Do You Want to Dance Too?

The term YGGDRASIL refers to the World Tree in Norse mythology. A DMMO-RPG named YGGDRASIL was released in the year 2126.

YGGDRASIL utilized network and nanotechnology to allow players to immerse themselves in a virtual world that felt as real as the physical one. Its exceptionally broad freedom of gameplay attracted a massive number of players.

However, this glory lasted only twelve years. Now, its life is coming to an end.

Inside a room with an ornate decor, a long walnut-colored table sat in the center, flanked by finely crafted chairs. While the furniture was luxurious, the most eye-catching features were the four giant cat statues placed against the walls in each corner of the room.

The lifelike cat statues appeared as if they were alive, yet the truth was that they would only move upon receiving a command.

This was because the material used to create them was a construct known as a "Golem." Although referred to as a living entity, they were actually artificial products devoid of self-awareness or the ability to think, acting only by passively receiving their master's orders.

Yet, the six players in the room had no intention of ordering them to move—or rather, they were in such a foul mood that they had no interest in doing so.

Today was the final day of YGGDRASIL's operation. After midnight, the game would shut down, and everything here would cease to exist.

Although they did not want their painstakingly built guild, "Lord Cat~ Great Kingdom," to vanish, they were nothing more than ordinary citizens once they stepped out of this virtual world, possessing no power to stop the operator's decision.

The guild "Lord Cat~ Great Kingdom," composed of cat lovers, had grown to a scale of nearly a hundred members, but at this final moment before the game closed, only six people had logged on.

"There's nothing to be done about it. Everyone's time is precious, especially at a time like this," Ulbert Alain Odle said, sitting in his chair and speaking helplessly to the other five guild members who had logged on.

Though he wanted to show a helpless expression on his face, he was unable to do so. His character race was an Undead; his entire body consisted only of bleached bones, his skull included.

"Even if that's the truth, it still feels a bit regrettable. Even the Guildmaster couldn't log on for the final moments."

Ala Alaf, dressed in white, priest-like attire, spoke. Unlike Ulbert Alain Odle, his character race was Human. Even though his tone sounded somewhat sad, his face remained expressionless, forcing him to use the game's built-in emote system to display a look of regret.

Although he was not an Undead skeleton, the game settings prevented player characters from making facial expressions.

"Come to think of it, the last time the Guildmaster logged on, he said he didn't have time to play due to a job transfer. Thinking back, we should have bid him a proper farewell."

"Charge~ Cat-Cat Punch" said this while stroking an orange cat resting in his lap. Needless to say, this cat was also a creature made from a "Golem."

"Ahem, in these final, final moments, let's talk about something happy."

"Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" tapped the table and sent an angry emote, complaining about the sentimental atmosphere of their conversation. His pure white, gold-trimmed full-body armor made him look like a medieval noble.

"Sorry." "Charge~ Cat-Cat Punch" looked at "Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" and apologized.

Immediately after, the guild member among the six wearing fire-red armor and possessing a handsome appearance looked at "Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" and asked, "Speaking of which, did you notify that guy?"

"Eh? Who?" "Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" looked at "Meow Meow Miya," his tone revealing surprise.

"Hahaha Hades, of course," "Karamifamiao~" interjected, his voice carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

"Ah!" "Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" let out an exclamation, then shrugged helplessly. "I don't think he'd care. After all, he belongs to the 'winners' of life."

"Regardless, he prepared for this matter for a long time," "Karamifamiao~" said.

"The Great Tomb of Nazarick, you mean?" "Glorious Angel Cat~ Meow" sent a mocking emote and said, "I wonder if anyone organized a final assault on that heteromorphic guild in these last moments."

"That's hard to say. After all, even Hahaha Hades doesn't care anymore. Back then, he was a fanatic who swore to eradicate those heteromorphs in Nazarick, but later... sigh..." Ulbert Alain Odle said, ending with a long sigh.

Although he didn't finish his sentence, everyone present knew what he meant: as the popularity of YGGDRASIL waned, even past grudges had vanished with the wind.

After a period of silence, "Karamifamiao~" broke the quiet.

"Ahem, actually, I did notify him, just now."

"Karamifamiao~"'s words made everyone look at each other, before a burst of teasing erupted.

"Hahaha, you're too mean."

"Wouldn't notifying him at this hour just ruin his mood?"

"Even if he logged on, there's nothing he could do."

"Just in terms of distance alone, it would take quite a while to reach Helheim."

YGGDRASIL had nine derivative worlds; "Helheim" was the world for heteromorphic players, and the world where the "Lord Cat~ Great Kingdom" guild resided was not Helheim.

Just as they were teasing, their voices suddenly cut off. At that very moment, in their friend login notifications, the object of their teasing—Hahaha Hades—had logged on.

