Late at night, outside the vanadium dungeon.

　I left the mansion and looked up at the night sky alone.

　Cyclo, which was becoming more and more prosperous, was so crowded that the lights would not go out even at night, and it was too bright to see anything in the sky.

　Still, I looked up.

　A different world that operated on a completely different principle than the original world.

　There were levels and monsters.
　A world where the equivalent of every primary industry is made up of monster drops.

　Even in such a world--.

Yoda-san.
Emily. What's going on?

　Emily emerges from the vanadium dungeon.
　She's in her pajamas and dressed for sleep.

'What's wrong, Yoda-san?　Are you up late?
Yeah, I just wanted to have a look at the sky.
Empty?

　Emily tilted her head, then followed my gaze and looked up at the sky.

'The sky looks the same no matter where you are, doesn't it?　I was just reminiscing about the old days.
Were you in this empty place before you dropped from the slime?
Yeah. There were no stars in the sky at all.
Was it as urban as Cyclo?
Maybe more than that.

　I replied, smiling.

　Cyclo is also bustling, but it's no match for the big Japanese cities that burn fossil fuels and drip electricity for what seems like an eternity.

'It's amazing, how much is it?'
Well, ...... where I live, it's about 13 million people.
Whew!　I don't know, are there that many people?
Isn't it great?　Why there are so many of them is not clear to me either.

　I remember dying in the mornings and nights on a crowded train because of it. ...... It's a good memory now.

'It made me miss it a bit, and I was looking up at the sky.
Because you're now all SSS?
...... Yeah.

　He smiled at Emily.

'You were all F when you met Emily.
''Yes, sir. I was all F at level 1, so it looked really sad.
I know.

　My smile turned into a bitter smile.

　If I'd met someone with the same level all F's now, I'd still look sad.

　It might have been the same with Margaret.

　Until level 90, she was all F, including drops.
　When I saw that, although it was a stranger, I felt a little sad.

"You've come a long way.
Yes, sir.
It's a great place to live, isn't it?
Yes, sir.
So, how's the apartment?
I still go to the cleaners every day.
Okay.

　The first ramshackle apartment I rented for 20,000 piro a month.
　I still have it, you'd think.

I bought the whole apartment.
You bought it?　Emily?
Yes, sir.

　I was a little surprised.

"There was talk of tearing it down. It's old and it's sad, so I bought it.
I see.

　Right after I nodded, Emily's little hand grabbed mine.

'Miss Yoda,'
What?

　He stared straight at me at point-blank range and I was a little thrown off.
　Emily looked extremely serious.

'Thank you so much. If Yoda hadn't asked me to join him, I'm sure I'd still be in the dungeon.
It's my way of saying thank you, though.

　I stared back at him with a straight face.

'I don't know what I would be doing right now if it wasn't for that hot soup from Emily.

　Maybe things haven't been as smooth as they are now.

Thank you, Emily.
Thank you, sir.
No, no, no, that's my line.
That's my line.

""......"

　We stared at each other for a while, and then Emily and I started wiping off at the same time.

'It's mutual, isn't it?'
Yes, sir. We supported each other to get here.

　I had arrived at a bit of a goal, SSS, but I knew that I still had a long way to go in life in another world.

"Keep up the good work.

　I turned to Emily and asked her to shake my hand.
　She smiled at me and took my hand.

　We shook hands and smiled at each other.