Tolbana Theater || Floor One

Whimsical sat quietly, his eyes constantly analyzing not only the man who spoke to them all, but those who were listening. Out of the corner of his eye, he could notice a known figure of a girl, recognizing her especially because of the orange cursor. But, as it was natural to the red-haired male, he said nothing about it and his eyes soon found another target to analyze, skeptically. Damn, are they really going to take on a boss? Look at them... He wasn't having those thoughts due to arrogance, but because he was genuinely worried about the well-being of some of those who were around. With Diavel's explanation about the boss and then about the groups, Whimsical mentally placed himself as a C or D group member: Even though he used two-handed weapons, he was fast and capable of dishing out pretty good damage in a short time. His amber-eyes moved towards another known figure of a tall, burly man: Titan. What was he thinking about this?

Exhaling a soft sigh, Whimsical brushed his hair using his hand, fingers gently digging through it and fixing it back in place; not like the pixels had fallen out of place, anyway; it was just out of habit. It had been so long and... they failed to move anywhere. It was good that finally, they were preparing themselves to begin climbing through the floors, even if it was just the first one. Still; were they truly prepared? Whimsical couldn't get that thought out of his mind... It was nearly as if he was questioning himself. Was he, himself, prepared? For the third time, the man started to look towards those on the auditorium, wondering what they were thinking, if they were afraid, if they were hopeful. But he was no mind-reader or skilled face-reader, he couldn't tell what they were feeling by simply looking at their face.

He settled with what he was feeling, himself: A strange nervousness with a mixture of hope. He wasn't insecure, but neither was he completely confident. The man took the weapon from his back and eyed it over: Beheading Behemoth. This was a rare weapon... And one that gave him quite the trouble. A whole month of grinding just to get to a level high enough in order to take that one sub-boss in Dire Mt. who dropped it, but damn, he was pleased with it. The weapon was like, boosting his confidence every time he laid eyes upon it. Even now, a few hours from a possibly very difficult fight. Once it was over, Whimsical took the guide which was handed to him and began to walk off, only briefly scanning it with his eyes. He'd give it a more careful read later...

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Kiyomi - Tolbana Theater - Floor 1

Kiyomi turned her head to Kei and listened to him, but said nothing at first. she wanted to hear what else the man had to say about the boss but after explaining the different groups he had finished speaking. She watched as everyone seemed to start talking at once, gravitating towards one another to determine the groups. "I dont really care what group we join. Though if you like, i suppose we could ask around and see who Diavel is putting in each group." she said, looking around her. She noticed a few stares from people but she didn't let it get to her as she stood and walked down the seats over to Diavel. She spoke with him for a few moments and he was casual speaking to her. Kiyomi assumed that in his mind, anyone coming to help beat the boss was valuable, and so she was not a threat to him.

Upon finding out that he would lead group C, Kiyomi suggested her and Kei join him in attacking Illfang directly. She explained to him that she has previous knowledge of going against him and, with a tad bit of reluctance it seemed, he agreed to allow the two to join. After they were done speaking, Kiyomi walked back the way she came, thinking of what she would do until five.

As she walked, she passed by a few familiar faces, both which put a scowl on her face. The first one she saw was the boy who she'd given the note to from her inventory before heading off to Dire Mountain. He wasent looking at her directly so she didnt say anything to him. The second face was one that made her angry just by seeing it. It was the annoying blonde guy who had followed her for, as far as she was concerned, make her feel like shit after butting into something that wasent even his buisness. As her eyes locked with his for a brief moment, she gave him the slowest and creepiest smile she could muster before walking past him as well and into the streets of Tolbana.

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Tyranus - Tolbana Theater - Floor 1

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To him it was a quiet buzz, several players moving back and forth between groups, if they hadn't already grouped up and left yet. Tyranus knew that if he wanted to get out, he had to go up, and if he was going to go up, he needed to be in one of these groups. But what to do? He thought briefly about actually approaching someone, but judging the body language of a few of those nearby, he'd be approached soon.

