Life is precious.
What was once such a common phrase that everyone in the world could agree on was now thrown to the wayside in the current age. Throughout the slow passing of time, certain laws and restrictions began to become obsolete as the power dynamic of the world slowly shifted from leaders of countries to the leaders of businesses.
In the early 21st century, things were still for the most part normal. Though some things could be influenced by having enough money thrown someone's way, people were able to live in whatever way they saw fit, and jobs were still normal and treated people fairly. However by the middle of the time period, power began to shift away from the leaders of the world as companies that the world depended on grew in scope.
Essential services such as the internet were practically impossible to live without, and as technology grew, so did the people who provided it. Though life continued on as normal, certain policies were phased out in a effort to grow at a faster pace. Though this did cause a noticeable increase in workplace accidents and deaths, The first true VR systems had come out around this time, which was most people focused on, and caused more important news to falter for a bit. Perhaps things may have been different had this not been the case.
By the centuries end however, it was to late. companies had grown to powerful to stop, as even if governments stepped in, they could not do much due to how integral certain technologies became, so even a minor misstep would have massive economical cost. Because of this, they became leaders in name only, as most jobs that were not automated was under those corporations. And most people will tell you that this was the point where society turned into what it is now, and when the corporations that now ran things gain the title of "Mega".
Now in the year of 2138, death was hardly a rare thing. Peoples corpses were scattered along the sides of roads, as homelessness was practically a death sentence due to the deadly miasma that filled the air. And even those that did have shelter were not much better off, since most jobs were extremely hazardous to work in. unless you had managed to get lucky and make it to high school, you would most likely be forced to put your life on the line to simply earn a living.
Mining for resources, constructing skyscrapers, and even jobs as mundane as working on an assembly line were only but a few examples. Though they were the most common, as many required precision. While they were dangerous, the mega-corporations knew that people could not simply choose not to work, which gave the perfect opportunity to remove policies.
Things like healthcare and the like were phased out, with the excuse being that "So many people are injured on the job nowadays, and the economy would collapse if everyone received treatment by the state."
The most controversial however was child labor.
Due to the dangerous nature of the jobs that needed to be done, people vehemently defended against this for quite a while, but eventually were forced to concede after bills were just to high for most people to pay on their own.
As a result, the number of workplace related deaths increased by a fairly noticeable margin, and due to The nature of the companies, very little money was payed to the grieving families, such was their callous disregard for there lives.
Many had suffered greatly under them, but it was far to late to do anything about it. This was, and continues to be, the new status quo.
And no one was exempt from this.
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A door was thrown open with alarming amount of force. The noise of the door hitting the wall behind it was the first thing to break the dead silence of the house. Yet after the initial slam, the dead air once again took root.
Though one may find the sound of emptiness in their home to be pleasing, as it signified nobody had entered while you were away, the face of the man whom had just walked in seemed to fall slightly, giving off a rather depressing air.
The house itself seemed to be quite well of, a rare commodity to most in this age. Everything was cleanly sorted out, and each object was sorted to fit in a set place, so nothing felt out of place, and would make it extremely easy for one to find what they needed. Though when one looked closer, it almost bordered on obsession.
Things that did not even need to be sorted were arranged neatly and crisp, such as silverware and other utensils. While strange, it was not a true issue, and it really caused no problems, so it could only be described as off putting at the very most.
The owner of this house was known to his friends in YGGDRASIL as Genjiro, and was responsible for the organization of the guilds magic items and other such objects.
He considered himself well suited for the role, as he suffered from ocd, and therefore did not mind tidying up the giant pile of wealth that was the treasury. Of course, even this had its limits. Though he sorted weapons, data crystals, armor, and the like into there own distinct categories, even he could not begin to organize the true bulk of their treasure. The various trinkets that laid in their vault were simply to numerous and possessed to many categories to be able to sort them accordingly.
After setting his work cloths aside and grabbing a drink, he simple sat down with a loud sigh.
"Well there goes another day down the drain. Once again the same as always..." though he seemed to be a rather sad individual, this was not always the case. Even now he was still a well-meaning person to be around, but he had become more secluded even since his had lost the one closest to him.
A long time ago, He had been walking home when he decided to talk with one of the many orphans on the street. There was no greater meaning to it, he must just trying to be kind as he killed time while waiting for this bus. Yet the encounters continued more after that, until it became a daily occurrence.
Eventually they got along so well he took her in to stay with him. They only grew closer after that, and he even began to see her as his daughter. Something to cheer up his otherwise bland life.
That was, until she died.
Like most children her age, she was able to start working now that she had a valid address. However, the conditions were far worse then what she expected, and as a result, one day she had perished. Hearing this completely devastated him.
