Max woke up in a lavish room made almost entirely of polished white marble. Ornate pillars stretched up toward a vaulted ceiling carved with intricate arcane patterns, and faint magical light crystals embedded in the walls bathed everything in a soft glow. Even after all these years in Yggdrasil, the sheer excess of Nazarick still caught him off guard.
He slowly pushed himself upright and immediately noticed he wasn't alone.
A tall skeletal overlord stood nearby, robes immaculate and staff resting casually in one bony hand. A couple of slimes bounced lazily across the floor, their gelatinous bodies reflecting the ambient light. Near the far wall loomed a massive armored figure—towering, silent, and utterly unfamiliar to him.
"Zero? Are you alright?" the skeleton asked. His voice was calm, familiar, and unmistakable. "You're spacing out a bit."
"Yeah," added a smaller pink slime in a cheerful female voice. "You froze up pretty hard there."
Max exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I worked a lot more than usual before logging in. Didn't expect to join for the final hours until I got your message, Momonga." He glanced around again, taking everyone in. "Didn't expect to see Bukubukuchagama, Yamaiko, or Ankoro either. Thought you girls were busy today."
The pink slime bounced slightly. "We wouldn't miss this, you know."
Max focused, and his stat screen flickered into existence before his eyes.
Name: Zero
Total Level: 100 (500)
Race Levels:Origin Vampire (5)Origin Lycanthrope (5)Arch-Nephilim (5)Devil Man (5)World Golem (5)Etc.
Job Levels:World Gate (5)Eclipse (5)World Breaker (5)Etc.
HP: 200+MP: 200+
…
The page kept scrolling.
And scrolling.
Layers of racial passives, sealed abilities, system-restricted traits, and locked world-class mechanics filled the display. It was honestly absurd—far beyond what any normal player would ever be allowed to possess. Max dismissed the window with a quiet sigh before it gave him a headache.
"Man," Momonga said with a soft laugh, "seeing everyone together like this again… it really takes me back." He tilted his skull upward, staring at the ceiling. "We built so much here. And now it's all going to be gone."
If Momonga had tear ducts, Max was certain he'd be crying.
"Yeah," Max said quietly. "Sorry I couldn't help more with the guild. Too many restrictions were placed on me from the start."
As he spoke, fragments of old memories clicked into place—early days of Yggdrasil, forum arguments, system messages, and developer warnings. Being Zero had always been… complicated.
"It's fine," Ankoro said gently, her massive pink slime body wobbling slightly as she spoke. "We understood. Adding you normally wouldn't have benefited the guild much. But just having you listed as a member?" She chuckled. "That alone scared people off."
"That's why we made him a commander," Yamaiko added. "So other guilds would see his name at the top of the rankings before trying anything."
"Yeah," Momonga said, sounding far more amused now. "They were so afraid of Zero that some guilds straight-up hid their bases from us. Well… most of them."
Max shrugged. "I couldn't even share loot properly. So I took as little as possible from the guild."
"No need to worry about that," Momonga replied. "It's all useless in a few minutes anyway." He laughed, deep and hollow. "At least feel like the richest player in the world one last time."
That earned a round of laughter from everyone present.
The massive digital clock hovering in the air ticked down relentlessly. The final seconds of Yggdrasil were approaching.
"So," Bukubukuchagama suddenly said, her tone playful. "What did you do with the NPCs, Momonga? I know you did something."
Momonga paused. "A little prank, I suppose." He folded his skeletal hands together. "Most of the female NPCs were reprogrammed to be madly in love with Zero."
Silence.
"…Wait, what?" Yamaiko said.
"I'm pretty sure that gives him the 'Harem King' title," Momonga continued casually.
"I wasn't even aware that was a thing," Yamaiko said, stunned.
"It is," Momonga replied. "The requirements are easy if you're capable of meeting them. Six or more NPCs of the opposite gender set to love a single player through programming or backstory flags. The benefits are basically nonexistent."
"Kinda stupid," Max said, laughing despite himself. "But also kinda funny."
Everyone laughed together, the sound echoing through the marble hall.
Then they all fell quiet.
The countdown hit zero.
Nothing happened.
The world didn't fade.
No logout screen appeared.
The system didn't shut down.
They were still there—fully conscious, fully present, standing inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"…What the hell?" Yamaiko said.