Chapter 3: 1-2: Prelude to Greatness

Year: 2127 AD

I lazily twirled a silver ring around one of my fingers.

Yes, fingers.

I was reclining in my very own humanoid form, courtesy of a quick discussion with the Devs a while back. It hadn't granted me true transformation, not really. It would've been too game-breaking to let Players change Races at will. Instead they created a Quest granting a unique Skill, allowing me to shapeshift much like Doppelgangers could. I could only have one preset of each Avatar base type, though, so it was much more restrictive.

I had a blast designing my character, but the novelty wore off quickly. I still spent a lot of time in my original quadrupedal form, though these days it was so massive I had to layer on [Size Down] in order to fit anywhere.

The ring around my finger was of a snake swallowing its own tail, the sign of the unending Ouroboros. I had finally gotten it at Level 83 on a routine grind, allowing me to at last make my wish.

…It's bloody midnight right now, though, and I'm not about to wake up the Devs just to hear me demand things. I'm a bit of an ass, but I'm not a complete savage.

Also, it's more likely they'll be polite if I don't drag them out of bed, so there's that too.

Dammit. Six more hours until I can call up the Devs.

What exactly am I supposed to do in the meantime?

I walked casually into the Castle of Asgard, cool as can be. All around me Players milled about without so much as a glance, vindicating the time it had taken me to prepare this.

The ring on the pinky of my left hand was and Divine-Class Item called [The Humanities], which had the effect of making one's Race appear as 'Human' to all Skills and Divination Magic. It was a rare drop from a Boss that had taken me ages to farm, something I had to do subtly as to not alert anyone to my intentions. Even if it was viewed as a low-value Item at best, I couldn't have a single soul guess what I was planning.

See, the Devs recently made a small tweak to the game's mechanics. It was unfair for Human Races to be free to kill Heteromorphs without suffering the PK penalty, but rather than fix that issue, they just made Heteromorphs able to freely kill Humans.

Yes. Rather than fix the situation, they just deliberately made it worse.

Welcome to YGGDRASIL, folks, where the Devs are the biggest trolls on the planet.

Now. Back to my little excursion. I'm sure you can probably guess where I'm going with this, but it isn't nearly as satisfying to just tell you what happened, now is it? No, I have to tell you the groundwork first.

With almost zero Players aware of the brand-new addition to the game, my entry into the heart of Asgard went unquestioned. I strolled right down the golden streets, casually placing Items in places where no one would guess. Only one Item, really, just dozens of it. It was a one-use Item called [Spell Echo], which had the effect of repeating any Tier Spell below Super-Tier.

You guessed it, more rare Boss drops that no one should ever be able to farm without hundreds of hours of work.

Such an Item would be considered a cheat, until you realized that it was both rare and impossible to use twice. Or, hell, even use in a standard fight of any kind. The repeated Spell emanated from the Item, which had to be placed at least ten seconds before the Spell was activated. Actually setting the Item took another five. In a straight fight, that was fifteen seconds wasted when you could simply cast the damn Spell twice on your own.

Most Players only looked that far and left the Item be, selling the ones that they got extremely cheaply on the in-game market.

I am not most Players.

I continued setting the Items all around, keeping them spaced far enough apart that people wouldn't notice them. I had already burned three hours just setting them around the rest of Asgard, from the outside of dungeons to on random trees. The Items themselves were relatively inconspicuous, simple squares with a Magic Circle engraved on them. I even added low-Tier Spells to them designed to hide them from the naked eye, meaning that someone would have to use a Detection Spell or Skill directly on them in order to notice their existence.

That's right. I'm planning on burning all the time I have on a pointless revenge scheme that may or may not ever be used. I'm too wound up to just grind more dungeons, so I'm doing this instead. Randomly covering one of the Nine Worlds in [Spell Echo] tags bought and farmed for dirt-cheap.

Hey, I have to do something with all that gold I have just sitting around. It's not like it's being used for anything better.

I stepped into the room named Throne of Asgard, silently cackling to myself.

Oh, if I ever actually pulled this thing off, it would be utterly epic.

I glanced at the time, hesitantly switching rings for the umpteenth time. I kind of wanted to finish the last few areas in Asgard… but at the same time, I also wanted to use Ouroboros for the first time. My first use would be a sort of test for the thing, nothing overly fancy.

At least, not from their point of view.

