— — — — — —
"Yeah, same here!" Veyron nodded
"Maybe someone will show up in the next second. Let's check the chat."
So... after the recent system upgrade, will the chat group start pulling in new members?
Of course it will. And apparently, it's wasting no time.
[System Notification: Welcome new member "Celestial Star" to the chat group]
[System Notification: Welcome new member "Sadistic Battle Addict" to the chat group]
The group had just finished speculating about when the system would bring in the next newcomer—then boom, two notifications drop into the chat.
"Wait, is this some kind of admin privilege? Say the word and new members just pop in?"
Gwen gave a surprised look to Veyron, who had literally just said, 'Maybe someone will show up in the next second.'
"I did nothing," Veyron shook his head.
"Well… Mr. Veyron won't lie to us," Chika Fujiwara chimed in helpfully from the side.
"…I still won't change your username," Veyron shot her a look.
"Ahem—Veyron, sir, you've totally misunderstood me. I swear I wasn't trying anything sneaky." Chika laughed awkwardly, quickly averting her eyes and trying to change the subject. "Anyway! We've got two new members! Let's not keep them waiting too long…"
Without missing a beat, she tagged the newcomers in the chat and gave them a warm welcome.
『Lady Avalon』: Chika-chan, you're so obviously just changing the subject. But let's welcome the newcomers.
『Lady Avalon』: Welcome, you two~ @CelestialStar @SadisticBattleAddict
『(Admin) Veyron』: Welcome to the group.
『Earth's Cancer』: The admin himself is welcoming the newbies? What an honor!
『Lady Avalon』: Chika, where's your dignity?
『(Admin) Veyron』: Oh? Wasn't I the evil admin who can mute and kick people anytime?
『Earth's Cancer』: WHAT? Who would ever say something like that about Mr. Veyron? Whoever said that must've been drunk!
『Snake Empress』: "..."
『Snake Empress』: Chika, we've all gotten used to your username by now—no need to change it.
『(Admin) Veyron』: Good point... but let's talk about that later. Right now, it's the newbies' time to shine.
『Celestial Star』: So, you guys done?
Finally, one of the new members spoke up.
『(Admin) Veyron』: Kinda
『(Admin) Veyron』: But since you're already talking, I assume you read the intro I left for newcomers? Got any questions?
『Celestial Star』: I read that
『Celestial Star』: A chat group that lets us break through the boundaries of our worlds and connect with another multiverse… fufufu~
『Hellish Blizzard』: You made a point to emphasize "worlds"… Does that mean your original universe has a pretty vast setting?
『Earth's Cancer』: More than that.
『Earth's Cancer』: I think this newbie's a big shot. That casual way they talked about "world boundaries" like it's nothing… only someone from a seriously overpowered world could downplay the group's cross-dimensional nature like that.
『Earth's Cancer』: (group status -1 .jpg)
『Celestial Star』: Nah, I'm nothing special—just barely getting by over here.
『Celestial Star』: By the way, I saw in the intro that the admin can change our usernames, right? Could you change mine to "Shiroyasha"? I'd almost forgotten my species until I saw the nickname the system assigned me.
『Celestial Star』: Also, I tried accessing the [Shared Space] feature, but it says it's locked for me. Any idea why?
"Celestial Star"… and "Shiroyasha"…?
Those two clues were enough for Veyron to instantly piece together this newcomer's identity. His eyes narrowed slightly.
The ShiroYoruMaou, the Lord of the White Night, a Celestial Star Spirit.
Yup, she is that Demon Lord who stands at the apex of the universe's hierarchy in the light novel
Looks like a real powerhouse just joined—one even he couldn't handle right now...
If he remembered correctly, the system assigning her the title "Celestial Star" meant it had recognized her original form—basically the prototype of that world's Sun. A being so massive her mere existence equaled the total weight of all matter across the cosmos.
『(Admin) Veyron』: If you want to change your nickname, just send in a request to update your profile. I'll take care of it.
『[Admin] Veyron』: As for your [Shared Space]—yeah, that's on me. Before you and the other newcomer joined, the seven of us already here had a meeting going. So to avoid any unnecessary drama from, say, clashing ideologies or behavior patterns, I set a restriction by default. Once the group gets to know you two and everyone's cool with it, I'll lift the lock.
『(Admin) Veyron』: Hm… I should probably add that to the newcomer guide next time.
『Shiroyasha』: I see. So it's part of your job as admin to maintain the group dynamic?
『(Admin) Veyron』: Glad you understand.
『(Admin) Veyron』: By the way, to the other newcomer—do you want to change your name too? There's no rule saying you have to, but… well, your whole name does carry some weird connotations in certain worlds.
『(Admin) Veyron』: @Sadistic Battle Addict
『Sadistic Battle Addict』: My name is Esdeath. Just set it to that.
『(Admin) Veyron』: Done
『Esdeath』: ...
『Esdeath』: Mind telling me what's wrong with "Sadistic"? The "battle addict" part shouldn't be an issue, right?
『(Admin) Veyron』: Uh… how do I put this…
『(Admin) Veyron』: In basic terms, "A Sadist" usually refers to someone who enjoys dominating and tormenting others in social or intimate interactions.
『Esdeath』: …And what exactly is wrong with that?
『Esdeath』: Your world isn't some perfect utopia without conflict, is it? If it were, you wouldn't have felt the need to preemptively lock us out of the Shared Space before even meeting us—just to avoid upsetting the group dynamic.
『Esdeath』: If we're all living in worlds ruled by survival of the fittest, then it's only natural that the strong crush the weak.
『Esdeath』: If the weak don't want to be humiliated, then they should become strong. And if they can't? Well, then they deserve it.
『Catwoman』: Huh… when you put it that way… makes a weird kind of sense? 🤔
『Earth's Cancer』: Selena-neesan! Are you turning into a chaos gremlin like Miss Merlin now too?!
『Earth's Cancer』: @Esdeath Uh, just so you know… in our world, the term "Sadist" is often used in a certain other context… (shyly.jpg)
『Earth's Cancer』: Like, uh, between guys and girls… or sometimes, uh… guy-guy, girl-girl…
"Ahem!"
"Chika, it doesn't matter how many shy emojis you use—everyone can still tell you know way too much about this stuff for a high schooler."
In real life, Selena silently mouthed the words at the pink-haired girl beside her.
When Chika Fujiwara caught the lip movement and processed what Selena had just implied, her whole face froze in embarrassment.
Thankfully, the newbie came to her rescue before things could get even more awkward.
『Esdeath』: "Guys and girls"… you mean in the bedroom?
『Esdeath』: And in that situation, the strong still can't dominate the weak?
『Shiroyasha』: Pfft! You're kind of hilarious.
『Shiroyasha』: I read in the intro that we can travel between worlds through group quests, right? If you ever have time, wanna come visit mine sometime?
As the golden-eyed little girl in a kimono laughed heartily, her maid silently poured her a fresh cup of sake, completely unfazed—clearly used to this kind of laughter.
Guess another girl is about to suffer…
.
.
.