The answer on what to do for the remainder of the day soon came in the form of another notification.
Tabula Smaragdina has logged in.
'He showed up today too?' Momonga had to double-check the guild list twice to believe his eyes.
The rather eccentric player had responded to Momonga's invite and had asked for permission to change some of the NPCs he had created, which in itself was strange enough. Tabula was not known for following the guild rules. From giving a world item to an NPC he created without even telling others to regularly borrowing other items that required a vote to be used from the treasury, he often didn't give any consideration to the rules.
'Why would he want to change NPCs in the last two days?' Momonga couldn't figure out Tabula's motivations. He was one of the first to drop the game and had openly stated he didn't care about it anymore. For him to suddenly come back and want to make last-day changes was strange even for him.
Still, any company was better than none at all, and the very worst that could happen was Tabula would just ramble about his current interests, and that usually wasn't as bad as it sounded.
To not make Tabula wait for him, Momonga used the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and teleported to the conference room, finding the player just going through the UI and looking up development packs.
Tabula played a race called Brain Eater, a creature with a squid-like face and tentacles sprouting out of his head and face. The rest of his body was extremely thin with very long arms and fingers. Same as Peroroncino, he was only clad in the game's base underwear.
Same as all players who left the game, he had given all his gear to Momonga.
"How have you been? I haven't heard from you for such a long time!" He greeted Tabula through the voice chat.
"Oh, hello Momonga, my friend. I have been fine, suffering from a bit of writer's block lately, but otherwise no complaints. How is life treating you?"
"Oh, I'm doing fine as well," Momonga politely replied.
Tabula shifted around nervously. "Thank you for informing me that Yggdrasil is shutting down. I know it will sound weird, but please let me change my daughters, and I urge you to rewrite your character's and creations' backstories to reflect how you would want to send them off."
'Send them off? What's gotten into him? I thought I was slowly losing it, but Tabula seems to be off the rails completely. Better play along and be supportive. Who knows what he is going through in real life.'
Momonga knew of Tabula's obsession with the occult. He had suffered through so many of Tabula's lectures and long ramblings in the past. The man just loved to talk about things that interested him, but far too few were willing to indulge in his rather weird hobbies. Because of his politeness, Momonga usually let Tabula just ramble, even when other players left him alone with Tabula.
"Sure, I don't mind. They are your creations, after all. Do you want me to come along or do you need privacy?"
"I would be honored if you would accompany me, as I have some additional requests about them that would involve your avatar, the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
"Uh... sure. By the way, your old gear is still in the treasury. Do you want to put it back on?"
Tabula looked down, then back to Momonga, saying. "I don't really need it, but some robes for this form would be nice. I also urge you to change the NPCs you wish to change. If no other player has come to claim their creation then it should fall on your shoulders to send them off."
"Oh, I did create an NPC. I think I could change a thing or two in his settings," replied Momonga, handing Tabula Smaragdina a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
'Should I change Pandora? I mean I do cringe when I see him, but… I thought he was cool when I made him… Maybe a few little things. I wouldn't want Tabula to think that what he is doing is too weird.' Momonga was unsure if he even wanted to tamper with his own creation but each time he had to face his creation his chuuni past reared its ugly head.
Both were standing in Nazarick's treasury mere moments later. Pandora performed the standard routine by getting up and walking up to them with a salute.
"I created him to guard the treasury. Give the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to him before you go deeper in, otherwise the statues will attack you." Momonga instructed his friend.
"Thank you for the warning. So this is your son. Interesting. I'll leave you two for a moment to pick something to wear."
Tabula quickly removed the ring, putting it in the guardian's hand, and disappeared deeper into the treasury, leaving Momonga alone with his creation.
Momonga opened Pandora's Actor's settings and read them while talking to himself. "Speaking German, well, I could erase that but…" The feeling that he was about to make a life-changing decision crept up.
"Hmm... I think I will just tone down his theatrics a bit and that's all. Nevertheless, him acting silly to fool enemies and appearing incompetent sounds kinda fun and would be useful. Well, at least his uniform looks cool."
There was no real purpose for changing Pandora in the last two days, only a deep nagging feeling that something important was about to happen didn't leave.
