Bold=Character speaking.

Italics=Character's thoughts.

[_]=Item/Spell/Ability.

Every End, a New Beginning

"Where am I? What is this? What happened? Why haven't the servers shut down? What's going on?"

A million thoughts were going through Kalman's head, and he had no answers. Try as he might, ten years of working as a corporate drone had robbed him of most of his brain cells, but luckily, he had enough to not start panicking in this unknown situation.

"Dear God, that reeks. What is that, smog? No, it's probably smoke, and…blood? What? Wait a second, smell? Yggdrasil didn't have a sense of smell, even if it was possible to implement technologically, the government of Japan would never allow it, don't want people to have hopes they might escape their pathetic existence. So, I'm probably in my apartment, but I'm outside? And it's raining, and the rain isn't eating away at my skin… Strange. Wait a second, I'm wearing my armor from Yggdrasil by the looks of it. The shitty devs probably messed up the server shut-down and I got put in one of the unused areas or something like that. Or maybe it's a hidden sequel? Nah, someone would've leaked it or there would've been news. At any rate, I won't get any answers by standing here in the rain. Better look around."

Kalman proceeded to look around, and he came upon a curious sight to his right flank. An old wagon broken upon the side of the road, with the right half being buried in mud, and the left half being keeled over. One of the wheels was broken in half, about a dozen or so metres ahead of the broken wagon, and the other seemed still attached, but wobbly and useless. He saw various crops, clothes, an axe, a small box which contained golden coins, now broken open. Nothing unusual. What was unusual was the body of the small girl next to these common items. A small child of no more than 10 years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a look of pure terror on her face. There was no obvious sign of death, but upon closer inspection, there was a small pool of blood behind her, and a puncture wound on her neck. A most unseemly sight. Strangely enough, Kalman did not think too much of it. Though he found no joy in the sight, he was not particularly saddened. The girl appeared to have died not too long ago.

"Damn, so that's what a dead body smells like when it's not covered up by the smell of smoke and trash…Not something I want to get used to. I should find out what happened."

Kalman walked to the front of the carriage, hoping to find a clue as to what exactly was going on. Instead, he found something that at the moment, he wished he had not. A few steps to the right of the carriage, into the forest that was to his right flank, he saw a woman's head. She appeared to be young, no more than 30, with blonde hair and green eyes, much like the girl in the carriage. She had a look of pure despair and misery on her face, as if her entire world had fallen apart, and it was obvious why. While she was alive, she appeared to wear common traveler's clothes, the kind you'd find in a 14th century movie. The girl in the carriage was unmistakably her daughter, and here was her mother's head. Her corpse was not too far apart, being only a few steps to the side. The woman appeared to have been beheaded violently, and it was evident why. The corpse was a meal for five imps, violent and ugly red little things, gorging themselves on the woman's innards, too preoccupied to pay attention to the warrior staring at them. Next to them, was also a corpse of a man with brown hair and blue eyes, holding a makeshift spear in his hand. He died fighting, but evidently, did not do much. He did not appear to be very appetizing or remarkable, so the little bastards probably kept him as emergency food. The imps were so preoccupied with the woman's succulent flesh, they would probably not notice an elephant if it were to drop on their heads. Not that one could, seeing as they were extinct. Much like how these imps would soon be.

"Oy, what the fuck are you doing."

The biggest one of the imps, their leader most likely, who had an extra pair of horns, merely looked at Kalman with a look of surprise and confusion.

"Human, meat! No survivors! Kill you for master, yes yes, you die for our god!"

"What?"

The big imp with red and black skin, decided to jump towards Kalman with its claws outstretched, clearly expecting an easy kill. However, something was not right.

"What's going on? Why is he moving so slow? Is the server lagging? Probably. Devs probably messed up the server shut down and now they're pulling the plug, so there's less processing power for the AI. Still, an imp? Low level garbage? What's the point of making a hidden zone if you're gonna populate it with trash mobs? But perhaps… No, that's impossible."

The imp was flying through the air at such a slow speed it seemed like a caricature, like it was as being carried by strings through the air like a 20th century movie. Soon though, those strings would be cut.

"I don't have time for this shit."

Kalman merely decided to throw a casual punch, knowing that as a level 100 character, especially one with high physical stats, he could oneshot low level trash mobs with an unarmed attack. And he was right. When his fist connected with the imp's belly, it proceeded to explode into a messy pile of blood and guts. Knowing that imps are worthless trash, and he could probably not get any further in any quests by attempting to talk to them, Kalman rushed to the woman's corpse, and like one would kick a football, he proceeded to kick all the imps off her corpse. Though the resulting gore from the imps exploding via a single kick was disgusting, it was a more pleasing sight than watching a woman get cannibalized.

