- Dominion Energy's POV -
I soared through the air, effortlessly gliding toward my destination. Solid obstacles meant nothing to me—I passed through them with ease, my psychic nature rendering them irrelevant.
In mere moments, I arrived. A bold, green neon hologram reading Yggdrasil hovered over the building's entrance.
'According to my creator's memories, during his first lifetime in the 21st century, a massively successful company like Yggdrasil would typically have an entire industrial complex to itself—complete with employee parks and even amusement parks themed around their games.'
Unfortunately, despite this era's sci-fi-level technology, Yggdrasil Studio's headquarters was just a single building. That said, given the current state of the world, securing a whole building in the heart of a domed city was no small feat—especially for a company that wasn't quite a Mega-Corp, even if they did hold the majority share.
I phased through the wall undetected, slipping past both security devices and people unnoticed. The ground floor was almost empty, save for a reception desk where a beautiful woman sat, smiling at the entrance as if she didn't secretly despise her job.
Her mind practically screamed with complaints.
"The pay's good, sure, but smiling at people all day is exhausting. Ugh, I just want to go home and surprise my husband tonight…"
'Good for him.'
Her thoughts were so loud they might as well have been broadcasted on speakers. Even with my psychic senses dialed down to the lowest setting, I could hear her clearly from this close.
'Though she should feel better after procreating with her husband. That reduces stress, right?'
'From my creator's memories, the act of procreation—or as it was more commonly called, sex—was supposed to be quite enjoyable and relaxing. Though, oddly enough, my creator had never experienced it himself.'
He had been 19 and living in India in his past life, so obviously, he was a virgin. As for Satoru, he had neither the interest nor the luxury of pursuing a relationship.
That said, my creator did seem much more relaxed after… rubbing one out.
Recalling this trivia, I made a mental note: 'Should I order one of the servants to 'surprise' my creator?'
It might help with his stress…
A matter to consider later.
For now, I had work to do.
Ignoring the receptionist's broadcasting thoughts, I moved on to the upper floors.
The first three floors were just office spaces—working and brainstorming areas. Unimportant. My real targets were further up.
---
On the Fourth Floor…
Inside a conference room, a tense yet professional atmosphere filled the space. Something important was being discussed.
At the head of the table, an elderly Japanese man in his sixties sat in a silver-grey suit, his no-nonsense expression commanding the room.
"Yggdrasil's player base is predicted to decline further in the next year," he stated grimly. "We're projected to cross the red line set by the finance department."
He gestured toward another man. "Mr. Nakamura, could you elaborate?"
A man in a black suit—Mr. Nakamura—stood and addressed the table with a small bow.
"Mr. President, esteemed colleagues," he began. "As detailed in my report, player numbers are dropping at an alarming rate. Soon, we'll hit the red line—the point where server maintenance and other costs will barely break even.
"I strongly recommend we initiate a Server Shutdown at least a month before that happens. This will help minimize resource wastage and allow us to redirect funds toward more viable projects."
The moment Server Shutdown was mentioned, a heavy sorrow filled the room.
The men at the table—developers, executives—felt a deep, personal pain at the thought of shutting down the game.
They had nurtured Yggdrasil like a child for over a decade. Losing it was as devastating for them as it would be for any player—perhaps even more so.
Even the president, despite his cold, professional demeanor, felt the sting. His thoughts betrayed his love for the game, though he would never show it.
The deepest sadness came from one man—Takeshi Sakaguchi.
At 37, he was younger than most board members but older than my creator. As lead developer and a core member of Yggdrasil's development team, he felt a crushing weight in his heart.
Despite logically accepting the need to end the game, the pain was unmistakable.
As intriguing as the meeting was, I had other priorities.
I ascended slightly, my essence dispersing into tiny sparks that floated above each person's head.
A moment later, the sparks descended, embedding themselves into the spiritual minds of these mortals—integrating seamlessly, reshaping their very cores to better serve my master's needs.
This used to be much harder, I recalled.