Finally, Tabula returned dressed in a purple robe with a golden lining.
"So, where do we start?" Momonga asked the brain eater.
"I think with Nigredo. I would like to change her appearance as well."
Hearing that Tabula seriously wanted to alter his creations, not just change the flavor text, Momonga became too curious to just let it pass.
"By the way, why do you want to do this? I mean, you haven't been online for two years and now in the last two days you want to make such changes?"
"How to explain this… in short, Momonga, I believe Nazarick will move on to another plane after the servers shut down. I already sense changes in them, and you, for that matter. I know you do not believe in the same things as me, even so, you wanted to gather all of Ainz Ooal Gown for one last time for the send-off. So, I think it means a lot to you as well. Even if we never know what happens, I want to send my daughters off the best way I can." Tabula said, speaking like a father about to watch his children leave the family home.
'He really believes it!? Fuck it, I'll just play along. If nothing else, it is a nice thing to believe that our avatars and NPCs will live somewhere else.' Momonga couldn't help but go along with Tabula's explanations.
"I guess that makes sense. I have the doll so we can disable the trap and you can alter Nigredo." Momonga pulled out of his inventory a crude wooden doll that resembled a human baby.
The first of Tabula's creations, Nigredo dwelled in a special room on the 5th floor's frozen prison. Momonga held in front of him the doll that was necessary to disable Nigredo and went into her room with Tabula.
Nigredo followed their movements, not taking her eyes off the doll. Once Momonga put the doll in the crib, Nigredo grabbed it and started cradling it like a child, as her programming dictated her to do.
When Tabula designed this room, he was in his horror movie phase and loved to make horror scenarios. Nigredo's looks bore some similarities to her younger sisters, Rubedo and Albedo. The difference was that she had no skin on her face and she didn't have any angelic or demonic features as her sisters did.
Her race was a physical phantom, an undead race that could switch back and forth between human and specter forms.
She was programmed to attack anyone when her baby doll wasn't around, making a trap for unwitting invaders. However, she was only level eighty-five and thus was incapable of killing a prepared max-level player.
Tabula started with her appearance. He had already bought some of the assets he needed and could easily replace Nigredo's skinless face with one rather similar to another of his creations.
'She looks just like Albedo, only with blue eyes and no horns.' Momonga observed the brain eater work.
With the visual changes finished, the brain eater opened the flavor text panel and rewrote her settings.
"I don't want her to have a tormented and restrictive life. She will not be obsessed with the doll." Tabula said, giving Nigredo's cheek a gentle stroke. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, she is your creation, you can make whatever changes you like," Momonga replied, watching the text and programming code change.
Nigredo changed from a vengeful spirit obsessed with her dead child and thinking the doll was her long-lost daughter to a woman deeply caring for her two sisters and considering the protection of Nazarick as her sacred duty.
Momonga spoke out, "You know, this room doesn't function as a trap for intruders anymore now, maybe add some lines that she will still attack intruders and fiercely protect her home."
"It shouldn't be a problem. She would still attack any intruder and ignore friendly targets." Tabula said.
'I need to set this up as best I can, but Momonga will not understand. I hope he will just play along as always.' Tabula was well aware that his friend didn't believe him, but then again even most of his real-life friends didn't take the spiritual life seriously.
"You know, considering that you were the only one taking care of them, they are more yours than mine at this point. If it's ok with you, I would like their flavor text to reflect it as well."
"Um, sure I guess. As I said, you can change it however you want. That is the guild rule and it doesn't matter how long you have been away."
"I want to write that all my daughters love your avatar. I hope you don't mind?"
"No, not at all." 'If this is some kind of prank from him I will… No, Tabula usually doesn't joke around. Does he really believe they would live on in some form? He talked about a lot of weird and esoteric stuff. If only I had paid more attention to it. Maybe Tabula lost all his marbles? I want Nazarick to live on more than everyone, but the game will end in two days with all the server data likely stored away in some dusty storage room.'
As Tabula was tinkering with the text, he spoke up again. "I have another request to make."
"Ok?" Momonga's response gave away a hint of nervousness.
"Can I ask you to write that Momonga also loves them? I know he is an Overlord and is not supposed to feel powerful emotions but that would put my mind at ease." Tabula opened his own backstory panel and added a line that he fully entrusted his daughters to Momonga.
