System Notification: Congratulations! A player has defeated the 74th-floor BOSS. Players may now enter the 75th floor of Aincrad.
Everyone stared blankly at the scene, listening to the system notification from above, before collapsing onto the ground.
"BOSS... it's finally been defeated..."
"Yeah, we finally took down the BOSS."
"We survived, didn't we?"
"Yeah, we survived."
Such conversations spread quietly among the players. It seemed they were seeking confirmation from others, but also trying to reassure themselves—like solving a complicated math problem and comparing answers without knowing whether they were right. At last, everyone reached the same conclusion: they had indeed won, and they had defeated the BOSS.
"How many people did we lose? Have the numbers been counted?"
"Fifteen. Fifteen people died in this BOSS raid..." At that point, the speaker could no longer continue. Fifteen people—fifteen people had died in a single dungeon raid, and this was only the 74th floor. There were still twenty-six floors left. How many would die on the next floor? Fifteen? Twenty? And how many people would step forward to raid the dungeon? Would they themselves be among those who died next time? They had desperately leveled up and raided dungeons so they could leave this place and reunite with their families. If they died, what would any of it mean?
Quite a few people began to cry. It was their first time taking part in such a brutal raid. Everyone who had made it here possessed firm resolve, and they had seen many players die before. Yet when they thought of their own fate, grief still welled up inside them.
Chen Fan arrived where Asuna, Xing, and the others were. The prolonged battle had left everyone exhausted, both physically and mentally. Fortunately, none of them had been hurt.