[00:00:00]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:02]
I see the timer is still going despite the screen going dark. The UI is gone as well so that means I must've disconnected successfully. The tube should pop me out any second now.
[00:00:40]
[00:00:41]
[00:00:42]
Despite Suzuki Satoru's faith in his virtual pod, the timer still ticked down with the darkness refusing to leave him. If YGGDRASIL shut down, then the game should've kicked him out by now. Satoru was shocked when he felt something after accidentally moving his fingers. Well, that wasn't exactly right; they didn't feel like regular fingers.
What is this feeling? It's like I am covered in-
His body shoots up immediately after his realization. Red sand flowed off of him as if they were water. His entire body was covered in sand. He looked around himself or, as it turned out, Momonga's self. He was in his Overlord avatar. The highest form of undead. He is still in YGGDRASIL. Yet…not.
He passed his fingers several times through the sand letting the grains fall back effortlessly onto the ground. He felt every part of that. He shouldn't have. The wind brushes past his skull with the same outcome: an impossible feeling. He wasn't just "in the game;" he, Momonga, is alive.
"What the hell is go-..." Momonga stopped himself as he heard a deep, regal voice leave his mouth.
I suppose that's one upside to being an undead. Now: where the hell am I?
Momonga stood up and found himself in what could be described as a Sierra Mesa desert. It didn't have any signs of life nearby; that's one upside.
This is even more impossible. None of the Nine Worlds have a red desert. Not even Midgard!
Thoughts were racing wildly until his head caught the view of the night sky.
"Oh my God," Words failed to contain themselves as the most beautiful sight appeared before Momonga's eyes. Thousands of stars were splayed across the sky. In the real world, he'd never see the stars through the amount of smog and light pollution. Momonga would've shed a tear if it wasn't for his skeletal figure.
What happened instead, was a green glow emanating from his body that seemed to calm down his immense awe. So intense emotions get suppressed…good to know.
A shame Blue Planet wouldn't be able to witness such a beautiful sight…wait a second. Is that… Gemini?
Momonga has had a terrible education. Hell, he dropped out of middle school to work in a dead-end job just so he could afford rent. For this reason, many of his guildmates from YGGDRASIL taught him minor details about the world that he wasn't able to in school. One of these topics was constellations that Blue Planet not only taught Momonga, but also displayed in the skybox of the Sixth Floor.
Taurus…Sagittarius…and there's the Big Dipper. Momonga pointed at each constellation in the sky one by one as reality came to tug at his nerves. YGGDRASIL had its own custom constellations. If what I'm to believe is true…I am no longer in the game. I'm back on Earth.
A pang of both pain and hope hit Momonga's nonexistent heart as he realizes he's back in hell, yet he might be able to change things now for the better.
"Alright, let's first get a good view and observe our surroundings. Hopefully a checkpoint or town is close to this desert," Momonga mumbled out loud as he cast [Flight] on himself.
He floated upwards higher and higher, until even the curve of the planet was visible from his point of view. Despite his efforts, the red sands stretched further than Momonga could've possibly imagined.
What? Earth may be dead, but it isn't one solid biome. Where's the cities? The acid rain? The- oh. Ooooooh. I'm not in YGGDRASIL or Earth.
Momonga quickly tested his hypothesis by spawning a tier three summoning spell [Summon Flame Imp] which relies on the oxygen in the atmosphere to keep itself alive. A summoning circle appeared in the air in front of the floating Momonga as it prepared the arrival of the lesser demon. The flame Imp perished almost immediately upon arriving within five feet of Momonga.
The Skeleton looked towards the two moons circling "Earth" and the boundless stars that certainly contained what he was looking for, "Shit…I'm on Mars."
_____________________
Kuzona wiped the crust from his eyes again as he looked upon the barren void that was supposedly the "Plan B" in case humanity ever began caring about the final frontier.
The astronomer took his eyes away from the telescope and swiveled to his desk as he wrote in a new log that was identical to the others: "14/1/2213, Nothing to report."
