Author Notes: This is the final chapter before Intermission (End-of-record II: World of 2138) Record 3: The Red Dream. I will be adding Chapters 3-6 later on.
Chapter 7: The Shutdown
"You've got to be kidding me!" Momonga smashed the table with his bare skeletal fists. "This is the great tomb of Nazarick that we built together. How can he give it up so easily?"
"No, that's not it, nobody betrayed me."
"The guild weapon, Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, we played recklessly to make this."
"Some members used their paid vacations and other fought with their wives to make time to get the materials for this."
"But among the 41 members, 37 of them quit."
"And even the three that are left…" He made his way into the throne room.
As Momonga sat down in the throne, awaiting the game's shutdown, counting the flags, countless memories returned to his conscious experience.
He opened his friend list, scrolled through names which were in green, indicating that they were online. His attention shifted to one individual who was still online. The best strategist in Ainz Ooal Gown, and amongst the 41 members of AOG, the only person he has met in real life.
Punitto Moe. When YGGDRASIL ends, they would be strangers anyways, just like how it was in every other game.
Walking down the hall of the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Momonga held onto a memorabilia that Punitto had gifted him some time ago, Guild Warfare for Dummies. He gently placed it on a showcase stand underneath Punitto's flag. Right beside it, another infamous work of Punitto was proudly shown, 'PKing for Dummies'.
"See you Punitto…" he looked at the book with regret, that even after all this time, he would be losing not only YGGDRASIL, but an old friend. If only time was more generous, he thought.
"Why, do you ask, hmm... Tabula's creation. Was it Alber-? Ah, Albedo." He spoke, in deep thought. "It's a long story."
3 years ago, Neo Kyoto 3rd Arcology, Year 2135
Was it a date or just coffee? He shook his head; he must be mistaken. Never mind that, he was going to be late at the pace he's going at the moment. Suzuki Satoru was sweating like mad having run all the way here. The complicated words and directions in his phone didn't help either. "Excuse me, is this the train station?" His voice echoed through the filtered mask he wore.
"Ugh, how filthy," the middle-aged woman covered her nose, offended by the question. Suzuki Satoru heart jumped for a moment, shocked by the rude gesture, but persevered and continued to ask another person.
Luckily, a man, a security officer at the station, helped him out, "ah yes, this is the Transit Station to the 3rd Arcology, I think that's what you're looking for Sir. That way." He pointed towards a train platform. The security officer helped him purchase a ticket with the spare changes he had saved up for this trip, and Satoru thanked him generously, going as far to bow to him. He waited for the next transport pod to arrive, and opened his mobile phone.
"[I'm sitting down in a café right next to the transit station, see you there! Remember, 3rd Arcology, Momonga!]" Punitto Moe's message was at the top of his notifications.
"[Sorry, got lost searching for station. Will be there soon in 15 minutes.]" Momonga texted back.
The train station was heavily patrolled by paramilitary soldiers, with full riot gears. One of them stopped Momonga in his tracks.
"Show me your travel permit." The man stated. He showed the digital ticket in his mobile phone.
"Identification Card." Momonga complied.
The soldier nodded, showing no visible emotions with the helmet he wore, "alright proceed."
Soon, the train arrived. He was fascinated by how the train seemed to magically hover above the ground, levitating. As it slowly approached the platform, it came to a stop. Satoru walked into the quarantine bay, which launched an aerosol spray of disinfectant towards the air inside the capsule.
As the doors hissed open, a gust of cold lime scented air wafted past Satoru's nose. It was unlike the worn-down commuter trains which he rode from his work to home. The seats were lined with grey leather and arranged like the inside of a passenger plane which he had seen in the picture books, where all the seats were oriented forwards, not facing each other. He found a single-window seat and sat down there, hanging his black tuxedo on a clothes hanger.
As the train lurched forwards, he was greeted by an incredible sight. A vast ocean greeted him, as the yellow smog cleared to give way to beautiful clear blue skies. All his life, he thought that the world was completely polluted, lost to mankind follies. Oh, how wrong he was. It's been a long time since he felt this alive.
When the train finally reached its destination and Momonga stepped out, he immediately located the Konbini (convenience store).
"Where are you?" Momonga looked around, as people were staring at him, as if he was out of place. He held the phone up to his ears, and there was a woman in the corner of the room who raised up her arms and waved towards him.
