[edited : 2 June 2016 for suffixes]

It's the day the server was going to shut down.

The last day of Yggdrasil being in service. No matter how many times he told himself this was the last day, a part of him couldn't quite accept it. After years of work. Well, if you told anyone else this was work you'd probably get a weird look, wondering how this dmmorpg ever some kind of "work", but the blood, sweat and tears that went into it, to him it was a labour of love.

11.55pm.

Another 5 more minutes to go. He sat at the throne room, with the NPCs gathered before him. He mentally named all 42 members of Ainz Ooal Gown. His emails to the guild members only brought a few back with him. Now it was just him alone, with his lifeless NPCs.

"Ping".

'Wololo has logged in.'

Momonga always found the notification sound of a fellow guild member logging in brings a strange sense of familiarity and joy. The sounds of all the adventures they would go together.

"Momonga-san, you're still here!" Wololo messaged.

"Come to the throne room."

"Yes boss." Wololo ported into the throne room. "Sorry took so long. The server seemed pretty busy with the whole shutdown. "

Momonga smiled, though his skeletal face revealed none of it. He emoted a smiley, and spoke, "No matter. It's good to have you spend these last moments of the guild together with me, and with this place."

A small squirrel hopped into the throne room. Small, but its hops were vast, and in no time it was next to Momonga.

"Squirrel this time? Couldn't you pick something more menacing befitting our evil theme?"

"Nobody expects the squirrel."

Momonga chuckled. Wololo was a roleplayer like himself, a druid/beastmaster with a penchant for transforming into cute little animals, or menacing monsters, depending on where his mood blows that day.

11.59.59pm

"This is it. It's been great."

"So it has."

12.00.01.

12.00.02

12.00.03

"EH?!" Both Momonga and Wololo exclaimed simultaneously.

They looked at each other, and Momonga asked.

"What's going on? I can't get the GM! The console isn't activating either."

"Is it? Let me try!" The squirrel's tiny paw tried to seemed to try grasping something in the air.

"Uh... me neither."

"Is something wrong, Momonga-sama? Is there something I can do?" Both the elder lich and the squirrel turned and stared at the winged succubus, Albedo.

"Did you just talk?" Both the supreme beings said in unison.

"Is something wrong, Momonga-sama, Wololo-sama? Is it something I said?" She spoke again, and their voice took a while to get into their heads. Both of them knew NPCs had no voiceovers, so hearing Albedo speak was a shock.

"Touch her."

"Wait. Why?"Momonga wondered a while, but did it anyway. He grasped Albedo's slim wrists, and felt a pulse in her arm. "She's alive?"

Albedo smiled, "Is there something wrong?"

"Touch her boobs. R18 acts should give you a forced log-out." Wololo the squirrel commented. He sounded a little squeeky, speaking with the voice of a tiny animal.

Momonga resisted a while, but he then asked her for permission anyway. She nodded, and he reached her skeletal palms and groped her.

Nothing happened.

Albedo squirmed in pleasure, and asked excitedly, "Am I getting my first today, Momonga-sama? What should I do with my clothes? If wololo-sama wants to watch I'm okay with it too."

Momonga has a shiver run down his spine, and regreted his last minute amendment to Albedo's character sheet. He wondered how he would ever face her creator, and oh the shame. The shame... An imaginary sweat ran down his head, but then he snapped out of it, the panic suppressed by his undead attributes.

"Sebas!"

The butler stepped out of his line, bowed and answered, "Yes Momonga-sama".

"Survey the surroundings! Be careful, and take the maids to accompany you." He bowed, and left, together with the Plaides.

"How about me?"Albedo asked.

"Gather all the guardians except Level 4 and Level 8 and meet me at the Coliseum in Level 6 in 2 hours."

She too bowed and left. In both their minds, the guardians seemed all too real.

The throne room was now left with Momonga-san and Wololo-san.

"What do we do now? What do you think is going on?" Momonga wondered, taking a look at his fellow guildmate. He touched his guild-staff, and looked at his teleportation ring, wondering whether it still works.