Since he was lost in his sorrow, he was barely able to focus on guild activities, and chose to quit as a result. He was unable to really participate in his state of mind. Unlike most who descend into poor habits such as alcoholism, he instead chose to stave of his grief by occupying himself with other hobbies and activities to avoid the grim reality. This is what led to the state of his house, as he absorbed himself in the act of organizing to avoid thinking about what had happened.
This had gone on for quite a long time before he was able to accept it. And even now he still felt sorrow that he would most likely spend the rest of his life alone once more. Nowadays it felt like he was just moving through life, and just going through the motions.
"What's there to do this time?" he lazily connected to his VR set and flipped through the many different channels. Of course, nothing ever caught his eye, it was more out of habit, or routine at this point. Really nothing on would be something he wanted to listen to. All the news reported nowadays was tragedies and news on the mega-corporations. Yet he continued to flip threw the various different sections of his set to find anything that he may be able to distract himself with for the rest of the day.
"Hah, same old same ol... huh? YGGDRASIL?" despite being shut down quite a while ago, and thus being taken off the market, it was clearly sitting right in front of him. Its icon staring him in the face.
"Could this be the rumored YGGDRASIL 2 that people were talking about? would they really just release it with no news whatsoever?" He though about the matter for a moment, before concluding his thoughts with a definitive, "Absolutely."
The devs of that game were known for pulling stuff all the time, so this would hardly be unordinary.
"Well its something to do. Maybe I'll be able to see everyone from Ainz Ooal Gown again. Though thinking about it, it's probably quite unlikely."
Even so, he had made his decision. with a quite tap of his console, he prepared to start what would no doubt be the start of another exciting adventure just as the first had been.
And as he did, his vision became swallowed by blackness.
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"What the hell?" as he woke from his daze, those were the only words he could use to describe his current predicament.
Instead of being anywhere familiar, such as YGGDRASIL's initial spawn point, or even the Great Tomb of Nazarick for that matter, he was in what appeared to be in a simple room. Said space was rather lackluster, and resembled what one may imagine the interior of a castle in medieval times to look like. It appeared to be a living space, as there was a dresser, a mirror, and a couch within it.
There was no light source in the room, which left most of it darkened. It was only through the gentle moonlight that fluttered in through the window that illuminated what little was there. Looking through it revealed many buildings similar to what he was in, but at first glance, nothing important could be gleamed from them.
There was also two doors on either side of the room. Though not exquisite in make, they were still quite pleasing to look at, and had the passage of time not worn them down, they clearly would cost a fair price. Presumably they would just lead to other sections of the hose.
However, if people did live here once, it was plain to see that they were no longer here.
Everything in the room was caked in a thick layer of dust that seemed to give everything in the domain an almost muted coloring, to the point that it was almost white. Even the wooden flooring appeared to have a carpet over it from how much grit had accumulated.
"This is odd? I would have thought that it the start would be a bit more streamlined. like how back in the first game, you would be given a cut scene to give the explanation on the plot, then go from there. Yet now I've just been thrown into the thick of it. Or could this be a pre-game prologue?"
The idea was not to outlandish when he thought about it in those terms. Perhaps this was just a tutorial that would go through the story as you explored a ruined castle. It did seem to fit the bill of the 'explore the unknown' motif the devs constantly tried to cram down the throats of those who played.
"Well, its certainly a fun way to tell a story, having you sift through the aftermath of whatever happened to give it more life is something I'm willing to get behind. Though where to start?"
From the look of things, the room he was in did not have anything worth noting. Though the devs of YGGDRASIL were well known for there sadism in hiding things, they still kept it fair for the most part. They would not hide something in front of a new player in the spawn area. Especially not if this was just a interactive story. The only thing noteworthy was the two doors, which appeared to be his only sensible option at the moment.
Knowing them, one of them probably leads to a death trap just for laughs. No, that's almost certainly the case.
One had to assume the worst in YGGDRASIl, or things would go south very quickly. If you thought something was a trick or a trap, 9 times out of ten, you'd be correct.
"Hmph!" he made a noise to signify his acceptance of the challenge, as well as psyche himself up, and strode forth to the door on his right.
Yet instead of finding a pathway to his goal, or even a NPC to explain something to him, what he found defied all of his expectations.
It was a bathroom.
In hindsight, it would be relatively obvious to most, but it was simply so obvious he had failed to account for the fact that it may not even be a trap at all.
"Huh. Well that took the wind right out of my sail–Cough Cough!"
Unsurprisingly, when one moves around in a room filled to the brim with grime and dirt, its only natural that one would inevitably begin to cough due to the accumulation. But this seemingly normal fact of life was anything but normal in this situation.
How the hell was I able to cough?! This is all virtual isn't it? Stimulus like that shouldn't even exist!
