Published at 11th of October 2025 2:46 am

Chapter Final Fanmail

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

“All aboard!” Ennolf called out, standing near the open doors of a large train as Dale and the others approached with bags and suitcases full of luggage. Anima blinked as she followed along, looking from side to side.

“So, your last fanmail is taking the form of a train? I suppose that’s one way to symbolize one last journey.” She said with a nod, climbing aboard with the rest of them.

“Wasn’t exactly our idea.” Dale said, chuckling slightly. “Ennolf sponsored the trip, so this is what it is.”

Anima nodded her head, allowing everyone to board the train and find their seats in a large passenger car. Dale sat in between Terra and Ryone, with Irena sitting on the other side of Ryone. Anima, meanwhile, sat directly across from them, the rest of the companions finding their own seats.

“There’s no screen here, so how are we getting our questions? Back to the shoebox?” Aurivy asked, glancing around the train.

However, Ennolf soon spoke up, arriving from the front of the car as the train began moving. “I’ll be taking care of the questions for today.” He said in a polite tone, wheeling a trolly full of snacks out to let people grab what they wanted.

Once everyone had what they wanted from the trolley, Ennolf stood near the front of the train, where a paper dispenser suddenly shot out a sheet for him to take. “Let’s see. Today’s first letter is from ‘Zecran25’. First question goes to Dale. Is it possible to contact your other Keeper friends?”

Dale glanced over at Anima, before looking back at Ennolf. “Unfortunately not. That’s part of why Anima was so lonely for so long, since she couldn’t directly contact any other Keepers.”

“I wasn’t lonely!” Anima protested, crossing her arms beneath her bust. “I had plenty of friends from my own worlds, you know!”

Ennolf nodded his head, looking at the next question on the page. “And this next question is for you, Anima. Can you make an item and system for the store?”

Anima blinked, looking over. “I’ve made quite a few, back when I was a Keeper. Dale even had some himself, like the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads. Or my old Kingdom system. However, after reaching this rank, we can’t submit systems for the normal Keeper market anymore. On the bright side, we don’t have to worry about being restricted by points when we’re getting systems for our own worlds, though that’s not so important since we’re at the level where we can make basically whatever systems we want manually.”

Ennolf nodded his head, depositing the completed letter into the bin nearby as another was dispensed. “This one comes from Aristocrat. While they liked the reveals towards the end, they are curious why most of the system integrations were done through Chelsea and Blank, as opposed to Ashley and her team.”

Ashley let out a small sigh, shaking her head. “Frankly, Chelsea is better with system code than I am. Maybe it’s because she used to be a System Companion herself? As for my team, they were operating primarily on Standard Time, and didn’t have the natural abilities of Blank to instantly analyze and modify code. For longer projects, it was better for my team to work on them, but we didn’t have the luxury of time as much near the end.”

Ennolf gave another nod, moving to the next question. “Next question, what is needed to get to the normal version of the seventh ranked? It has been mentioned that there were three of them.”

“I’ll take this one.” Anima said. “There are always exactly three Keepers at Rank Seven. No more, no less. This decision was made by the system before I reached my own ‘endgame’, as a way to support lower ranked Keepers and provide faction leaders. The normal reward for reaching the final rank is a multiplier on your points earnings.”

“However, for a new seventh rank Keeper to appear, one of the previous three has to die. Three Keepers is the bare minimum that you can have while maintaining the invasion schedule, so there was always a chance that one of them would defeat one of the others. But that chance was small, since they formed a delicate balance. In order to defeat one of the others, they’d have to spend so much of their resources that they’d be immediately vulnerable to the last one.”

“If one of the big three managed to die, the system would evaluate the power of all Rank Six Keepers, and the one with the highest overall power would be promoted.”

Ennolf glanced down at the paper again as Anima finished talking. “In that case, one last question. The readers weren’t able to see the garbled text when Dale was promoted. Will that be in the published version?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Terra answered. “There’s no real way to do the garbled text properly without cheating. In typical Zalgo text, the format used for corrupted text, it is still possible to read the underlying message. The only way to do it is by having actual nonsensical text, or replace the characters with meaningless boxes, neither of which would properly convey the feeling of corrupted text.”

Ennolf nodded his head, depositing the letter into the bin before grabbing another. “Next is from unmellow. For King, from Sanction’s world. How does it make you feel to know that the Keeper is now truly unassailable?”

