Chapter 21: SAO 3

A few days later, Carl received notification from Argo about the two groups headed by Diabel and Kibaou and their plans to attack the 2nd level boss. Diabel had founded the guild Dragon Knights Brigade, while Kibaou had founded the guild Aincrad Liberation Squad.

Carl noted that neither side contacted him to join them in killing the boss, despite having ample evidence of his skill.

"Is it because I'm not under either of their banners, and they can't control me that they didn't give me a call?" Carl laughed. "Is it because they want a better chance of getting the final attack bonus and boss loot, and their greed is leading their decisions?"

Argo noted that the raiding parties were already in the labyrinth attempting to defeat the boss, but that she had just completed some quests that gave her information about the floor boss, and she had no way to get the information to them quickly.

The information she received indicated that there were two mini bosses before the real floor boss would appear. Nato the Colonel Taurus was the first mini boss. The second was Baran the General Taurus. And the floor boss was Asterius the Taurus King.

Once Carl received the information from Argo, including what she learned about the boss's attack patterns and weaknesses, he made his way to the labyrinth. The programming of the world was so good that it even allowed for the faint traces left behind by players or monsters, so Carl was able to track the route the group took through the maze.

Carl arrived when they were halfway through the fight with Baran, the second mini boss. Baran was a 3.5 meter tall Minotaur with crimson fur. He wore a thick gold chain around his neck that would make many a rapper envious, and wielded a large battle hammer.

When Carl arrived, he saw Diabel and Kibaou both notice his appearance. They both sent a couple of men to try to delay Carl from rushing in and stealing the kill.

"Tch. So petty." Carl commented to the four men that were attempting to block his way.

"Please understand, Rondo. We've worked hard to clear this boss. It wouldn't be right for you to steal him at the last moment." One of the more diplomatic members smoothly replied.

"Fine, I understand why you're doing it. Guess my fresh intel about the boss fight isn't needed. I'll just wait right here. You can go back to the fight. I won't interfere in the current fight." Carl promised.

He could see the men hesitating, wondering if they could trust him. Carl simply smiled, leaned back against the wall as if to watch a good show, and shooed them away. Since he seemed sincere, they moved back into the fight.

Carl watched Kibaou give him a sneering look of triumph. Kibaou was full of pride in having backed him down. Carl simply chuckled at the man's idiocy and arrogance, not at all bothered.

Soon enough, Baran's health dropped enough to trigger his rage. The group was getting excited, they were almost there!

Once they finished off the Taurus General, the raid group started celebrating, jumping together and cheering. They thought the General was the floor boss. Just when they were at their happiest, the actual floor boss appeared.

Asterius the Taurus King was a 4 meter tall minotaur, with a crown on his head surrounded by his 6 horns. He stomped the ground a few times when he appeared, breathed in as the group began noticing him, and breathed out his lightning attack, paralyzing the majority of players, including Diabel, Lind, his second in command, and Kibaou.

Carl laughed loudly, which was heard by every member of the raid group. "Oh yeah, I bring news of the floor boss. He will appear after the Taurus General is dead and breathe out a paralyzing lightning. Didn't you guys not want me to interfere? I think I'll just wait here to see how you do in the fight."

Despite Carl's words, he was pulling out his bow and an arrow. Aiming quickly, he shot the boss in the head, stunning it for a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'll leave you guys to the fight, since you all seem to not want me here." Carl twisted the knife. He was reveling in the schadenfreude, even if he wouldn't let the boss kill them.

He quick switched his bow for his sword, and dashed forward to engage the boss. There were still a few members of the raid group who hadn't been paralyzed by the boss's attack that had still been paralyzed in fear from being the only ones free to move. They had no confidence they could even survive solo against the boss, so they didn't have the courage to act until they saw Carl successfully engaging the boss.

Carl soon had the boss's full attention. Asterius was armed with a massive hammer twice the size of Baran's hammer. Carl had his work cut out for him with misdirecting the Boss's strikes so none of them landed on the paralyzed members.

Despite his Master Class martial skills, the damage he could actually do to the boss was limited by the AI to what his stats and weapons say he should be able to do. And the bosses were meant to be taken down by groups of at least 30, if not more. So despite all the hits Carl got on the boss, the boss's health was dropping slowly.

