In the beginning, Mogami was not much of a gamer in general. He was more into reading, maybe some television every now and then, but he mostly slept all day and night. He could play, but he sucked at most games.
With the whole world being ravaged by war and pollution for a long time, almost all the people these days needed a hobby, preferably something that did not involve going outside with all the pollution or going to work. The go-to option was virtual reality. Specifically, video games.
Technology had advanced to a point where virtual reality was no longer just mere science fiction. A person could quite literally dive into a game and experience it as if they were in real life. One of the earliest pioneers of this technology was YGGDRASIL.
Yggdrasil was a DMMO-RPG, which stood for Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. It was the first of its kind and offered mankind an alternative to the usual concrete prisons and smoke-filled skies.
Although still lacking in quite a few areas, a virtually simulated reality was still miles ahead of the alternative. However, even that alternative is being shut down for unknown reasons.
"Goddamn it, I was a badass! Though it sucks, I feel like the load from carrying this group has been lifted off my shoulders," a man in a green robe said sarcastically.
"Carry? Pfft— You carried us as much as I paid for child support," a dark-skinned man clad in heavy armor retorted.
"And yet here you are, logged on on a game that's about to shut down, you old uncle," a feminine looking boy with white hair commented.
That's right. The game that countless people around the world used as an escape was being shut down after 12 years for seemingly no reason.
And, unclear whether it's to celebrate or mourn, a group of casual players who called themselves Scavengers had gathered at a city's pub.
There were originally nine of them sitting around in a circle, but one by one they all logged off due to personal reasons. They had been reminiscing about their time in the game, and hoping to see something special on the last day, they had stayed in the game.
[23:34:59]
"Can't blame the man, Gemini, we all came here to escape," a man whose eyes shone with all the colors of the rainbow said.
"You can say that again…"
Parthicus, the hooded figure in the green robe patted the boy's head. "Aww~ is the little boy grumpy that he has to face the real world?"
The boy known as Gemini swatted Parthicus' hand. "You know, Rebera-san, if I were you I would've had this bastard pay more for using 100 of my custom NPC levels."
"Hey, hey, hey, I already said it was an accident right? Besides, Judge over there used 90 levels," said Parthicus, trying to dodge the question.
"Hey, don't bring me into this," TheJudgeHolden shrunk in shame. For him, it really was an accident.
Seeing this, Level Up, or as he's known in his clan, Rebera (Leveler), laughed. "Of course I would be fuming. Who wouldn't be if their teammate used one-third of the NPC levels that you worked for a year to get? But thanks to Judge I got my first Legendary class item, and I was able to squeeze quite a few valuables from our rat here. And I've got their NPCs now."
"My jewels, my monster books, my cash-shop items!" Parthicus cried out, making an exaggerated crying expression.
TheJudgeHolden looked at the clock on his console, seeing that it was way over the time limit he set for himself. "I think it's time for me to head off guys. Sorry I can't stay 'till the end."
"Hey, don't worry about it. Unlike us, you actually have a job," Gemini said, understandingly.
Parthicus, ever the mouth, said "Go pay off those child support bills, you deadbeat."
"I'm just glad you stayed for as long as you have." Level Up extended a fist bump. "Let's meet each other again in YGGDRASIL II."
With just a nod, the heavily armored man disappeared into fragments of light. Now, there were just three members left to see the end of the nine realms.
"Yeah I think it's time for me to go too." All of the sudden Parthicus announced his own departure.
"Leaving so soon? I was sure if anyone's gonna stay it would be a game addict like you," said Level Up.
"Ouch. But no, I'm not logging out. I'm gonna try to beat that guild base I found."
"The one in Nidavellir?" Gemini asked. "What was it called, Kalisha?"
"It's Kailasa, you twerp. Also, yeah. Wanna come?" Parthicus looked at both Gemini and Level Up.
Though Level Up declined, Gemini accepted. Thinking it would be more fun spending the final days trying to beat a dungeon rather than sitting around.
"Seriously? If you're gonna go on a suicide mission, why don't you trust your items with me?" Level Up suggested as a joke.
While Parthicus only flipped him off, Gemini thought 'why not', to Level Up's surprise. He made a trade request to Level Up.
"Hey, I was just joking, you know?"
"I know. I guess material gifts are the only way I can express gratitude. Thanks for everything you've done for the clan, Rebera."
"Oh come on, you're making it sound like I'm the leader."
"Are you not? Did you not invest half of your levels on commander-oriented job classes?" Without waiting for an answer, Gemini gave Level Up all of the gold he had and all of the items in his inventory, safe for his main equipment.
After the trade came through, Level Up's inventory was filled with weapons, armor, jewels, monster materials, food ingredients, equipment minerals, miscellaneous tools, potions, scrolls, wands, data crystals, and even cash-shop items.
With that, the duo that had been bickering just earlier went off to complete a task they know they won't be able to, as Level Up sat staggered at what he was given.
"Jeez, that boy really is pay-to-win." Level Up got up, leaving the pub. Now that all of his clan mates have left there was no need for him to stay there for the final hours of the game.
He preferred to stay at his own base. The base that took him a year to obtain. The base that awarded him 300 levels of NPC Data Storage. The Hidden House of the Witch Sect. It isn't a guild base, but more of a personal home.
