Chapter 20: The Plaza of Valhalla

“Huh? But didn’t you say this is your second run? Then you must’ve been to the Plaza. So how come you didn’t meet anyone?”

“Yeah? Why didn’t you meet them? Did you just miss each other?”

Rose and Gobori asked.

“Huh?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

I did say this was my ‘second’ game, right?

So it makes sense that I went to the Plaza.

There couldn’t be any contradictions in my excuse.

I nodded somewhat convincingly and answered,

“Well… I went to the Plaza, but I got summoned right away. So I didn’t get to meet anyone. As soon as I arrived, I was summoned.”

“Oh, really? Lucky you! Sometimes people don’t get selected for days and days. It’s all fate!”

“Ha. So after this game ends, will you be meeting your hometown folks? Ahh, that’s the real thrill on day one! Reuniting with people who went ahead of you one by one! You’ll spend the whole day reminiscing about old times. I remember it well! Haha!”

Rose and Gobori laughed.

Did I dodge the question well enough?

I chuckled softly and nodded.

“Yeah. I want to meet them soon too. The people I miss.”

[☆Healing Potion]

Tuk!

The last card was a Potion.

What came out didn’t really matter.

Only the Plaza was important.

I collected my thoughts and asked about what I’d just seen.

“So what was that just now? Suddenly my level went up. Is it related to Pinless disappearing?”

“Oh, you mean the duplicate hero bonus? It’s a kind of reward. When a hero disappears, you get half of its amplification level as compensation. Since you’re two-star, that means level 25. The higher the star, the higher the required level, but if duplicates show up, it makes leveling easier. Sometimes, just opening cards can raise your amplification level too, you know?”

Gobori answered straightforwardly.

“Sometimes it switches to the stronger hero when comparing two. Looking at what you have left… I guess you were stronger? As the captain, not bad!”

Rose nudged me playfully and laughed.

Stronger than Pinless?

In a way, that made sense.

At least my curiosity was satisfied.

Now, how to end the game…

I manipulated the screen and tapped on various images.

Then I pressed the gear icon in the top right corner,

[Settings]
[Exit]

I found it.

The word ‘Exit’ clearly meant to end.

I glanced around the stage.

Dulv was dozing off in his seat, and Gobori and Rose looked visibly tired.

They’d been fighting for three hours straight.

It was okay to stop for today.

Huff!

“Hmm?”

“Ehh?”

As soon as I pressed ‘Exit,’ the stage went dark.

[War of God: Welcome to Valhalla!]
[Start]

The words I’d seen before appeared on the screen.

Maybe I press this to start again?

Anyway, it looked like I had finished properly.

“What? The stage went dark? What’s going on?”

I asked slyly.

Gobori cut in as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“The user quit the game! Why did you quit all of a sudden? Your level was already over 50. You should’ve amplified first!”

“Did you get a ‘Mom Critical’? Usually, quitting like this means that.”

“Mom Critical? That’s possible! Haha!”

At Rose’s comment, Gobori laughed.

Right.

My level went up from the duplicate hero bonus.

If I’d known, I would’ve amplified before quitting.

I briefly regretted it, but starting again felt awkward.

I chuckled and agreed.

“Whew. So, are we resting now? Since the game’s over?”

“Hmm? It’s already over? Yoohoo…! Good work, everyone! It’s rare for a party to chat like this before leaving! Haha!”

Dulv stretched and stood up.

“Haha! Exactly! Usually everyone rushes off once the game ends. But somehow… huh! Gobori’s moved to tears! Waaah!”

Gobori even shed tears.

“Hey! Why are you crying? Cut it out, cut it!”

Rose, trying to stop him, had reddened eyes as well.

I looked at the three of them.

My first heroes and comrades who would continue to be with me.

I silently thanked them.

“I learned a lot thanks to you. Even though today was my first time… Gobori, Rose, and Dulv, thank you all. I look forward to working with you.”

“Aww, hehe! No need to thank me! I look forward to working with you too! And Rose, Dulv! I’m heading off first! It was nice to meet such great heroes again. My channel is G376! Drop by if you get bored. Bye!”

Gobori waved and smiled.

“Good job. See you next time.”

“Good job! Take care!”

“Hmph! Why would I join some smelly goblin channel? Get lost!”

Dulv, Rose, and I all replied.

Rose too…

So prim and proper till the very end.

“You get lost!”

“You first!”

“Goodbye, gentlemen! To the Plaza!”

Thunk!

Gobori disappeared with a fist bump.