When I first dominated that supervisor, Mr. Hasegawa, it had taken nearly half my essence, at the time.
But thanks to my lord's blessings, my growth had accelerated exponentially. Now, a mere spark of me was enough.
With the process complete, I issued my command:
'Continue as usual. Avoid suspicion. Await further instructions from our lord.'
Although their faces remained neutral, I could hear their acknowledgment through our new psychic bond.
The meeting would continue. Their minds were now mine.
It was time to move on.
---
- Satoru Suzuki -
He was in heaven.
That was the only way to describe how he felt looking at the plate of Chole Bhature in front of him.
Tears welled in his eyes.
For the first time since arriving in this hellhole, both his heart and stomach were full.
The biggest torment he had endured in this world wasn't pollution, oppression, or even loneliness. It was food.
In his past life, he had been orphaned young and raised by his grandmother—a kind, loving woman who had been the core of his childhood memories.
He could still hear the crackling sound of mustard seeds hitting the pan in the early mornings. The smell of Sarson da Saag and Aloo Parantha would fill the house, drawing him eagerly to the kitchen, where she would serve him with a warm, doting smile.
She had always said he was too thin, despite others calling him 'healthy.'
She had spoiled him with food—Besan ke Gatte, Mooli Parantha, Matar Paneer, Aloo Sabzi—dishes made with love, dishes he could still taste in his memories.
But she was gone.
The ache of her absence was just as painful now as it had been then.
As he took another bite of Chole Bhature, a realization hit him.
He had been avoiding memories of her—burying them beneath the struggles of his life.
But now, with every morsel, those memories resurfaced.
And instead of pushing them away, he embraced them.
He glanced up.
An old woman was bustling about the kitchen, carefully frying more Bhaturas. Her simple, well-worn clothes and practiced movements reminded him of home.
She was his newly hired caretaker—one of his latest 'servants.'
The arrangement had been suggested by Toru Kazama, one of his men in the city.
At first, he had scoffed at the idea of needing a caretaker. Him? A hardworking, self-sufficient man? Babysat?
But after a long talk with Toru—one that involved him breaking down and venting his frustrations—he had finally agreed.
Looking at Aunt Sato cooking for him now, he couldn't deny it.
Toru was right.
He had made a crucial mistake—forgetting that, despite his power, despite his future potential…He was still human.
For now, at least.
As such, he wasn't immune to the mental ailments that assaulted most humans in his situation. All alone in this strange world, away from everything he had known all his life, and being dropped into this hellhole of a dystopian reality would have driven most people mad.
'Perhaps it's the knowledge that I'll leave this world eventually through the game that's keeping me sane… that, and the power of my Essence.'
He took another bite, savoring it.
His opinion of both Aunt Sato and Toru had risen tremendously.
'I should properly reward them later.'
As he ate his favorite meal, a new 'notification' appeared at the back of his mind.
The latest bite stopped right in front of his mouth at the interruption, but he decided to eat first before checking it out.
Chewing his food while cleaning his oily fingers with a tissue, he closed his eyes and looked inside…
---
The Mindscape
It was still a strange experience—to be standing in one's own mind and experiencing it as a 'physical' place.
Moving his feet on the 'ground' and walking felt odd, as if he were walking on clouds.
Even for someone like him, with the experience of imbibing an essence and transmigration, it was a curious thing to see.
The 'trick' to entering his own mind was quite easy to learn, most likely due to the help of his essence and Dominion energy. Still, it took him an entire day of watching it come in and out of his mind to even get started, as he couldn't just enter his own mind physically.
Well… he probably could if he really wanted to, but he was unsure if he should. Getting stuck in his own mind didn't sound like a good idea.
It took him a while, but finally, he created a mental body of thought, memory, and emotion—one that was connected to his new sense of self and solidified into a proper form in his mindscape.
That's why, in his mind, his facial features were a mix of Rahul and Satoru. He was both and none at the same time.
Looking at the floating islands of memories and emotions, he recalled how his 'power' had introduced him to what they were. The thought brought a smile to his face.
