Scene 82

2,000 player lives have already been claimed since the start of this death game. Why? Because they chose to go it alone.

That's how this plan came to me. If we all share information and form cooperative raid parties, we can beat this game one floor at a time!

Short-haired Man

Hold up a sec!

Short-haired Man

My name's Kibaou, got that? Before we take on the boss, I wanna get somethin' off my chest.

Oh?

We all know about the 2,000 people who've died so far, yeah? Well, some of you need to apologize to 'em right now!

Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the beta testers, right?

Of course I mean them! The day this stupidass game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right? They ditched all of us beginners!

They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests, too. They were the only ones gettin' stronger in here. This whole time they've ignored us like we're nothin'!

Hell, I bet there's some of 'em here! Come on out, beta testers!

We should make them apologize to us. And we should make them give up their money and the items they got. They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?

Bald Man

Can I say something?

Bald Man

My name's Agil.

Kibaou, right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You're saying the beta testers should be blamed for the rookie's deaths because they didn't help them?

And you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?

No... You didn't.

The item shops hand these out for free. It's a guidebook. You got one, didn't you?

Sure, I got one! So what about it?

You know who were handing these out? The beta testers.

Listen up! Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died.

Well I'm here to learn from those players' deaths, to make them count. I wanna find out how we're gonna beat the boss.

Hmph!

Well then... Can we get back to the meeting now?

Regarding the boss: we've discerned from the guidebook that his name is Illfang the Kobold Lord.

He'll also be surrounded by his adds, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

Like I mentioned before, I think we'll have better odds fighting in groups. That's why I'd like you all to form parties of at least four members.

That concludes our council for today. I'll see you all at daybreak tomorrow. Meeting adjourned!