Being honest with himself, he figured it would actually be a long-shot if anyone bothered the six-foot American, but one player lived up to his expectations and was making strides to interrupt his peaceful sit. She was short, but most people were short to him, and her most striking characteristic was her hair. It landed sharply somewhere on the edge between blonde and orange, but that could just be the light from where Tyranus sat. She seemed bright, almost literally, Sam was already cracking jokes in his head. He thought about how funny it was that people make impressions even before they open their mouths, and how true that still was in a world of digital fantasy. "Oi! pal,..." she made a crack about him sitting around on the ground looking a bit like an ass, in fewer words, but he understood. "Still need a partner, eh? I'll be merciful..." Merciful? Hah, she was a comedian too. It didn't matter, he'd seen evidence of her boyish 'charms' in her posture. Oof, and in her forward attitude and projected comfort with physicality.

Well it was settled then, Tyranus spoke up with a deep voice that meandered much in the same way he did on a lazy afternoon, "Well ain't you a ray of sunshine?" He grinned his sideways grin, and batted his eyes. "You look like you know your way 'round, and I missed the whole dern meeting. So I suppose I can accept your kindness," Tyranus stood to look down at the girl, "Thank ya, cutie," he finished with his grin still lingering. "Where to now?" he followed up quickly, without a hint of a care in all the world.

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Kei – Tolbana - Floor 1
「Oh ok well then let's go see what we would be best suited for when the meeting is done.」For the rest of the meeting he sat quietly, it really wasn’t long before the meeting actually ended. Once Diavel was done speaking it got loud within a matter of seconds. People around them started to get together in parties, for a second he thought to himself ‘Maybe I should send Kiyomi a party request now…’ Kei was about to speak up to Kiyomi but she got up and made her way to Diavel, Kei hesitated for a second but then got up himself and followed behind her. He figured that Kiyomi was going to talk to Diavel about which group Kei and Kiyomi should be in.

Right as they reached Diavel, Kiyomi started to talk to him about their group placement. After a bit of chatting Diavel suggested that the two of them should be within the assault group. In that time Kiyomi had mentioned how she had experience in fighting Illfang, Kei thought to himself after she had mentioned that. ‘Does that mean she was in the beta as well?’ He quickly collected his thoughts and then spoke up.「Ahh I too have experience with fighting Illfanh...」He leaned in closer to Diavel.「...Rather I have fought the few bosses after Illfang…I was a beta tester and made it through multiple levels…」Kei wasn’t sure whether or not it was the greatest idea to reveal that he was a beta tester, but he had to let Diavel know so that he wouldn’t have any doubts of deploying Kiyomi and Kei into the assault group. Diavel didn’t say much else to the two of us rather he left off with a few small comments.

Once that was done and taken care of Kiyomi turned around and started towards the exit, Kei followed her immediately behind. They were silent the whole way out, Kei noticed that Kiyomi glanced over at two other players, he guessed that she had previously grouped with them as she seemed to be smiling at them. Kei shrugged to himself, it didn’t concern him so he wasn’t going to ask about it. Once they passed through the exit of the theater, Kei started to speak.「So Kiyomi you don't mind if I tag along with you right? I mean we will be partying up for the boss fight after all so I think it would be a good idea if we just stuck together until then.」

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Hikari - Tolbana Theatre - Floor 1

Wow... that dude was tall, Hikari thought as he rose.
Quickly she decided not to get intimidated by him and put on a facade of stern resolve. That didn't last long, though, because as soon as the American started talking, she snorted and tried to keep her composure to not break out into a fit of laughter. However all her efforts were of no avail. The more he spoke, the less resistance remained in her and when he finished his last sentence, her legs gave in and she tumbled towards the ground.

All hell broke loose now as she was rolling on the floor laughing so hard, it would make even the best comedian envious.
"Bwwwwaaaahahahahahahaaaahhaha! He...he...", she stammered between breaths and laughs, "he does talk... like a... freakin' yankee!"

She didn't care that she was ridiculing herself just as much as she was making herself dirty by rolling around in the dirt and punching it. She didn't even notice that her skirt had flipped upwards showing her underwear, something she was particularly ashamed of doing.
After a while of pounding the ground with her fist she slowly calmed down uttering a "Sorry" before noticing her malheur, her mishap.

"Gah... don't look... baka!" She started cursing in Japanese until she cooled off a minute later. "Mamayo... Whatever, you can look if you want... I know, I shouldn't care about this, if I want to become a good idol..."
She muttered a bit more and then stood up cleaning the dirt from her clothes.
"You know what, I'll make it up for you. My laughing fit. Don't think of it as anything else, just as the price for me having a laugh at you."

