Dragon Sword

2

"How much for these?" I held up a pair of daggers.

The man behind the counter had a scar, presumably gotten in the military, maybe even in game, upon his hansom face. The man had a strong build and was at least six foot five inches tall. "For a pretty girl like you, I'll give you those things for free. A girl has got to be able to protect herself. Especially since we won't be getting the hell out of here anytime soon. I mean a month has already passed since Kayaba told us about this death game!"

"Yeah" I sighed, "and over 2,000 players have already died plus the 1st Floor has yet to be cleared." I looked to my friends, Amy and Drako, as they teased each other about weapon skill levels. They were both amateur gamers when this had all started. Their very first full dive games. "I'm just glad I could keep my friends safe this long." I lowered my voice. "So tell me, you were a beta tester too, were you not?"

"Yeah. Just like you. But don't let that get out. Today this guy, Diavel, I think, called for a meeting at the town center of Bana. He announced that the Boss room had been located. He asked the players to form parties. The meeting was interrupted by Kibaou, one of the players in the meeting. Believing that there were Beta Testers, which of course there were, we're players too, in the meeting, he stated how they had 'left the beginners to die,' and refused to help the starters. He then said that if there were any beta testers in the meeting, they should give up all of their items and money, otherwise they would not be trusted by the others."

"That's fucking stupid," I said.

"You're right," he agreed, "so this girl, Agil, intervened and defended the Beta Testers, stating that they should not be fully blamed for the tragedies of the fallen players as they had already helped by distributing their knowledge of the game through a manual and that everyone had equal access to the information."

I rolled my eyes. "Bet everyone there had a manual."

"Yep. After the commotion ended, Diavel read the information book to the players in the crowd, telling them that the boss on the floor was Illfang the Kobold Lord, and that he had minions, called Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He also told them on his last bar of HP, the boss would discard his weapons and equip a Talwar and use an altogether different combat style. Assuming that the book was completely correct, the attending members have decided not to scout the boss to check if there was any mistake in the book and have planned to battle Illfang tomorrow."

"Then I sure hope nothing fucking changed then, for their shit-headed sakes. Imagine what will happen if something changed." I looked to my friends again. They were still teasing each other in the corner. "I think I'll go on this mission with them."

Suddenly in a faintly sarcastic and amused voice, Amy yelled, "Oh my god! You like Lillyin!"

I turned red and Drako tried to make Amy shut up by tackling her and covering her mouth. Slowly, I turned around awkwardly. Drako was smiling widely, eyes scrunched tight shut, like nothing had happened. His hands were over Amy's mouth and he was using his knee to pin her down.

That night, Drako was eating dinner on a bench in the park and I decided to join him. He move away from me, his face red. I gave Drako a jar that I'd bought earlier that tasted like an ice cream that I enjoyed very much.

"So..." I rubbed my neck. "I've decided that I'm going on that boss mission I heard about in town today. I've already spoke with Amy. She plans to wait for me to return from the mission after the boss is defeated. Do you... do you want to come with me?"

Drako thought for a second. "Screw it. I don't want a friend to die so I'll come." Drako stood and offered Lillyin his hand. "And try to not die."