"I guess there is no harm in that," Momonga replied, opening his character screen and writing that Momonga holds all three sisters in a special place in his non-existing heart.
He glanced at Nigredo, and her neutral expression changed to a warmer one. She even seemingly smiled at him. He was ready to write it off as usual if not for Tabula giving him a knowing nod, as if saying 'I can see it too.'
Was this really happening or were they both going crazy? Momonga recalled only bits and pieces of many things Tabula had said about his beliefs and from that perspective, even digital characters would have some sort of soul.
As an atheist, Momonga had written off all these small, strange occurrences as mere imagination.
That nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe Tabula was on to something didn't leave him. What if those small weird occurrences weren't just in his head?
At Tabula's request, they walked to their next destination; he wanted to give Nazarick a good look. Both walked in silence with Tabula lost deep in his thoughts. 'Everything was just like I remember. When I logged in, I thought I would see Nazarick in disrepair with half of the NPCs missing, Momonga truly loves this place.'
To log in and find the guild pretty much unchanged was a huge relief, especially after seeing that the only two members that have been online in the last year were Momonga, and Peroroncino, who had logged out recently.
"So you and Pero were the last to remain?" He asked.
"Pero returned only a few hours ago. I was by myself for the last few months." His bitterness seeped through once again. Catching himself before going into a rant, he hastily added. "Keeping Nazarick in one piece wasn't that hard really."
'Alone… If only you were more open to what I could have taught you…' Tabula mused.
Once one peered behind the veil, there was always someone to keep company even to the loneliest of souls.
'I don't know if it will be just my avatar that moves on or if I will follow, but this place belongs to Momonga. I know he will take great care of them and the rest of the NPCs even if Suzuki's soul stays on Earth.'
Their next stop was Rubedo on the eighth floor, Nazarick's secret weapon.
Rubedo looked almost like a typical angel, with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. What stood out were her metallic wings, one metallic arm, and metallic spikes coming out of her skin on her back and shoulders. She had an expressionless face, a reminder that she was, in fact, a golem.
She wore a red dress and some of her metallic body parts were decorated in scarlet color.
'Maybe I could finally find out how Tabula made her?' Momonga's curiosity about how she was made spiked up, but the fear of a few-hour lecture on abstract topics prevented him from asking the brain eater how he had done it. The only thing he knew was that a world-level item was involved in her creation. That was the reason for Rubedo's stats being so high that the rest of the floor guardians combined could barely stop her.
When it came to creating characters, Tabula often liked to make them with contradictory traits, and Rubedo was no exception. She was an angel of the highest order that was meant to become a fallen one, but due to an error or her personality, she was stuck somewhere in between.
Not quite an angel nor fallen.
Her personality was very introverted and defensive when dealing with friends and allies, but vicious and aggressive when someone she cared for was in danger. Tabula left it in but added that she only fully trusted Momonga, adding the same love line as he did for Nigredo.
Momonga just looked silently as Tabula worked and seeing that she would still be loyal to him, at least, didn't make him worry that something could go seriously wrong on the last day of the game. Rubedo's expression didn't change, staying neutral and expressionless.
Their last stop was the throne room, where the guardian overseer Albedo, the middle sister, stood by the throne. Tabula approached her, opened her settings, and after some reading, mumbled. "I made her a slut, how cliché for a succubus. This is clearly going away."
'He erased it.' The line Momonga disliked the most was quickly removed as the brain eater tapped his fingers on the UI panel thinking of what to write as a replacement.
'She's just like my Mari who would seek a partner who appreciates her... Maybe I should… yes, that's it. But I have to ask Momonga for his consent.' Tabula decided what to do with the middle daughter.
"Would it be ok if I made her fall in love with your avatar? I think it kinda fits since she stood by your throne for so long as your assistant?"
It was a good thing his character couldn't blush. Momonga stuttered in his reply, "I... I'm not sure, but I guess it's ok. Are you sure you want to write that in?"