"Disgusting. The devs had a penchant for brutality but not to this degree. Usually when a mob died, it would collapse into particles and leave behind crystals. I don't see anything like that here. Or perhaps it's because it's a summon. Or is it? Summon or not, it shouldn't leave behind a corpse."

With each step he took and each action he made, Kalman just ended up being more and more confused. For starters, the most surprising part was the woman's naked chest. It looked much like a pair of breasts would in real life, but Yggdrasil did not allow nudity. It was forbidden by law. Any explicitly sexual actions would be monitored, and you could lose your account within a single day.

Bikini armor, swearing, sexual innuendos were all allowed, but touching another Player or NPCs genitalia, was strictly forbidden, and it was impossible for them to be completely naked, seeing as they would always wear a pair of boxers, and female characters would also wear a bra. Giving people a hug, was thankfully, completely OK.

"What the…Yggdrasil didn't have nudity. What's going on?"

Kalman turned around, as the thought that these were actual living beings who were cannibalized by demons, and not merely NPCs as part of a quest chain wormed itself into his mind.

"No, that's impossible. I'm sure there's an explanation. Perhaps it's a military experiment, or I'm just asleep. No, that's not it."

Kalman turned around and started pacing near the corpses. Then he saw it. Or rather them. A small pile of worms, moving through the mud. A normal sight in real life. Except for two things. The first being that, due to the rampant pollution of the environment, worms pretty much never went above ground, even when it rained, except in specific nature preserves. And Kalman lived in New London, a city of 12 million, constructed on the bank of the Dnieper River after the catastrophic societal collapse of 2086. Global warming, pollution, wealth inequality, massive floods of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa into Europe due to the unyielding march of the Sahara Desert consuming crops and homes, the depletion of fossil fuels, and the coup de grace which was WW3 consumed most of Western Europe and caused a flood of refugees from Western Europe into the Eastern part of the continent and into Siberia itself, which suddenly became one of the most valued regions on the entire planet. Kalman himself was descended of German and Hungarian migrants into the New Eurasian Union, which formed as a result of the widespread expansion of American and Chinese aggression into Central Asian, African and European territories due to the lack of habitable and cultivatable land, precious metals and minerals and other vital resources.

The second being that, the shitty devs never actually bothered to make textures or models for worms and other small insects. They said that this would eat up too much processing power for something most people would never notice, and simply never put it in the game. The only places you could get such sights, were in Guild Bases, for they were considered separate instances and there was often a 5 second loading screen required to load all the assets in a Guild Base. And he was not in any Guild Base.

This only left Kalman's very slow brain with one possible conclusion.

"Is this reality? Am I in my avatar's body somewhere, or has Yggdrasil become real? What happens now?"

Panic set in, as the realization that instead of slaving away at a desk job for mediocre pay, he could potentially be ambushed by PK-ers, die to a trap, face a Raid-boss level Dragon, or fight a World Enemy.

"Let's think for a second. If Yggdrasil has become real, I need to set up my priorities.

First things first, I need to do is figure out what has changed, and what has not.

Second on the list, should be a general power level assessment. I need to realize how powerful I am compared to everyone else. I need to realize who I can and cannot fight. As long as I only fight those who I am sure to defeat, I will be safe. Technically speaking, one can never account for completely unforeseen events.

Third thing I should take care of is, general information and orientation. I need to figure out exactly where I am, learn the rules and social norms, so I can fit in and be invisible while I collect data. I can't walk around everywhere like a vagrant and potentially invite unwanted attention.

And the last, and potentially most important issue. I need to learn am I alone here, have others been brought here, will I find one of my friends here? I need to find out why exactly I have been brought here, and how that has been accomplished. Why was I brought and not someone else? How exactly does the process or event work, and if I can find out, can I control it? If this is a one-time event, that would be perfect, but I am not feeling too confident in that theory. Perhaps if I could figure out the reasoning and the mechanics behind this transportation event, I could manipulate it to my advantage. I could bring over my friends, or locate them, and prevent unwanted visitors. Last thing I need is a human-supremacist Guild, or an enemy with a World Champion or World Disaster or World Savior title to fight against. That or a World Enemy. That's the last thing I need. They aren't called World Enemies without reason, I'm pretty sure they could give even the Earth's mightiest militaries a tough fight. Especially [Jormungandr]. That thing can eat an entire skyscraper in a single bite. With all this information to consider, if it is possible, should I look for a way home? No, probably not."

Fear began to set in, as the future could be uncertain, and one thought quickly led to another. Before long, Kalman began to wonder about the deeper philosophical ramifications about magic, the existence of God and the soul, any potential afterlife, and this all culminated in this one single thought.

"What happened to my body, back on Earth? Has it morphed into this one? Is it empty, comatose, braindead, or just dead? I must know, or else I will never sleep soundly at night. Then again, do I even need sleep? I must get answers."

Kalman looked at the devastation on the carriage, and the fire that was still raging on the fields of wheat behind him, and he began to formulate a plan.

