Momonga sat on the Throne of Kings, overseeing the destruction of the largest alliance in the game's history. This alliance consisted of eight guilds, affiliated guilds, mercenary players, and NPCs, totaling 1500 members. Usually, facing such a large alliance would be a significant concern for any guild. However, Momonga had assistance from a skilled individual acting as a double agent for the past three months, providing him with crucial insider information about the Alliance. This made the success of crushing the alliance almost certain.
The undead overlord closed the screen, no longer needing to monitor the remaining dozen or so players. They would either give up or risk their levels going down to zero. He concluded that many would probably not return to the game after losing many levels and most of their Divine-class gear.
He opened another window, which displayed the current status of the guild and all the different NPCs, along with their stats. Due to the help of his friend, the damage to floors one through seven was lower than what it would have been if she hadn't assisted with intelligence gathering and tweaking the settings on those floors to minimize their damage while simultaneously leading the invaders to a false sense of victory.
An alert pinged on the right side of his console. A member of Ainz Ooal Gown had logged into the game. There was no need to look at who it was. It could only be that person.
He wouldn't need to wait long. She would be arriving here in just a moment.
Not a full minute later, the magnificent doors to the throne room opened, and his guildmate, the only member who had regularly logged into the game for the past year or so, walked into the throne room. Although Tabula owned a ring of Ainz Ooal Gown that allowed instant teleportation to almost anywhere in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the ring did not allow teleportation to a few specific locations. One of these locations was the throne room. Because of this, it could take some time to travel from the round table room where the members were usually spawned when logging into the game.
It was grotesque. Her black cape hid most of her body, but her face remained uncovered. Numerous black tattoo letters covered the right side of her face, and tentacles reached down from her mouth to her thighs. Her skin was like a corpse's, and her eyes were pupilless and milky white.
The Brain Eater made her way towards the throne of kings. She glanced at her creation positioned on Momonga's right and walked up to the guardian overseer, Albedo, a peerless beauty who was an exact contrast to her avatar's appearance. She opened a window displaying Albedo's stats and removed an item she lent her in case things didn't go as planned. "Are they still at it?"
Tabula added the item back to her inventory. She moved to the left of the throne and peered over Momonga's frame to examine the screen more closely.
The console was adjusted for better visibility. "Just wrapping up. There are a dozen or so players still fighting on the 8th floor. They seem determined to bring their levels down to zero."
"Stubborn."
He agreed. It would be smart to log off until the effects of the world item wore off, and they could spawn at their original spawn points again. But some of them seemed to have completely called it quits on the game and made the great tomb their final resting place.
"The forums are probably filled with many complaining right now."
"Oh, they are seething." She took a look at the forums before switching over, and a laughing emoji face accompanied the message. "They are whining about how 'it's not fair to force someone to spawn in a combat zone.' 'So what if they used a world item? It's still cheating.' Lmao."
"It was necessary to make an example out of them so that no alliance would attempt this again. They could have been a bit more prepared. They didn't make it halfway through the 8th floor."
"No amount of preparation would have had them ready for something like that."
"I have you to thank for that. Thank you for your hard work."
"Anything for you." She performed a bow. "It was my pleasure, guild master. Those idiots had it coming to them. Always vet your new members thoroughly."
Momonga was initially apprehensive about their plan, but Tabula assured him it wouldn't be a problem due to her special circumstances. And if the developers got involved, she would pass it off as them leveling the playing field.
"Are you planning to go back there?" Although he didn't think Tabula would leave the guild, he still thought it was his duty to ensure all his guild mates were content and do anything he could to ensure they remained a part of Ains Owl Gownt.
"Maybe in a few months, after things have calmed down. There could also be powerful items still in their treasury. I would also like to give Citrinas a proper goodbye."
"Umu." Momonga wanted to ask further questions but was interrupted by a notification.
The guild of Ainz Ooal Gown has successfully defended its base, The Great Tomb of Nazarick. You have been awarded the world item [GRACE].
You have been awarded the world item [Hōgyoku].
You have been awarded the world item [The Hand of Glory].
"Finally, it's over. We also received three world items," Momonga's voice was tinged with excitement. Scratch that. He would have been bouncing on the balls of his feet if he could. He had never imagined the guild would be rewarded with three world items. Momonga and Tabula had discussed the probable reward after defeating the alliance, but this was beyond their expectations.
"Three world items! We did defeat the greatest alliance in the game, but three is a bit much. No?" Tabula was also surprised. They couldn't have anticipated such a reward, but the developers have indeed blessed them. "What are they? What are the effects? Are there any restrictions?" The questions were fired at Momonga in rapid succession.
"Just a minute. Since the invaders are now defeated and Nazarick is safe again, give me a moment while I revive the other floor guardians and NPCs. Then we can move to a different location to better go through the spoils," Momonga put the brakes on their excitement. "We may face a second attack, so it's best to have the guild ready again as soon as possible."
While Momonga was scrolling through the display screen, pushing buttons here and tapping on menus there, another notification was heard. This time, it seemed that Tabula was the recipient.
"Oops, it looks like they've caught on," she said as she checked her display. "The developers seem to have a sense of humor. I received an item called Player One along with a note." This was concerning. It meant that they were aware of her second account. However, instead of being banned, she was given an item.
"Is it bad? I can use a caloric stone to make a request on your behalf." Momonga was ready to use the item even if she said no. He wouldn't let a dear friend lose access to the game because of him.
