Bald Virus

Сайтама проснулся.
Обычное пробуждение, как всегда, не вызвало у него никаких эмоций. Это была все та же знакомая пустота. Однако на этот раз он почувствовал небольшое замешательство. Он лежал на чем-то холодном и твердом, а окружающая обстановка была совсем не похожа на интерьер его квартиры в Сити Z. Он лежал на каменном полу, под высокими колоннами с высеченными на них непонятными символами. Потолок терялся высоко в полумраке, заставляя его чувствовать себя как в каком-то древнем храме.
"Э? Что это за место?" - пробормотал Сайтама, поднимаясь на ноги. Он огляделся по сторонам, разминая шею. — Где я?
Он был одет в свой обычный спортивный костюм, с лысой головой и знакомым выражением лица, которое обычно не выражало никаких эмоций. Его руки и ноги выглядели так же, как и всегда – крепкие и знакомые. На его теле не было ни каменных конечностей, ни травы. Это уже было что-то новое.
Вдалеке доносились звук приближающихся шагов и голоса. Вскоре в поле его зрения появилось несколько фигур, которые при ближайшем рассмотрении выглядели довольно странно. Один из них был одет в доспехи, похожие на драконью чешую, другой – огромную живую тыкву, третий – гибрид орла и человека, а четвертый – обычный гоблин, но почему-то носил дорогой камзол. Единственным, кто выделялся на фоне их обычной внешности, была девушка в кожаных доспехах и с бантом через плечо.
«Наконец-то! Я думал, мы застрянем здесь навсегда!" - прорычал "дракон", оглядывая комнату.
«Теперь мы получим свою заслуженную награду, после этих трех дней страданий!» - подбодрила «тыква».
"Хм, а где босс?" - спросил "Гоблин", оглядываясь по сторонам.
— Похоже, вот он, — произнесла девушка, указывая на Сайтаму.
«Вы что, шутите? Тот лысый парень?" - недоуменно спросил "Орел", глядя на Сайтаму. «Ни в коем случае! Разработчики решили с нами повозиться? Этот парень даже не пошевелится!" - возмущенно сказал "дракон", не сводя глаз с Сайтамы.
«Это... Это было что?" - прошептала она, глядя на "толпу", которая даже не удосужилась пошевелиться.
«Неужели они действительно посадили сюда этого слабака, чтобы мы просто прошли через него после трех дней агонии?!»
Сайтама удивленно посмотрел на "монстров".
«Это какой-то косплей? Почему они смотрят на меня?» - подумал он про себя, не понимая, что происходит.
«Дракон» взмахнул мечом и начал атаку. «Тыква» запустила в него немного слизи, а «Орел» попытался атаковать когтями. Эти атаки нисколько не повредили Сайтаме, даже не заставили его сдвинуться с места.
«Что... что... Что за черт?» - удивленно сказала девушка, увидев, что ее товарищи не могут нанести урон обычно лысому мужчине.
"Это какой-то жучок?" - спросил Орел, глядя на свои когти.
"Что-то здесь не так..." - пробормотал "гоблин", пытаясь осмыслить ситуацию.
Сайтама, немного раздраженный их попытками напасть на него, вздохнул и нанес простой, неосторожный удар рукой.
«Дракон», «тыква», «орел» и «гоблин» разлетелись на пиксели, оставив за собой лишь светящиеся следы, и девочка осталась стоять с выпученными от удивления глазами.
Сайтама посмотрел на девочку, затем на место, где только что были "монстры", пожал плечами и сел на пол.
«Интересно, где туалет?» - подумал он, начав чувствовать раздражение от сложившейся ситуации.
Тайм-скип
Сайтама, сидя на каменном полу арены, не чувствовал ничего, кроме скуки.
«Что за бред это? Куда я пошел, и почему на меня напали эти дебоширы?» - думал он, безуспешно пытаясь вспомнить, как он сюда попал.
