Suzuki Satoru's Anger (Part 1)

"Ding! You have a new message in your inbox!"

As Momonga was chatting with Herohero and Naiyuan about the past, a notification sound rang out.

It wasn't the cold, mechanical voice of the system, but a pleasant, loli-like voice.

"Huh? Isn't this Bukubukuchagama's voice? Momonga, I didn't expect you to still be using that as your system voice!"

"What a nostalgic sound. I remember Bukubukuchagama gave each of us a voice pack back then, but after being labeled as perverts by players outside the guild, no one used it anymore. I never thought the Guild Master would still be using it."

Naiyuan looked at him with some surprise, while Herohero sighed with emotion.

"It was a kind gesture from Bukubukuchagama, after all. And Naiyuan, you have the nerve to talk about me? Don't think I don't know you're still using it too!"

"Eh? How did you know? I've never played it in front of you!"

"Who could you possibly hide those little secrets from?"

Momonga retorted at Naiyuan while opening his inbox and clicking to view the message.

The content of the email was simple, consisting of only a few short lines, but Momonga fell into silence as soon as he finished reading it.

The words that were on the tip of his tongue could no longer be spoken, and the two red dots in his eye sockets stared fixedly at the message before him.

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

"The Guild Master's mood seems really bad. Did something unpleasant happen in that letter?"

Noticing that the other party had gone quiet, Naiyuan looked at Momonga with confusion.

Herohero also expressed his concern and asked for the reason.

"It's nothing, nothing. Just a problem with a project at the company. They want me to work overtime tomorrow to fix it, so I'm just a bit annoyed."

Hearing their voices, Momonga quickly snapped back to reality and explained to them.

"I see. It seems the Guild Master's life isn't easy either!"

Hearing Momonga's reply, Herohero didn't suspect anything; instead, he thought of his own daily life of working overtime and couldn't help but sigh.

Naiyuan felt a bit strange, but he didn't think too much about it. After all, the server was about to shut down. He appeared calm on the surface, but inside, he was nervous as hell.

The three of them continued their conversation, and under Momonga's deliberate guidance, the topic shifted.

"Speaking of which, Herohero, you haven't logged in for two years. Naiyuan and I have collected several World Items during this time. How about it? Do you want to see them?"

Momonga shifted the topic intentionally, asking Herohero without leaving a trace.

"I see. It seems the Guild Master and Naiyuan-san have also been working very hard these past two years!"

Herohero looked at Momonga and Naiyuan with some surprise. He hadn't expected them to have collected several World Items in just two years. Knowing that Nazarick only possessed eleven in total, he found it hard to believe, but once he considered that the server was about to shut down and collection had become much easier, he accepted it.

"How about it? Let's go take a look."

"Since the Guildmaster has extended such a warm invitation, I would be remiss to decline."

Momonga asked quickly, his tone carrying a faint trace of urgency. Herohero hesitated for a moment before readily accepting the invitation; after all, he was also quite curious about the effects of these World Items.

"In that case, Naiyuan and I will head to the Treasury to retrieve the items. Herohero, would you mind waiting for us at the Arena on the Sixth Floor?"

"No problem. See you in a bit, Naiyuan-san."

Herohero had no objections to Momonga's arrangements. With a flash of red light, he instantly vanished from the Round Table Room.

"Let's go too, Naiyuan. We shouldn't keep Herohero waiting."

Momonga said this lightly to Naiyuan, then, without waiting for a reply, he used the ring on his finger to teleport toward the Treasury.

"Something's wrong. Very wrong!"

Naiyuan watched the direction in which Momonga had disappeared, his brow furrowed deeply. The events that had just transpired left him with a profound sense of dissonance.

Based on his understanding of Momonga, something must have happened to cause such a change in his behavior.

Could it be that email? But what could have been in it to make Momonga so impatient to send Herohero away?

Naiyuan felt a headache coming on. He shook his head, casting aside the speculations in his mind.

"Forget it. Since he asked me to come alone, it must have something to do with me. Things will work themselves out eventually; I'll just let him explain it to me himself."

A red light flashed from the ring on Naiyuan's finger, and he vanished from the spot. The once-bustling Round Table Room returned to its usual silence, with forty-two chairs arranged neatly, waiting for their masters to return once more.

In the Treasury, a red light flashed, and Naiyuan's figure appeared.

Countless gold coins and items were scattered carelessly all around. The Dragon Blood Sword that had been reduced to fragments on the floor was gone; presumably, the NPCs had cleared it away as trash.

"You're here."

Momonga's figure stood quietly in front of him. Seeing Naiyuan appear, he spoke softly.

"Yeah, I'm here."

Naiyuan replied, and then the two fell into silence.

Momonga stared intently at Naiyuan without speaking, yet Naiyuan still felt a tremendous sense of oppression.

The air seemed to solidify, making it impossible for him to breathe—er, 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 on keeping this from me?"

Just as Naiyuan was about to ask why, the other man's roar cut him off.

"Why didn't you tell me? What on earth are you trying to do, Naiyuan!!!"

"Quitting your job, renting out your apartment, taking out massive loans..."

"You did all of this behind my back, and you even lied to me, saying the company gave you time off..."

"Naiyuan, tell me what's wrong with you! Aren't we friends? Why hide this from me? Why lie to me?"

In the quiet warehouse, shouts filled with complex emotions echoed repeatedly. To Suzuki Satoru, all of this felt surreal; he was a close friend, yet he had been kept in the dark for so long.

He felt fear, anger, and panic. Having spent over a decade with this friend, he knew him extremely well. Decades of time and companionship had long since forged an unspoken understanding between them; usually, a single glance was enough to know what the other was thinking.

But the email he received just now had hit him like a bolt from the blue. He had initially only been curious as to why Naiyuan hadn't been at work for the past two days, so he contacted someone at the company to check the situation. After all, based on his understanding of Naiyuan, he was the type to act as if everything were fine even when something was wrong. "I don't like to drag others into my own problems" was a sentiment he often repeated.

But when he learned from the staff that Naiyuan had already resigned, he couldn't help but be shocked. He immediately rushed home to have a serious, in-depth conversation with him.

In this society, being able to find work was a stroke of luck. Even though he was exploited by his boss every day and worked overtime, he never chose to quit. He didn't dare to. In this dark society, there was no shortage of people like him; if he left, someone would immediately step in to take his place.

Suzuki Satoru wanted to go back and ask him why he had given up that job, but remembering that today was the day Yggdrasil would shut down, he temporarily suppressed the urge. After all, Naiyuan valued today very much—that was clear from the big 'X' on the calendar in his room. To avoid upsetting his friend, Suzuki Satoru decided to ask him tomorrow.

Worried that something might have happened recently, he had spent a large sum of money to hire a private investigator to look into Naiyuan's recent records and see if something had occurred to make his friend quit his job.

He had originally intended it as a precaution and hadn't paid much attention to it, but while he was chatting with Naiyuan and Herohero, the information came through.

After reading through it, he stared at the system interface in disbelief. His brain trembled violently, and he felt as if he were standing in a blizzard. Even though he was inside a game, he felt a bone-chilling cold.

Suppressing his unbearable emotions, Momonga dealt with the two of them with a nonchalant attitude.

If it were just him and Naiyuan, he wouldn't have held back; he would have kept roaring and demanding an explanation. But since Herohero was also there, he didn't want to drag him into this as well. So, during their conversation, he deliberately steered the topic to get him to leave, creating a space where only he and Naiyuan remained.