I needed to test the limits of what the World Item allowed before I could make the really difficult or complicated requests I had all queued up. I would ask for something simple, an Item that one might think was merely for decoration. If Items could be created using a wish from Ouroboros, that opened an entirely new avenue of exploration. If not, I had a backup wish lined up to further test the limits.

But first… to try it out.

I exhaled, finally picking the World Item out of my Storage and slipping it onto my finger. I raised it high, activating it. "Ouroboros!"

The ring glowed, then shattered into a million pieces.

There was a slight pause before the first text box appeared..

Hello, you have activated the World Item 'Ouroboros'. You have been granted a single wish capable of changing anything the limits of the system.

I smiled. Finally, time to ask the first request. "I want you to make me an Item that grows the Leaves of the World Tree."

There was a pause.

…Excuse me?

I chuckled at the Developer's confused reaction. "You know, from the game lore." I flicked my tail excitedly. "I want something that grows those Leaves. Like a miniature Yggdrasil or something. Please, it doesn't even have to do anything. I just want to add something really cool to my Treasury."

…Ah. I see. A roleplayer. I just read your file, my apologies. Let me speak to someone, I need to see what we can do.

I nodded, patiently waiting. I had gotten this far, I wasn't about to start bitching now. Not when what I wanted was so close.

Oh, don't get me wrong, my excitement was genuine, but for a different reason than the one given.

In the game lore of YGGDRASIL, the World Tree was once covered with a countless number of leaves, but one day a gigantic monster appeared and devoured these leaves. The leaves were destroyed one by one, until only nine were left, making the Nine Worlds of YGGDRASIL. These World Items are said to be made from remnants of those leaves, each equivalent to a World in power. The monster that devoured the original leaves would attack the remaining realms for these Items, trying to destroy them once and for all. They were integral to the background story of the game: Players would step out into the unknown and face dangers in order to protect their own world.

In all of YGGDRASIL, there were only two hundred World Items, only half of which having been released yet. Each of them had their own unique ability, and some were powerful enough to destroy the game's balance. Of course, not all of the World Items had such game-breaking abilities. 'The Twenty' were all famously powerful, yes, but they were one-shot Items. Fire and forget missiles. The chances of a Player ever using the same Item of the Twenty twice was downright unheard of.

I still planned to do it, but hey, I like to dream big.

All right sir, thank you for your patience. To be clear, here, you wish for something of great value to add to your, ah, 'Treasury'?

I nodded, smiling to myself. It seemed that the first person had been replaced with someone who better knew what they were doing. "Yeah. See, I had a thought. So there's this great beast who devours all the leaves in the lore, right? So why is the World Tree still alive? I mean, it's obviously not, it's dying. That's why the Players have to fight to save it. So." I rustled my wings in anticipation. "I had a thought. Why would the World Tree accept death? There's nothing it can do with its leaves stripped and the 'great monster' chewing at its roots. In that situation, the Tree would try to do something desperate, if only to pass on to the next generation."

I saw no new text, so I took this as a cue to continue. "So, the World Tree thinks to itself, 'where can I put this tiny tree? It can't stay here, there's a giant monster.' So where does it put it? Somewhere it knows the guardian will fight to the death to protect it. So it entrusts this tiny World Tree Sapling to the giant Dragon to hide it from the giant monster. The Dragon protects it, the giant monster dies, the World Tree slowly withers away. You could throw an event and everything, 'Wither of the World Tree' or some such. It'd be a blast."

There was a lengthy pause as the Developer processed my words.

Do want the Leaves to be some sort of Recovery Item or something?

I laughed. "No, no, please, I don't actually want the Leaves to do anything in-game. That would ruin the value of simply having it. Just hard code them to read 'Leaves of the World Tree' and give them a jaw-dropping aesthetic."

This pause was a lot shorter, and the text came a lot smoother.

I think I get what you're saying. You just want to add to the game's lore in a positive way, right?

I nodded. "Exactly!

That actually sounds amazing. There was a pause. To be perfectly honest, Miyagi-san, I'm one of the guys who's been here since day one. I and a few buds still remember all you did back in the beta days. Even if it's been a while, you've still contributed as much as any member of the staff.

I would've blushed if my cheeks had blood in them. "Ah, come on, I just helped out a bit. I wanted to build a game I could enjoy."