"Hey Momonga, it's Punitto Moe, nice to meet you." Punitto Moe spoke in a foreign language.
"Eh? You're not Japanese?" Momonga was shocked that all this time, he did not know this about Punitto.
"My bad, I never talked about it. If I have told you it might have changed the way you perceived me in Ainz Ooal Gown." Punitto Moe rubbed her head, voicing her words through the phone's speech translator from her language to Japanese. He nodded.
She handed him her phone, which he took and spoke into it.
"How long have you been in Japan?"
"Just visiting for a couple of days for my holiday." Taking day off work was a foreign concept for Momonga, who worked 24/7. He only nodded, understanding the wealth disparity between him and his friend in front of him.
During the week-long break which Punitto managed to secure from his company, Momonga was able to experience how the small percentage of the world's population lived in the many arcologies. The lifestyle surpassed his expectations, and although he felt greater animosity towards the rich who hid all this wealth from the common people, he realized that not all wealthy people were evil as he initially thought – from his discussions with Ulbert. It was just a matter of who won the metaphorical lottery at birth.
YGGDRASIL, Present-Day, Day of Server Shutdown, 2138
A woman with a white hair that dropped to her waist and red eyes stood invisible with her eyes peeled on the road. She concealed herself behind the bushes that surrounded the dense marsh. She was chasing a lead for a potential World Item. Formerly Punitto Moe, Alice was currently playing her second character, Tsaritsa. She was currently the leader of a small guild, USSR, which was part of the Ainz Ooal Gown [AOG] alliance.
She had tracked two players with possible knowledge of the world item to the Ruins of the Twilight City in the eastern region of Helheim. The entrance to the city was marked by a huge drawbridge with a gigantic portcullis. They had just activated an AOE spell that caused the ground beneath to shake, opening a passageway. A raid-classed demon-minotaur appeared from the stair passage. It swung a huge halberd, causing knockback damage to the heteromorphs, instantly killing the bait-players.
She took advantage of the distraction to charge a super tier spell, releasing right after the player's deaths, "[Phlegeton]!". A river of lava snaked towards the demon-minotaur hybrid, consuming a quarter of its HP. It struggled to get back on its feet as the spell [Maximise Magic — Greater Bind] was activated. The Demon's HP slowly fell while she kept on regenerating her HP with her passive abilities. She launched a myriad of spells and got the last hit, which dropped a golden key.
The golden key opened the door beneath the staircase, revealing a spacious room with nothing in the middle but a chained maiden. She received a quest at the same time that told her to free the prisoner. She followed the instructions and cut down the chains binding the woman. The NPC said, "thank you noble stranger, for your efforts, I gift you something which I should have never stole."
Her game interface message said, 'Congratulations, you have discovered a world item: Aphrodite's Pendant.' It was hard to believe, she finally completed the Aphrodite Set. It was said by people in the forums that by collecting all parts of the Aphrodite Set would provide the user with incredible luck stats. It was true, she mentally noted as she inspected her character, it does increase luck by a whopping 50%. Despite all the immersion, she could not forget that this was the last day of YGGDRASIL. She cast a [Teleport] and left the cave.
'Attention to all players: YGGDRASIL will shut down in 10 minutes.' Alice was taking digital screenshots of herself inside her guild when the annoying countdown message popped up again. She would like to save these ideas if by any chance there was going to be YGGDRASIL 2.
It was then that she received a message from an old-time friend, Excelsior, the guild leader of the top guild in YGGDRASIL — Trinity.
"What's up Excelsior?" Alice was intrigued that he would contact her after several years now.
"Just wanted to say hello, it's been a while. The server is shutting down soon, everyone is celebrating outside, care to join us?" he asked.
"Sure, why not?" She teleported to a city plaza in Midgard, where Excelsior was standing beside a fountain, just chilling about, talking to several of his guild members.
"It's been a hell of a year, work's been getting busier for me, but money's good so far," Excelsior said.
"Yeah, me too, work's been busy all the time, you just get used to it," Alice shrugged.
The clock was now indicating 5 minute till shutdown. The firework never stopped and people were now saying their goodbyes.
Alice watched as people were launching fireworks and dropping items from their inventory, just goofing around since they knew that everything they have in YGGDRASIL would no longer hold any value. Alice checked as the in-game auction market has been displaying a lot of random items recently, but metaphorically speaking, there were diamonds in the layers of dirt. She had found several niche items that she never knew existed and purchased them out of curiosity from the auction market.
