For the game like YGGDRASIL, there were many stuffs left unexplored either because of the sake of power or the inability of curiosity.
It was indeed the biggest game that ever got such a recognition among Japanese players, not only because of its sheer size and variety, but also because of the the freedom to design one's own character as well as the backstory that followed it.
In terms of popularity, it was head and toe above the likes of other games.
The game itself followed the tradition of 9 worlds, each with their own special ecology and monsters, that had intriguing stories to tell.
Though it attracted a lot of players with record making sales, the time of its eventual end was already near. The game was going to shut down soon.
However, there were still few players who wanted to play this game. Either for the sake of enjoyment...
...or for the sake of melancholy.
(Location: Asgard)
In the divine realm of battle hungry gods, there was one place where all sorts of fights were under restrictions. A place where the players were incapable of attacking or swindling others. It was the Grand Hall of Valhalla.
The meeting spot of many players, who used this place to chat and share information without any worries as nobody was foolish enough to attack them here. And even if they attempted to try anything funny, the game would immediately deduct their 5 levels as a penalty and eject them out of the YGGDRASIL online.
Thus, there were no signs of any ambush and attacks. Though there were all types of players, whether they were humanoids, demihumans or even heterotrophs, all them were equal under this great hall of fame.
The hall also gave many quests regarding the Legendary or the Divine tiers. As some of the players were searching for the data of the players' achievement, while others were searching for some badass quests to do. And so far, only a small bit of quests had been selected from the great hall.
"Hey look! My rank has upgraded again!"
"Shit, somebody surpassed me."
"It seems that the newbies are no pushover, aren't they?"
"Hmm, so much has changed..."
A group of players were chatting at the Player Achievement Board, and searching for some strong players. All this commotion came to halt when a feminine figure entered under their line of sight.
The figure in question wore a full plate violet armor, with elaborate designs of Sanskrit words glowing upon the armor in golden lights. The figure in question was both intimidating and awe-inspiring with her design, while she floated around the hall.
They assumed her levitation as a part of her items or some abilities of her classes. Though they didn't speak aloud and traced her line of sight at the quest board. She selected one of the quest from the same [Quest Board]. She left the hall in few minutes with her name tag opened for all to watch.
After they confirmed that she was not coming again, they saw the quest she had taken from the board. It said,
[ Quest Name : Apple from Idunn
Bring the legendary apple of immortality from the imprisoned God of Nature, Idunn.
Warning : You must not harm the said God at all.
Quest Reward : 40,000 gold coins
Time Limit : 6 hours]
They stared at the board for a moment in shock and wondered if they were seeing it correctly. Not thinking of this as a prank, especially in the Grand Hall, they chuckled at the quest.
"What kind of stupid quest is this? Are devs really putting this as a quest?"
"Seriously, I can easily buy such things from the market place and fulfill the quest."
"What a disappointment."
While they were laughing and shaking their heads at the pitiful quest, one of them chirped with an interesting question to silence them all.
"Anybody saw her name? I want to see her in-game Achievements and ranks."
The question floated in their heads for few minutes as they remembered the possible female player who took this pathetic job just a while ago. Though there was also the possibility that she took this quest for her guildmates to level up, but the game was already ending, therefore selecting a quest at this point seemed like a waste of time. Though they could not shake the feeling that the quest might have some unique type of loot as well, hidden behind the simple quest.
But then, another question crossed their head. If there was really a hidden loot related to this quest, then why did she come to the guild at all? Why not just take the quest for herself and explore it without prying eyes? Though these questions immediately vanished when they saw one of their member using the game search engine.
"Hey, what did you find?"
"I want to see too."
[Name : Yakemi
Total Level : 100
Guild Affiliation : Trinity
Player Rank : 7
Solo Achievement : Slained three World Champions
Party Achievement : Slained the World Eater]
The silence was deafening. They couldn't believe what they were seeing here. The thought that their headgears were malfunctioning did crossed their mind. Before they could come at any assumption, an unfamiliar female voice took their attention.
"So the Quest Hunter is now in Asgard. I wonder how many quests she will complete before the end of this week."
They turned around to see the speaker. As their gaze were welcomed by a figure of an old looking wizard in typical blue attire with silver ornaments. It was a typical, but a very traditional form of design. Though the voice was too girlish to actually fit into the description.
But what caught their attention was what she said.
"Quest Hunter? Isn't that just a rumor?"
"Huh? You know what he said?"
Now their stares fell upon their fellow member.
"Yes, I have heard of this title before. Around 2 or 3 years ago, there were rumors about an individual who completed many quests under a very short period of time, regardless of their level and alignment requirements. At first, I didn't put much thought into it, but after seeing the rumored player..."
"You are surprised as well, eh?"
The player nodded.
"To be honest with you, a lot of top ranking Trinity members are crazy in their own right. She is just like them, a crazy girl."
The wizard hummed while the rest of them were curious to know more about her. There were few more questions wandering in their heads.
"So, what kind of strategy she used to defeat three World Champions?" one of them asked to the wizard.
