When the abyss looks back
It has been 15 long years. In all accounts a decent length of time for anyone to sink into their job, or career. And if you take into account most of that time was spent on a game, how would one react? In the 2130s where super corporations control the world and the caste system is worse than ever. That means spending what little time you have into things one can find joy in. When you have a dead end job, with no family or friends you seek comfort in games in this day in age.
Yggdrasil is that game for many. With an exhaustive amount of player freedom, the developers gave close to an endless amount of ways one could customize their character. From well over 700 races to choose from, ranging from Humanoid, Demi-Human Races, as well as Heteromorphic Races. If that wasn't enough to get one's head spinning then there's well over 2000 classes one can choose from. The class system was considered to be the be-all and end-all of character creation and customization. With many having to look up guides beforehand in order to create the best type of character for their style.
With so much to choose from, many picked the Humanoid races for ease of game play. Well others picked Demi-Human for their tendencies for the dramatics. Lastly you have those who want to stand out and pick the hardest of races to play as the Heteromorphs. It was well known that the game rewarded those who played the meta. Humanoids were free to attack the other races without any penalties accrued to them. The same can't be said for those who played as Heteromorphs, they got harsher debuffs and more penalties afterwards.
Groups of heteromorphs saw it as a challenge. To be able to play the game and win against the odds. Others saw it as plain discrimination did nothing about it and switched races to a humanoid. One group was called Nine's Own Goal led by the World Champion Touch Me. A group that was about helping one another. To support those who were discriminated against in quest areas or just attacked due to being a heteromorph. The small group of 9 helped and also explored the unknown in the many realms of yggdrasil. The group kept gaining members, slowly at that. Not all wanted to be in a group and roleplayed as evil warlords at times. 41 members, no longer a small group of friends but a strong clan. They would go on to conquer the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick in their first try. The tomb was turned into their guild base. Becoming a stronghold for the new guild called Ainz Ooal Gown. Touch Me stepped down as leader of the group and the guild voted to have Momonga in place due to him being online more than anyone. He was a people pleaser, he would be the one to stop fights and try to get the otherside to understand each other's point.
At the height of their power Ainz Ooal Gown was ranked in the top 10 in the game. A lofty achievement in all accounts because there were only 41 members. They never grew in size. The other top 10 guilds had hundreds of members. They played their role of evil warlords well enough that when one heard the name of the guild it would strike fear in those who wronged them. Humanoid guilds were always a target for them. To get back at them for all the discrimination done to the members of the guild.
Each guild had a Guild Weapon, a weapon that if destroyed would erase the guild in its entirety. Another game balancing mechanic by the devs. Well the guild saw it as another challenge to create the best possible Guild Weapon. Damn were they close. A staff unlike any other. Seven jewels were at the head of the staff. Each one of these jewels were drops of powerful world level bosses or even world enemies. Metal from the hardest of mines. Such wealth went into a weapon that if destroyed it would end their guild, and yet they kept trying to achieve the impossible. It took years of hard work of all 41 members to grind for the materials and by god they were so close. A Guild Weapon unlike any other. Gold in color Seven snakes encompassed the staff, each one of them holding a jewel in their mouth. A weapon that came the closest anyone came to creating their own World Level item. The symbol of the guild, that no matter what challenges they face none can stop them if they worked together.
Yet all good things come to an end. Nearly all members of the guild had quit the game, out of 41 only 3 stayed in the guild. Yet the other 2 members, if you can call them that, never logged back into the game. The one member that logged on every day was Momonga. For the last 3 years he was the only member to check on the guild base day after day. Making sure the base was never attacked. He did solo quests to get coins to keep the daily upkeep running. Materials stocked up, and then sum. He went out of his way and did group raids alone as well. Everyone knew that the guild was as good as dead. That the only member was the guild master himself. Yet why was it still called The Unconquerable Tomb of Nazarick. It wasn't for the lack of trying on the part of the other guilds. It wasn't out of respect as well. No it was all due to that one man. The Guild Master was in all accounts a monster in his own right. After he was left alone he decided to better himself. He could no longer be the support in the guild, he was the guild now. So how else can one better themselves in this game? Well Levels for one, better gear is another. As well as getting better combat classes that would pair well with his already accustomed play style. He kept some of the role play classes and skills to keep the image of him being the evil overlord of the Great Tomb. He got levels in warrior and magic swordsman to better use his magic in fights. He got well accustomed to using his magic and swords to a high enough level that he became a one man army.
It helped when a new world tournament was held. When most of the players heard that the solo overlord of the unconquerable tomb would come out and try his luck at the event, many were skeptical. Truly he was great at guerilla warfare, but how would he fare in one on one combat? Oh was it a sight to behold. The first few fights were finished with Momonga only using his magic skills. Showing that he was a magic caster not to be looked down on. At the latter part of the tournament is where he shined the best. Using a combination of swordplay and magic bombardment he trounced all in his way. He even came across runner-ups of previous world tournaments. Players close to what would be called the peak of skill in the game, were no match. Truly he took to heart all the times Touch Me had bested him and grew from it. Ending up as the new World Champion, he gained new skills and armor from the devs. Now that he was a world class fighter in all respects what else could he do?