The instant this though hit him, he immediately switched his mental state from one of curiosity, to one of panic. A feeling that should have been completely impossible to replicate by virtual means, had just occurred.
"But how could... what!" while he was looking the ground in confusion, another completely unforeseen event had developed. And almost if spurred on be his new state of mind, he noticed something that should have been self evident.
His hands were not that of a humans.
Though in a game that would hardly be strange, he was startled for a completely different reason. The fact that they were so familiar to him was a the truly startling thing.
Without hesitation, he moved to the mirror in the room he had spotted previously, and threw the dust of at alarming speeds. While this resulted in another bout of coughing, he did not care and choose to focus on his new form.
Though only lightly illuminated through the moons glow, he could make out most of his features. His skin was a very deep blue, almost appearing to be grey, with formless pale white markings on the arms and chest that gave off the appearance of tribal tattoos. And upon closer inspection, there was small seams near his chest area, which gave his skin a almost, chitin like appearance. His face was quite similar to that of a elves, with long ears and beautiful features. his pure white hair was formed into a funnel like shape, and gave it the appearance of silk.
Though he was now in a body that was completely foreign to him, the name of his species was readily apparent to him.
He was a Arachne.
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Arachne's were one of the few heteromorphic races that had a fairly normal body compared to the others. They were often mistaken for elves due to there long ears, and according to the games lore, the would use this to there advantage to lure in unsuspecting people away, only to devour them in there nest. Some players even used their appearance to avoid the various PK hunters that preyed on heteromorphs by using this technique.
Their base stats were fairly low for a heteromorph, and the only thing that was worth noting was there higher than average agility, so they weren't very popular. However to compensate for this, they could adopt a more monstrous form once per day once a certain level was reached. which far outstripped other creatures in strength, as well as gaining special abilities that were unique to it.
The racial skills they could used were not to different from other insectoid races, and the extremely similar Arachnid race was generally considered to be better due to their more even stat spread. Yet the few players that were able to find a niche for them tended to play in very similar ways.
Though most players tended to say the drawbacks were not worth the advantages, they could still be used quite well on a smart player who knew how to use their abilities.
One of them being Genjiro.
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Though he could accurately guess the species of his new body, it was not comforting to him in the least, as the reason he could so easily guess it was simple.
This was his avatar back when he first played YGGDRASIL.
Though he lacked his gear, and only possessed a thin pair of brown leather pants,(the games form of censorship), it was clearly the same being he had played as years back. Bearing witness ot this, as well as the sensations he had previously felt, A thought ran through his head. A completely ludicrous idea that he was trying his best to ignore. A voice that was saying to him–
What if this isn't a game?
Impossible.
Such a thing was naturally not something that could happened in this world. It was only used for storytelling and nothing more. Fiction, in other words. He couldn't have possibly been summoned to a brand new world could he?
This must be a dream right? A extremely realistic dream, but a dream none the less! He attempted to console himself by coming up with possible scenarios for his situation, but the more he stood there in silence, the more his fear and uncertainty grew, causing him to panic even further.
"This doesn't make any sense! How is this possible! How could this have happened!" his panic over this unexpected situation was causing him to repeat himself, almost as a coping mechanism, as if explaining how strange the scenario was would somehow fix things.
"Okay, okay. I just need to calm down. Breath." Mindlessly panicking like this would not end well in the future. If he wanted any hope of understanding, and therefore, fixing this, he would need to have a clear state of mind.
After allowing his predicament to settle into his mind, he finally allowed himself some tranquility, however brief. Now was not the time to fall into fear.
"If I really am in another world, then the first thing I need is information. But what should I...!" despite all the shock he had been receiving over the course of the last minute, the most unexpected thing yet just occurred.
The sound of a doorknob turning could be keenly heard.
And with it, a thrill of terror that ran through his body which refused to vanish.
In his bout of hysteria, he had completely disregarded the fact that he may not be alone. Though it seemed unlikely, it was still possible.
Right now, he was completely defenseless, unaware of his location, situation, and his current abilities. And now a unknown entity was about to appear. His brain entered a fight or flight state, and in the 1 second he had to decide, he choose the latter, and in his attempt to hide, subconsciously activated a skill.
His body blended into the shadow of the walls, rendering himself completely invisible to the naked eye.
Did I just use a skill?
Genjiro had built his character to be a rouge-cum-trapper who specialized in area denial and movement penalty. His was essentially someone who would plant traps for victims to become immobilized and debuffed by, and then the his team would finish of the weakened opponent.
The fact that he seemed to still possess his repertoire of skills as a lv 100 was a small comfort, but still did not alleviate his worries. No matter how powerful one built there character to be, they would be essentially useless without gear to supplement there build. Nevermind level 100, even a level 70 creature could likely defeat him if it was combat oriented.