“He’d probably hate it if I hadn’t already killed him.” Lifre said in a smug tone as a phone appeared next to Ennolf, ringing.

Ennolf reached over, answering the phone as the voice of King Halls spoke up. “Even if I were alive, there would be no hope of me overcoming the Administrator anymore.” He said, before falling silent. Seeing as there was nothing else to hear, Ennolf hung the phone up again.

“The next question is for Ashley and her team. Now that there is no more pressure from impending doom, what is your next project?”

Ashley tapped her chin briefly, leaning back in her seat. “I want to try to refine the game system we’re using more. Right now, there are a few problems with it. Nothing world shattering, but little hiccups that make certain ‘builds’, shall we say, more effective than others with the same amount of work. Although physical classes like monks are able to reach the same level of power as mages, they have to invest far more work to get there, as an example.”

“That makes sense.” Ennolf responded, before looking at the last question on the letter. “After making it this far, is there one decision that you made that you are the most proud of?”

Dale blinked, having to take a moment to think about that. “One decision… I’d have to say it was making Fyor when Aurivy and Bihena brought the idea to me. At the end of the day, it was ultimately Fyor that got us through most of our problems. If not for it, I wouldn’t have gotten James. We wouldn’t have been able to overcome the apocalyptic monsters as easily, perhaps not even at all. Although Fyor presented a series of logistical problems, it was overall something that saved us more often than anything else.”

Ennolf chuckled, depositing the letter into the bin before retrieving another. “His final wish is to provide all of you with some italian sodas.” He said, a fresh soda appearing next to everyone seated.

When Ennolf looked at the next letter, he paused, tapping on the wall. Everyone looked over at him as the train pulled to a stop, the door opening. “This next letter comes from ChristopherCraven.” Ennolf explained as familiar faces began to board the train. Sarah, Alice, Alkahest, Kate, and other Keepers that Dale had met along the way.

“Dale!” Sarah looked at Dale in shock. “What happened? You suddenly dropped out of the guild, and everyone forgot about you.”

“Let me handle this.” Anima chuckled, snapping her fingers. The eyes of the newly arrived Keepers seemed to clear up. “I just gave them all the rundown.”

Ennolf cleared his throat at that. “Thank you. Now, this question goes to all of you that Dale knew from his time as a normal Keeper. What changed for all of you?”

“Not much for me!” Kate answered, her arachnid legs clicking against the train floor. “I mean, the biggest change Dale made for my world was letting me have that Sylvan. But, I ended up having to reset after that, so that change didn’t really have any lasting effects… After I forgot stuff, I just basically continued on like normal.”

Balu pouted, her fluffy ears drooping. “All my notes about you disappeared from my memory wall. That’s cheating, you know! I put those notes there so that I don’t forget things.”

Sarah glanced at Alice, and then back at Dale. “For us… it’s kind of sad to say, but nothing really changed for us, either. Both of us have your dungeon world as a ‘memento’, you could say, but the memories of you being the one that developed it were removed.”

Alice nodding, glancing down. “And the fact that you were the one to bring me into the guild… After you left, I remembered it as if I had worked up the courage to talk to Sarah myself.”

Ennolf gave a satisfied nod, the train doors closing as it began to move again. “We’ll let all of you off before the end, so feel free to take a seat.” He said, the new Keepers moving to get comfortable as Ennolf read the next question. “To Chelsea and James, now that you are at the end, which of your theories failed that turned out to be true, and what do you plan to do now?”

James looked over at Chelsea with a chuckle. “Well, there were a bunch of energy combination theories that we originally failed to achieve, only to later realize that we were simply approaching it wrong. As for what we want to do now… I was thinking about having a honeymoon?”

Chelsea froze at that, her eyes widening as she slowly turned to look at James. “Wait… you mean?”

“It’s long overdue, don’t you think?” He asked, and Chelsea propelled herself across the train to slam into his chest, holding onto him and nodding her head rapidly.

“Of course it is, you big dummy!” She shouted out, causing the rest of the train to smile warmly at them.

Ennolf’s smile was particularly warm. “Finally, to Dale’s Pantheon. How do you differ from Anima’s Pantheon, for better or worse?”

Accalia chuckled. “Well, from what I saw, Anima has gods for literally everything. There’s this old guy who’s the God of Stubbing Your Toe At Night. Like, really, how did you even get that domain?”

