Chapter 1: Death and Life
Authors Note: I don't own the Overlord(オーバーロード) novel or anime series created by Kugane Maruyama.
Hello this is my first fanfiction, and English isn't my native language.
AN: (I have rewritten the first chapter of this story because how crappy it was with my lazy writing. Let's hope you guys enjoy can enjoy it now.)
(Prologue)
'Pollution'.
'Corruption'.
'Inequality'.
These are what the current World of 2134 is mainly comprised of, which would make hell look like a better place to live in. At this time Earth's pollution levels have skyrocketed consequently destroying the ecological balance of nature itself.
¾ of Earth's total natural resources have been already used by mankind all the while wasting more of it in the process.
The atmosphere has been polluted so much that most of the troposphere and stratosphere consist of poisonous gases like Carbon monoxide, Chlorine, Ammonia, Carbon dioxide and the likes not including the tons and tons upon dust and ash floating in the air.
Living is impossible in an environment like this without owning a protective gear and gas mask. Nowadays every household and workplace is installed with an air filter which purifiers the polluted air as much as possible (70%), to create a hospitable environment for humans to operate properly.
Other than that ninety percent of Earth's vegetation and foliages are destroyed making Oxygen in the atmosphere to drop less than two percent. Most of the ozone layer has been heavily skewered to the point that the UV rays could alone burn a man to death.
Only the rich could even afford to have any modicum of a normal and luxurious life. Fifteen percent of the entire worlds population are the ones who hold most of the power in the modern world. And the other seventy five percent of the population has to slave of to them.
The government is more or less a puppet to the ones in power. Their only job now is to please their higher ups and subdue the poor or weak. And so the ends result being the poor getting poorer, and the rich getting richer. Even if those people commit some major or heinous crime, it's more often than not looked past. In simpler words whoever has more money, has more power.
Whoever said that, 'Money can't buy you happiness' was either a fool or a mad man. Because in this present reality money could buy you anything as long as you can pay the price.
Global warming, Capitalism, Population crisis and power struggles aside what brought mankind to the brink of extinction was the start of the Third World War. Nations fell, countries destroyed, cities burned and along with all those the people died. A lot of people. Only the ashes remain of the once prosperous world. It is estimated that the casualties of the Third World War went up to billions. Before the war Japan's total population was around 130 million. After the war which came down to less than 60 million caused by hazardous environment, food shortages and civil unrest.
And through this infernal chaos a group of greedy but extremely wealthy and powerful people made their move. They monopolized on every essential resources making them the only distributors. Giving them more power and levy over the world. Eventually all the power were swept from the government making it a former shell of itself. As they rose in power this group was known by the name of mega corporations.
Not surprisingly they soon took the seats of power and Called the shots. Which only profited them while taking the world towards more destruction and chaos.
Eventually the world became so corrupted rotten that society itself became despondent to continue. And than came technologies one last salvation, Which were VR (Virtual Reality) Dive gears. A means to escape this horrible reality that all despised. By using these Dive gears one could experience their wildest imaginations in a virtual world without any limitations.
In no amount of time the world was obsessed with this. Everything done was connected to VR by one thing or another. One of them was the entertainment field of gaming. Which became more inclusive after the adaptation of VR. These Dive game became more and more developed as time passed. But in the world of DMMO-RPG's there is a game that stood head and shoulders above others. It took the world by storm and is currently at the top.
The name of this DMMO-RPG is YGGDRASIL, consisting of nine different worlds, exclusive character modification, a huge player base and with extreme detailed graphics and lore of the worlds. But after running successfully for 12 years tonight this game is going to be shut down Forever.
On a public transport train a middle aged man could be seen slouching on his seat, as his whole body is consumed by exhaustion. This man's name is Suzuki Satoru, an ordinary middle aged Japanese salary man.
At a young age his family perished making him an orphan. As now he has no family of his own, neither someone who could be considered as a close relative. In a sense he could be called a loner if you don't include his virtual life.
Unlike most kids he didn't get the chance of growing up normally in a healthy environment. After his parents died he was left alone without much to his name. For him food was expensive and money was scares. Not knowing what to do, he started working as a delivery boy. It didn't pay much if any. But he was able to at least get two meals per day, helping him survive and not die as a street rat.