В конце концов скука взяла верх, и он решил исследовать это странное место. Поднявшись на ноги, Сайтама еще раз оглядел арену. Не найдя ничего интересного, он просто направился в сторону одного из проходов, даже не подозревая, что его действия вызовут целую бурю событий в мире Иггдрасиля.
Saitama stepped outside the arena and found himself in a dense forest. The scenery around him was as unreal as anything he had seen before - huge, unnaturally bright trees, flying islands, and a completely unreal sky. But Saitama didn't really care about that. He just wanted to figure out where he was and how to get home.
Meanwhile, news of the "bald mob" that had wiped out a group of players in the arena spread through Yggdrasil with the speed of wildfire. Players shared rumors, made up tall tales, argued and wondered what this creature was all about.
"Have you heard of this 'bald man'?" - shouted one player, dressed in the armor of a knight, to his comrade, who looked like an orc.
"Of course I've heard of it! They say he only appears in arenas and can destroy anyone with a single blow!" - replied the orc.
"Come on, how is that possible? It's just a normal mob!" - said a third one, dressed in a mage's robe.
"I don't know, but they say it looks like a normal human without any effects or enhancements," replied the knight.
"Then we must find him and check him out!" - exclaimed the mage, and they both moved away in search of the mysterious 'bald man'.
Saitama, unsuspecting, simply wandered through the forest. Along the way, he encountered various monsters: strange mushrooms with sharp teeth, giant caterpillars, and some flying jellyfish. But they did not touch him, and he, in turn, did not pay much attention to them.
Meanwhile, the players continued their search. Their search was going on with mixed success. Some said they had seen him in the forest, others said they had seen him in the mountains, and still others claimed to have seen him in the cave where they were dungeoning.
The rumors were confirmed when groups of players began finding Saitama in the most unexpected places. He appeared in the thick of the forest, on top of a mountain, or on the shore of a lake. And the strangest thing was that he didn't attack players with "human" avatars. If it was an ordinary person in armor or an archer girl, Saitama would just walk by without paying attention to them. But if someone had a monster-like avatar, that was it. Saitama would send him into pixels with a single blow.
This selectivity and unpredictability of his appearances created even more rumors and speculation. Players began to fear the "bald mob," which was called various names:
"Bald Ripper", 'One-Strike Demon', and even 'Developer's Nightmare'. And the most desperate players hunted him down, eager to test just how powerful he really was.
Saitama's popularity grew, and with it his legend. None of the players knew that an ordinary bald guy, just bored and not realizing where he was, had become the main mystery and the most dangerous mob of Yggdrasil.
Saitama's fame, or as he was already nicknamed "The Bald Ripper", had reached its peak. His name was heard on every corner of Yggdrasil, his appearances were discussed in every town and guild meeting. Players, instead of questing and farming, were now just theorizing and speculating about the origin and power of this mysterious mob.
In the taverns, where there were usually noisy feasts and boastful speeches of exploits, there were now heated discussions about Saitama everywhere.
"There's no way the developers just added such a strong mob for no reason!" - shouted one of the players, slamming his fist on the table. He was wearing armor forged from dragon scales and clearly considered himself an important person.
"This is clearly some kind of secret quest, a hidden boss that needs to be found and killed!"
"I don't think so," the other player objected, sipping his beer. He was a mage, with a long beard and glasses on his nose.
"It's probably some kind of bug, a bug in the code. How else to explain his strange appearances and his invulnerability to most attacks?"
"What if, on the contrary, he's meant to be some sort of global event?" - suggested the third, an archer who sat quietly in the corner.
"Maybe if you kill him, some legendary item will drop out or access new content?"
From that point on, various theories and hypotheses about Saitama began to emerge, from the most absurd to the most plausible.
Some players who were interested in the game's lore believed that Saitama was a reference to some ancient deity whose powers were contained in his bald head. They claimed that if someone could rip his hair off, they would gain incredible power.
