Overlord & Hellking Book I
Chapter 1
00:00:01… 02… 03…
"…Huh?"
Momonga opened his eyes as time passed but he wasn't sent back in his room. He was still sitting on the Throne of Kings in Nazarick.
"… What's going on?"
Oshikuru had also closed his eyes to be at peace on the dreadful moment of Yggdrasil's end. The Guildmaster's surprised voice woke up the huge demon who seemed confused as well.
Yggdrasil should have been over by now as the system clock kept going on. 00:00:44… 45… 46…
It was definitely after midnight.
Unsure how to proceed, the Overlord guessed:
"Maybe the shutdown was postponed?"
The samurai slightly nodded and crossed two of his arms
"Cheh, should've seen it coming! shitty devs…"
Even if it seemed to be the most likely scenario, countless different possibilities crossed their minds, but none too convincing.
"Well, if that's the case, the GMs must be making announcements. Maybe it's Yggdrasil II! Oh, man, that'd be great!"
Two of the demon's hands rushed to turn on the communication channels on—then suddenly stopped.
"What the…? I can't see shit, the menu won't come up… Momonga-san, can you try too?"
Feeling uneasy and confused, both players tried to use that and other features: forced system access that bypassed the menu, chat, a GM call, force quit. But they couldn't get to any option. It was like they'd been entirely locked out of the system.
"What is going on?!" The Guildmaster's irate voice echoed across the spacious Throne Room and faded away.
"This is the last day. It's impossibile something like this could happen on the final moment without being bimbarded by ads about the new game… Are the shitty devs teasing us?"
What came over them now was irritation at not being able to make a beautiful exit at the game's glorious end.
"Is something the matter, my Lords?"
It was a woman's silvery voice, and they were hearing it for the first time.
Dumbfounded, Momonga and Oshikuru looked to see where it was coming from and when they saw who had spoken, shock filled them.
It was an NPC who was worriedly looking up at them.
It was Albedo, looking even more alive and more beautiful than ever before.
"Is something wrong, Lord Momonga and Lord Oshikuru?"
Albedo kept trying to talk to the players who had no idea if or how to reply as the most recent series of mysterious events seemed to have short-circuited their brains.
"Please excuse me."
Oshikuru and Momonga gazed at her absentmindedly as she got up and came up closer to the throne.
"Is there a problem?" She insisted while leaned in with her beautiful face. A faint but wonderful scent tickled the Hellking's and the Overlord's nostrils. Perhaps kick-started by the fragrance, the Guildmaster's thoughts began to return.
"Are my lords all right?" Albedo asked while constantly and adorably tilting her head.
Momonga finally managed to reply.
"The GM call isn't working for either of us." Swallowed up by Albedo's glistening pupils, he found himself consulting with an NPC.
"Please forgive me! I am unable to answer your question regarding this GM call you speak of. Nothing would make me happier than a chance to clear myself of the disgrace of failing your expectations. Your wish is my command…"
…We're having a real conversation here. No doubt about it. The realization assailed his entire body with a petrifying amazement. Impossible… This can't be happening.
An NPC is talking to me, not to reply a command or like Sebas had done that one time, hardly, and due to the loyalty to its creator deeply embedded into any NPC… Still, it was not a true conversation.
So how is this happening? Is Albedo special because she has a World Item? Or is it because I've changed her… don't tell me she has feelings for me now… oh come on now, that's impossible!
He motioned for her to step back and glimpsed a flicker of reluctance in her yellow eyes. Momonga looked to Oshikuru, stuck in a weird position, probably too stunned to speak.
Determined to find a way out of this impossible situation, the man acted like a true Guildmaster.
"We need to assess the situation, Oshikuru-san!"
That seemed to release the demon samurai from his stunned state of mind.
"I'll run some tests within the tomb, can you please check on the surroundings in the meantime?"
"Of course, boss. I don't know what's going on yet, but we'll figure it out."
His voice sounded determined, to Momonga's relief.
At least I'm not alone in this, I can always count on my best friend.
Looking around, the Guildmaster saw the other NPCs, who still had their heads bowed.
"Sebas! Maids!"
