"Come on, come on…"

I've been staring at the loading screen of YGGDRASIL for the past… what. 7, 10 minutes? I mean, I get that my VR gear is pretty damn old, but come on. There's no way it takes this long to log into a game right?

I released a mental sigh. Haaah… why did it have to be today of all times that my set takes 5 times longer than usual to load a dive game. Why didn't I get any sort of prior notice that today was YGGDRASIL's last? That way I could've somewhat prepared and made some time for it… no. That isn't the problem, it was just that today had more problems and I was unlucky. Yeah, that's it. Just really unlucky.

Still, that doesn't negate the fact that I'm probably keeping everyone waiting. Will they even wait for me? I'm pretty sure a good portion of the guild, at least from what I remember, aren't exactly fond of me. Not that I blame them for it, I too would be cautious of someone who guild hopped and sold information to other guilds.

Man, I really should buy another VR set, or at least some hard drive upgrade or something. The performance of mine has been worsening for the past year or so. Mm… but it's so expensive to buy one these days, there's no way I can save up that much money without my current one dying first. Hmm… how can I- oh! The loading circle disappeared! Ah, finally I'm in!

The sight of a large circular table, surrounded by 42 chairs that could almost be considered small thrones appeared before my virtual sight. Dark, marble pillars surrounded the cylindrical room at regular intervals, connected by curved white walls which all converged to a golden chandelier looming high above the center of the room. Heh, didn't realize how much I missed this place.

"Hmm, how much time do I h- HAA?! 12 SECONDS UNTIL MIDNIGHT?"

No… there's no way… I just logged on, how could there be mere seconds left?! Sigh, there was no denying that the game's clock read [23:59:48]. Are you kidding me… I can't even formally greet my friends, how disappointing. I lift my head up to see, eh? All the seats are empty?

So… did no one come online on the last day? Well, since it's pretty much times up, they probably logged out early. Guess it can't be helped, I should get to sleep as well. Ehh… disappointing. I imagined all of us to leave together on a bang, but I guess that's being too optimistic. 5 seconds remaining huh, guess I'll stay up until it's over. I waited an eternity to log in, no way in hell I'm leaving early.

I took the nearest seat and slammed my face right into the table in misery. Damn it. If only I had come on earlier, perhaps there would be people I could talk to again. Heck, even Chagama-san said she'd see me later in game. I have to apologize to her tomorrow if I get the chance.

Mmm, why did I have to offer my help to Nichi-san with his work… if I had just gone straight home I could've saved an hour or so. Then maybe I could've at least met someone….

…

Hmm…

…..

Hasn't it been 5 seconds yet?

…

I'm pretty sure it's been 5 seconds…

…

Actually, where is my clock? And my HUD? Eh? Is it times up already? The game should've like, shut down by now right?

Are the devs are currently shutting it down? I've never been at the ending of a game so, perhaps this is normal? Or is this just some weird bug where my HUD doesn't show up and the devs messed up? Hah, seriously devs, if you're gonna end a game, at least do it right! Jeez, these developers. Sometimes I just don't understand what they're doing.

I lift my head from my depressed position from earlier. Well, whatever bug or glitch or whatever is going on, it seems like I can still take a look around Nazarick. Thinking like that, this bug isn't half bad if it means I get to walk around one last time. Is fate truly this forgiving? Let's assume yes. I need at least something positive to happen today. Hm, let's see. Where to go… 6th floor? The scenery is absolutely beautiful there. Actually may be not, some guild members were pretty paranoid about me teleporting throughout Nazarick. Spa? Not like I can do much there… throne room? Pah, whatever. Throne room it is. It's close enough, besides, I should hurry. Who knows how much longer I have left until the servers shut down for good.

Standing up, I took one more quick view of the conference room. Hard to believe this small room held so many of our conversations. From plans of war against other guilds, discussing real life, sharing secrets and information, arguments, rants, a death, new content being added, and a whole lot of fun and banter. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Thank you meeting room, you have served your purpose well!

That brief happy moment was immediately halted by an aura of loneliness. Facing me were 42 seats fit for royalty, all occupied at one point by lively and cheerful monsters. Well, monster-like characters, but still. They were all friends.

And now they aren't here anymore.

This room feels so much emptier without them.

I wonder if I'll see any of them again… besides Chagama-san and Pero-san of course.

I start walking towards the door when I come across an indentation in a wall. It definitely doesn't fit with the rest of the room. Looks like something should be here… oh yeah, the guild weapon! The staff of Ainz Ooal Gown should be here, right? Huh, it's gone now.

Wait.

Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.

Where's the staff?!

Oh no. Oh god, oh crap. The staff is gone! Without the guild weapon, the guild itself would be destroyed! I can't believe Nazarick was actually defeated! How did they take the guild weapon?! If more than 1000 players couldn't pass the 8th floor, how can literally any group on the last year of a dying game manage to pass it? Was there some major nerf to something? An overpowered class got added? That doesn't make sense if the game is on a decline! No, actually that makes total sense! Damn it! Of course they attacked when we were at our weakest. Now Nazarick isn't that undefeated…

Wait. Nazarick is still standing, and I even logged in inside it, which means it's still under our control. So, the guild weapon is in our possession? Which means someone from within the guild had taken it. Phew, that's a relief, at least the staff wasn't taken by enemy forces. Seems like I overreacted over nothing.

I suppose it's fitting. If the game is ending, why not play around with it for a bit? We put in all that virtual blood, sweat and cash into it, I guess it'd be kind of a waste if we let it just sit there on display for eternity.

Heh, whoever used it must've had a blast. That thing might as well have been a world item that could fire and amplify hundreds of spells. It's not every day you could play around with that kind of power.

Tch, I said I was going to the throne room, and here I am still internally worrying and shouting for no good reason. Alright, no more distractions. Onward!

Pushing open the doors, the scene that appeared was that of a beautiful hallway. Golden chandeliers hang from the ceiling, illuminating the pathway's gray walls and crimson carpet stretching across the labyrinth which is the 9th floor.

With a grin on my new face, I accidentally take my first literal step as one of the two rulers of a new world.

Note: This is the first time I've tried anything like this. I know not much is revealed about my character, and that's because I want to take things a bit slow and not cram a shit ton of exposition into the first chapter. Also why it's labelled Chapter 0 not Chapter 1. Hope this wasn't too horrible to read :P