Guilds were an important part of Yggdrasil.
Players could conquer dungeons to claim ownership, then build guilds there, team up for PvP, create NPCs, develop their homes, and more. There was a wide variety of ways to play.
Some guilds had a corresponding number of [base points], which could be used to create exclusive NPCs.
Guilds ranged from the lowest tier of 0 points to the highest tier of 3,000 points.
Yes, the lowest-tier guild bases could not create NPCs.
City-type guild bases, meanwhile, capped out at 700 points.
Those 700 points meant you could create five level-100 NPCs and four level-50 NPCs.
You could not turn all of them into seven level-100 NPCs, but spending real money could solve that.
As for higher-tier guild bases, those required conquering extremely difficult dungeons.
Yggdrasil had nine worlds in total, each containing a special dungeon with a top-tier guild base worth 3,000 points.
In the original story, [Ainz Ooal Gown] had 2,750 guild base points, only a little short of the highest-tier guilds.
At the same time, creating guild NPCs required a fixed amount of gold as a basic expense. For many guilds, the problem was not being unable to build them, but being unable to maintain them.
The sole exception was the undead, whose upkeep cost was zero. Alternatively, possessing the World Item [Throne of Kings] could reduce the upkeep costs of NPCs of other races.
That was also why the Bone King's guild had been built primarily around the undead: to save money.
The low NPC costs meant that, in terms of defensive strength, [Ainz Ooal Gown] really was second to none.
But none of that had anything to do with Roy. He had no interest whatsoever in guild rankings or guild wars.
He would not even allow anyone to announce that he owned a guild. Everything had to be hidden.
The guild existed upon the land, yet could not reveal itself.
It lay hidden in a corner of the world.
There were World Items that remained unknown even when the game ended, after all, so it was perfectly reasonable for Roy's guild to never show itself from beginning to end.
As for planning it out, that was naturally a job for his sons.
Roy had already spent real money. If he still had to bother designing everything himself, what did he need those designers and operations staff for?
Sure enough, the game team soon came up with a proposal.
"Pops, the guild design is ready."
"This guild is called [Incredible World City]."
"It consists of World City, Sky City, Ocean City, Forest City, Desert City, Mechanical City, Elemental City, Eternal Night City, Golden City, and Hell City-ten regions in total."
"World City is located entirely on the moon, even higher than Sky City, and oversees everything."
"It's a place normal players can never reach. It can only be revealed after they conquer the branch guilds in the nine worlds."
"Meanwhile, the nine guild branches will be distributed throughout the Nine Radiant Worlds."
"Together with World City on the moon, these nine branch guilds make ten top-tier guild bases, totaling 30,000 points-enough to create three hundred level-100 NPCs."
"Pops, what do you think?"
Professionals really were professionals.
Roy could not violate the existing rules: a single guild base could have no more than 3,000 points.
But that was fine.
The game's lead designer had already worked it out. They would treat Roy as a world boss.
World City would rule the hidden guilds in the other nine worlds.
Only when players stumbled upon this quest line would a server-wide campaign to defeat the world boss begin.
Judging by the equipment set the lead designer had custom-made for Roy, they did not believe any player could complete this quest.
The game could keep going forever.
Yet Roy was deeply dissatisfied.
"Add a pact called the Non-Aggression Pact."
The lead designer asked in surprise:
"Pops, what do you mean?"
Roy replied:
"I know how your proposal works. Every top-tier guild can discover clues about the hidden guilds."
"Once all nine public dungeons have been conquered, information about the hidden world will start coming out, right?"
Matsuno Hideaki, the game's lead designer, nodded helplessly:
"Yes, Pops."
"Then add this condition: after all nine dungeons fall, I have to launch an offensive first before they can trigger the relevant quests."
"Only then can they gather players from all nine worlds to attack the King of the World on the moon."
That was right. Matsuno Hideaki had named this quest "King of the World."
If Roy's guild weapon was destroyed, he would only be able to retain the final World City, while the other guild bases would be exposed.
The lead designer intended to use this weakness to make everything fit the game's logic.
Each player could only own one guild base, yet Roy had one in each of the nine worlds, plus a special instance.
This went beyond the game's logic, but the lead designer had explained it away through the logic of a world boss.
Having a player serve as a world boss was an utterly crazy idea.
Yet Roy had completely locked down the logic for triggering the quest.
Unless he used his guild to declare war on another guild, no information could be leaked.
Matsuno Hideaki agreed.
He did not believe someone would build such an elaborate guild and never use it even once.
What was the point of making a fortune if you never went home to flaunt it? It was like wearing fine clothes in the dark-who would ever know?
Yet after the guild update, Roy really did not use it a single time.
Matsuno Hideaki nearly made himself sick with frustration.
"Pops, we put so much effort into designing this quest. Why won't you trigger it?"
"The players in all nine worlds are your playthings."
"They'd band together to attack you for World Items, and you'd keep toying with them. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"With your defensive systems, it's unclear whether all the players combined could even break through a single one."
Are you insane?!
Why the hell would I let them attack my guild? That's all my property.
