The next day at noon, Naohara trudged back home with heavy steps.
His body was exhausted to the bone, yet when he looked at the envelope in his arms, a faint smile surfaced on his gaunt face.
With the mindset of "if I fail tomorrow, I'll just kill myself, and maybe I'll transmigrate again," Naohara had directly fired his boss today.
He ignored the man's stunned, incredulous expression, shoved his resignation letter into his hands, and walked out of the company despite his coworkers' attempts to stop him and his boss's furious curses.
The envelope he was holding contained two months' worth of unpaid wages. Although the black-hearted boss had docked part of it under the excuse that quitting without prior notice caused losses to the company, what remained was still a considerable sum, more than enough for another round of spending.
Originally, the boss had planned to withhold half of it. But when he met Naohara's slightly unhinged gaze, he fell silent. News about bosses withholding wages from employees who quit, only to be stalked and retaliated against afterward, happened almost every day.
To avoid the risk of being dragged into a mutual destruction scenario over a small amount of money, he symbolically deducted one week's wages and handed over the rest.
After all, risking hidden danger for such a trivial sum simply wasn't worth it.
After giving himself a quick rinse to wash off the dust and changing into clean clothes, Naohara went out again. He stopped at the door next door and knocked lightly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In cheap apartments like these, having a doorbell was out of the question.
Hearing movement inside, Naohara lowered his hand and waited patiently.
Click.
After a short moment, the door opened. A figure in pajamas stood there, his hair and face still damp, clearly having rushed over right after washing up.
"Looks like my timing's a bit off," Naohara said with a grin as he teased him and slipped inside without hesitation.
The room wasn't much different from his own. The only difference was a small refrigerator in the corner. Judging by the trash piled on the desk, it was probably full of beer.
After all, not everyone lived as ascetically as he did.
Naohara struck a smug pose, completely ignoring the fact that it was his own reckless spending on gacha that had left his room utterly bare. His place was so empty that even a thief would feel bad and leave something behind. A truly tragic sight.
"You really have zero sense of shame," Suzuki Satoru said, closing the door and rolling his eyes at Naohara, who was acting like this was his own home.
"Whatever. He's dumb sometimes, but he's still my friend."
Thinking that, Suzuki Satoru interrupted Naohara's self-satisfaction and silently went to the fridge to grab two cans of beer.
"Why did you get off work so early today? Did something happen?"
The two of them sat on the bed, beers in hand. Seeing that Naohara hadn't gone to work, Suzuki Satoru asked with concern.
He himself was home because his company had a rare day off, but Naohara shouldn't have had any leave today.
"It's nothing. Something came up at the company, so they gave us half a day off."
"Enough about that. Come on, let's drink."
Naohara shook his head indifferently, clearly unwilling to dwell on the topic. He raised his beer and clinked it against Suzuki Satoru's.
He knew Suzuki Satoru's personality far too well. If he found out Naohara had fired his boss, he would definitely nag him for a long time. As for that kind of concern from a friend, Naohara didn't dare talk back at all.
After all, in this apocalyptic society, having a job was already a blessing. Everyone else was begging their bosses not to fire them. Someone like him, who had fired his boss instead, was simply unbelievable.
At times like this, changing the subject was the smartest choice. He only needed to keep it hidden for two more days. After all, tomorrow was the server shutdown.
"Alright. If you run into any trouble, remember to come to me."
Suzuki Satoru let out a sigh. Something felt a little off, but he didn't think too deeply about it and simply offered a reminder.
"As expected of the Guildmaster. You're as gentle as ever."
Naohara smiled. Suzuki Satoru was good in every way, except that he was almost too kind to his friends. That was true both in the game and in real life. Maybe that was exactly why everyone had chosen him as Guildmaster back then.
"Tomorrow's the last day. Should we send everyone a message? At least let's face the end together."
Seeing Suzuki Satoru about to speak, Naohara cut in first.
Tomorrow at midnight, the game that had accompanied them for decades would finally come to an end. To be honest, Naohara felt a sense of loss as well. He had devoted his entire youth to this game.
"The server shutdown, huh. I'll send out invitations, but I don't know how many people will actually come back."
As he spoke, Suzuki Satoru's mood visibly dipped. Scenes of everyone being together flashed through his mind. He couldn't understand why so many people had chosen to leave. Some of them hadn't even said goodbye, simply quitting the guild and logging off forever.
The once vast Great Tomb of Nazarick was now left with only four members. The only ones who stayed online consistently were him and Naohara, with Herohero logging in only occasionally.
"They'll come back. This was our youth, after all."
Seeing Suzuki Satoru lost in memories, Naohara softly comforted him. At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He already knew that only Herohero would accept the invitation and come back for a look tomorrow. Even so, as someone who had played alongside them all those years, he found it hard to accept.
"Life is like a ruthless chisel, carving us into different shapes."
That line surfaced in Naohara's mind. People like Suzuki Satoru, who stayed the same from beginning to end, were rare. If he hadn't known the story, he might have chosen to leave as well.
"You're right. Maybe everyone will come back tomorrow. After all—"
"By the way, didn't you say we were going to fight the hidden boss tonight? Are you ready?"
Murmuring a few words to himself, Suzuki Satoru pulled himself together and smiled at Naohara.
He had no objections at all to challenging a boss on the day before the shutdown. In fact, he was happy about it. Teaming up with friends to take down a world boss was something he hadn't done in a very long time.
"Yeah, pretty much. I've been preparing for this world boss for a long time. This time, I'm definitely clearing it. I don't want to leave any regrets at the very end."
Seeing that Suzuki Satoru had recovered, Naohara began explaining his plan. One detail after another flowed into Suzuki Satoru's ears. Precautions, timing for magical support, coordination.
Watching his friend speak so passionately, Suzuki Satoru showed no trace of impatience. Instead, he listened carefully, nodding from time to time and offering his own thoughts.
"This feeling… it really brings back memories."
The two of them talked and drank beer together like that until their stomachs started protesting. Only then did Naohara get up, say goodbye, and return home.
He slowly put on the helmet by his bed, closed his eyes, and let a faint smile form at the corner of his lips.
On the other side, Suzuki Satoru also put on his helmet.
"Link start."
As Naohara muttered the words to himself, his consciousness shifted into another space. The scene before his eyes changed completely in an instant.
"Ding! Welcome to Yggdrasil. Enjoy your game."