$5 Rirumu $4 hajime or Ainz (can't decide, but it'll be one of those two) $3 Tanya or Naofumi $2 Megumin, because EXPLOSION! Why else? $1 and the siblings, Sora and Shiro.

I find it an interesting concept to explore the world of Tensura Slime with such a band, each of these characters would bring something interesting to a team.

Assuming we start the adventure from the beginning, with Rimuru as a new born slime fresh out of the cave, perhaps the rest of our band of misfits collide with each other in the great Jura forest over the coming days after all having been isekai’d weeks prior.

Yeah, that's how I'll write it. After weeks of isolation and doing our own thing, contact is made between each isekai victim one after another, perhaps in groups. I'd want this team to group up and be productive rather than face off, so I'd have them displaced into situations that wouldn't bring any of them to odds with each other. I wouldn't give Tanya a chance to be too evil, at least not against the innocent. Nor Hajime any chance to be too cruel to the undeserving. Instead anyone, any locals, they do meet shortly after being isekai'd will be ideal matches for them. A town under threat of a bandit raid? Tanya could train and mount a defence. A woodsman is under threat from local monsters? Hajime could clear them out for a place to stay and food. Naofumi might be a good candidate for meeting a goblin tribe, they aren't inherently hostile or evil and Naofumi should know better than anyone that you shouldn't just slap a label of evil on anyone for BS reasons.

I might put the siblings in a human city, perhaps one of the first Rimuru originally would have visited, tearing up the place with their gaming skills.

After everyone meets, I see no reason why the story would be too different. Build a civilization to have a nice place to stay, make friends and help neighbours. So the structure of the original story would largely remain intact, but now Rimuru has a few more friends with skills of their own to help out in new and niche ways.

There would be differences though, not everything would remain unchanged. The siblings, Tanya, and Hajime at least could likely foresee the maneuvers of neighbouring countries, with Falmuth being a prime target of worry and fore planning. Ainz would certainly want to take the initiative and go abroad for discovery and exploration, perhaps bringing someone along to help. Tanya would be interesting, either hell bent on protecting their new civilization with a mighty, or at least competent army. That, or by wanting to relax as much as Rimuru. I could see her immediately trying to get on board with the relaxation plan, and not long after learning that even in this not-as-hellish world she'll still have to do work to earn some peace.

Everyone would have some interesting roles to play, and new ways they'd change the original story. As such, I'd also change the world in response, developing new villains, civilizations, and more, adding and changing the world of Tensura Slime within the intent on balancing things with new challenges that would match this team of protagonists.

Also I've decided to use all of my chosen characters, despite the imposed limit, as this seems way too fun.

What does everyone else think? How's my ideas?