It gave the players time to recover from their paralysis, and join him in attacking the boss. Sure, they felt embarrassed at being saved by him, but they still had a boss to defeat, and lootz to possibly win. What's a little embarrassment in front of boss lootz?

Now that the players knew about the boss's paralyzing attacks, most of them were able to avoid it. There were still a few dumb ones who thought they were good enough to just barely dodge it who managed to get themselves paralyzed. Carl called out for their friends to drag them away from the battle to recover, so they didn't chance getting splattered.

When the boss was low enough on health, he went into rampage mode, attacking faster and stronger. Carl continued fighting, not at all bothered by the boss's speed increase. After a few more moments, the boss died, with Carl getting the last attack bonus.

After the boss died, the axe wielding black man that had put Kibaou in his place in the meeting before the first boss come up to thank Carl for his help. He was accompanied by the dark haired teenager boy that Carl had noted was a Beta Tester, and a red haired teenager girl who was previously by his side. Carl noted that they seemed to be an item, having hooked up after the previous boss fight.

"Thanks Rondo, for the help. Despite what the other two guild leaders think, I'm glad you showed up." Agil said.

"You're welcome. Despite not liking them or their attitudes much, I don't really want to see the only people trying to clear the game die due to bad intel or an arrogant attitude." Carl responded.

"Hey, Rondo. I'm Kirito, and this is Asuna." Kirito introduced himself and his girl. "Thanks for the save."

"Anytime. I've noticed you three have some decent moves. Keep up the good work." Carl responded.

"Hey, can we add you as a friend?" Kirito asked, somewhat nervously.

"Sure, call me if you ever need help, and I'll do the same." Carl offered. "So, what are you going to do now?" He asked the three as he watched the two guilds led by Diabel and Kibaou troop out of the boss room without a word to him. 'I guess Kibaou can learn. He didn't even complain about me getting the boss loot this time.' Carl sardonically thought.

"Onward and upward, my friend. We're off to the third floor to start preparing for the next boss fight." Agil casually stated, while Asuna nodded agreement and Kirito shrugged awkwardly in assent.

"Sounds good. Let's go before those douchebags hog all the prime hunting spots." Carl laughed, ignoring the glares Asuna sent his way for his language. His persona in this world of a rich third generation and irreverent gamer sometimes bled through.

The group of four made their way to the exit onto the third floor, joking and getting to know each other. They soon exited the dungeon onto a high cliff, overlooking the endless forests of the third level.

Carl whistled at the sight. "Wonder how many people will get hopelessly lost in that forest."

"More than a few, no doubt." Agil commented, before leading the group down the path.

[AN: Usually I don't like writing authors notes that interrupt the flow of the story, but I thought this one was warranted, since I'm sure lots of people will be saying stuff like "that's not how things went in SAO". Or at least the imaginary voices in my head are saying stuff. /shrug

First of all, Carl doesn't know the plot of SAO. So he doesn't know that the teenager Kirito is supposed to be the protagonist. Carl just does what he wants. I don't like some of the douchebags characters in the SAO story, so I'm trying to have fun with it by mocking them at every opportunity. Don't know if it works for everyone, but I'm enjoying it.

Second, with the presence of Carl, Kirito didn't need to do his stupid cringeworthy self-sacrificing bit by declaring himself a "Beater" after the first boss was downed to try to get the player base to lighten up on the other beta testers. As a result Kirito got to stay around and hang with Asuna right from the beginning, thus starting their relationship much earlier. As a result he never went through that arc where he led some lowbies to their deaths. So he never went through that guilt trip and confidence crusher.

In my opinion Kirito wasn't a very strong character at the beginning. Before the game ever started he ran away from the responsibility of inheriting his grandfather's kendo expectations. He assumed the role of villain as a "Beater" so that the beta players would get a break from the hate of the regular players, but in my opinion he also ran away from that responsibility by joining a low level guild so he could pretend he was a normal player or something. And then he accidentally led them to their deaths. Whoops Kirito!

He was a typical teenager, with their weird teenager hang ups. Like how he thought that adding people to your online friends list was more momentous and important than it was. What was up with that? He acted like making an online friend was a lifelong declaration of loyalty or something instead of just a way to contact someone in game.

