Chapter 55: In the City Forsaken by the Gods (1)
In general, Yggdrasil's item categories began with [Lowest Grade], and were divided into nine tiers in total: Lowest – Low – Medium – High – Highest – Legacy – Relic – Legendary – Divine.
Of these, up through Highest Grade items were treated as "normal" or "magic items," while anything from Legacy upward was considered special items, also called rare or unique.
Naturally, one of the greatest joys in any RPG is the collection of such items. Whether for hunting, exploration, adventure, or dungeon conquest, equipment and consumables were always essential.
Players spared no effort in researching ways to collect them.
....
There were three primary ways to obtain items in Yggdrasil:
1. Monster Drops
Defeating monsters would yield Data Crystals—customizable fragments containing the item's properties.
The item's actual stats were bound to the crystal itself.
By applying a visual template and combining the right materials, one could create a complete item.
This allowed players great freedom in crafting appearances and even naming their gear.
2. Crafted Items
If a player (or NPC) possessed a production-related class, they could use unique skills to craft equipment.
This was closer to smithing or metallurgy than simple alchemy: raw materials had to be gathered, processed, and shaped into items, with Data Crystals serving only as supplementary reagents.
The process was labor-intensive, requiring long crafting times and manual input, which discouraged most players.
Still, eccentric few thrived in it, and over time, knowledge spread enough that Legendary- and even Divine-grade crafted items began to appear.
3. Quest or Event Rewards
Many quests granted gold, consumables, or equipment. Rarely, hidden one-time quests could yield high-rarity drops, top-tier Data Crystals, or even completed high-grade gear.
Likewise, large-scale events often awarded powerful classes or items—sometimes to the point of breaking game balance. In Yggdrasil's later years, the flood of gambling-style events and cash items became notorious.
....
Beyond the ordinary item scale lay those that transcended it: World Items, also called World-Class Items.
These were the officially recognized Hidden Pieces—items that could never be made through normal drops or crafting.
Instead, they were born of special hunts, unique conditions, or singular quests. Across the entire map of Yggdrasil, there were fewer than 200 of these; even counting event distributions, no more than 250 in total.
Their power and options were so overwhelming that they shattered normal game balance.
Some, like mid-tier World Items, rivaled Divine-class gear focused in one direction. The strongest among them, however—known as the "Twenty"—possessed the ability to literally alter server data.
In fact, when two of the Twenty were once used simultaneously, GMs had to personally intervene, adjust the database, and publicly apologize to the player base.
World Items were thus regarded as "developer-approved cheat codes."
....
Not every World Item was a weapon of mass destruction. Most were useful and devastating in battle, but some had completely different purposes.
One example was the Tarnhelm of Metamorphosis.
Classified as a head accessory, it could be worn by any race, alignment, class, or size, and granted a single effect: the ability to change one's appearance. Unlike the 9th-tier spell [Greater Transform] or magical disguise gear, the Tarnhelm altered not just outward appearance but the system-recognized race and gender of the wearer.
And yet, stats, racial levels, and class levels remained untouched. No penalties. No drawbacks. It was the ultimate disguise.
Despite this, it was widely considered a "failed" World Item—mockingly called World (LOL) or World (for Fashionistas). It offered perfect defense and durability, and even allowed the wearer to make gear invisible, but provided nothing beyond its transformation function.
Most players saw no reason to waste their valuable head slot on what amounted to a toy, when normal disguise magic or items sufficed. You couldn't copy World Items anyway, so espionage was off the table. At best, it was good for amusing temporary transformations.
But once Tiamat obtained it, everything changed.
The evaluation of the Tarnhelm shifted dramatically.
He was now outside the Heavenly Stem Chamber, savoring the city of Shinsi.
Junishi? Shinsi? It didn't matter anymore. If everyone called it Shinsi, then so be it.
Since both his outfit and face were new to anyone seeing him, when he stepped into a convenience store, picked up a few things, and walked up to the counter, the clerk blinked and asked:
"Are you one of the newly registered citizens?"
He casually nodded and handed over the guild-issued card. The moment she saw it, her face went as white as a sheet, her body trembling as though struck with a seizure.
Why…? he wondered, before belatedly realizing.
Ah. He had given her the Guildmaster's exclusive Black Card.
"…Shh. You understand, right?"
"Y-yes, y-y-yes! It's, it's… the infinite, eternal, g-glory of, th—"
"That's enough. Forget it."
After finishing his purchase and stepping out, he heard a thunk and turned back—only to see the clerk slamming her head against the counter. Sliding down to the floor, she seemed determined to erase her memory by force. Hm… perhaps I should apologize later.
