Great time travel

Volume Eight, The King of Millions of Pretenders
Chapter 1. Salary player in Lich skin

DMMO-RPG.

This is a new term that appeared in the 22nd century AD.That is the abbreviation of "DiveMassivelyMultiplayeronlineRolePlayingGame". At that time, human beings have been able to use the network and nanotechnology to design a computer network in the brain, and connect this network with neuron nano-interfaces and dedicated control interfaces.

In this way, when people play in the virtual game, they can feel as if they are in the real world.

To put it in an easier-to-understand way, DMMO-RPG is equivalent to a "virtual reality large-scale role-playing game", which means that players can personally enter the game world and enjoy the sense of reality as if traveling through another world.

Among the many DMMO-RPGs that have been continuously developed, there is a famous game that is particularly eye-catching.

That is "YGGDRASIL".

This is a Japanese game launched in 2126, known for its excellent freedom.It has a vast world stage, numerous professional skills, and player appearances that can be changed at will. You can even set various background materials by yourself, create guild strongholds and exclusive NPCs.

There are more than [-] basic occupation types in the game, including basic occupations and advanced occupations.However, the highest level of each profession is only up to level [-], so if you want to reach the [-]th level of the comprehensive level limit, you must practice at least seven or more professions.Of course, as long as you have the heart, you can also practice a hundred professions at the same time, and each profession has only one level. With such an inefficient and weird way, you can practice to a hundred levels in one go.

In a word, this game caused a sensation all over the world as soon as it was released. Since then, it has become popular in the global game industry and has been the leader for 12 years.

However, no matter how popular online games are, they will eventually be replaced one day.When the second generation of "YGGDRASIL" using new technology is about to be released, the day of shutting down the servers of the outdated first generation "YGGDRASIL" is coming.

Countless ashes players around the world feel sad about this, but they have no choice but to meet again in the second-generation game.

Then, as time passed quietly, it finally came to the last day of game operation...

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In 2138 AD, 12 years after the "YGGDRASIL" online game opened the server.

In the middle of the night, the base of the evil undead guild "Ainz Ooal Gown", the Great Tomb of Nazarick

In a conference room with a giant obsidian round table, sat a top player who had reached level [-].

He was wearing a luxurious black bachelor's robe embroidered with purple and gold decorations on the edge, and there were gorgeous decorations on the collar, just like an ancient emperor who wanted extravagance.However, his head was a skull without any flesh.The large hollow eye sockets shone with red-black light, and a black haze like a halo emanated from the back of the head.Among the ribs of the chest cavity, there is still a group of flickering red light beating.

This is an undead player in the game, with the Lich number, and has trained to the highest level of the ruler of death (level [-]).

His real name is Suzuki Satoru, an ordinary Japanese office worker with a withdrawn and unsociable personality.The player name of the game was "Flying Squirrel", and he was the leader of the top-ranked guild in the game, the "Ainz Ooal Gown" guild.This guild used to rank ninth at its peak, but now it has fallen to No. 20 and ninth.This is the ranking on the last day of operation. At the worst time, it fell to No.40.

The reason for the ranking drop was simple. Of the 41 players in the entire guild, 37 had deleted their accounts and left the guild for various reasons.Except for the president "Fong Squirrel", although the remaining three people are still on the list, they haven't come to the Nazarick Great Tomb to log in to the game for a long time.

In short, this is indeed a once brilliant game guild, but now it can be said that there are only wreckage left.

However, "Flying Squirrel" still maintained the guild with all its heart and soul, until the final doomsday when the service was stopped.

At this moment, the lich "Flying Squirrel" just had a conversation with one of the few remaining members of the guild, the slime monster Helo Helo, and each other complained about the work in real life: they don't understand reporting, contacting, etc. , The subordinates who discussed, had a completely different specification sheet from the day before yesterday, were blamed by their superiors for failing to achieve performance, were too busy at work to go home every day, had abnormal life schedules that led to abnormal weight gain, and were forced to take more and more medicine...

However, after complaining, the troubles of life and work are still the same, and there will be no changes in a good direction.

Therefore, after the exhausted Hei Luo Hei Luo had finished complaining, he had no choice but to exit the game and go back to sleep, and just went offline and disappeared.

Beside the empty round table, Momonga was the only one who looked at the seat where Heiro was just now, and murmured the last words he wanted to say:

"...Today is the last day of game operation, and I know you are tired, but this is a rare opportunity, do you want to stay together until the end?"