Anima giggled lightly. “Domains are single words of power. In other words, as long as there is a single word that represents something, it can be a domain. After a while, my world just got too big for me to manage. And since points weren’t an issue anymore, I had my System Companion help me make gods for every single word possible, whether from my own languages or those of other Keepers that I learned along the way. That way, there would always be someone to turn to, no matter what happened.”

Keliope rolled her eyes. “And that’s also the downside, too! I mean, she just gave herself more people to manage by spreading it out like that! She probably can’t even remember the names of half of her Companions without using cheats.”

Anima glanced away at that, looking slightly guilty as Ennolf deposited the letter into the bin. “This next letter comes from Nizen. For whoever wishes to answer, over the long journeys you have taken, could you give us a question you wanted asked, and the answer to go with it?”

Aurivy’s eyes lit up mischievously, opening her mouth to speak before Julia abruptly covered it, seeming to know that Aurivy was going to say something she shouldn’t. Seeing this, Bihena chuckled. “I guess I’ll go, before Aurivy manages to get us all cancelled. I suppose that I always wanted someone to ask about my personal life. In the early days, there were those asking to date Accalia, and Ennolf even managed to get a representation of himself in that married Udona.”

“And for an answer… I haven’t really had anyone that significant to me for a long time. The closest would probably be Elisae, as the ruler of the kingdom that I founded. I would often visit her to chat, but our relationship wasn’t as close as Udona and her old friends. Accalia had her Huntresses, and Keliope had her dojos where she regularly sparred. Aside from Tubrock, I may have had the most isolated existence among us, but Tubrock’s the type who is fine, so long as he has his forge.”

Tubrock snorted at that, nodding his head in agreement as Ennolf moved to the next question. “Once again, to whoever wishes to answer. When the karma system was abolished, what happened to those who were bound by the old system, such as Elisae’s parents?”

Irena lifted a hand, speaking in a gentle tone. “I made sure to preserve their souls before the system was removed, allowing them to re-enter the cycle of life and death.”

Ennolf gave an acknowledging nod, looking at the last question of the letter. “After reading the story, Nizen seems convinced about something, and has one final question for Anima. Why did you interfere with Dale’s predecessor to prevent him from returning to his Admin Room before he died?”

Everyone looked at the blue-haired Keeper, who widened her eyes in response. “Don’t you put that evil juju on me! That’s slander! That idiot just got what was coming to him. He made himself a world where nobody had powers, which included himself since there were no powers to draw from. At most, he was as strong and durable as the most powerful humans.”

“Then, he cut off all forms of possible assistance from his biggest supporter, because she kept nagging him to do his job. He lived for years in his world, only ever returning to his Admin Room when he wanted to find a new place to live with a better view. I had nothing to do with Dale turning that guy into meat paste with the business end of his truck.”

“Now that’s a mental image…” Aurivy said once her mouth was free, giving a playful glare at Julia while Ennolf retrieved a new letter.

“This letter comes from StarbornCthulhu. To Anima, are there any other secrets to being the kind of Keeper you and Dale are now?” Ennolf asked, and Anima blinked, tilting her head in thought.

“Let’s see… no worries about points, everyone forgets our existence, we can’t die anymore, and we get to peep on other Keepers whenever we want for our own amusement while helping the system make its decisions. I think that just about covers it? Oh! We can freely send people back and forth between our worlds, too. We could even open up a permanent channel if we wanted.”

Ennolf nodded his head. “Dale, what is your plan from now on?” He asked, and Dale couldn’t help but look at the cuddling James and Chelsea, before turning to look at the girls immediately around him.

“I think it’s time for a much overdue vacation.” He said, the three nodding their heads in eager agreement.

“And finally, to Dale’s most loyal.” Ennolf began, looking at Tsubaki. “If it were possible, would you choose to become a Keeper, now that you know the ending of the journey?”

Tsubaki shook her head to deny that. “No, I believe that my place should continue to be by my Keeper’s side. There would be too many uncertainties if I were to undergo the path myself.”

Anima smirked mischievously. “Yeah, your little point exploit would prevent you from ever reaching this level if you pulled that for real.”

Tsubaki’s ears drooped as Ennolf threw the letter away, retrieving the next. “This one has only a single question from Aquitar Silentium. Dale, will you ever see your friends again?”

Dale glanced over at Sarah, Alice, and the others, who gave sad smiles in return. “I’ll be seeing them, but I don’t think any of them will ever be seeing me. Not unless I remake them as Companions after they die as Keepers.”

