All-World Alliance Guild

The world went dark.

There was no pain. No sensation. Just the familiar numb void that followed death. 

He had experienced it countless times, so much so that it felt like slipping into an old habit.

But this time, something was different.

There was no cold void dragging him back to life. No suffocating hunger was waiting to greet him when he awoke. 

Instead, a strange warmth surrounded him, filling his senses in a way he hadn't felt in years.

Then—

[Ding!]

[Address the Members of the All-World Alliance Chat Group, Administrator "Fourth Calamity."]

The notification buzzed softly in his mind, tugging him back to consciousness.

His eyes snapped open. 

The snow, the biting cold—everything was still there. 

His body lay half-buried in the snowdrift where he'd fallen, his limbs numb and lifeless. 

"Ugh." He groaned as he slowly sat up, snow falling from his shoulders.

"I need to find a place… ee…"

He muttered as he dragged his heavy body toward one of the apartment complexes lining the street.

"Brr."

It was only natural to feel this cold, having his body exposed for an entire day.

Unfortunately for him, this wasn't some game where he'd respawn in a warm, safe area. 

His immortality only ensured he wouldn't stay dead—but it didn't make the cold any less miserable.

And besides, other than resetting the status back to what it was before he died, it did nothing else.

At the very least. Currently he hadn't turned into an ice sculpture yet.

"I need more clothes." He grumbled.

Stepping into an apartment complex he'd seen, he found that even the hallways were cold. 

Most of the doors were locked, but some weren't—they had been left ajar, forgotten by people too exhausted to care about security.

When survival became impossible, securing your home stopped mattering.

After all, there's nothing left.

"Pardon my intrusion." 

He muttered that almost politely, stepping inside one of the open apartments.

His hands rubbed together to generate some warmth, though it didn't help much.

"Since there's no source of heat here…"

He muttered as he made his way to the bedroom. He pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around himself, sitting down heavily.

[Ding!]

[Administrator "Fourth Calamity" is online.]

"Now, let's see, who are we dealing with?"

At the same time—a different reality.

Earth.

Since she lived alone and had to manage everything she had, she couldn't exactly be wilful.

As soon as she got up from bed, she started cooking.

Food wasn't very expensive—sarcastic—however, she thought that in the long run, she'd need to learn how to cook.

[Ding!]

[Fallen Heiress is online.]

The nickname, seeing it for some reason, made her expression darken slightly; however, she didn't bother with it anymore.

She'd learn to silently accept it.

[Fallen Heiress: Good morning, everyone.]

[Fallen Heiress: Do we all follow the same time zones? It's just morning here.]

[Vampire Ancestor: It seems so. It's a pleasant morning here too.]

[Weakest Undefeated: Ah, everyone. Good morning everyone, it's also morning here.]

[Vampire Ancestor: Hm. By the way, since we are just getting to know each other, how about this? What are the fun things in your respective worlds?]

As the "Vampire Ancestor" had said that, Mei remembered what they had said yesterday.

Western Holy Church.

It sounded like something you'd hear in a medieval world.

Additionally, if their nickname was supposed to mirror the life they've lived.

Doesn't that mean that they actually are a bonafide vampire?

[Weakest Undefeated: Well, there's Drag-Machines over here, apart from that…. I can't really think of anything, maybe war?]

For some reason, Mei couldn't help but think he had said such as if it were the most natural thing ever.

That was somehow eerie... The way he'd said it.

Still, she couldn't help but be curious.

[Fallen Heiress: What is a Drag Machine?]

She asked that as she waited.

[Vampire Ancestor: I'm curious too.]

Even Vampire Ancestor seemed interested.

[Weakest Undefeated: How do I put this…?]

[Weakest Undefeated: Hold on. I remembered seeing a feature that can allow us to share information.]

[Weakest Undefeated: Found it.]

[Ding!]

[User "Weakest Undefeated" has shared knowledge: "Drag-Machines.PDF"]

Looking at the PDF file, which she found familiar, she downloaded it.

The funny thing was that the entire thing wasn't run by the internet, which was weird.

It was like their just existing was the connection needed for them to interact with each other.

As such, a large amount of files could be downloaded in a blink of an eye.

[Drag-Machines.PDF.]

[Drag-Machines are mechanical weapons excavated from the Ruins. Users of Drag-Machines are called Drag-Knights.]

[Drag-Rides are mechanical suits of armour that copy legendary dragons.] 

[They give their wearers the war potential of a thousand soldiers. A Drag-Ride is summoned by drawing its accompanying Sword Device.]

[Drag rides are very expensive, so only knights and some influential people can possess them.]

It sounded awesome. 

What she read.

It was like something straight out of a fantasy novel.