As time passed he started working more and more. It didn't matter what odd job he got if it paid he was there to do it. Things like cleaner, industrial worker, trash collector, waiter, janitor etc. And so he was just able to earn enough money to live and get a minimal education.
In this corporate world without basic education getting a job as hard as trying to walk on water. So it wasn't difficult for the young Satoru to understand that if he doesn't get a decent education he won't get a job either. And if he doesn't get a job his death would be imminent.
The life lessons the young boy learned through the harshness of this cruel world helped him to survive. With each step he learned, he adapted and grew. Each day was a hurdle he had to pass. With hard social critics, excessive workload, insufficient healthcare etcetera. His life was plain as a blank paper.
He was living the same boring life day in and day out. The only part of his life which could be considered interesting was his virtual life in his favorite DMMO-RPG game YGGDRASIL. For the last 12 years he had devoted himself in playing this game. He would even consider his time spent in the game more precious than his entire lifetime combined. But alas all of this will end tonight, not like it matters now anyway.
He was on his way coming back from work borderline exhausted. It was still quite a long way before he reached his apartment. His mood was quite gloomy as he dragged his feet through the walkway.
*Cough*
*Cough*
Each cough of his each was accompanied with massive pain originating from the middle of his chest making him almost collapse. He could taste the copper in his mouth as a droplet of blood dripped down his lips. He mused to himself self deprecatingly, 'less than a month to live hugh? It's not like I have any hopes of living longer anymore '.
It has been only a month since he was diagnosed with lung cancer. In this day of age it could be considered the most common disease due to the heavily polluted air. There are a few medical treatment which could cure him. But those tend to cost more money than he could earn in ten lifetimes. So he has decided to leave it up to fate.
He has no family, no real-life-friends, no relatives and no relationship. The only human interaction he has is while he's either at work or playing YGGDRASIL with his Guild mates. It's quite sad to imagine that one of the crucial part of his life is just going to disappear.
As he walked he felt like his body was literally burning. Every step he took caused him visible effort to achieve. But after fifteen minutes of walking he finally reached his destination.
His apartment was located in one of the poor and undeveloped neighborhood of Sector 34 (Nagano). The apartment itself was quite old and unmaintained. He lived on the 4th floor in an apartment. It consisted of two rooms and a bathroom with minimal commodities.
As he entered his apartment and closed the door, he quickly removed his face mask to take a long breath. Or he would have if he didn't enter another coughing frenzy. After some time he removed his protective gear and changed into his house clothes.
Hearing his grumbling stomach he made his way towards the fridge to find something to eat. Unfortunately for him there was no food left inside. The only other thing that was present was a container filled with nutrition paste left out last night.
"Well it's better than having nothing to eat", he said to himself and started chugging the entire container. Other than that he did take a few painkillers to relief some of the pain.
Once rested enough he entered the other room, where Infront of him was a chair filled with many electronic devices called a VR chair and a headset. It had a large cable attached to it on the back of it. Suzuki sat on the chair and connect the cable to his nano port which is located at the base of his nape.
Simultaneously his conscious faded out from the real world and entered the virtual. Infront of him was a large window filled with a wide arrays of applications. He pressed a single one which he was here for. With some time the intro finished and he logged into YGGDRASIL.
In the world of YGGDRASIL Suzuki Satoru the ordinary salary man didn't exist. Here he was known as Momonga, an Undead Hybrid Warrior of the Overlord class. He has quite the notorious reputation through all nine worlds. Since he was one of the top three PVP players, along with being the guild master of the infamous Ainz Ooal Gown. The guild itself was notorious for all of it's members being heteromorphs. The heteromorph characters were widely discriminated by the larger player base. And getting PK'ed almost all the time by the toxic players.
Ainz Ooal Gown's members broke this status quo by being heteromorph characters and PK'ing the PK'ers. As their infamy rose so did their strength. And soon they became one of the top ten guilds of YGGDRASIL.
Besides the Overlord class he also attained the rare sub-class 'Dark Emperor' belonging to the Overlord series. As a hybrid character he could both cast high level magic and hold his own in the front lines if needed.
