23:52:08
23:52:09
"Alright, that's about it, I guess."
A white-haired, scarlet-eyed human in purple robes spoke to himself as he exited the city gates of a medieval theme.
'Let's see, I got the commemorative fireworks, tons of useful items for cheap, and even two World Items! Having the chance to clear the black market like this should honestly be considered cheating! Hahahahaha… hahaha… haha…'
'...Haaaah, if only Yggdrasil wasn't about to end today…'
Despite this person's inner thoughts, his expression never changed even a bit from its calm and collected appearance. Though this was not due to any proficient poker face or the likes, but rather…
'I should head back to Nazarick now before the disguise is over, I'd rather not spend the last in the game getting chased by the city's humanoid guards.'
Because this was a video game, a very realistic virtual reality video game.
YGGDRASIL, a DMMO-RPG that once took the world by storm due to its amazing achievements in the field of gaming using the advanced deep dive system, became its coffin in the end, as more and more games caught up and surpassed it. Making the once before leading game in the industry an obsolete piece whose plug will be pulled due to a very low player count and an even staggeringly low monthly revenue count.
'There's only eight minutes left, I hope it's not too late to do this.'
The white-haired player, Momonga, stepped through the [Gate] spell he casted when he crossed the virtual city's no-teleportation zone.
As Momonga crossed to the other side, he was greeted with the sight of his beloved guildbase, Nazarick, along with a certain figure in a maid costume awaiting him.
"Good, Shizu's here, this will save me the trouble of getting her from the tenth floor."
The man breathed a sigh of relief IRL before motioning with his hand towards the NPC as he began to walk towards a clearing near the guild's grounds.
"Follow."
The NPC obeyed the player as she followed behind the guildmaster, who kept taking glances above at the hazy night sky of Helheim as he traveled to a nearby elevated hill.
'I'm going to miss all this. I just wish that at least one of my friends was here to see it with me.'
He sighed despondently before stopping, making quick work of placing a large firework launcher and setting up for the final launch.
"Let me just assign her here… And… there! Since she's an Automaton, using high-tech launchers like these to edit the firework displays should be something she's good at… If the guides are correct at least, bastards usually just spew false information unless you pay them."
The undead took a step back as a digital countdown of twenty seconds appeared on his UI as Shizu moved towards the launcher, her hands hovering over them as electricity began appearing, connecting her palms and fingertips to the in-game digital screen of the device.
'All seems good so far. And my disguise's time is about to end too. Hopefully it will deter anybody from attacking since it hides my username and Shizu never appeared on the public forums like the Floor Guardians.'
23:59:11
00:00:19
23:59:12
00:00:18
23:59:13
00:00:17
'Soon… It will all be over,' Suzuki Satoru thought dejectedly as he saw the time slowly ticking towards the inevitable shutdown of the biggest part of his life happening before his eyes. In less than a minute, YGGDRASIL, the game that took his life by a storm for over 12 years, and showed him a whole new world, gave him the family he could never have, and memories he could never make IRL, would disappear forever.
And yet…
*Whoosh!*
*Crackle!*
*Whoosh!*
*Crackle!*
Watching the launched fireworks, he could confidently say paying for these in-game customisations of the fireworks was well worth the price.
Screenshots taken from the heyday of the guild and the game, were reimagined into fireworks displays.
The day that Nine's Own Goal became a full-fledged guild.
The celebratory photo that was taken after conquering Nazarick.
The 1500 invasion.
The first time they defeated the World Devourer.
The casual photos of them goofing around in-game.
Suzuki Satoru was crying bittersweet tears as he looked at them once more, now for whomever left in the world of Helheim to see as well.
He was alone, with the company of only an NPC, a relic and a part of their legacy. Thus at the same time, he wasn't alone.
'I heard that some people make wishes during the New Year fireworks. It's neither the time nor the place, but I'll give it a try.'
The disguised undead closed his eyes as he brought his skeletal and flesh-coated hands together, the feeling in them numbed due to the laws put in place over virtual reality.
23:59:50
23:59:51
He wanted to wish that Yggdrasil would never end, but hearing the ticking of the clock made him understand how impossible it would be.