"You know, this is like those fiction stories where people get transported into a new world."

"Well, you sure can put it that way. Do you think our magic still works?"

"I've read enough erotic harem manga to know that it should still work." The squirrel glowed green, and the glow slowly expanded into the shape of a humanoid creature, with the head of a wolf. "See." He looked like a werewolf, his fur as black as Momonga's cape. No taller than Momonga, he wore a dark-silverish platemail, engraved with various tiny carvings similar to those found on old roman ruins. His muscular arms are filled with various scars, and had short black claws.

"We should still test it out. Let's use the ring and go to level 6."

"Why not."

A short flash later, both of them were at the Coliseum, and both Aura and Mare soon came to greet them. The 2 dark elfs wondered what brought the guildmaster here, and looked at them quizzically.

"We'd like to... train."

"Momonga-sama, why do supreme beings with such immense powers as yourself need to train?"

"I'd like to test out the Staff's powers. Bring out some monsters. Bring out something slow for Wololo-san." Both of them smiled excitedly, thinking it's their lucky day that they get to watch both supreme beings in action.

The beast didn't last long before Momonga, as his fireball went out smoothly, as he predicted.

Wololo looked at himself, and then at the beast Aura brought out before him. He sighed, "I don't have as many offensive spells as you do. " He reached for the hammer at his back, and grabbed it tightly. "Massive enchant weapon". The hammer glowed yellow and he jumped onto the beast, and;

'Splat.' The lvl 30 beast pulverised.

Wololo's build was more on the trading/defensive aspects of Yggdrasil. His special class "dungeon keeper" boosted the maximum level of NPCs the base could take by 300, so Nazarick had 3050 instead of 2750 (but each dungeon could only get this bonus once). Still, being level 100, he had enough stats and high grade equipment to crush monsters or the level 30 beast that Aura brought out. But often he had to engage in raids with NPC mercenaries that he created, as he himself couldn't handle Lvl 90+ monsters with his regular equipment as he didn't go specialise in the warrior build.

Wololo tried to recall his character's build...

Wololo – Lvl 100 shapeshifter (originally a werewolf)

Lvl 5 dungeon keeper

Lvl 10 zoo keeper / beastmaster

Lvl 15 druid

Lvl 5 master smith

Lvl 10 smith

Lvl 15 warrior

Lvl 5 merchant

Lvl 5 master shapeshifter

Level 5 master enchanter

Others – 25 lvls.

He built it in such a way that he had utility to the guild as a whole, whilst his passive meant his extra NPC levels were financially self sufficient. He wondered how gold worked in this world, or what happened to his custom NPCs.

Albedo appeared, with the rest of the guardians, cutting off Wololo's train of thought.

The guardians introduced themselves.

"Shalltear Bloodfallen, guardian of Level 1 to 3. At your service."

"Cocytus, guardian of Level 5. At your service."

"Aura Bella Fiora, Mare Bello Fiore, joint guardians of level 6. At your service."

"Demiurge, guardian of Level 7. At your service."

"Sebas Tian. At your service."

"Albedo, Overseer of the Guardians. At your service."

Whilst Momonga was deep in thought at their pledges of loyalty, he unconsciously activated his passive aura. Momonga's oppressive Despair Aura V seemed like a thick blanket of smog that covered the entire coliseum.

"Raise your heads. Now, anyone has any idea what is going on? Notice anything unusual in your levels?" Momonga asked, remembering Wololo standing next to him. Wololo on the other hand was just overjoyed and hearing all the guardians speak for the first time, and wondered how are the voices of his NPCs.

Shalltear started

"Everything is fine on my levels, Momonga-sama."

"Same here." Cocytus added.

"Nothing unusual here too." Demiurge too, spoke.

"No unusual reports throughout Nazarick." Albedo then summarised.

"Sebas, share your findings of the world above.". The butler bowed at the elder lich's command, and started explaining at length about how they were no longer in a swamp, but is now surrounded by vast grasslands, with mostly harmless creatures around them.