Rose fluttered around nearby.

“Hah, finally it’s quiet. Then I’ll head back too. My channel is B61. Drop by if you get bored. To the Plaza!”

“Go ahead.”

“Hehe, go ahead!”

Thunk!

After saying that, Rose disappeared as well.

I bowed to Dulv.

“Thank you for your hard work today. Thanks to you, I got to use a nice sword. I appreciate it.”

“Hmm? Haha! You flatter me! Thanks to you all, I got to touch fresh steel again. I just… can’t leave the forge behind. Really… I met a good user.”

Dulv stifled a choked voice.

Gobori showed tears earlier too, right?

Rose as well.

My heart fluttered, knowing this was a good party for the three of them.

“Hehe. I should be going now. You should head back too!”

“Yes. Please go in.”

“Valkyrie! To the Plaza!”

Thunk!

Dulv disappeared after saying that.

‘Whew.’

At last, the stage was quiet.

The orc standing like a statue — was it breathing?

Ah. It was.

Well, I had to accept that.

Let’s see…

I should head back too.

Seeing the lonely stage sparked many thoughts.

Hours ago, I was alone on this stage.

And up until the moment I died.

Come to think of it, today was the day I came to Valhalla — and the day I died.

I had been so overwhelmed that I forgot.

Whew, alright.

What good is thinking about that now?

I had a goal.

A goal I could pursue here.

After a moment’s thought, I looked into the air and called out,

“Um… Valkyrie? To the Plaza!”

I called out like the three of them.

But there was no answer.

Damn Valkyrie…

Had she really forgotten me?

Doing her job so carelessly?

A sigh escaped.

Without the Valkyrie, I couldn’t go back.

‘Huh?’

But then I saw something familiar.

A box in the center of the stage.

It was the thing called the ‘storage,’ and suddenly something occurred to me.

If I enter the storage, doesn’t it take you to the Plaza?

Good.

I’d give it a try.

I tried to open the box and enter, but—

“Creak!”

It was blocked.

Just like the forge, a transparent wall was blocking it.

‘Then…’

[War of God: Welcome to Valhalla!]
[Start]

What if I moved the dwarf on the screen?

If I put my dwarf into the storage…

Thunk!!

“Huh?”

In the blink of an eye, I was transported somewhere.

My eyes struggled to adjust to the suddenly changed view.

What came into sight were countless doors.

Dome-shaped roofs.

Many people.

Monsters.

Ain.

And even women flying through the air.

The Plaza.

This was the Plaza.

An enormous number of people had gathered here.

“So you’re saying it was during the Valentine’s event?”

“Ugh, maybe I should change my appearance too? What the hell, changing without even trying!”

“TS is the trend these days. Let’s go TS.”

“Ha! Victory! Bring me money, you guys!”

As my senses returned, I heard many voices.

So many.

Many heroes and many voices.

My head became overwhelmed by falling into their midst.

First, I should gather information.

I was at a loss where to go when—

Ssshhh…

‘Hmm?’

A delicious smell wafted from somewhere.

Pork smell?

Now that I think about it, I was hungry.

I headed toward the source of the scent.

I’d fill my stomach and gather information.

“Here’s sirloin steak!”

“I finished the iron plate stir-fry!”

“Hurry, hurry, next!”

“Sweet and sour pork is out! Next customer!”

At the place the scent came from were huge boars.

They wore white aprons and hats and skillfully served customers and distributed food.

Did they charge nothing?

Good.

Looks like it was free.

I swallowed my saliva and approached the boars.

“Um… excuse me. Is the food here free?”

“Huh? It’s all free! Wanna order something?”

“Yes. What’s tasty…?”

“Order already! Our best dish here is roast boar. We increased it due to many complaints, but history never changes. Here’s the skewers! What will you have? If you want something, just say so. You can taste dishes from nine universes! Five hundred and forty-four worlds!”

A three-meter-tall boar spoke.

He looked like the orcs from my world, but more kindly.

Just then, I saw the skewers an adjacent hero took and said,

“The same, please. Three skewers. Do you have potatoes or corn?”

“Of course! You know how to eat skewers? Adding potatoes and corn makes three skewers, right?”

“Yes. Just a little salt, please.”

“Three skewers with potatoes and corn! Also, you’ve got a good eye. Is this your first time here?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well! First-time heroes have that kind of look like you. Something complicated but like they’re determined to go to Valhalla. And really serious but somehow cute. Ah! Don’t be offended. Just saying. Squeak!”

