Chapter 98: The Strategy Meeting Begins

Early the next morning, Lingyun and his party arrived at a plaza. Quite a few people were already waiting there; after all, this was an unprecedentedly important meeting for this world, one concerning the future of nearly fifty thousand people.

"Quite a lot of people have come," Luo Yexi looked around and whispered to Lingyun.

"Indeed, after all, this is a meeting that concerns their future," Lingyun shrugged.

"What do you mean 'concerns their future'? Aren't you one of us too, Lingyun?" Kirito said with some dissatisfaction.

Regarding this, Lingyun could only feel helpless. After all, their party was truly different from the players of this world. They could leave this world at any time, and their purpose for coming here was also different from the players of this world; their goal was to eliminate the power of the Underworld King of the End in this world, while simultaneously preventing this Semi-plane from colliding with the real world. However, such things could not be told to Kirito and the others at all right now.

Incidentally, there was a young man beside Kirito who had the face of a down-and-out samurai, which looked quite impressive. This person was named Klein, a friend Kirito had met in the game on the very first day he entered it.

After Kayaba Akihiko gave that speech at the Central Plaza, Klein had left Kirito on the grounds of not wanting to delay Kirito's leveling, for which Kirito had felt guilty for a while. However, Klein would get shy and stutter when facing girls. So, when he saw Kirito again in this place, he had spent quite a lot of effort to make clear what he wanted to say.

Being able to see Klein here, Kirito was also quite happy, after all, this was the first friend he had made in SAO. However, there were several other people beside Klein; according to Klein's introduction, they were friends who had entered this world with him, and they had even formed a small group, looking like they were living quite well.

Just as Lingyun and Kirito were talking, a crisp sound of clapping spread across the speech plaza, attracting the attention of everyone present.

"Alright, then it's about to begin." On a small platform in the center of the speech plaza stood a player.

This player had short blue hair, and the equipment on his body looked just like that of a city guard. Moreover, this equipment was shimmering with a faint light, which obviously didn't look like ordinary equipment; he was likely among the batch of people doing relatively well in this world.

"Thank you all for coming by invitation today. I am Diabel. As for my profession, I consider myself a knight!" the man named Diabel said with a face full of smiles, while simultaneously raising his hand to lightly tap his chest with his fist.

Diabel's words caused a burst of laughter from the players present.

"There aren't any profession settings in this game, right?"

"Calling himself a knight..."

"This meeting is also a joke, right?"

"..."

Although Diabel's words caused quite a few people to laugh, no matter what, he still managed to stir up the atmosphere among the players here.

After everyone laughed for a while, Diabel held his hands half-up, palms facing down, signaling for the crowd present to be quiet.

After everyone present quieted down, he said in a deep voice with a serious and earnest expression: "A few days ago, my party discovered the room where the floor boss is located on the top floor of that tower!"

"Really?"

"It's not a lie, is it?"

"Looking at how he dares to convene a so-called strategy meeting, it shouldn't be fake."

Once this sentence rang out, the expressions of the people present turned serious, revealing earnest looks.

"We must defeat the boss and reach the second floor! Tell everyone still waiting in the Starting Town that this Death Game will eventually end one day! This is the duty of us gathered here now, right, everyone!" Diabel said loudly with passion.

Diabel's words resonated with many people present; after all, they also had the desire to escape this terrifying Death Game.

"Master, this person actually looks quite good!" Luo Yexi lowered her voice and said to Lingyun. "If he doesn't die in the first-floor boss strategy battle, perhaps he will be a leader in the future."

"Indeed. If it follows the original plot, this guy will die at the hands of the first-floor boss because he wants to obtain the equipment dropped by the boss; that would really be a bit of a pity. Let's save his life when the time comes. With such a leader, perhaps this world will have fewer sacrifices." Lingyun nodded slightly.

"Alright!" Luo Yexi nodded slightly.

After the two decided Diabel's future life and death during their conversation, they heard him say loudly: "Alright, now, first please form parties of six. The strength of the floor boss is not something an ordinary party can contend with; we must gather parties to form a raid group to counter the boss's attack."

As soon as Diabel's voice fell, the people present began to discuss, while simultaneously looking for acquaintances or people around them to form parties.

"Forming a party?" Luo Yexi scanned the people around her. Quite a few people had sent party requests; after all, her equipment looked much better than those present, so she was likely an expert. If there was an expert in the party, it would be relatively much safer.

"Master, let's form a party." Ignoring the invitations from others, Luo Yexi directly sent a party request to Lingyun.

Lingyun smiled and joined Luo Yexi's party.

Lingyun, Luo Yexi, Busujima Saeko, Alice, Lingqi, plus the later-arriving Kirigaya Suguha, the six of them formed a party perfectly.

"Uh, wait, where is my sister?" Suguha suddenly said.

Kirito, on the other hand, fell into an awkward situation; after all, he had always been a solo player and had no experience of partying with others. The only person he was familiar with here, Lingyun, had already formed a party of six and was full.

Quickly scanning his surroundings, Kirito discovered a player wearing a cloak sitting not far away. There was no one around this player; it seemed they were also a solo player who couldn't find a party.

Kirito quickly moved to the side of that player and asked softly: "Are you also alone?"

"I am not alone." A cold voice came from the player wearing the cloak; although the voice was cold, it was very clear that this was a girl's voice. "It's just that the people around act like they are companions, so I avoided them myself."

"A solo player?" Kirito muttered to himself. "Then, do you want to form a party with me?"

The player wearing the cloak looked up at Kirito, which made Kirito feel a burst of nervousness. He hurriedly explained: "Diabel just said that the boss can't be cleared alone, right? Just this once."

Seeing the player in front of him nod slightly after pondering for a while, Kirito immediately sent a party request over.

After the player in front joined the party, Kirito quietly looked at the other person's name: "Asuna?"

Lingyun, on the side, cast his gaze toward Kirito's direction and happened to see the scene of him and Asuna forming a party.

"Have the protagonists met?" Lingyun nodded.

"Alright, everyone should have formed their parties by now. Then, the strategy meeting continues." Diabel brought the topic back to the main point.

"Wait a moment." Suddenly, a voice interrupted Diabel's words, and a figure appeared above the plaza.