Prologue

Isaiah, a resident of what remains of the United States in the twenty-second century, grew up in a world plagued by high levels of pollution, corruption, injustice, and conflict - issues that, while present in the past, have reached unprecedented heights in his lifetime.

He found solace in such a world through YGGDRASIL, a Japanese Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, often abbreviated as DMMO-RPG.

However, the servers for this game are about to be shut down after twelve years of operation, and Isaiah is about to log on for the last time.

Many people were drawn to YGGDRASIL because it allowed players to unleash their creativity. With minimal instruction on the controls, players were given the freedom to explore and express themselves in a way that was rare in the real world.

For Isaiah, this freedom allowed him to escape the sacrifices he had made, as well as those made for him, and find solace in the game.

He came from a poor family, a common occurrence in the twenty-second century. Determined to break the cycle of poverty, his parents made the costly decision to provide for his education from kindergarten onwards.

It added financial strain to the family, but they remained hopeful. Through their hard work and dedication, Isaiah was able to graduate college as a well-educated and healthy man, a great accomplishment that was celebrated with joy.

Tragically, the harsh realities of hard labor and stress took a toll on Isaiah's parents. His father passed away from cardiovascular issues a year before Isaiah graduated college, and his mother died from malnutrition the month after his graduation.

Rather than succumbing to grief, Isaiah seized the first financial opportunity that came his way and dedicated himself to achieving the wealth his family had hoped for him to attain.

Isaiah's hard work paid off and he was able to accumulate more wealth than his family had ever known.

He used his networking skills and made himself a valuable asset to several prominent corporations, securing a bright future for himself.

When visiting his parents' graves and sharing his success with them, Isaiah was finally able to let out his emotions.

He thanked them for their sacrifices and promised to continue thriving while never forgetting the lessons they taught him.

His goal was to make the most of his life... yet on exactly what world was the question he would soon face.

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After putting on the Neural Nano-Interface - a human brain augmentation device that allows the mind to function as a supercomputer and an interface to play DMMO-RPGs - Isaiah launches YGGDRASIL.

<Login Authenticated, Welcome Back Player Ritsuka>

He saw the Japanese characters slowly translate into English, a feature that the developers had implemented in the past.

He then felt the familiar feeling of entering the game world. Opening his eyes, he saw the usual heads-up-display common for players. What surprised him though was the setting he found himself in, which was an immense desert.

'Oh that's right, I took a stroll out here to clear my mind last time', Isaiah recalled. 'Best get back to base'.

His character model, a dark-haired man with rainbow eyes dressed in dignified attire, walked towards the silhouette of a city emerging from the sandy environment - Camelot, one of the many locations making up Chaldea.

What's Chaldea? It served as the domain to one of the most renowned adventure guilds in YGGDRASIL, the Mage's Association.

The guild was a small yet influential entity that prided itself on collecting and discovering as much information as possible about the game.

It was made up of seven players, all of whom, excluding Isaiah, were born into opulence and demonstrated their privilege through their purchases of cash items in the game.

Despite their differences in socioeconomic backgrounds, Isaiah considered his guildmates to be great friends. However, their friendship was truly put to the test when the War happened.

Isaiah continued on, determined not to reminisce on the past just yet. When he entered the city, he was greeted by a plethora of civilian NPCs, all of whom were programmed to recognize him as the supreme ruler of the land. They paid their respects by bowing their heads in deference to their sovereign.

The city was large and divided into two layers - the inner and outer layers. The game developers had taken inspiration from the legends of Camelot and the historical records of ancient Rome when designing the city.

The outer layer was modeled after the architecture of ancient Rome, while the inner layer was inspired by the legends of Camelot.

As he walked, Isaiah couldn't help but recall his accomplishments during the lifespan of the game - the fast leveling growth, the treasure he had amassed, and his reputation as a formidable player.

Despite the countdown to the game's shutdown, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at all that he had achieved.

As he made this mental list, he reached the entrance to the inner layer of Camelot.

At the entrance to greet him stood several custom NPC's: Artoria Pendragon, Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan, Percival, Bedivere, and Agravain.