He was basically an annoying young teenager that eventually grew into a decent adult. Despite the mistakes and growing pains, he eventually became a better person that many could rely on.

So I think that by having Carl around, he doesn't feel as much pressure to be the high level, highly skilled player that has to stand in front of everyone, right at the beginning. Like many teenagers, he isn't very comfortable with the spotlight. With Carl around, he can grow up into a responsible person without being too pressured. Afterall, he's got his Waifu Asuna around to help him. She'll keep him on the right path. Now back to the story.]

The group of four soon arrived at the town close by the exit from the dungeon. Carl soon bid the other three farewell for the time being, agreeing to group up again if there were any group quests around.

Carl appreciated how Agil backed down Kibaou at the meeting before the first boss with his calm logical approach, and he seemed like an easy going guy that he could befriend. And the two teenagers, Kirito and Asuna were adorkable in how they interacted with each other. But Carl felt the need to get out and hunt alone and unencumbered. With his stamina and speed, having to wait for others to keep up would just be a huge pain.

He found himself somewhat annoyed by the guilds, Dragon Knight Brigade, or DKB, and the Aincrad Liberation Squad, or ALS, that pushed for the boss clearing so soon.

He hadn't fully explored the second floor to his satisfaction before getting the notice that they were pushing forward for the next floor. Since they only survived the encounters with Carl's help, he knew they were going to be pushing even more. They felt they had to establish themselves as powerful organizations. They needed something to prove themselves.

Just like any other human, they could have a number of different impetuses, or causes, pushing them. People were complicated like that.

Outwardly and for public consumption was their righteous mantle of Floor Clearers. Their desire to cry out to the normal players "We're clearing the floors for you, so you can get out of this death game. Look upon us and be awed!"

Inwardly, they wanted the lootz and the prizes for being first in everything. And Carl was amused to note, they also wanted to show him up. They wanted to rub their higher status in Carl's face and prove to themselves they were better.

And while Carl didn't care what they thought of him, he realized that if he was going to be keeping on the forefront of things, he needed to be more proactive. He couldn't take the time to properly explore everything on each floor, unless the floor clearers got into a tough spot and couldn't advance.

So Carl set out to do just that. He hadn't really pushed himself hard since waking up his jump memories at the town square when Kayaba started his death game. He'd felt smugly superior to the rest of the players because of his access to his abilities. He didn't feel the pressure like they did, because he knew he could just sit back for ten years in the game if he wanted before getting out.

But a number of things had changed Carl's mind. First of all was the people he'd been interacting with since arriving in the game. He'd almost tasted their despair, and realized for them it wasn't much of a vacation. He felt kind of bad for them, and wanted to help.

The other big impact was realizing that he could transfer the digitally crafted animals and plants into his farm and start growing them for real. That they retained the properties coded into them when they were made real. So now, he wanted to explore every part of this 100 floor world, and plunder – er… add everything to his growing assets.

He was getting more properties and land attached to his Warehouse each jump. Added on with how his powers were growing with each jump, and Carl was feeling like he was really moving up there in the world. He knew, intellectually, that he was still very far away from the power of entities like Spere 037, but he was getting addicted to the feeling of gaining powers and assets from each jump.

And speaking of adding to his powers, Carl realized that he hadn't been practicing the new talents that he had. At most he'd been enjoying My Quest Senses Are Tingling to find quests and APM Intensifies to leisurely enjoy combat.

But he'd been totally ignoring Roleplay and Environment PK. Carl decided that he'd start spending more time playing with those two perks.

As he thought about it, Carl realized that like a training trip, each jump world gave Carl 10 years in which to get used to and practice his new abilities. And now with the Like Riding a Bike perk, his skills would never deteriorate. So he could afford to spend some time focusing on the new abilities and making sure he was competent in their use.

So Carl made a plan. He first got himself a mask that would keep his identity secret. He then crafted a look and persona for himself. For several hours each day, during the day, Carl would wear his mask, the Coat of Midnight that he got from Illfang, and some other black colored armor that his Rondo persona would never wear.

During his time as Grutter, as he labeled his Black Swordsman persona, he turned back on his systems skill auto assist, and started using the skills that everyone else used. He hadn't leveled the skills up yet, so it was a grind at first.

