章節 1: Chapter 1
AN: This is a requested story with Ainz and Buku as the main characters. For those unfamiliar with the Warcraft setting, rest assured the story will be written so that everyone can follow the story without needing to look up anything.
For those familiar with Warcraft, I will take creative liberties and some events may go completely different or not occur at all. Still, I do intend to keep the most of the established lore. To be fair even Blizzard is retconning the story every year so who knows what will be canon in the future.
The first few chapters will Establish Ainz and Buku's relationship and only then the actual isekai part will start so hang in there.
Chapter 1
Pain wasn't the worst feeling a man could harbor in his heart, nor was it the senses of loss or helplessness… In the depths of despair, where shadows linger and hope flickered dimly at best, the most insidious of all was emptiness, as dark as the void; it consumed the soul, leaving nothing but a husk devoid of even the smallest traces of life.
Suzuki Satoru slowly lifted his VR set from his head, setting the device gently on the table beside the chair… The table, cheap, and cold, stood there, devoid of any style or grace, with its surface marred by years of use. Yggdrasil had ended; the game that had been his life for twelve years was no more.
The tired man rubbed his eyes, letting out a deep and weary sigh. He wanted to feel something, anything, but there was just… emptiness… it was as if the very act of Yggdrasil's servers shutting down had torn out his heart, leaving a gaping hole and a lifeless shell behind.
''What should I do now? If I pick up a new game, it'll just end the same way… What's the point when people leave once they get bored?'' His voice resembled hollow whispers of the damned, resounding softly in the silent room. He closed his eyes, the weight of exhaustion pulling his eyelids downward. Slumping back in his chair, he decided it wasn't worth the effort to crawl to his bed. In five hours he had to wake up and go to work, but he knew he needed it. His dead-end salaryman career paid just enough to get by, with a little left over to spend on games, and that was it.
Life in 2138, Japan, and the world in general, wasn't far from the hells depicted in various religions: People were constantly overworked, nature had all but vanished; a distant memory for most, and there were effectively no rights for the common people. Satoru, like the vast majority, would have to work till his last breath, slaving away for the wealth of the top .0001%.
Sleep came swiftly… The dreams were filled with his past adventures, where he ventured as his game avatar, the Undead Overlord Momonga. He fought monsters, traveled the world, and made friends. It was a perfect time for him, to revel in the glory of being something completely different compared to his real-life self.
But as all good things had to come to an end; they all disappeared in the end, leaving him alone. The piercing shrill of the alarm clock ended the raid on the enemy base prematurely, returning him to the stark and unforgiving embrace of reality.
He subconsciously went through his morning routine in under ten minutes. A quick shower followed by a breakfast consisting of gelatinous nutrient paste, the main source of sustenance for poor people like him. Organic food with natural ingredients was a luxury beyond reach, far too expensive for regular consumption and reserved exclusively for the wealthiest.
Next, he embarked on his journey to work through the crowded streets. Towering skyscrapers loomed far above more than they could see, their grim steel and glass surfaces reflecting the perpetual gray rain that fell relentlessly from the toxic sky that was devoid of any bird life, or any life in general. The air, thick with corrosive fumes from factories, forced nearly every passerby to don protective suits equipped with air filters. These air filters didn't come by cheaply, thanks to the impunity of the government and its monopolistic company backers. Satoru was one of the lucky few who managed to procure one from the black market, having purchased it for half the price from a man who had a relative perished early and left the gear in near-mint condition.
As for those who didn't have to wear the air filter, they wouldn't be in this city. Or in any city similar to this, for that matter. They'd be holed up in their private islands, using only the best technology to ensure the air they breathed was as pristine as it was before the Industrial Revolution.
As he navigated through the throngs of people, their faces obscured by transparent visors, he couldn't shake a solemn thought; his filter was running low, and he needed a new one soon. Another expensive purchase to empty his meager savings. Amidst the bleak landscape, he spotted a narrow alley strewn with street children, no older than ten, taking possession of a homeless lady whose lost limbs lay lifelessly upon the cracked concrete. Their burnt skin painted a heartbreaking picture of innocence, forsaken by a harsh reality as they dragged the dead woman to who-knew-where.
Satoru's thoughts trudged through a multitude of people same as him, with nearly everyone wearing protective suits to avoid getting chemical burns from the perpetual rain or damaging their lungs by breathing in the corrosive air; except for the homeless, too poor to afford suits, and thus were destined for a short and agonizing existence that would end with a painful death in the squalid, refuse-strewn alleys, another number to add to another statistic.
His day at the office slowly unfolded like any other before it, unremarkable and devoid of any promise or change whatsoever. He spent ten monotonous hours in his cramped cubicle, answering client complaints with corporate jargon he recited from his script and rejecting all of them on technicalities per company policy. A small break came in the form of yet another portion of the nutrient paste, accompanying a cup of the factory-made coffee that tasted like a mix between burnt rubber and wet asphalt, automatically paid by a portion of his wage as a "benefit" from the company.
