“Clang!”
This time, the sound of the metal collision was far louder compared to before. It turns out Asuna’s Sword Skill was blocked by a seemingly heavy One-Handed Sword, which glowed faintly.
“….?”
As Asuna was bounced away due to the impact, she saw the person who was responsible for that.
Of course, it was none other than Rozen.
“Take a good look, Missy.”
Rozen said to Asuna while pointing his fingers behind him.
“If your attack just now landed, won’t you be in trouble?”
Asuna’s gaze subconsciously followed Rozen’s hand.
There lay the real culprit, unable to stand.
“Woo!”
Without anyone noticing, the Rainbow Butterfly swiftly flew above the real culprit’s head during their battle and discharged the Paralyzing Powder. As a result, he couldn’t move.
But what Rozen pointed out here was not the paralysis effect the real culprit was inflicted with, it was his hp bar.
Whether it was because of his battle with Rozen earlier, or because some other players attacked him, the real culprit’s hp bar was yellow, meaning it was already reduced by more than a half.
“I suppose you don’t have any healing potion on you, huh? You have a death wish or what?”
While Rozen was snarking about that player’s behavior, Asuna shuddered.
With low-end equipment plus less than half hp, Asuna realized what would happen when the tip of her rapier pierced that man’s heart earlier.
Asuna instantly felt butterflies on her stomach, she was almost on the verge of vomiting.
Rozen didn’t say anything when he saw Asuna’s reaction, instead, he shifted his attention toward the group of players who were watching them from the beginning.
“You guys have a plan after this?”
Rozen’s sudden inquiry made those players respond subconsciously.
“No… no…”
“Since I heard there’s a red player here, I plan to return to the safe zone early today…”
“Yes…yes…”
Those players answered one after another.
“Is that so?” Rozen nodded and said, “Then can do me a favor and escort this guy back to the town.”
Once a red player entered the town, guards NPC will suppress them and put them in jail.
This was probably the best way to deal with a criminal.
“Alright… Alright.”
Those players then took custody of the real culprit and made their way out.
Because of what just happened, they couldn’t process everything at once. They didn’t even realize they just took an order from the beta tester that they loathed, and by the time they realized this, they’d probably be pissed.
However, that has nothing to do with Rozen.
Of course, that has nothing to do with Asuna either.
Asuna just stared silently as the real culprit was being escorted.
“Gooo!”
The Rainbow Butterfly flew back to Rozen’s shoulder and perched there.
Rozen sheathed his Sword of Toughness +8 into the red scabbard and turned to Asuna.
“Unfortunately, it seems that the real culprit failed to kill you.” Rozen said as if nothing happened, “But with this, you should be able to fight monsters until you exhausted yourself and fall down, right?”
Rozen didn’t stop Asuna at all. She just said that as if he could see through what was in Asuna’s heart Asuna realized that and felt awkward.
The old her would’ve left without a word.
But after seeing how the man earlier ended up, Asuna seemed completely lost. It was as if her feet were so heavy that she couldn’t walk away.
Asuna then turned toward Rozen.
Seeing his laid back and carefree personality despite being trapped in this world just like her, Asuna had only one question for him.
“How?”
“How could you be so laid back?”
Was this person not worried about unable to return forever?
Was this person not afraid to die at all?
That was what Asuna thinking.
Rozen only replied with a simple sentence.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Rozen laughed.
“This is nothing compared to what I’ve been through.”
Asuna then remembered…
“Yes…”
The person beside him was just like her. He once lost all hope, he has struggled with everything he could to the point that he has given up and waited for his end.
However, he managed to survive because of…
“Miracle.”
Rozen beat Asuna to it.
He then added.
“If you still believe in a miracle, then you should try your best to stay alive instead of rush recklessly into danger.”
“As long as you can survive, then one day, you will definitely be able to get what you want.”
“That’s it.”
With that as their parting words, Rozen made his way out of the labyrinth area.
When she saw Rozen’s back, she wanted to say something to him, but no words came out of her mouth.
At this moment, Asuna was at a loss, she did not know what to do next.
Even the seemingly strong and cold girl had her weakness. Asuna has never made her own decision, her parents made all decisions in her life. So it was no wonder that she felt confused at this moment.
Fortunately, someone showed her the right path.
“I almost forgot to tell you.”
Rozen turned back and said to Asuna.
“In three days, a group of frontline players will hold a meeting in Tolbana’s square. They will discuss the Floor Boss raid.”
“The First Floor Boss raid meeting?”
Asuna immediately raised her head.
Looking at Asuna’s response, Rozen then said with a smile.
“There are still a lot of people who have not given up hope, they are gathering the players who are strong enough to defeat the first Floor Boss.”
That was what Argo told Rozen, and it was the reason why he asked Rozen to help find Asuna.
“Come if you feel like it.”
After that, Rozen waved his hand and left.
Asuna just stood there by herself.
“Three days…”
Asuna murmured, and clenched her hands, and finally left as well.
However, this time, Asuna was no longer heading further into the labyrinth. She no longer intended to exhaust herself and died at the hands of the monster. This time, she wanted to rest and prepared herself for the meeting that will be held in the next three days.
She was quite tired because, it has been two days since she left the labyrinth and had a good rest.
