The sky was still pitch-black. Naohara sat quietly by the window, gazing into the distance. Today was the day the game called Yggdrasil shut down its servers.
He shifted his gaze from outside to the room behind him, his eyes slowly sweeping across everything within, trying to etch this place he had lived in for decades deep into his memory.
"Goodbye, world. I'm coming, new world."
After murmuring his final farewells, Naohara picked up the helmet resting on the bed without hesitation.
He put on the helmet and connected it to his neural interface. After taking one last look at the familiar ceiling, he slowly closed his eyes.
...
"Naohara, you're here. Later than I expected. Did something happen?"
The moment his vision cleared, a voice filled with concern reached his ears.
Though the figure before him was a skeleton, Naohara could still sense the warmth beneath that exterior.
"Nothing really. You're pretty early, though. Did you come straight here after getting off work, Momonga?"
"Well, I sent everyone an invitation. I was worried someone might log in early and not see anyone, so I figured I'd wait here in advance."
"And besides, as the guild leader, shouldn't I be the first one here? Heh."
They were in a meeting room with a massive circular table. Momonga sat in one of the seats, sending a smiley face to Naohara, who had just logged in.
This room was called the Round Table Room. By design, any member wearing a guild ring would automatically be teleported here upon logging in, except in certain special circumstances.
This had once been the place where guild meetings were held. Forty-two chairs were arranged around the table, but now, they all stood empty.
"No one else has come yet?"
Naohara sighed as he looked at the vacant seats.
He had also sent out final invitations to his companions, but it seemed to have made little difference.
"Did everyone really just give up?"
"Let's wait a bit longer. Maybe they were held up by something."
Momonga tried to comfort the dejected Naohara, but even his own words sounded weak. In truth, he didn't have much hope either.
Compared to Naohara, Suzuki Satoru placed far more weight on this day. Although his in-game avatar was that of a skeletal archmage, his heart was delicate and sensitive.
As their former companion Tabula Smaragdina once put it, this was the appeal of contrast. A terrifying, evil-looking exterior paired with a gentle inner self. That obsession with contrast was precisely why Tabula Smaragdina had been so enthusiastic about Momonga.
Just looking at the settings for the Albedo sisters made it clear how deeply fixated he was.
As silence settled over the room, a notification sound abruptly broke the heavy mood.
[Ding!]
The login alert made both Momonga and Naohara look up at once, their eyes turning toward the source.
On an empty seat to the right, a pool of pitch-black liquid slowly appeared.
At the sight of it, Momonga's gloom vanished instantly. He let out a delighted cry as he looked over.
"Herohero, long time no see (smiley)"
"Hello there, Blackie-chan (wicked grin)"
Momonga and Naohara each greeted the long-unseen friend before them.
"Ah, it really has been a long time, you two. Sorry I logged in so late. Work kept me busy. You've been waiting a while, haven't you?"
"Momonga, you're still the same as ever. And Naohara… that nickname brings back memories. It's been ages since I heard you call me that."
Herohero spoke with nostalgia. His voice carried deep exhaustion, yet it couldn't hide his happiness.
"Herohero, you really don't need to apologize. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I knew you were already exhausted from work, yet I still sent you a message. I'm sorry for being so selfish."
Momonga fidgeted with his hands, apologizing earnestly to Herohero.
"Come on, Momonga. Herohero isn't going to hold that against you. If anything, he's probably really happy right now. We haven't seen each other in ages. Don't start apologizing the moment we meet."
Naohara looked at Momonga helplessly and spoke to both of them.
"Naohara, you really haven't changed at all. It feels like it was just yesterday. Those days… they're hard not to miss."
"But lately, I've been getting more and more tired. My sense of time is all messed up, and my body feels like it's already close to its limit…"
Herohero's voice trailed on, but the fatigue in it made both of them frown. He gave off the unsettling impression that he might collapse at any moment.
"How are you holding up? You're okay, right?"
"If you can't push yourself, just go to sleep. The fact that you came back at all already made Momonga and me really happy."
Momonga and Naohara both looked at Herohero with concern. As much as they wanted to spend these last moments together, their friend's health mattered more.
"Well… if tomorrow the boss disappeared… or the company went under… or even if it was the end of the world… maybe that would finally be my salvation…"
That sounded bad. Momonga and Naohara exchanged a glance. Herohero's situation was even worse than they'd thought.
"It's fine. I'll stay and see it through with you two. You're my friends, and you're practically begging me with your eyes. How could I refuse?"
Herohero sent a smiley face and smiled at them.
If it had only been Momonga here today, he might have logged off early. But once he saw Naohara as well, he dropped the idea. He could bring himself to refuse one person.
But these two were his closest friends, and he couldn't pretend not to see how much they wanted him to stay. He didn't want to disappoint them. Even though his body kept screaming at him to log off and rest, he chose to remain.
"Heh, then let the three of us welcome the final moment together."
Naohara was the first to respond, smiling as he spoke to them.
Still, he couldn't help feeling surprised. He'd honestly expected Herohero to log off early, given how close to his limit he looked. Yet Herohero didn't follow that "expected" path at all. He stayed, choosing to wait with them until the very end.
"…I see. Thank you, Herohero-san… truly, thank you."
Momonga stared at the Herohero who had decided to stay, and a huge wave of joy filled him. He had wanted Herohero to remain with them, but after seeing his condition, he'd nearly forced himself to give up on it. Yet in the end, Herohero still chose to stay, and Momonga suddenly felt like he might burst into tears.
"Hey, hey, didn't we just say you shouldn't apologize and thank people every five seconds?"
"Alright, Naohara. Momonga's just too excited. Besides, the two of us aren't exactly any better—"
"Shut up, Blackie-chan."
"I'm black to begin with! Call me whatever you want!"
...
Momonga quietly watched the two bicker. Their noisy back-and-forth filled his ears. How long had it been since he'd seen a scene like this?
In the end, only Herohero had come back. But even that 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 of them now, he felt that all those years of staying behind and guarding it hadn't been pointless.
"What are you spacing out for, Momonga? Hurry up and help me defeat Herohero over here!"
"Don't be so petty, Naohara. At this rate, you'll never get a girlfriend."
"Can't hear you, can't hear you! System malfunction! Access denied!!"
As if something had flashed through his mind, Naohara suddenly clapped his hands over his ears and started muttering to himself.
"Herohero's still just as nasty as ever, huh?"
"And you're the same as always, Guildmaster."
"Being the same is good. Just like back then. Nobody's changed."
(PS: In the original story, Herohero had family, but after logging off he died suddenly, so I'm making a second setting here. Herohero has no family, and he'll transmigrate with everyone instead.)