His Rondo persona was already known for his unusual style of combat and his swift and deadly movements. He used a long sword and occasionally a bow and arrow. So he had to change things up so no one would catch on to his deception.

As Grutter, he was going to be known for using a katana and the chakram he got from the field boss on the second floor. He would act like a ninja. With the Grutter persona, he would practice using the terrain to trip up and attack the opponents and just generally dominate them.

He soon found that his Environment PK perk synergized well with his knowledge of hunting and traps he gained from the Farmville world. Which made him especially deadly in such a maze of forests like the third level.

Meanwhile, at night, Carl would revert to his Rondo persona and armor/weapons loadout. And he would go to town on the poor mobs in the forest. Most of the players had to sleep every night to remain alert. Carl only had to spend a couple hours a day meditating to remain in peak condition. So he spent a lot more time grinding and hunting than most, and practicing his two different persona's skills and mannerisms.

The levels of the floor bosses only increased by 5 levels each floor. So the first level boss had been level 5, the second was level 10, and so on. Carl was already level 12 by the time they fought the first floor boss, and he was level 17 when they killed the second floor boss. But he noticed that the average player that showed up for boss fights was only about 2 levels above the boss.

Which meant that the players that were showing up to clear the levels were cutting things pretty thin by only getting a couple more levels than the bosses were. He was sure that would bite them in the ass sometime in the future, when they didn't have the levels, skills, or stats to handle a powerful floor boss.

Carl just shrugged when he thought about it. They weren't his responsibility. They could do what they want, play the game how they want, and tempt death if they wanted. If he was nearby he would lend a hand, but he wasn't going to lose meditation time over it. (Cause he didn't really sleep.)

As Carl spent time in his Grutter ninja persona, he was having a lot of fun. Despite using the system's skills feeling weird, it was very amusing to watch the mobs die to environmental damage or traps he set. Occasionally he would run across members of the ALS or the DKB in the forests. He would have a fun time being a ninja and shadowing them while setting up harmless pranks that made their lives difficult.

Wasp and bee hives that fell on their heads. Itching powder that mysteriously got all over the bushes they had to push through. Globs of mud that somehow got flung into their faces when they stepped on the wrong branch. Carl had a hard time muffling his laughter sometimes.

So what if he was being petty? He had heard all the nasty rumors and slander the two groups were spreading about him to the populace. Just because he set up anti-slander slander to expose the two groups for the power hungry assholes they were didn't mean they were remotely square.

So Carl quite enjoyed himself. If death in this game wasn't permanent for the people, he would have taken to spawn camping the ALS and DKB where ever he found them. A little bit of inconvenience from his traps and entertaining him was the least amount of repayment they could offer for the horrible mental strain they were putting him through by having to defend his good name.

"Pfft, yeah. I couldn't even say that in my mind without laughing." Carl snorted. "Good thing my root beer even protects against headaches that form when dealing with idiots." Carl smiled happily at his mug of root beer. "So good…" He nearly moaned after taking a sip.

The first floor had taken a full month to clear. Everyone was still dealing with the psychological blow of being stuck in a death game, so their timid and slow clear speed made sense.

The second floor had taken nearly three weeks. They finished off the second floor boss just in time for Christmas, on Christmas Eve. That news had raised the holiday cheer a bit.

The numbers of players involved in working to clear the floors was rising. The two main guilds, ALS and DKB were recruiting many members to contribute materials, time, and crafting to their main raid teams, so the raid teams could focus on leveling up and clearing the floor bosses.

The third floor boss fight happened on the 14th of January. The fight against Nerius the Evil Treant had been difficult, but no one died. Carl once more got the final attack on the boss. He could tell he was pissing off Kibaou and Diabel, but he didn't care too much.

He cheaply sold some of the gear he made or looted from the bosses that he didn't need to Agil, Kirito, and Asuna. They were the only people he regularly partied with, and he wanted them to have some good stuff so they could stay strong.

He had seen a few players attempting to use the bows and arrows he crafted to be ranged members in the fight, and they did decently well. Cardinal had finally recognized that it could be a valid martial path, and started creating skills for archers to learn as well as gear drops. They were still in their infancy, but Carl could see they had potential to add more damage in boss fights.