——However, these words did not come out in time.

"……Ugh--"

Momonga let out a long sigh from his heart.Through the conversation just now, he already knew how tired Heiluo Heluo is today.Even so tired, he still responded to the emails he sent, and went online on the last day of the game's closing operation.That alone should be deeply grateful.If you continue to ask the other party to stay, then you are not just thick-skinned, but looking for trouble.

Looking around, there is a huge round table exuding obsidian brilliance in the center of the room, surrounded by 41 luxurious seats, but almost all of them are vacant.In the past, all the chairs were filled, but now there is only my lonely figure left.

Although the current guild is ostentatious, it had a good time before.

Remember how lively it used to be here!Some people dragged their tired bodies to go online after hard work, and some people quarreled with their wives because they played too crazy to take care of their families. Some even smiled and said that they invited special Hugh to go online.

Sometimes the whole day is spent just talking.Sometimes everyone said silly stupid things to heat up the atmosphere; sometimes they prepared risky plans; sometimes they recalled the adventures of treasure hunting: they once launched a surprise attack on the base of the enemy guild, and finally succeeded in capturing the opponent's castle; The strongest enemy monsters attacked, and the guild was almost destroyed; many rare resources were found by chance; and in order to resist the invaders, various monsters were set in the tomb to solve the invading hostile players.

The names of those player friends are still deeply imprinted in Momonga's mind.

But now, there is not even a single person left here.

"...I really miss it, how happy those days were..."

Although the game is free of monthly fees, Momonga still spends a third of his salary on it.This is not because his salary is very high, but because he has no other interests, at most he will only spend money in this game.In the game, there is a paid lottery aimed at players to cheat money, and Momonga has paid a lot of blood for this.However, after spending so much money, he managed to get a rare item. Before he had time to be happy, he heard that Ye Wuzi, one of the members of the guild, had won the same item for only the price of a lunch. Momonga was so reconciled that he almost wanted to roll around.

Perhaps because the members of the Anzi Urgon guild were almost all members of society, with their own jobs and income, almost all players spent money in the game, and the flying squirrel spent even more money.Maybe it can squeeze into the top few of the entire server.

That's how he became obsessed with the game.Aside from the great fun of being adventurous, being able to swim with friends is the greatest joy.For Momonga, whose parents are no longer there and who has almost no friends in the real world, this guild is a bright memory of the good times he spent with his friends.

However, now this guild is about to disappear.His heart was naturally full of regret and reluctance.

However, as an ordinary person, Momonga has no financial resources or connections to change this fact, so he can only silently accept the arrival of the end time.

"...Alas——the 12-year game is over, when and where will we meet again?"

Momonga once again let out a long sigh from his heart, his shoulders trembled violently, and the truth that had been suppressed in the past finally broke out:
"...What are you kidding!" He slapped the table vigorously and roared, "...this is the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick that everyone spent countless efforts to build! Why can you just abandon it so easily!"

But after a brief gaffe broke out, a sense of emptiness and loneliness immediately emerged in his heart.

"...No, it shouldn't be. They didn't abandon this place easily. They just faced the choice of real or virtual. This is a last resort. No one has ever betrayed the guild. Everyone is facing a painful choice..." Momonga looked like It's just persuading myself and talking to myself non-stop.

After a while, he stood up, left the round table, and walked towards the wall, where a luxurious staff was decorated.

——Seven snakes are wrapped around the complex and huge staff.In the painfully struggling mouths of the snakes, each holds gemstones of different colors.The material of the handle is like a crystal clear crystal, exuding a shining blue light.Anyone would think that this is an extremely high-level treasure—this is the guild weapon that each guild can only have one, the "Staff of Ainz-Oool-Gon", and it can also be said to be the symbol of the Ainz-Oool-Gon guild.

The treasure that was supposed to be held by the guild leader was decorated in the room—that was because there were no other items that could be used to represent the guild.

More importantly, as long as the guild weapon is destroyed, it means that the guild will disintegrate. Therefore, guild weapons are usually not used to exert their powerful performance, but placed in the safest place.Even the top guild Ainz Ooal Gown is no exception.

Even though this staff was tailor-made for the president, Momonga, Momonga never took it once, and only decorated it here.

However, at the last moment when the game is about to be discontinued, it seems that there is no need to be so cautious.