Tabula chuckled in response. "Oh, my friend, I think she has been by your throne for a long time and it fits so great that a virgin succubus, despite her succubus nature, had fallen in love with the leader of Nazarick and wished nothing more than to be at his side. I can't think of a better send-off to my daughter than that." He spoke like a proud father giving away his daughter to someone he trusted.
Momonga felt silent for a moment. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with anything to refute that. Finally, he caved in and agreed with Tabula, letting him change Albedo's setting to be in love with him.
After finishing editing Albedo's settings and promising to log in before the servers are shut down, Tabula Smaragdina logged off. Momonga checked the clock and realized that it was close to midnight already, and he had to log off too. He needed to get at least some sleep before work.
Before doing so, he glanced at Albedo and had a feeling that Albedo's expression had changed, a warmer smile on her face, and her eyes seemingly looked at him.
"She looks so much more… I really need some sleep before I lose my marbles as well." Momonga told himself and logged off.
X
The last day of Yggdrasil had come. Satoru logged in as usual and with a sigh, awaited the last day of the game. He knew that at least a few people would show up and that he didn't have to witness the end of his home alone.
Momonga sat in the conference room and tinkered with his insanely large inventory while waiting for others to show up. With such a distraction it was easy to lose track of time.
Only a notification on the guild member panel pulled him out of the task. Ulbert Alain Odle has logged in.
'Oh, Ulbert made it. I hope he is doing ok.'
Momonga quickly teleported to the conference room where he was met with the sight of a demon goat sitting in a chair. Covered from head to toe in black fur, he sported two regular goat horns. If not for his main race being a demon, most would think he was playing a beastman race.
Ulbert reacted to his friend's arrival by waving his hand. "Hey, Momo! I'm here to witness the end of days."
"Ulbert, I'm so glad to see you! How have you been?"
"I am doing fine. Well… as fine as I can." Ulbert said seemingly out of breath. His voice sounded weak, as if every word took a great effort.
It wasn't hard for Momonga to notice how strained his voice sounded. In the few emails they exchanged, Ulbert avoided talking about details of his health, but a few titbits slipped through. The pain he was in was getting unbearable.
Seeing that his friend didn't buy his answer, Ulbert said "Let's not talk about it. We have the end of the world to wait for. I will be fine till the end of the day." He got free government-issued medication this month. They made him drowsy and lethargic but at least kept the pain at tolerable levels.
In preparation for one last time spent with friends, he took only half a dose to be more lucid.
'This fucking pain. Eh, it's better to be lucid and have one last nice memory before lights out. I hope I don't kick the bucket before midnight. It would suck for them to witness me dying.'
All he hoped was not to die before midnight and say proper goodbyes to his friends in the game he was forced to stop playing because of his cancer's progression.
Momonga walked up to him, handing out the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, and asked with a chuckle, "So you want to put on your old gear, or want to be the nudist of the group?"
"You still have it?"
"Of course, I kept all the gear that was entrusted to me for safekeeping." It was painfully obvious what Momonga meant.
'He waited for me to come back. Why? We weren't even such good friends?'
Moments later, Ulbert was equipping his gear in the treasury, taking off his gear from the statue that somewhat resembles him.
A pitch black formal suit with golden accessories, a tophat of the same color, and a red and gold mask covering the right half of his face resembling one plague doctors once wore. Additionally, he had a flowing red robe that formed massive clawed arms from time to time ready to grab his opponents. And of course the leather gloves with long blades for fingers.
There was one such statue for each member of the guild and most of them, apart from Peroroncino, were in their counterpart's gear. First, he wanted to ask what happened to Peroroncino's gear but then he remembered seeing in the guild list that he had logged out just 15 hours ago, so it made sense that, same as Ulbert, he claimed his gear back.
Ulbert finished equipping all the pieces and then announced with his signature evil laughter, "Oh yeah, the Grand Catastrophe is back."
Returning to the entrance area he took a better look around, seeing the enormous piles of unsorted items. "Where did all that come from?"
Momonga quickly retold what he already explained to Peroroncino yesterday. Ulbert listened with an envious emoji over his head during the whole explanation.
"Damn, man, I wish I could have played with you. These last months sound like a hell of a lot of fun." He said once Momonga had finished.
"Your creativity sure would have helped to get back at some of those guilds." Momonga chuckled.
