After hearing some of the details, I guess it does make sense why he avoided taking the potion. Honestly, had I thought about it a bit, even without knowing the details, I could've surmised that he refused the potion because he knew it wouldn't work. The problem is that the scene was so poorly done (imho), I was blinded and I didn't even want to try to see. From the moment Diabel charged in, to the moment he died, I went into disbelief mode. If they're going to leave out details from the source material that make things clear, they need to do something in the adaptation to compensate. In this case, I was not immediately convinced as I was watching the scene that the wound was too grave for the potion to be effective. That disbelief intensified when Kirito got struck in a very similar fashion later in the fight. I guess I'll just get over how it was done and go with the spirit of things on this one.
A less crippling, but potentially longer lasting peeve, was how Kirito decided to handle the hatred towards beta testers by trying to concentrate the game population's hatred on himself. I mean...it's noble and all, but it hardly seemed like the only choice he had. It hardly seemed like the best choice he had. First off, he was yelling at the top of his lungs that the boss' weapon was different than what was shown in the beta. I'm sure a number of them heard. All he had to do was mention that and see if anyone who might've heard would back him up. Furthermore, I think there were at least a couple of people there who didn't jump to conclusions about his character. Egil comes to mind in this. These people would've quieted the group long enough for him to make some speech or another to set them straight. The group that killed the first boss would then hold status, and Kirito and his assassin lovely would hold status within that group, even if he decided to go at it solo afterwards. That status could then be used to open the lines of communication with the rest of the player base and disseminate proper information about the beta testers and their actions.
God help him if the server is PvP enabled. With your life on the line, you have to be cocksure or (and?) stupid as hell to purposely make yourself the focal point everyone in the game, assuming you have better options. But beyond the dangers he faces going this route, I fail to see what personal benefit he can get out of this. It's all risk and no apparent reward. That being said, a lone wolf, widely hated character is usually more fun to watch, particularly if the issues I mentioned are addressed.
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