At six-thirty, when he finally returned home, only emptiness greeted him once more, not even a so-called cricket of the past making itself known present. Collapsing into his gaming chair, he leaned into its worn contours before browsing around the web for a game to play on a phone screen. Nothing on the screen caught his attention, in truth, he no longer felt the drive to play games anymore The majority of them were the same, low-effort garbage riddled with exploitative monetization and hundreds of microtransactions.
As he scrolled through game after game, dismissing them all for one reason or another, an email notification interrupted his search at the corner of his device. Out of habit Satoru opened it immediately and saw the name "Itsuki"- a man he had once called his best friend. Itsuki had played as the min-maxing avian under the name Peroroncino in their guild, but like the other guild members, he had quit a while ago, citing real-life reasons. Itsuki's sister, Akari, had also been a player in the game, but had quit when her health worsened.
She, a prominent voice actress in the hentai game genre, struggled with a deteriorating back that she couldn't afford to treat even with her income level, with healthcare out of reach for her as typical as it was for everyone else. Satoru wasn't aware of all the details, but he knew her condition had gotten worse over the two years since the siblings had stopped playing.
He had kept up a correspondence with them as his closest friends from Yggdrasil. At first, they wrote to each other daily, then they shifted to weekly updates, and eventually it dwindled to a message per month on average. Satoru had gradually accepted that he simply wasn't part of their lives anymore and didn't want to intrude.
The message started with the predictable words, 'Sorry we couldn't make it. Akari had an emergency at work come up and I needed to help her.'
'Yeah sure you are sorry.' He scoffed internally, bitterness tainting his thoughts, 'As if you even care about the game or me anymore.'
His eyes scanned the screen, following each word with a mixture of resentment and resignation. 'I hope you had a good time on the last day of the server. Anyhow, how have you been?' he read the rest of the message and grunted. It couldn't be more generic. The words, devoid of genuine connection, seemed to echo hollowly in his mind. Sure, both siblings were busy with their lives, but would it kill them to at least write more often? Frustration welled up within him. The once frequent exchanges had trickled down to sporadic updates, leaving him like an outcast in their world.
Satoru started to write a response with the generic phrase, 'It was fun and I am doing fine' but stopped halfway through. Why should he lie to Itsuki? He deserved that much, at least. With a sigh, he deleted the message and started anew. 'Only Herohero showed up and he left before the game ended. Not much has changed as of late.'
He grimaced as he typed the last letter. 'There! He can fuck off for another month and then remember I exist out of pity.' Satoru closed the mail application and set his phone aside, leaning back in his chair. Why even bother? These people didn't truly care, no one did. The world operated on its own accord of the powerful and there was nothing he or anyone like him could do about it. Everyone kept to their own or stayed within their small social circles, while he wasn't part of any; he was just a lonely man with no family or friends. His corpse would surface only when he failed to pay the ever-increasing bills.
'Shit man, I didn't expect that, if I knew I would have woken sis and we would have logged in for the last ten minutes.' Another message came, taking him by surprise.
'It's fine. It was just a game after all; you had no obligation to play.'
The room fell into timid silence as Satoru stared at the screen, his thoughts lingered on the unexpected exchange. There was no immediate response. With a sigh, he closed the app once more and set his phone aside. Yggdrasil, to most people, was just a game, a mere diversion from the wretched world, a fleeting pastime. For him, though, it was something more, it held a profound significance - a virtual sanctuary he had invested years of his life and income into.
Another notification pinged, yet Satoru hesitated to reach for his phone right away. His mind raced, questioning what had gotten into Itsuki and why he suddenly gave a response so fast.
'Did I push too far with my whining? Perhaps I should have just brushed it off and left it at that.'
He grasped the phone and read Itsuki's message. The words resonated in his mind, offering a glimmer of connection he hadn't anticipated, 'Hey, how about you drop by on Sunday? We could hang out in real life, watch some shitty anime, and drink a beer or two.'
Satoru blinked in surprise. He couldn't believe it; it was an invitation! The siblings didn't live that far from his place, they had shared their locations in-game a few times. It would only take one metro ride - a small but significant change in his isolated and mundane everyday routine; like a drowning man grasping at a straw, he responded swiftly. 'Sure, it sounds great. I'll drop by.' A surge of hope flickered within him, mingled with cautious optimism, that perhaps, he would reunite with his former friends, and maybe, Satoru thought, things would turn out differently.
<X>
His nervousness was palpable. Satoru hadn't visited anyone in almost a decade; his life had been a monotonous cycle of work, home, and occasional detours to the shop for replacements and repairs. Now standing at the door of the apartment where his friends lived, faced with the prospect of real human interaction, he hesitated to ring the bell.
