--- Kirito ---
The situation in the game had followed a certain pattern thus far.
It was either the Withered Rose party speed-blitzed through a Floor Boss before any guild could put their hands on them, or the two were not ready for any reason, and thus gave that up for guilds.
It's not like they wished to cooperate with them on the matter, but they didn't have any choice.
The Withered Rose party's level up speed was simply too fast to follow for a normal human, and whoever of the two prepares the tactics for them to clear the Boss must be quite a skilled player in other similar games.
That is what people concluded.
Normally, it's considered insane to challenge a Dungeon Floor Boss without preparation and a huge number of people, especially since the difficulty was on another level compared to the beta test.
As a beta tester, I can assure you they're nowhere near the same.
But the Withered Rose clearly didn't care about this as they challenged floor after floor with only a party of two people. Their party was simply on another level.
Sometimes, I wonder if I had the courage back on the 1st Floor to ask them.
"Could I perhaps join your party?"
What level would I have reached?
But it's useless to dwell on the past.
Well, that was until I noticed the Withered Rose party had disbanded.
It was not difficult to understand that the news was a really good one for all guilds, as it meant they'd now finally have time to breathe to stay in the frontlines.
After the immediate relief, came the questions.
Nobody knew what happened, since neither the Death Reaper nor the Silent Flash had given any clear statement about it, but people could still gossip.
Could it be a lover's quarrel? Or something of a similar nature?
Rumors, of course, began spreading, with the guilds now hurriedly trying hard to recruit both of the promising players who had now become solo.
But neither of the two responded to any call.
Even when a challenge out of honor was issued to the Death Reaper, the latter didn't even reply, much less show up.
This was probably one of Heathcliff's most embarrassing moments, as even though he's certainly a candidate for the top 1 player, as long as the Death Reaper refuses to duel with him, he wouldn't have any ground to be able to call himself that.
I mean, you can be as strong as you want, but can you fight a Dungeon Boss with only a party of two?
Yeah, I guess not, man.
There wasn't a single person who was unaware of how terrifying both players of the Withered Rose were.
Even so, I felt it was really strange. I had come into contact with the two firsthand, and I knew what kind of people they were.
Could a quarrel or something really be enough to abandon each other in a game like this where they could die if they weren't careful enough?
Solo play is completely different from party play, you know?
Well, I received an answer soon after.
It wasn't even something I had to be worried about.
I must say, the experience was quite... humbling.
Because the Death Reaper was even more terrifying than what people gave him credit for.
Once he disbanded the party, he actually attempted to solo the Floor Boss.
When the news reached the players, most of them had looks of shock.
The Death Reaper is strong and scary, this had already cemented itself in the minds of the players, but this...this was beyond the scale of a normal player.
All of them knew just how terrifying a Floor Boss could be.
That fear was still higher than the one directed to him.
Thus, not a single person believed that he would come out alive, much less beat the Boss Monster.
When everyone got a notification that the floor was cleared, that is when people understood.
They mistook the tip of the iceberg for the whole thing.
This brought an immense increase in the Death Reaper's popularity.
...But that's not always a good thing for the people involved with the person in question.
In fact, the fear soon turned into the will to gossip, and what was the first thing that people remembered about him?
The disbandment of his party.
Could it be... he was actually carrying the party?
Such rumors began to spread.
Maybe he got tired of the Silent Flash because... she wasn't useful enough?
Thus, she became a sort of laughingstock, although people were still careful about it. If that really was the case, why would the Death Reaper bother to stay with her for that long?
Love can only get you so far.
If you're useless, you're useless, no questions asked.
That's really cruel, if you ask me.
There were many doubts about this situation, but I didn't want to believe in anything I heard through other people. Although it's not even my place to pry, so, I ultimately abandoned all of it to focus on farming levels.
---
I kept the pace as usual, until something changed.
For the 75th Floor, Haru did not monopolize it.
Rather, he was the one who encouraged multiple guilds to cooperate, and even to invite solo players like me. This caught me off guard and made me a bit worried.
Was this Floor Boss really that difficult? If even the Death Reaper is this cautious about it, then it can only mean the difficulty from now on will be even higher.
I decided to attend the gathering where all kinds of guilds and solo players had assembled. The atmosphere was tense with anticipation and concern.
Among the crowd, I noticed the Silent Flash. Contrary to my expectations, she was just glancing around, searching for someone.
I sighed at this since it was clear Haru did not want to engage with her.
He didn't even bother showing himself here...
I just hoped this wouldn't affect our strategy to conquer this Floor Boss...
This was the moment a pit in my stomach began forming, warning me that something was not right...
---
Author's Note:
For the curious ones, I kind of did shit in the exam, so I'll have to re-do it in all likelihood, lmao
Anyway, I can't believe we're reaching another Trial's end.
Short Q&A!
Q: Did we just skip 13 floors?
A: Yes, deal with it
Q: But will we see what happened in the Hidden Dungeon, and moreover, what has Akira done there?
A: Yes, just give me time to cook. I swear it's worth it.
Q: So, Akira should've gotten ??? from Trial 2 that will help him in Trial 3(Chapter 111), and his Skill [Perfect Human Body] should have evolded!!!
A: Yes. I didn't forget about it, dw.
Q: Asuna NTR on Kirito?
A: No.........t with Akira(It's a joke)[Maybe]