'The Knights of the Round and their leader, Artoria, have come to welcome me I see.'

Each one was semi inspired by the legends of their namesake, the protectors of Camelot under King Arthur.

That was another thing about the guild. What connected the members, other than their thirst for in-game knowledge, was their shared love of history and literature.

They were known for their powerful NPCs, the Heroic Servants, which had individual backgrounds based on historical figures.

The Heroic Servants were divided into the Three Knight classes - Saber, Lancer, and Archer - and the Four Cavalry classes - Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker.

The Mage's Association placed a great emphasis on these NPCs and worked hard to develop their abilities and skills.

Isaiah pulled out the command console and ordered the Knights to follow him. They obeyed, following him as he made his way deeper into the city towards the throne room.

The throne room was spacious, with pillars aligned towards the throne. It was decorated in a combination of white, blue, and gold, with banners flying on either side of the throne bearing the emblem of Chaldea.

Waiting by the throne's right side was another NPC, a slender man smoking from his iconic pipe and wearing his usual cape.

This NPC was none other than Sherlock Holmes, who had been created for the purpose of overseeing the Grand Servants - those who had participated in the War and were now crucial to the defense of Chaldea. Like the leader of the Knights of the Round, Holmes was tasked with defending Chaldea.

'I wonder what everyone else has been up to', Isaiah mused, thinking about the fate of his old guildmates. 'But then again, we parted on sour terms.'

Closing his eyes, Isaiah thought back to the events that had led to the guild's downfall, and to the War that had decided everything.

It had all started with the guild's discovery of the game's version of the Holy Grail - the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper and that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect Jesus's blood when he was crucified.

The item's description stated that it had the power to grant any one wish, with the only limitation being the user's imagination. Unlike the item Wish Upon A Star - which was bound by the concrete core of YGGDRASIL laws and couldn't be made to do things that go against it - the Holy Grail had no such limitations.

The developers had fully supported this reward, as it was meant to be hidden away and discovered only by the most adventurous players.

Greed ended up clouding the judgment of most Association members and so, it prompted a battle to be fought amongst themselves for the sake of that wish.

Each of the seven members gathered their individual resources and sought to fight alongside one NPC of their choice and making, marking these Grand Servants as the testament to their in-game accomplishments.

With the game's ability to heighten the pressure of battle, nothing was left unscathed.

There were clashes in the streets of Camelot between Saber and Lancer; a siege brought on by Archer against Rider; and a three way fight pitting Caster, Assassin, and Berserker against each other.

In the end, it was Isaiah and his Rider Servant who emerged victorious in the Holy Grail War. His comrades were exiled from Chaldea as a result of their defeat. But how had this been possible, and what had prevented the losers from returning?

Isaiah had used the Grail to become the sole owner of Chaldea.

Tired and burnt out from his job at the time of the War, he had grown envious of his former friends' lack of sacrifice in their real lives, and he refused to let his only passion be ruined by their selfishness.

As a result, he had used the Grail to make all of the guild's NPCs prioritize his orders above all else, and to declare the fortress city of Camelot and the rest of Chaldea off limits to all other players.

This decision had been upheld by the developers, in accordance with their promise to support the use of the Grail.

The news of the Holy Grail War and its outcome had spread quickly throughout YGGDRASIL, and nearly every player had heard some version of the story.

As a result of Isaiah's use of the Grail, access to Chaldea was strictly controlled. The only way for players to enter was for in-game trade, and even then, passes were limited.

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'Dammit. I got stuck with an early shift tomorrow. That shit is going to be a pain in the ass to deal with.' Isaiah cursed at the groggy morning he would have.

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Isaiah sat on his throne, deep in thought. He couldn't help but wonder how things would have turned out if he had chosen to reopen the guild and extend his trust to his former comrades once again.

He knew that he had made a rash decision to exclude them from Chaldea, driven by his own exhaustion. But now, as the last remaining member of the guild, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness and regret.

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'What should I do with my free time now? I should probably start looking for a wife, start a family maybe.'

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'I'm nearly reaching my thirties so it's only reasonable. I mean, I could ask out that coworker that's been hanging out near the office.'

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'It's been fun.'

...

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