1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The 21st century ended with a big revolution in virtual technology. Humans had made the big progresses in simulating their senses. Those progresses marked the birth of YGGDRASIL, which was the most famous games ever made. The game was designed by the most excellent engineering teams from all over the world. Officially released in 2126, YGGDRASIL quickly attracted millions of players world wilde. It had ruled the charts, game forums and been the main of the discussions for a very long time. But all good things must come to an end , 12 years after its release, YGGDRASIL was starting to disappear from new players choices. The loyal gamers also turned against the game gradually. The obsole technology, game bug or the decrease in number of players,… were supposed to be the reason of YGGDRASIL's death. However, no one knew exactly.

Niðavellir – 23:34:09

Two human forms were standing on a wide grassland. Unlike typical grasslands where vegetation was dominated by green grass. This grassland was covered by a kind of scarlet grass which was 4 meters tall and able to move by itself to tie prey then release the poison through its thorn to kill it. At night, those grasses would glow under the starlight and moonlight. You could have contemplated an amazing view had you come here on full moon night. However...the burning lawns, the slashes cut deep into ground,... The evidences of a fierce battle could be seen within a radius of 300 meters from those two "humans". In front of them was a headless giant corpse. The corpse seem to be a kind of giant because of its size. It must be about 10 meters tall. This grassland was called "The Crimson Ensnarement meadow" and that corpse was the boss of this area called "Goliath Shadow Reaper".There was a hole on Goliath's chest, and from that, an lightning object was slowly approaching one of them.

The light from the object lit up two human forms. They were a man and a woman in armor.

The man wore a black armor, including helmet, pauldrons, breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves. The helmet covered his face except for the eye part. However, the strange thing was that the eyes counldn't be seen. They seem to be hidden behind the dark. His body was clad a breastplate designed with intricate details . He wore gauntlets and his shoulders were equipped with sturdy pauldrons while lower body was protected by cuisses and greaves which appeared to have been made by the same armorer who crafted the uper. The armor not only provided protection from physical attacks, but was also boosted by powerful magics. In his left hand, he wielded a longsword which radiated a blue cold light. The blade resembled ice, and the ornately designed hilt featured skull motifs. That armor and sword were unique.If someone had been there, they would have reconized that man. His name was Arthas. He was the World Chapion of Niðavellir and one of the most famous player in YGGDRADIL. His sword, which was called "Frostmourne" and his armor was specifically designed for him. Those items were beyond the divine items. There were only 9 players in YGGDRAS who had that such powerful eqipments.

Behind him, a tall and slender woman was standing silently. She wore a winged helmet that covered her face except mouth. Her body was clad a light wieght armor which looked like a dress. It seemed to be frail, but it was just apperence. That dress was a Divine item which was dropped from a World Boss called Valkyrie Queen. A katana was hung at he side. She was NPC created by Arthas, Malenia.

Normally, a single player was not allowed to created NPC. However, Arthas was an exception. In YGGDRASIL, there was a World Item which was called Ouroboros. It was one of the most poweful World Item ever known. After making a suprise attack on a party of a famous guild, he took it as a trophy from them. Ouroboros possessed a power which was said to be a superior version of super tier magic "Wish upon the stars". It could directly make contact with GM and request a wish from them. Arthas used Ouroboros to creat Malenia.

 'You have claimed Heart of Goliath Shadow Reaper.'

 'You have claimed Blades of Chaos.'

 'You have claimed Goliath Shadow Reaper Boots '

 ' You have claimed Goliath Shadow Reaper armor. '

 "Oh, all of them are divine items huh. Not bad."

Several notice boards appeared in front of Arthas. He sighed and close all of them. Goliath Shadow Reaper was the event boss that appeard once a year for 2 days in this area. The players had only three chances to defeat it . If the failed, they must wait until next year for another opportunity. Ability to move at high speed inspite of its enormous size combined with ability to make clones and turn itself into smoke. It was such a hard boss. After 5 failures, Arthas finally defeated it at the cost of an NPC that was summoned from summoning item. The reason why he had to kill Goliath Shadow Reaper was because of his heart.His heart could increase a large amount of EXPs and Stats. Even players or NPC who were at level 100 could still use it. Unfortunately, by the time he got what he wanted, YGGDRASIL was about to close. Think about it, he sighed again.

Turning his head, he look at Malenia who was standing behind him. Malenia had traveles with him for a long time. Having to say goodbye to her made him sad a lot.

"Let 's take a walk together ,Malenia." He said to her.

Walking through the grassland with Malenia follwed quietly, Arthas recalled his memories from he started to play YGGDRASIL until then.

'23:48:37'

He decided to try YGGDRASIL after seeing ads at the game store. However, he was sunk in this game without knowing when.

'23:55:64'

YGGDRASIL took him a lot of time but also gave him memorible experences. He remembered when he was a newbie, he was impressed by everything. From landscapes, monstes, players, .....all of them were the beautiful memories.

He vividly remembered his emotions when he discovered when he found new dungeons or robbed items from orther newbies. He felt truly satisfied, especially when he partied with other players and engaged in player versus player combat. YGGDRASIL gave him another life. He could be himself in this world. Unfortunately, he was about to come back to the disgusting real world. Arthas closed his eye and waiting for the end.

'23:59:57'

"It was really happy."

'23:59:58'

'23:59:59'

'00:00:00'

'00:00:01'