"Alright, first things first, I need to clean this up. I can't have corpses on the side of the road, it might lead back to me. And I don't feel comfortable leaving these people to be eaten by wild animals. Or another pack of demons."

Thus, Kalman took a step back and pointed towards the body of the woman and spoke.

[Mass Incinerate]. In an instant, the bodies of the woman and her unlucky husband, and all the imps, were swallowed seemingly from within by a quick red flame. Within seconds, not even ash remained, merely blood and a few bones and intestines which were disconnected from any of the corpses. Kalman prepared to cast the same spell on the carriage, but before he did so, a thought took hold of him.

"I know I'm technically a demon now, but perhaps because I'm in my human form, I still think as I usually would. In fact, I feel perfectly fine, no more than fine, I feel great actually. But still, this sight, this feasting on human remains… I don't want it. I don't want to even think about ever doing it. If this is the end result, perhaps I should merely keep the transformation in check, as a last resort, only use if it my life is in danger. Serious danger. Though I should first go to some isolated location and test it out there, and see what would actually change."

But there was still a sense of unease swelling within his soul. He decided to look inside the carriage one more time.

"These are all trash items. No magic enchantments, the food has no buffs, the axe seems pretty harmless, only fit for chopping wood. Were these people that weak? They looked like peasants, or perhaps merchants, so the end result is not surprising. I'll take the money, that might come in useful. If I start throwing around Yggdrasil coins, it's basically announcing I'm from there. And for all I know, I, or anyone else from there, may be seen as invaders and hunted down and killed. Better I act like I'm from this world, and I shall need money to keep up the ruse."

But before he took the bag of silver and copper coins, he looked over to the dead girl, still sitting inside the carriage. For the first time, sadness began to spring up in his heart.

"She is probably the same age as my nephew… Is this what this world is like? Dead children everywhere? Same as my old one. Guess some things never change. But I can promise you this, I'll find whoever is responsible for this and have their head. Now, time for you to go back to your parents, little one."

Kalman looked away from the girl, back to the two pouches of coins. One filled with copper coins, the other with silver. He examined the coins quickly, and saw that they were of an uneven cast, not a perfect circle, nor did they have the same thickness everywhere. Shoddy work. On one side, he saw the face of an old man with shoulder length hair and a meaty beard. There was writing and what appeared to be numbers near the edges, and on the other side, a six-pointed star. Seeing as he could not read the writing, he decided to put the coins back in their place, after counting that there were 97 copper pieces, and 14 silver pieces. Just as he thought about where to put the money, instinctively, his left hand opened up a small whirling void of pure black, and he put the two bags inside.

"So that's my inventory. Curious, this is not what it was like in Yggdrasil."

Deciding to make a quick experiment, Kalman decided to once again, take out the bag of coins, and found information flooding his brain, and he instantly knew where it was inside his inventory, and pulled out the bag of copper coins, before putting it back in its place. He then proceeded to dig around for a good minute, withdrawing scrolls, potions, a necklace, dagger, and putting them all back inside. Considering he was not only a hoarder, but a person who didn't have many hobbies outside of Yggdrasil, yet still had a good salary, he regularly spent his money on cash-shop items and cosmetics, and for this reason, he could safely say that he had over three thousand items in his inventory, and a potential to place up to four thousand more. A bit overkill, but considering a [Bag of the Hoarder's Ambition] cost only around fifty New Euros, yet gave him a thousand inventory slots, this was a good investment. Though, if Kalman had known he'd be in this situation, he'd have exhausted every last scrap of coin he earned on Yggdrasil.

Deciding he spent enough time inside the carriage, and that spending any more would be disrespectful to the dead, he exited it, and cast [Mass Incinerate] once more, turning the carriage into nothing more than a memory. For a brief moment, he thought of using one of [Resurrection Wands] to resurrect the girl, but he quickly banished the thought, as she might find living in a world filled with demons to be pure suffering, and she would be here without her parents, considering they were already incinerated. No, better to let her rest. This was in addition to the various questions of the nature of resurrection magic and whether or not her body could even withstand such an exhausting spell.

After standing in the rain for a few more seconds, Kalman looked around, and he then proceeded to walkto one of the carriage's wheels, and curiosity got the better of him.

"This is pretty big; I don't think I would have had an easy time lifting this back on Earth."

To his complete lack of surprise, he lifted up like it was nothing more than a pebble, before deciding to throw it like a frisbee into the air. The wheel flied off with insane speed into the sky, and Kalman was pretty sure that it would be a while before it came down.

"Damn, that one flew pretty far away. Better hope it doesn't land on someone's head. Anyway, time to check if everything is secure before I move on from this place and start collecting information."

That's the first chapter folks! Action should pick up around the third or so chapter, and as always, be sure to follow/favourite it if you liked it, I will be posting more soon. Cheers!