If madness was repeating the same thing over and over expecting something different, then Cari Kuzona never knew what sanity was to begin with. It was a late night shift for Kuzona as he used his legs to aimlessly spin his chair with no sense of purpose. At least it allowed him time to think. Like seriously? What was the point of working in the most prestigious laboratory in the world if you're just going to chase a dream that the rest of humanity doesn't care about.
"People have superpowers Kuzo," "There's no need to venture outwards," and "Stop looking ahead and focus on where you are now," were comments that the lone astronomer received during his lifetime. He cursed his passion for the infinite expanse of space. If only the passive aggressive comments were all he got, now he's got to deal with I-Island, the lab he's working at, threatening to shut down the entire astronomy department as the public's care for it was null.
Just…one more look and I'll head home for the night. Was the last thought as he began calibrating the telescope once again. This time he was going to aim for something he hadn't seen for the last few months, but was simple enough anyways.
The actuators spun the telescope into place as he grabbed his writing utensils and looked at the red planet for what seemed like the millionth time in his career. He only meant to look into the telescope for a few minutes, record what he expected to see, nothing, and go home. What Kuzona saw was something far, far more disturbing than anything he could have ever imagined. They may have been specks from such a far distance, but they might as well have consumed the entire planet due to what they represented.
"A-A town… an entire town is on t-the surface of Mars!"
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It has been about two? Three? Four? Months, since Momonga arrived on Mars. His first order of action was to immediately construct a workforce of beings that didn't go hungry, didn't go thirsty, and most of all didn't die from the lack of oxygen or nitrogen in the air . The answer was undead. Thousands at that.
The main types of undead he spawned was thousands of tier 3 [Create Undead] for regular skeletons, about a hundred tier 5 [Summon Undead 5th] for Heavy Skeleton Warriors so they can do larger work, and about ten liches from [Summon Undead 7th] a tier 7 spell for supervisors.
Momonga was fairly proud of himself for summoning so many undead with still more than half of his mana pool still remaining. He ordered the construction of several facilities that would allow him to continue his ultimate goal for the planet:
The complete habilitation of Mars.
It was a project that people only dreamed of back on Earth, but if Momonga could succeed in his venture; hope might creep back into the dystopian lives of humanity. As an overlord he feels zero feelings for the individual cost of lives. The former human side of him still keeps a spark of faith in his old species believing that they can do better under his supervision.
The entire world is his oyster and Momonga wanted a shining pearl.
Many problems arose such as the lack of materials on Mars, the harsh winds that blew away buildings that were designed for Earth, and an embarrassing amount of planning that Momonga simply didn't have the experience for.
He was preparing for a project on a planetary scale and genuinely had no idea where to start.
Momonga mused in his private quarters that his liches insisted should be built first as he realized where to get such knowledge: Earth.
Momonga left his castle that was made almost entirely from quartz. Turns out the number one material found on Mars is volcanic basalt which can be grinded down into a beautiful white quartz.
The castle wasn't anything big, just as large as his old apartment complex with two banners of Ainz Ooal Gown, his old guild, placed on either side of it.
Note to self: When I arrive on Earth, make sure to grab materials that have more colors other than white or red.
He looked around at the makeshift "town" that was made with the same quartz. About 20 buildings that look like cube abodes with rounded corners for roofs. Ramps were made on either side of the walls as the building was half into the ground. This was all to prevent harsh winds from crumbling them down. The layout of these houses was centered around the castle like a clock. The castle would be 12:00 with the houses making a circle from the entrance of the castle with the unused center being a red courtyard.
Momonga planned on placing a permanent [Gate] spell in the middle of this courtyard like a videogame hub. This spell allowed one to move to any location regardless of the distance. For a permanent version, two pieces were needed: the catalyst and the destination.
The first part was laughably easy due to one of Momonga's personality: he's a hoarder. In fact, his collector attitude got so bad that he obtained 2384 inventory slots, making him #1 worldwide. For comparison, the runner up managed to unlock 729 slots. The catalyst was going to be [Lesser Bifrost] to place the gate, and [Heimdall's Key] to make it toggleable.