Although it was unexpected that it would develop its own intelligence, in hindsight, it made perfect sense. He had purposefully designed the energy to be innately able to understand his various commands, so he could use it as a 'summon' in Yggdrasil, maximizing its usefulness. It was obvious that it would gain some kind of sentience of its own—becoming a somewhat 'living' thing in a sense, or as close to it as it could get.
Walking straight toward a certain place in his mind, he thought about this new development and his current circumstances.
He had temporarily given the energy the nickname Dominion, but it wasn't a proper name. He would need to think of something more fitting for his first creation.
'Should I give it a new body?' he mused. 'I mean, it isn't like it needs one. It was basically born as an extension of my mind, so it might have some negative effects if I try to separate it from me.'
Another issue was that he just didn't have the time. If the news circulating on the virtual net was true, the server shutdown of Yggdrasil would be in a few months—half a year at best. And other priorities, like thinking about his new character and collecting rare items and artifacts, took precedence.
An unspoken worry also made him hesitate.
Currently, Dominion existed as a part of his mind—a metaphysical extension of his being. That was the main reason he hadn't immediately panicked at the thought of having a sentient being living rent-free in his mind, capable of flipping through his memories and emotions like a book.
Due to the innate connection they shared, he could clearly feel its emotions and thoughts—its utter and complete devotion to him.
'Honestly, it's loyalty is both reassuring and concerning.'
Thinking about the 'servants' he currently had working under him, Dominion's attitude toward him, and the fanatical monsters of the Great Tomb of Nazarick… He could see a pattern emerging.
As horrific as the possibility was, it almost seemed set in stone. And he couldn't really say it was a problem.
Though, he would prefer if they didn't act like total fanatics. Blind obedience to everything he said was a major issue in his eyes.
Shaking his head and coming back to his senses, he found himself facing a strange and inexplicable scene.
At some point, he had walked past the white void that made up most of his mind and entered a small gray island floating in the 'sky'—if that was even a thing in the mindscape.
Honestly, this place still seemed nonsensical to his senses, which were used to a more physical reality than whatever this space was made of. Its rules were entirely different from how the physical world worked—mostly nonsense.
For example, it should have been impossible for him to suddenly appear on a floating island while randomly walking on the 'ground'… and yet, here he was.
After a week of practicing his newfound skills with the mindscape, he had grown somewhat accustomed to its workings, using its rules to his advantage.
This plane was mostly metaphysical, magical, or spiritual rather than a physical place. Looking at the floating islands of emotions and memories, at the endless white void, anyone could tell that much.
More importantly, it was a semi-physical representation of his mind. Here, his thoughts held supreme control and authority.
Fixing his gaze on a particular location, he disappeared.
His entire form vanished and reappeared at the place he was looking at before.In 'real-space' terms, it was approximately ten kilometers away from where he had stood before.
---
The Sea of Stars
In a small wooden boat floating over the black lake, a young man with Indian-Japanese features was sitting on one side of the boat, while a pair of magic rowers rowed toward a certain direction.
Satoru was currently relaxing, looking at the beautiful night sky he had designed based on the night sky of the 6th Floor—but more realistic and dynamic. After all, it was his mind made into reality, so making improvements was easy based on the original design by Blue Planet.
Remembering his old friend and the effort he put into designing the sky on the 6th floor, he smiled, reminiscing about his old days in the game and the passion he felt when creating his necromancer build.
In fact…
[System Notification]
Congratulations, Player: Momonga!
You have fulfilled the hidden conditions required to unlock the Legendary high-tier Job Class: [Eclipse].
[Eclipse] is a class suitable only for Overlords who are truly dedicated to the pursuit of Death. It swallows up all life like an eclipse. In other words, the Eclipse class allows the user to become a true lord of death, a life-consuming eclipse.
...
Unlock Conditions Met:
Must possess the [Overlord] Racial Class. ✅
Must have at least 5 racial levels distributed into [Overlord]. ✅
Must have extensively focused on necromancer-type job classes. ✅
Overall character level must be 95 or higher. ✅
Must have personally slain over 100,000 living beings (NPCs/Players). ✅
Would you like to view the full class details now? [YES] [NO]
...