Then she shook herself and stood normally, pretty much casually even.
"Staretime is over now, idot. Eyes back to my face...", she said deadpanning a bit. "Otherwise, I won't tell you the plan..."

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Grim - Tolbana Theater

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The sun is high enough to tell all player that the time is midday, as the word spreads that a meeting will be held at Tolbana theater, a black hooded figure is approaching the place to attend the meeting, sitting afar from crowd, while listening to the guy with blue hair speaking,

"My name is Diavel, and I have gathered all you here today for the purpose of advancing in this game by getting past Floor 1, as you all well know, it has been a month and yet, no one has cleared the first floor. We don't even know where the stairs leading to the 20th level of the Labyrinth is. That is, until yesterday."

"So, they found something huh," He thought, "That guy named Diavel, must have found the floor boss room"

"My party found the stairs and explored till Boss Door was found. So, this meeting was called to form a raid group to take down Floor 1 boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord."

A young man stood up, "Shouldn't we scout the boss first before taking him on so soon?"

"that is not necessary. Thanks to the beta testers, we have all the info we need to take the boss down," he paused for a moment, "Here is what we know about the Illfang. He has four health bars and three mob guards called Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Every time a health bar depletes, three more Sentinels will spawn. When Illfang’s last bar gets low, he will switch to a two-handed sword and change tactics.”

Several of Diavel’s men began to hand out the guides. "The guide also has info on everything you could, locations of quest items, drop locations, and any info the beta testers could remember."

The black hooded figure is accepting the book that given to him, "This book will come in handy, i should keep it in my inventory."

"Now, we need to form seven groups for this raid. Group A and B will be are tanks, keeping the boss’ attention. C and D will be fast moving assault groups, our dps. E will handle the Sentinels, keeping them away from groups A thru D. The last two, F and G, will be support, helping where they are needed and interrupting boss and mobs. Now, if you have any questions use the guide or come see me. We will wait till later tonight before heading out. Be back here around 5." With that, Diavel stepped back as everyone began talk amongst themselves or head out to prepare for the upcoming battle.

"Now, i will wait here for a minute, i should rest my arms to prepare for the Floor Boss Raid." he said to himself as he check his inventory while he stretched himself on the stone floor where he sat.

"This will be good." he said, as he comfort himself in the stone floor.

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Tyranus - Tolbana Theater - Floor 1

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Tyranus was caught off guard to say the least. He didn't quite get the reaction he expected. She didn't respond directly to him immediately, first she fell to the dirt and started rolling around. Laughing uncontrollably for some reason or another, and mumbling to herself in between chuckles after that. From everything he heard he picked out she was laughing at his accent. He knew she wasn't American, she didn't look it, so he wasn't sure why he didn't expect this reaction. Oh well, Tyranus couldn't think of a reason to be offended, he happened to like the way he talked, but for the sake of keeping this girl out of hysteria, he figured he should tone it down a bit from now on.

It wasn't until she'd been rolling around for a solid minute that she considered she might've been exposing herself. Tyranus wasn't even looking, even though she assumed this and started yelling at him. That's what got his attention. She started using words he'd never heard before and he decided this confirmed that she wasn't American, and he'd heard enough European to rule that out too. Well it was information, that'd help. Before he noticed this he had been occupied scanning the players that were still lingering around the theater, but none of them were were close enough for him to pick up new information with his perception skills. He'd need to work on those.

After she'd barked at him a couple times Tyranus decided it'd be prudent to pay a bit closer attention, to what she was saying. She rambled on about him looking at her and what he should and shouldn't do, and eventually she threatened to leave him high and dry. "Look, kid, I wasn't taking a peek, so calm down. Relax. What I was doing, was looking at all of these other folk that have the same information you do, and statistically speaking, there's probably two or three beta testers that have a bit more info, so you're not exactly in any position to be bargaining," Tyranus replied to all her concerns in earnest. He knew there were others that could be as helpful, but he didn't exactly feel like tracking them down and convincing them. He really hoped that she'd just take him serious and cut out the 'funny business.'

