2

"What in the nine worlds of Yggdrasil!?!?" Ashurbanipal exclaimed loudly. Nyx, too, was confused, but she remained much more composed as she turned to the man.

"Is something wrong, Lord Ashurbanipal?" said a soft-spoken voice. Both Ashurbanipal and Nyx looked towards the source, which was Sephiroth.

"If something is wrong, please tell me immediately and I will mobilize all the forces of Veles, to rectify it." Sephiroth followed up.

"Sephiroth, might I request some privacy for myself and Ashurbanipal? We have a matter that requires confidential discussion." Nyx suggested, catching Sephiroth's attention as she glanced between her and Ashurbanipal, noticing his silence.

"Certainly, Lady Nyx. There is no need to ask for request; simply speak, and it shall be so. I shall wait just outside the throne room, please notify me once you are finished." Sephiroth offered a respectful bow, turning to depart.

We observed as she took steps towards the throne room's exit, watching intently until she finally disappeared from view. A sigh of relief escaped both our lips, and we turned to face each other, still seated on our respective thrones.

"Did she just speak? The AI shouldn't be capable of doing that. What on earth is happening? I thought the servers were supposed to shut down? Why isn't it?" Ashurbanipal questioned, appearing unsettled and fidgeting with his hands and feet.

"Calm down! Take it one step at a time, take some deep breaths and relax your feet, that's tapping sound is annoying me." Nyx said, Ashurbanipal's eyes were dilated obvious panicked or confused. He takes a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down.

"What do you think happened?" Ashurbanipal asked, a lot calmer now.

Nyx clung tightly to his shoulder, attempting to soothe him. "Perhaps for some unexplained reason, the game failed to shut down at the scheduled time. Could it be that the company decided to postpone the date without making an announcement?"

"That seems like the most logical explanation, but the game's user interface has disappeared. Why would they do that?" Ashurbanipal turned away from Nyx, placing his face in his hands and leaned back. He took several deep breaths, focusing on reaching a game master. Suddenly, he felt a surge of power within him, like an ocean of mana (MP). An icon appeared before him, and he knew exactly what the spell did.

"I have no idea, my interfa—"

"Message!" Ashurbanipal interrupted Nyx, to which she frowned, and let go of his shoulder.

"Did you finally lose it?" She told him with a confused look on her face.

"It failed," Ashurbanipal said, Nyx was annoyed that he's speaking vaguely, before she could ask. He continued, "I tried to cast message spell to reach a game master, but it failed. Either there are no game masters online or we're are not in Yggdrasil." Nyx's expression became serious upon hearing this.

"That's a disturbing thought, I hope not!" Nyx and Ashurbanipal faced each other again, both noticing the increased detail in each other's appearances. It was so realistic that it was hard to believe they were still in a game. But if that was true, it meant they were trapped inside the game that became reality. That was an impossible, wasn't it?

"Let's not overthink this," Nyx and Ashurbanipal agreed, nodding in unison. "If we are trapped inside a game that has become reality, what should we do? It seems like Yggdrasil itself has become real. Does that mean the bosses, including the World Eater, have become real too?" Ashurbanipal's face paled at the thought of the World Eater becoming a real threat.

"Hey, you're the one who said not to overthink!" Nyx chided him, making him focus on her. "We need to move forward carefully. Gather information, secure our defenses, and figure out what the hell is going on." She finished her statement.

After reflecting upon her words, Ashurbanipal reached a conclusion. "Very well, let us begin by fortifying our surroundings. It appears that the NPCs of the guild remain loyal, as evidenced by Sephiroth's actions and words. At the very least, they are not hostile towards us. However, loyalty may not extend to unwavering support."

"First, we should go outside the guild base and scout the area, or at least send someone to scout the area. We need to learn if we are still in Yggdrasil or not. If we are, it's both reassuring and not, since, well, you know."

"After that, we should reconvene and discuss our future plans." Ashurbanipal concluded his long monologue and turned to Nyx to hear her opinions.

"Sounds good, easier said than done, however. I suggest using an NPC to scout, or I can try to create an undead to do it. I'd much rather not put ourselves at risk if we don't have to."

"Umu, let's use an NPC. It would allow us to test the NPCs and accomplish the scouting mission." Said Ashurbanipal as he stood up and started taking steps down the stairs that led to the throne.

"Where you going?"

"To contact Sephiroth, we already talked to her. I'm going to use her as a intermediary to the other NPCs. It'll be easier that way and safer, since we already confirmed she's loyal." Ashurbanipal said confidently he believed he could at least do this.

"Well, aren't you adorable." Nyx chuckled. He was so scared a few minutes ago, and look at him now. Ashurbanipal didn't reply and reached the exit to the throne room.

—

Jesus Christ that's a lot of dialog. My hands hurt.