23:59:52
23:59:53
He could wish for the continuation of Ainz Ooal Gown, but he knew in the end, that it was for naught, even if Yggdrasil doesn't shutdown today, Ainz Ooal Gown only exists now because of his daily efforts to pay the expenses of the guild. It has long since died before the game ever truly did.
23:59:54
23:59:55
But there was one thing that he could wish for that wasn't bound by such logical constraints, something far more far-fetched, but to him was much more precious.
'I wish…'
23:59:56
23:59:57
'That all of my friends are safe and sound, that they are all happy…'
23:59:58
'And for our adventures, whether alone or together, will continue forever.'
23:59:59
00:00:00
And his wish was granted.
Momonga opened his eyes quickly as he felt the wind caressing his face, his eyes widened as he was met with a fairly surreal sight.
He was standing on top of a building reminiscent of one of those old 21st Century skyscrapers. The jarring difference that separated it from the old photos was that it was debilitated, and as he looked down, he was met with the sight of gigantic plant-life reminiscent of what he would see in druidic dwellings in YGGDRASIL intertwined with the old building.
'What in the world…'
As the Player set his sights forwards, he realized it wasn't just the building he was on, but rather, it was the entire place.
He was in what seems like a centuries old abandoned city, with nature and civilization merging in the most abnormal of ways.
In an instant, he shielded his eyes by instinct as the sun came into view, its bright rays hurt him for a moment, or rather, they should've.
'Ah, of course it doesn't hurt, in the game they simulated the brightness of the actual sun so nobody would try and stare at it for long, the shitty devs even went as far as putting a blindness debuff for the idiotic few who refused to heed the warning.'
The man sighed for a moment before a realization hit him.
"Wait… why is my mouth moving!? I'm still in disguise, my mouth shouldn't be simulated at all! I need to call the GMs!"
The man attempted to do so, yet like the previous event, also proved both unexpected and shocking.
"It's not working. What in the world is going on?!"
"Lord Momonga?"
The Player froze for a moment as he heard a feminine voice behind him. He slowly turned towards the source and was met with the figure of CZ2128 Delta, who was standing next to the familiar firework launcher she was operating just a few minutes ago.
"Shizu?"
"Yes, my lord?" He was startled as she responded to him, making the man's mind run a thousand kilometres per second.
'She's speaking?! The NPCs made by Players shouldn't be speaking, or make facial expressions either! What is-'
Unexpectedly, his tempestuous mind halted for a moment, clarity and calm replacing his previous embroiled state.
'...Is this the effect of {Emotional Suppression}? The skill didn't have any actual use in the game before aside from being just a visual design for an Undead's natural immunity to any mental afflictions and manipulation.'
The man placed his fleshy hand on his chin as he began scratching mindlessly.
'Could it be… am I in the game? No, rather, am I perhaps in another world with stuff from Yggdrasil with me? That seems like the most plausible thing… No wait, there's something I must test first, if it works, then I really am in another world.'
"Shizu, could you come here?"
The Automaton stood up and moved towards the man after placing the firework launcher into her inventory - a move that surprised Momonga -, her hands joined in front of her as she made her way towards him with a. Monotone face, reminiscent of the one she always had back in YGGDRASIL.
'She's responding to verbal commands that she definitely was scripted to follow. Alright, one last test, I hope she doesn't attack me…'
"Shizu." Momonga knelt slightly so he could match her eye level, his height still the same despite not being in his original undead form.
"I am going to… touch your chest for a moment, is that alright with you?"
…
Silence permeated the place as the monotone girl didn't even blink at his request, staring at him almost endlessly.
'...YOU FUCKING BLEW IT NOOB! WHO THE HELL TELLS A WOMAN HE'S GOING TO TOUCH HER BOOBS?! ARE YOU CRAZY OR JUST STU-?!'
"Shall I remove my clothes as well, lord Momonga?" The undead was startled out of his mind as he heard her words, before shaking his head quickly to stop her from undressing.
"No! Uh, I mean, khm, no, of course not. I simply want to test something, no need to go that far."
The Automaton nodded before stepping closer towards him, giving him the opportunity he wanted.
