A Pleasant Day

Once the smoke cleared, the platform had returned to its original state. Mu Fengyu slowly walked over to Rebel.

Rebel lay sprawled on the ring, his eyes vacant. Mu Fengyu held out a hand to help him up and flashed a sunny smile.

"You fought well. You're an opponent worthy of respect."

Rebel stared at Mu Fengyu's smile for a moment, then slapped away his outstretched hand and struggled to his feet on his own.

"Heh. Like I need you to comfort me, you wicked rich guy."

With that, he turned and headed off the stage. Perhaps it was some kind of cosmic consciousness at work; people always remembered the things they wanted to say just before they disappeared.

"You fought well too. But next time, I'll be the one who wins."

"Go on. Claim the honor that's yours."

He waved over his shoulder as he spoke. Rebel seemed to leave with an air of nonchalance, yet for some reason, his figure looked unbearably lonely.

"Tsk. I didn't expect that guy to be such a tsundere."

Mu Fengyu watched his opponent leave the arena, then turned toward the place of glory reserved for the champion.

With each steady step he took, the stairs to the platform appeared one by one, as if laying a path to glory before him.

He made his way calmly to the highest point. At that very moment, the empty dome overhead shattered, revealing its true appearance.

A luxurious trophy stood at the center, starlight spilling brilliantly across its surface while the radiance of the sun and moon flowed over it without end.

The name "Mu Fengyu" was engraved on the trophy, alongside a vivid image of his heroic battle, as if recounting his glorious journey.

This was no ordinary trophy. It was an artifact-class accessory—the [Pendant of Glory].

The [Pendant of Glory] represented a glory that belonged to you alone. As the lone king standing in the arena, the stars would unfurl into a road before you, and the sun and moon would show you the way forward. Only you could touch this supreme glory.

The [Pendant of Glory] was not only magnificent in appearance, but also possessed powerful abilities. It accelerated the natural recovery of MP, increased elemental resistance, boosted everyone's defense at night, and increased skill damage during the day.

Even more impressive, it could summon the protection of the sun and moon to shield you from damage, up to a maximum of ten tenth-tier spells.

The description made Mu Fengyu want to give the programmer a raise to show his respect.

Next, Mu Fengyu turned his attention to the item on the left. A crystal giving off a faint glow caught his eye. It was the [Star-Light Magic Stone].

Data flowed within the crystal, as if it contained boundless magic. It could create NPCs without a guild base and had a whopping 300 NPC creation points.

He had also prepared it ahead of time for the yet-to-be-conquered Ainz Ooal Gown. That way, he could create a few more NPCs to reinforce Nazarick. If another guild alliance ever attacked Nazarick, he could crush them all at once.

The item on the right was just as eye-catching: a book edged in gold—the [Proof of the World].

The book could display every known World Item and detect World Items in a small area nearby. Mu Fengyu didn't think it was the most practical item, but among all these treasures, it still made for a decent backup.

After taking stock of the items, Mu Fengyu picked up the trophy and raised it high.

At that moment, mechanisms in the platform below were triggered. Two cannons boomed in unison, celebrating his victory.

After the awards ceremony, everyone gradually returned to their own territory. Mu Fengyu used a teleportation item to return to the guild base, where he was greeted not by a warm welcome, but by an empty hall.

Wondering where everyone had gone, Mu Fengyu looked around the deserted hall. Suddenly, an explosion sounded beside him. He turned to look.

A ninja-clad figure dispelled his invisibility, a party popper in hand. It was the source of the noise.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of party poppers firing came from all around. A birdlike face leaned up close to him and said in an awkward accent,

"Oh, my dear Yu-san, do you remember what day it is today? That's right—it's your birthday."

"And today, you also won the Duel King championship. Oh, my goodness! What could be happier than having two wonderful surprises all at once?"

"Ugh!"

"Clean up that weird way of speaking. You're making me sick."

Bukubukuchagama couldn't stand her brother's antics and immediately carried out justice. Their scuffle brought the hall to life.

Momonga, Touch Me, and the others also came over to offer their congratulations.

"Happy birthday, Yu-san."

"Congratulations on winning the championship, Yu-san."

"Congratulations, congratulations."...

Emerald Tablet, whose head sprouted several octopus tentacles, walked up to Mu Fengyu and asked curiously,

"Yu-san, where's your trophy? Hurry up and show everyone."

As soon as Emerald Tablet finished speaking, the others joined in, chattering excitedly and urging Mu Fengyu to bring out the trophy for them to see.

Mu Fengyu didn't want to spoil the mood. He immediately took out the [Pendant of Glory], enlarged it into a trophy, and set it in the middle of the hall.

Everyone crowded around it, touching and inspecting it while asking about its effects.

After Mu Fengyu finished explaining what it could do, several companions who struggled with running out of mana openly admitted they were jealous.

"That's such a great item. I want one too! The [World Disaster] class uses so much MP. If only I had an item that could speed up MP recovery."

"I want one too. My skills don't cost much, but I use them so often that it adds up."

The two companions plagued by MP shortages couldn't help shedding jealous tears. Ulbert's class was [World Disaster].

It was specialized for high damage output, so its MP consumption was enormous. A single spell unique to the [World Disaster] class drained sixty percent of the user's maximum MP. In battle, he had to keep careful track of how much MP he had left.

Whitebrim was the complete opposite. His class required him to frequently combine various talismans to deal damage, making it a class that demanded a great deal of skill.

"It's such a happy day. We can't let you two stay here and ruin the mood. Get two more people to drag them out."

"Peroroncino, come help! Let's haul them out."

While the two were still sighing in dismay, Herohero, Nishikienrai, and the others each grabbed one of them by the arm and dragged them aside to chat.

After they'd played around in the hall for a while, Genjiro proposed an outing. Everyone voted in favor, and they decided to go exploring.

They first used the town's teleportation gate to travel straight to Vanaheim and explore. It was the homeland of the Vanir and one of the continents with the largest human populations.

More than twenty of them set out just as they had in the beginning. Though they were heteromorphic players, they had come to adventure in a region packed with humans. Along the way, they also rescued a few heteromorphic players.

That day, they ambushed the headquarters of a hostile group, explored a dungeon they'd never seen before, and even visited a dungeon that Peroroncino had discovered.

Although it felt a little shameless, with Peroroncino and Mu Fengyu—two seasoned veterans—leading the way, they still left a few succubi behind to watch.