"My lord!" They answered in magnificent unison, raising their heads in a slick motion.
"Come to the foot of the throne."
"Yes, sir!" Their voices aligned again, and they sprang to their feet. The group walked together with beautiful posture to the bottom of the steps right before dropping again to one knee and deferentially bowing.
From this exchange, Momonga and Oshikuru learned two things. First, even if he had purposely avoided using command phrases, they could understand the true intentions and carry them out. Second, Albedo was not the only one who could talk quite freely.
At the very least, something weird is going on with all the NPCs in the Throne Room.
Straight outta nowhere, Albedo asked: "Have I done something wrong?"
Then both players recognized the root of the incongruity. It was the changing expressions. Her lips were moving fluidly, and they could hear her words.
Flustered, Momonga he brought his fingers to his face while hissing: "This is impossible!"
As he spoke, he felt his jaw was moving as well.
In the world of a DMMO-RPG, that went against all common sense. The mouths moving and the words coming out?! Expression graphics were almost always fixed and for sure they didn't move like that. Otherwise why would the shitty devs had made an in-game chat with emojis and such?
Plus, Momonga's face was a skull—he didn't have a tongue or a throat. Looking down at his hands, he obviously found no flesh and most bones weren't even anatomically correct. Continuing along the same lines, he probably didn't have any internal organs, not to mention lungs. So why could he talk?
He felt the internal logic he had just built up begin to crumble away, and panic replace it.
He wanted to scream but held it in. As expected, the heat in his chest was abruptly soothed by a wave of calm.
Momonga pounded the throne's armrest. As he thought, the number showing damage didn't pop up.
"This is getting weirder and weirder. I'm going outside to kill whoever dared to mess with us!"
Oshikuru's declaration helped Momonga to calm down a bit and think straight.
"Yes, but as a precaution you shouldn't go alone…
Sebas!"
The expression on the butler's face as he lifted his head seemed earnestness incarnate. He looked like he was really alive.
We can still give them an order, right? I'm not sure what's going on, but I can assume the NPCs in the Tomb are still loyal, right? Actually, I don't even know if these still are our NPCs, they're acting so weird…
Countless questions, and the anxiety that went with them, arose in his mind, but Momonga tuned it all out. In any case, there was no one better to send out for reconnaissance than Oshikuru, but since Yggdrasil's rules were falling apart it would be better for him to have a bodyguard. He did glance momentarily at Albedo, who was waiting off to the side. Actually, she was the perfect tank, but he made up his mind to give the order to Sebas.
He imagined what executives at work were like when directing regular employees and tried to act like he was one of them.
"Leave the Tomb together with Oshikuru and protect him while confirming our surroundings within a… 3 km radius. If there are any intelligent life-forms, try negotiating to bring them here on amicable terms. At least for now, it's better to avoid combat to the extent possible."
He glanced at Oshikuru, who pouted a little before silently nodding.
Sebas replied: "Understood, Lord Momonga. I will follow and support Lord Oshikuru in the reconnaissance mission."
"If you're attacked by something unknown, retreat immediately to bring back any information you might have."
His friend made an ok sign, then rushed to Sebas, touched him on a shoulder and activated the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to instantly reach the Great Tomb's exit.
With that, Ainz Ooal Gown had made at least one move.
Then the Guild Master let go of the Guild Weapon. It didn't fall to the ground, instead hung in the air as if someone was still holding it. That was against the laws of physics, but it was just like the game: in Yggdrasil, it wasn't uncommon for most items to float around when one let go of them.
The staff's aura of anguished faces twisted around his skeletal hand, reluctant to dissipate, but Momonga calmly ignored it. Not that he was used to it, but that sort of macro wasn't so strange; he simply shook his wrist to get rid of it.
Crossing his arms, he thought what their next move should be.
I suppose I need to try again to contact the admins.
They surely have to be the most informed about this abnormal situation.
But how to reach them? Usually a shout function or GM call would work, but no option worked so far… A [message] maybe?
Being a spell that was a way to contact people, it could only be used in specific places and situations, but it seemed like it would be effective now.