'Alright, here goes nothing, I need to do this quickly or I might get branded as the biggest pervert in the world.'
He cautiously reached out to the girl's chest with his skeletal hand, touching it with a finger, then another, before fully placing his hand on it.
A few painfully awkward seconds have passed before the man retracted his hand with the type of speed that defies human comprehension, and if he was capable of it, his face would've been as red as a tomato from embarrassment.
'I at least can confirm we're truly not in YGGDRASIL, or I would've been kicked out of the game by now before having a warning thrown at my face.'
Suddenly, he felt a touch on his left cheek, and looking up, he saw Shizu's hand on it, before something was stuck to him. And caressing the object with his hand, made him realize it was one of those one-yen stickers that Garnet, Shizu's creator, gave her the ability to create.
"Uwaah. Cute."
The monotone delivery of her proclamation made the undead player look at her with confusion for a moment before he coughed into his fist.
"Er. Thank you, Shizu. And apologies for what I did, I needed to test… something."
The maid nodded before stepping back as Momonga stood back to his full height.
"Alright, from what it seems, we are in a new world, one that doesn't belong to YGGDRASIL or to any other that I know of. We need to get our bearings in this place and find out where we are. The fact that we're standing on top of man-made architecture like this indicates that there has to be some form of civilization, or at least remnants of it."
Shizu nodded as she looked at her master. "Shall I conduct a full reconnaissance of the area, my lord?"
Momonga shook his head before replying. "No need for now. We have to locate a temporary base of operations before carrying out anything, staying out here regardless of the height of the building is dangerous, especially if anyone hostile were to spot us."
The maid bowed in recognition of her master's words as he turned to look over the edge of the building. "Hmm, seeking shelter in one of these buildings for a moment should do fine, since using spells like [Green Secret House] or [Create Fortress] would only invite unneeded attention from possible enemies."
The man nodded to himself as he cast [Mass Fly, making both him and the Automaton maid float in the air.
"Ah, right, I should dispel this disguise, it should've been over by now anyway, and I doubt I'll need it since it shouldn't impact my actual abilities any longer. [Dispel]."
…
"Uhh… [Dispel]!"
…
"Lord Momonga?"
"...Yes, Shizu?"
"I think you are stuck in that form for now."
"I can see that!"
It's been a few days since their 'forced teleportation' to this world. With the undead caster and his maid using one of the buildings at the edge of the abandoned city for a temporary base of operations.
The first thing the two noted down about this place was the lack of any sentient biological lifeforms, the closest there is are robotic creatures that Momonga could only describe as 'old bucketheads'.
'They really do like that, except for the heavy layers of rust on some of them. I think the closest thing we had to them were those old machine soldiers used at the beginning of World War 3, they were eventually abandoned near the end of the war when moderate EMP waves could stop them from functioning long enough for someone to destroy them… I wonder how long they could last against these ones here?'
Momonga was currently sitting on the edge of one of the rooftops with Shizu currently standing behind him, the two were under the influence of the caster's [Perfect Unknowable] spell, rendering them invisible from any third party that might spot them.
"Shizu, aside from these mindlessly roaming machines and the occasional wild animal, are you sure you there wasn't anything else?" The guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown asked the maid as he folded his arms, his eyes tracking a foolish robot that got too close for comfort to a moose and ended up flying tens of feet in the air, before falling and crumpling to the ground unceremoniously, with the horned spawn of nature gently leaving the grounds as if nothing happened.
"Negative, my lord. While I could sometimes spot distant sounds of fighting, with indications that these old machines may be involved, they were outside of the area of reconnaissance I was checking."
Momonga hummed to himself as he thought about what he was told. Fighting could either mean these robots were attempting to fight the animals, which mostly ended either with the robot turned to scraps unless it's one of those bigger ones that Momonga could say could take a boat in a fight.
Or that there was a third party other than the machines and the animals fighting against the former group.
'They could either be humans, or whatever other race would've inhabited these cities in the past… or something else entirely.'
He would be lying if he were to say he was not worried, chances are these could be hostile forces, and while Momonga could confidently say Shizu and himself could take these tiny robots in a fight easily without breaking a sweat, metaphorically, it doesn't account for the fact they might face something hundreds of leagues worse than what they are seeing now.
