1 Re:Re:The Developer's Final Hours

[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]

In a tall cliff, an orange haired man in a white suit looked over the horizon, his facial expression not changing in the slightest.

All that was behind him were many, many corpses dissipating from the air, becoming codes that would be soon removed from existence from this world.

They were all from the players who had accepted his challenge of fighting him for three hours straight, boasting the best challenge the players have had since Jormungand, several few World Enemies and the Last Boss Dragon which they all call Niddhog.

And they won, gaining prizes and rewards like actual money collectively for those who have challenged him, most of which were given to the best of the best and those who survived long enough until he was defeated.

Of course, he still has money, but because he's going to die anyways, he wondered how could he spend every drop of it.

This man was the Lord Administrator, Ragna (True Name: Hinoshi Hagazou ) , and beyond that expressionless face, in the "real" world, was a pale skinned man who has had a small, content smile on his face.

Obviously he was dying.

"Hmmm..... My final plans are going well this midnight." He spoke quite happily with a short sigh, yet like earlier, his facial expression didn't change. "Not too well, of course. If it did, then it might fail soon enough. My former colleagues, former soon-to-be dead boss and his megacompany.... in that dying world called Earth, that is my final goodbye, I suppose."

He knelt down and sat at the edge of the cliff, looking at the time at the corner of his HUD.

[9:30:01 PM]

"I can't just be sitting down here, right?" He said, shaking his head and immediately floating out of the cliff. "And I've got to visit the place where it all began: Midgard. Just to spend my last time there, to remember the past of 15 years ago."

The truth is, he was the only person left alive that was still working for YGGDRASIL's progress, though due to his condition, which was him quite literally dying right now, due to a powerful disease, he was no longer capable of updating, calibrating and augmenting the game.

Call him and his fellow developers shitty, trashy, and every sort of profanity, but the truth was, nobody bothered to update the game other than bots who do most of the calibrating and fixes, and the other administrators are here only for the money to get things done through the request of the players finding the world items known as [Ouroboros] , and [Five Elements Overcoming] .

There was another game similar to YGGDRASIL, though it's far more better and advanced because of it's use of the [N.N.I. Genesis (Neural Network Interface Genesis)], a heavily modified and enhanced Dive Gear, on less popular terms, the Neural Network Interface. Due to it's insanely rising popularity, and other former administrators flocking to it to gain admin access, Hinoshi couldn't help but admit that it's actually good and not lacking much (he even got the [Parallel Dive Gear] and the game for free as a gift from one of his true colleagues).

But, his love for YGGDRASIL, this game which he dedicatedly poured blood, sweat and tears and endured pain, in emotional, mental, and physical aspects made him quit the game, no matter how much better it was.

" [Activate: AC2125 World Teleportation - Town Of Beginnings] " He spoke, before his vision blackened and a loading screen appeared before him for a few seconds.

After that, he was now on the middle of a town that looked pretty empty except for several NPCs wandering around as programmed. Most even have "!"s above their heads, and some were gesturing at him.

However, he no longer had time to play his role as a "Player". After all, YGGDRASIL will be dead soon, and it will only become history.

Sitting on a bench nearby and with his hand on his chin, he began to wonder.... what would his life be if the wars that caused Earth to be covered in thick clouds and made the air completely poisonous don't even happen?

Truth is, he'd prefer being under blue skies and clean air other than live in a world suffering, where wealth can only suppress the suffering to an extent.

Moral degradation was clearly all over the world.

"[Check Player Status: Show Only Active]" He spoke with curiosity, wanting to know what was happening to the remaining players of YGGDRASIL.

A massive screen showed up in front of him, showing every player under their respective guild (or party, if not, on solo), several hundred of them, a few tens already logged out just recently. He began to read the guild's names out loud, yet never spoke of the players names.

"Trinity, 7 members active. Ainz Ooal Gown.... 1 member active.... Great Cat Kingdom, 1 Member Active.... 2ch Alliance.... 4 Members active.... World Searchers.... 3 members, impressive, but it wouldn't take a while before the few hundred players to eventually leave. Though I prefer if they stayed, just for a while before all of us are forced out of the game."

Ragna waved his hand to dismiss the screen before him, laying back on the bench and closing his eyes.

"I could take a rest by now...." He muttered, before a soft beeping sound appeared right beside his head. "... Hm?"

*iPhone ringing sound.mp3*

Opening his eyes, he looked at his side and noticed a floating icon that appeared before him. At first, he wanted to ignore it, thinking about wanting some rest, and felt the urge to tap the red icon to reject the call immediately.