'1 minute till shutdown. 59, 58, 57…" the global chat was spammed with the system's countdown. Alice looked at the time, it was 23:59:40 now, almost time for YGGDRASIL to close permanently. She launched several expensive consumables as well and equipped her ceremonial gear set.
[23:59:57], it was fun while it lasted.
[23:59:58], she was hoping the developers would announce a YGGDRASIL 2, but a part of her felt that she did not really have the energy anymore, being older now compared to years ago when she was younger and starting to play YGGDRASIL.
[23:59:59], the memories of adventuring with her in-game friends was a nice thing to have, but the grind was something she did not think she could tolerate anymore.
[00:00:00], it was now time to say goodbye. Alice closed her eyes, knowing that she will be logged out now, but it never arrived.
[00:00:05] The clock ticked forwards past the due time, to which Alice was shocked. Since when has YGGDRASIL ever gone back on their words? That was really uncharacteristic for them to go back on their words after the official announcements and live streams in their online channels. The developers were also always punctual on the updates, so what happened? It was when she opened her eyes that a whole new world appeared before her.
Runic carvings glowed green as Alice stood above them. A vast sky of orange. The clouds seemed to be moving in fast forwards mode. Statues of archangels were assembled and carved from rocks, then demolished as chips falling to the ground.
A civilisation rose from the forest clearing. She felt the breeze of cool air. Flowers bloomed and withered with the changing of seasons.
Then, everything became slower in motion. The space around her seemed to dim, and time began to halt to a stop. The walls around her cracked, shards exploded into dust, her glass sarcophagus breaking open.
Rose Garden, Ro-Lente Castle, Re-Estize Kingdom
Princess Renner, 2nd daughter of King Ramposa III, and the golden princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom, woke up to the sound of glass shattering. The noise seemed to have originated from outside the window facing the rose garden. At the same time, there was a blinding aurora lighting up her room at an intensity greater than the sun's glare during high noon.
She peeked through the windowsills and saw a woman bathed in glowing light, seated in the gazebo. She had a calm expression and held what appears to be a porcelain cup. She had her other hand towards her ears, as if scratching her head for a seemingly prolonged period of time. Strangely enough, it did not stir up even the least bit of commotion. Princess Renner rubbed her eyes once more, and still saw the same person.
She lifted herself down from her tall bed and walked out the hallway with a pair of slippers. The hallway was dead quiet at this time. There was neither the maid nor any royal guards stationed here at this time of the day.
She opened the door to the garden and felt the radiance pulsating from the woman subside substantially compared to a minute ago. The moment she planted her foot inside the garden, the stranger's head turned as if noticing her presence. There was a distinct floral scent that wafted through the air.
"Who are you?" Princess Renner asked, warily approaching the stranger.
"To be entirely honest, I'm not sure. Am I intruding?" the woman asked in a way that sounded more accusative than apologetic. Renner sensed hostility in her eyes, but the closer she observed, it did not seem directed towards her, but a third-party. The tension in the air lifted up for a moment, as the stranger politely offered Renner a seat and handed the porcelain cup towards her.
"Drink up, it's just tea. I insist." Renner, with shaking hands took the cup. She wanted to scream, but she sensed an unnatural aura radiating from the woman. She took a sip from the cup. It tasted sweet, with a bitter aftertaste. Suddenly, her hand felt weak and felt the cup slipping out from her hands. The woman seemed to smile and started to ask odd questions as Renner's mouth moved of its own volition. She felt like she was trapped inside her body, only being able to sense the outside world, but not interact with it.
Then, she felt a searing pain from below her wrist and abdomen.
"Interesting…" was what she could make out as she slowly lost focus and drifted into a deep sleep.
The taste of ferric crimson liquid melted inside of Alice's mouth, as she slid the blunt edge of the blade in between her lips. With a jab, she sent the second blade's edge deep inside her victim's abdomen. She made a big enough incision to visualize the girl's internal organs. She slid a finger inside the wound, feeling the squishy texture of the peritoneal organs, and after visualizing blood loss and confirming the presence of organ, got a red vial of liquid from her inventory and poured a drop of the vial into the exposed abdominal cavity, which quickly healed layer by layer. The wound incredibly disappeared, although leaving behind a gash mark on the pajamas. She looked at her blood-stained hands and for a moment, recoiled in horror at what she had done. She quickly got a cloth armour from her inventory and wrapped the girl around it.