'If this was YGGDRASIL, it definitely would've happened. I remember that party of noobs complaining about the level scaling in some of the beginner areas when they got KO'd by a level 80 Raid Boss in a beginner dungeon. Unfortunately for them, nobody came to their defense and the most they got were words of encouragement and 'Git gud noobs'.'
The man stood up as he prepared to leave, motioning for Shizu as he prepared to cast a [Gate] spell towards their home base. But before he could, a loud scream, one he could only describe as belonging to that of a 21st Century AI voice mimicking a child or a young teenager, echoed across the abandoned city district.
"Heeeelp! Heeeelp! Somebody help meeee!"
Momonga was startled as he looked towards the source, it was one of those robots, the same ones that he would often see mindlessly roaming the abandoned plains, and it was now getting chased by an angry boar while being very vocal about its situation.
"Somebody heeeeelp!!!"
The man furrowed his eyebrows as he gazed at the scene, the comically short tiny machine being chased by an exceptionally large boar was a sight to behold, especially with how it could nearly outrun the outraged animal with its tiny feet, yet it also involved feelings of pity for the poor artificial creature.
'I should probably help it, if at least to find out what is going on, and especially why it can talk compared to the rest of these wild robots.'
"Shizu," the maid's singular cross-haired eye bowed as her master called out to her. "I'm going to go help the little machine, while I'm sure the boar would pose no threat whatsoever, prepare for combat in case the robot turns out to be hostile or leading us to a trap. Chances may be slim but never zero."
"Yes, lord Momonga." The maid within the span of a second took her holstered rifle from her hips as she prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, with Momonga having cast the [Mass Fly] spell on himself and his maid.
"Somebody heeeeelp!" The tiny machine screamed as the boar got closer and closer to its victim, the artificial lifeform attempting to swerve around the debilitated buildings and constructs to try and lose his would-be destroyer, to no avail.
"Somebody heeeeelp!"
If he had tear ducts, the tiny machine would've cried, the possibility of death when all he wanted was to bring a few flowers to his 'mother' never occurred to him, yet here he was, about to be turned to scraps and no one will know his fate in the end.
"I don't want to dieeee!"
And as if responding to his earnest plea, the boar suddenly squealed with agony before rolling and tumbling as it fell to the ground.
The tiny life-form scurried away from the boar as it tumbled to the ground, keeping his distance as he watched it from afar with bated breath.
"Are you alright?"
The machine squeaked for a moment as he heard a voice from behind him, turning his entire body towards the source as he raised his arms in a futile attempt at mimicking a fighting stance.
What stood in front of him were definitely androids, as neither were machine-like in his eyes and neither were they animals like his previous chaser.
The shorter of the pair was a girl with straight red-gold hair, and a singular emerald eye with a target-mark on the pupil. She was dressed in a peculiar attire he had never seen before, and had in her hands a weapon he could guess to be one of those rifles, similar to what some of the androids he once saw used.
The other being besides her was also just as peculiar, if not more, and was extremely tall at that. He was dressed in peculiar black robes with gold and violet edges. He had white hair and scary blood red eyes, and reminded the tiny machine of some of the other androids he once saw before. Though what was more peculiar about him was his right upper limb.
It was skeletal, white like the bones of the animals he saw before who started looking funny after they stopped moving for a long time, except it was way cleaner and scarier, with shiny rings on the very sharp bony fingers that looked like they could tear into his metal skin with ease.
"W-who are you?!" The machine tried to sound threatening to the two, yet his constant quivering and jittering made it quite the failure of an attempt.
"Be not afraid." The taller one spoke up. "We saw you getting chased by the animal and decided to intervene. Are you alright?"
The smallest of the three looked at the man with shock. He wasn't young as the other kids and knows that androids would never choose to help a machine willingly.
Here there was one that did exactly that.
"Uh. Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," the machine stammered as he put his arms down. "And thank you, Mr and Ms Androids. Thank you for saving me."
The machine didn't mean anything deep behind his words of gratitude, after all, his mother told him to always say thank you to whomever helps him. Yet to the pair, it divulged to them new information.