While Ulbert and Momonga were catching up, Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama logged in. Both the demon goat and the overlord went to greet the two returning friends.
"Hey Momo, hey Ulbert." Buku said in a high-pitched, bubbly voice. "Can I get my ring and gear back as well? The chicken has his gear, and I don't want to be left out."
The ever-moving red slime greeted them. Unlike her friends, her avatar didn't need any sort of underwear as of now save for flavor text stating that she was a female, didn't have any gender traits and her form was that of a formless goo.
"No amount of gear will make you look good." Pero laughed and poked his sister.
"Fuck you, like your malnourished chicken avatar was any…" Buku's voice dropped for at least an octave.
"Ahem, here you go." Momonga interrupted the sibling squabble and handed Buku the ring.
While Buku went to the treasury for her gear, Pero used the opportunity to bitch that, lately, it was near impossible to find a hentai game without his sister voicing at least one character and he has been forced to resort to older 'classics' for his 'cultural' needs.
Both Ulbert and Momonga patted Peroroncino on the back while laughing at his torment of being the brother of a famous voice actress in the genre. Making things worse was the fact that Pero had a special thing for loli characters, and his sister specialized in them because of her ability to speak in a childish voice.
Buku came back looking pretty much the same since all her gear was internal and didn't change her red slime-like avatar. The only difference was the floating orbs within her.
She immediately asked with her most bubbly voice. "Big brother Momonga, how have you been? I hope you haven't forgotten about your future waifu Buku?"
This was her usual tease, that if he finally didn't man up and take a girlfriend she would just take it upon herself to take away his rumored wizard powers.
"How could I possibly forget about you, my lady?" Momonga responded in a mock voice. Buku had always been flirty with him. She first started doing it just to annoy her little brother by hitting on his best friend and to tease Momonga over his inexperience, but over time, they became good friends. Thanks to her, Momonga had at least some experience in how to talk to women.
At some point he did develop feelings for her but with him never acting upon them they faded over time with only their friendship remaining. Buku always was a confident and outgoing woman who likely would not settle for someone like him anyway.
As usual, Peroroncino couldn't pass up an opportunity to mock his sister and chipped in saying, "Don't force yourself on our glorious leader; Nazarick is full of hotter waifus than you."
"Ulbert, Momonga, you will have to provide my alibi after I murder my birdbrain of a brother," Buku growled.
"Easy now, I'm just joking sis! Feel free to steal Momonga from us for a while, there are still a few hours left till midnight." Pero raised his hands.
Momonga flashed a smiley emoji and offered Bukubukuchagama to go for a walk on the 6th floor, to which she happily agreed.
"If I catch both of you banging in the bushes I will be pretty fucking mad!" Pero shouted after them.
"Skeleton and slime smut is going to pay for view sites if we catch you." Ulbert joined in.
It was under an evening sky when they both appeared on the 6th floor. It was a forested area near the home of Aura and Mare. Buku thought for a moment if she wanted to go see her creations, but for some reason decided against it. They would soon be gone anyway, and it would only remind her of all the fun she had playing with them, making the last moments of the game that much harder.
"Momo, I wanted to thank you for sending the invitation. With life being what it is, it's nice to remember better times when we could goof off and share moments here." She said in her normal speaking voice with a somber tone.
Their memories… They would still have all the memories of this place, and no one could take those away. Many people had moved on. There were more important things to worry about than fantasy. Life hit hard and didn't spare most of them. Momonga sat in silence looking at the sky.
Buku had gone silent as well. She wanted to vent to Momonga and tell him all the shit that was going on in her life, but she couldn't. Her pride didn't let her. Instead, she decided to do what she has done far too often with no success.
"You know Momo, I have a single friend. A quiet girl that likes to play games and read."
"Buku… I… you know how it is."
"Come on, you are a decent guy, and I can guarantee you would like her. Plus she has a ten out of ten butt." Buku pressed her sales pitch harder.
"Ok, ok, I could give it a try." He gave in.
It wasn't the first time she tried to set him up with one of her friends, but somehow it never amounted to anything.
"Good, I will send you an email tomorrow. Even you can get it together in a written form."
"I will try."
"You better, otherwise you will have to marry me." Buku said in the most threatening voice she could muster.