"Hoh? And why do you think that I know the answer?"
"Well, you seem pretty knowledgeable about this Quest Hunter than us. It will be cool to beat three or even one World Champion on one's own, won't it?"
"Well,... you are not wrong, but... Trinity players are very mysterious with their tasks and abilities. I can't gleam much information out of her, as her defenses against scrying and information gathering skills are higher than average player. You can check her videos where she defeated the three World Champions on her own. Though I don't think it will be helpful for you at all."
Disappointment spreaded over the player group after hearing her answer. Like others, the players intended to know more about the power variables and secret builds to climb at the top.
However, it was all just a dream that could not be fulfilled by just watching it once. Though, many players still put effort to find this forbidden knowledge of theirs.
Sensing their glommy heads, the wizard decided to change the topic.
"By the way, there is a sale of high qualities gears of level 85 and above, want to check it out?"
That perked up their attention. She started to see the change in their moods. While hearing their conversation about the items in sale, her mind wandered at Yakemi's new quest.
"What are you planning, old friend?"
(Location : Jotunheim)
The realm of Giants was full of great sights to behold. Though in terms of flora, it stood behind the realms like Vanaheim and Midgard, there was indeed a certain charm in here that made this place a very memorable location in the entirety of YGGDRASIL.
The trees were gigantic, the mountains were surpassing the clouds, the land was full of huge creatures and many dangerous lifeforms, that either wanted to trample you or devour you. It was pretty obvious that the tallest mountain peak of the nine realms stood here in all its glory.
There were many secret and hideous bosses to fight here, but currently a certain player was looking for something else..., or someone else.
.
.
.
.
Yakemi floated in a single direction, while ignoring the creatures and plant lives, like she had seen them before and not even interested to interact with them. She firmly moved forward to the destination.
However, there were certain nuisances kept coming over her path, but that was natural in the YGGDRASIL.
As per the common knowledge, the more one moved away from the centre of the world, the more dangerous the terrain would be. The very same rule applied here and Yakemi faced them without any sign of slowing down.
Her goal was very near to her. And she had been preparing for this fateful day. The day when she would show her growth and knowledge on actual display. To test her abilities without any issue.
In this realm, there was a Boss which she wanted to fight against. A very powerful, hard to kill Boss which required the party consisting of 11 fully optimized players.
She was a little scared, but she wanted to enjoy this fight as much as she could. All that mental gymnastics with quests and constant battles with strong players, were finally going to show their results.
Slowly and steadily, she reached to the biggest ocean of the YGGDRASIL...
[Sea of the Old Ones].
A majestic sea full of fog, under a starry sky and decorated with 7 crescent moons. It was literally the fantastical sight that anyone would love to capture. However, she had no time to waste upon such things. She had other stuffs to do.
Opening her inventory, Yakemi took out a metallic scroll, glowing with green aura. She activated the scroll as she flinged the scroll far away from her position. The scroll sank into the ocean with a 'dip' sound.
The waves became bigger than they were before, the stars changed their movements while the moons started to vanish away. It was a slow change, but the effects were evident. The scroll she had thrown was a summoning scroll for the StarSpawn. The value of such a scroll, was not very high, though it was a very rare scroll due to its hard to find locations. The number of quests she took was extremely higher than an old, professional player.
The time of judgement was here, the stars were right for the summoning to take place. She came here prepared for what was coming.
"The High Priest is here..."
She spoke in such a inaudible voice that could pass as a whisper. After all, she was going against a level 80 Boss whose abilities were pretty much cheats and unfair for a single player to handle.
But that was not a problem for Yakemi, as she had developed her abilities far above the likes of a normal players could have.
[High Tier Physical Immunity V], a passive trait of hers, that nullified all physical damage like slash, pierce, blunt as well as physical conditions upto level 80. [High Tier Magical Immunity V], another passive trait of hers, that nullified all magical damage and conditions of spells upto 8th tier.
On the other hand, the Starspawn was capable of nullifying all damage from attacks of level 90 and above, while immune to all spells from 1st to 9th tier. Despite being a level 80 Boss, the immunities made him one heck of a dangerous boss to beat.
Yakemi herself was a level 100 player with an optimized build and augmented her abilities by taking favors from different pantheons. And now, she was going to test herself against [Cosmic Pantheon]
where alien laws and eldritch monstrosities reigned supreme.
The ocean suddenly turned violent and the space distorted around a particular area of the ocean. Something was trying to manifest within the very fabric of reality, while affecting the nature at a devastating scale.
[Attention!]
The High Priest of the Old Ones has descended upon the world! Prepare your arsenal as all hells are going to loose at this moment.
Secure yourself!
Run for your lives!
For He has arrived to test your Will!
[C'thulhu—80]
[Do you wish to escape or kill yourself?]
Author: So yeah, this is my first Overlord fanfic. It is more of a testing fanfic though. I wanted to explore the characters like Akemi Yamase from the Overlord verse. She is not an OC, but a canon character.
There is also an Overlord crossover story of HxH called Rainbow Eye, the same story written by me.