Sixth Floor Arena.
"About time. If your friend status hadn't still shown you online, I would've thought you'd logged off."
A flash of white light faded, and just as Naohara and Momonga came back to their senses, a resentful voice drifted over.
Herohero wriggled up to them. Even though it had no eyes, both of them still turned their heads away, instinctively avoiding its gaze.
"Well, we're here now, aren't we? Don't be so picky, Blackie."
"Sorry, Herohero. Something unexpected came up and kept you waiting."
Naohara walked over and gave the slime's body a couple of pats.
Momonga also spoke apologetically. In the end, it was largely his fault that Herohero had been left waiting for so long.
"Alright, I'll stop complaining. But Naohara, could you take your hands off me? Even if it's just a game, there's still tactile feedback."
Herohero said helplessly.
"Tsk, tsk. The in-game touch feedback really has improved a lot since that update half a year ago."
Naohara pulled his hands back, unable to help remarking on it.
"Enough messing around. Let's take a look at the World-Class Items."
Momonga cut in from the side, putting an end to their playful exchange.
Watching the two of them chatting so naturally made him happy. Time hadn't dulled their friendship at all.
"Right, we don't have much time."
Naohara and Herohero turned their attention to the seven World-Class Items that appeared beside Momonga.
A tombstone, a ring, a red crystal, a rune-covered bead, a ring entwined with a snake, a small door, and a delicate scepter.
Momonga immediately opened the tombstone's information panel.
[World-Class Item: Ragnarök]
[Can activate a curse that covers an entire world. This is a curse left behind at the fall of the gods. All things in the world will be affected, except for those specifically designated by the user.]
[The curse lasts until all life in the world is extinguished. Below level 50: instant death. Levels 60–70: 30% HP loss per second. Levels 80–90: 15% HP loss per second. Level 100: 3% HP loss per second.]
[Even after resurrection, the curse persists until the effect ends and cannot be dispelled.]
[After use, this item automatically disappears and reappears in some corner of the world.]
"This is one of the Twenty. I never thought you'd actually find it, Naohara-san."
"A curse that blankets an entire world… that's terrifying. Even level 100 players like us wouldn't last very long."
Herohero murmured in awe as he read the description.
"Of course. Momonga and I spent a full six months clearing hidden quests to get it."
Naohara said with a grin, and Momonga nodded in agreement.
"I was shocked the first time I saw it too."
Momonga put the tombstone back into his inventory and moved on to the next item.
[World-Class Item: Wheel of Good and Evil.]
[Can initiate a world-wide judgment by defining a range of good and evil values. Everything within the world will be judged. Those who meet the criteria are unaffected; those who do not will be killed instantly.]
[This item can be used once every 12 months.]
"This one's not bad either, but compared to Ragnarök, it's still lacking. After all, it's death without side effects. You just lose levels and drop some equipment."
Herohero's usual sluggishness vanished, replaced by visible excitement.
"Hehe, don't get so worked up, Blackie. There's still better stuff coming."
Naohara laughed with a hint of mischief. Seeing Herohero's reaction filled him with a smug sense of satisfaction.
Herohero turned his attention to the next item.
[World-Class Item: Fusion Heart.]
[Allows up to three players to fuse together. One serves as the primary, while the other two act as supports. After fusion, all attributes become ten times the combined total of the three players' attributes. Enemy instant-death spells and negative-status magic only take effect after being applied three times, and all debuffs are cleared once every minute.]
[When HP is critically low, the fusion can be forcibly dissolved. Upon activation, the fusion ends and all three players return to full HP, restored to peak condition.]
[Cooldown: ten months.]
"If you used this with Touch Me, Ulbert, and Bukubukuchagama, wouldn't that be completely unbeatable?"
Herohero stared at the World-Class Item in shock, unable to hide his amazement.
After all, Touch Me possessed the class [World Champion], making him the guild's strongest physical attacker. Ulbert held the class [World Disaster], the guild's most terrifying magic damage dealer. Add in Bukubukuchagama, the guild's strongest defender, and if those three fused together, wouldn't that be absolute invincibility?
"That sounds nice, Blackie, but there's no way those three could ever fuse," Naohara said, cutting off Herohero's fantasy. He spread his hands and sighed. "Leaving aside the relationship between Touch Me and Ulbert, Bukubukuchagama is a girl. There's no chance she'd agree to something like that."
The idea was beautiful, but reality simply wouldn't allow it.
"Yeah… I guess I was getting a bit ahead of myself."
Herohero shook his head, recalling past experiences. How could he have even come up with something that unrealistic?
"Actually, if you swapped Bukubukuchagama out for Naohara, I think it might work."
Momonga suddenly spoke up from the side.
In the entire guild, if there was anyone who could keep Touch Me and Ulbert from blowing up at each other besides Momonga himself as guildmaster, it would probably be Naohara, the one infamous for his absurdly strong guild social skills.
Touch Me was water. Ulbert was fire. And the only thing that could keep the two from evaporating each other was oil. Only with oil separating water and fire could a fragile peace be maintained.
On top of that, Naohara's hidden class [Dragonslayer], combined with Touch Me and Ulbert, could unleash an absolutely terrifying level of suppression.
"Momonga's right. Naohara, you really are a perfect fit."
Herohero nodded in agreement.
"Uh… please spare me."
Naohara stared at the skeleton and the slime in front of him, black lines practically forming over his head. He couldn't believe they'd come up with such a terrible idea.
Sure, back when he was in the guild, he really had been known as someone with 'guild social god syndrome', able to chat comfortably with anyone and on great terms with both Touch Me and Ulbert.
But still!
If those two were supposed to coexist peacefully, Naohara could only say one thing: he absolutely could not handle it.
It was exhausting. Utterly exhausting. Ever since the time he'd managed to persuade the two of them to cooperate in a single coordinated battle, Naohara had sworn never to get involved with their issues again.
Soothing this one, then calming that one down, over and over again. It made him feel like a worn-out mother. Though, he supposed, having two sons like that wasn't entirely bad.
"Haha, looks like Naohara's already tried it and ended up traumatized."
Herohero laughed as he looked at Naohara, his slime body wobbling back and forth. Beside him, Momonga sent out a laughing emoji. Being a skeleton, he couldn't actually smile, so emojis were the best he could do.
"Alright, alright. Let's keep looking at the items."
Naohara said helplessly to the two of them, though a faint smile still crept onto his lips. He didn't actually dislike this feeling at all.