Regarding a DMMO-RPG like YGGDRASIL, which used nano-neural technology to make players feel as if they were in the real world, a player's behavior in-game could reflect a portion of their character in reality.

While one couldn't say it was exactly the same, as an immersive multiplayer online game, one's words and actions would always carry shadows of reality. If one were a kind person in real life, they would not frequently engage in PK and equipment theft in such a realistic game.

If one were not a good person in reality, they would have no psychological burden when engaging in PK and equipment theft in the game.

Because everyone knew that equipment condensed a player's hard work—not just money, but time—even if it were a virtual game, it was still their property. Those who could steal others' property without any burden...

Then in reality, even if they appeared to be good people, perhaps constrained by the law, once an opportunity arose, the evil in their hearts would manifest, and virtual games could lure out that evil.

It was for this reason that the malicious behavior of "Ainz Ooal Gown" led everyone to speculate that they might be a group of antisocial villains.

This guild's members committed crimes as a group, engaging in PK everywhere. Because their victims were often ambushed while unprepared, they almost never failed.

Their behavior was not just directed at individual players, but also at guilds. Once, when a guild was insufficiently prepared, they were robbed of a World Item due to a sudden attack.

Such malicious behavior finally met with backlash. A 1,500-man crusade force, formed by several major guilds, attacked that notorious guild.

This was the largest-scale guild war since the launch of YGGDRASIL.

Before this operation, a website was established where victims who had been maliciously PKed by this guild wrote down their experiences.

They had expected such an army of justice to achieve final victory, but they were completely wiped out by that guild. Afterward, because they felt the data was abnormal, they reported it to the officials, only to be told that there were no anomalies.

Because of this outcome, many players who participated in the crusade quit the game in a fit of rage; perhaps this operation was the starting point for YGGDRASIL's decline from its peak.

Following this, Ainz Ooal Gown continued as usual, PK-ing everywhere like a swarm of locusts. Although a small number of players organized counterattacks afterward, they were of no use.

Later on, as the game's popularity waned and many members of that guild likely quit, their behavior became much more restrained, but it is said that the guild leader persisted in this behavior until the very end.

Even in the final stages of the game, news of PKs by members of that guild could still be heard from time to time.

Hades recalled the reasons behind the crusade against the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, which had been launched by a coalition of eight guilds.

Hades, who had always been a lone wolf, joined the crusade team of 1,500 people. As a casual player, Hades' strength was not particularly outstanding, but he followed the main force all the way to the eighth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

However, during the crusade, something happened that made the young Hades feel indignant. Perhaps due to his instincts as a casual player, he would always shrink to the back at the first sign of danger, which resulted in him being one of the last ones left during the annihilation battle on the eighth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Unsurprisingly, as a casual player, he had no power to resist the counterattack of the Nazarick members. He was cornered by Momonga, the guild leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, who shared the same character race as the guild member Ulbert Alain Odle.

"Do you also wish to dance?"

Hades would never forget the contemptuous provocation from the Ainz Ooal Gown guild leader—a man who was a complete villain in the game—as he looked down upon him and uttered that cringeworthy, pretentious line from an anime that had been wildly popular over a hundred years ago.

The grudge between Hades and the Ainz Ooal Gown guild leader Momonga was forged then and there. Perhaps because of his youthful hot-headedness and the fact that he was not short on money in reality, Hades began to spend heavily to improve his strength, hoping that one day he could stand before that skeletal face and throw those words back at him.

But as time passed and the game's popularity declined, that initial grudge no longer felt as infuriating as it once had. With age, the game became less important to Hades; after all, he belonged to the "winners" of life, and the game was not his everything. Getting so worked up over such a trivial matter looked rather unsightly.

When he received a message from the guild member Karamifamiao~, long-buried memories came flooding back.

The memories of his youthful, chuunibyou phase stirred within him, perhaps out of a desire to pay tribute to that period of his life.

Or perhaps, to put a period at the end of what once seemed like a tedious effort, he activated his nano-virtual device and logged into YGGDRASIL.

Although Hades saw the names of those six guild members displayed as online in his friend list, and their location was within the guild base, he didn't have time to greet them. After all, the Ainz Ooal Gown guild was not in the derivative world where "Lord Cat~ Great Kingdom" was located, and there was little time left before the server shutdown.

Hades' relationship with these guild members was merely average, but out of politeness, he still sent them a greeting message while en route to the Helheim world, where the Ainz Ooal Gown guild was located.

He then proceeded to familiarize himself with the now-unfamiliar operation interface while traveling toward the Ainz Ooal Gown guild's base, the Great Tomb of Nazarick.