(Author's Note: This story is undergoing editing from newest to oldest chapters to be edited and rewritten in the 1st person POV. I'm currently, at time of editing this, working on chapter 15 backwards so that the next chapter for you all is in the 1st person POV. No worries, all of you who hate 2nd person POV-that's going to change in the newest chapter. Please enjoy!)

You scarf down your meal, rice and some veggies fried with an egg, impatient to log onto YGGDRASIL. You kept an eye on the time, determined to not be late to the last day you'd be able to log on; you refused to miss it.

You and your friend Momonga had planned an in-game party for the others who showed up, helped him draft an email to send to see who wanted to show up for one last hurrah; only Hero-Hero responded and said he'd make an appearance. So, you had to hurry; you'd hate it if you missed him.

You glanced at the clock when you finished your meal, swearing softly. 23:00.

You sped through rinsing your plate, hopping into your setup and logging into the system as quickly as you could.

"—at the end of tongight. Goodnight." You swore internally, guilt clawing at your throat; served you right for taking the time to actually cook a meal rather than get take-out.

"Hey, Momonga. Did I miss anyone else? Or just HeroHero-chan?" You sat next to your friend, shooting s questioning glance towards the 39 unfilled seats at the table.

"No, just him." Momonga sighed softly, resting his head in his hands. It stung; you two had kept Nasarick around for yourselves and the others, and yet…

"That… God, that blows." You place a soothing paw on Momonga's shoulder, concerned. "But at least we're here. We can give this place the send-off it deserves. Besides, we'll meet up IRL after this; I'll get us drinks."

That seemed to perk him up a bit; you'd see to it that it happened. You two only lived an hour or two apart, as far as you were aware. Hell, you'd buy a plane ticket for it if you needed to.

"Send-off in the Throne room?"

"Of course."

You followed Momonga out of the room, chattering about work as you both led Sebas and the Pleiades to the throne room.

You were going to miss this.

The Guild.

The adventures.

The friends.

Most of all, though, you were going to miss being able to spend time in a world where nothing on the outside really mattered.

You both entered the Throne room, going silent to stare at the flags hanging from the ceiling. All 42 of them, each one for the members of Ainz Ool Gown. It hurt, knowing that none of them were coming back. You weren't sure what Momonga was thinking, but you wouldn't be surprised if it were the same.

"Oh! I forgot Albedo was in here." You spoke quietly, gesturing to the NPC at the throne.

"So did I…" Based on his tone of voice, he'd forgotten that her name was Albedo. You smiled to yourself, walking up to her and pulling her information up.

"Tabula put a lot of work into her… I'm impressed at all the detail he put in." You mumble, skimming the sheet as Momonga sped through it.

You both laughed upon the reveal at the end of it; classic Tabula.

"No, wait, it's our last day; let me just—" You signed into administrator for her, deleting the last line and adding "She is in love with Momonga."

"No!" He put his skeletal hands over his face, thoroughly amused. Then, as if the thought struck him, he moved and added a "And Zara."

You both laughed, thoroughly amused with it. Tabula wouldn't mind since the server was going down; he'd have found it funny himself if he were there.

You glanced at the time, sobering up.

23:58:32

"Shit… server goes down in under two minutes. Thank god I don't work tomorrow…" You look at Momonga, patting your paw on his head. "You work tomorrow?"

"I have to get up at four A.M."

"Jesus, man; you couldn't catch a break, huh?"

"Yeah…" Your chest felt tight, tears pricked at your vision. You weren't sure how you would survive without YGGDRASIL, without your friends. You couldn't lose them, couldn't let it happen again.

You wouldn't survive it.

23:59:23

"Momonga?"

"Yes?"

23:59:36

"It's… It's been great, doing this with you."

23:59:47

"… Yeah."

23:59:56

23:59:57

23:59:58

23:59:59

00:00:00

00:00:01

The world felt… Different, now. Was there a server delay? Some sort of crash? You look around, bewildered. The colors felt sharper, more vibrant; the scents of the room were far more pronounced than before. The soft cloth you were wearing seemed to feel softer, and the sound of breathing was easier to hear.

Something was Wrong.

"Momonga?" Maybe you were just lagging? Maybe the server reset was a troll for a new patch? You looked at him, worry pressing your ears to your head and causing your tails to flick from side to side.