Although I'm not sure if it would work to contact a GM. Well, at least the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and thus items are still working, Oshikuru had no problems teleporting away… I'm glad about that.
Indeed, Momonga was a level-100 magic caster. If he couldn't use magic, his area of operations and information-gathering would be severely limited, not to mention his combat strength. Right now he had no idea what the situation was and he needed to confirm as soon as possible whether or not he could use all of his spells, besides his magic items.
In that case, I need to go somewhere I can properly test everything out…
He looked out over the Throne Room and quickly shook his head. This was an emergency, but he didn't want to disturb this room's sublime tranquility for magic experiments. But then where? he thought and came up with an ideal location.
It was also necessary to test the extent of his influence. He had to see whether he had maintained his authority as guild master. So far everyone he had met was loyal to him, but there were several NPCs in the Great Tomb of Nazarick at his level. He needed to make sure the rest of them were still loyal, too. But…
He looked at Albedo beside him.
What is it? her faint smile seemed to say. She was beautiful, but the shadows cast by her horns made it seem like something was hidden behind her smile. It made Momonga nervous.
Is the loyalty they have now still inviolable and unchanging? In the real world, a boss who makes stupid moves all the time loses support. Does it work the same way here, whatever here actually is, or is it once faithful, always faithful?
If I suppose their loyalty could change, how do I maintain it?
By giving them rewards? The treasury contains many riches… Or by displaying the excellence you'd expect of a ruler? What constituted excellence, however, was unclear. He had the feeling things would work out if he kept maintaining the dungeon.
Or maybe through sheer power? Oshikuru will always be by my side no matter what, he can force anyone to obey us. And with this…
The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown flew automatically into his outstretched hand.
… I too have an overwhelming power!
The staff's seven jewels began to sparkle, as if appealing for their vast magical power to be used.
Well, I guess I'll think about it later.
He let go of the staff which went back swaying in the air.
Anyhow, it seemed like if he acted like he was in charge, he was unlikely to meet hostility anytime soon. It's hard for anyone to turn their fangs on one who doesn't show any weaknesses.
Momonga raised his voice. "Pleiades! All of you, go up to the Ninth Floor and be on the lookout for any raiders that may be coming."
"Yes, Lord Momonga." The maids behind Sebas complied.
"Go immediately!"
"Understood, Lord and Master," their voices echoed. The battlemaids all paid their respects to Momonga, stood at once, and set off.
The huge door opened and then closed after them.
I'm so glad they didn't say no or something!
Relieved, he turned to the last remaining NPC: Albedo, still waiting beside him.
"Now, then, Lord Momonga. What may I do for you?" she asked with a gentle smile.
"Oh, uh…right…" Momonga leaned out of the throne to pick up his staff. "Come here."
"Yes, sir!" She sounded overjoyed and sidled right up. Momonga worried about the World Item she was carrying but decided not to worry about it.
The problem was her being even too close, all but clinging to him.
She smells so good… wait, what? since when can you smell in a game? Unbelievable thoughts popped up again, but he promptly dismissed them.
I don't have time right now to think about some dumb isekai!
Momonga reached out and touched her hand.
"…Ngh."
"Hm?"
The look on Albedo's face said she was in pain. He whipped his hand away as if he'd been electrocuted.
I wonder what's wrong. Did I creep her out?
Mixed in with the numerous sad memories (like having cashiers drop change into his hand from above to avoid accidentally touching him) flitting across his mind, he found the right answer.
…Ohhhh, I get it.
An overlord was a higher rank of elder lich, and one of the special abilities an elder lich could acquire by leveling up was the dealing of damage by touching. Normally that's an attack. That should be it.
But even if that was the case, there were still questions remaining.
In Yggdrasil, the system would judge mobs and NPCs within the Great Tomb of Nazarick as belonging to Ainz Ooal Gown. Friendly fire for guild members was always off so allies couldn't harm one another.
Did this mean she doesn't belong to the guild? Nonsense. More likely, friendly fire has now been turned on.
Momonga decided the latter was the truth and said to Albedo: "Sorry, I should have turned Negative Touch off."
"Never you mind, Lord Momonga. That level of damage wasn't even painful. Besides, I'd gladly suffer any agony for you… Eek!"
