Chapter 17

Finally, the first meeting of the players was finally about to begin. The users had gathered in a hall similar to a medieval meeting room.

Zen and Asuna herself, were currently heading to the meeting place. Then Zen realized something, that his hand was still holding Asuna's hand.

"Sorry Asuna, I got carried away" Zen said as he let go of Asuna's soft hand.

Asuna who heard this just nodded, then lowered her head in shame at her behavior. Then the two of them entered the Hall and tried to sit in the back row.

This meeting was organized by a player named Diavel, who Zen knew was a beta tester for the anime.

When he got a seat that he thought was suitable for this meeting, Zen began to pay attention to his surroundings. Right now Zen could see all the characters he thought were familiar.

First Zen saw Diavel, the leader of this gathering and the one who made the battle plan against the first floor boss. Now he was standing in the center of the stage waiting for the meeting to begin.

Then Zen saw a muscular man sitting on the front bench, Agil. And a solo player who was sitting parallel to Zen and Asuna's seats even though it was a bit far away was Kirito.

After seeing the players already gathered and sitting in their respective places, Diavel finally started the meeting by introducing herself and throwing some jokes to lighten the mood in this place.

"I formed this meeting, to form a group to subdue the boss of the first floor" said Diavel changing her tone of voice to serious.

Hearing this the users who attended this meeting suddenly became serious and started to listen carefully to Diavel's words.

After getting all the players' attention here, Diavel finally continued her explanation and plan to fight the boss of this floor.

"Do you agree?" Diavel said after explaining all her plans to all the players in this place.

Hearing Diavel's plan, all the players here started nodding and clapping their hands indicating they agreed to Diavel's plan.

"Well, to start dividing the tasks, we should form a group first. Form a group of six people" Diavel said next.

Hearing this, Zen and Asuna didn't move at all to look for members, because all the players here already had and formed their own groups.

But not long after, a player who was sitting parallel to him earlier, approached Zen and Asuna's group.

"Are you guys still short on members?" asked the player casually to Zen after arriving next to him.

"Actually we are short of members, but looking at the situation here, it seems that all the players here have formed groups with each other. So the two of us will still be one group" Zen replied

"Alright, may I follow your group? And we'll be a group only until defeating the first floor boss is over." said the man.

"Alright" Then Zen sent the person next to him a party invitation and accepted.

"First of all introduce my name is Zen and next to me Asuna" said Zen after seeing the person accept his party invitation.

"My name is Kirito, nice to meet you two" replied the man and Zen and Asuna nodded in return.

Finally Zen, Asuna and Kirito officially became a group from this attack.

"Alright, have you guys formed a group yet?" Diavel said and all the players nodded in return.

"Alright, first-" Diavel's sentence was cut off.

When he was about to convey his next plan, a player interrupted him in his bar style. The player began to descend this hall by jumping over one by one the seats in this hall.

Finally the player landed right in front of Diavel who was on the stage. The man introduced his name Kibao in a sarcastic tone. Right now he was trying to lead public opinion to the players in this place.

"Some of you should apologize," he said aloud.

Then Kibao stated his reason for saying that. And the reason he felt the beta testers when the game started, started to leave the new players and explore good places to increase their level.

According to him, the beta testers did not leave any information that could help new players adapt to this game.

Hearing this rambling, Zen just sat down with a calm look. Meanwhile Asuna who heard this started to worry about Zen. Asuna herself knew that Zen was a beta tester, because Zen told her.

After Asuna saw that Zen relaxed at the words of the person in front of her, Asuna regained her composure and continued to watch the meeting.

However, unlike the player next to Zen, Kirito. Kirito is currently feeling tuncomfortable and restless. However, not long after, a well-built player stepped forward towards the stage.

"Do you know this book?" said the burly man to Kibao.

Then the big man explained that the book contained information from beta testers, and could be found in stores for free. Hearing this the situation in the hall was brought under control thanks to Agil clearing up the misunderstanding.

Then the meeting continued with Diavel explaining his plan and the scheme he would use to defeat the boss of this floor.

"Okay, any questions?" Diavel said ending the meeting. After making sure no one asked, Diavel decided to start the raid tomorrow at 10am, and started to disband this meeting.

"Alright Kirito, see you tomorrow" said Zen

"Alright, see you tomorrow" Kirito said as he left Zen and Asuna.

"Where are we going now Zen?" asked Asuna.

"Hmmm.... where are you going. How about we continue our date?" Zen teased Asuna.

"Stop joking Zen" said Asuna who was starting to blush. Seeing Asuna's reaction, Zen started to smile.

"Alright, how about we try our upgraded weapons against the monsters on the outskirts of the city" Zen said and Asuna nodded.

Eventually the two of them started spending the day hunting a few monsters, until they returned to their inn and started resting to face the boss of this floor tomorrow.

The next day, Zen and Asuna were already sitting at a fountain while waiting for the other players who would participate against the boss of this floor.

"Asuna, listen to me carefully. Have you read the book made by the beta tester?" Zen asked and Asuna nodded.

"We'd better be careful because the information might change" said Zen

"Why do you say that?" asked Asuna.

"Think about it, The location of the boss of this floor has changed. Do you think that's the only change?" Zen said

Hearing Zen's words, Asuna started to realize something and thought Zen's words made sense.

"We better be careful" said Zen