Anima nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s totally a thing you can do. I did something similar with my old friends when they kicked the bucket after I ascended. I mean, the biggest issue normally there is that your System Companion can’t access their personal details for privacy reasons, but that’s not an issue for us anymore.”

Ennolf perked a brow at that, depositing the letter and retrieving another. “This is from Voxol. First question goes to the system. Is the ‘true’ Rank Seven the final rank? Or is it possible for keepers to reach Rank Eight, with or without resets?” After he asked that, the phone rang next to him, and he picked it up. A deep, staticky voice spoke up over the phone.

“Rank Seven is the end.” The voice said in an emotionless tone, and Ennolf cleared his throat.

“Next question, also for the system. Does becoming a true Keeper mean there is permanently one less normal Keeper?” He asked, and a simple answer came out over the phone.

“Yes.”

Seeing that the system had no intention of elaborating, Anima chuckled. “That’s why there were only nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine after I ascended. Now, there will be nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-eight. Boy, I can’t wait to see what sort of OCD that will cause.”

Ennolf blinked, but nodded his head in agreement. “Indeed. I suppose, after a certain point, people will begin to wonder if there were truly more Keepers at one point, or if the number had other meanings.”

After saying that, he looked at the letter again. “The last question goes to Sarah and Alice. What are your thoughts on Dale reaching Rank Seven?”

The two girls in question looked at one another with sad smiles, Sarah being the one to speak up. “I’d like to say that we’ll miss him… but we won’t even be able to do that. Hopefully, he will bring us back as Companions with our memories of him like he said earlier. Other than that, I’m happy for him, that he won’t have to worry about any dangers anymore.”

Alice nodded her head in agreement as Ennolf retrieved another letter. “This is from LunaStik. Both of these questions simply go to whoever wishes to answer. First, what happened to the five-domain god that Dale once met on the verge of going insane, so he sealed two of her domains to let her hunt down other relics.”

Dale perked up in interest, curious to know the answer to this as well. Irena, meanwhile, cleared her throat. “Unfortunately, she died. This was back before we knew enough ways to provide nine domains, or how to stabilize our divinity through other methods. To hunt down primordial relics, she went into one forbidden zone after another, ultimately failing before acquiring her third relic.”

Dale’s head dropped at that, somewhat disappointed with the answer as Ennolf read out the second question on the letter. “What are the final relative fighting powers for everyone in the Pantheon, as well as Olympus residents?”

“If we’re including residents of Olympus, and not taking Companion immortality into account, I’d say Julia wins hands-down.” Keliope said with a grin. “Her apocalyptic swords are nothing to sneeze at. Even I wouldn’t be able to survive a hit from one of those. After that, it’d be Dana, Lifre, then Tsubaki. For the non-Origins, I think I’m probably the strongest, since I’m always training. But it’d be a close fight with Irena, what with her Death domain. As for the weakest… no offense, but that’s probably you, Tryval. You never really fought much, and your domains aren’t that suitable for combat.”

Tryval nodded his head in understanding. “I do not fault you for this, Keliope. It’s true, I was not made to be a combatant, so I am not ashamed to be the weakest amongst us.”

Ennolf discard the finished letter, retrieving another one. “This is from PedroSousa. Anima, do you have any plans of courting Dale?”

Anima sputtered for a moment, her eyes going wide as she looked at Ennolf, and then back to Dale. “Your people are really horny enough to just ship you with any girl that looks your way, aren’t they?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” He answered with a laugh, shaking his head.

Anima cleared her throat. “To answer the question, no. I do not have any plans on courting Dale. I am quite happily single, and intend to stay that way!”

Ennolf nodded, looking at the letter. “Can Dale still reach Rank Seven…? He’s already Rank Seven, so I’m not sure what that question means. Same with the potential reward if he achieved it.” He answered, shaking his head as he deposited the letter into the bin.

As he retrieved the next letter, the train pulled up to a stop. “Final stop!” A voice called out over the speakers. “All non-commuting parties, please disembark.”

Sarah sighed, moving to stand and make her way to the door with the others, giving one last look at Dale as Ennolf read the letter. “This is from Simpson, with one question for Dale and the others. Did you all have fun living your lives throughout this series?”

Dale looked at Sarah, who had stopped at the door, and smiled slightly. “Yeah… I really did.” He said, the others nodding their heads as well. Hearing that, Sarah returned the smile, finally exiting the train as the doors closed behind her.

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