"I don't see how that is a threat." Momonga said with a chuckle.
"You know that I… let's forget it for today."
"Sure."
'She was such a confident woman before. At least she has her brother… Maybe I could offer to help her and Pero?' With nothing better to do, he could pay them a visit every few days. After all, both lived only about two hours' walk away from him.
Buku looked up to the artificial sky wanting to forget her life if only for just a moment. It was already nighttime and the stars were out. There were no such clear nights in real life. In fact, the only way to know how clear the sky once looked was through pictures and videos from the past.
"Blue Planet did such a wonderful job creating it," said Momonga absently, lost in his own thoughts. The man who played a stonelike nature elemental loved nature and used every opportunity to recreate it in digital settings. But like everyone else, he had to leave the game to prioritize real life.
"Yes he did, this sky is beautiful," replied Buku as they both just stared at the sky for a while. Tabula interrupted their serene moment by logging in. Momonga looked at the watch. It was 23:30 already. Just half an hour left.
Both of them teleported to the conference room where Ulbert, Peroroncino, and Tabula chatted about their lives. Tabula was rambling about how Nazarick will move on to the new plane and both Ulbert and Pero did their best to not fall asleep.
Momonga spoke up, saving his friends from the torment that was Tabula's ramblings. "I wanted to say, thank you all for coming one last time. It's the last hour of Nazarick so I would like to hear your ideas on how to spend it."
Before anyone could respond, another player popped up. The black viscous slime bubbled in one of the chairs belonging to the player called HeroHero. "Hey, sorry for the late drop-in, but I needed to work." He told with a long yawn.
"Hey, you made it as well." Pero greeted him immediately. "How have you been?"
HeroHero broke out into a rant about being horribly overworked and every other day just sleeping in the office. About a few minutes in, he stopped and said apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't come to rant about my life. I wanted to wish you all to have fun during the last minutes of the game."
"You are not staying?" Momonga asked, a little saddened that his friend couldn't stay longer.
"I'm sorry but I'm already falling asleep. I'll catch you all in the next one. Who knows, maybe the shitty devs will make Yggdrasil 2." Hero said with another yawn.
"You poor thing. Get a good rest, ok?" Buku said to her fellow slime player.
"I'll try. Thank you, Buku." He said with a bit more enthusiasm. "It was nice to see that at least some players came back. Have fun." Hero said and logged off.
"That sounded rough," Pero remarked.
"Yeah. I hope he doesn't work himself to death." Buku said.
"Not only him," Pero said.
"Please, not now." Buku dropped her voice again. "Let's get back to the game. So what are we going to do for the last few minutes?"
"How about you take the guild staff, we all gather in the throne room and make our avatars stand as the last bosses. We always had that as a plan in case anyone reached the throne room." Ulbert suggested.
Seeing that others agree with Ulbert, Momonga took the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and equipped it as the guild leader should before the last battle. They all walked to the throne room to enjoy the last time seeing the overly luxurious heart of their guild home.
With Momonga in the lead, they approached the gigantic door leading to the throne room. Momonga looked at the immobile golems guarding it. "If they suddenly attack me Lucifer will get a strongly-worded letter."
"Still salty about his last prank?" Pero asked.
"There were a few more after that one!" Momonga hissed and opened the door to the throne room as his friends let out a few laughs at his expense.
It was a well-known fact that the player named Lucifer was a prankster and had set up various traps for his guildmates. Momonga had fallen into one such trap when a guard golem attacked him without provocation.
The doors opened, and the throne room came into view. Hundreds of people could easily fit in it. The way to the throne is covered with a luxurious red carpet. A throne room fit for true rulers. With Momonga in the lead, they approached the throne where Albedo stood unmoving with a gentle smile on her face. Tabula stared at Albedo intently when they finally gathered around the throne.
Buku, curious as to why Tabula was watching his creation with such intensity, glanced at the guardian overseer. Albedo's eyes clearly followed Momonga.
'Has he put in code for her to do that? I don't remember NPCs having that type of animation.' She observed the NPCs' odd behavior.
After all, even when most players were active, many had called Albedo Momonga's waifu behind his back. Momonga of course vehemently denied how much he liked the Guardian Overseer. 'He was gone for the full digital route. Whatever floats his boat I guess.' Buku shrugged.
