[Ding!
A new message has arrived in your mailbox!]
As Momonga was reminiscing about the past with Herohero and Naiyuan, a notification tone rang out.
It wasn’t the cold, mechanical system voice, but a pleasant loli voice.
“Eh?
Isn’t that Bukubukuchagama’s voice?
Momonga, I can’t believe you’re still using that as your system voice!”
“What a nostalgic sound.
I remember Bukubukuchagama sent us all a voice pack back then.
But after some players outside the guild started calling us creeps, everyone stopped using it.
I didn’t expect the Guild Master to still be using it.”
Naiyuan looked at him with some surprise, while Herohero spoke with a touch of sentiment.
“It was a gift from Bukubukuchagama, after all.
And Naiyuan, you’ve got some nerve talking about me—don’t think I don’t know you’re using it too!”
“Arre?
How did you know?
I’ve never played it in front of you.”
“Who do you think you’re hiding those little secrets from?”
Momonga teased Naiyuan while opening his mailbox and clicking to view the message.
the content of the email was simple, just a few short lines, but Momonga fell into a deathly silence after reading it.
The words he had been about to speak died in his throat.
The two red points of light within his eye sockets stared fixedly at the message before him.
“What’s wrong?
Why did you suddenly stop talking?”
“The Guild Master looks like he’s in a really bad mood.
Did something bad happen in the mail?”
Sensing that the other had gone silent, Naiyuan looked at Momonga with confusion.
Herohero also sent a concerned emote, asking what was the matter.
“It’s nothing, nothing at all.
There’s just a problem with a project at work.
They want me to go in and fix it tomorrow.
I’m just a bit annoyed by the overtime.”
Hearing their voices, Momonga quickly snapped back to reality and explained.
“Your life isn’t easy either, Momonga!”
Hearing Momonga’s reply, Herohero didn’t suspect a thing.
Instead, he thought of his own daily life of soul-crushing overtime and couldn’t help but sigh.
Naiyuan felt something was off, but he didn’t dwell on it.
After all, the servers were about to shut down.
He looked calm on the surface, but he was actually nervous to death inside.
The three of them continued their conversation, but under Momonga’s deliberate guidance, the topic shifted.
“Speaking of which, Herohero hasn’t logged in for two years.
Naiyuan and I have collected several World-Class Items during this time.
How about it, want to take a look?”
Momonga shifted the topic seemingly at random, subtly nudging Herohero.
“Is that so…
It seems you guys have been working hard these past two years.”
Herohero looked at Momonga and Naiyuan with surprise.
He hadn’t expected them to collect several World-Class Items in just two years.
One had to remember that Nazarick only had eleven in total.
But then he thought about how the server was closing soon, which probably made them easier to acquire, and he accepted the explanation.
“What do you say?
Let’s go take a look.”
“Since the Guild Master has extended such a gracious invitation, I’ll gladly accept.”
Momonga asked quickly, a hint of urgency hidden in his voice.
After a moment of hesitation, Herohero readily accepted the invitation.
After all, he was also curious about the effects of these new World-Class Items.
“In that case, Naiyuan and I will go to the Treasury to get the items.
Herohero, could I trouble you to head to the Arena on the Sixth Floor and wait for us first?”
“No problem.
See you two in a bit then.”
Herohero had no objections to Momonga’s arrangement.
With a flash of red light, he instantly vanished from the Round Table room.
“Let’s go then, Naiyuan.
We shouldn’t keep Herohero waiting.”
Momonga spoke to Naiyuan in a light tone.
Then, without waiting for a reply, he used the ring on his finger to teleport to the Treasury.
“Something’s wrong.
Something is very wrong!”
Naiyuan looked in the direction Momonga had disappeared, his brow furrowed deeply.
The interaction just now gave him a profound sense of dissonance.
Based on his understanding of Momonga, something must have happened to cause such a change.
“Was it that email?
But what exactly was written in it that made Momonga so desperate to get rid of Herohero?”
Naiyuan felt like his head was about to explode.
He shook his head, casting his suspicions aside.
“Forget it.
Since he called me there alone, it must have something to do with me.
I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I’ll just let him explain it himself.”
The ring on Naiyuan’s finger flashed red, and he too disappeared.
The once-bustling Round Table room returned to its usual silence.
Forty-two chairs remained neatly arranged, waiting for their masters to return once more.
…
In the Treasury, after a flash of red light, Naiyuan appeared.
Countless gold coins and items were scattered haphazardly around the room.
The fragments of the Dragon-blood Sword that had been on the floor were gone, likely swept away as trash by an NPC.
“You’re here.”
Momonga’s figure stood silently ahead.
He spoke softly as he saw Naiyuan appear.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Naiyuan replied.
The two then fell into silence.
Momonga’s eyes were fixed on Naiyuan.
He didn’t speak, but Naiyuan still felt a massive sense of oppression.
The air seemed to freeze, making it hard to breathe—uh, well, this was a game, and he hadn’t transmigrated yet, so he didn’t actually need to breathe.
“I…”
“How long were you planning to keep me in the dark?”
Just as Naiyuan was about to ask why, Momonga’s roar cut him off.
“Why didn’t you tell me?
What exactly are you trying to do, Naiyuan?!”
“Resigning from your job, renting out your house, taking out insane loans…”
“Doing all this behind my back, and then lying to me that your company gave you time off…”
“Naiyuan, tell me, what’s wrong with you?
Aren’t we friends?
Why hide it from me?
Why lie to me?”
Within the silent Treasury, roars filled with complex emotions echoed repeatedly.
To Suzuki Satoru, all of this was inconceivable.
To be a best friend and yet be kept in the dark for so long.
He was afraid, angry, and terrified.
He knew this friend of over ten years very well.
Through years of companionship, they had long since developed a silent understanding; usually, a single look was enough to know what the other was thinking.
But that email had hit him like a physical blow.
Originally, he had just been curious why Naiyuan hadn’t gone to work the past two days, so he contacted a staff member at Naiyuan’s company to check in.
After all, knowing Naiyuan, he was the type of person who would act like nothing was wrong even if the sky was falling.
“I don’t like my problems involving other people” was a phrase Naiyuan often repeated.
But when he learned from the staff member that Naiyuan had resigned, he was shocked.
He had almost rushed to Naiyuan’s house right then and there to give him a piece of his mind.
In this society, finding a job was a blessing.
Even if he was exploited by his boss and worked overtime every day, he never chose to quit.
He didn’t dare.
This dark society had no shortage of people like him; if he left, someone would fill his position immediately.
Suzuki Satoru wanted to go back and demand why he gave up his job, but thinking that today was the final day of Yggdrasil, he suppressed the urge.
Naiyuan valued today immensely—one could tell by the giant “X” marked on the calendar in his room.
To avoid ruining his friend’s mood, Suzuki Satoru decided to wait until tomorrow to ask.
Because he was worried something might have happened recently, he spent a large sum of money to hire a private investigator to look into Naiyuan’s recent records, to see if something specific had triggered the resignation.
He had originally intended it only as a precaution and hadn’t thought much of it, but while he was chatting with Naiyuan and Herohero, the investigator’s message arrived.
After scanning it, he looked at the system interface in disbelief.
His brain shuddered wildly.
He felt as if he were standing in a blizzard; even though he was in a game, he felt a wave of bone-chilling cold.
Suppressing his unbearable emotions, Momonga had casually brushed the two of them off.
If it were just him and Naiyuan, he wouldn’t have held back; he would have roared his questions immediately.
But because Herohero was there, he didn’t want to drag another friend into this.
So, he deliberately steered the conversation to make the other leave, creating a space for just him and Naiyuan.