Both items appeared in either side of Momonga's hands as he placed down the [Lesser Bifrost] . He could've used [Greater Bifrost] , but that has a flashy cosmetic effect that would ruin his stealth mission. This was going to be the doorway between the two planets. The doorway itself doesn't have a lock unless you place one. This is where [Heimdall's Key] comes in. It was a rare boss drop from the Asgardian Heimdall that Momonga managed to get after only 50 kills.
The Bifrost began constructing itself into a rainbow disc on the ground with a 10 meter radius. After its completion, Momonga simply placed the key on the gate for control.
A few liches at this time have left their stations and began watching their lord at work. Momonga knew immediately what the coordinates of the gate would be connected to…his old apartment. The greatest part about the Bifrost is that you only need to imagine a place you have been to before and it will take you there instead of inputting coordinates.
Momonga stepped on the rainbow disc, contrasting the lack of color the planet currently has, and activated [Gate].
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The rainbow effect vanished from the overlord's eyes as he immediately took in his surroundings once again. He expected a pod with a corpse inside of it with gray colors surrounding the room.
He was… half-right as the room itself was very dark and gloomy, but the mood seemed to be deliberate. The windows not only had the curtains taken down, but boarded up in a way to prevent a single ray of sunlight from coming in (as if that was even needed considering the sun never shined anyway). Candles were strewn across the floor both unlit and used. It felt like Momonga was a summoned creature instead of willingly coming here.
The pod was gone as well, replaced with gothic furniture.
"I…did not leave my room this way. I suppose a few months have passed by, but this is absurd," Momonga muttered to himself as he continued to snoop around his old room. A diary was laying across a bed with dark purple covers and black pillows.
Can this person be any less edgy? He was slightly hesitant to read the book, however his curiosity about the new owner overtook him.
2/11/2213: Dark Shadow is becoming particularly nasty today after I refused to allow it to scare some hapless kids. The creature will never convince me to do such despicable and wicked things. I am far above a being of darkness such as thou.
…
12/12/2213: The holiday of the apostle is coming up and Dark Shadow is making incessant demands of the gifts I should be preparing for it. My gift is a surprise. I can't surprise someone who latches onto my soul like a parasite. Yes Dark Shadow, you.
…
1/1/2214: It is officially the year 2214. In honor of the bicentennial Age of Quirks, I have dedicated this day to nothing but meditation.
This diary was… bizarre to say the least. The owner seems very eccentric. Besides the way of writing, what is the Age of Quirks? Also the year should be 2350! Did Momonga go back over 100 years?!
The year difference wasn't the only thing on Momonga's mind. Who is Dark Shadow? Is it perhaps a Shadow Demon from YGGDRASIL?
Momonga's mind raced with the consequences if this theory was true, Why didn't I think of this before? Of course! If I am here, what is stopping other YGGDRASIL players from entering this world again. Plans have changed…slightly.
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"Begone foul creature! Let me have peace of mind for the time being," proclaimed the boy whose head was replaced with that of a crow with a crooked yellow beak.
The "foul creature" that the boy spoke of was a three-dimensional shadow with yellow eyes that were rolling at the mannerisms of his child master, "Lighten up Toko! Would it kill you to laugh at just one of my jokes?"
The boy, Fumikage Tokoyami has had this… irritating parasite latched onto him since he was four and had never gotten used to it. His quirk not only gave him the head of a bird, but also a demonic spirit as well. What a cruel symphony of darkness.
He was heading back to his apartment that his parents helped him to obtain due to his isolationist personality. Hopefully he could quell Dark Shadow's lust for mischief with an apple or two.
As the apartment door came into view, Dark Shadow felt the presence of… something far more superior in the arts of darkness than his master could ever obtain. Two instincts soundlessly fought each other in its non-existent brain. One was that of feeling like prey and running as far as it could from the door. The other instinct, screaming much louder, was that of being in the presence of a king.
Whatever was on the other side of that door, was the progenitor of all that was evil.
Dark Shadow tried to prevent Tokoyami from opening the door while whispering as quietly as it could, "Toko! We need to run now. There is something in our room that is far more powerful than anything I have ever known!"
Warnings came too late, as Tokoyami already had the door open and was staring with the same amount of terror that Dark Shadow was exuding.