"Oh, uh…huh… I see. But I'm still sorry," Momonga stammered, not knowing how to act toward Albedo as she made that cute little shriek and covered her blushing cheeks with her hands.
But it did seem like the issue had really been damage from Negative Touch.
Averting his eyes from Albedo, going on about a virgin's pain, Momonga tried to think how to temporarily turn off a passive power and suddenly, it dawned on him: using any of an overlord's various powers seemed now as natural an act as breathing. He
He laughed in spite of himself at what an extraordinary situation he was in. After all the strange things that had happened so far, it didn't even surprise him.
"Albedo, I'm going to touch you again."
"Oh…!"
After turning off the ability, he reached out and gently touched her hand. Countless thoughts came up.
How delicate it is, how white…
But Momonga dismissed any that stemmed from his being male. What he wanted to know was if she had a pulse.
She does!
The beat was a steady ba-bum, ba-bum. It would be only natural for a living thing.
Yeah, for a living thing…
Momonga took his hand away and looked at his own wrist. There was no skin, flesh, or anything besides the pure white bones. No blood vessels, no pulse. That's right, an overlord was the highest level of undead, a being that truly transcended death.
He looked back at Albedo. He could see his reflection in the glistening pupils. Her cheeks were awfully flushed, her body temperature was probably skyrocketing. Noting these changes in her was enough to shake him up.
"…What's going on?"
This is an NPC, just some data. What kind of AI can look like it's actually alive? It's practically as if Yggdrasil has become reality…
That's impossible.
Momonga shook his head. It can't be anything as crazy as that. But the idea had now lodged in his mind, it wouldn't go away so easily.
Uncomfortable about the changes in Albedo, he hesitated.
My next move'll be the last, if I'm still in a game. If I check this last thing, all of my hunches will turn to convictions. The balance that shows whether this is reality or not will swing one way or the other. So I have to do it! I wouldn't be surprised if she attacked me! even so…
"Albedo… Can I touch your chest?"
"Huh?"
"The atmosphere froze solid. Albedo blinked, bewildered. The moment he said it, Momonga felt he might die of embarrassment.
Sure, he had no choice, but what kind of thing was that to say to a lady? He had the urge to howl he was the worst person in existence.
I'm abusing my power in order to sexually harass a woman!
I am the worst… But I can't help it. It must be done to find out what's happening.
He forcefully talked himself down and regained his mental equilibrium, then mustered all of his coercive power as a superior.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Utter failure.
His ahy words caused Albedo to beam as if she was the sun, making all flowers bloom.
"Of course, Lord Momonga! Please have your way with me!"
She puffed out and huge breasts jiggles in Momonga's face. Had he the ability to gulp, he'd have surely done it several times.
On the one hand, Momonga was feeling oddly nervous and shaken, but some corner of his brain was being calmly and objectively self-observant.
He felt stupid.
Why is this the test I thought of?
When he peeked at Albedo, she stuck her chest out even more as if to say, Go ahead, her eyes twinkling.
Was Momonga aroused or ashamed? He willed his hand to stop shaking, made up his mind, and reached out.
Under the dress, he felt something a bit rigid, but beneath that he could feel softness.
"Ahh… mmm…"
Amid Albedo's moans, Momonga got the info he was after.
Assuming he was still sane, Momonga had two hypotheses for explaining the current situation.
One was the possibility of a new DMMO-RPG. In other words, at the same time Yggdrasil had shut down, Yggdrasil II started up like he and Oshikuru thought. But that didn't seem terribly plausible after what he'd just experienced.
In Yggdrasil, anything rated R was forbidden. Even PG-13 was considered out of line in some cases. Violators were harshly dealt with: names were posted to the list of abusers on the game's website and their accounts suspended.
That was because if a log of it was made public, Yggdrasil's company would mess with adult entertainment business laws.
Under normal circumstances, it would have surprised Momonga if what he just did wasn't against the rules. If he was still in a game world, there should have been some measure in place to prevent it.
Also, cyber-tech laws governing DMMORPGs viewed forcible, nonconsensual participation in a game as kidnapping. The inability to force quit would be seen as illegal confinement, too.