He got the Dark Emperor sub-class from the last big event of YGGDRASIL from defeating the World Devourer. Also known as the strongest world enemy the 'World Eater'. It could wipe out an entire group of players with it's AOE attacks only. It was considered impossible to be defeated. Untill the heteromorph guild of Ainz Ooal Gown defeated it. Even an alliance with the biggest guilds of YGGDRASIL couldn't defeat the world enemy. So it was quite a shocking news to hear.
There was a lot of speculation after the defeat of the strongest World Enemy by Ainz Ooal Gown on their first try. Since before them hundreds of players had tried endlessly and failed to do so. The entire YGGDRASIL forums were in an uproar. Many players even complained to the devs to how unfair it is. And accusing Ainz Ooal Gown of some how 'Cheating'.
The devs wrote it of as the sourness of the players since it was a heteromorph guild that defeated it. But the devs mostly didn't do anything because they didn't give a shit about what the player base thought of them.
On the raid Momonga was the one who dealt the finishing blow. And subsequently was rewarded the sub-class as a grand prize. Most of his raid members were quite jealous at Momonga, since they also contributed a lot on the raid to be successful. After that Momonga apologize repeatedly to all of them since he felt quite guilty for taking the best reward for himself. Evidently afterwards he didn't take even a single coin from the loot of the raid.
After Taking the class of 'Dark Emperor' his stats skyrocketed and were on par with Touch-me's and Ulbert's. The best part of the Dark Emperor wasn't the stat boost but rather what ability it granted. Like the skill 'Dark Wisdom' which is gained by getting the overlord class, increasing one's maximum spell slots and gaining new ones.
'Dark Emperor' grant's the ability Called 'Reaper'. Normally a level 100 player wouldn't be able to get a single experience by killing a low level mob. But this sub class takes that into account and gives the equivalent experience of the defeated enemies level. So it doesn't matter what Momonga kills, it be a slime or a goblin. He will always get a steady quantity of experience back every time.
In the world of YGGDRASIL it was a game changer. Since most of the higher level summons and Super-tier spell costs a good amount of experience to be used. And when a player dies he loses a total of five levels, which could be detrimental by loosing special skills. In YGGDRASIL five levels have the same difference like the sky has to the earth.
Momonga just could spam Super-tier spells and high-tier summons like they're nothing. Since he could just get 3-4 levels in a single day without any effort. Most of the community was scared of the consequences it would bring.
With his levels and stats his gear had also gone some changes. Now on his back a pair of huge majestic black angel wings could be seen. Which gives him a regal look. Other than that now he wears an immaculate obsidian dark armor made out of coloric stones. Which are one of the strongest metals through all nine worlds. Owning even one coloric stone was rare.
It was very precious to Momonga since it was gifted to him by his friends on his 32th birthday. Especially made by Amanomahitotsu the guilds craftsman. It's obviously a divine-tier armor of the highest quality. Even though it's stats are pretty higher for a divine-tier. It still had nothing on Touch-me's world champion armour, which was on another league of itself.
It could be said one of the best works of Amanomahitotsu's. It's craftsmanship was just that amazing. On it's chest the golden crest of Ainz Ooal Gown could be seen. Showing its origins proudly. Over the armor he still wears his usual dark and violet robe as a cape.
Even after being a hybrid he mostly favours using long range spells and summons rather than close range melee combat. But that doesn't mean he is in a disadvantage while in a melee fight.
As his main weapon he uses a sword which could be seen decorated on his waist. It's also a devine class weapon named 'Dark Excalibur'. It was the top prize of the event of 'King Arthur'. And since as a hybrid player he needed a weapon, he completed the event inorder to get the prize.
The sword itself had a dark crystal like hilt with a blade as dark as the night. It was accented with gold and violet patterns all over. And it had a design of white and gold angel wings around its sheath. It's looks quite mesmerizing and the majestic glow it gives of is both grandiose and menacing at the same time.
Great Tomb of Nazarick
Ninth Floor, Conference Room
"Hey Momonga-san, how have you been?", HeroHero asked seeing that the guild master was present. A week ago an Email from Momonga had appeared. It said that if he could, to login one last time before the shutdown happens and YGGDRASIL ends. Since he had a few minutes to spare before he goes to bed, he wanted to know how things were going in-game.