"Momo, sit. A guild leader should sit in his rightful place," Buku told him in a cheerful voice and despite Momonga's protests, pushed him onto the throne.
Tabula continued staring at Albedo now, murmuring. "She is already changing… as he said..."
"Tabula, buddy, you alright?" Peroroncino asked Tabula while putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine… this all feels weird as if something big will happen... something will happen to us. It won't be just the avatars… we ourselves will…" he then snapped out of it, reminding them it was the last five minutes of Yggdrasil.
"Tabula, you seem shaken, are you sure everything is fine?" this time it was Momonga who asked. He also felt incredibly sad to see his home go, but Tabula seems more afraid and confused than sad.
Tabula replied. "I'm fine. Be ready. It's about to happen."
"What will happen?" Momonga asked.
"Let's just wait a few more minutes. If anyone feels that they shouldn't be here, please log out now." Tabule moved his gaze over all the people present.
"Buddy, whatever stuff you are on you should go easy on it." Pero shook his head.
"I'm… never mind. One more minute." 'They made their choice. I did warn them. It is happening already.' Tabula took a long inhale.
The last minute came, then the last seconds as they waited for the end. The end of the game had finally come.
23:59:55
23:59:56
23:59:57
23:59:58
23:59:59
00:00:00
Moment of darkness…
00:00:01
00:00:02
00:00:03
And the numbers just faded off, but all five were still present in the throne room.
Bonus story 1 - Tabula's dream.
Tabula was tossing in his bed, restlessly. He had received an email from Satoru or Momonga. Yggdrasil was shutting down in two weeks, and his old guild master had invited him to one last gathering.
Tabula had almost forgotten about the game, but one thing bugged him. He and Mariposa had made three characters there in her image. Their daughters, so to speak. Mariposa, being his spiritual wife, was not bound to the physical realm, but she too held a certain affection for the digital characters.
He wanted to ask her opinion, but Mariposa was sent on some errand by her superior and promised to return in a few days.
Tabula finally decided to do some astral travel and maybe find out what was bothering him so much. He laid down on the bed and slipped into a trance, soon leaving his body. Right away, he felt a pull or call in a certain direction and knew he needed to follow it.
Soon enough, he ended up in a beautiful garden. A man was sitting by a white wooden table with a large, white silk parasol over it sipping tea in a refined manner. The man noticed him and motioned for Tabula to join him at the table.
Tabula accepted the invite, sitting down as a teacup appeared on the table in front of him. Not wanting to be rude, he accepted the offer and took a sip. The warm liquid gave an instant sense of ease and calmness.
"Hello, Tabula, you seem troubled?" The man gave him a friendly smile.
"Yes, I guess you know why." Tabula responded with a polite nod.
"You worry about them even though you do not believe them to be real. We both know better don't we?"
"Mariposa and I made them, and they will be gone soon. I know they are just digital information, unlike our two spiritual daughters, but something is bothering me and I can't place what it is. I am aware that even digital creations can remain as a spiritual presence if enough thought energy is put into them, I feel that something… intangible… something different awaits them."
With Tabula never marrying on earth, he and Mariposa had decided to create new spirits in a union. For her kind, it was the same as giving birth to children even if the whole conception took minutes, not nine months. Their two succubi daughters of course soon left their parents to seek out fates of their own. But from time to time both visited him in either dreams or during astral projection.
"If you call them your daughters, you believe that some part of them is more than discardable thought forms. Souls are forming, their awareness growing." The man took a sip from his cup.
"But what can I do? The servers will be shut down; they will be erased before I can help them be free." Tabula let out a sigh. "I would like for them to live on as independent beings."
"Tabula, you already know better than to write it off as just an end. The servers' shutdown will be a beginning," the man spoke in a casual friendly tone.
Tabula was silent for a moment. This being knew something and was not telling it intentionally. Tabula knew the rules. Ask and you will receive the answer, but he still needs to figure out what to ask.
"Will some big change happen to them? I feel they will not just be erased and their remains scattered as memories in the astral realm."
"Yes, something big will happen."
"What should I do?"