Others thought he was a "scavenger mob" that the developers had left as a joke. They believed that if you killed him in some special way, the game would reward players with some fun item.
There were even conspiracy theorists who assured that Saitama is not a mob, but a living person who was somehow drawn into the game. In their opinion, he simply does not understand where he is and therefore attacks everyone who seems suspicious to him.
The most desperate players began organizing themselves into groups to find and kill Saitama. They were sure that some legendary item would fall from him that would make them invincible.
Players began analyzing his every appearance, trying to find patterns in his movements, studying his "weaknesses" that didn't seem to exist. They scrupulously recorded how he looked, how he fought, who he attacked and who he left alone.
The hype around the Bald Ripper in Yggdrasil had peaked, but now it had grown into more than just a hunt for a rare mob. The community split, and disputes and conflicts between players whose avatars differed in appearance came to the forefront.
Players with "human" avatars who felt safe from Saitama continued to build theories and looked forward to fighting him and obtaining the coveted world item. They passionately discussed his power, his strange habits, and of course, what treasures he might be hiding.
Players with "monster-like" avatars, on the other hand, who were the Bald Ripper's main victims, were furious. Their once invincible characters were now falling like skittles under his blows, and their level, which had taken years to build up, dropped catastrophically with each death.
The forums and chat rooms of Yggdrasil were filled with angry posts from offended "monsters".
"What kind of discrimination is this! Why does that bald idiot only attack us!" - wrote one player with a demon avatar.
"I've spent years developing my character and now some nub in a tracksuit is robbing me of everything!"
"The developers have completely lost their minds! Did they decide to add a racist mob that hates everyone who doesn't look human?" - a player with an orc avatar was outraged.
"That's just not fair! We have a right to play too!"
"Yeah, it's a total outrage!" - supported the player with the lich avatar.
"Because of this bald freak, even the top guilds made up of monsters have started rolling down the levels! We're losing everything we've gained through hard work!"
These angry messages were accompanied by demands for the developers to immediately correct the situation. They demanded that the "Bald Ripper" be removed from the game, or at least make it attack all players, not just them.
Some "monsters" even decided to band together to take revenge on Saitama. They organized raids and came up with cunning plans, but all their attempts ended in the same way - death and loss of level.
Rumors began to spread among the "monsters" that the "Bald Ripper" was not a mob, but the result of a conspiracy of players with "human" avatars. They claimed that those players had bribed the developers to add a monster that would destroy their competitors.
In response to the angry outbursts, the "humans" laughed and mocked the "monsters". They claimed that the "monsters" were just jealous of their luck and that if they couldn't handle one mob, it was their own fault.
"Learn how to play, nerds! If you are so strong, why can't you kill this bald man?" - wrote "people" in the comments.
"I guess you're just not worthy of playing this game!"
The situation escalated to the extreme, and "Yggdrasil" was overwhelmed by a wave of mutual hatred. The tension between "humans" and "monsters" grew every day, and the game created for entertainment turned into a battlefield where everyone fought against everyone else.
The control room of Yggdrasil was in chaos that could only be compared to the aftermath of several trains colliding. The developers, once the proud creators of this world, were now running around with their eyes bulging like hunted animals. The monitors were flashing red error icons, the coffee cups were empty, and everyone's faces were pale and exhausted.
The chief programmer, whose name was Akira, sat with his arms around his head, mumbling incoherent phrases in an incomprehensible language. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and his clothes were wrinkled and unkempt.
"I don't understand how this could have happened!" - he bellowed, pounding his fist on the table.
"That damn 'Bald Ripper' shouldn't have existed! It's not written in our code, it has no parameters, it just came out of nowhere!"
"But how? That's impossible!" - Miyuki, the lead designer, exclaimed, staring anxiously at the screen.
"I mean, we've tested all the updates several times, and nothing like that happened!"
"Exactly!" - replied Takeshi, the lead tester.
