The Overlord Elric slowly pulled his hand back, withdrawing from Marvel Elric's offered handshake. An uncertain look crossed his face.
"And... I'm planning to go to another world soon," he said calmly, though his tone carried a weight of finality. "So I don't want to receive that power just yet."
His words caused an immediate ripple of confusion among the other versions of himself. One Piece Elric raised an eyebrow high and tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Why not? You're literally turning down super OP powers. And very cool ones at that."
Overlord Elric nodded solemnly, but his expression remained deeply thoughtful, troubled even.
"There's too much uncertainty involved," he muttered seriously. "We don't even know exactly how Momonga traveled to the New World in the first place. There's absolutely no mention anywhere of whether he moved with just his soul, if his physical body got teleported and somehow transformed into his game avatar, or if..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "There was a theory that the person who actually went to that world wasn't even the real Momonga at all. That the real him never crossed to that world. What if a clone was created using his memories? A being artificially molded from game data of Suzuki Satoru?"
The white space fell into a brief, heavy silence. Even Marvel Elric, who usually scoffed at overly metaphysical worries, narrowed his eyes slightly with genuine concern.
"If that theory is the truth," Overlord Elric continued with clear conviction, "then it's completely over. There's nothing we can do about it.
"But if it was one of the other two possibilities—if his soul actually transferred intact, or if his body physically transformed into his game character—then I still have a genuine chance. A real chance to leave this miserable world behind forever."
Marvel Elric leaned forward slightly, his interest clearly piqued now. "You think accepting Isshiki's power right now might somehow ruin that chance?"
"Yes," Overlord Elric replied without the slightest hesitation. "Isshiki is an absolute monster. Probably the strongest being in terms of raw energy capacity in my entire world. If I accept that overwhelming power now, my very existence could become so fundamentally distorted that Wild Magic—or whatever mysterious force originally pulled players from Yggdrasil into the New World—might not be able to properly recognize or act upon me." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly. "In the original work, it was heavily hinted that Platinum Dragon Lord's father experimented extensively with Wild Magic. That experimentation may have been exactly what pulled the players from the game Yggdrasil into that physical world. If my existence changes too drastically, that magic might not have enough power to successfully transform or transport me."
Marvel Elric crossed his arms thoughtfully. "You're not wrong to be cautious. If you take the power now, the risk is definitely too high." He paused, thinking it through completely. "Even if you are somehow transported after receiving Isshiki's power, you'll very likely lose it immediately. Either when your soul leaves this body, or when your body transforms into another form entirely." He looked directly at Overlord Elric. "And we don't even know for certain if we could share the same power with you again after that. It might be a one-time thing."
One Piece Elric frowned deeply, clearly frustrated. "But it's Isshiki's power! You're literally throwing away something insanely OP!"
Marvel Elric almost slapped him upside the head. "How did you become so stupid suddenly? You're making me embarrassed. He just wants to take the power after traveling to that other world."
"OH..." One Piece Elric's eyes widened with sudden realization. "Right. That makes way more sense."
Overlord Elric nodded, a slight smile crossing his face. "Exactly. But just imagine it for a moment." His eyes lit up with genuine excitement. "If I manage to get to that world—a place where I can literally create anything I want before I go. Where beauty, luxury, and peace are all completely at my fingertips." He opened his eyes fully now, filled with clear determination. "Here, in my current world, everything is distorted and polluted. You literally can't even go outside without wearing a filtration mask just to breathe. But there, I can become a god. A bunch of OP NPCs will treat me like an actual god."
An almost obscene laugh escaped his mouth. "I already started preparing seriously to travel to that world the moment I recovered my previous life memories."
The white space was silent again for a moment, but this time the silence was clearly laced with respect.
Marvel Elric chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Guess you're absolutely right. No need to take unnecessary risks when you have a solid plan."
"And most importantly," Overlord Elric continued seriously, "my life here isn't actually that horrible. It's not great, but it's bearable. So I'm not desperate for power—not yet anyway."
The three other Elrics nodded in understanding. Overlord Elric's reasoning, while extremely cautious, was completely solid.
But then, completely out of nowhere, One Piece Elric suddenly shouted with explosive excitement, throwing his hands high in the air. "Oh man, the Overlord world! That's awesome! It'll be the absolutely perfect world for us! You just need to create a max-level character and fill them up with the most broken skills and equipment possible." He looked straight at Overlord Elric with sparkling eyes. "You know, Momonga's not even that heavy in pure firepower compared to what's possible. Sure, he can destroy maybe a small mountain at best. But that doesn't actually matter in that world at all—because most of that world's power system is built entirely around rule-based abilities."
"Exactly," Overlord Elric nodded enthusiastically. "That world... it's just completely broken in the best way." He gestured broadly to the air, as though showing them an invisible magic system. "A single tier 6 spell can stop time completely. Create a miniature black hole. Resurrect someone from death. These spells aren't just powerful—they're absolutely insane. But they're limited by that specific world's magical rules and systems." He smirked faintly with growing excitement. "If those world-specific rules don't apply in other worlds, then the power we could wield would be completely unimaginable."
Naruto Elric's eyes widened. "Imagine creating a black hole the size of a basketball... then you don't even have to do anything else. Just wait for it to slowly swallow an entire solar system."
"And don't forget about things like Time Stop and Instant Death spells," Marvel Elric added, visibly excited now. "Those are broken even in a game environment, let alone in real life."
"Yeah," Marvel Elric continued, his mind racing with possibilities. "If their effects remain exactly the same across worlds, I'll be almost completely invincible below universal-level powerhouses."
The white space burst into a mix of laughter and genuine awe.
"But still," Marvel Elric said seriously after the laughter died down, "we absolutely can't be hasty about this. Let's stick to the safe route for now."
Overlord Elric nodded firmly in agreement.
"You made your point perfectly clear," One Piece Elric said with a small shrug. "So, what's your actual plan now? Did you already create your own guild or something in the game?"
A brief silence followed that question. Overlord Elric scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking genuinely embarrassed.
"...No," he finally admitted quietly. "It's too late now for that."
The others blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean... Yggdrasil's already dying," he explained with clear frustration. "The game is shutting down. I only recovered my past life memories about a month ago. The game's practically a complete ghost town now. They even officially announced that the servers are shutting down permanently." He looked away with a small sigh. "Most functions are already disabled. Creating new guilds? That's one of them. So yeah... it's already way too late for that."