I know, and that's the best part about it. There was a pause. Hey, listen. The guys and I know you're all about that deep hidden lore and such. You love roleplaying as the ancient dragon guarding treasure and protecting innocent maidens. So we had a thought. We were kind of expecting the person using this ring to demand that we give them their own Cheat Item or something, and just asking for a custom decoration doesn't really fit the bill. So how about this.

What followed was a brief few lines of text outlining, in code, how the 'World Tree Sapling' would function. It was very basic, but the flavor text read more or less as I had suggested.

That's what we're going to give you for your 'Leaf manufacturer'. But since we have the next half hour off and weren't expecting a glorified hedge, we figured we'd do something nice for once. How about we add you to the game's lore a bit. Make vague references to you in random places. You can become the protector of the Tree or whatever. Hell, since you're guarding the Sapling, we might even be able to make it a Title. Sound good?

To be honest, it was a bit heartwarming. I had only really chummed up to the Developers to get flight mechanics added, then later to develop my own Race. "I think that sounds excellent. Don't push yourself too hard, and once you're done, use the rest of the time to take a break. It's on me."

Thanks, Miyagi-san. If you ever get this Item again, we'll be sure you get sent to us.

This man was going out of his way to give me more than what I asked for. Not because he had to, but because he genuinely wanted to. "Thanks. A lot. Seriously, you guys are great."

You too. Take care, and good luck guarding your Sapling!

The text box closed, and the air in front of me shimmered. Before me formed a tree with warm brown bark, gleaming from within. Jewel-like peaches hung from its branches, making me laugh softly to myself. The World Tree in this game was apparently a peach tree—who'd have thunk it.

You have gained the Title, 'Guardian of the Tree'! While this Title is equipped, you gain the following effects:

[Nature's Blessing]

[Blessing of the World]

Status effect [Nature's Blessing] grants the following:

-You cannot be affected by Terrain Modifiers

+10% to all Stats while in a Nature Biome

Status effect [Blessing of the World] grants the following:

+1000% Life regeneration

+30 Physical Defense

+30 Magical Defense

+90% increased Rarity of Items found

Title grants passive Skill 'Calming Aura' while equipped.

I raised an eyebrow. This Title… it was a bit broken, to be honest. The Stats on it read like a high-ranked body armor would. I suppose this was the kind of thing that they were supposed to give out whenever someone used Ouroboros, but I couldn't be bothered to care. My guess was that they were giving me something to compensate for me not being able to equip any real armor.

Quite nice of them, considering I'm getting the better end of the deal by far.

I examined the Sapling, the other eyebrow raising to join the first. The so-called 'Fruit of the World Tree' had no effects whatsoever, but the flavor text stated that they were the fabled 'peaches of immortality' sought by man. They could restore the eldest to their youth and the most sickly to their prime.

Japanese mythology. Heh. Figured out why they were so giving, they wanted to subtly insult my age.

'Fuckers. Even if I'm mentally eighty-something, I'm not in the grave yet. Hell, my physical body isn't even twenty yet.'

I lifted the Sapling delicately, walking over to place it in my Storage. It would wait until Nazerick was found to be planted. I already had a plan for a mansion with that very tree in front, where beautiful peach blossoms would rain down year after year. Quite the romantic scene, really, even if those blossoms were actually World Items waiting to be made.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't expect to be able to make World Items for centuries after I arrive in the New World. I need to give the Sapling time to grow. But once it does, I'll have a whole new Yggdrasil growing in my front yard. Even before then, I'll undoubtedly be able to use the Leaves to craft upgrades for all sorts of weapons, imbuing them with the tiny Tree's immense power.

I internally cackled, closing the lid to the Storage chest.

Even if I lost a single World Item, I gained so much more in its place.

Now to begin the hunt all over again. I'll definitely need it again, but I should wait a year or so before activating it to make sure not to bug them too often. This one was meant to butter them up, my next wish will be for an Item capable of letting me infinitely use the Super-Tier Magic 'Wish Upon a Star' without the penalty. Maybe not actually using the Spell, that would be broken. I just want an Item that says it grants wishes specifically to me.

I'm honestly not sure if they'll do it, but hey, if they're this generous next time, who knows?

I cackled to myself, conveniently ignoring the hours and hours of grinding ahead of me.

I had a long way to go before I found the World Item I wanted again. It was time to check on the World Items I did have.

Word count: 2810