'What if it was all just a joke?' his mind raced with doubts, 'No, it would be foolish to think like that.' Paranoia was an ever-present companion of his - a trait that had often served him well in the virtual world of the game and on the streets, trained and reinforced by multiple violent incidents typical for someone of his social standing. Despite all this, it came with a crippling disadvantage in social interactions.
After shuffling nervously for what felt like an eternity, he gathered enough courage and rang the doorbell.
The sound echoed faintly through the hallway, and moments later, the door swung open, revealing a familiar figure, a lanky man with short, messy hair, and a scruffy three-day stubble. He was dressed casually in a loose navy blue t-shirt and charcoal gray sweatpants, adorned with a subtle pattern of tiny game controllers.
"Momo?" The man's face lit up with a broad, toothy grin, eyes glittering.
"Ahm, yes," Satoru responded hesitantly. "Sorry that I am a little late, but-"
"Don't worry about it, the metro is shit, I know." his friend interjected, waving him inside. "Come in, sis is already getting worked up."
Relieved, Satoru entered the apartment, following his friend. He meticulously removed the protective suit at the entrance, hanging it up with care. He followed his friend deeper into the apartment with a pack of six beers and a pack of chocolate candy; both treats had put a massive dent in his savings, but since he had nothing else to spend his money on, he may as well properly prepare for the visit as social norms once dictated. At least he assumed he read the right ones on the internet.
Unlike her brother, Akari had dressed up for the occasion. She wore a knee-high black skirt, adorned with subtle floral patterns, paired with a crisp white blouse that accentuated her figure, and her shoulder-length hair was neatly combed to perfection, framing a face that was slightly older than the pictures he had seen on her social media that still retained its allure. She was still as attractive as ever, and even though she was a full head shorter than her brother, she had a slim build with slight curves and a pretty face brightened by a gentle smile, not an "advertisement model" pretty, but captivating in her own right.
"Momo, you are finally here! Why did you come alone? Where is your girlfriend? Have you been ignoring your pretty little sister Buku's attempt to find you a girl?'' She crossed her arms with an overly serious expression, speaking in a low threatening voice, bombarding him with questions quicker than he could answer.
There had been a running joke back when the guild was still active: if you hear Buku speak in a deep tone, run. This was one such situation. A while back, Buku, now Akari, had been insistent on finding him a girlfriend, even teasingly threatening to marry him herself if he didn't 'man up' and make a choice.
"Um… I…" Satoru stuttered, his voice trailing off uncertainty and nervousness.
"Come on, sis, you can't ambush the poor guy like that." Itsuki came to his rescue, chuckling.
''I can and I will! If you plan to tell me that you're still alone, you'd better have a ring with you!" Akari's voice rose with a bit of playful aggression.
"Ehh…" Satoru let out a feeble whine, as his legs trembled under the unexpected pressure. He wasn't good with real-life confrontation and was unprepared for such a direct assault.
Just as he contemplated getting out of the awkward situation and leaving the apartment, Akari suddenly burst into high-pitched laughter. "I've still got it. It's good to see you, Momo."
As he stood there with a beer in one hand and chocolate in the other, Satoru watched as Akari slowly approached him. It was plain to see that each step was painful and took a lot out of her, but she still soldiered on with a determined smile on her pretty face. She slapped away her brother's arm as he attempted to assist her, insisting on pushing onward herself.
Satoru, not wanting her to endure on his behalf, stepped forward and allowed her to embrace him in a tight hug. He awkwardly reciprocated, feeling her fragrance invade his nose and her body's warmth stirred the feelings he had all but forgotten. The last time he received a hug from someone was back when he was eight years old, and that too was from his now passed-on mother. At most, he had given out handshakes whenever new management had been assigned, but that was it.
She was the only family he ever had. Satoru never knew his father, who had passed away in a factory accident when he was only a year old. Though a distant memory, he still remembered her warm hugs and gentle voice that sang a lullaby, the only true affection he had ever received.
She always tried to make him the foods he liked at least once a week even though she worked fourteen to sixteen hours every day while he was home alone watching cartoons and occasionally calling her on the phone. He had learned how to be by himself at the age of three, desperate for her affection, but that was in the past.
Now this embrace stirred up different types of feelings as the closeness of a beautiful woman overwhelmed his senses.
"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just that happy to see me?" Akari purred teasingly in his ear, accompanied by a short giggle.
"Sis, have some manners and don't be a total horny perv." Itsuki scolded his sister in an overly serious tone, the irony of his statement lost on him given that he was the one in the guild's group who played the most hentai games and had the guild's largest installation of NSFW material.
"Let me have my moment!" She screeched back with uncontainable laughter, the tension in the room dissipating into shared amusement.
