those on the 25th floor."
After witnessing the terror of the 25th floor, the morale of the clearing group had indeed taken a hit. Just the thought of the 26th floor possibly being as challenging as the 25th floor filled the players with fear.
Argo came over precisely because she was worried about this.
However, Rozen was sure in his response.
"No, the 26th floor shouldn't suddenly increase in difficulty."
This statement made Argo pause for a moment.
But Rozen was confident in his assertion.
"Do you remember when we cleared the 10th floor? The difficulty suddenly increased, didn't it?"
Rozen asked Argo this question.
Argo naturally remembered.
"Compared to the 9th floor, the 10th floor's difficulty did increase quite a bit. The monsters on that floor were humanoid warriors using weapons like the nodachi wielded by the 1st floor's boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord. It was quite a challenge for players who had struggled on the 1st floor. That situation slowed down the clearing group's progress. If ZenZen hadn't figured out the attack patterns of those monsters during the beta testing, breaking through the 10th floor wouldn't have been so easy."
Argo explained.
It was indeed because of the sudden increase in difficulty on the 10th floor that the beta testers had stalled at that level during that beta test period.
But this kind of sudden difficulty increase wasn't limited to just the 10th floor.
"Do you remember when the 20th floor was unlocked, the difficulty was also significantly raised? Although it can't be compared to the 25th floor, it still caused quite a bit of chaos within the clearing group."
Rozen brought up this matter.
Argo instantly understood.
"Could it be..."
Seeing Argo's somewhat enlightened expression, Rozen smiled faintly.
"If I'm not mistaken, there's a pattern to the floor difficulty increase."
Rozen made this speculation.
"When the difference between floors is 1, the difficulty increases slightly."
"When the difference between floors is 10, the difficulty increases moderately."
"When the difference between floors is 25, the difficulty increases significantly."
Rozen outlined this pattern.
"So, at best, the 26th floor will be slightly more challenging than the 25th floor, but there won't be a significant increase in difficulty."
"Only when we reach the 30th floor will the difficulty increase moderately."
"As for the next significant increase, it will occur on the 50th floor."
Rozen addressed Argo.
"Argo, please share this information with all members of the clearing group. Advise them to be cautious but not overly fearful. They should boldly continue with their clearing efforts."
Upon hearing this, Argo nodded repeatedly.
"I'll take care of this."
Argo readily accepted the task, somewhat resignedly adding, "I thought even you might be feeling overwhelmed by this situation. It seems I underestimated you, ZenZen."
That wasn't the main point.
The main point was...
"It's a shame I thought I was going to tell you an extremely good piece of information."
Argo's words caught Rozen's attention.
"An extremely good piece of information?"
Rozen became curious.
What kind of news could be considered extremely good?
Perhaps sensing Rozen's thoughts, Argo grinned strangely.
Then, with a mischievous smile, Argo revealed this piece of information.
Estado de energía semanal
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Poder 
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