"Thank you HeroHero-san. For accepting my request and making time for one last meeting. I really do appreciate it", Momonga said, his voice filled with gratitude.
"It's no problem guild master. I just wanted to visit this place for one last time. And I have to say you did a wonderful job in maintaining the guild all by yourself", HeroHero said in wonder towards Momonga's diligence towards the guild.
Momonga smiled inwardly. A bit of pride entering his voice, "Well I was given the title of guild master, so it's my responsibility to maintain the guild to the best of my abilities".
"Well it feels good to be back and reminisce about the old days", HeroHero said.
"It sure does".
A comfortable silence fell on the two. Both revisiting Their own memories spent here.
After a while HeroHero asked, "Did anyone else visit?".
"Besides you, no one else did login today. However Nishikienrai-san did login the day after I send the Emails".
"Ohh did he now", HeroHero said now interested.
"Yes. He said that he was going abroad on a work trip, so he would be unable to login before shutdown. So he came to play for one last time", Momonga said a bit happy that he was still able to spend some time with his friend. "We mainly played for a little while. Nishikienrai-san also won the ongoing event "Assassin's Creed" (AN: You know it!). He gave the gear he won to me as a gift too". At the end Momonga's voice faltered a bit. It was hard for him to his another of his friends leave while giving him all of their precious gear.
A bit sympathy crept into HeroHero as he says, "At least you had a fun time".
"I sure did".
The both of them once again settled into a good conversation.
It was some time after that another buzz came, but from HeroHero. "Well it seems my time's up. I have been working the last ten hours non stop. Have to get some sleep before the next shift starts. Even my body feels like my avatar. Well it's been nice talking to you Momonga-san".
Even though he wanted to ask HeroHero to wait and spend till the shutdown. He knows that HeroHero had done a lot already by sacrificing his rest time just to attend. So he didn't find it in himself to stop him. "It's been nice to meet up with you too HeroHero-san. Once again I really do appreciate you coming here, Take care."
"You too Momonga-san. Let's meet in IRL (In Real Life) someday", with that HeroHero had left.
Silence fell once again as the elder ooze left. It persisted more than a minute and then- "Let's Meet in IRL huhh?!", Momonga shouts bashing his skeleton arm on the huge round table with rage.
A few moments later he did calm down once again. "It wasn't his fault anyway. It was just the circumstances that put him there. I shouldn't pin my anger on them meaninglessly."
Still he was frustrated. He knew this is the last time he will meet with his friends. And seeing the time left there won't be anyone else coming.
He wanted to spend the last moments of his life with his friends, then he saw the 40 empty seats around him. Every time he saw those empty chairs his heart sank deeper and deeper.
He looked at the watch to see how much time remains until the shut down.
[23:55:17]
There's only five minutes left. He felt like his heart was breaking into thousand of pieces. He felt claustrophobic and knew he could not stay here for any longer. The initial plan was to spend the last moments in the throne room along with his friends. But it doesn't matter now.
He wanted to clear his mind so he teleported outside the tomb. There at the entrance of the tomb he saw the artificial dark sky of Hellhime. Spanning over the vast field of poisonous swamp.
Through all nine worlds Players were burning through their stock of fire crackers to lit up the sky.
He opened his black wings and flew to the sky.
As he was up in the sky, he was remembering the fun times they had through the day spend in YGGDRASIL. Each and every memory was more precious to him rather than any world item.
The time they spent leveling up, building nazarick and their NPC's.
[23:58:32]
'Only if they where here, only if I had a family, only if I had a reason to live for, only if..'he thought for the last time.
He could feel the drops of tears on his cheek slowly dripping down. So he closed his eyes for the inevitable end.
[23:59:53]
[23:59:54]
[23:59:55]
'I don't want it all to end, I want to live !' he cried out in his mind for the last time. He didn't want it all to end like this.
[23:59:58]
[23:59:59]
[00:00:00]
At that moment he felt like he couldn't breathe and his vision was getting blurry, he felt himself getting enveloped into darkness.
