The New World (1)

I blinked my eyes open, greeted by a ceiling so high and ornate it could've been the Sistine Chapel's less famous cousin.

"Where the heck am I?" I muttered, half expecting someone to answer. But the silence that followed was as thick as the velvet drapes pooling on the floor.

Dragging myself off the bed that felt more like a cloud than a mattress, I stumbled toward the nearest wall-sized window, pulling the curtains aside.

"What the…"

The world outside was a canvas of steel and smoke, buildings towering like silent titans under a sky too grey to be natural.

"Definitely not Kansas," I said to no one, a nervous laugh escaping my lips. That's when I noticed the gadgets. Next-gen stuff scattered on a desk that right next to the bed.

I picked up what seemed to be a phone, fumbling with it until the screen lit up, revealing a myriad of apps.

One, in particular, caught my eye—a news widget flashing the date. My heart skipped a beat.

YEAR 2138.

It wasn't just the wrong date; it was the wrong year.

"I'm in the future?"

Just as I was checking a time, a sudden knock at the door jolted me. "Master, your breakfast is ready," a voice called from the other side—polite, a little robotic.

"Uh, just a minute!" I called back, my voice cracking like a teenager's.

I threw on a robe that was definitely too fancy for my taste and opened the door to find a butler standing there, straight out of a British drama.

"Good morning, Master. I trust you slept well?" he asked, his expression unreadable.

"Sure, let's go with that," I replied, trying to sound as natural as possible. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know why I'm here, would you?"

The butler simply smiled, a small, professional twist of the lips. "You are here because this is where you belong, Master."

Right. Because that wasn't cryptic at all.

As I followed him through corridors lined with portraits of people with the same nose as mine—apparently, my 'family'—I tried to piece together the puzzle.

Rich family, dystopian world, and me, with no idea how I got here. It was like waking up in someone else's life.

We arrived at a dining hall that could host a royal wedding and there, laid out on the table, was a breakfast for five. I took a seat, scanning the spread, and that's when I saw it—a newspaper, with a headline that made my brain do a double take.

"Yggdrasil, the Ultimate Dystopian Adventure—Launching Today!"

The butler poured me some coffee, and I pointed at the headline. "This Yggdrasil thing, it's a game, right?"

"Indeed, Master. The latest and greatest in virtual reality. They say it's like living in another world," he explained, refilling my cup.

I chuckled. "You don't say."

As he left me to my breakfast, I thought about Yggdrasil. I noticed that name as soon as I saw it. This was the world of Overlord. L

I leaned back, sipping the coffee that tasted like melted gold, and smiled. "Well, looks like I've got a game to play."

And obviously since my family is fucking rich, I'd pay to win, even if I had to spend millions and make my avatar the most enchanting player character to ever set digital foot in Yggdrasil.

"This would be fun."