What she had done was simply insanity. It was brutal and barbaric. Alice regained control of her senses and slowly retraced the events that had led to this.
When YGGDRASIL was supposed to shut down, instead, she arrived in this unknown location. She then got a call from Momonga and since this place appeared to be abandoned, settled down on a chair at the gazebo, and messaged him. He informed her about their similar situations – Momonga was insistent that this was no longer a game, given how he was able to do R rated activities. When she asked him what he did, he mentioned that he simply asked one of the NPCs to cut themselves. He then proposed that they meet, but since this was Alice's alt account that wasn't in YGGDRASIL, she did not have the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
When she was just trying to calm herself down with tea, she noticed a potential threat approaching her. A young girl was what she initially thought, but the closer she got to Alice, the more Alice felt pure evil radiating from the girl. It was as if a hideous monster was masking itself behind the skin of an innocent girl. It was like the scent of venom was lingering in the air that burnt your nostrils when you inhaled it. She tried to just gather intel from the girl. However, Alice couldn't shake the feeling that she was dreaming, that by some chance, this wasn't the real world. Hence, what led to this predicament.
Apologetic, with the wave of a hand, Alice cast a spell, retrieving the fallen porcelain cup and cleansed the blood with the closest buff magic she had [Purify]. Just like Momonga said, her YGGDRASIL spells worked perfectly fine in this unknown world. [Immaterial]. Casting a spatial magic-type spell, she carried the young princess Renner and laid her down gently on the bed. Finally, she held on to her guild ring and cast [Guild Teleport]. Little did Alice knew that she had forgotten to clear up one key piece of evidence that might cause trouble in the future – residual mana.
- CHARACTER STATS -
CHARACTER NAME: TSARITSA
ALLIANCE: AINZ OOAL GOWN
GUILD: USSR
TITLE: ILLUSTRIOUS COMMANDER OF THE LARGEST ARMY IN MIDGARD
LEVEL: 100
ALIGNMENT: GOOD
SENSE OF JUSTICE: 150
- RACE -
RACE: HUMANOID
SUBRACE: TERRAN (mental instability trait: psychotic)
Terrans are a rare humanoid race that originated from an ancient technologically advanced civilization. Although they physically resemble humans, they are genetically different. Terrans possess an innately high resistance to magic and a higher base intelligence stat. However, given their weak stores of mana (MP), the amount of healing they receive from healing spells is significantly reduced. They have lower HP, magical defense, physical defense, and lower overall stats than the ordinary human. Note: Terrans will be assigned a randomized trait of mental instability by birth. (Special thanks to [Redacted] for developing the idea)
- JOB LEVELS -
Total Level(s): 100 LV
[ARTIFICER] 15 LV - Artificers utilise magic and intelligence to imbue objects with unique abilities, bringing objects to life (think: golems). They are a support class during battles that excel in castle defense and siege warfare.
[ARTILLERIST] 5 LV - Artillerists are ranged casters that operate a mobile sentry to launch devastating AOE attacks towards the enemy. Powerful for siege warfare & large-scale PVP.
[COMMANDER] 15 LV (trait: overpreparation) - Commanders have a natural sixth sense about the battlefield and are able to quickly grasp the nature of the people they are dealing with. Each commander will be assigned a special trait. They provide useful buffs to all their allies without maximum limit in a wide range of area. Range and buff strength scale with level.
[COMMANDER OF THE RED ARMY] 1 LV - A decorative title given to the officers of the guild USSR for winning 1st place in the 2136 Season 5 championship in YGGDRASIL. Provides unique access to customized Red Army themed settings.
[SCHOLAR] 15 LV - A placeholder class for more advanced classes. Grants large passive stat bonuses on INT and WIS that scales with level.
[ENGINEER] 5 LV - Terran-restricted job. Unlocks Terran crafting.
[SCIENTIST] 5 LV - Terran-restricted job. Unlocks Terran alchemy.
[BATTLESMITH] 10 LV - An advanced artificer class.
[MECHA BATTLESMITH] 5 LV - Terran-restricted job. Unlocks the Mecha, a powersuit that buffs its wearer with high-level capabilities for a specified duration of time. Duration, strength, and quantity of mecha scales with level.