“Thank you! Thank you very much! Thanks to all of you, the Pirate King is completely destroyed!”

“’Chaos Apocalypse Set’, ‘Magic Ring Z’ have returned to Johann’s Storage.”

The automated announcement echoed from above Johann and Chrono Dragon as they focused on collecting all the items scattered from the Pirate King’s final death. It looks like the raid battle is over.

“Mogyu,” Chrono Dragon went.

Johann turned around. As she saw it beginning to dissolve from its feet, she knew it was time to say goodbye.

“We did our best, didn’t we?” Johann said.

She’s struck by a feeling of loneliness. Then, Chrono Dragon took a pose like a downward-dog and pressed its gigantic head against Johann. She hugs Chrono Dragon’s face in turn.

“Next time, I’ll summon you properly. Wait for me,” Johann said.

“Mogyu,” Chrono Dragon said.

“Ah, but… if I get into another crisis, I might Evolve Summon you from Hinadora…” Johann said.

“Gyuh…” Chrono Dragon rumbled.

“Eh, did that bother you?!” Johann said.

“Mogyu, moguh,” Chrono Dragon said, reluctantly rubbing its cheeks before it disappeared and became a summoning stone once more. Johann puts it back into her storage with care.

Johann separates the items she collected and that the others had. The strange thing was that only the summoning stones were automatically returned to her storage before she knew it. There was an announcement for her equipment coming back but not her stones.

“It’s weird…” Johann said.

And, as she tilted her head in confusion:

“Johann-san!”

“……Onee-chan!”

Suddenly, Johann is hugged from behind by a small girl and a large gorilla.

“Zecca-chan! Remma-chan… I’m so relieved, you’re both alive!”

“No, wait, this is a game, isn’t it?!” Zecca said. “I didn’t die!”

“…I am immortal,” Remma said.

“Ufufu, I’m sorry,” Johann said. “I’ve never seen the two of you lose.”

Both Zecca and Lemma are as they were, and Johann is completely relieved. And she still felt victorious. According to them, they were both watching Johann’s fight in an area separate from the normal player waiting area. And when the Pirate King was defeated, a gate appeared. It seems that if you pass through it, you will be able to return to this arena.

“Well, I was surprised he came,” Kon said, clapping quietly while Solo walked in a little awkwardly behind her.

They were both in their original equipment.

“Thank you Kon-san,” Johann said. “Thanks to you, we were able to win.”

“Oh, it’s alright, y’all,” Kon said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had fun, yeah? When Maou-han called Chrono Dragon, my heart here trembled…I’m sure y’all were goin’ to win! Or some-somethin’ like that. Yeah, t’was a victory for me, Maou-han, Zecca, Remma, and our Three Sword Style friend over here.”

Remma stared at Kon like she was wondering, “Is this just her act?” Then, a question popped into her mind and she asked it:

“… Um, can I ask you a question? You said you were sure of victory when you saw Chrono Dragon, right? How’d you know?”

“Because, I know what Chrono Dragon’s first Skill does, ya’ll,” Kon said.

“… How did you know that?” Remma asked.

“Because, I have one too, y’all,” Kon said.

“… One more question,” Remma said. “If you had summoned Chrono Dragon instead of Pulelehua from the start, wouldn’t you have won?”

“I hate smart little brats like y’all,” Kon said, suddenly changing tone.

But, she immediately burst into tears.

“Oh, boo-hoo-hoo,” Kon said. “Even if y’all say that, it’s all hindsight, ain’t it? I’m just saying I prefer strong, easy-to-use summons over summons I ain’t used to.”

“Well, well, no one is blaming anyone,” Johann said.

After getting excited like that, Johann returns Solo and Kon’s items. The titanic amount of gold is evenly split 5 ways. And 9 new items, Transcoders, dropped then as well. 5 of them are with Johann and others and her party. 2 for Solo. Kon also got 2 in the split. Including the 1 Johann used, this means that each person got 2.

“Speaking of which, what about your summoning stones, Kon-san?” Johann said.

“Right, about that,” Kon said. “When I died, it all went back to normal. No message, no nothin’.”

“The same thing for me,” Johann said. “I wonder what’s going on.”

“The only thing I can think of is this,” Zecca started.

According to her, it may have been a bug that even the summoning stones were stolen.

“The rules for this Treasure Event was that no outside items can be brought in. That rule was probably in place for this boss, too.”

