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Rosen had only been lurking in the chat with a spectator's attitude, but to his surprise, he actually stumbled across something interesting.
After tinkering around with the group chat functions, Gabriel uncovered a rather unusual hidden feature: members could actually post requests as "missions," asking other members to come help them out.
So far, the only world where such a mission had been issued was Saeko Busujima's. Since nobody else had anything urgent going on, the private request system had been pretty much ignored.
But Gabriel, acting on a whim, decided to study it more carefully. She ended up testing it out by creating a mission titled "Let's Play a Game Together."
The description? Gabriel had a single-player game she couldn't beat on her own, so she was asking someone from the group to co-op with her. Whoever completed the run with her would get a "blessing" from her as a reward.
Frieren was the first to accept—and successfully crossed over to her world.
Once Gabriel confirmed the "bug exploit" actually worked, she couldn't help bragging about it in the chat, even posting a selfie with Frieren as proof.
[Shepherd]:Unbelievable. Gabriel actually managed to glitch the system.
[Shut-in Angel]:Heh, impressive, right? This was my stroke of genius! And don't call it a bug exploit. That's way too crude. Let's go with: "creative use of hidden official features."
[Shut-in Angel]:I already tagged everyone else to confess my discovery, but there's one person I didn't tell. Wanna guess who that is? American-style bullying.gif
[Shepherd]:…?
[Saeko]:Don't take it personally. Gabriel just wanted to surprise you. She said out of everyone, you're the most mysterious, so she thought it'd be nice to save a meetup for later.
[Shepherd]:Ah, I see. Honestly, I thought maybe it was just some kind of "girls' secret" to exclude me since I'm a guy.
[Shut-in Angel]:As if! I'm not that shallow… wait, correction, I'm not that shallow for an angel. And besides, last time you reminded me to bring back a mountain of games, I never thanked you properly. Thanks to you, I'm set with mental nourishment for the entire year!
[Shepherd]:No thanks necessary. Honestly, who knows what'll happen if I get "blessed" by a fallen angel?
[Shut-in Angel]:Hey! I'm a legit, certified Angel of Holy Light! Not some fallen angel!
[Shut-in Angel]:Anyway, everyone else already agreed to the idea of occasional meetups. How about you?
[Shepherd]:Well, since you've put it like that, it'd be rude of me to refuse.
[Shepherd]:By the way, where's Marcille?
[Shut-in Angel]:Funny you ask. The next meetup location is actually her world. Her labyrinth is basically straight out of a video game. Of course we're gonna check it out!
[Blizzard from Hell]:Plus, the scenery there is gorgeous. After seeing nothing but concrete jungles every day, I could use a change of pace.
[Saeko]:As for Miss Marcille, she's currently preparing dungeon gear with her party. She'll also fill them in on our arrival. You're just in time.
[Blizzard from Hell]:We really can't delay any longer. If we do, Falin will be fully dissolved in the dragon's stomach acid and impossible to revive.
[Shut-in Angel]:No worries! Even if she melts down to bones, resurrection magic will still work. Marcille's a black-magic researcher, remember? She literally did that in the anime.
[Bad Woman]:Even so, rules that let people revive that easily are almost too kind. It's practically encouraging people to throw themselves into dungeons.
Death wasn't permanent, so adventurers flooded to the labyrinths nonstop.
[Shepherd]:But the resurrection only works inside the labyrinth. If it worked everywhere, the world would've collapsed into chaos already.
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters]:Everyone, I'm ready!
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters]:I also explained your arrival to Laios and Chilchuck. They're right here with me.
Reading that, Rosen couldn't help thinking Marcille really had no guard up around her companions at all—she even casually told them about the chat group.
[Shut-in Angel]:Then let's make it official. I can't wait any longer!
[Group System]: Member "I Don't Want to Eat Monsters" has posted a new request.Mission Title:Save FalinObjective: Venture into the depths of the labyrinth, defeat the red dragon, and resurrect Falin.Reward: Marcille's personal thanks.
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters]:Sorry, I'm completely broke right now and don't have any points either. Once Falin's revived, I'll make it up to all of you, I promise! Kneeling-gratitude.jpg
[Shut-in Angel]:Don't worry about it. We're all guildmates here. Helping each other out is what we're supposed to do. Just hosting us in your world is already plenty.
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters]:Thank you so, so much!
[Shepherd]:So who's actually going this time? Everyone?
[Bad Woman]:I'll sit this one out. My situation's… complicated. Maybe when I finally finish my current job, I'll be able to join a meetup.
Everyone understood. Makima was the head of Public Safety's Devil-Hunter Division, after all. Her workload was endless.
Aside from her, though, every other member—including Rosen—signed on.
Even Frieren showed rare enthusiasm. For her, the motivation was simple: Marcille's magic, and those treasure chests she had casually mentioned in the dungeon.
With the roster locked in, five of them joined Marcille's private request.
She began receiving the incoming transfer requests one after another. The system itself existed to prevent strong outsiders from recklessly barging into weaker worlds and causing chaos, but Marcille didn't hesitate—she just accepted all of them.
Before Rosen, a glowing doorway appeared.
He stepped through slowly, and his vision opened up into an entirely new world.
"..."
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