'Androids? Not humans? I see.' Momonga thought to himself, silently thanking the machine for the new information he gave to him accidentally.
He gave a gentle smile as he spoke to the tiny machine. "You're welcome. Though I must say, I'm curious as to why you were getting chased by that boar. It's not very common for someone to earn a wild beast's ire to the point that it chases them around for this long."
If the machine could blush, he would've, he spoke with a bit of hesitation as he scratched the back of his head. "I… wanted to get some flowers for Mama. But I guess I ended up intruding on the boar's home and he got pretty angry about that."
Momonga wanted to blink in shock as he heard that response from the machine. ''Mama'? Like an actual mother? But isn't he a machine? How could he have a mother? Does he mean his creator? Or am I missing something here?'
Thankfully, he didn't show his confusion outwardly as he nodded with a seemingly sympathetic look on his face. "I see, then would you like for us to escort you to safety for now?"
The machine was silent for a moment as he heard Momonga's question, fidgeting with his finger-like appendages before muttering softly, more to himself than to his saviors. "But I'm not supposed to bring anyone to the village…"
The information reached Momonga's ears however, contrary to what the machine would've desired.
'A village? So there is more than just this one machine and his 'mama'. Good, that means there are others whom we could communicate with, not mention those androids he was mistaking us for. Though from what it looks like, that village is supposed to be secret, at least from the androids since he mistook us for them… I've got an idea.'
"Well, how about this, we can get you to a location you are familiar with and you can make your way home from there, what do you say?"
It was like a heaven-sent offer for the tiny machine, who upon hearing the Mage's words, nodded expressively. "Yeah! That's ok! Thanks a lot Mr Android! …Uh wait, I haven't actually gotten your names. My name is Leo, what's yours?"
Momonga was silent for a moment as he thought about it, before answering the machine with a more confident and regal tone than before. "I am Ainz Ooal Gown. And this here is Shizu Delta. It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo."
The group of three could be seen strolling through the abandoned city streets, with the machine lifeform, Leo, guiding the two 'androids' as he would regale them with some of the adventures he would go on.
"And get this, there was a super big metal bird that was sleeping on top of the building! It didn't seem like it was a machine or an android though, and it was still sleeping even when one of those flying guys got close to it. It was still pretty amazing though!"
Ainz would occasionally hum or nod his head, asking questions of his own disguised as interest in his tales. Which only motivated the machine to tell him more and more.
{'Lord Mo- Ainz. I have a question.'} Shizu used the [Message] spell as she contacted her lord in secret, feigning interest in Leo's tale of the two moose who were 'fighting' each other.
{'What is it, Shizu?'}
{'If you do not mind me asking, my lord, why did you change your name?'}
Ainz didn't reply immediately to the Automaton, his response only arriving a few seconds later. {'It is because the name of Ainz Ooal Gown is much more known than Momonga, and if we are to have any hopes of finding others from Yggdrasil like us, or even some of my fellow guild members, using the name of Ainz Ooal Gown would garner much attention.'}
{'I see, thank you for answering, lord Ainz.}
{'Do you perhaps have any reservations about it, Shizu?'}
The maid shook her head as she answered, her voice was monotone as usual, though with a hint of confidence in it. {'No, lord Ainz, if anything, you are the most deserving of the name, since you stayed with us for so long in comparison to the rest of the Supreme Beings.'}
Ainz hummed to himself as he listened to her words. He doesn't yet understand why she refers to him and the rest of the guild members as such, but if it means she's loyal to him even outside of YGGDRASIL, then all's fine.
"Alright, we're here, Mister!" The machine turned towards the two as he looked at Ainz. "Thanks again for getting me here, sorry you can't visit me and my mama."
Ainz dismissed the boy's apology with his hand. "It's no problem, I know that these must be quite tumultuous times for both machines and androids, and any contact right now would only lead to more problems than it is now."
"'Tu-mul-to-us?'" Leo slowled drawled out the unfamiliar word before shaking his spherical head. "Still, thanks a lot Mister Ainz, and you two Miss Shizu, you two were super duper cool in keeping all those beasties away with just being there!"