[Fallen Heiress: Amazing… a dragon robot?]

Of course, as someone who was once an heiress, she was uncultured in that aspect.

[Vampire Ancestor: Robot? What's that? You mean a golem?]

Even the vampire ancestor was also uncultured.

[Weakest Undefeated: Not quite. Golems are a different kind.]

Yes, even Lux World was, in a way, advanced.

Not only do they have things similar to homunculus. They also had giant golems like Ragnaroks who could destroy cities within a blink of an eye.

However, in retrospect, compared to what beings in Luminous and Mei's world could do, Lux's world was rather tame.

Of course, not that Mei herself knew how dangerous this seemingly peaceful world was.

If she knew, she'd no doubt freak out.

[Vampire Ancestor: Oh? How impressive.]

Vampire Ancestor replied that. 

But there was something off about Vampire Ancestor's compliment—it felt more sarcastic than genuine.

Not that Mei would really know. The talks continued on the chat group as she headed for school.

Like that, she'd continue the conversation with them till afternoon.

Afternoon had arrived.

Mei had let out a small, perceptible smile as she packed her things, heading home.

Those voices she'd always hear had, for some explicit reason, faded into the back of her mind, along with those soft whispers.

After all, she was now looking forward to talking to people from beyond her wall.

Though slightly confused, she was really curious about the Drag-Machine thingy.

Vampire Ancestor, on the other hand, hadn't said much about their world.

And getting home, she'd begun preparing supper.

Naturally, she didn't have a good lunchtime since she was still learning how to cook.

"But today's was better than yesterday's."

She mumbled as she donned an apron as she began to prepare some delicacies.

She had switched from Compact mode to the Original Holographic screen.

And it was then—

[Ding!]

[Administrator: Fourth Calamity is now online.]

'Finally.' She thought to herself.

[Vampire Ancestor: About time. I've gotten bored of waiting.]

[Weakest Undefeated: Ah. They're online already?]

In their own way, they've each explored the entire interface.

On the member list, while there were three that had the opportunity to talk, the fourth, however, had a [Lost] status while the rest had an [Online] status.

They'd all silently guessed he was the one behind this system, or at least that was the conclusion they came to.

They all waited like that for a full-blown minute before.

[Fourth Calamity: Hello everybody. I know you all have some questions for me, so ask away.

Mei's breath hitched. Naturally, she had plenty of questions for the so-called admin, but—

[Vampire Ancestor: First of all, are you behind this… whatever it is?]

It seemed Vampire Ancestor beat her to it, though Mei wasn't impatient.

[Fourth Calamity: No. I'm afraid I'm not. But to some extent, I have the ability to manipulate the system, it seems.]

Manipulate the system?

Mei found that believable. As the admin, it made sense for him to have control over the system.

[Vampire Ancestor: Oh? Then, what's the motive behind this system in particular?]

"…."

[Fourth Calamity: To connect worlds together.]

[Vampire Ancestor: To connect worlds?]

[Fourth Calamity: Even I don't know the full details. In fact, I just got the information from the system a minute ago before entering the chat room.]

[Fourth Calamity: From what I can see, I see you all have accepted the concept of "otherworlds," then that makes things easy.]

[Weakest Undefeated: Then, what do we do, rather, how do we do this?]

[Fourth Calamity: Simple. Travel to other worlds; if they're in a crisis, we help them, and we gain free entry to that world through the system.]

Mei's breathing seemed to pause as she stared at the screen only she could see.

The concept of other worlds was beyond anything she had ever imagined, even just a day ago. 

But now, not only was she speaking with people from other worlds—she could actually travel to them.

[Vampire Ancestor: It looks nothing short of a fairy tale. But true, since we can already talk to people across different worlds, I don't see why not.

[Vampire Ancestor: Interesting. I guess this is worth my time.

[Weakest Undefeated: It's unbelievable, but I'm somehow excited.]

They seemed to have forgotten something in their excitement, and some of Mei's questions had already been answered.

[Fallen Heiress: Well, sorry for interrupting, but I have a question. I noticed Admin-san's status was "[Lost]" rather than "[Offline]." Did something happen?

From what she'd observed, when Vampire Ancestor or Weakest Undefeated went offline, their status would unfailingly show the tag [Offline].

However, he was shown [Lost].

And the reply she expected.

[Forth Calamity: Well, good question, but while I answer that, can I get something to eat?]

[Vampire Ancestor: "..."]

[Fourth Calamity: Alright, fine. Quick rundown of my situation: I live on a destroyed planet covered by ice. Humanity is extinct, resources are gone, and it's impossible to find heat.]

