"I'll face it with you. Please, please... don't leave me behind alone..."
Momonga trembled as he spoke to the friend before him. He was afraid, terribly afraid—afraid of Herohero hiding things from him, afraid that when he woke up tomorrow, Herohero would be gone.
When he saw the message, his first reaction was not anger, but fear. Thinking back on Herohero's recent behavior, the marks on the calendar in his room, and the message from earlier, a terrifying thought flashed through his mind.
"Suicide!"
The moment that word crossed his mind, Momonga was terrified. It was the one thing he least dared to imagine. He instinctively wanted to deny it, but the message before him left him unable to refute the thought.
He did everything he could to maintain his composure, calmly sending Herohero away so Naiyuan could be alone with him.
Once they reached the warehouse, Momonga could no longer endure it. He exploded, roaring as he vented the fear and terror in his heart.
His voice, mixed with countless emotions, echoed through the warehouse, violently assaulting Naiyuan's mind.
Naiyuan looked at his friend, whose expression was filled with complicated emotions as he questioned him, and for a moment, Naiyuan did not know how to answer.
He had thought he could hide what he had done for two days without much trouble. Who would have thought it would be exposed so quickly—and at a time like this?
With the game about to shut down, the developers, hoping to make one last profit, had released all sorts of rare items.
So after logging off yesterday, he sold everything he could sell. The same went for his loans. He kept part of the money and put all the rest into the game, using it to buy various rare items.
He had secretly placed the portion he kept beneath Momonga's bed. It was the savings he had accumulated from working over the years. Although it was not much because of his spending on the game, it could still improve Momonga's life.
He had done all this to prepare for transmigration. If he transmigrated, then the loans would no longer matter. If he did not, then the next day, he would take the medicine he had prepared in advance and kill himself.
He had left that portion of money for Momonga in case Momonga did not transmigrate either. After all, Momonga was his only friend.
Everything had originally been arranged perfectly, but Naiyuan had never expected an accident to happen at the very end.
"I'm sorry..."
Naiyuan opened his mouth, ready to say something, but in the end, only an apology came out. At a time like this, he did not know how to explain himself.
Should he tell Momonga outright that he was preparing to transmigrate? That would probably only make him worry more. After all, transmigration was just another way of saying death.
Thinking it over, Naiyuan helplessly realized that whether he told the truth or lied, it all seemed inseparable from death.
"When we log off later, I'll go to your house and stay with you. I'll take leave for the next few days."
Perhaps having vented, Momonga felt a little better as he spoke in a gentler tone.
"I'll help you pay back your debts. You can come work at my company. It'll be tiring, but we can stay together and look after each other. We can play new games together, eat together, talk about all kinds of things..."
"So please, don't suddenly disappear one day, okay?"
Momonga spoke gently as he slowly approached Naiyuan, stretching out his bony arms and gradually embracing him.
Afraid Naiyuan might do something rash, Momonga desperately wanted to win him back.
"...Thank you, Satoru. I'm so glad I met you, my friend."
Naiyuan raised his arms and hugged him back. The hard feel of bone met his hands, yet Naiyuan found Momonga so dear.
I'm so glad I met you in this life, Satoru. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to spend a lifetime the way he described.
For the first time, Naiyuan felt that transmigration might not be so important. As long as his friend was by his side, what difference did it make whether he transmigrated or not?
Everyone had something they treasured most in life, and perhaps he had found his now.
"Me too. I'm very happy I met you, Naiyuan."
Momonga replied. Feeling that Naiyuan seemed to have been persuaded, his tightly wound heart finally relaxed. He had been afraid Naiyuan would still be unable to let it go.
If it really came to that, he could only threaten Naiyuan with his own life. No matter what, he could not let him die, even if it cost him his own life.
"By the way, shouldn't we go find Herohero? He's probably been waiting a long time."
Naiyuan remembered that someone seemed to be waiting for them and hurriedly spoke.
"Oh no, I forgot about Herohero! It's already been over ten minutes!!"
Momonga had still been lost in thought, but Naiyuan's words instantly snapped him back to reality.
Seeing that it was already 11:20 on the system interface, Momonga let out a despairing cry. I'm sorry, Herohero! I didn't do it on purpose! Please forgive me!
"Ahem. We should hurry and get the items. There isn't much time left, and Herohero will get angry."
"Oh, right, right. Hurry, hurry. I remember they were around here."
"Whew, good thing they weren't put in the Mausoleum, or we'd have to walk a while."
Momonga hurriedly clicked through the warehouse interface and took out the items inside. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, these new World Items had not been stored in the Mausoleum, or they could not have retrieved them so quickly.
"Looks like you thought no one would come steal anything with the servers shutting down soon, so you didn't put them in the Mausoleum. Turns out that lazy idea helped us out."
Naiyuan could not help teasing Momonga as he watched him fumble about in a panic.
"To make laziness sound so justified, Naiyuan, you really are..."
Momonga rubbed his smooth skull. He was still very happy to see that Naiyuan had completely recovered.
To be safe, I'll move in with him tomorrow. I'll watch him for a month first.
Still unwilling to lower his guard, Momonga thought.
"All right, now that we've found them, let's go."
Naiyuan urged him. He had figured things out now, and all the troubles that had bothered him seemed to have vanished. He still cared about transmigration, but he was no longer as obsessed with it as before. Now he only felt light all over.
Like a limp stick suddenly hardening without warning, he had been completely transformed.
"Naiyuan!"
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I just suddenly wanted to call your name."
"Satoru!"
"Then I'll call yours too. I can't let you call mine for nothing."
The two looked at each other, and after a few seconds, neither could hold back their laughter.
Sixth Floor Arena.
Herohero drowsily nodded off.
"Naiyuan, Momonga, why aren't you here yet?"
"I'm almost at my limit."
Before you continue