00:00:01
00:00:02
00:00:03
Hades stared at the watch on his wrist, the numbers on it steadily counting past midnight.
His breathing became shallow, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He shifted his gaze from the watch to his surroundings.
Floating in the air, he saw an endless plain of grasslands and forests below him, and above his head was a clear starry sky. A bright moon hung high in the night, with twinkling stars like jewels scattered around it.
"What the hell!"
Hades cursed, and the cold current in the high altitude made him shiver involuntarily. When he entered Helheim, he also shivered, but that was only because he was startled by the hellish scenery of Helheim.
But now, this shiver was truly caused by the cold current in the high altitude. Speaking of which, why would he feel cold in YGGDRASIL? This was illogical.
According to the usage regulations for nano-virtual devices, sensations such as pain were not allowed in the game, so logically, the only temperature he should be able to feel was the temperature inside his room.
But…
Hades hugged his arms. He indeed felt the temperature difference between his hands and the cold air.
Although Hades couldn't understand why he felt cold, there was something even more baffling to him than the cold.
"I should be in Helheim, right? But… where is this?"
Hades muttered to himself in a daze, looking at the unfamiliar environment. He had indeed arrived in the Helheim region where The Great Tomb of Nazarick was located not long ago, but now, apart from the surface buildings of The Great Tomb of Nazarick, the nearby swamps had mysteriously disappeared.
The sky was no longer gloomy, and the rolling forests in the distance seemed full of infinite vitality, clearly different from Helheim's consistently gloomy and death-filled atmosphere.
"No, no."
Hades looked at the digital watch on his wrist. The time displayed on the watch was 00:01:29.
If this time were in reality, it would be fine, but in YGGDRASIL, it was a big problem. Hades remembered that the Message Kara Mifa Nya sent him included an official announcement from YGGDRASIL. The game's closing time was indeed at midnight, but why…
"No…"
Hades suddenly discovered a new problem. He had been too surprised just now and hadn't noticed that the YGGDRASIL operation panel, which always appeared in his field of vision, was gone.
If there was no operation panel, it meant there was no way to log out of the game, which meant he would be trapped in this virtual world.
At this thought, Hades's heart sank. He quickly sent a Message to call the GM administrator. Fortunately, some functions in YGGDRASIL were voice-operated.
But time passed minute by minute, and there was no response from the GM.
Hades tried to send Messages to the guild members who were still online before, but without exception, he received no response.
"What's going on?"
Hades floated in the air and clenched his hand. The touch was extremely real, just like reality. For the user's safety, nano-virtual devices do not confuse reality. This kind of realistic function generally does not appear in ordinary products, but his virtual device belongs to the high-end products of the series, which will provide some real sensations under the name of medical treatment within the legal scope, but that is only limited provision, not unlimited.
"Is the device malfunctioning?" Hades guessed.
But even if the device malfunctioned, if the YGGDRASIL game closed, he would be forced to log out. Could it be that while his device malfunctioned, the YGGDRASIL official also delayed the game's closure?
"But such a coincidence is too unrealistic…" Hades shook his head, denying this possibility.
Not long ago, as time approached midnight, the scenery before him changed, from the gloomy and death-filled Helheim to this plain area like a pasture.
The most crucial thing is…
Hades looked at the surface buildings of The Great Tomb of Nazarick directly below him. Although he was unclear about the current situation, the existence of this heteromorphic guild reminded him that he seemed to still be in the YGGDRASIL game.
Although he didn't understand what went wrong, the current priority was not to invade Nazarick, but to find a way to log out of the game. Being trapped in a virtual world was something he had never imagined.
He gripped the staff in his hand. Although it looked ordinary, this was one of the World Items, "Will of the World," belonging to the Twenty.
Among a total of two hundred World Items, there were Twenty World Items that were exceptionally powerful, their abilities far exceeding those of regular World Items, so they were collectively referred to as the Twenty.
The "Will of the World" in his hand was usually just an ordinary weapon-like item, but it could grow indefinitely. Even a World Champion could be instantly killed with one blow. Once activated, it had Twenty-four hours of usage time. After the time expired, the World Item, as one of the Twenty, would disappear and then randomly appear anywhere in the world.
Although it was a one-time item, if this item were used to attack Nazarick, it would surely not result in a situation where even fifteen hundred people could not conquer it.
After Hades obtained this World Item, he once thought of using it to overturn Nazarick, but after deduction, he felt that the probability of winning alone was a bit low.
Because the skills of the Embryo Angel on Nazarick's Eighth Floor were extremely troublesome. Without the cover of teammates, even if he was fearless of the cheat-like monsters on Nazarick's Eighth Floor, he would still be hit by the Embryo Angel's skills.
Moreover, the information beyond the Eighth Floor was unknown, and he didn't know what kind of traps awaited him.
Hades believed the safest approach was to gather some powerful level one hundred players for the attack, but by the time he obtained the Will of the World, the game's popularity had waned, and his friends had either quit or moved on to other games, and he didn't want to team up with unfamiliar players.
Because the allure of World Items was considerable, and killing players and seizing equipment was a common practice among players in YGGDRASIL. Perhaps before conquering Nazarick, he would be robbed by unfamiliar teammates, after all, an item like the Will of the World still held significant appeal even in the late stages of the game.
Hades put the Will of the World back into his backpack. Compared to overturning Nazarick, finding a way to log out of the game was currently more crucial.
Glancing at Nazarick below, Hades sighed. If it was still YGGDRASIL now, Nazarick would not be easily intruded upon, and he also didn't have any contact information for the members of that heteromorphic guild. However, even if he did, he didn't want to have too much interaction with the people of Nazarick.
"Let's see what's around. It feels like I've come to reality…"
Hades muttered to himself, and naturally flew towards the vicinity according to the feeling of controlling "flight" magic in the game.