But, his moral codes of keeping a good image even while his death was about to come had held him back from rejecting the call, so he reluctantly allowed the player to talk to him for a moment.

"Player Momonga, what do you want? I'm merely waiting for the end to come soon, plus, the other players are logging off soon..... but feel free to stay. I won't be giving any rewards, though. It would feel satirical."

"Th.... That voice..... impossible.... Crimzon Wolf?"

At this moment, Ragna became silent, wondering about what was his problem, until he remembered something.... peculiar.

Ragna had been using his real self's voice a few days earlier, having given up on anything other than the game, treating it as his last connection to his life.

"Sorry." Will not be enough for him to apologize.

He needs to talk with him.... maybe.

Hunching forward, his inner expression became that of sadness. But maybe, he could still be forgiven? Haaa..... Damn it.... I've always sought after pleasure and avoiding troubles, but it seems like my past sins are coming back to me." He muttered, sighing deeply with melancholy on his tone.

" Alright, fine. I'll talk to you personally, Momonga, End Call. [World Transportation: Niflheim, Tomb of Nazarick]."

His figure vanished in the blink of an eye, and suddenly appeared in a room with a massive round table surrounded by 41 chairs, beside a skeletal figure.

" I'm now beside you, Momonga."

"What the-!? How did you?" Momonga looked quite worried, even almost jumping out of his chair in shock.

It merely made Ragna smile inwardly, and obviously chuckled out loud.

"It's simple: Dev Powers! Should've seen that coming, Momonga! Now, let's talk, about our past."

It was a long one, lasting for over 45 minutes, sharing some of their experiences inside the game, and eventually coming to terms which was surprisingly easy as Momonga had explained that it was all in the past and he was already forgiven by his former guildmates.

Momonga even sounded more and more excited and happy that someone had been with him for a while, even if he was an old, former comrade that was separated from them for 8 years.

"And, Ragna.... no, Crimzon Wolf, why did you really leave Ninez Own Goal?"

Momonga asked Ragna, referring to him as his former avatar's name, which did make him sigh a bit.

".... It was for money, as always. The staff of YGGDRASIL was having a shortage of skilled developers and I was forced to work 6 AM to 9 AM every day until we have enough developers! And, while I left, I had been using a new account to keep all of you safe from blackmail, which is this account I am using right now!"

And with that, he went silent, having said enough.

".... I understand that, that's why.... I'm going to be your tour guide to this wonderful place Ainz Ooal Gown has built for the past few years. It's a consolation for an old friend."

"It would only be a waste of time, considering it has just been 11 PM. We both have our--"

Ragna knelt down to the ground, momentarily losing his balance and in the real world, coughing uncontrollably as his mouth and nose and ears began to bleed.

Ragna's breathing became worser and harsher, and he felt... cold on his hands and feet.

Seeing this, Momonga immediately tried to tend to him, panicking about what he should do right now.

"Ragna, no, Crimzon Wolf! What happened, are you okay? You need to log out, now!"

"No.... way...! This game... all of it.... is a part of me! I will not leave until... I or this game dies!"

And it was now the time for Momonga to be shocked, as Ragna was actually sounding quite... horrifying right now. If he had seen him personally in real life, then it would look far more horrifying and traumatizing.

Imagine your loved one dying of a powerful poison in front of you. Imagine if that were your little sister.

What will you feel?

'I feel cold... perhaps I am becoming lifeless... damn it.... I still have a few minutes, so I....'

Whatever happened next was him convincing Momonga to log off while giving him a billion yen which was enough to let him live for less than a decade

Strangely enough, he had disbanded the Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown, thinking he should try to change for a bit until a better D-MMORPG shows up.

At that moment, maybe he should revive Ainz Ooal Gown, too? The memories Momonga had gained had given him something else in this dying, cruel world.

It was hope.

And even Momonga's real self, Suzuki Satoru was having trouble trying to find Ragna's real self's whereabouts just to thank him, maybe because the whole Japan was just beginning to rise up again, if barely, because the entire population had began one long civil war that originated from all the corruption exposed and the mysterious person who started all this giving whoever wanted to rebel a huge sum of money.

It's safe to say that his life was beginning to soften.

{ A few hours later, in the New World... }

".... Where am I?"

Ragna woke up in the middle of a forest, wondering where he is.

And obviously, he's in for a long adventure.

[ ~ Chapter • End ~ ]

Nazarick is here, but it will be introduced at a later date.

I also moved the chapters and deleted the former ones to lessen confusion.