34 chapter 34

Jae was taken aback. \"What the hell are you talking about, man? This is the best news we've gotten all month! This means there are players out there who aren't just sitting on their asses or are too scared to do anything. These guys are doing it, they're actually doing it!\"

Toyo frowned. \"Doing what, exactly?\"

Jae blinked in utter confusion. \"The fuck is your problem? Did you get hit over the head today? 'Doing what?' They're beating the game, man! They're going to put an end to all of this. They're saving lives.\"

Toyo looked away for a moment as he contemplated how to reply. It was clear to him that Jae saw the Boss raid differently than he did.

\"Look,\" Toyo began, \"I get why they're doing the raid. And I get why you want to go. I kind of want to go too...but-\"

\"But what?\"

Toyo ignored the interruption. \"I've been thinking about this since we started hearing about the meeting the other day. The guys who are going on the raid are the strongest players in the game, right?\"

\"Right.\" Jae answered warily.

\"That means that they don't need our help. That means that they can handle themselves, keep themselves alive. I mean come on, forty of the strongest players all together in a group, against one boss? We both know how easy it is to win boss fights when you attack with the multi-party strategy, and I guarantee you that's what they'll use. They wouldn't be the strongest players in the game if they didn't know about that. Tanks in the front, damage dealers on the flanks. Similar parties in reserve to switch out when the time comes. It's simple stuff.\"

\"I'm not getting your point,\" Jae replied, his voice tinged with bewilderment. \"First off, you're right, it's easier to win against a boss when you have more people. Which is exactly why we should go. Second, if we don't contribute to clearing the game, what's the point of us leveling up when we could just go hide back in the Town of Beginnings?\"

\"Just let me finish, would you?\" Toyo was beginning to grow irritated that Jae still wasn't seeing what he was driving at. \"Obviously clearing the game is important. I'm not saying that it's not. But I just don't feel like it's as important as human lives.\"

Concern stretched over Jae's features. \"What do you mean?\"

\"I'm talking about the people that are dying out here every day.\" Toyo tried to suppress the sorrow he felt from making it's way into his words, but was only partially successful.

\"The Massacre didn't end. Sure, not as many people are dying now, but that doesn't mean no one is. There are a lot of people in this game, Jae, and most of them don't have the skill or gear that the players in Tolbana, or us for that matter, do have.\"

Pointing at the door, Toyo continued. \"Out there, people we've never met are being murdered by this game. People that can't defend themselves. People that want to survive, but don't have the ability to. We need to be there for those people, not the strongest players in the game. We've been patrolling areas all over this Floor trying to find people that need our help. And that's something that I think we should continue doing. We should help the people that actually need that help, not the ones that don't.\"

It was silent in the room except for the crackle of the flames from within the fireplace. Naomi, who hadn't said a word throughout the argument, seemed to be waiting patiently for it to placate before she spoke again. Toyo didn't mean to exclude her, but the differing views between him and Jae had made themselves clear, and he needed to know where things would go from here.

\"I see your point,\" Jae said, fiddling with a loose string on his shirt as he spoke. \"I get where you're coming from now. But I just don't think what you're saying is the right course of action.\" He looked up at Toyo, fixing him in an apologetic but determined face. \"Every day we spend not focusing on beating the game is another day, another chance, for innocent people to die. It won't stop until the game ends, I think we both know that. So why would we not focus our efforts to bringing about that end sooner?\"