Reality or Virtual?

Hades stared at the watch on his wrist, the digits ticking forward steadily past midnight.

His breathing slowed, and fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He tore his gaze from the watch to survey his surroundings.

Floating in the air, he looked down at an endless expanse of plains, grasslands, and forests. Above him stretched a clear, starry sky, with a full moon hanging high and bright, surrounded by stars that glittered like scattered jewels.

"What the hell!"

Hades cursed. The high-altitude chill made him shiver involuntarily. He had shivered when he first entered Helheim, too, but that had been out of shock at the hellish landscape.

This chill, however, was genuinely caused by the cold air at this altitude. Come to think of it, why would he feel cold in YGGDRASIL? It made no sense.

According to the safety regulations for nano-virtual devices, sensations like pain were not permitted within the game. He should only have been able to feel the temperature of his own room.

Yet...

Hades hugged his arms to his chest. He could distinctly feel the contrast between the warmth of his own body and the biting cold of the air.

Though the reason for this sensation eluded him, there was something far more baffling than the cold.

"I should be in Helheim, but... where is this?"

Hades muttered to himself, bewildered. He had arrived at the Helheim region where the Great Tomb of Nazarick was located just a short while ago. But now, aside from the surface structures of the Great Tomb, the surrounding swamps had vanished without a trace.

The sky was no longer gloomy, and the rolling forests in the distance seemed full of vibrant life—a stark contrast to the cold, death-filled atmosphere that defined Helheim.

"No, this isn't right."

Hades looked at his digital watch. It read 00:01:29.

If this were reality, the time wouldn't be an issue, but in YGGDRASIL, it was a major problem. Hades remembered that the message sent to him by Karamifamiao~ had included an official YGGDRASIL announcement stating the game would shut down at midnight. So why...

"Wait..."

Hades suddenly realized another issue. He had been so shocked that he hadn't noticed the YGGDRASIL operation panel, which should have been constantly visible in his field of vision, was gone.

Without the operation panel, there was no way to log out. He was trapped in this virtual world.

At that thought, his heart leaped into his throat. He frantically tried to call a GM, thankful that some functions in YGGDRASIL were voice-activated.

But as the seconds ticked by, there was no response from the GM.

Hades tried messaging his guild members who had been online earlier, but without exception, he received no reply.

"What is going on?"

Hades hovered in the air and clenched his fist. The tactile sensation was incredibly real, just like reality. To ensure user safety and prevent confusion with the real world, such high-fidelity feedback was usually absent from standard products. His device was a high-end model that provided limited, medically-sanctioned sensory feedback, but it was supposed to be restricted, not limitless.

Is the device malfunctioning? Hades speculated.

Even if the device had malfunctioned, the game's shutdown should have forced him to disconnect. Could it be that the game's closure was delayed at the exact moment his device failed?

"That's too much of a coincidence to be realistic..." Hades shook his head, dismissing the possibility.

Just a moment ago, as the clock struck midnight, the scenery before his eyes had shifted from the grim, death-choked landscape of Helheim to this pasture-like plain.

Most importantly...

Hades looked down at the surface structures of the Great Tomb of Nazarick directly below him. Despite the confusion, the presence of this heteromorphic guild reminded him that he was, in all likelihood, still within YGGDRASIL.

He didn't know what had gone wrong, but his priority now wasn't to raid Nazarick, but to find a way to log out. Being trapped in a virtual world was something he had never imagined possible.

He gripped the staff in his hand. It looked ordinary, but it was one of the World Items known as "World Will," one of "The Twenty."

Among the two hundred World Items in existence, twenty were considered game-breaking, possessing powers far beyond the standard items, and were collectively known as "The Twenty."

The "World Will" in his hand appeared to be a common weapon, but it could grow infinitely. It could kill even a World Champion in a single blow. Once activated, it remained usable for twenty-four hours, after which it would vanish and reappear randomly somewhere in the world.

Though it was a one-time-use item, if he had used it to attack Nazarick, surely the situation wouldn't have ended in a failure like the one involving fifteen hundred players.

After obtaining the item, Hades had considered using it to topple Nazarick, but after running simulations, he concluded that his chances of success alone were slim.

The skill of the embryonic angel on the eighth floor of Nazarick was incredibly troublesome. Without teammates to provide cover, even if he didn't fear the cheat-like monsters on the eighth floor, he would still be vulnerable to that angel's ability.

Furthermore, intelligence on the levels beyond the eighth was non-existent; he had no idea what traps awaited him.

Hades believed the safest approach was to gather a group of powerful level-100 players for an assault. However, by the time he obtained "World Will," the game's popularity had waned. His friends had either quit or moved on to other games, and he had no desire to team up with strangers.

The temptation of a World Item was immense, and killing players to steal their equipment was common practice in YGGDRASIL. He might be robbed by his own teammates before even reaching Nazarick; after all, an item like "World Will" remained highly coveted even at the end of the game's life.

Hades tucked "World Will" back into his inventory. Compared to toppling Nazarick, finding a way to log out was far more critical.

He glanced down at Nazarick and sighed. If this was still YGGDRASIL, Nazarick wouldn't be easily breached. Besides, he had no way to contact any of the guild members, and even if he did, he had no desire to interact with that group.

"Let's see what's around here. It really feels like I've arrived in reality..."

Hades muttered to himself, instinctively using the sensation of the "Flight" magic to soar toward the surrounding area.