A small figure, wearing a cloak in broad daylight—it was that Rat who claimed she wasn't black-hearted at all. After she came out, another person followed: clad in leather armor, carrying a one-handed sword, with a baby-faced appearance. It was none other than Kirito, the so-called God of War.
Were these two trading information?
Lillian was thinking this when Argo the Rat spotted him. Her eyes lit up, and she turned to say something to Kirito before quickly walking over. Kirito followed behind her, and the two stopped in front of Lillian.
"Hey, Lillian, I was just about to look for you—" Argo began, but suddenly paused. Her gaze landed on the thick sword hilt visible behind his back. She briskly circled behind him to take a look, then exclaimed, "Whoa! That's a huge sword!"
"An Greatsword?" Kirito's attention was also drawn to it. Though young, he was among the top tier of beta testers and could naturally recognize the weapon type. Curious, he asked, "Doesn't that feel… really heavy?"
"It's fine," Lillian replied.
"You're already using an Greatsword on the third day of the public launch?!" Argo circled back to his front, clicking her tongue in amazement. "This must be the reward from that iron ore quest, right? Not bad at all. But…" Her eyes rolled slightly as she blinked. "With your current stamina stats, wouldn't using this be exhausting? You'd be better off with something lighter."
"It's fine."
"Even if you can wield it, the stamina consumption is huge," Argo said. "Hey, why don't you—"
"Why don't I sell it to you? Forget it."
"Tch! Fine, don't sell it!"
She pouted, then glanced at Kirito and finally remembered to introduce them. Pointing at Lillian, she said to Kirito, "This is Lillian. He's already been to the labyrinth—really impressive."
"Mm." Kirito nodded. In fact, the moment he heard "iron ore," he already knew Lillian had entered the labyrinth, since only the labyrinth on the first floor produced that material. He was deeply shocked—going solo into the labyrinth on the third day of launch was undeniably bold.
"This guy is Kirito," Argo said to Lillian. "He's pretty amazing too."
"Nice to meet you."
"Ah… nice to meet you."
Kirito looked slightly awkward. At this point, he hadn't yet gone through the chain of events that would come later, so he hadn't "darkened." He was still just a somewhat antisocial shut-in.
"You said you were planning to find me earlier?" Lillian asked Argo. "What's up?"
"Ah… it's about the labyrinth boss." As she said this, Kirito excused himself and left. Argo looked a bit speechless. "What a leveling maniac."
"Yeah."
"Oh right, the information you sold me—someone wants to buy it now." Argo suddenly grew serious, her expression unusually stern as she looked at him. "I'll confirm one last time. Are you sure your intel isn't fake? This concerns life and death."
"…Didn't expect you to care this much about your customers."
"Of course!" she said. "If someone dies because of my info, my reputation would be completely ruined. That's why I'm checking again." She continued, "If you say now that it's fake, I'll forgive you—and I won't even ask for the six thousand col back."
"Don't worry," Lillian said. "It's not fake. Kayaba doesn't lie when he's having tea."
"..."
Argo carefully studied his expression. After finding no flaws, she nodded. "Alright, I'll trust you for now." She then glanced longingly at his Greatsword. "If those guys see it, they'll definitely pester you to sell it… If you ever decide to sell, make sure you come to me first, got it?"
"So you can skim an intermediary fee?"
Argo opened her mouth, revealing two little fangs. "Wrong!" she said. "I'll help you sell it at a good price! You weren't a beta tester—you definitely don't know the real market value of equipment as well as I do!"
Lillian nodded. "That's true. But you still charge an intermediary fee, don't you?"
"But even after the fee, you'd still earn more than selling it yourself!" Argo snapped irritably, then flicked her cloak. "I'm leaving!"
"See you."
Watching her go, Lillian grew a little curious about who had bought the information. If nothing unexpected happened, it was surely a beta tester. Well, whatever—once the boss room was discovered, that person would definitely come to fight. Otherwise, buying the intel would have been pointless.
After all, buying information was ultimately about landing the final hit on the boss. If they obtained an exclusive item, it would already be worth far more than the intel price. And if their luck was insane enough to get a demonic sword drop, that would be an absolute jackpot.
None of that had much to do with Lillian. When it came time to fight the boss, he would go regardless. Even if a group killed it together, the shared experience was still substantial. As for the last hit—if he could grab it, great; if not, so be it. He didn't have an overwhelming desire for exclusive items anyway.
For now, the priority was to reach level 10, then come back to find the old man to unlock the blacksmith sub-profession. That way, at the very least, he could become self-sufficient—crafting and upgrading his own weapons would save a lot of col.
What's more, he believed he might be the first to reach level 10. If he became the first blacksmith, he might even make a profit off other players. The first person to eat the crab always gets the most benefits.
