-291- The man behind the transaction

—"LA."

This is just an abbreviation.

The formal term should be—"last attack."

In SAO, players who deliver the final blow to a monster receive many rewards.

For example, they gain the monster's experience points.

Or increase the likelihood of obtaining dropped items.

Furthermore, when the target is a boss-level monster, they also receive additional rare item rewards.

For instance, Rozen's "Thousand-Layer Robe" was obtained as a last attack reward from a mini-boss in the 1st floor labyrinth area.

These kinds of last attack rewards from boss monsters are usually rarer and more powerful than regular items.

So, for SAO players, monster last attacks are synonymous with significant spoils of war.

During the beta testing phase, countless incidents of chaos and disputes occurred due to players trying to secure last attack rewards from bosses.

Now, Rozen has revealed to everyone.

Diabel had his eyes on the last attack reward from the guardian boss, which is why he rushed forward earlier.

No, he didn't just suddenly do this now.

In fact, Diabel had been planning this for a while.

Rozen was simply exposing Diabel's actions.

And the response he received was a roar.

"Nonsense!"

The one who let out this furious roar wasn't Diabel, but Kibaou.

"You think Diabel is one of you selfish beta testers?"

Kibaou pointed at Rozen and spoke loudly.

"Diabel has been fighting all the way to free all players from this damn game. Don't even compare him to the likes of you!"

Kibaou's fervent shout was met with agreement from Diabel's teammates.

"That's right!"

"Who do you think Diabel is, compared to you beta testers?"

"Don't look down on people!"

"If Diabel hadn't rushed forward earlier, it would've been you beta players who almost got killed by the boss changing its attack pattern!"

"What an ungrateful bunch!"

Diabel's teammates angrily shouted.

Clearly, these people genuinely believed that Diabel had rushed forward because he saw the guardian boss change its attack pattern and was worried about the safety of the beta player group.

However...

"We already knew that the guardian boss's attack pattern was going to change. If you wanted to remind us, you could've just shouted. What was the point of rushing forward on your own?"

Rozen didn't look at the rest of the players; he simply fixed his gaze on the silent Diabel.

This only fueled the anger of those defending Diabel.

Especially Kibaou, who, on behalf of the silent Diabel, glared furiously at Rozen.

"Just because of this, you're accusing Diabel of wanting to snatch the boss's last attack reward?"

This was indeed lacking in persuasiveness.

Just rushing forward and accusing someone of wanting to snatch the last attack reward—wouldn't that lead to more disbelief among those who didn't already believe it?

After all, Diabel had a pretty good reputation and charismatic leadership. Even his teammates were convinced by his persuasion to leave the Starting Town and had been following him all along. For them, it was only natural to believe in Diabel rather than Rozen.

But Rozen wasn't the type to casually make baseless claims.

Facing everyone present, Rozen looked at Kibaou.

"So Mr. Kibaou." Rozen spoke confidently to Kibaou, "It's been said that you were the one who commissioned Argo to persuade me and Kirito to sell you the two enhanced 'Anneal Blades,' right?"

Upon hearing this, Kibaou's expression of anger momentarily shifted to a hint of panic.

However, he quickly composed himself and admitted, "Yeah! What's the problem?"

Kibaou's response carried a sense of suppressed intensity.

Rozen simply smiled.

"Aren't you quite hostile toward beta testers?" Rozen said with a half-smile, "Kirito I can understand, maybe you didn't know he was a beta tester, but the fact that I'm a beta tester is practically common knowledge among all players. And yet, you, who despises beta testers, actually bought weapons from one? Doesn't that contradict your stance?"

Because of this, when Argo mentioned Kibaou as the one behind the transaction, Rozen immediately noticed.

"This is probably a lie, isn't it?" Rozen continued, "Someone else was interested in buying our weapons, but because they knew that Argo is a shady dealer who could potentially expose their identity by selling their information, they found you and asked you to represent them and commission Argo."

With this, Rozen glanced at Argo with a somewhat irritated tone.

"A certain information broker should have realized this possibility a long time ago, right?"

Hearing this, Argo chuckled wryly.

In other words, someone wanted to commission Argo to buy weapons from Kirito and Rozen. However, they were concerned that Argo, being a shady dealer, might expose their identity and sell their information. So, they went to Kibaou and had him act as their representative to commission Argo.

And the reason behind this action was simple.

"They wanted to weaken Kirito's and my weapons, reducing our attack power, so that we wouldn't be able to secure last attack rewards."

Rozen stated firmly.

"As for why they targeted both of us, it's quite simple. During the beta testing period, Kirito and I had a certain reputation."

During beta testing, Rozen led the front-line player group to the 10th floor, and he didn't shy away from fighting either. For the purpose of honing his 'Mind's Eye' skill and to personally kill monsters and turn them into familiars, he had taken last attack rewards from many guardian bosses.

While Kirito might not have stood out as much as Rozen, his exceptional gaming skills allowed him to perform remarkably well in guardian boss strategies. He had even calculated the remaining HP of bosses on several occasions, competing with Rozen to secure last attack rewards.

It was precisely because they knew about Kirito and Rozen's prominence during beta testing that they were worried the two brothers might snatch the last attack rewards in the upcoming 1st-floor guardian boss battle. This led them to orchestrate this plan.

And only one person could have concocted such a plan.

"The commission was sent before the strategy meeting for the guardian boss had even started. So, the one who issued it must not have been a player who only joined the strategy meeting after discovering that the guardian boss's room was found. Instead, they were the one who initiated the strategy meeting planning after discovering the guardian boss's room."

Rozen turned his gaze to the still-silent Diabel, and spoke word by word.

"That person is you, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present exchanged perplexed glances.

Kibaou was about to respond, but Rozen cut him off without hesitation.

"Are you implying that this is my fabrication? That Diabel found out Kirito and I are beta players, and he learned about our actions during the beta testing period, so he commissioned you to buy our weapons to prevent us from seizing last attack rewards and weaken us?"

Rozen posed this question.

"But have you ever considered why Diabel, knew that Kirito was a beta player and that we frequently secured last attack rewards during beta testing?"

This question stumped Kibaou and everyone present.

Indeed.

Rozen could be explained, but why would Diabel know Kirito was a beta tester, and know both of them frequently obtain last attack rewards during beta testing?

There was only one reason.

"Diabel."

Rozen looked directly at Diabel and spoke in a calm tone.

"You're a beta tester too, aren't you?"

As these words hung in the air, everyone present was left stunned.