Chapter 266

Three days passed in a blink of an eye.

But this didn’t apply to everyone.

For the players who were trapped in this world, let alone three days, even one day felt like a year.

But for Rozen, the three days went by really fast while he was immersed in hunting monsters in the labyrinth area.

As someone who dedicated himself in his research and magecraft, he wouldn’t be able to last this long if he couldn’t stand solitude and had no patience.

Therefore, three days went by before he knew it.

“Too bad I can’t even level up.”

That was the only regret Rozen had during these three days.

Rozen has reached level 14, which was far beyond this floor’s efficient level. As a result, he didn’t get that much exp from the monsters on this floor.

Even the average level of the frontline players was level 10, if the rest of the players couldn’t even reach level 10 on this floor, that meant they simply wasted the time they got, and Rozen couldn’t stand the thought of wasting his time.

Therefore…

“There’s no room for failure in the upcoming Floor Boss Raid.”

Rozen gripped the hilt of the sword on his waist while stroking the Rainbow Butterfly that perched on his shoulders, he then made his way out of the labyrinth and arrived at Tolbana safely.

Ignoring the player’s hostile gaze like always, Rozen first went to a weapon store and repaired his Anneal Blade +8, restoring its durability to full value, and then he went to the item shop, buying healing potions, antidotes, etc., and lastly, he went to the armor store to repair his armors. All this cost Rozen nearly 10,000 Cor.

With that much Cor, the expenses of all players who remained in the Town of Beginnings would be covered.

But this is also indispensable. Rozen had no time to be all stingy right now.

By the time Rozen was done with his preparation, it was already 4 o’clock in the afternoon, which was the exact time for the Floor Boss Raid Strategy Meeting.

“According to Argo, the meeting will be held in the town square…”

After remembering Argo’s words, Rozen made his way to the square.

There were already a lot of players gathered there when Rozen arrived.

Rozen didn’t know most of them, he did at least recognize their name or face as he sometimes saw them in the labyrinth area. However, there were a few of them who has at least exchanged a few words with Rozen.

For example, the two-handed axe user named Agil who was standing with his party on the side of the square. He seemed popular as one player after another greeted him.

The party which was attacked by the player killer in the labyrinth area was also present.

Kibaou, whom Rozen met, was also present. He was talking with several players.

Even Argo attended the meeting. But she deliberately sat on the far back, away from the rest of the players.

The lively atmosphere became all quiet the moment Rozen stepped foot into the square.

“……..”

The players looked at Rozen one after another, with all kinds of emotion.

Rozen at least knew that aside from Agil and Argo, the rest of those players looked at Rozen with hostility.

Especially Kibaou, the moment he saw Rozen, he clicked his tongue.

Rozen did not care, simply because he wasn’t interested at all in those players.

“What’s with that way too obvious of a threat?”

Those players didn’t even bother making their hostility less obvious. However, Rozen wasn’t bothered by that.

“If you want to intimidate me that badly, at least learn from Prof. Lev.”

Rozen just shook his head while smiling helplessly.

As long as they didn’t mess with him directly, Rozen didn’t really care.

Suddenly…

“There are fewer people than I expected.”

A familiar voice was heard behind Rozen.

“Even during the closed beta, it took two raid groups to take down the boss, remember?”

Raid groups were formed by multiple parties.

In SAO, a party at max consisted of 6 players, and a raid group could hold up to 6 parties. So, a raid group consisted of a max of 48 players, which was usually formed to challenge bosses.

During the closed beta, players heavily relied on such a large force to take down the floor boss and moved up to the second floor.

“But the number of players gathering here barely reached the maximum limit for one raid group.”

The familiar voice said.

Rozen smiled slightly and answered without looking back.

“Don’t forget, during the closed beta, the average level of the players is around level 5-7, some are even lower. That’s why they had to rely on such a huge amount of numbers back then. However, the players gathered here right now is at least level 10, plus their equipment is far better, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Rozen’s answer seemed to convince the figure behind him.

“Meaning, even though there’s barely enough people, we should still have a chance to win, huh?”

The familiar voice said so.

“And this time we have you, things shouldn’t go like during the beta test.”

A black-haired teenager with One-Handed Sword identical to Rozen, wearing leather armor, stood beside Rozen.

“Long time no see, Rozen.”

The figure showed a sincere smile.

Rozen cheerfully replied.

“You seem quite perky, Kirito.”

It was none other than Kirito.

Both of them clenched their fist and bumped it against each other.

The brothers who had never seen each other since they parted ways in Horunka finally met again.