Reaching out for the staff, Momonga left the conference room with the round table, which was also named "Round Table".

Even though everyone has already left, he still has to stick to the guild until the last moment.

——Although as the closing time approaches, there are not many players left in the game.But there may also be some players who lack integrity and want to take advantage of the opportunity to attack those famous guilds that are in a state of no one, so as to win cheap spiritual satisfaction.

In fact, in the eyes of real hardcore players, these guys are just some crows pecking at carrion and garbage.

Or, is it the kind of "alternative brave man" who "kicks Nanshan Nursing Home and punches Beihai Kindergarten"?
But no matter what, as one of the top guilds that has never been captured since its establishment, the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the Ainzi Oulgon Guild is obviously likely to be attacked by these crow-like despicable players—— This notorious underground tomb of Nazarick in the game was once attacked by the largest crusade army since the server was opened.There were a total of [-] troops from eight guilds, other solo players, and guild NPCs, intending to attack the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They fought until the sky was dark, but ended up being wiped out.

But that was only when there were guild players stationed there, the Great Tomb of Nazarick had such fighting power.If the guild NPCs in the Great Tomb of Nazarick had to rely on the automatic defense, even 150 troops would not be able to withstand it.Therefore, in order to maintain the reputation of the Anzi Urgon Guild and prevent the joke of being captured in the last hour of the last day, Momonga decided to stay here until the last moment, until he witnessed the end of everything.

After all, this is the guild he has invested in for 12 years!As a perfectionist, he wants to stay here as the chairman until the end!
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With emotions lingering in his heart like a raging tide, Chairman Momonga strolled through the luxurious corridors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

This infamous underground tomb is not as gloomy and dirty as some people imagined, but instead is a gorgeous world full of solemn atmosphere like a fairytale castle.On the high ceiling that must be looked up, gorgeous crystal lamps are hung at regular intervals, emitting a warm light.The wide corridor is covered with polished wooden floors, reflecting the light from the crystal lamp like marble, shining as if it is inlaid with stars.If you open the doors on both sides of the corridor, you can also see a variety of luxurious furniture, exquisite carpets and beautiful oil paintings inside.

In addition, there are 41 well-crafted beautiful maid NPCs, smiling and standing on both sides of the corridor, bowing deeply to the passing President Momonga, like a particularly beautiful landscape) These maid NPCs are guild players according to different carefully designed magazine illustrations.From clothing to appearance, everything is exquisite and gorgeous.Especially the exquisite embroidery that adorns the apron has reached the point of breathtaking.

With the memories of the past, he wandered around the Nazarick Tomb for a long time, but he never waited for any players to attack.So, Momonga, who thought that the last day would probably be a dull one, looked at the translucent watch on his left wrist, checked the time, and walked down a huge staircase with a luxurious red carpet, to the bottom floor ——The tenth floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, ready to move towards the Throne Hall.

Just as he was walking down the stairs, the seven figures standing in front of the stairs bowed down respectfully.

"……Um?"

It was a team composed of an old man dressed as a butler and six maids.

In the front is an old man wearing an orthodox butler uniform.His hair is all white, even the beard around his mouth is white.His back is straight, like a sword made of steel, and his deep face has obvious wrinkles. He looks amiable, but his eyes are as sharp as an eagle catching prey.

Behind the butler, there are six maids who follow like shadows, but they are slightly different from the maids just now. They wear gold, silver, black and other metal gauntlets and knee pads of different colors on their hands and feet, and they wear exaggerated and gorgeous armors. , only instead of wearing a helmet on the head, it was replaced with a white headgear showing the status of a maid.What they have in common is that all of them are very high-level beauties, but there are different types of beauties, such as coquettish beauty, healthy beauty, wild beauty, and classical beauty.Each maid holds a different type of weapon in her hand, which is a veritable costume of a maid warrior.

Opening the menu casually, Momonga looked up the information of the butler NPC in front of him.

"...Ah, your name is Sebastian, and you are the battle maid group Pleiades?"

He opened the menu casually and checked the identity of the digital NPC in front of him.Only then did President Momonga discover that the butler Sebastian and the maids around him were the guild's last line of defense against foreign enemies.However, if the enemy players have the ability to invade here, these NPCs may not be the opponents of the opponent at all, so these NPCs are actually just pawns used to buy time.

It's just that so far, no group of players has been able to invade here, so they have been waiting here for an opportunity to play.