"Are they familiar creatures?" Wololo interjected, snapping out of his fascination at the NPCs voices. He was wondering how the maids would sound.

"No, Wololo-sama. They have not been seen before."

"We are in unfamiliar territory. Guardians, please take utmost caution, and raise the defense systems by one level. Capture any intruders that may have information of the world we are now in." Momonga sighed. He knew nothing of this world, and he'd probably need to do more to find out.

"Don't worry Momonga-san. I'm here with you."

"That's true, but no harm being careful. Aura and Mare, please conceal the tomb." Albedo was about to interject before Momonga glanced at her, mentally telling her to shut it. She understood the message. The 2 dark elves obliged.

"Alright, dismissed." Then Momonga wondered what the Guardians thought of him. Of them. "Oh, before that, what do you think of us? Of me?"

Shalltear started, "You are an incarnation of beauty, Momonga-sama. Wololo-san is the incarnation of craftsmanship."

Cocytus spoke. "One . Who . Is . Stronger . Than . All . The . Guardians."

Then he looked at Wololo, and said, " One . Who . Makes . The . Finest . Equipment . In . The . World."

It was Aura's turn. "A merciful leader."

And at Wololo. "A cute squirrel." He chucked a little, but realised he may have offended a supreme being and bowed. "I'm sorry Wololo-sama." Wololo waved, saying it's nothing. Inside, he was super excited that people remember the squirrel.

Mare spoke of Momonga, "A gentle person.", and of Wololo "A quiet thinker."

Demiurge smiled, "Momonga-san is a wise leader who makes great decisions. Wololo-san is the master builder and maker. His tools of torments are beyond genius." Wololo chuckled, wondering whether it was the guillotine trap he made in Level 7 Demiurge was referring to.

Sebas continued. "The one responsible for leading the supreme beings, and the one who stayed with us till the end." He then bowed towards Wololo, and said, "The builder."

Finally, Albedo, "The man who rules over the Supreme Beings, and our highest, most exalted master. In addition, the man I love most deeply."And she turned at Wololo. "The wolf... of wall street?" Wololo wondered what was that reference. Then realised it had to do with his Lvl 5 banker status. He was barely seen by Albedo, as his traps and equipment was mostly for the lower floors as they needed them more to ward off invaders.

"Alright, dismissed." Both Momonga and Wololo teleported back to the throne room, leaving the guardians at awe of Momonga's immensely oppressive aura. Wololo on the other hand was the less visible of the 2, but Cocytus, who was most familiar with Wololo's curious ways, knew he probably liked it that way best.

Back in the throne room, Wololo smiled at Momonga, revealing his canine teeth.

"That went supremely well, Momonga-san."

"You think? What do you make of our situation?"

"Well... we both have nothing to lose, do we?" He smiled again, realised they were both quintessential otakus that devoted countless hours to Yggrassil back in the day. Though Wololo has since moved on to other games as participation from other members declined, he answered Momonga's call.

"The guardians sure think very highly of me." The lament had a tinge of ranting in it. "I wonder why..."

"Don't worry. You're the guild leader. It comes with the title." Wololo wanted to do a smiley [ ;) ] at that time, but decided to just act it out with his wolfish features instead.

"Yea, I hope I can live up to them. What do you think. It's been 3 hours since it lapsed, but still no news from the GM. I tried messaging everyone but I got no answer."

"Well, I'm pretty excited. If this really is a new world, we should make the most out of it. Oh ya. I wonder how my NPCs sound like! I've been thinking about that the whole time since we met the guardians."

Momonga chuckled, remembering he was speaking to one of the few guildmembers who laboriously toiled at getting the look of their NPCs right. "Well, go and see them. They should be in Level 9. I didn't move them since you left them there."

"Alright. I'll go and look at my room too." Wololo bowed at his guildmaster. "Message me when you've got something up. Maybe we can go check out the outside world together." He vanished after he tapped the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown lightly.

Momonga laughed. "Yeah. At least I'm not alone in this."

END

Writer's note :

Man. It's been 10 years since I last published anything on fanfiction. I hope my english improved! :)