VOLUME 1 (Chapter 2 Prologue Part 2)

Momonga exited the room.

Originally, when the Guild members enter the game, they would appear at this round table. So waiting here for someone would be the best idea.

However the reason for leaving this room was as the possibility of another person coming, as he had said to Herohero, was low. He knew this.

He would not be coming back here a second time.

He began walking.

Following his footsteps, the strike of the staff against the floor rang out.

Momonga turned pass several corners and saw a woman walking towards him.

Her long rich blonde hair flowed down her shoulders, her face was extremely beautiful.

170 cm tall, the black and white parts contrasted with each other greatly on the snow white maid clothes, a pair of hills were struggling to push themselves out.

TL: I have no idea what the last part means.

ED: (I think it was indirectly speaking of the bossom or the buttox. LOL)

On the maid uniform, the apron was large and the skirt was long. The combination of the two gave the maid an impression of a refined lady.

As their distances narrowed, the woman faced him and greeted him with a deep bow.

He raised his hand lightly in reply, and stopped walking.

He gazed at the maid's uniforms.

It was made with extremely fine detail. The apron had fine embroidery sewn on to it. It was at a level of detail such that you could tell that the creator knew what he was doing.

Even when she slowly raised her head, Momonga kept silent and gazed at her.

Even with the impolite gaze the woman's expression did not change. It was the same as earlier, a warm smile.

The maid was a NPC (Non Player Character). Characters that moved according to their programming. No matter how detailed the original programming was, expecting them to respond was a fool's errand.

However, there was a reason why he could not just act casually around them.

There were 36 maids in this castle, each made by a different illustrator from scratch.

One illustrator currently had a series in a monthly serialised manga magazine, and at the time had eaten the other illustrators for not being up to standard. The person who wrote the movement AI programme was Herohero.

The illustrator who drew them was a man that said "Maid clothes are my justice!", and made the details extremely minute, causing the person in charge of the outer appearance to scream.

Basically the maids were made from the cooperation of the Guild members, treating them casually would make him feel bad towards his friends.

Thinking about it, the heroine of his series wore maid clothes. While thinking that, the maid tilted her head to one side as if asking if something was wrong.

If a certain amount of time passes and someone is nearby, she takes this pose, huh. Momonga searched his memory and praised Herohero's detailed programming.

There were other hidden poses. As it had been a while he had wanted to see them all but was pressed for time.

Momonga sent a glance to the metal plate that was wound around his wrist, looked at the semi-clear timepiece and checked the time.

There really was no time to relax.

"Follow."

With the maid following behind him, Momonga began walking.

With a set of footsteps following behind him, he turned a corner, a set of stairs on which could fit more than 10 people on it appeared. Stepping on the red carpet, he walked downwards towards the floor below.

The 9th Floor was organised into parlours, reception rooms, the Guild members' rooms, and guest rooms. In contrast, the bottommost floor, the 10th Floor was the central part of the Guild. It had a library, treasure room, etc. It was where the important parts were gathered.

The bottom of the stairs was a large hall, within contained several shadows.

The first one he saw was an old man wearing an orthodox butler outfit.

His hair was completely white, his beard as well. However, his posture was firm, and resembled that of an iron sword.

His Caucasian face had many wrinkles in it, similar to cracks. He also had a gentle look, but had a sharp gaze, much like a hawk searching for its prey.

And then behind the butler, there were 6 maids accompanying him.

Their weirdness was obvious at a glance.

Silver, gold and black metal greaves on their hands and legs, seemingly easy to move in. They were covered in armour straight out of a manga. Each of them were a different race.

They gave off the image of a warrior or guard, and there was a reason why they were maids.

The type of armour was unclear but they had the motif of a maid. Also, in the place of a helmet was a white brim.

They were similar to the maid soldiers or maid warriors you could find in manga.

Their armaments were also different. Japanese-style, Caucasian-style, African-style, etc.

They had varied hairstyles. Chignon, ponytail, sidetail, plaits, side up, evening party roll? They were quite diverse.

They were all extremely beautiful. Well, if beauty encompassed voluptuous, healthy and Japanese beauties.

(TL Note: When I say healthy, I mean slightly muscular, look up this on google images:健康美)

If he had to say it in one sentence, they were like the entourage of a raid boss.