With his plan set, he entered the potion shop and spent big, buying four bottles of anti-poison potion. This item often felt like a waste when no poison monsters appeared, making many players reluctant to buy it. But Lillian believed it was essential for dungeon diving. One mistake without it could lead to consequences no one could bear.
After buying a sword sheath, upgrading his weapon, and stocking potions, Lillian was left with just over a thousand col. Spending money was easy; earning it was hard. Still, over the next few days, he could take advantage of having the labyrinth mostly to himself and farm a good amount. Once other players entered, grinding wouldn't be nearly as comfortable.
Without delay, he left the Starting Town. Along the way, he kept "testing" his new weapon on monsters. Unsurprisingly, these low-level mobs were instantly killed—at most requiring one extra swing. The greatsword felt incredibly smooth to use. So much so that it took him two extra hours compared to his first trip to Horunka Village, all of which were spent fighting monsters.
This also allowed him to successfully unlock the [One-Handed Sword] skill. That's right—greatswords also belonged to the one-handed sword category. At this point, two of his three skill slots were filled: [One-Handed Hammer] and [One-Handed Sword].
The former was somewhat of a wasted slot now that he no longer used hammers, but it wasn't a big deal. Later, he could simply pay an NPC to forget the skill. As for other skills, he did have some support skills in mind, but for now he didn't know how to acquire them. Some required special quests; others unlocked automatically with proficiency, so there was no need to rush.
In any case, the first floor hadn't even been cleared yet. Thinking too far ahead was pointless. It was better to focus on what was right in front of him.
---
By the third day, quite a few players had already left the Starting Town to explore the outside world. Horunka Village now had a noticeable player presence as well. Most of them were level 5 or above, making them the current backbone of the player base.
Most of these players moved around in small parties, though there were plenty of solo players as well. Their equipment looked decent overall, but many were still using beginner weapons. That couldn't be helped—good weapons were notoriously hard to come by in this game. As a result, many players cast envious glances at the greatsword on Lillian's back, though surprisingly few truly desired it.
The reason was exactly what Argo had mentioned earlier. Given the current player stats, wielding such a weapon placed an enormous burden on stamina. Even dumping all attribute points into stamina would barely make it viable. That was why she had suggested Lillian sell it—she wasn't trying to scam him outright, but genuinely considering his situation.
What she didn't know was just how terrifying Lillian's actual strength and stamina were. Neither did the other players. They had no idea that swinging that greatsword was easier for him than waving a stick was for them. As a result, many players didn't even bother trying to snatch it. Some of them would rather go after ordinary one-handed swords instead.
Take Kirito's quest reward, for example—the tempered sword [Hundred-Forged Blade]. That weapon was far more suitable for the vast majority of players. Even if someone managed to steal Lillian's sword, they wouldn't be able to use it anyway due to stamina limitations, so the level of envy was naturally much lower. This also meant no one harbored particularly malicious intent toward him, though a few curious players still struck up conversations to ask about it.
Lillian told them it came from a blacksmith's quest. He suspected it was a one-time reward, but he didn't have the heart to pour cold water on the excited players who rushed off to accept the quest themselves. Better to let them discover the disappointment on their own.
He stopped by the tavern where he had once taken shelter from the rain and rested briefly. Ordering a cup of hot water, he sat in a corner and examined the labyrinth map. Since maps automatically updated as players explored, Lillian now had a small portion revealed. Judging from it, he had explored less than a tenth of the labyrinth so far, and there was no sign of the boss room at all. But now that he had four anti-poison potions on hand, this next run would require thorough exploration. He couldn't just grind monsters along the right-side branch anymore.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps approached. Lillian looked up and saw a slightly short young man walking up to his table, looking down at him from above.
"Need something?" Lillian asked.
"You're… a beta tester, right?" the young man said, his gaze greedily sweeping over the greatsword on Lillian's back. "You must've used beta-test intel to secretly clear special quests and grab top-tier weapons!"
At once, Lillian knew what kind of person this was. He ignored him completely and calmly continued drinking his water.
"Hey! Are you deaf?!" The player turned red with anger after being ignored. He shouted, "You beta testers should be sharing all your information! You only care about your own benefits and don't give a damn about other people's lives! Isn't that right, everyone?!"
He turned to the other players in the tavern. Some nodded in agreement, others stayed silent—but clearly, the former were in the majority. This emboldened him even more.
Slamming a hand on the table, he glared fiercely at Lillian and shouted, "I, Kibaou, absolutely cannot accept people like you! Hand over all your intel, or don't even think about leaving this place!"
"Kibaou?" Lillian glanced at him upon hearing the name. So this was the future sub-leader of the "Army."