"Still… this item is just too convenient for me."
The Tarnhelm of Metamorphosis, one of the five remaining—no, now four—World Items in Shinshi.
It was the only one he could truly call his. One had already been used up—originally guild property, but impulsively consumed on the server's final day. But this? This was his alone, purchased at enormous cost, a possession he had personally earned.
Its ability was exactly as described: transformation. No restrictions, no penalties. The effect lasted until the item was unequipped.
That meant even Tiamat's true body—the absurdly massive dragon—could, with Tarnhelm equipped, be altered into the form of a small humanoid child. Which was, in fact, what he currently appeared as.
He had half-wondered whether World Items would still function properly in this new world.
To his astonishment, they worked flawlessly, without even the slightest diminishment.
Even something as simple as a few cans of beer and a handful of snacks left him completely satisfied. In dragon form, such things wouldn't have even registered—not even a tingle of sensation.
As expected of Tarnhelm. As expected of a World Item! Perfect. Truly worthy of being his most treasured possession, it had not betrayed his trust. With this disguise, unless it was Monkyspanner or Ea who had seen the transformation, no one would ever guess his identity. (Well… except for that poor clerk, who had refused—unfortunately for her—the dubious honor of being the third.)
As for the Shinshi World Engine? Forget it.
Its power was absurd. Adding in the special functions made it even more so. But saddled with an NPC like that… back in Yggdrasil, he had thought of her as nothing more than a decorative doll. Who could have predicted that, once brought into this world and given intelligence, an NPC would change so drastically?
Loyalty and devotion were good, yes, but what was with that big data nonsense…? What on earth had happened to Ea over those 200 years?
"…Come to think of it, even though I made her Sub-Master, I only gave her the Guild Item Manager and Observer authorities. No other permissions."
The thought made Tiamat's spine run cold.
That would mean… she had spent 200 years locked inside the Heavenly Stem Chamber, seeing Shinsi only through the World Engine, and never leaving that space.
....
The more he considered it, the colder his thoughts grew.
He had mocked her for becoming "strange," but wasn't the true culprit… himself?
He had been the one who created her. The one who confined her to that chamber. The one who restricted her authority.
Cold sweat began pouring down his back. Should he go there immediately—drop to his knees in apology?
The other High Priests at least had the freedom to act, to make decisions of their own. But Ea had nothing.
She had been sealed in that room for two centuries, unable to leave.
The more he thought about it, the more crushing the guilt became.
Even the kindest soul, if locked away in isolation for months, could not be guaranteed to remain the same.
Hadn't there been old films, where an ordinary man was imprisoned for years, only to emerge consumed by vengeance, reborn as a terrifying human weapon?
And Ea… not months. Not decades. Two full centuries. Yes, she could see Shinsi through the World Engine, but her body had remained locked in that chamber, unable to step outside.
And now he dared to call her strange? To call her insufferable? Every word of complaint boomeranged back on him, unbearable.
"…I'll have to apologize."
This was nothing but self-inflicted karma. If she had "fallen" (or "twisted"), the blame was entirely his. Perhaps she had been pure, once.
Perhaps, when she first descended into this world, she had been nothing more than the innocent, mischievous angel he had originally designed.
But two centuries of solitary confinement had warped her into what she was now.
Yes… he even remembered writing it into her settings: "pure, mischievous, playful." That playful angel had become a terrifying entity citing "big data," and it was all his fault.
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became of remaining in Shinsi.
Every corner of the city was under Ea's gaze. Even now, she was likely watching him through the World Engine, smiling in that sealed chamber, as she had been for 200 years.
Yes, he would apologize. But later. For now, guilt was overwhelmed by fear.
And so, gripped by dread and guilt alike, Tiamat chose not to teleport back to the Heavenly Stem Chamber.
Instead, he warped to the outermost edge of the First Layer—the only passage leading to the surface—and fled Shinsi.
His body was small, but still infused with a dragon's power, allowing him to move swifter than the wind. He tore past the outer gate before the guards could even react.
"Wh—what was that?"
"Did… someone just leave? …No, nothing happened. Right?"
"Y-yeah… nothing happened."
The startled gatekeepers, bewildered by the sudden escape, quickly fell under a [Command] and abandoned any thought of reporting it. They convinced themselves nothing had happened.
And somewhere across Shinsi, the faint sigh of disappointment echoed like a ghostly after-sound… before vanishing into the air.
Thus, Shinsi remained—as always—"peaceful, with nothing out of the ordinary."
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