The boar laughed at me.

I nodded, appreciating his kindness.

“Yes. It’s my first time. If you don’t mind, can I ask a few questions?”

“You can ask anything except about my pork trotters! First, drinks. Over there at the fountain, drink as much as you like. The yellow one’s honey wine, white is milk, then wine, water—there’s plenty. What do you wanna ask? Why it’s free? That’s our job! Our ancestors used to give away pieces of themselves, but that looked awful. So we switched to cooking. Pretty fun, huh?”

That was interesting.

“Uh, the channel? I want to go where my hometown folks are. Do you know how?”

“Huh? Didn’t the Valkyrie tell you? She’ll take you there herself the first time.”

The boar tilted his head, confused.

Damn Valkyrie…

Of course, it was because of her.

“Yeah. She just said what she had to and left. I know it’s rude, but please help me.”

“Ah, rude? A polite hero like you deserves help. Oh, here are your skewers. Eat up! Those lazy Valkyries with their cushy jobs never do their work right! Ah, eat while I tell you, it’s okay.”

“Thank you.”

I answered awkwardly and bit into a skewer.

Huh?

It was really delicious.

As I finished one, the boar snorted happily.

“Heh heh! Good, right? A Valhalla specialty for tens of thousands of years. Ah! Tessa! Come down here. Tessa!”

The boar shouted toward the sky.

Tessa?

Who was he calling?

Just as I looked up while chewing the skewer,

Swaaack…! Thud!

Something fell behind me.

A three-meter-tall giant with bright yellow eyes.

She had brown wings on her back, bronze skin with white tattoos—one of the women who had been flying through the air.

“Are you Sæhrímnir? What do you want?”

“This guy says he doesn’t know his channel. Seems his Valkyrie was slacking off. Go check it out! Hey, here’s the blood sausage soup! Next!”

The woman who had been talking with the boar flinched.

So the women flying overhead were all Valkyries?

At first, I thought they were just illusions.

Up close, they had immense presence.

“I ask, hero. Why can’t you find your channel? What is the reason?”

The Valkyrie’s fierce voice asked.

I swallowed what I was chewing and spoke.

“My assigned Valkyrie just said what she had to and left… so I didn’t hear about the channel. And I got here because I was put in storage.”

“Haa… Not again. Identify yourself. I will find your Valkyrie and punish her.”

“Huh? Identify myself? I don’t even know her face.”

“Your name and origin.”

“Ah, Sid Chaper. I’m from Hillea.”

“Sid of Hillea. Emperor Slayer. Demon Hunter. Swordmaster. Right?”

“Yes. That should be me.”

“Damn.”

The Valkyrie muttered something after confirming.

“Huh? Why?”

The boar asked, confused.

“You’re assigned to Sruth. And…”

“Oh, that one again? Then you can’t punish her! Heh heh!”

The boar laughed at the Valkyrie’s words.

Sruth?

My assigned Valkyrie’s name was Sruth?

I swallowed my skewer and continued.

“Is Sruth my assigned Valkyrie? Where is she…?”

“You don’t need to know. Your channel is H421. From now on, find it yourself.”

“H421? Find it myself…”

Thunk!

“Ah, come on.”

The moment I spoke, I was teleported.

No one was around.

I was thrown at the door with only the skewer in my hand.

‘H421.’

The door had the name written in large letters.

Is this my channel’s door?

It was a three-meter-high wooden door, and looking right or left, there were many similar doors.

To the left was G420, to the right H422.

Looks like they were arranged in order.

Good.

Anyway, there were people inside.

People I longed for.

Pinless, whom I just met, too.

If I go inside…

“Um… excuse me. Could you please move if you have no business here? I need to get in.”

“Ah.”

A husky voice rang out.

I must have been blocking the way.

Startled, I moved aside.

“Sorry. It’s my first time in Valhalla. How do I get inside here…”

“Swordmaster Sid?”

“L||?”

I heard a familiar name.

My name?

Someone who knew me?

Filled with excitement, I looked up.

The second person I met after Pinless was…

“Huh?”

But in front of me was an outrageous figure.

Two and a half meters tall, with bright red skin.

His skin was rough and bumpy like scales…

“El Diablo…!”

“Krahaha! That’s right! For a moment, I doubted my eyes! You came! The one I’ve been waiting for comes! What an exciting moment! Krahaha!”

A demon laughed, breathing fire.

The leader of the demons I had killed, El Diablo.

Wasn’t he standing right before me?