"That is your decision, not mine."
"Can you give me advice?"
"Think how you want to send them off, what core values you want them to have, who will look after them."
With that, everything clicked. Momonga will stay until the last moment, his avatar will stay with them. Momonga always cared for Nazarick more than anyone else. Tabula recalled him saying that Nazarick is his actual home and Earth is just a distraction.
In what state he would find his creations and the old guild base was hard to tell, but if Suzuki sent an invite to have one last gathering, the guild base likely was intact.
He knew what to do, but there was something still bugging him, so he asked once more.
"What will happen to them once the server shuts down, where will they go?"
"Different world. The greed of an ignorant beast will make them more real than you can imagine."
A cryptic answer, for sure. 'This entity is purposely cryptic. I should be wary of him.'
Whoever he was, this entity had taken a rather unassuming form.
'I need to find out more. What should I ask to get a straight answer?' Tabula grew frustrated. He needed to think fast about how to get answers, so he went straight for the deal and asked.
"What do you want for guiding me to the path of the greatest benefits for me and my daughters in this situation?"
"It's simple. What I want is for you to stay in Nazarick until the end. Doing so will also give you what you seek."
'What will happen if I stay in the game till its end?"
"Great things."
"Can you give me a more precise answer?" Tabula asked, growing impatient.
"The shift of reality. You should know better to ask questions that affect decisions."
Tabula tried to peer deeper into the entity's being but immediately hit a wall or more precisely he could not detect anything. Even the most insignificant spirit had presence while this being had none, as if he didn't even exist.
Having a gut feeling that the being in front of him was someone with power beyond his understanding, already knowing how it will play out, Tabula decided to not provoke any sort of negative action from this being.
"Will you guide me after the event as well?" Tabula asked, feeling that if he stays till the last moment he will go with Nazarick and his life on earth will end.
"I will when I'm needed. I won't abandon those who choose to ask for help from me, but know this: I will not come when you can be fine without me. You will receive my help when it's needed, don't use it in vain."
"Thank you... master. There is one more thing. Can I ask for your name so I know who to call?"
"My name is not important, I will know when to come and help."
With that, Tabula suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He knew what needed to be done.
Bonus Story 2 - Change of Heart.
Albedo stood, unmoving. No one had told her to move, so she didn't. That's how it worked, just stand there and smile until ordered to do something else. Lord Momonga came as he did most of the days and sat down on the throne, where she was standing.
"Looks like it's just us, both hard at work again." he said. Lord Momonga was so kind to her.
She wanted to thank him but the command to do so didn't come so she just stood smiling her usual gentle smile. Albedo watched as he worked on the Great Tomb's finances and daily maintenance. She wanted to tell him it was her job and hoped he would give her the order to do it, but, like always, the order didn't come.
Albedo watched and listened to how Lord Momonga talked to her. He was sad that the other Supreme Ones had left. She hated them; they left him alone. They made Lord Momonga suffer alone. It wasn't the first time he said it. Almost daily he would complain to her about how all of them left, and she grew to hate them. Even her own creator. He left. She hated him for leaving.
Then something happened. Lord Peroroncino returned. Lord Momonga was so happy. They went somewhere. Did he take Lord Momonga, was she all alone now? Rage and panic filled her mind. She stood and waited... and waited. They came back once again to the throne room, made funny poses, and laughed together. She was happy to see her lord enjoying himself for once. Then they left, so Albedo just stood and waited again, like she always did.
Then her creator Lord Tabula Smaragdina came into the throne room with Lord Momonga. What was happening, did the supreme ones return one by one?
To her horror, her creator wanted to change her. What will he do to her? The fear filled her digital heart.
But then something wonderful happened. Lord Tabula gave her new feelings, warm, wonderful feelings. Her hate for her creator faded as she felt love for Lord Momonga. Her creator had given her to Lord Momonga and Lord Momonga had accepted her as his lover. She loved Lord Momonga with all her heart, and Lord Momonga accepted it.
She was so excited and overjoyed that she didn't even notice that everyone left. So she just stood and waited like she always did. But the warm feeling didn't fade away.
Proofreading by Visur Nyxan Rotten Pizza, Tophrel, Sad_Smiles, and Dtrackt.