"Look, you... You're just as cold and indifferent as before... But I still like it!"
While Dwun was acting mad and silly, Razor, who still had blond hair, small golden eyes, and a gentle smile on his lips, was observing the physical conditions of the others.
"We're all in an ethereal state. It seems our physical bodies haven't been able to enter this place."
He chuckled, his smile becoming even gentler. It's also developing more towards the direction of the squinty-eyed monster.
"Strictly speaking, we're just digitized bodies communicating here..."
List saw something and nodded in agreement.
"Besides, haven't you noticed something interesting?"
"Interesting? Where?"
Dwun casually said.
"That's our method of communication..."
List pointed to the top of his head, then glanced at the tops of the others' foreheads.
"This time, we're not coming in individually."
"And we don't have chat boxes above our heads anymore."
List smiled and said: "We no longer need to use those chat boxes to express ourselves like before."
"We can communicate directly through words."
"Really?!"
Dwun finally realized, his eyes widening.
"We can enter here together, and we're no longer restricted to a single method of communication."
"That guy has actually modified this network world to this extent?!"
Not only Dwun, but even the twin sisters, Eta and Elena, were a little surprised.
"Indeed."
List also sighed with emotion: "It seems that Ickshonpe is constantly learning and improving, taking the development of this network world to another level!"
"Especially this ability to freely converse and meet as digitized bodies face-to-face, this model was leaps and bounds more convenient than before."
List also had a certain respect for Ickshonpe.
"It's really not easy to achieve this!"
"Yes, yes!"
Dwun nodded repeatedly, then puffed out his chest and raised his head, saying: "And I believe he can develop even more functions based on this in the future!"
'Huh? Since when were you so confident in Ickshonpe? Weren't you just jealous of him earlier?'
List raised an eyebrow, giving him a doubtful look.
Then he heard Dwun continue with his follow-up remarks.
"If we could all be here together now, communicating face to face through words, then maybe..."
Dwun's voice rose.
"When Ickshonpe continues to develop and improve, the next step will be to allow us to have more entertainment options besides just chatting!"
Hmm?!!
Hearing this, List suddenly felt something was amiss.
"Now we're chatting, but in the future, could he also digitally display some cards here?"
"Then, we could all get together here and play cards together!!!"
Dwun's eyes lit up.
"Besides, since we can talk now, that means we can all sing too."
"With a little tidying up and livening up the surroundings, it could become a perfect place for singing!"
"Then, if we could bring a few bottles of wine, call a few girls... And ask Eta and Elena to come along, we could sing together..."
He clapped his hands, growing increasingly excited. "That would be perfect!"
Dwun's eyes blazed around, searching for support. "What do you think?!"
Eta and Elena: "..."
Razor: "..."
"We don't think it's very good."
'I knew it.'
List simply shook his head.
He almost wanted to bury his face in his hands, unwilling to look at this fool any longer.
He knew it; nothing but nonsense ever comes out of this idiot's mouth.
Didn't he see that Eta and Elena were practically rolling their eyes?!
Your behavior... In some ways, you're quite similar to that bastard Ging!
No wonder Ging dragged you over to make games together, you really are birds of the same feather!
Only Razor stayed quiet, not really voicing any opinions.
Well, it's mainly because he was previously a death row inmate captured by Ging Freecss himself and brought here specifically.
Although in name he was called a game master, a nice-sounding title, in truth, Razor knew very well how to place himself.
Completely unlike a certain someone, who was still yapping on and on, endlessly voicing all sorts of opinions.
Even with the main guest arriving at the scene, he hardly noticed.
Although, in fairness, the others hadn't noticed at first either.
But once the corner of their eyes caught sight of that familiar graffiti-like face of Ickshonpe, they immediately looked over.
"Hey, you're here."
List bowed slightly in greeting, his traditional courtesy evident.
The others, Elena and Eta, nodded in acknowledgement.
Even Razor raised his hand in greeting.
And then… their attention quickly shifted from Ickshonpe to the stranger beside him.
"Who is this..."
List stood up and asked curiously. "My name is Luke, and I'm an inventor."
Luke smiled and greeted everyone: "Nice to meet you, everyone. Please take care of me."
"Huh?!"
Dwun, who had just come to his senses and laughed with Ickshonpe, looked over.
"Luke? Inventor?"
He blinked. "How come I've never heard of that name?"
"Because I'm just a nobody…"
Looking at Dwun, whose eyes gleamed with pure foolishness, Luke simply smiled. "It would be strange if you had actually heard of me."
Yes, that scruffy, sloppy appearance, nobody else could carry it like Dwun.
He looks a lot younger than when he first appeared in the anime, and his beard isn't quite as untidy as it was in the future.
And…
"If you put it that way..."
Dwun rubbed his chin. "That makes sense, really."
This lackluster demeanor persisted for more than a decade.
"Are you Ickshonpe's friend?"
List, standing nearby, asked in a friendly manner.
To be in this chat room, and to be seen with Ickshonpe in this place…
It was clear that, regardless of the origins of this inventor named Luke, the mere fact that he was viewed with such esteem by Ickshonpe showed that he was definitely something extraordinary.
The profession he mentioned, in particular, had List slightly concerned.
Inventor…
[No, we've only just met.]
Suddenly, a piece of cardboard appeared in Ickshonpe's hand.
The words on the cardboard quickly appeared, then vanished.
[Strictly speaking, we're more like partners for now.]
[And...]
The words on the cardboard paused briefly before appearing: [I have no friends.]
"Huh? Why are you still using that cardboard to send messages?"
Dwun had discovered a blind spot.
"We can all talk directly here now, can't we?"
"And it's not even the old chat boxes, you've switched to cardboard panels..."
Dwun examined it seriously. "No matter how you look at it, it's inconvenient."