If that was what was going on, the game's proprietary console had to keep a week's worth of records by law, so exposing it would be easy enough. When he wouldn't show up for work, someone would check on him, and once the police investigated the console, that would clear things up.
But was there really a company stupid enough to commit a crime so easy to get caught for in an organization-wide way? Of course, if they said, "It's an early demo version of Yggdrasil II," or "We just released a patch," there was a gray zone, but he didn't believe it would be worth it to the shitty devs to take such risks.
So there had to be something at work besides the developers' intentions.
In that case, he needed to make a big change in the way he was thinking or he wouldn't get anywhere.
There was just another possibility: that the fantasy world had become the real world…
There was no way something so so illogical could be true, but the longer all of this went on, the more he wondered if it might actually be the case.
The sense of smell did not exist banned in fantasy worlds, together with touch not being as strong as IRL etc. As a result of all the limitations, DM tech for sex games hadn't really caught on yet.
But here he could smell a woman's scent and feel her warmth.
The reality of that hit Momonga so hard it completely blew away all his What about work? and What if I can't get out of here? worries. If this wasn't reality… Just in terms of the bandwidth that would be required to run this fantasy, it'd be impossible…"
His mouth was bone-dry, but he swallowed anyway. Even if he couldn't get it, his mind had already accepted it.
Finally, he let his hand fall limply from Albedo's full chest. He felt he'd been groping her a bit longer than necessary, but he told himself it was something he had to do for confirmation. It certainly wasn't because she was so soft he couldn't take his hand away…
"Sorry, Albedo."
"Ahhh…" She exhaled hotly, and he could feel why her cheeks had turned so red. Then she said, looking slightly askance, "So here it is, my first time!"
"Huh?!" Momonga let out a confused yelp in spite of himself. It took him a moment to understand what she was saying.
"First time"? For what? And what's with that look on her face?!
"What shall I do with my clothes?"
"…What?"
"Would you like me to take them off myself? Or do you want to do it, master? If I keep them on, um, they might get dirty… But if milord prefers it that way, I have no objections."
Finally her words sank in. Actually, Momonga wondered if he even had any brain left for them to sink into. Once he understood where all this was coming from, it grated on him.
"Stop. Stop it, Albedo."
"Hm? Yes, sir."
"Right now we can't… Er, we don't have time to be doing such things."
"M-my humble apologies! I shouldn't have prioritized desire when we're having some sort of emergency."
She jumped away and went to kneel, but Momonga put up a hand to stop it.
"You're fine. It was my fault. All is forgiven, Albedo. More importantly…I have orders for you."
"Anything you wish, my lord."
"Contact the floor guardians except Victim and Gargantua. Tell them to gather at the Amphitheatre on the 6th Floor one hour from now. I'll let Aura and Mare know myself, so there's no need to contact them."
"Understood, Momonga-sama!"
"Good. Now go."
"My lord." Albedo turned to leave the Throne Room with quick steps.
Once she had left, he let out an agonized moan.
What the hell! It was just a stupid joke. Had I known this would happen… Have I defiled the NPC Tabula created…?"
He could think of only one reason Albedo would react to him that way: the text he'd edited into her bio, "And she's in love with Momonga."
He groaned.
Tabula Smaragdina had put his all into filling that blank canvas with Albedo's backstory. Then, Momonga condescendingly painted over it for his own selfish reasons, and this was the result. He felt like he'd vandalized a masterpiece.
But he had to put that issue aside for now. Still wincing, he stood up from the throne. He told himself he could figure that problem out after taking care of the more urgent tasks.
Indeed he cast [Message] to his friend.
"Oshikuru-san, please bring back good news from the outside. You still have one hour to do so."
"Well, So far I have both good and bad news. You want to know right now or…"
"Not yet. Look carefully at everything around Nazarick, when time's up, come to the Amphitheater on the 6th Floor with Sebas. I'll be there with all Floor Guardians, we need to assert our dominance."
"Makes sense. Anyway, I'm sure you too have realised it by now…"
"Yes. We're no longer in a game, we are in a real world!"