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2 Antidote crystals

Dec 1, 2022
Tolbana Tavern Room
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The room was barren with only a bed and nightstand in the back corner. Nick stood in the doorway unable to move. There was no HUD, no health bar, nothing to show for what he was use to after being in SAO for a month.

A figure loomed in the center of the room, the detailing hard to make out. What is going on?

Something released its grip, giving power back to Nick's body. With a shaky step forward, Nicholas called out, "Wh... What is going on? Who are you?" The figure did nothing. "HEY!!! What is-" It cut him off, taking a step closer to reveal a dead man.

"Sau... No, You died. I watched you fucking die!!!"

Nick's lungs began to fill with air rapidly, hands producing sweat at a high rate. In an attempt to escape, he lunged to his old friend. In a poof of pixels it disappeared as the room began to spin. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Now in tears, Nick fell to his hands and knees. "I tried dammit. It did not help you jumped at every opportunity to play the hero." A presence could be felt to the left. "I am sorry... I did my best." An intense pain shot from his side as he was sent rolling across the room.

"You dragged me here, Nick. I was unsure but you said it would be fun. Now my SISTER IS ALL ALONE BECAUSE OF YOU!!!" Those words stung. Nick had been thinking about what had happened several hours ago, about what Saul's family would do without him. Saul's parents died when he and his sister were at a young age. With their grandma being too old to really care for them, Saul had raised his sister and himself. He was the reason his friend was here, the reason he was dead. Saul now stood over Nick, pure black eyes glaring down judgment toward his old friend.

"What are you going to do now? Hmm." Entering hysteria, nothing but tears and groans came from the curled up ball of a person.

"FUCKING ANSWER ME!!"

Saul began to kick the downed Nick repeatedly, "You are worthless. You should not have survived that car wreck. I hope you make it through this nightmare, I hope you are there at the end. I want you to see hope before my sister comes to you and asks where I am? And I will haunt you. I won't let you lie to her, feed her some bullshit." Saul continued to rain blows, "The look on her face when you tell her that I died because of YOU." Saul's twisted face was the last thing he saw.

Nick awoke, drenched in sweat with little air in his lungs. He rushed to the window and threw it open, letting the cool night air in. It hit his lungs hard at first as he had trouble getting air in and out properly. It was just a nightmare, that is all. Though in the back of his mind, he felt that is would not end anytime soon.

Dec 2, 2022
Tolbana Theater
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Diavel finished up his speech addressing all the key points of what they were about to try and do.

Fools, all that will happen is death. That is our destiny. Death.

The ones who had come started to talk with one another, either leaving to do some quick grinding or finding people to group with. Nick did not move from his stop dead center of theater. His face hardened by death and lack of sleep from the nightmare. After several minutes, Diavel had finish talking to several of the other players when he noticed Nick sitting, and staring. His heroic face grinned at the site of his blacksmith.

"Ah, Rigsaw, I figured you would be here. I tried to get ahold of you yesterday but you were not near your set up." Nick's gaze was unmoved, continuing to stare forward. "Hey, Rig-" Diavel was cut off as Nick rose from his seat.

"Death will foil this plan, he always does. I have been blind for so long, trying to hide from him, but you can't Diavel. You can't" Nick's words were harsh and serious, nothing like the man Diavel knew.

"What happened? You can ta-" Nicholas grabbed the supporting arm Diavel was trying to extend. "Saul died. I failed. Now it is all making sense. First my family, now Saul." Nick threw Diavel's arm away, rejecting any sorrow. "We need you. Not just for your blacksmith skill, but because you are one of the few two-handers I know that knows what he is doing."

A laughter erupted from Nick, far louder than he anticipated. "Ahahahahahaha. You just don't get it. We are going to die here. All of us. Who knows when, or how, or why, but Death is coming. Nothing we do can stop him." Nick was now shouting, though it did not seem to be directed at Diavel. "Stop trying to be the heros of a tragic story, in the end we all die. There is no happy ending for us."

The look in his eyes said it all, Nick was lost.