Are you going to pay for anything they break?
That was also why the massive [King of the World] expansion fizzled out.
From then on, Yggdrasil went into decline.
That update had only adjusted some guild-related content. On the surface, it promised a huge amount of new material, but there was nothing to show for it. Worse, the developers acted as if players could either play it or get lost.
The players hurled abuse:
"You damn devs, what did you even update today?"
"We downloaded all that game data, and all we got was an adjustment to guild NPC intelligence?"
"Fuck you! Give us our money back!"
The designers and operations staff had grievances they could not voice.
And they could not leak the truth.
MMORPGs had an open secret: free players were part of the paying players' gaming experience.
For the sake of paying players, no amount of abuse from free players would make a difference.
Roy, on the other hand, was extremely satisfied and spent money like mad.
Most of the money he spent went into his guild, really.
First came the base points.
The highest-tier guilds in Yggdrasil had 3,000 points, but that number could actually be increased by spending real money.
The price was simply outrageous, one of the few things even paying players found unaffordable.
Five million yen bought 100 points, with a maximum increase of 300 points.
It was nowhere near worth the money.
Because of Yggdrasil's selling point, each original NPC needed its own AI, which made operating costs high.
Expanding the number of original NPCs required a substantial additional investment.
Even the biggest spenders would hesitate.
At the very least, the Bone King's guild could not bear to buy it.
But Roy had only one complaint:
"Why only 300 points?"
"And it's too cheap. You can raise the cap and increase the price."
Roy's son, the lead designer, hurriedly said:
"Don't worry, Pops. Take a look at the effects of the World Item [World Crown]."
This was Roy's first encounter with a World Item.
It was somewhat like the Great Tomb of Nazarick's World Item, the [Throne of Kings].
Except one was a throne, and the other was a crown.
Both were World Items specifically designed for guilds.
Generally speaking, World Items had relatively singular functions.
The World Crown, however, was similar to the Throne of Kings, strengthening a guild across the board.
They simply had different focuses.
The Throne of Kings countered information-gathering, reduced NPC costs, and protected the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The Bone King and his companions had managed to accumulate 410 billion gold coins not only because gold was easy to obtain in the game, but mainly thanks to the [Throne of Kings].
Unlike other players, they did not need to consume enormous amounts of gold every day to maintain their NPCs.
The [World Crown], meanwhile, focused on dominion and increasing NPC points.
What did dominion mean?
No NPC character could attack the King of the World within World City.
To give an imperfect example, suppose the Bone King led a group of NPCs into World City. Those NPCs would kneel and submit, even if they were level 100.
Unless they carried World Items, none would be spared. They would obey Roy's orders directly.
That was the World Crown, and the King of the World.
Next, in terms of NPC points, the paid expansion cap rose from 300 points to 2,000.
In other words, spending just 200 million yen would give him 50,000 points' worth of NPC levels.
What a bargain.
Roy could not help asking:
"This World Item wasn't custom-made for me, was it?"
"Don't worry, Pops. Absolutely not!"
The lead designer said sheepishly:
"We were already planning to launch the King of the World expansion near the end of the game's lifespan, around the time the servers were about to shut down, to rekindle player interest."
I knew this World City proposal seemed a little too polished.
It turned out the design had existed all along. Roy had simply moved in and taken over the original boss's position as King of the World.
So the World Crown had originally been the [ultimate guild quest reward].
The [Throne of Kings] in the Bone King's possession was also part of that quest series.
After learning this, Roy said with satisfaction:
"Then can't we get a few more NPC points?"
The lead designer paled in shock:
"This still isn't enough?"
Even if Roy made nothing but level-100 NPCs, he would have to create five hundred of them.
In practice, designing a level-100 NPC took a very long time.
Normal players might pour two or three months into one, or even an entire year.
How long are you planning to spend making them?
My foolish son.
Roy wanted so many original NPCs for reasons that naturally had nothing to do with strength.
For example, he could send five hundred level-100 angels into the Great Tomb of Nazarick and scatter Ainz's ashes to the wind.
Roy would never be so bored that he would waste NPC capacity on that.
As always, Roy was not chasing numbers. He was chasing mechanics.
So what did he want most?
The answer was obvious.
Every class, every race, every spell-he wanted a backup of them all.
Regardless of strength or weakness, advantages or disadvantages.
Because they held possibilities.
Seven hundred races, over two thousand classes, over six thousand spells, and countless special skills.
He wanted to preserve a copy of every one.
Whether they were strong was another matter. The mechanics had to stay.
Of course, there were not really seven hundred distinct races.
After all, vampires and True Vampires counted as two races, which was how the count reached seven hundred.
If higher-tier races were considered to include their lower-tier counterparts, that number would probably shrink to around four hundred and ten.
A normal player also had seven classes.
There was no need for that many original NPCs.
But Roy had his preferences. Lifestyle classes such as craftsman, chef, and farmer needed to be represented by multiple NPCs.
So he wanted quantity and completeness.
Only by ruling over every race, every class, every spell, and every skill would he deserve the title of King of the World.
Before you continue