In [Yggdrasil], Guilds with a base of a castle or larger had a special option available to them.

They were the NPCs that guarded the base.

For example, guards and knights guarded a castle. These NPCs spawned limitlessly but were only up to level 30. Even if they were defeated, it would be at no cost to the Guild. However, they were extremely weak and would get torn up like paper if another Guild attacked.

In addition, you could not change their appearance or AI.

However, you could make NPCs that could actually fight. If a Guild had a castle, they had 500 levels to freely spend on NPCs.

Since the max level was 100, for example, 3 level 100 characters and 4 level 50 characters could be created.

In addition, you could play around with their backstory, appearance, AI and armaments.

Of course, you could also make non-humans.

There was a Guild that occupied a castle—-The Great Cat Kingdom—-And they had all their NPCs as cats or as cat-related species.

TL Note: I want this to be translated as The Great Neko-sama Kingdom, but it was already written like this so. Yeah.

"Fumu"

Momonga placed his hand on his chin and looked at the butler and maids who had their heads down. He did not come he that often and he felt nostalgic.

Extending his hand into the air, he clicked a floating icon.

Names floated over the heads of the butler and maids.

"So this was his name huh?"

Momonga chuckled. While he was laughing about the fact that he forgot, he also vaguely remembered the time when they were arguing over his name.

The butler's role was the Land Steward of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. The text log should have his role described in extreme detail, but he had no intention to read it all. There was not much time left.

By the way, the maids and the other NPCs had a lot of detail in their creation as [Ainz Ooal Gown] had a lot of members who enjoyed making detailed settings.

In particular, it was thanks to the work of many illustrators and programmers that their outer appearance could be made.

"Follow."

The butler and the maids simultaneously raised their heads and lowered them again, confirming that they had heard their command.

Originally the butler and maids were the last line of defense against any intruders. Well, they probably would not be able to fight against the players that make it this far, but at least they could buy some time.

Even if that was true, moving them from here was different from what everyone else had intended for them. [Ainz Ooal Gown] was a Guild that placed heavy emphasis on majority vote. Doing things for one's own convenience was unacceptable.

But, there were no players who had managed to reach here, and so they had always waited here.

The NPCs feeling sad was a stupid act. Momonga thought so. They had no emotions and were nothing more than data. Even if they had emotions, they would follow that of the AI programming.

However as the Guildmaster, he had the authority to move them.

While being swallowed in his own thoughts, he began walking.

While being followed by several footsteps, they walked a wide path.

They arrived at a large room.

It was a large room in the shape of a round dome. The ceiling had crystals of 4 different colours emitting a white light. There were holes in the walls, inside were statues.

The statues all had the shape of a demon and numbered 67.

This room had a name on its name tab—-Lemegeton.

The statues had the motif of Solomon's 72 Demons, and were Golems made of a rare magic metal. The reason why there were not 72 was simple. The creator got fed-up halfway through.

The 4 coloured crystals on the ceiling activated when there were intruders and summoned high ranking Elementals of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. At the same time, monsters would send a barrage of magic attacks.

This was the final line of defense. It had the firepower to wipe out 2 Level 100 parties.

His destination was one room beyond that.

Passing through the room, he stood in front of a large door.

On the right side of the 3 meter tall door was a statue of a godess and on the left was a statue of a demon.

As expected, this door did not move, but it seemed probable that a trap had been set up.

"...They won't move right?"

Momonga felt a bit worried and touched the door with his hand. Naturally, he did not a a complete understanding of everything in this labyrinth. It was possible that someone left it as a parting gift before they quit.

Mostly becuase there were 2 people who would do that sort of thing.

In the end, there were no traps and the door was opening by itself—-However, the massive doors, befitting their size, slowly opened.

Beyond it was a wide and tall room—-.

A room which could comfortably fit hundreds. A ceiling so tall you had to stare upwards to see.

The Throne Room.

It was the most important place inside the whole the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. It was also the most elaborate of them all.

The walls were white with gold worked into them.

Several gorgeous chandeliers hanged down from the ceiling and were made from gems of 7 different colours. They released a mystifying light.

The walls had large banners hanging down from them, reaching the floor.

