The Supreme Being's Troubles

After a night of testing and exploration, Momonga could finally say for certain that he was in the real world. But this real world was not YGGDRASIL—it was an entirely new, unknown world.

The area around Nazarick was not grassland, but a poisonous marsh that sent chills down his spine. And the sky over "Helheim" was nowhere near as clear and bright.

Although it was nighttime, he could actually see the moon and stars in the sky. It was a far cry from the cloud-choked skies of "Helheim."

Sebas's report on his survey of the surroundings also confirmed that this was not "Helheim," nor did it seem much like YGGDRASIL. It was hard to believe, but Momonga had no choice but to accept the situation as it was.

But those were minor concerns. What worried Momonga most were Nazarick's NPCs. He and his companions had created them together, and after arriving in the real world, the NPCs had not only come to life, but had also gained minds of their own.

Once he had begun to accept reality, Momonga summoned the major NPCs to Nazarick's sixth floor and asked what they thought of him. He hadn't expected their opinion of him to be so high that he could hardly have dreamed of it.

Their praise made Momonga nervous, even panicked. The NPCs treated him with the utmost respect, but in his original world, he had been a lowly wage slave, someone who could be discarded at any moment. When had he ever been treated with such reverence?

In the game, he and his companions had been the masters of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the rulers of Ainz Ooal Gown, and the creators of these NPCs.

But now that the game had become reality, the NPCs were as powerful as he was. If they actually fought, he might not be able to defeat them.

And yet, people whose strength was so close to his own bowed before him and submitted to his rule. To Momonga, this wasn't a pleasant surprise—it was terrifying. If his undead body hadn't been made of bones, he was sure he would have completely lost control of his expression.

Even so, his nerves had left him tongue-tied. Fortunately, with his skull-like appearance, the NPCs couldn't tell how flustered he was.

Since the NPCs regarded him as Nazarick's supreme ruler, he had to watch his words and actions to maintain his authority and preserve the image they had of him. He was afraid that if he revealed his true nature, they would be disappointed—and then betray him.

Maintaining his image was his top priority, but Momonga also felt he had to familiarize himself with everything in Nazarick as soon as possible. Back in the days of YGGDRASIL, he hadn't needed to worry about all the details of Nazarick. Now that he had arrived in the real world, he did. This would also help him respond quickly if the NPCs ever turned against him.

All through the night, Momonga worked on memorizing things in Nazarick that he had never paid much attention to before, such as the NPCs' names. Nazarick had a great many NPCs—not just the Floor Guardians, but also NPCs of all kinds.

Nazarick was much like a castle. The Floor Guardians were its guards, but there were also servants who took care of its master.

These NPCs might not be as powerful as the Floor Guardians, but Momonga figured there was no harm in learning their names.

Besides memorizing the names of Nazarick's various NPCs, he also had to check his combat capabilities. He was in the real world now, and he didn't know whether the items and equipment from YGGDRASIL would still work.

One night wasn't quite enough time for Momonga to test everything, but he managed to check some of the items he used most often. By the next day, he was sitting in a chair in the reception room, quite satisfied with the results of his all-night exploration.

He had never imagined there were so many things in Nazarick that he didn't know about. The more familiar something was, the more unfamiliar it could seem. There was some truth to that saying.

"Hmm..."

Momonga rubbed his skeletal jaw and felt not the slightest bit tired. As it turned out, he was very pleased with this body. He didn't need to eat or rest, and he never felt fatigued.

In his original world, the liquid food produced by capitalists had been his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was cheap, but Momonga didn't eat it because it was inexpensive. He ate it because it saved him a lot of time he would otherwise have wasted.

Besides, he believed that no matter how delicious a meal was, it would eventually turn into shit once it reached your stomach. So wasting time and money on fine food struck him as ridiculous. Liquid food was one of the few good things he believed capitalism had done.

Now, after a long night of hard work, his undead body hadn't sent his brain any warnings about fatigue or hunger. He was quite pleased.

Actually, when he thought about it, it made sense. With nothing but bones left of his body, where would the food he ate even go? As far as being free from the need to eat went, he didn't think becoming part of the real world was so bad after all.

"Is something the matter, Lord Momonga?"

Sebas, dressed in a black tailcoat, had striking features and eyes as sharp as a bird of prey. His hair and beard were white. He bowed slightly and asked Momonga a question.

He was the Guardian of the ninth floor and also served as the butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He was the leader of the Pleiades, with six battle maids under his command.

A dragonman, he was Nazarick's strongest Guardian in hand-to-hand combat.

"No, it's nothing."

Momonga replied to Sebas's question, but his heart tightened. If he could, he would rather be here alone, figuring out how to use the "Mirror of Remote Viewing."

This item could display the scene at a designated location. It was convenient for hunting players for PK, or for hunting those who PKed PKers, but it was easy to evade with a low-tier anti-information magic spell.

On top of that, the item could also be repelled by an attack-detection barrier, so it wasn't particularly useful.

Despite those flaws, given his current situation, the item was perfect for observing the scenery beyond Nazarick.

But this was the real world, not YGGDRASIL, and Momonga was still unfamiliar with how to operate it.

He didn't want Sebas to stay, but he couldn't resist the other man's warm-hearted attitude. Not wanting to spurn Sebas's "kindness" or make him resentful by refusing, Momonga had no choice but to let him wait at his side.

Momonga's undead body gave him better self-control than he'd had as a human, but he still couldn't stand Sebas watching him from behind. If he didn't figure out how to operate the "Mirror of Remote Viewing" soon, he felt he might not be able to stay seated much longer.