Satoru stood there, unsure of what to do as the siblings bickered, as they were always like this; both were playful and perverted as hell, and Buku had always been flirtatious with him; in fact, she was the reason he was able to talk to women at all.
When she joined the guild, she assumed the role of a big sister, ensuring everyone felt included and cared for, especially him. Her care included doing everything to make him open up, utilizing her vocal skills to get him to relax. She went out of her way to have simple conversations with him virtually every day in-game, which at first were just simple questions about the game but then escalated to more personal and relatable subjects. Satoru knew she had been playing up to her lack of knowledge but indulged in her attempts nonetheless, finding it entertaining.
"I won't torment you too much today. It's just nice to have guests." Akari's tone grew somber briefly before perking up again. "Will you be a gentleman and help me get to the sofa so we can start the evening?"
By some miracle, Satoru gathered his attention and replied in an equally light-hearted manner. "With pleasure, my lady."
Akari giggled again and shifted from hugging to firmly holding onto his right arm, leading him towards the living area. Her demeanor was both inviting and playful, something Suzuki hadn't felt for a long time.
Now that he had a chance to inspect his surroundings, Satoru noted that Itsuki's and Akari's apartment was spacious with decent furnishing, a stark contrast to his own modest living space, plus three doors, which he assumed led to a bathroom and two bedrooms, alongside a kitchen area, and a spacious leisure area.
Akari led him to the plush, roomy sofa and all three settled next to one another. Satoru seized the opportunity to place the treats on the table, spreading it around.
"Wait, is that the real deal?" Akari's eyes widened with both surprise and delight as she eyed the chocolate like a cat stalking a mouse, fingers already twitching.
"Yes, I thought it wouldn't be polite to visit empty-handed," he replied, feeling a flicker of satisfaction at her reaction.
"You're spoiling me," Akari remarked as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before seizing the pack of chocolates with predatory intention, claiming over half the stock.
"Bringing sis chocolate is like giving drugs to a street junkie. Now you'll never get rid of her," Pero teased.
Buku let out a low growl, shooting a glare at her pesky brother over Satoru's shoulder. "I have self-control."
"Sure you do. So I know a great mecha series." Pero smoothly switched topics, tapping on his phone to turn on the TV.
Since Satoru didn't subscribe to any streaming apps, he knew little of the newest anime series and thus was unfamiliar with this series.
"Ugh! Ads, pretty soon they'll stream this shit directly into our brains." Pero groaned, activating the TV. "Momo, open the beer, I'll grab some snacks from the kitchen, I can't be a bad host and freeride on your stuff."
With this, his friend rose from the couch and disappeared around the corner. As far as ads went, the first one wasn't particularly remarkable. It was for a Western MMO Satoru had heard mentioned only in passing; World of Warcraft. What struck him as odd was that it was promoting the game's seventy-sixth expansion, considering that most games never passed their third DLC before shutting down or producing a sequel.
"Just how long has that game been a thing to have so many expansions?" Satoru mused aloud, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity and disbelief, as even the fastest updating card games didn't churn out expansions that fast to reach such an astronomical number.
"I think it's the third longest-running MMO, started over a century ago. Some people joke that you aren't a real MMO player if your family lineage hasn't played it since the early days. It sucks that I don't know English well enough to apply as a voice actress, get the right character to voice and you have a well-paying job for life," Buku commented in between bites of chocolate, accepting an open beer can from Satoru.
"Yeah, who wouldn't want to play a game that makes Yggdrasil lore look reasonable, you practically need a doctorate in the games' history to know what the fuck is going on," Pero chimed in as he returned with a plate laden with artificial dry cheese, nuts, and chips.
"Got these bad boys from a side gig." He added, placing the plate down on the table.
As far as Satoru knew, Pero worked as an illustrator and freelance coder, often collaborating with his sister on the same frames and games. So getting gifts from enthusiastic degenerates who commissioned hentai illustrations for fat stacks of money wasn't all that surprising. Rumor had it that the upper echelons of corporate offices and governments were loaded with enjoyers of niche fetishes. His only shortcoming was that he lacked the finesse for creating 3D models worth commercializing, otherwise he could've taken himself to the stratosphere.
Satoru had only indulged in such treats a few times in his lifetime, but he knew tonight promised a great evening. The siblings bickered over the smallest of things, but it was these moments that he had sorely missed, just spending time with friends. It took him a leap of faith to visit them, but in the end… it was worth it. Surrounded by laughter and banter, Satoru felt warmth he hadn't experienced in a long while and realized that he missed this feeling.
Editing by aidan_lo and NabeisWaifu
Proofreading by CakeEight, NabeisWaifu, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, miraculous-trash, Ainz-sama, LionLover, fvvck, aidan_lo, and Nervy.
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