00:00:01
00:00:02
00:00:03
Hades stared at the watch on his wrist, the numbers steadily ticking past midnight.
His breathing grew shallow, and fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He shifted his gaze from the watch to his surroundings.
Suspended in midair, he saw an endless expanse of grasslands and forests stretching out below him, while above was a clear, star-filled sky. A bright moon hung high, surrounded by stars that glittered like scattered jewels.
"What the hell!"
Hades cursed, shivering involuntarily as a cold current swept past at high altitude. When he had entered Helheim earlier, he had also shivered—but that was out of shock at the hellish scenery.
This time, however, the shiver came from the cold itself.
"Wait a second..."
But why was he feeling cold in YGGDRASIL? That made no sense.
According to the usage regulations for nano-virtual devices, sensations such as pain were prohibited in the game, so in theory, the only temperature he should be able to feel was that of his real-world room.
But…
Hades hugged his arms. He could clearly feel the temperature difference between his body and the frigid air.
Though he couldn't figure out why he felt cold, something else puzzled him even more.
"I should be in Helheim, right? But… where is this?"
Hades muttered to himself in a daze, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings. Not long ago, he had been in the Helheim region where the Nazarick Underground Great Tomb was located—but now, aside from Nazarick's surface structures, the surrounding swamps had mysteriously vanished.
The sky was no longer gloomy, and the rolling forests in the distance were brimming with vitality—completely different from Helheim's constant atmosphere of gloom and death.
"No, no…"
Hades glanced at the digital watch on his wrist. The time read 00:01:29.
If this were real-world time, it wouldn't matter—but in YGGDRASIL, it was a serious problem. He recalled that the Message Kara Mifa Nya had sent him included the official announcement from YGGDRASIL, clearly stating that the shutdown time was midnight.
So why…
"No…"
Hades suddenly realized another problem. In his shock earlier, he hadn't noticed that the YGGDRASIL operation panel—normally ever-present in his field of view—was gone.
Without the operation panel, there was no way to log out of the game. That meant he was trapped in this virtual world.
His heart sank at the thought. He quickly attempted to send a Message to contact a GM administrator. Thankfully, some YGGDRASIL functions were voice-operated.
But as the minutes ticked by, there was no response from any GM.
Hades then tried sending Messages to the guild members who had still been online earlier, but without exception, there was no reply.
"What's going on?"
Hades floated in the air and clenched his hand. The sensation was extremely real—just like in reality. For user safety, nano-virtual devices were designed not to blur the line between reality and the virtual world.
Such realistic feedback generally didn't appear in standard products, but his virtual device was a high-end model in the series, capable of providing certain real sensations under the guise of medical treatment within legal limits.
Even so, it was a limited feature, not something without restrictions.
"Is the device malfunctioning?" Hades wondered.
But even if the device had malfunctioned, once YGGDRASIL shut down, he should have been forcibly logged out. Could it be that his device malfunctioned at the exact same time the YGGDRASIL officials delayed the game's closure?
"…No, such a coincidence is far too unlikely." Hades shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Not long ago, just as the time approached midnight, the scenery around him had shifted—from Helheim's gloom and death to this open, pasture-like plain.
The most crucial thing was…
Hades looked down at the surface buildings of the Nazarick Underground Great Tomb directly beneath him. Although he didn't fully understand the current situation, the presence of this heteromorphic guild suggested he was still inside YGGDRASIL.
While he had no idea what had gone wrong, invading Nazarick was no longer the priority—the most urgent task was finding a way to log out.
Being trapped in a virtual world was something he had never even considered.
He tightened his grip on the staff in his hand. Though it looked ordinary, it was actually one of the Twenty World Items—World Will.
Among the total of two hundred World Items, there were twenty that were exceptionally powerful—far surpassing the capabilities of ordinary World Items—and were collectively referred to as the Twenty.
The World Will in his hand usually appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary weapon-like item, but it could grow without limit. Even a World Champion could be instantly killed with a single strike.
Once activated, it could be used for twenty-four hours. After that, as one of the Twenty, it would vanish and reappear randomly somewhere in the world.
Although it was a one-time-use item, if it were used to attack Nazarick, it would never result in a failure like the time when even 1,500 people couldn't conquer it.
When Hades first obtained this World Item, he had considered using it to overthrow Nazarick. However, after running through the scenarios in his mind, he concluded that the chances of success on his own were too low.
This was because the skills of the Embryo Angel on Nazarick's Eighth Floor (Victim) were extremely troublesome. Without teammates to provide cover, even if he wasn't afraid of the overpowered monsters there, he would still be struck down by the Embryo Angel's abilities.
Furthermore, there was no information about what lay beyond the Eighth Floor—he had no idea what traps might be waiting.
Hades believed the safest plan was to gather a team of powerful level one hundred players for the assault. But by the time he obtained World Will, the game's popularity had already declined. His friends had either quit or moved on to other games, and he had no interest in teaming up with strangers.
The reason was simple—the allure of World Items was immense, and PKing to seize equipment had become common practice in YGGDRASIL. There was a good chance that before even reaching Nazarick, unfamiliar teammates might rob him. Even in the late stages of the game, an item like World Will still held considerable appeal.
Hades put World Will back into his backpack. Compared to toppling Nazarick, finding a way to log out of the game was far more important right now.
Glancing down at Nazarick, Hades sighed. If this was still YGGDRASIL, Nazarick would never be so easily breached. He also had no contact information for the members of that heteromorphic guild—and even if he did, he had no desire to interact too much with anyone from Nazarick right now.
"Let's see what's around here. It feels like I've stepped into reality…"
Muttering to himself, Hades began flying toward the surrounding area, instinctively controlling his "Flight" magic the same way he would in the game.