Bosses were always at least 3.5 meters tall, sometimes taller. Nerius the Evil Treant had been nearly 6 meters tall. So there was a lot of boss to go around above the heads of the front line fighters for the archers to aim at.

With larger numbers of players working hard to level so they could be part of the raid, and even more players fulfilling a support role to keep the raiders stocked and able to focus on fighting, the speed at which the players cleared the bosses began to pick up.

They soon cleared the fourth floor boss on January 31st, 2023. Wythege the Hippocampus was a horse type boss, 4 meters tall at the shoulder. He used his speed to try to break up the player's formations. The archer squad really proved their worth in that fight, keeping up a continual harassment of the boss while he ran around, looking for an opening to charge at. There were many crafters that had picked up an arrow making skill to keep the archers supplied, and mobs and bosses were beginning to drop bows of high quality for players.

Fourteen days later, the raid groups finished off the fifth floor boss on February 14th. Fuscus the Vacant Collosus was a 4 meter tall stone golem that hit like a Mack truck. They lost one player who was so focused on slashing him and trying to get the final hit bonus that he neglected to dodge. The swing wasn't even that fast, but the idiot had ignored his own safety for a greedy chance to get boss loot.

And it dropped a large hammer, so the fool couldn't have even used it. Carl was disgusted at the waste, but like he told Kirito before the first boss fight. If people throw themselves into danger, they are responsible for their own lives and the consequence of failure is death.

The first death in a boss fight shocked everyone, and they slowed down again by a few more days. 19 days after they finished off the fifth floor boss, they cleared the sixth floor. After that they took 2 weeks to clear the seventh floor. 12 days to clear the eighth. 10 days to clear the ninth. And only one week to clear the tenth.

After that, the raid groups seemed to hit their stride. By that point everyone had learned their roles and were good in them. They were confident in their skills, and their team work. Even though the two main raid guilds still butted heads over so many decisions, they also understood how to work together to defeat the bosses.

The raid guilds and Carl and his small group of friends continued to clear a floor a week from after the 10th floor until they hit the 25th floor boss, where disaster struck. Up until the 25th floor, both Dragon Knight Brigade and the Aincrad Liberation Squad had gone together to clear the floors.

Despite the two raid groups always fighting each other for loot, hunting grounds, and resources, they grudgingly worked together. Even though they wanted their guild to get the lion's share of resources, they knew the ultimate goal was to get out of the death game.

And usually the two guilds would get the intel from the information brokers about the floor bosses, so they would end up joining forces to defeat the boss.

But this time, one of the ALS teams found the location of the floor boss, and Kibaou let his greed overcome his common sense. Usually with the two raid teams together, they would have around 65-70 people on each raid to kill the boss.

But this time, with only the ALS knowing about the boss's location Kibaou saw his chance to pull ahead from the other groups. With bad intel about the boss's abilities, and only 60 people, many of which had never participated in a boss fight, he tried to defeat the boss. And lost badly. Over half of their numbers were wiped out in the fight before the rest could retreat.

35 players, many of whom were skilled and high level, died in one man's greedy attempt to become number one. To prove that he was the best, and whatever else ran through the man's mind.

After that disaster the ALS began hemorrhaging members. No one wanted to stay on that sinking ship after Kibaou got 35 players killed. Kibaou took his remaining friends and supporters and retreated from the front lines to lick their wounds.

In their place a new guild rose up, named Knights of the Blood. Their guild leader was named Heathcliff. Privately, Carl chuckled about the name he chose. He probably chose the name after the Wuthering Heights character, and not the cat, but Carl still found it funny.

At least Heathcliff was a lot more organized and not prone to the greed, anger, and offended pride that guided Kibaou.

Kirito and Asuna eventually made the decision to join the guild Knights of the Blood. They were a lot more receptive to Heathcliff's recruitment pitch than they had been to the controlling nature of Kibaou and Diabel.

Agil chose at that time to stop fighting on the front line, and open up a shop that catered to players. When Carl asked why, he responded that the massacre on the 25th floor had made him aware of how close he'd come to dying himself, and that he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't return to his wife. Carl couldn't blame him, and even helped him set up his shop.

Agil had gathered enough resources to be able to afford the cost of doing business, especially with Carl's help. He also hired an assistant so he could get out of the shop to continue leveling occasionally, even if he wasn't going to be participating in any more of the boss fights.

