Not Even Pretending Anymore

"What?! The first floor has actually been cleared?!"

"Clearing the first floor so quickly, that's amazing!"

"Damn it! I haven't even found the entrance to the labyrinth yet!"

"It must be the work of those beta testers! They took the lead! Those damn cheaters!"

"..."

The players were shocked and excited, but mostly, they felt envy and jealousy toward the ten people mentioned in the announcement.

Many of the players had already assumed that Eriri and the other nine girls were former beta testers, harboring endless resentment toward them in their hearts.

Even though it had now been proven that depleting one's health bar in the wild would only result in respawning in the starter town.

The darkness in people's hearts, however, would not be suppressed just because of that.

On the contrary, many people became even more unscrupulous.

Stealing monsters, robbing, and even coercing others by force.

If anyone resisted, they would be besieged to death.

Although they wouldn't truly die, losing everything and being sent back to the starter town was still a massive punishment.

Yet, no matter how resentful the players were, they couldn't change the fact that the first floor had already been cleared.

However, the identity of beta tester was undoubtedly secretly hated by many players. A small fraction of them were even secretly plotting how to make things difficult for these beta testers.

Yet, the ones having the hardest time right now were actually the real beta testers.

They bore the infamy, but they hadn't gained the slightest benefit in the game. Many beta testers were even doing worse than some ordinary players.

It couldn't be helped. In the current game, not only was the combat style more realistic, but various quests and the like had also completely changed.

Compared to players experiencing the game for the first time, the beta testers actually found it harder to adapt to the drastically changed game.

...

Within the first-floor labyrinth, in a squad composed of over twenty people, a disguised Kayaba Akihiko looked at the game announcement. His eyes were fixed on the incredibly conspicuous synchronization rates of 3 percent and 1 percent in the notice.

Other players might still be half-skeptical about the concept of synchronization rates, but as someone who had personally experienced everything, his belief in the synchronization rate reached ninety percent.

The remaining ten percent was merely his reluctance to believe that the God of Games would be so kind as to truly synchronize in-game power with the players' bodies in the real world.

"Does getting the first clear on a boss increase the synchronization rate? It seems I need to pick up my pace too."

Kayaba Akihiko thought to himself, then looked at the people behind him.

These were the core members he had gathered during this time.

Although all his administrative privileges had been stripped away, perhaps due to the God of Games' twisted sense of humor, the hidden class he had prepared for himself had not been taken.

Therefore, the current Kayaba Akihiko was confident that he would absolutely not be weaker than any other player.

"Let's head back first."

He looked at his companions.

Now was not the time to grind levels. They had to quickly return to the starter town and immediately head to the second floor as soon as the passage opened.

Every second counted now. Falling behind a single step could mean falling behind every step.

After all, he knew that inside the boss room, once the floor boss died, a passage leading directly to the next floor would appear.

...

While the other players had their own varying thoughts.

Inside the boss room, Eriri and the girls walked into the exclusive passage of the boss room, taking the lead in stepping onto the second floor.

If the first floor was merely a beginner village, then from the second floor onward, the game truly began.

Unlike the beginner village, the town on the second floor not only had additional NPCs for creating or joining guilds and selecting sub-classes, but it also featured shops that sold a variety of items.

Furthermore, to raise the ceiling of this game world, starting from the second floor, Ai had added some special NPCs to the game.

These NPCs all possessed different classes, and if players could grind their affection levels high enough, they would issue exclusive class quests.

Yes! Exclusive class advancement quests!

A single NPC could only issue one class advancement quest!

After that, even if someone else maxed out their affection, no second person would be able to advance to that class!

In other words, aside from Eriri and Rikka, in the entire game world, excluding the classless, every other class was entirely unique.

At this moment, on the town square of the second floor, the ten girls who appeared there attracted the attention of quite a few NPCs.

Or rather, this was actually a hidden benefit that Ai had distributed to them.

It couldn't be helped; after all, they were the master's friends' party.

"Oh? Are you adventurers from the first floor? Hello, and welcome to the second floor."

"It seems you are the first batch of adventurers to arrive on the second floor. Were you the ones who defeated the Kobold Lord that had been occupying the first-floor passage and severed the connection between the first and second floors?"

Three figures approached together; they were three NPCs.

However, compared to ordinary NPCs who rarely interacted with players, these NPCs were extremely proactive and talkative, actually taking the initiative to ask the girls about the situation on the first floor.

While they were conversing, an NPC wearing knight's armor among the three suddenly looked at Sirin, or more accurately, at the lance in Sirin's hand.

"Beautiful lady, are you a knight as well?"

As he spoke, he summoned his own lance. Compared to Sirin's white-tier equipment bought from a blacksmith on the first floor, this NPC's lance looked extraordinary just at a glance, simultaneously revealing his identity.

Sirin didn't understand why this NPC was suddenly saying this to her, but upon hearing the word knight, her heart skipped a beat.

However, she disdained lying and simply shook her head.

"I'm no knight. I just find this weapon handy."

Yet, as soon as her voice fell, the knight NPC's eyes lit up.

"Just because you find it handy? It seems you have a wonderful talent, miss. But talent alone isn't enough. It just so happens that my companions and I are about to go subjugate a powerful monster, and I don't know if we'll make it back alive. Meeting you before I leave must be fate. Why don't I leave this to you?"

"I can feel it, that desire to protect your companions. The Holy Light in my heart is resonating."

"So, miss, become a knight! Only then can you better protect the companions you cherish!"

As the knight spoke, he reached out and handed over a thick book. The four large words The Way of the Knight were clearly written on the cover.

Anshera: "???"

The rest of the girls: "???"

Especially Rikka and Eriri, who looked at Sirin with strange expressions, thinking to themselves that they weren't even trying to hide it anymore.

It wasn't as if they didn't know Sirin's identity. With her appearance, even Rikka had recognized her the first time they met. Coupled with the fact that Eriri called her Sirin, how could Rikka not know? In the chat group, Kiana had thanked Chen Changsheng for helping her solve the problem of the Herrscher of the Void. It turned out it was because he had thrown Sirin into the game.

However, compared to the shock and helplessness of the others at this moment, a complex look flashed through Sirin's eyes as she looked at the earnest-faced knight in front of her.

Was this NPC in front of her placed here on purpose by that man?

Thinking back to the figure that subconsciously surfaced in her mind when she first saw the massive lance in the blacksmith shop,

and then thinking of Chen Changsheng's face that made her itch with hatred.

Sirin looked down at the thick book in the knight's hands, saw the words "The Way of the Knight" written on it, and silently reached out to take it.

Although she suspected that that man might be hinting at something to her.

But...

As expected, she still didn't want to be the one holding everyone back.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing, miss. I believe that in the future, you will definitely become a true knight as well."

The knight said with a sunny smile, then waved his hand and walked towards the outside of the city with his companions.

...