[Fourth Calamity: Unfortunately, because I can't die. I'm either subjected to death by freezing or by hunger. So yes, as I speak, my time has begun counting down once more.]

"??"

Naturally, in each of their respective worlds, seeing such a message stunned them.

"...That…"

Part of her felt it was a stretch of a story, however, thinking that there was basically a super soldier in the group and a vampire…

It wasn't a stretch that there would be an immortal person in the group.

Not especially when their nickname was dubbed "Calamity."

Getting herself back together, she had looked at the lunch she'd pieced together.

"How can I give this to the admin?"

Mei muttered under her breath.

[Ding!]

[Member: Fallen Heiress can gift "Specially Handmade Lunch Box x1" to Administrator: Fourth Calamity.]

[Do you want to gift Administrator Fourth Calamity "Specially Handmade Lunch Box x1"?]

"Yes." Mei didn't hesitate. 

She was that kind of a girl. Mei didn't need to think twice.

If he were lying then, that would be a different matter; however, what if it were true?

Hence, she decided to do this.

[Fourth Calamity: You guys, thank you.]

Back at his world.

[You have received: "Specially Handmade Lunch Box x1" from member: Fallen Heiress.]

[You have received: "Warm Lunch x1" from member: Weakest Undefeated.]

[You have received: "Extravagant Lunch x1" from member: Vampire Ancestor.]

Seeing the unexpected gifts made his chest tighten.

He felt a tear welling up, though it froze instantly.

[Fourth Calamity: You guys… thank you. Though I have nothing of value currently, I'll pay you back in the future.]

[Vampire Ancestor: Enough. That much is nothing.]

[Fourth Calamity: For you, maybe. But for me, it's a big deal.]

[Vampire Ancestor: Tch. Just accept it. I doubt the others expect anything in return either.]

The vampire ancestor's words made him raise an eyebrow.

He had gone through their earlier chat logs, and from what he had seen, he could begin to piece together their identities.

"Well, judging by the fact that the system is still silent—"

He paused mid-sentence.

"No. I spoke too soon."

His hands hovered midair as he took a gulp of the warm soup gifted by Weakest Undefeated—Lux.

[System Announcement:]

[The All-World Alliance Group fosters connection between worlds in a literal sense.]

[Hence, the system will release the group's first quest.]

[Mission: Getting Stronger]

[Details: The members of the All-World Alliance Guild would face massive threats in the future, spearheading the missions of the Alliance Guild.]

[Strength Ranking]

- [Vampire Ancestor]

- [Weakest Undefeated]

- [Fallen Heiress]

- [Fourth Calamity] [???]

"Ugh." 

He couldn't help but wince when he saw himself at the bottom of the list. 

But he couldn't argue against it. His stats don't lie. Not with his body in such a situation.

[Vampire Ancestor: Mhm.]

[Fallen Heiress: This….]

[Weakest Undefeated: I already expect @Vampire Ancestor to be the strongest here; however, I'd also expect the Admin to be strong too.]

Beats me too.

That was what he wanted to say, but at the moment, he was too busy devouring food the group members had given him.

After all. It had been years since his last proper meal, however—

[Fourth Calamity: There's a way to get stronger instantly. And I'm not joking.]

[Vampire Ancestor: ?]

[Weakest Undefeated: ?]

[Fallen Heiress: Really?]

[Fourth Calamity: Yeah. But I'll need @Vampire Ancestor's permission.]

[Fourth Calamity: Additionally, with my abilities, you could gain at least three times the strength you have now.]

[Fourth Calamity: Of course, that excludes @Vampire Ancestor—since she doesn't need the boost from my ability yet.]

[Vampire Ancestor: Strange. You talk as if you know me.]

He paused, blinking. 

Luminous is sharp.

Of course. He wouldn't just say, "Yes, I do." Hence—

[Fourth Calamity: I compiled information about your world from the system.]

[Fourth Calamity: Every world is about what I'd expected, dangerous. Weakest Undefeated and Fallen Heiress's worlds are no exception.]

But in terms of ranking. Depending on how one would say it, it should be—

- Cardinal World, from where Luminous is from.

- Earth, from where Raiden Mei is from. 

And lastly—

- Lux's world—Not that there's a collective name from the planet there he knows of.

As for this world, however, he didn't know yet how strong other Calamities were, so he couldn't place this world anywhere on the list yet.

And that is to say, while other Calamities weren't on this planet yet, they'd eventually invade.

At least according to what he could access from the ability itself.

[Fallen Heiress: Eh? What do you mean?]

Mei said that, and just as she said that—

[Ding!]

[Administrator Fourth Calamity has scheduled a meeting. All members are invited.]

[Location: Cardinal World—Vampire Ancestor's World.]

[Do you accept?]