Looking at the holographic screen in front of him, he smiled and re-read the message he had received when he finally unlocked his [Eclipse] Job Class.
Unlike everything else on this island, this window was one of his actual memories—a notification he received in Yggdrasil. He remembered his surprise and joy at gaining an unexpected job class, a rare one at that.
At the end of it all, he was thankful for his decision to roleplay as a traditional necromancer; otherwise, he would have never encountered this rare job class.
Dismissing the screen as it dispersed into the plane, he focused on his journey. He commanded the boat to move faster as he finally approached the center of this place.
If someone were to look closely, and if that someone were a Harry Potter fan, they would immediately recognize the exact replica of the Black Lake from Hogwarts that this lake resembled.
Originally, it was mostly on a whim that he started designing this lake, but then he realized that it was a good opportunity to practice and improve his fine control over this mental plane, so he began to religiously work on the project.
Just designing the Black Lake took him almost six hours of hard work before he was satisfied, and after all that, he was promptly knocked out from fatigue after expending an absurd amount of mental energy.
'That really worried Dominion, huh…'
Even though Dominion, with its psychic senses, should have known that he was just exhausted, it still became worried and anxious about his state—and, for the very first time in its existence, it was angry at him after he woke up.
'It scolded me for ten minutes straight while cuddling with me… such a kid.'
Honestly, he smiled while thinking about its childish mind, growing more intrigued and curious about its development.
'Maybe the Blank Essence is helping it grow? I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense. It shouldn't be this intelligent—at least not emotionally.'
Dominion was considered a part of Satoru's mind, not a separate entity, so the thought that the essence was aiding its growth wasn't impossible. In fact, it was a good explanation for its visible development over the past month.
As Satoru approached the center of the lake in his boat, he soon saw something glowing and shining beneath the surface—a lot of 'somethings.'
There were little star-like orbs scattered around the area, each shining like the brightest gem in the world, each with a unique hue and glow.
Hundreds of different stars were shining simultaneously, giving the lake a rainbow-like mystical glow, as if an aurora borealis was hidden beneath its waters.
Looking at this breathtaking scene, he mused that if such a lake had existed in his last world, it would have been considered the 8th Wonder of the World.
Just because he could see such sights at any time he wished, he was the most fortunate man in the world.
Controlling the emotions overflowing from his heart, he took a deep breath and calmed himself, grounding himself in his mental plane once more. His mental aspects were really active in this place, making him more emotional and easily distracted.
The 'Sea of Stars' was a place he had created with Dominion's help—a representation of his connection with his servants. One of Dominion's many aspects was its ability to create a permanent psychic bond between him and the people it dominated, allowing him to command them at any time.It manifested as Dominion consuming a part of his energy to change the target's mind and then a little more to establish a permanent psychic link. It was much easier now, after a month of constant domination of minds. Dominion had grown enough to dominate people more efficiently and with far less energy consumption.
Looking at the ten new stars that had manifested recently, a smile appeared on his lips. Apart from these ten, he could sense Dominion splitting further, continuing its duty as the Dominator of Minds, enslaving more and more people on the list.
Although the process seemed slow, he could sense the bonds forming—one by one, more stars began appearing beside those ten.
In reality, these bonds were forming in mere seconds, but the concept of time in this place was unclear, making it seem slow. Here, stars took a minute or two to fully manifest, even though the connection was instantaneous outside.
Focusing on the minds of the developers of Yggdrasil simultaneously, a single message was transmitted to them:
"Begin the creation of the ultimate existence in the game. I want him to be the most overpowered character possible—the true Final Boss of Yggdrasil."
...
Author's Note ✍️: Hi! It's been a while. I've been busy with college work (making notes and preparing for my midterms), so I couldn't post any chapters. I also got sick for a bit due to the changing weather. But now, I've done my best to make up for it by writing the best chapter I can. So, please enjoy! 😊