Tolbana Theatre - Floor 1

By the way he was talking, Hikari deduced he was rather annoyed,


"Well, if you're really looking for beta testers, you did strike gold here... because I am a tester.
Before you ask, no I haven't fought any boss so far, not even Illfang. I've been more focused on training my body. I've heard stories, though.
However, since it has been a while since the beta, it is entirely plausible that the boss is completely different from the past. He could have another additional health bar, different minions et cetera."
Hikari shrugged.
"Not that I'd care much about that. I'd kill it in any case..."
All of her emotions were suddenly drained from her words and she seemed cold and distant for a bit,

"Sorry, that tends to happen whenever I speak about death or killing something. I dunno why, but meh..." She shrugged her shoulders again.
"Oh, I'm Hikari, by the way. Hee-kaa-ree", she pronounced her name thoroughly, because she didn't know if the American knew how to properly pronounce Japanese names.

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Tyranus - Tolbana Theater - Floor 1

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Tyranus felt the change in her attitude after she realized her misstep in being condescending. She eased up, and started prattling on about her experiences in Aincrad before the official launch. Of the beta testers, she had to be in the lower percentiles. All the stories Tyranus had heard involved these guys fighting bosses with comparatively reckless abandon, just like other MMO's, where dying meant waiting a few seconds before respawning. It wouldn't be like that now, it couldn't be. He reached the same assumption that she finished with, that the stakes might not have been the only thing that changed from beta to release.

What came next was a brief lapse in everything Tyranus had seen before, the girl grew solemn and cold for a second. He saw something almost fleeting and he felt that behind whatever mask she wore for all these other people, he'd caught a glimpse of the face behind it all. Only for a second, and not long enough to consider it a serious event, but he now knew that like so many others she was putting on a facade for the sake of others. It was because of this that he couldn't be offended when she assumed he couldn't pronounce her name after listening to it, but whatever, he'd play along, and try and keep spirits up as well.

"Did you say Hickory? That's a bit odd, but hey, that's alright. I didn't think they had hickory trees in Japan though?" he anticipated more than a bit of frustration, and quickly followed up, "I'm just pullin' yer leg, Hikari. I just thought you could use some humor. Anyway, I'm Tyranus, I don't mind however you say it, and it's been nice meeting you." He grinned the whole time, hoping it would lessen any repercussions against him or his face. "Anyhow, I think I'm just going to wait here for everyone to come back, since I assume they'll use this as a rally point before heading out. Feel free to join me or to go, if you like. This would be a good day for a nap. It's beautiful out here." Where the stone recess of the amphitheater met the grass, Tyranus laid down once more, staring up into the blue sky, thinking: 'After all, if I die today, shouldn't I enjoy these last few hours?'

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Tolbana Theatre - Floor 1

At first Hikari was a little bit offended, but as soon as Tyranus cleared up that he meant that as a joke and she smiled a bit.
He lied down for a rest. Although she really would like lying down and resting or napping a bit, she somehow did feel a little awkward around him, uncomfortable even. Maybe it was just because of some of the awkward situations she had created.
"Uh, thanks. But I need to get some training done, I guess. And maybe meet my groupmates, since I guess, your build seems different to mine."
Hikari drew her sword and quickly swirled it around in her hand and in one fluid motion sheathed it again.
"I'll see ya around. Beating up a boss and stuff later." She waved and turned around walking away towards the town center.

Tolbana Town Center - Floor 1

Hikari seated herself on a bench directly facing the fountain in the middle of the plaza. Pulling out a bread, she started munching on it while staring into the distance. While eating, she wondered, who else would be in her group. And even more important to her than that, is anyone faster than her? If anybody was faster than her, wouldn't that make her presence basically irrelevant?
Hikari frantically shook her head. "Stop thinking like that, baka! It doesn't matter if I'm not as good as others", she ranted at herself aloud and returned to eating.
She found that people were staring at her, but when she threw them an evil stare, most of them looked away.
With a satisfied "Hruump" she created a floating image next to her which read "Group D". She figured, it was a way to find the others which got assigned to her group and who she doesn't even know the names of. At least she wanted to get to know the people who she was supposed to fight with.

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FLOOR ONE- Labyrinth Floor One

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My god, thought Jack. He had been training since they had finished the meeting, his physical condition was fine, his focus on the other hand, was lacking. It seemed like days had passed facing off against these goblins. The same thing over and over. Raise his shield arm to deflect the incoming weapon, and counterattack swiftly and efficiently. As tedious as it sounds, its exactly what Jack needed. His skills were rusty. His focus and drive, also, were not up to par for this important upcoming battle. It was the reason he came to the labyrinth.