Carl of course chose to remain separate from the guilds. He had too many things to do to have the guild leadership command him on what he could or couldn't do, where he could or couldn't go. And no matter how attractive the sign on bonus that Heathcliff offered, Carl was adamant he wouldn't join. He was still more than happy to help them if asked, but that was it.

After the massacre of the ALS, it took another two weeks for the Knights of the Blood, or KoB, and the DKB to put together a treaty of sorts to formalize their interactions. Neither side wanted to see another massacre of players that hasty actions of Kibaou caused. They agreed to share the responsibilities, dangers, and benefits of floor boss clearing.

While the KoB and the DKB were in negotiations, Carl had two free weeks to continue to pillage the virtual world Kayaba created. He made the most of his time, traveling around the areas he hadn't gotten a chance to see yet.

By the time everyone was ready to take on the boss again, Carl was pleased with the number of different plants and animals he had added to his farm, as well as the crafting levels he had gotten. After having a bit of a vacation, he was ready to return to the grind and help kill bosses.

The battle with the 4 meter tall succubus went well. Carl was impressed at how well Heathcliff's KoB worked with the DKB. Everyone was very focused on the goal of killing bosses. They weren't worried about the loot, and they calmly accepted the danger without losing their fighting spirit.

Now that Carl saw that the raid groups were being led properly, he was less worried about needing to show up at the battles. If he happened to miss a boss fight in the subsequent months because he was preoccupied with a quest or item, he was sure that Heathcliff and Diabel could manage. Kibaou had really been a disruptive influence that caused problems where ever he went.

On the one year anniversary of being stuck in the game, the raid group finished off the 37th floor boss. Carl made sure to be there for the fight on that significant date. It had been a slog. Literally. The boss room was set up like a swamp, and they had to fight a giant Kappa.

Keeping the boss from dragging any players deeper into the water and drowning them had been a chore. Anytime he got a hold on a player, they had to quickly hit the boss in the head to spill some of the water from his head, making him release the player and retreat back into his swamp to refill the water in his head.

A couple of days after the fight, Carl received a special report from Argo. Apparently Kibaou had been making another nuisance of himself. He had led the remaining supporters back to the first floor where they had merged with the organization MMO Today.

MMO Today had been originally built and led by a player by the name Thinker to help as many players as he could with resources and help in getting by. When Kibaou had shown up, Thinker had originally been happy to help Kibaou's group of people. They were floor clearers who had a tragedy befall them, and Thinker wanted to help them get back on their feet.

But after a short time, Kibaou and his supporters used their high levels to take control of the organization. They renamed it the Aincrad Liberation Force, and changed the way they operated. They started forcing all the players around to pay a protection tax. They took control of resources, and forced the lower leveled players to submit to their control.

There were rumors that they arranged "accidents" for anyone who was outspoken against them, until everyone had no choice but to accede to their despotic rule.

Carl by this point was fed up with Kibaou and other people like him. If there was any truth to the rumors, he needed to be stopped. He could have left Kibaou alone after his mistakes got his own people killed, because it wasn't deliberate. But now that he was running an extortion racket? And maybe arranging deaths? No more.

He dressed up in his Grutter persona before teleporting to the beginning town on level 1. As each of the levels were cleared, the designated town was hooked up to the teleport network. As Carl exited the building where the teleport was located, he noticed several guards that stood outside. They didn't seem too bothered by anyone exiting, but they were on guard against letting anyone in without paying a toll.

Carl noticed one of the guards broke off and started following him. Carl bared his teeth in a humorless grin behind his mask. Already he was seeing signs of Kibaou's occupation forces. After turning a corner so he was out of sight of his tail, and seeing that no one was watching him, he took to the roofs, disappearing from his tail's sight.

Over the next week, Carl lurked around the town, spying on Kibaou and his men. Taking notes on just what they were up to, and how far they were going. The Coat of Midnight was actually helpful, in that it helped him hide better.

After a few days Carl saw Kibaou making his way secretly to a grove of trees just outside the town late at night. Hiding nearby, Carl saw him meeting with a man wearing a dark cloak with a hood that covered his features.