The Automaton walked towards Leo before she knelt down to reach his eye level. And just as suddenly as her actions were to him, he felt her stick something to the back of his hand.
"Cute."
The action confused the young machine, both by her deadpan statement and the weird silver circular thing she stuck to his hand with the number '1' written on it.
He then heard the taller android chuckle, a faint smile on his face as he spoke. "Seems like you earned Shizu's seal of recognition."
The machine muttered a long 'Oooh' as he nodded in slight understanding. "I see, thank you, Miss Shizu!"
The girl nodded as she stood back up to her full height before moving to Ainz's side once again. "I suppose this is goodbye for now, little Leo."
Leo nodded sadly to Ainz's statement, before responding to him, in equal child-like fashion like before. "Hopefully, Uncle Pascal will allow you two to come to the village in the future. And then you could meet my Mama and Papa!"
Ainz gave the boy a smile as he waved the tiny machine goodbye, with Leo leaving the pair with a spring in his step.
"Hmm, what do you think of all this so far, Shizu?"
The man asked the girl besides him as Leo disappeared from view.
"Small machine variant. He's more cognizant than the ones before, but he's like a child, in both attitude and mind. Cute."
The undead hummed as he mulled over her words, he agreed with her, the child was much more expressive and social compared to the rest of his brethren, yet, like a child, was also quite expressive and naive at times. To the point he felt bad at probing him for information the artificial lifeform shouldn't be revealing according to his parents and this 'Uncle Pascal'.
"Even so, he's quite the anomaly compared to the rest of the machines in the city we've met so far, I do wonder what makes him and his village so different…"
"If I may, lord Ainz? I have a suggestion."
The undead nodded, allowing her to continue. "When I got close to the machines in the city ruins, I could feel a 'connection' or a 'network' binding them together. Leo didn't give me the feeling he was on it though. It could perhaps be because of this"
The information came as a shock to Ainz, who scratched his chin as he fell into deep thought. "This is quite the… revelation. A network would suggest a supposed intelligence in its members or at least some form of coherence in their actions, neither of which were shown here. Umu, Shizu, how sure are you of this information?"
"95%. Even when I followed a member of the machines who strayed far, he still gave off the feeling he was on a network. Leo never did, even when close to other machines. I was only able to confirm this today."
Ainz furrowed his eyebrows as he contemplated the information. "I see, then, how sure are you that you could infiltrate this network of theirs?"
This time, Shizu took a few seconds longer than usual to respond, and when she did, it wasn't one Ainz was hoping to hear.
"38.96%. The network felt like a tightly woven web, if detected, the possibility of reverse infiltration and takeover is high."
The mage sighed before falling silent, his mind racing with possibilities.
'Sacrificing Shizu to infiltrate an unknown network is something I plan to absolutely avoid, both for objective and personal reasons. At the same time, this could be our ticket into figuring out who exactly these machines are and what is going on here, hmm…'
'...I have an idea.'
Ainz opened his {Inventory} before putting his hand inside, and pulling out a peculiar item from it.
It resembled a heart of sorts, at least a silhouette of one. Whereas one would expect blood vessels and flesh, there were gears, circuits, and plenty of wirings, and just like a real heart, the white construct was beating every so often, the ticking of a clock could be heard with each beat.
"Lord Ainz… Is that…?"
For the first time ever, Shizu's expression became something more than her usual deadpan one, it was filled to the brim with shock and awe, expressed thoroughly in her visible eye and wide open mouth.
Ainz nodded with seriousness as he extended his hand with the heart on it. "Indeed, this is one of the world items I got recently from the black market in Midgard. The World Item, called 'Heart of the Deus Mechanicus'."
And as Ainz walked towards the maid and placed the precious item worth the entire world, literally, he gave her the order.
"Use it."
A.N:
And here we are. How was it? Good? Bad? Meh? Tell me in a review.
Sorry for the extra wait on this one, can't promise the next chapter will be released quickly, what with my midterms coming up and I have more fics and fic ideas I need to write for, but it definitely ain't gonna be abandoned any time soon, and hopefully ever.
As usual, thanks for reading, drop me a comment (I live off of those), and have a blessed day!
Link to my discord (remove the spaces): discord .gg/ r6WhcYyW