After some time his heart stopped beating.
And Suzuki Satoru died.
Kingdom of Re-Estize
E-Rantel
In the middle of the night in a well lit room a woman was trying her best to bear her pain.
The husband was outside the room keeping patience and praying for them.
After some time the pain of the women got less and she thought that in any moment she might hear the sweet cry of the child.
But to her surprise the child did not cry. Even the house maids were surprised that the child did not cry.
First they thought that the child was dead or unhealthy.
But after examination they found that the child was perfectly healthy.
Slowly the Husband was losing his patience. He was already on edge because of his wife's premature labour. And all of a sudden all the noise inside the room died down. His heart stopped beating for a second.
The man burst through the door in panic fearing the worst. "Linda! What happened?! Are you alright? Is the baby alright?!". But when he saw the baby in the arms of his wife all the tension in his body died down instantly.
The woman was still weak but as she held her baby she felt fulfilled. Every bit of pain was worth it if it meant that she could hold her baby in her loving arms. "Ahh, Jake don't worry our baby is both fine and healthy. Here look." Linda replied with a motherly smile, and put her hands forward to give the baby to her husband's arms.
He came forward to take the baby with shaking arms. As the baby was placed on his arms he felt happiness and a bit of fear. He was holding something so delicate and precious at the same time. It felt like if he put to much pressure the child might disappear. He also felt like he was the happiest man in the world.
His joy filled eyes met the boys crimson orbs. They were so mesmerizing. Even after getting out of his mothers arm the boy did not cry even once. He was a bit surprised to see the boy had beautiful light platinum blonde hair, just like his wife. The short platinum hair and red pupils just made the child look more adorable.
For some reason he felt like the boy was looking at him with great confusion. But he shoved the thought away.
"Isn't our boy the cutest?", the wife asked her eyes sparkling akin to stars.
The husband replies,"Yes he is, and he will accomplish great things in the future". For the next few minutes they kept glossing over how cute and adorable their child was. "Hmm… so did you finally settle on a name for our child?".
The wife gave him a small smile and an excited nod. "Yes I did. Ryne… Ryne Brinewood. What do you think? Do you like it?". The wife was a little unsure on her choice. Since she was never good at naming.
The husband gave a heart whelming smile and said,"Like it? I love it!".
They were sitting side by side and looking at their new born son with all the love in their hearts.
At that moment there was only one thing running through the boys head,"Just what the hell is happening here?!".
The Next morning
Jake Brinewood the guild master of the magicians guild was enjoying his breakfast in his home. It was rather peaceful. He is a man in his late twenties with brown hair and emerald eyes, along with a decent enough built for a magic caster.
He could cast magic up to the third tier. Which is quite impressive on it's own. Recently he has also been promoted to the rank of guild master due to the passing of the former Guild master. The former guild master was known as Theo Rakishir. Who was also his teacher.
He was given the role of the guild master, because after the passing of Theo he was the highest ranking mage. But Jake had a few suspicion that the former guild master/his teacher was assassinated rather than passing away. He had a hunch that the 'Eight Fingers' was behind it all. But without solid evidence he couldn't put blame on anyone. So he swore to himself that he would get to the bottom of this and bring justice to his teacher.
Sitting next to him is his wife Linda Brinewood. In a few word she could be only described as beautiful.
She is in her twentys with a mop of platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. Along with a modest bust with and an athletic built.
She might not look but she is quite strong. Stronger than most people at least. Since she is a former Orichalcum rank Adventurer.
She was a spear woman as a mid ranged fighter in her party. A year ago her party took a mission with a very high pay. But since it was a high paying mission the danger was also high.
It was an extermination mission of a demi-human horde in the great forest of tob. The demi-human horde was rather aggressive and was prone to attack nearby villages. The third son of an unfortunate noble died in one such attack. Thats why the kingdom put out such a high reward for it.
It should have been easy enough for her Orichalcum party. But they were unfortunate to end up fighting not one but three different demi-human hordes numbering up to 150.
Even an Adamantine adventurer would find it difficult to fend off so many aggressive demi-humans at once. But her party had no other choice but fight. But in the end she was the only one able to escape and live another day. That mission devastated her and she left the life of an adventurer.
