Multiverse Share: In 36 Worlds at the Same Time

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Renzo shrugged. "Who knows?"

"But tell me, what exactly do these crazy guys usually do to people like me? Do they just sneak up and knock me out, or…?"

"Hahaha! Nah, nothing that extreme!"

The bald adventurer waved his hands dismissively. "At most, they'll try to isolate you or make things difficult so you can't fit in around here."

"They can be a pain, sure, but most of them aren't actually bad people. Plus, if they went too far, Luna-san would hate them for it, and they wouldn't dare risk that."

After all, Axel was just a peaceful little starter town.

Most people weren't bad by nature, and even the troublemakers hadn't completely gone off the deep end.

"Then there's nothing to worry about. They won't be able to affect me anyway," Renzo said, completely unfazed.

Then, he added with a smirk, "Besides, nothing has even happened between me and Luna-san yet. Isn't it a little early to be worried about this?"

"Hah, I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just overthinking things," the bald adventurer said, giving Renzo an apologetic look as he got up to leave.

But Renzo shook his head. "Not at all! I actually appreciate the warning. Here, take this bottle of wine—it's on me. And if anything comes up about me or my teammates, I'd appreciate the heads-up."

With a casual flick of his wrist, Renzo conjured a bottle of top-quality Bubbly wine and handed it over.

In this world, magic was everywhere, so a little trick like that wouldn't raise any suspicions.

"Oh? Hah! This is some good stuff! Well, I won't turn down a fine drink. Thanks, kid!"

The bald adventurer happily accepted the bottle with a grin, gave Renzo a nod of gratitude, and walked away.

At the same time, he was thinking to himself while holding the Bubbly wine: "This guy seems worth befriending. He's pretty confident too—maybe because he's strong? Hmm… maybe I should invite him to the Succubus Café sometime. Hehe!"

Renzo, who had been casually reading his thoughts with mind magic, nearly choked on his drink.

"Do I really seem like that kind of guy?! 😑"

But then, a sly grin spread across his face.

"Please, make sure to invite me! I've been meaning to have a deep philosophical discussion with the succubi, after all!"

Just as Renzo was chuckling to himself, a timid voice called out from behind him.

"U-Um... excuse me... are you the one recruiting party members?"

Renzo turned around.

Standing before him was a petite girl wearing a large, pointed wizard's hat, a red short robe, and a deep brown cape. Her left eye was covered by a Chūnibyō-style eyepatch with a white cross pattern.

"Are you the one recruiting top-tier class adventurers? My name is—"

Before she could finish introducing herself, Renzo cut her off with a grin.

"You're Megumin, the Arch Wizard, right? You're hired!"

"Eh?" 😧?

Megumin stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"Wait… what? This isn't how it's supposed to go! Aren't there supposed to be negotiations, questions, trials?!"

"Ahem!"

"You... you know who I am?" she asked, slightly uneasy.

Her mind raced. "Is this party full of weirdos? Or maybe this handsome guy has some kind of ulterior motive?"

But then she quickly shook her head. "No, no. If this was an official guild recruitment, Luna-san must have approved it. That means they can't be bad people… right?"

Bonk!

Renzo, seeing the gears turning in her head, reached out and flicked her forehead with a smirk.

"Stop overthinking things, little troublemaker."

Megumin clutched her forehead, looking up at him in shock.

"I already know about you," Renzo said with a grin. "That's why I accepted your application. You're exactly the kind of member we need for our party. Oh, and I'm Renzo."

And why not?

His team already had a complete idiot and a temporary battle maniac—nobody in their right mind.

A girl who could only cast one giant explosion spell per day and then collapse from exhaustion? She fit in perfectly.

"R-Really?" Megumin's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You truly believe that Explosion Magic is the ultimate power?"

"Absolutely!" Renzo nodded firmly. "So, are you in?"

Megumin clenched her fists with determination. "Please let me join your party!"

"Great!" Renzo gave her an "OK" hand gesture. "You're officially part of the team! Have a seat and order whatever you like—it's my treat. We're still recruiting one more person, so make yourself comfortable."

He handed her a menu.

"C-Can I really?"

Megumin stared at the menu, her mouth watering at the sight of all the delicious-looking dishes.

"Wow, this guy's really generous..." she thought.

"And he's super handsome too! What a great person!"

Grumble~~

At that moment, her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.

Megumin: "..."😳

Blushing furiously, she looked up at Renzo, trying to find a way to explain herself.

But before she could, Renzo waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it! Everyone has tough times. Just go ahead and order whatever you want—I've got plenty of money!"

"Mm!" Megumin nodded firmly, feeling touched. "Thank you!"

She eagerly started scanning the menu.

However, a new problem arose.

"If I order too much, will he think I'm greedy?"

"But if I order too little, I might not get full…"

"We just met. I don't want to give a bad first impression."

She hesitated, flipping through the pages nervously. 

Renzo, seeing her dilemma, simply took the menu from her and ordered a massive spread of food himself before handing it off to the waitress.

Megumin's eyes widened in gratitude.

"Thank you!"

At this moment, she actually looked like a normal girl.

"No need to be so polite! You'll soon realize—I really don't have money problems."

Renzo waved it off with a confident grin, making Megumin envious.

"When will I finally reach the point where I don't have to worry about money like him?"

"That must be such a wonderful life… sigh."

The Adventurer's Guild had pretty fast service, and within ten minutes, half the dishes had already been served.

Megumin immediately dug in, completely abandoning any sense of table manners.

Between keeping up appearances and filling her stomach—well, appearances could wait!

"Mm! Mm! Renzo!"

Megumin's mouth was stuffed with food, but she still looked up at him, wanting to ask something.

"What is it? Got a question?"

Renzo, casually chewing on a piece of Giant Toad meat, smiled at her.

"Man, I gotta say, this toad meat is delicious!" he added, thoroughly enjoying his meal.

It was leagues better than the steaks from his past life!

Not to mention, it was packed with nutrients that actually helped improve his physical strength.

Well, it was monster meat, after all!

"So... the others you mentioned recruiting—who are they? Are they already confirmed members like me?" Megumin asked curiously.

She knew herself well—she had no idea why Renzo had chosen her.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried to join other adventurer teams before.

At first, those teams had been excited to have an Arch Wizard, a top-tier class, join them.

But the moment they found out she could only fire one spell before collapsing, they all abandoned her.

Lately, no one even wanted to give her a chance anymore.

If it weren't for Wiz, the kind-hearted lich who ran the magic shop occasionally helping her out, she probably would have starved to death by now.

Her life? A single word summed it up: tragic.

"Yep! That's right!" Renzo nodded, then pointed behind Megumin.

"Look, here they come now."

Megumin quickly turned around and saw a beautiful female knight with long, golden hair walking toward them, accompanied by a petite, flat-chested thief.

"Excuse me! Are you the ones recruiting party members?"

Darkness stared at Renzo, her face slowly turning red as she stammered,

"U-Um… I!... Ah…!"

Her voice trembled with excitement.

"What if they reject me?"

"That would be so humiliating…!"

"The shame… the agony… oh no…!"

Renzo: "..."

Megumin: "..."

Chris: "Ahaha… yeah, that's Darkness for you."

No wonder she couldn't make friends.

That was why she, the goddess herself, had secretly descended to the mortal realm to befriend her!

After all, Darkness's family had worshipped her for generations.

By the way, this thief, Chris? Yeah, she was actually Eris, the goddess. And not just any goddess—she was the patron deity of the largest church in this world.

Hell, even this world's currency was named after her.

Compared to Eris, Aqua wasn't even worth mentioning.

The difference was just too big!

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