Herohero

The sky was still pitch-black. Naiyuan sat quietly by the window, gazing into the distance. Today was the day the game called Yggdrasil would shut down.

His gaze shifted from outside to the room, his eyes constantly sweeping over everything within it, wanting to etch the place he had lived in for decades deep into his memory.

"Goodbye, world. I'm coming, world."

After whispering his final farewells, Naiyuan picked up the helmet on his bed without hesitation.

He put on the helmet and connected it to his brain's neural pathways. After one last look at the familiar ceiling, Naiyuan slowly closed his eyes.

"Naiyuan, you're here. You're much later than I expected. Did something happen?"

The moment he could make out his surroundings, a concerned voice reached his ears.

Though the other person looked like a skeleton, he could still sense the warmth in his heart.

"Nothing happened. You're here early, Momonga. Have you been in this room ever since you got off work?"

"I sent everyone invitations, after all. I was worried they might arrive early and find no one here, so I came ahead of time to wait."

"Besides, as the Guildmaster, shouldn't I be the first one here? Hehe."

Inside a conference room with an enormous round table, Momonga sat in one of the seats, looking at Naiyuan, who had just logged in, and sent a smiling face.

This room was called the Round Table Room. According to its settings, any guild member wearing a guild ring would automatically be teleported here upon logging in, unless they were in certain specially permitted areas.

This was where the guild members used to hold meetings. Forty-two chairs were arranged around the table, but now they were completely empty.

"No one else is here yet?"

Looking at the vacant seats before him, Naiyuan sighed.

He had also sent one final invitation to his companions, but it seemed to have been useless.

"Has everyone really given up?"

"Let's wait a little longer. Maybe they've been held up."

Momonga comforted the somewhat despondent Naiyuan, but his words sounded pale and powerless. Even he himself did not hold much hope.

Compared to Naiyuan, Suzuki Satoru placed far greater importance on this day. Though he was a Skeleton Archmage in the game, he was a very sensitive person at heart.

In the words of their former companion Tabula Smaragdina, that was gap moe: an evil, terrifying appearance paired with a gentle heart. That man, obsessed with gap moe, had been especially enthusiastic toward Momonga.

One only had to look at the settings for Albedo and her two sisters to see just how obsessed he was.

Amid the silence, a notification sound interrupted their melancholy.

"Ding!"

The login notification made Momonga and Naiyuan instantly raise their heads and look toward the figure.

On one of the previously empty seats, on the right side of the table, a mass of black liquid appeared.

Seeing this, Momonga's gloom vanished at once. He looked at the other person and cried out in surprise.

"Herohero, long time no see. (Smiling face)"

"Hello, Herohero. (Wicked grin)"

Momonga and Naiyuan greeted the friend they had not seen for a long time.

"Ah, long time no see, you two. Sorry, I only logged in now because of work. You've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"

"Momonga, you're still the same. And Naiyuan... it's nostalgic. I haven't heard you call me that nickname in a long time."

Herohero looked at the two of them nostalgically. His voice was thick with exhaustion, yet it could not hide his happiness.

"You don't need to apologize at all, Herohero. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for sending you messages even though I knew you were already exhausted from work. I'm sorry. Please forgive my selfishness."

Momonga fidgeted with his hands in a panic as he apologized to Herohero.

"Come on, Momonga. Herohero won't hold that against you. Or rather, he's happy right now too. We haven't seen each other in so long, so don't start apologizing the moment we meet!"

Naiyuan looked helplessly at Momonga and spoke to the two of them.

"Naiyuan, you're still the same. It feels as though everything happened only yesterday. Those days really were nostalgic."

"But lately, I've been getting more and more tired. My sense of time has become muddled, and it feels like my body is already reaching its limit..."

Herohero's voice reached them, but the exhaustion in it made both of them frown. He gave them the feeling that he could collapse at any moment.

"How are you? Are you all right?"

"If you can't keep going, go get some sleep. Just having you come back at the end has already made Momonga and me very happy."

Momonga and Naiyuan asked Herohero with concern. They wanted to spend these final moments with him, but their companion's health was more important.

"Well, if my boss disappeared tomorrow, or the company went bankrupt, or the world ended, then maybe I'd be saved instead..."

That sounded serious. Momonga and Naiyuan exchanged a glance. Herohero's situation was even worse than they had imagined.

"It's fine. Let me stay with you and see this through to the end. After all, the request of friends like you is written all over your faces. How could I possibly refuse?"

Herohero sent a smiling face and spoke to them with a smile.

If Momonga had been the only one here today, he might have chosen to log off early. But after seeing that Naiyuan was here too, he abandoned that thought. He could bear refusing one person.

But both of them were his best friends, and he could not pretend not to notice the longing in their words. He did not want to disappoint them. Though his body kept reminding him that he should log off and rest, he still chose to stay.

"Hehe, then let's welcome the final moment together, just the three of us."

Naiyuan was the first to react, smiling as he spoke to the two of them.

Yet he was still somewhat surprised. He had originally thought Herohero would log off early, since his body seemed to be at its limit. But Herohero had not followed that expected course. Instead, he stayed and chose to wait with them until the end.

"...I see! Thank you, Herohero. Truly... thank you."

Momonga was filled with immense joy as he looked at Herohero, who had chosen to stay. He had wanted Herohero to remain and spend the final moments with them, but seeing his condition, he had decided to give up on that hope. Yet Herohero had ultimately chosen to stay with them, making Momonga feel as though tears might spill from his eyes.

"Hey, didn't we just say not to keep apologizing all the time?"

"All right, Naiyuan. Momonga is just too excited. Besides, the two of us aren't much better."

"Shut up, Herohero."

"I'm black anyway. Call me whatever you want!"

Momonga silently watched the two of them bicker, their noisy voices filling his ears. How long had it been since he had seen a scene like this?

In the end, only Herohero among their former companions had chosen to return, but that alone was enough to satisfy him. What he feared most was that everyone had already forgotten this place, forgotten the Great Tomb of Nazarick they had built together.

But looking at the two people before him, he felt that guarding this place for all these years had been meaningful.

"What are you spacing out for, Momonga? Hurry up and help me take down Herohero!"

"Don't be so petty, Naiyuan. You'll never find a girlfriend like this."

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening!!"

As though he had recalled something, Naiyuan instantly covered his ears and started muttering to himself.

"Herohero is still as mean-spirited as ever, isn't he?"

"Guildmaster, you're still the same too."

"It's good to be the same. Just like before, no one has changed."