“Reason bein’?” Kon said.

“…It might have been a rule to prevent anyone from participating in this raid with valuable items in their storage,” Zecca said. Then, after some deliberation, she continued, “Jobs like Archers and Summoners cannot fight without arrows and summoning stones, respectively.

“I see,” Kon said. “I think I’m startin’ to understand what you’re tryin’ to say, Zecca-han.”

“I think summoning stones weren’t meant to be stolen by All The World’s Treasures Are Mine,” Zecca said. “However, there was a bug that made them so. I think that’s why your stones got back into your storage without a message.”

Zecca did add that this was all hypothetical… however…

“… Well, I guess that makes sense,” Kon said. “But, what about equipment? It came back all on its own when I died.”

“As for equipment… Johann-san. Did the Pirate King drop any equipment while Chrono Dragon was beating him up?”

“Now that you mention it, he didn’t,” Johann said.

If Chrono Dragon could make the Pirate King spit out the Chaos Apocalypse set, Johann was thinking of wearing it and joining Chrono Dragon. However, the Pirate King died before dropping anyone’s equipment. Zecca thought it was just a matter of probability.

“So what you’re trying to say, Zecca-chan…” Johann said.

“Yeah, when this quest started, there was an announcement from the developers,” Zecca said. “It’s true that if you lose, the stolen items will be gone… but there’s no particular mention of the equipment stolen along the way. That’s why I think it was by design that our equipment was returned to us after we died.”

“In other words, we thought that we were definitely set up in a kuso game, but the only thing at fault was a bug that let summon stones be stolen, too?” Solo asked.

“… If that’s what you think, Zecca, then I think so, too,” Remma said. “When we challenged this raid boss, we thought that we would have to bet everything we’ve gotten in the game so far, such as our equipment and items.”

“You sayin’ that the only real bet was everythin’ we collected over these past three 3 days? Or somethin’ like that,” Kon said.

Everyone was surrounded by a delicate atmosphere. The excitement from earlier had disappeared.

“We-Well, yeah, it’s just my hypothesis,” Zecca said. “The raid may have set the server on fire, so the developers may have silently patched it in during the fight.”

“Eh, a fire!?” Johann said, terrified. “Something was on fire?”

Kon’s eyes shine brightly. “Yep. Burnin’ bright and tall. Just like a festival bonfire, y’all.”

Zecca looks curiously at Kon. “I don’t think you should be too happy about it?” she asked.

“What do y’all mean?” Kon said. “That’s the thing: the hotter the dumpster fire, the better apology items from the developers to put it out.”

“Apology items?” Johann asked.

“I guess it’s something like compensation from the management?” Zecca said. “If the players have a bad time because of the developer’s fault, there are times when they’ll send them out to say they’re sorry.”

“What will it be?” Kon asked. “Material Exchange Tickets? Skill Point Vouchers? My heart is poundin’, y’all!”

“Sorry to have kept you waiting. Now then, we will present a Super Rare Item to Johann-san, who had defeated the Pirate King!”

And then, an announcement from the silent developers echoed. A special item will be given to Johann, the player who did the most damage to the boss.

“I-I wonder if it’s okay for me to receive it!?” Johann said. “We all won this victory together!”

“I was only interested in the fight, no objections here,” Solo said.

“It depends on the item, y’all,” Kon said, a greedy gleam in her eye.

“Then the Item you’ve won is… a Guild Home Voucher…!”

Johann tilts her head in confusion. The other 4 people were surprised.

“That’s amazing… well, it doesn’t matter to me as a solo player,” Solo said.

“Solo player here, too… don’t need it, neither,” Kon said.

“Amazing! It’s amazing, Johann-san!” Zecca cried. “That we have a Guild Home Voucher means that the Third Layer has…”

“Yes, the long-awaited Guild Home System will be implemented on the Third Layer! In addition, those who have a Voucher will be given priority in choosing a Guild Home.”

“Wha-What the heck is this…?” Johann asked.

“I think it would cost a lot of money to buy a Guild Home,” Solo said. “But you, Johann, can get one for free. That is a very big deal.”

“… Yeah. You should get the most expensive place,” Remma said.

The four of them are excited. However, only Johann was not enthusiastic about it.

“… Umm. What’s a guild?”

The remaining 4 fell backward, their legs in the air.



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