They have not received any orders since their birth, but have been waiting here for the opportunity to appear.

However, it is a pity that at the moment when the game is about to be shut down, they no longer have any chance to play.

Momonga gave a wry smile, and tightly clenched the staff in his hand—feeling pity for the NPC, this kind of thinking is really stupid.

NPCs are nothing more than electromagnetic data. If you think they have emotions, it is only because the person who designed the AI ​​is very good.

But... "...As the president, in the end, I should give them something to do."

Momonga kept walking, passed the seven servants, and said a word: "...Follow me."

Then, Momonga led the servants following through the magic circle and faced the huge gate in front of him.

The majestic double-door gates with a height of more than five meters are dotted with finely carved statues. The right door is a goddess, and the left door is a statue of a demon.The design is quite realistic, and it can be felt from a distance that they are about to attack from the door.

Although it looks vivid, as far as Momonga knows, neither statue has been moved since its completion.

Probably sensing Momonga's approach, the giant door opened at a slow speed consistent with its own weight.

The atmosphere in the air immediately changed.

Although the atmosphere on that floor before was as quiet and solemn as a temple, the scene unfolding in front of us now is even worse.The solemn and solemn atmosphere seemed to have turned into an overwhelming pressure, and people couldn't help admiring it just by looking at it.

This is an unusually wide and tall hall, just like the court hall of ancient emperors.Even if hundreds of people come, it will not feel crowded.Looking up, the ceiling is quite high, the walls are based on white, and there are various luxurious decorations with a golden theme inside.

Several gorgeous crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling are made of colorful gemstones, exuding dreamlike and dazzling light.There are huge flags with different patterns on the wall, and there are 41 flags fluttering in the wind from the ceiling to the floor, representing 41 guild players.

At the end of the room, which uses a lot of gold and silver tones, is a staircase with only a dozen steps. The top of the staircase is a huge throne cut from a huge crystal, with a chair back that can be as high as the sky.On the wall behind it hung a huge red banner with a trade union logo.

This is the deepest and most important place in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick—the Hall of the Throne.

Momonga stepped into the spacious room that could absorb the sound of footsteps, and looked at a female NPC standing next to the throne.

This is a beautiful woman in a pure white dress, with a slightly smiling face like a goddess.The black hair was the opposite color of the dress, full of luster, and was long to the waist.Although the irises emitting golden light and the erect oval pupils are somewhat abnormal, other than that, she is an impeccable and peerless beauty.However, on both sides of her head, there were two curly horns that looked like goats.Not only that, but black angel wings can also be seen around her waist.Perhaps because of the shadow of the horns, the goddess-like smile also looks like a mask hiding the inner heart.Around her neck was a necklace that shone like a golden spider web, covering from her shoulders to her chest.His slender hands were covered with silky gloves, and he held a strange weapon that looked like a staff.At the front of the 45cm-long staff, there is a black ball floating lightly in the air without any support—if I remember correctly, she should be a level [-] NPC designed by Cuiyulu, and her name should be It's called Albedo.

She was the chief floor guardian of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Albedo.The NPC responsible for managing a total of seven floor guardians.In other words, she is the character above all NPCs in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Because of this, she was able to stay in the deepest throne room and wait for orders.

Momonga thought so, and at the same time ordered the butler and the battle maids to stand by in front of the throne, then climbed up the final steps and sat on the throne.

Then, he glanced at Albedo seemingly casually.

"...Speaking of which, what kind of setting is she like?"

As for Albedo's role setting, the only thing to remember was that she was the head of the guardians, the highest-ranked NPC in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Since the NPC Albedo was created by other guild members, Momonga only knew that there was "such a guy".

Driven by curiosity, Chairman Momonga operated the control interface and began browsing Albedo's detailed settings.In an instant, the densely packed text filled the field of vision like a flood, like an epic masterpiece. If you read it carefully, you should see the end of the operation.

It felt like Momonga who had stepped on a land mine. If his face with only bones could move, it would be shaking non-stop by now.

I really want to scold myself in my heart, but the guild member who even forgot to design Albedo is a guy who is extremely obsessed with character setting. Such a detailed character setting, even if it is the famous NPC setting that the official loves , I'm afraid it's nothing more than that.

But since it has been turned on, there is no other way but to start browsing with an indifferent mood.

It's not a jumping browsing that only picks the key points, but just scrolls the page quickly by looking at the title.