He spent a lot of time reading. Reading the backstory of his friends' creations. Some took the liberty that this was a game to create outlandish Npcs. Momonga, feeling 2nd hand embarrassment for some of the creations, did the rational thing in his eyes. Knowing that if someone saw his creation leaving at what it was before he would have wanted to jump off a building to hide from the eye of people judging him. He kept parts in their lore that would tie into their battle style and the roleplay side of things he kept it all PG. He had to read countless lines of what was essentially pornographic backstory and said nope. He got rid of all the weird stuff that would make a lesser man fidgety. He read somewhere that the Npcs saw all who didn't belong to their group as lesser or beneath them. Clearly this was one member of the guild that didn't like people.
He spent countless hours in the library where previous members uploaded what amounted to whole years of course work for some people. He never got a higher education but by reading what was in the library you could say that Momonga was a well educated person at the end of the game. He read up on the history of his world. Politics, wars and battles. If a subject was in the library he read up on it. Reading gave Momonga untold benefits within the game. Having read up to tens of thousands of books, he unknowingly unlocked a class. Having already surpassed the norm in terms of magic skills with his "Dark Wisdom" passive, he ended up surpassing that very limit now being able to learn up to 1000 spells of any kind. He used that knowledge to keep his base well fortified.
At present Momonga sat at the "Throne of Kings" with the Guild Staff in his left arm. A similar Sword in his right. It was a sword he created himself to better understand his own class as a swordsman. Reminiscing about the past 15 years he sat there. A chuckle came out of his mouth, recalling that in the past 3 or so years he has stood as the lone guardian of his tomb. "His" tomb in all accounts due to no one from the past being able to stop what he wanted to do. Everyone in the game that cared knew that the tomb was his, not the guild's. Now all that Momonga was getting ready for was the inevitable shut down of the game. He sat there just waiting till the clock struck midnight so that he would be forcibly logged out.
Yet it never came. MIdnight came and went, yet he did not feel his mind reeling from the forceful disconnect. He felt off, like how one feels a sense of wrong in the morning after a night of drinking that you can't quite feel all there. His mind raced for a moment when he opened his eyes to see he was still sitting in the "Throne of Kings". This was where it all came rushing towards him. New sensations forced their way into his mind. He knew out of instinct that this was no longer a game that he knew of. He could see, like really see all that was in front of him. So much detail that one can't get from a mere game. He could feel his bones. Yep that's right, his bones. He could feel the power of the World Item in his stomach, "the Orb of Momonga". Yet if this was all real why are the Npcs not moving. Oh that's right he had activated his "time stop" the world around him seemed to have lost some color. He used this time to think of his situation.
He dispelled the magic encompassing the guild. He then waited to see a reaction from any of the Npcs he brought into the throne room. That's when he saw it. In the eyes of the Npcs he could see the light of intelligence reflected back at him. Like a computer doing a restart he could tell that the Npcs were going through the motions of finding out how they ended up in their current state.
With a voice that sounded unlike his own he commanded. "Report, let me hear what you all have to say about what just happened". It took a moment for the voice to register in their minds. Soon Albedo spoke with a voice that suited her appearance. "My lord, please forgive me for this one knows not what you mean." So does that mean they are fully aware. He thought for a while longer to come up with a question that would hopefully help him understand what state the Npcs were in. With another voice that seemed better suited for an announcer he asked, "are you fully sentient?" Faster this time, the response came again from Albedo. "Apologies my lord it seems we are not." So they can speak and respond but aren't fully sentient. He thought for a while longer, can they be used like before when this was a game? Or are there new rules that need to be followed? "Are you more like an A.I than a Npc?" This time he waited a little longer getting ready to ask a new question. But once more Albedo answered. "Yes, it seems so, at the very least I seem to be acting as an artificial being with behavior that would be suited as an assistance to yourself". So they act more like A.I that would help me in my day to day tasks if needed. No need to act as a boss to anyone here. He asked once more."Can we get someone to check the outside of the tomb?" He got a response faster again from Sebas this time. "My Lord, can you not access the tomb defenses to check on the state of the tomb from your throne?".
Oh right he could do that. But how can he do that now? He does not seem to have the game U.I. With a thought on getting a console to appear before him it popped up. It seems that what he used to need his U.I for was more of a realistic sense to it now. Focusing on the cameras on the exterior parts of the tomb all he could see was void. The entire tomb was floating in the void. Now this took more time to take in. No longer was he in the game nor was he somewhere where he could ask for help.