Then the visage of Death, holding his own diary, spoke, "Ah, it seems you two are the current keepers of my old home."
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"There are buildings on Mars! An entire castle made of white is on Mars as we speak!" Kuzona spoke the words with fear, exclamation, urgency, and a hint of madness. A speech was not needed. It would cut precious time that would be needed to investigate this unfathomable breakthrough.
The board members of I-Island had a mixed bag of emotions concerning the news that Kuzona presented them. Some were worried about public opinion, some deep in thought about this possible revelation, most believed that Kuzona was doing this as a last-ditch-effort to save his department, but all wanted to see the evidence to back this up. They were scientists at heart.
Kuzona understood the unspoken command that the board was giving him, so he messily pulled out his photos prepared from the telescope as well as photos from a few months ago to show the stark contrast. A video camera was immediately approved by the astronomer to be attached to the telescope.
Kuzona went to a council member of I-Island earlier in the day who now sits with 12 other researchers of varying fields to answer the most haunting questions of them all: have we really found aliens? And if so, then who will make first contact?
A council member that was studying one of the photos laughed softly, "It seems that we have been neglecting something for long enough…the Final Frontier. Unfortunately, we don't even have a choice now, do we? The answer is clearly obvious."
Another researcher was terrified at the implications, "This is utter bullshit! The pre-quirk era may have been less technologically advanced, but even they knew that Mars is inhospitable and, if I may remind you all, lifeless!"
"So you believe the buildings were made by the planet itself? The photo shows structures that look like enormous teeth so that might have some merit to it," mocked a quirk analyst.
The arguing between what should've been men of reason was becoming more chaotic. Kuzona sighed at the situation. A ping registered on his watch. Kuzona smiled at what the ping meant.
Kuzona cleared his throat, "Gentlemen!" He yelled a bit too harshly, "I have received news from my department and they have just finished installing the video camera. Evidence shall rule over emotion! So stop bickering like children, and let our eyes show us the truth."
Some board members glared at him for the blatant disrespect, but they kept their mouths shut as their eyes were brought towards the TV screen covering the wall in front of them.
The image on the TV was a wide shot of the planet Mars.
"Zoom in further," Kuzona said on his watch that was relaying orders to his employees operating the telescope.
The same order was given several more times until the white specks were visible on screen. It was true.
A small town is on the surface of Mars. It looked like white houses surrounding a cul-de-sac with a much larger building blocking where the road would've been.
The researchers stood with gaping mouths and wide eyes. One in particular, an astrophysicist, noticed something even more damning: movement.
"Kuzona, can you zoom into the middle of that courtyard?" asked the astrophysicist.
Kuzona obliged. The camera the TV was projecting zoomed in as far as it could with the limited budget that Kuzona was given. Damn bureaucrats. Shapes were made out, details were not.
One scientist left his chair to get as close to the TV as possible to observe what was going on. Then two. Then three. Until all 12 board members were pushing each other, trying to get a glimpse at an alien.
"Wait wait wait! Look! One of the creatures left their house!"
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Mark Rubert was a neuropsychologist with no business being on a board with 12 other scientists that was centered around the discussion of life on other planets .
Apparently, it was to make sure that the researcher that found this "discovery" wasn't having a mental breakdown. He knew him being there was probably closer to the fact that he was friends with the board leader.
Yet here he was, looking at a video of the planet Mars that had buildings on it. It was something out of the classical horror texts of H.P. Lovecraft.
Mark was squeezing himself a way to get closer to the TV to see the so-called "aliens." He may be a man of faith, but when it comes to science? Eyes are the tools to find God.
One of the other board members yelled, quite loudly to Mark's ears, ""Wait wait wait! Look! One of the creatures left their house!"
Mark followed the researcher's pointer finger to the poorly detailed creature up on screen. Some features could be made out such as it was as white as the house it came out of, skinny, and… strangely familiar.
He couldn't put his finger on where exactly he had seen this creature before until it turned its head towards the camera. Two black holes could be seen near the top of its face. Nothing else could be made out, but it was enough. Mark had seen thousands of images of the creature during med-school that it was almost nostalgic seeing it…
The creatures that were inhabiting Mars were human skeletons.