After skipping the long text and seeing the final character setting all the way, Momonga was taken aback for a moment.

"...and a slut at the same time."

Is this...could it be considered...a cute contrast?But anyway, such a setting is too much! ?

"... Let's change it."

Holding up the staff of Ainz Ooul Gon, the settings that could only be changed by using editing tools, because using the privilege of the president, you can directly connect to the settings.After a few operations on the control interface, the last sentence disappeared immediately.

Momonga thought for a while, looking at the blank space of Albedo's character setting form: It seems better to fill in some more content, right?So……

"...Now I love Momonga."

Wow!I'm so shy, I'm such an idiot...

In reality, Momonga, who is very innocent, stretches out his hands to cover his face, a certain kind of shyness seems to be setting his ideal girlfriend and writing a love plot, which makes Momonga's heart beat faster and he feels coy.I wanted to rewrite it because I felt shy, but in the end I changed my mind and thought it was fine.

The game will end today, and the current shyness will soon disappear with it.

Moreover, the eliminated sentence has exactly the same number of words as the written sentence, which is quite perfect.It would be a pity if a blank is left after deletion.

Sitting on the throne, Momonga looked around the room with a little satisfaction and shyness, and found that Sebastian and the maids in front of him were still in a state of stillness.Even being in this space together, watching them stand still feels a little empty.

"...Then...worship."

Immediately afterwards, including Albedo, Sebastian and the six famous servants, they knelt down to the throne together as a salute.

very good.Momonga nodded in satisfaction, then raised his left hand, looked at the translucent watch on it, and prepared to check the time again.

23: 55: 48
The service will be discontinued soon, I'm afraid the GM has started broadcasting continuously, and the night sky outside is also releasing fireworks.

However, Momonga didn't open the GM, it just sat quietly on the throne here, waiting for the game to be automatically ejected after the server was shut down.

It seems that they have come to this point peacefully, and there should be no more accidents.

Just let me guard this guild and finish the last journey quietly
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However, immediately afterwards, an incredible alarm broke the silence of this last moment.

"...What? The Great Tomb of Nazarick has been invaded from the surface?! There are only a few minutes left to stop the service!!!"

Chairman Momonga was startled and angrily muttering to himself, while moving his skeletal palm, tapping a few times in the void, calling up the monitoring screen of the entrance to the surface of the large tomb.Then, he saw through the screen that near the surface entrance gate of the Great Tomb, in a swamp filled with purple-red miasma, a group of petite intruders were following the skeleton soldiers who were the guards outside the Great Tomb. A fierce fight was going on.

"...it seems... more than half of the invaders are... cat people? The rest are goblins, slimes, vampires, and... a paladin and a magician? What a strange combination! Could it be a player of the 'Kingdom of Cats' guild?"

Momonga muttered in confusion, he didn't remember any enmity between him and the cat party concentration camp guild, and he didn't even have much contact with each other.

In addition, although more than half of the intruders were cat people, they did not fly the banner of the "Kingdom of Cats" guild, and in the enemy team, the guy who was the leader and the main force seemed to be that vampire!So it seems that the identity of the other party cannot be really confirmed.

However, no matter who the opponent was, since they had already attacked, it seemed necessary for him, the Lord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and the president of the Anzi Urgon Guild, to stand up and fight.But... He turned his head and looked at the time displayed on the watch again.

23: 57: 00
The service suspension time announced by the game company is 00:00:00.

——The game operation time is only 3 minutes left, and the Nazarick Tomb has ten floors, and each floor is equipped with powerful guardian NPCs, and space restrictions have also been cast.Except for the members of the Anzi Urgon Guild itself, hostile players cannot use the random door in the tomb. They can only defeat the guardians layer by layer to pass the level, and finally reach the tenth floor. Long decisive battle.

And no matter how powerful the intruder is, with only 3 minutes, it may not be enough to get through the first floor of the Great Tomb!

What's more, these players who don't know where they come from don't look very powerful, and they can't kill the lowest-level skeleton soldiers in seconds...

After watching for another minute, I found that more than half of these useless players were still fighting with the surrounding skeleton soldiers, and they couldn't even rush into the temple that was the entrance to the surface of the large tomb. President Momonga shut it down in boredom. Monitor the screen, and then collapse on the throne exhausted.

"...Forget it, don't bother to pay attention to these overreaching guys, just wait quietly for the game to be shut down!"