"What kept you, Guild Leader Kibaou?" The dark cloaked man mockingly questioned after stepping out of the tree line. Carl saw that the diamond above his head was orange. He had at the very least committed a crime.

Normal players had a green diamond floating above their heads. When a player committed some crime, like violence against another player, their diamond would turn orange. But it would fade over time back to green. On the fourth time a crime was committed, a player would have to do a quest to turn in back green. On the fifth time, their diamond would be permanently orange.

If a player killed another green player, they would turn permanently orange. However, if a green player killed an orange player, it would be considered justified self defense, and the green player's color wouldn't change.

"Tch!" Kibaou seemed frustrated. "I had a meeting. Here's your weeks payment and a list of targets." Kibaou grunted, while handing off a sack to the dark cloaked man. "Make sure no one connects it with me. I don't need that kind of heat."

"Don't worry. We at Laughing Coffin stand by our deals. We'll take care of your dissidents, and you continue paying us, and everything will be just fine."

'Hmm, time to track this bastard back to his group Laughing Coffin. This scene seems to paint Kibaou as guilty, but I've got to be sure.' Carl thought. With his supreme senses, he was able to spy and listen in from very far away, and made sure he wasn't seen by either man.

Kibaou soon returned back to the town, while Carl followed the dark cloaked man in a circuitous route through the woods to his rendezvous at a cave. Carl couldn't enter the cave without letting them know he was there, but he recalled it had a second exit.

After listening to the meeting going on inside, and the list referred to as a "kill list", Carl felt he had a pretty good handle on what was going on. Chancing a quick glance inside, Carl counted 19 orange players. The leader was referred to as PoH.

Now that Carl was sure this was a group of killers, he quickly got to work when he heard they would be spending the night in the cave and move on in the morning. He started setting traps outside the entrance. He then moved to the other exit, and set some more traps in case any managed to get behind him.

He then slipped inside. There was one guard awake at the exit that Carl entered. Pulling out his bow and arrows, Carl smeared paralyzing poison on the arrowheads. He quickly fired, and hit his target. One arrow wasn't enough to kill him, but the poison Carl placed on the arrow was enough to keep him from calling out the alarm.

Carl quietly moved next to him, and sliced his throat a few times until the man died. A bag representing his inventory landed on the ground after he dissolved. Carl quickly put it in his inventory. Apparently, auto loot doesn't work for PKs. Looking up at his diamond, Carl was relieved to see it was still green.

Reassured that he wasn't permanently an orange player, Carl moved on. After sneaking in to the enemy's camp, he began going bedroll by bedroll and killing each orange player he came to as quietly as he could after paralyzing them.

After Carl was halfway through the 19 players, the alarm was raised, and all the orange players leapt to their feet. Carl kept an eye on the leader, and when he was about to make his escape, Carl placed a poison arrow in his back, before going back to his sword.

Even though he was outnumbered 9 vs 1, Carl simply couldn't be hit by the players. Even though they may have decent levels, they had crappy, normal human reaction times and speeds. Carl was like a lion among a herd of lambs, tearing them apart.

After 10 minutes of work, Carl finally tracked down and killed the last member who had run outside the cave and promptly gotten caught in Carl's traps. Carl ignored the pleas for mercy they babbled. They were a guild dedicated to murdering people to get money and loot, so he had no mercy for them.

Carl just couldn't understand it himself. Maybe they thought they were never going to be getting out of the virtual world, and so would never stand trial? Or that there was no evidence? Maybe they thought they weren't really killing people? Maybe they did think they were killing people and liked it?

Whatever the reason, Carl couldn't countenance leaving them to their own murderous devices. They were murdering people who didn't deserve it. Killing murderers like Carl had done was vastly different from murdering innocents. Carl may have to suffer from some bad sleep for a few nights, but he thought it was something that was necessary to save more innocent lives.

Checking his loot from the PK guild, Carl found the so called "kill list" that Kibaou gave them. It was a husband-wife combo that was trying to get the orphans out from under Kibaou's influence. Kibaou didn't want that to happen because he was making plenty of money off their labor.

So the dilemma that Carl faced was, how to end Kibaou's predations on people without outright killing him and turning orange permanently? How can he sucker Kibaou into a trap to turn himself orange so he could take care of him? Or how to arrange an accident that wouldn't reflect on Carl's own color?