Draft 1

As the closing day of Yggdrasil comes closer, so is the feeling of hollowness that grew inside his chest

How long has it been?

How long has he wandered these barren halls, filled with creations of his dearest friends as he drowned in the melancholic experience of the past, where they were all together?

"Ankoro Mocchi Mochi" He whispered, gazing at the window screen in front of him- many names on which were grayed out due to them being absent from the game. Permanently

"Peronoreciro...Bukubukuchagama..."

Time has not been kind to Ainz Ooal Gown and their members. Gone were the glorious days of them standing at the top, wrecking chaos across the realm's server. Gone were the time when they used to get so much hyped for every update, everyone was pouring their hearts and souls into building this place - a place where he, no, they could feel truly at home

"Warrior Takemikazuchi....Nishikienrai...Touch Me...."

The last one struck a silent pain inside his heart

The World Champion has been the first member of their party in the early days, later is also the one who founded their clan along with the others- starting the guild of heteromorph that would later be one of the top guild in Yggdrasil

For that reason, it's only ironic that he's the first one to leave them. Family matters, he said

To have people in real life who care about you, to get a job with such generous pay and society to respect you. Even in game, the man had managed to obtain such a rare and system-breaking job class that everyone was jealous of him

Momonga was once reminded of how unfair this world can be

''Ahh, that's no good. Touch-san has always been a wonderful person who deserves those luxuries. Me on the other hand...." He sighed

Suzuki Satoru- the person behind this undead avatar- could not be said to have had a good life, even by the standard of his world's rotten society. Orphaned from a young age. Receiving only elementary-level education. Minimum wage salaryman. Generally regarded as the lowest working class in any country you'd set foot on

But that is a thing he doesn't want to console. Right now, he's in Yggdrasil, and he is contented to forget about everything and just have a good time here

Even if that good time is coming to an end soon

Once again, Momonga sighed at the revelation of the game's closing announced by the shitty devs.

30 days

In retrospect, he should have expected this. The player base was dwindling as more casual, interesting MMORPG titles are introduced to the market- games that doesn't need as much dedication and planning as Yggdrasil- while the content creators has been lazy with their updates, the latest of which was almost 2 years ago, too big a gap for the modern day constantly shofting development

This is inevitable. But that doesn't soften the mental blow dealt to him when Satoru read about it. Contacting his guild-mate proved useless as none replied save for an apology from HeroHero. He was left devastated

Which lead him to the current situation. Momonga silently roamed the quiet ground of his guild base, the tomb of Nazarick. Walking and teleporting from floors to floors, he stood and quietly admire the amount of work his guildmate has put in to turn a conquered dungeon into this beautiful virtual environment- a paradise for themselves

It was as though they were trying to make up for their reality through this- a window as to his friend's perception of how a perfect world would be, unlike the distant dystopia that they called home

It wasn't just Blue Planet, it was all of them who wished the world could be how it was hundreds of years ago, like in the historical illustration often shown at school, before the start of World War Three and the catastrophe that followed, when it was still a habitable place

Lush green forests covering vast areas, a diverse habitat of animals that lived naturally, unpolluted by the environmental disasters human had struck upon themselves

"If I were to get into another world when i passed away" He smiled at the childish thought "I would have prefer if it wasn't a futuristic one, an old, medieval world would have suffice"

"But what's the chance of it happening anyway?" Momonga sadly shook his head "After all, a dream like that only happens in a fairy tale"

Ding!

He was pulled out of his train of thought by the sound of the notification window popping into existence. Momonga quickly checked the list of members online

One of them was lit up in blue, something which made his heart almost stopped in surprise. The identity of said player wasn't something he'd expected to see

Yo, Momonga

It was short, simple, and to the point

Meet me at the throne room. It's been a long time

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