Still, he lied in wait as the door slowly opened. It would appear whoever was appearing was just as cautious as him.
Yet, one the entrance was fully agape, the figure was now completely visible. It was humanoid in appearance, and if looks we any indication, she was a female.
She had long blonde hair which was curled in several places, giving a very distinct look that gave of a feeling of nobility. Her sharp eyes glowed with a emerald sheen, made all the more beautiful in the moons light, and despite her fair features, her face was filled with vigilance, carefully watching her surroundings, with one hand constantly on the hilt of the greatsword on her back.
She was very clearly a warrior.
Her equipment seemed to be quite well made, if not, a bit bland compared to most high end ones, but he did not have the appropriate class to appraise it from this distance, and could only guess at her abilities based on her mannerisms.
Well, since I'm hidden like this, she shouldn't be able to detect me. Though this is a fairly low level skill, it would take at least a level 50 divination's specialist to find me as I am now.
Without warning, she adopted a fighting stance that made use of her weapons length, that almost made it double as a shield, and shouted out into the empty air, "I know someone is here, so show yourself now! Before I destroy this entire room!"
Not good.
Though he was unclear on how she managed to detect his presence, it was now evident that hiding was not going to work. He had very little time to weigh his options, and seeing the predicament he was in, it may be better to comply with her demands.
After deactivating his skill, he slowly strode from his position, causing her to instantly pivot toward him, her eyes full of suspicion and panic.
"Wha... who are you!? What are you doing here!?"
"I could ask you the same thing. I was under the impression that this place was abandoned. But before that how did you find me? I'm quite adept at sneaking, and you don't look like a seeker, nor did you cast a spell, so what technique did you use?" he asked not only because he was curious, but the question also served to deescalate the tense situation.
"I could hear noises from a distance, and when I got here there were footprints lying around in the dust. But you didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"
Her eyes did not leave him for a single second. It would seem she was still quite suspicious of him,
"Look, I promise I'm not here to harm you or anything, I just got lost and found myself here. If you want me to leave I will, but could you at least point me towards the nearest city?"
She squinted her eyes towards him, presumably attempting to see through any lies that were reflected in his face. Though after some time, her eyes lost some of the power that was put into them, and she seemed to be lowering her guard somewhat. "Are you an elf? How did you manage to make it this far south? Was it because you were running from the theocracy?"
He gave thanks in his heart for this heaven-sent question. Now he had a motive for being here. Though his reason for that motive was still unknown to him.
"Indeed. I Had lost my way at some point and found myself here, so I was just looking around to find anything useful."
"I see..." After a small period of introspection on her part, it would seem she was willing to let down her guard as she finally sheathed her weapon. "Well then I apologize for trying to attack you, but you really caught me by surprise. Your skills in stealth seem to be quite impressive. Did you learn them in the Elven forest by chance? As I understand it you elves are especially skilled when it comes to guerrilla tactics."
"Well not exactly. I learned my methods on my own, but your not exactly wrong." Lie after lie flew through hid teeth in order to draw suspicion off of him. He could only hope this would not come back to bite him later on.
Since he had finally gotten her to at least regard him as a non threat, he decided to ask a question that he had been curious about since he had first seen her.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask this, but are you a player?"
"Huh?" her face was the very picture of confusion. Bearing witness to this, he could reasonably assume that she was not. However this brought more questions than it answered. But he would have to leave that for later.
"Never mind. I can see by your reaction that your aren't. No need to worry yourself over it." though he could see she was clearly still confused, she would most likely not understand even if he were to explain it.
"Is anyone else here by the way? It seems strange for there to be only one person here." upon hearing this seemingly normal question, her face seemed to take on a strange expression he couldn't quite place, as there was too many emotions within it to accurately place.
Yet after a prolonged period of silence she finally responded with a "Yes" with a voice that seemed to have been squeezed out. "If you would like to meet them, I can take you there. they may be able to point you in the right direction"
"Wonderful. By the way I don't believe we formally introduced ourselves. My name is Genjiro. It's a pleasure."
"Likewise. I'm Lakyus. Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra."
A/N Since these supreme beings barely have anything known about them, I have to basically take my own spin on them to make them work, which in my opinion is almost bordering on OC. Really I'll probably only use him for story beats and a specific moment that will happen later on I specifically brought him here for. Though right now he's just here to move the story. A more popular supreme one will take the stage in a few chapters. Also, sorry that the usual schedule has been a bit muddy lately. Part of it is trying to thing of good dialogue for a section of the story I don't have fully mapped out yet. I'll try to get back on track for the future, or at the very least, not make these things be only coming out once a week. His backstory was really causing me to stall.