[23:49:32]
Using the 9th tier spell [Gate] from a Magic Scroll, he transported himself to the threshold of a dilapidated church. Despite its imposing size, the structure bore the scars of time, with ragged holes pockmarking its walls and windows like wounds left unhealed.
With a firm push, he forced open the creaking wooden doors, revealing an interior that mirrored the decay of the exterior. Splintered wooden chairs lay scattered amidst the debris of fallen masonry, while nature had claimed territory within the desecrated sanctuary, its verdant tendrils snaking through the cracks in the floorboards and entwining around the ruins.
Level Up walked to the door next to the podium stand. The room inside was just a dusty storage room, but using the 5th tier spell [Telekinesis], Level Up opened the wooden floors, revealing a secret spiraling staircase.
Rather than descending conventionally, Level Up opted for the unthinkable. He leaped straight down, pencil-style, plummeting at least 20 meters. As the ground rapidly approached, the impossible happened—he landed flawlessly. Credit was due to the Cash Item adorning his finger, the [Ring of Feather Falling], which nullifies any harm from falls less than 100 meters.
Having arrived at his base, Level Up walked through the long hallway of the Hidden House. The entire base sits on just one floor, but it is a sprawling labyrinth that used to be the headquarters for a cult known as the Witch Sect.
"Man, just remembering how much it took to make the changes I have now," Level Up muttered to himself.
Each tweak he desired, every little change that he wanted to make exacted its toll in materials and coins. Whether demolishing a wall, adding embellishments, or altering materials, every adjustment demanded its due. And when resources ran scarce, he resorted to purchasing more with coins. The process wasn't time consuming, but it was hella expensive.
Stepping into the nearest spacious room, which happened to be the dining area, he found all of his Custom NPCs assembled. "Ah, right, I left you all here last time," he remarked.
Having loaned them to his clan mates, they had returned them en masse on the final day. Lacking the inclination to station them back to the rooms he had made for them, Level Up had left them gathered in the dining room.
"I don't have a lot of time left. Let's just go to the war room. I guess I'll set these guys to 'wander'."
With the NPCs walking around aimlessly, he used [Dimension Door] to go to the war room, and sat at one of the seats. This room, originally intended for aesthetics, now unexpectedly became the space where he would spend his final hours in the game.
[23:59:44]
"Damn, now I'm kinda regretting not going with Gemini."
[23:59:49]
"Just sitting here by myself, surrounded by empty seats, now that I'm looking at it, it's pretty sad!"
[23:59:57]
"Let's just go to the NPCs, that way I won't feel as lonely."
[00:00:00]
At that moment, as he was getting up from his seat, an inexplicable transformation swept through his surroundings. As Level Up glanced around, the once-static candles now flickered, casting shadows that danced across the room.
The air carried a subtle scent of wax, and as he reached out to touch the table, he could feel the texture of the wood grain beneath his fingertips, the slight roughness of aged paper scattered across its surface.
His eyebrows furrowed at the sudden change in atmosphere. He tried to open his console and talk to Parthicus and Gemini to see if they noticed it as well. He waved his index and middle finger to the ground as if he was scrolling but he couldn't get it to open.
"Oi, oi, oi. This ain't a joke! Even the menu is disabled? How can I even log out?!"
Level Up tried to calm himself down. Breathing in and breathing out. He turned his attention to the table, the rectangular parchment was lit by the flickering lanterns.
He lifted the corner of the paper, and to his surprise, he could pick it up. "Woah this is amazing!"
The papers had just been a decoration that players couldn't touch, but now he could pick it up. He folded it in different ways, observed the creases, and ripped it to shreds. It was all so realistic, so tactile.
"So this is YGGDRASIL II. Still though, getting rid of the console just to increase the realism, that's probably violating a dozen policies of Dive-VR."
Level Up decided to see if the other parts of the base had changed. As he turned the doorknob, that uncanny sense of realism hit him again. He could feel the metallic smoothness of the knob, he could feel its gears turn as he turned it, and he could feel the weight of the door as he pushed it open. These were subtle senses, but ones that were absent in the YGGDRASIL that he knew. In the back of his mind, Level Up wondered if this was even YGGDRASIL at all.
He walked out of the war room and wandered the halls. Without being able to even open the menu, he couldn't access his inventory or the hotkeys to his spells. He couldn't use the [Gate] scroll or use the [Dimension Door] spell. So he had to walk to where the dining room was, which was on the other side of the base.
"I think I've forgotten where everything is. I used teleportation spells so often to travel around here."
As Level Up traversed the halls, he could hear footsteps coming from the corner of a left turn. Hearing the echoes of footsteps, and its shadow getting bigger made him stop in his tracks. But eventually, the source revealed herself.
"Ara, Master Level Up, so you were here all along." A cute silver-haired girl whose appearance looked to be in her late teens wearing a gothic maid uniform walked towards him with grace.
Forget the fact that she seemed familiar with him, the most noticeable feature was her heterochromatic eyes that glisten in deep crimson and light sky blue. "I was worried since you hadn't returned in a while. Would you like me to prepare a bath?"
'She talked!'