"It doesn't seem that way. If it had been, I would have been forced to log out and not given an item. More details should be provided in the item description. We can look at it together once you are done here. For now, she won't mention the note.
The two members of Ainz Ooal Gown found themselves in one of the many rooms on the 10th floor. The furniture in the room was of excellent quality. The soft glow of light produced by the hanging chandeliers reflected on the marble floors, which seemed to gleam as if full of stars. Tabula sat on a luxurious red sofa with gold accents around it, while Momonga faced her and sat on a similar luxurious sofa. In the center of them was a pure white table that was a bit lower than the round table in the other room. Two maids were standing at the ready, one behind Tabula and the other behind Momonga.
Momonga reached into his inventory and retrieved the three world items for which they had been rewarded. Tabula also pulled out the mysterious item the devs had gifted to her. All the items were placed on the table. "Because of the importance of your situation, let us look at your item first."
Tabula pushed the item forward. It was a joystick, one of those input devices that were very popular before the 20th century. It was shaped like a small black box with two buttons on its face—one red and the other blue. Along with the buttons was a joystick that could move in all directions on an x-axis. The stick had a red ball on top, but it seemed more like a way to maneuver the stick easily than a button.
"The description says, 'A user may use this item on a desired NPC. Upon using this item, the user will be logged out of their avatar and given an option to choose the desired NPC as a login character, turning the NPC from a non-playable character to a playable character.' "
She continued, "This item is single-use. This item can only be used on an NPC created by the user or as part of the user's guild. This item cannot be transferred to another player and cannot be stolen or dropped. Once the desired NPC is chosen, all settings are fixed and can no longer be changed. To switch characters, the user will need to log out. When the user is not logged in or is logged in as the original player avatar, the desired NPC will revert to its original programming. This item comes in a pair."
Momonga was a bit perturbed. A second character was forbidden in the game. He didn't think anyone had tried, but the only item that would allow something like this would be a world item. Although this item seemed limited to choosing an NPC, it was still extremely powerful. Just thinking about being able to take Albedo outside of the tomb caused him a headache. Well, he wouldn't have to worry about it. He had no interest in a second character, and the item couldn't be transferred to him anyway. "This seems a bit overpowered to be a regular item. Do you have any idea why they gave it to you? Did you get any direct messages from the GM?"
The Brain Eater swayed her head back and forth. "I didn't receive any such information. They may be trying to intimidate me by claiming to know what I did. I can't verify it until I access that account. According to the information here, this particular item comes in pairs, so the other account should have the same item."
"I suggest you do not use it until we confirm its effects. Keep it in a safe place for now." Although Momonga was worried that the devs were playing some kind of prank on his friend, he wouldn't want to risk something happening to her characters. Unbeknownst to Momonga, Tabula was having the exact opposite train of thought.
With an "understood," Tabula placed the item back into her inventory.
"Alright, now then," Momonga said, moving the first item forward. It was the severed right hand, seemingly of a female humanoid, due to its small feminine features and nails that were well-trimmed and painted red. The stump of the hand was charred, giving the impression that it was removed from a burned body. The back of the hand was dry and tough, but surprisingly, the inside of the hand was still soft and supple when you turned it over. "The Hand of Glory."
"This hand belonged to a young woman from a humanoid race. A long, long time ago, she committed a grave sin, an egregious deed so heinous that the world chose to forget rather than be reminded of her treachery. To that end, the world rejected her remains, casting her out of the history of the world.
This item draws the aggro of True Dragons. Boost fire magic damage."
Tabula remained silent for a moment. "Was that it? Doesn't seem all that powerful for a world item."
"There may be hidden effects that only present themselves when you use or equip the item. I wouldn't write it off just based on the description." Mononga, too, was a bit disappointed, but just because it didn't come with a flashy spell didn't mean it was useless. "I will keep this in the treasurer for now." Mononga placed the item back into his inventory.
"Mononga gently shifted the blush orb to the center of the table. Its diameter measured about 2 inches. The orb was encircled by intricate prisms that seemed to be in a perpetual state of flux. 'Hōgyoku absorbs the desires of those around it and manifests them into reality,' Mononga explained. 'It raises all stats by five points.'"
Tabula stared at him for a moment, contemplating the situation. "The developers are messing with us. First, the joystick, then that dead hand, and now this. I wonder if any of these items can be considered world items. Could it be possible that we received three of them because they are relatively weak compared to others?"
"Player One could be valuable if it functions as described. However, I understand that these items leave much to be desired. Perhaps the last one will turn out to be something special."
The final item, Grace, was the last item on the table. It was a small brown sack with a cord keeping the contents inside. Momonga read the description of the sack before spilling out the contents. It said, "Holder of Grace." What came out was a single black seed with traces of gold around it. Momonga went to pick it up, and instantly, there was a change. He could see his stats rise dramatically on the left side of his eye. "The Seed of the Skadu Tree, the shadow of the Tree Yggdrasil."
"Upon removal from its pouch, this seed must be planted within 72 hours. Failure to do so will result in the removal of the item from the user's inventory and the loss of one hundred player level. This item cannot be transferred or stolen and is single-use. All requirements must be met before use; otherwise, the item will be lost and will permanently deduct 100 levels from the total levels of a guild base. This item requires 100 guild levels. This item requires 100 billion gold coins. This item requires the user to be in possession of at least two other world items. Time remaining: 71:58."
