Chapter 56

Laughing maniacally, the black haired player pivoted on his left foot, spinning back to face the raid party. Walking forward into their ranks, he began to speak.

"So you guys think I'm a beta tester? You know, it's really not cool to put me in the same class with those noobs."

"Wha...what did you just say?" Came an enraged voice from behind the rest of the raid party.

The black haired player continued walking forward. Parting ranks before him as he walked on, the raid group continued staring silently as he replied.

"You heard me. Most of the thousand people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookies. So bad in fact, that they didn't even know how to level up at first. Hell, even you guys are better than they were. But me?" He paused in front of one of the players standing alone towards the back of the room. Toyo guessed that was the one who had spoken up.

Jae and Toyo stood silently at the far head of the room, still leaning on each other for support. No one had noticed them yet, and with tensions very clearly rising, both brothers waited to see what would happen next.

"But me," the black haired player continued, the arrogance dripping from his words. "I'm nothing like those other guys. During the beta test, I made it to floors far above those of the other testers. I knew about the Boss's special attack because I fought tons of monsters just like it, and with considerably more sword skills on higher floors." He paused, locking the player he was addressing in a malevolent glare.

"I know a bunch of other things too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker."

The player facing him, a young man with spiky orange hair, seethed with rage. "What the hell! If that's true, then you're even worse than a beta tester! You're a goddamn cheater!"

Erupting in anger, everyone in the raid party began shouting at the black haired player, cursing him as they screamed.

"He's a beta tester and a fucking cheater!" Someone yelled.

"He's a Beater!" Shouted another.

The black haired player cocked his head. A Beater...I like it. That's a good name."

He opened his menu, switching to his inventory screen as he said. "Ok, you can call me a Beater. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those beta testers again."

Hitting the equip button, the black haired player was suddenly wearing a jet black trench coat that only added to his dark persona. Chuckling as he glanced at the raid party one last time, he then turned and began walking up a flight of stairs in the corner of the room. Watching him go, the raid party looked half ready to cut him down before he made it out alive.

Though the situation looked far from defused, Jae urged them both forward once the player in black disappeared up the stairs.

"What the hell do you think happened?" He whispered as they walked.

Toyo looked at each of the raid member's faces carefully. "Nothing good. That's for sure. That guy sounds like a complete asshole."

As they stumbled into the light of the room's torches, the entire raid party turned in alarm. First confusion, and then concern crossed their features before they ran forward as one. A barrage of questions hit them as the group circled about the two brothers.

"Are you guys ok?"

"Aren't you the scout group?"

"How did you get in here?

"You two look terrible!"

With his free hand, Jae waved them down as Toyo said. "We found something pretty dangerous. Guys, where's Diabel?"

At that, everyone fell silent. Looking from face to face, Jae and Toyo found themselves dreading the answer.

"He's dead."

Looking at the player who spoke, Toyo could see that it was the same man with spiky orange hair the player in black had been speaking to.

Taken aback, Jae rocked on his heels. "Dead? How? When?"

Another player, with long bluish hair tied back into a bun, spoke. "Did you see the kid with the black hair and coat?"

Toyo and Jae nodded.

"He got Diabel killed while we were fighting the Boss." The player tightened his white knuckled fist. "He knew it's attack patterns and skills, but instead of warning Diabel when he charged in for the kill, that prick let him die."

The spiky haired player stepped up to them. Though he didn't look particularly intelligent, he had a commanding presence about him.

"Enough about that. We'll get him back later. First you guys need to tell us what happened to you. Diabel said you were heading back to town."

Jae nodded. "We were, but then we fell into a trap. We couldn't teleport out or send messages."

Gasping, the other players winced at the news as if they had just been struck. The player with the blue bun stepped forward, his brow furrowed in disbelief. "There's a place where we can't use teleport crystals? Are you sure?"

*****

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