Jack knew from previous video games that kobolds were human-like creatures, or at least that they were bipedal and could hold weapons. Although the kobolds would be much stronger than the goblins in front of him, they provided a kind of warm-up and preparation for the fighting style he would face. To Jack, this fight although more important brought him back to his high school days. To the warm up games he would play against his Junior Varsity squad to prepare the Varsity team for the next game.

"Shit" A goblin sword had bore down into his right shoulder. FOCUS man, FOCUS Jacks health bar had taken a severe beating from being down here this long. He didn't need any more stupid mistakes like that, he'd end up dead before the fight.

Seeing the goblin pulling his sword back for yet another swing, Jack threw his own up to intercept. The clash of metal resonated the small confined area where the battle took place. Pivoting his elbow inwards he drew the goblin sword outwards, leaving the enemy open for an attack. Bringing his sword down quickly he charged up a sword skill, >>Uppercut<<, the game took over control of his arm rocketing it skywards leaving a yellow trail in its wake. The attack proved too much for the goblin as it disintegrated into pixels before his eyes.

I think this has been long enough down here, I better head back. It's about that time, he thought as he pulled a health potion out of his inventory and downed it.

December 2, 2022
Tolbana – The night before boss fight

After the parties and various groups had been decided everyone went out to Tolbana town and had a night out of drinks and food. In a sense it was a pre-boss fight party. Diavel was at the center of it all enjoying his time along with everyone else with an exception of the few lone players off to the side, other than that everyone was gathered in the middle of the park eating and drinking to their heart’s content. Without a doubt everyone was not thinking about the boss fight rather they were concentrated on having a fun time without a care in the world.

The rest of the night went on as such. Not everyone stayed out late as fatigue was still a major thing so before the morning of the boss fight people wanted to get some rest at the local in so that they would have the energy to take on Illfang the next day.

December 3, 2022
Tolbana – The morning of the boss fight

In a big group everyone was moving along the trail that led into the labyrinth. It was quiet there was not much chatter between the players. They quietly moved along making a comment every now and then to their party members.

Before anyone knew it, they were standing before the door of the boss room. The door was huge it had a certain air to it that intimidated the players, but even then the players stood strong looking at the door head on.

Diavel walked up to the door and then turned his back towards it, looking at everyone. With one swift movement he stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground and started to speak. “Listen up everyone.” With a short pause before starting up again. “I have just one thing to say…Let’s Win!” Everyone gave a small nod of approval, the tensions within the group was high since it was going to be their first time experiencing a boss, the chance of dying right then and there was more real to each player than it ever was before.

Without a moment of hesitation Diavel turned around, placed his hand on the door and pushed it, opening the way to the boss room. It was dark at first, but soon was lit up as Diavel walked into the long corridor like room, that was lined up with marble pillars on either side. At the end of the room sat the boss upon his throne, within a moment the boss jumped up landing in the middle of the room, after a swift roar, the cursor appeared above his head along with his name ‘Illfang the Kobold Lord’ and four full bars of health indicating he was still at full health Illfang held an ax in his right hand a shield in his left, standing there the Kobold Ruin Sentinels began to spawn in. This was the indication that the fight had now begun.

December 3, 2022
The Labyrinth - Boss Room

With the boss in sight Hikari saw a lot of players starting to look terrified and utterly demoralized. They are not going to make it with that attitude... Hikari cursed internally.
She knew, she had to do something about it and there was only one thing she knew she could do to get them back into working order.

Determination clearly visible in her smile Hikari moved in front of everybody and then turning around activating her music skill. Fifteen copies of herself suddenly appeared positioning themselves in a triangle shape with the original in center. Everyone of her copies had a different hairstyle or even colour.
Then she fetched one of her recording crystals, a pretty high quality one, which floated above her.







While she was singing and dancing, the lyrics popped up next to her from the recording crystal in Japanese and in English while it emitted the music Hikari sang and danced to, her copies doing the dance that was programmed into them and following her lead.

As soon as the song was finished she stayed in the pose she ended the song with for a while.



Then she just stood in front of her audience awaiting their reaction.

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