The centre of the room was made with lavish amounts of gold and silver—-a large banner of Ainz Ooal Gown was sewn onto a red cloth and was positioned at the top of a flight of stairs.

Just before that was a chair cut out of a giant crystal.

It was—-A throne.

Momonga walked through the large room.

"You can stop here."

The footsteps behind him continued.

Momonga gave a wry smile. They would not stop moving with the earlier command.

Once again, he said an order. This time he did not get it wrong. After all, NPCs are just programmes. They could not respond to an order outside of their programme.

"—-Standby."

The footsteps stopped.

He climbed the stairs in the middle of the room and slowly sat down in the throne.

Beneath him, the butler and maids stood at attention. Having them do that in this room made him feel a bit lonely.

Such a command existed, Momonga uttered a command he saw once before and while saying so, made a downwards motion with his hand.

"Prostrate."

They immediately dropped down on one knee and took a respectful position.

This was good.

Momonga raised his left hand and checked the time.

23:55:48

It was the last few moments.

Today was the last day of [Yggdrasil]—-The day when all service would stop.

About now, the Gamemasters would be broadcasting and setting off fireworks.

As to why he was isolating himself, Momonga did not understand.

Momonga rested his back back against the chair and slowly stared at the ceiling.

Boasting the position of the strongest dungeon, he thought that there would be some parties to challenge it.

He waited. As a Guildmaster awaiting his challengers.

Even though he sent mail to all of the Guild members, only a handful came.

He was waiting. Waiting to welcome his friends.

"Relics of the past, huh—-"

Momonga thought.

Although his body was tired, being here until now was fun.

Moving his eyes, he looked up at the banners hanging from the ceiling. They totalled 41.

"That's right, it was fun—-"

Excluding the monthly fee of 1,500 yen, Momonga spent more than 50,000 yen on Yggdrasil. He spent 100,000 yen on the lottery in hope of rare items. It was not because he was rich. He simply did not have any simple interests, and did not have any other things beside Yggdrasil to spend his money on.

Well, as [Ainz Ooal Gown] was comprised of members of society, everyone spent money on the game but Momonga was in a class of his own.

They stood at the top of the server.

But that was not just it. Going on adventures was fun but beyond that, playing with his friends was more fun.

He had no parents, and mostly no friends. If he had to put it, this Guild [Ainz Ooal Gown" was the crystallisation of the golden age he spent with his friends.

Gripping the staff, the ending time approached.

The time reflected in the corner of the field of vision read 23:57. The server would shut down at 0:00.

There was not much time left.

The world of fantasy was coming to an end, and the ordinary everyday life would return.

Of course. A person could not live in a fantasy.

Momonga breathed a sigh.

He had to wake up at 4:00 tomorrow. He had to go to sleep once the server shut off.

23:59:35, 36, 37...

Momonga began counting down.

23:59:48, 49, 50...

Momonga closed his eyes.

23:59:58, 59—-

Counting down the time towards the ending of his fantasy—–

For the eventual blackout—-

0:00:00...1, 2, 3

"...Hm?"

Momonga opened his eyes.

He was not back in his familiar room. This was the Throne Room inside Yggdrasil.

"...What's going on?"

The time should have been correct. He should have been forcefully logged out by now.

He checked the time.

0:01:18

It had definitely passed midnight. In addition, the system clock was definitely not wrong.

While being bewildered, there were no reports being shown. Earlier, when he closed his eyes, nothing had changed. He was still in the Throne Room.

"Has the shut down been postponed?"

Possible.

Something could have postponed the shut down. It that had happened, there was a chance that the GM was currently explaining it. Momonga panicked and tried to open a line and stopped.

The System Commands were not working.

"What is...?"

It was not just the System Commands. The system that gave you an overview was also not appearing. Momonga frantically tried out other functions. Shout, GM Call, System Forced Termination Input. None of them had any response.

It was like he was completely removed from the system.

"What is going on!"

Momonga's bellow echoed in the wide Throne Room and disappeared. Originally, he did not expect any of the 8 figures to respond. Yes, it was true up til now—-.

"—-Has something happened, Momonga-sama?"

It was the first time he heard this old man's voice. While Momonga was dumbfounded, he looked towards its source.

It was the butler who was raising his head.