After that event she followed her dream of starting her own family by marrying her lover. And now she has a son who she could devote all her love to. In a way she is now living a life full of happiness.
They live in a two story house which is located at the farthest edge of the noble district. It's a rather spacious place with a beautiful lawn infront of the house.
Other than the couple there are two more occupants placed as maids. Jake didn't want his wife to have any difficulties during her childbirth, so he appointed one maid to do all the chores of the house. And another to solely cater to Linda's needs.
Currently Jake and Linda both were watching one of the maids with amusement, because she was trying to make their son smile.
Ryne P.O.V :
If anyone says that Suzuki/Ryne was confused and annoyed that would be an understatement.
'What the hell is she even doing? Does she think that making those faces would make me laugh or something? If I were a child I would have gotten a heart attack from that alone. It's common sense to not spook children out of nowhere', he thought annoyed.
After seeing the child wasn't amused at the slightest the maid left feeling dejected to the kitchen.
She is one of the maids named Dinna. She has quite the short stature. With a chubby face and a button nose. She is mainly responsible for cooking, cleaning and taking care of the house.
The other maid is Liya. She is a tall woman with dirty blonde hair and a pretty face. She is responsible of shopping and other chores outside the house.
When Suzuki Satoru first woke up he found himself in a body of a new born child. He tried to find out what actually happen? was he dreaming? did someone kidnapped him? or is he in some kind of mind control effect. He was never a religious person, but if some omnipotent being has sent him here he would definitely like to know the reason for it and what is his purpose?
The last thing he remembers that he was playing his favorite DMMO-RPG. It took him some time but soon he realized that the couple Infront of him are his new parents.
'Really? they each look ten years younger than me. And what's up with their getup they look like cosplayers. Where in the world even am I. Did I really got isekaied like in animes and light novels', he thought confused. 'And why the hell are they looking at me with those puppy dog eyes' he thought frowning.
"Dear I'm leaving for work. I'll be back late, so take care.",Jake said as he was leaving.
"Bye honey, come back soon.", said Linda as she gave a peck on his cheek. Jake also returned the gesture. Both of them came close to Ryne and did the same to him.
Which made Ryne quite flustered. It was difficult for him to understand what he was feeling. It felt so alien yet so warm. 'Is this the 'family love' people use to talk about', he thought confused. 'But still… It feels rather nice'. As he embraced the feeling.
Jake was ready to leave but a call from behind stopped him. They saw Liya coming hurriedly with a tray full of teacups and an envelope at the side. "Master you forgot to take the envelo-" before she could finish the sentence, she tripped on her leg and the tray full of stuff slipped from her hands.
Before the cups could fall and break into hundred of pieces, Jake moved and put his hand forward and-
[Float]
As soon as the word left his mouth the cups, tray and the envelope started floating in mid air.
'What?! How in the hell are those cups floating in mid air? HOW?!', Ryne's eyes bugged out seeing the magical phenomenal Infront of him.
Soon after Liya rushed forward and took the cups away along with giving the envelope to Jake. "Please forgive me for my mistake lady Linda, It won't happen again", she apologized and bowed her head.
"Don't worry about it. Accidents happen. And the cups are fine so no need to worry about, just be careful next time. Thank goodness Jake was here". Liya nodded and thanked Jake.
"Of course dear. It wouldn't do good to ruin your favorite set now would it", he said smirking.
Ryne was still looking at his 'father' with great bewilderment. He casted a spell. More importantly he casted an YGGDRASIL spell! Sure [Float] might be a low tier spell but it's still an YGGDRASIL spell. After some moment Ryne's brain started working once again. 'T-th-that's a se-sec-second tier YGGDRASIL spell! How does magic exists here? how the hell does YGGDRASIL magic exists here? Is this a world in YGGDRASIL?!' as one after another question start getting inside his head he looks at his father jaw Slacked.
As Jake saw Ryne looking at him with amazement he felt a bit of pride in himself. "So you like magic hugh? Maybe tomorrow I'll show you a few tricks", Jake said as he left a completely dumbstruck Ryne who's world has just been flipped over.