"Zara, the GM call function isn't working." Well… Shit.

"What's this GM Call Function?" A womanly voice spoke, your ears turning towards the source before you looked. Albedo? But… NPC's weren't supposed to have voices. Hell, they weren't even supposed to talk…

"Is something wrong, Lord Momomga? Lady Zara?"

Your blood ran cold.

The technology that let you play in YGGDRASIL limited your sense of touch. It did not give you a sense of smell, or taste, and limited your sense of touch. And yet… You could smell the faint lavender coming from Albedo, you could no longer taste the meal you had eaten before logging on, and everything felt more real than it had been in-game… Ever.

"No, Albedo." You didn't think so, but she seemed satisfied by the answer.

Something was very, very wrong.

"However… Something feels wrong. I'm not sure what, but it does." Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Momonga nodding in agreement.

"Sebas," He spoke, and the butler that had followed you into the throne room lifted his head. "Exit the Tomb and investigate the surrounding region."

"Of course, my lord." Their mouths were moving! That hadn't happened in the game when anyone spoke, let alone an NPC.

What was going on?

You opened your mouth to speak, and—

You. Opened your mouth.

You could feel your mouth open, knew it was yours, and yet—

This shouldn't be possible.

You shut it without speaking, confusion and worry edging into a rather large and inescapable concern.

Were you and Momonga trapped in YGGDRASIL?

"Pleiades, please go to the 9th floor and repel any invaders from the 8th floor." His voice cut through your thoughts, turning your attention to the Pleiades leaving the room with affirmation of his orders. All that remained was yourself, Albedo, and Momonga.

"So…." You mumbled, eyeing Momonga and Albedo. If Momonga was thinking the way you were, which he likely was, there was one thing to do to get the attention of the devs.

And you didn't want to do it.

"Hey. Momonga, I'm going to go check out the 7th floor. Sound good?" In reality, you didn't want to witness… whatever idiocy he was about to attempt. You could feel it, your idiot radar was going off.

"Of course. Meet me on the 6th floor in an hour?" That settled it. Idiocy was about to occur.

If it worked, you'd apologize for not believing in him.

"Sounds good." And with that, you realized you had no idea how to teleport. You had the ring and no idea how to use it… But you were gonna try.

You thought, focused on the main entrance to the 7th floor, imagined you being there, and as the cold of the Throne Room swapped with the heat of the 7th floor, you smirked in smug victory.

Magic test complete, you then attempted using your [Message] spell.

Message Started

Zara: Momonga?

Momonga: How—

Zara: Magic works.

Momonga: Oh.

Momonga: I'm gonna… Test something.

Zara: If you're testing what I *think* you're testing—

Momonga: World's real or its YGGDRASIL 2.0

Momonga: R-18 actions are allowed

Zara: You touched Albedo's boobs, didn't you?

Momonga: I—Shut up!

Zara: Nice one, man. When's the wedding?

Momonga: Don't lie and pretend like you weren't tempted.

Zara: Never said I wasn't. Go get her, tiger.

Momonga: ANYWAYS, we're going to have the floor guardians at our meeting in an hour.

Zara: Sounds good. I'm gonna make sure nothing's up in the 7th floor, see you there.

Message End

You looked around you, admiring the lava-filled scenery as you began wandering about. You loved the 7th floor, the way the architecture seemed natural around the lava and the way the colors complimented each other. It was your favorite floor, tied only with the 6th floor at night. It was so much your favorite, that you'd placed your temple where the NPC, Demiurge, usually was. So, you headed there; you should probably check on your temple, anyways.

Now, you didn't NEED a temple. But having one gave you buffs to your stats depending on the offerings left there; having it on the 7th floor made sense. No-one would expect it in such a demonic-like location. It was kept safe within a secret room hidden in the floor's temple. It was a miniaturized version of a classic Japanese shrine, complete with the little paper charms and some offerings. You had placed the offerings there yourself, since they chose your buffs, but you could swap them at will.

You picked your way through the floor, greeting the NPC's that you passed on your way there. There were a handful of demon NPC's, as well as one or two that were submerged in the lava. You even passed the large lava slime NPC, the one whose name you didn't remember, on your way to the temple.

When you got there, you stopped. You were surprised, but you shouldn't have been; this was where he usually resided inside of Nazarick.

Demiurge was waiting for you at the entrance of the Tomb.