"We ran hundreds of tests, and everything was perfect. No crashes, no errors. And then, bam, there was this bald nightmare!"
"What about his movements?" - Kenji, in charge of the network part, asked.
"Why does he move all over the map instead of staying in one place like a normal mob? That's ridiculous!"
"And then there's that discrimination!" - Yumi, who was in charge of gameplay, exclaimed.
"Why does it only attack monster-like avatars? Is it some kind of bug in the recognition system?"
"We've already tried every possible option," Akira said with desperation in his voice.
"We've reviewed all the code, checked all the scripts, rebooted all the servers. Nothing's helping! This 'Baldy' is like it's from another dimension!"
The head programmer, Akira, clutched his hands into his already disheveled hair. His face was pale and his eyes burned with a feverish glint.
"This can't be a mistake!" - he shouted, pounding his fist on the table.
"This Bald Ripper is too unnatural to be just a bug! It's like... it's like it was inserted from the outside!"
"You think...?" - whispered Miyuki, the lead designer, looking at Akira with terror in her eyes.
"I think we've been hacked!" - Akira blurted out.
"Someone got into our system and slipped us that damn 'baldy' as a virus!"
"But how is that possible?" - muttered Takeshi, the chief tester.
"We have multiple layers of defense, we're constantly updating it! Who could bypass
"I don't know!" - Akira replied, shaking his head.
"But that's the only explanation for what's going on. It's not written in code, it has no parameters, it just flies around the map and destroys all the monsters it sees!"
"We should check the logs!" - Kenji, in charge of the network part, stated.
"Maybe we'll find some traces of hacking!"
The developers rushed to the monitors, trying to detect any sign of intrusion. They rifled through gigabytes of logs, looking for suspicious connections, analyzing network traffic, but found nothing.
"All clear!" - Kenji declared, with desperation in his voice.
"No signs of hacking, no suspicious connections! It's like this 'Bald Ripper' just appeared out of thin air!"
"Maybe it's some new kind of virus?" - Miyuki suggested, staring anxiously at the screen.
"One that can bypass our defenses and pretend to be part of the system?"
"Anything could be!" - Akira replied, rubbing his temples.
"We should contact security so they can help us. Maybe they'll find something!"
Meanwhile, a new message came in from the public relations department. Now the "monsters" were demanding not only that the "Bald Ripper" be removed, but that they be reimbursed for all the losses they had suffered because of his appearance.
"They're calling us racist and want to sue us!" - Yumi said, staring at the screen in despair.
"We're in trouble!" - Akira whispered.
"If we don't find a way to get rid of this virus, our game is over!"
The developers plunged back into their work, trying with renewed vigor to find a way out of this impasse. They felt that the game was out of their control, and that someone or something from the outside was trying to destroy their creation.
There was a tense silence in the spacious and gloomy boardroom of OmniTech, the company that had created Yggdrasil. Behind the long polished table sat the board members, men accustomed to power and influence. Their faces were stern and their gazes full of anxiety.
In the center of the room, a large screen showed footage of Saitama mercilessly massacring monster-like avatars, leaving behind only pixels and angry player feedback.
"This is a disaster!" - exclaimed the chairman of the board, Mr. Tanaka, clenching his fists.
"We built the best game in history, and now some bald bully is destroying everything we've built!"
"He's not just ruining our game, he's threatening our existence," added Mr. Sato, the CFO.
"Players with monster-like avatars are filing lawsuits against us, demanding damages. If this doesn't stop, we'll sink into debt and have to shut down Yggdrasil!"
"We should have foreseen this turn of events!"
"Our quality control departments just can't handle the situation. But how could this even happen?"
"It looks like a virus," replied Mr. Kato, the CTO, sighing.
"Our developers think someone hacked into our system and slipped us this 'baldy' as a virus. But we haven't found any proof yet!"
"But how could he bypass our defenses?" - Ms. Suzuki, the legal director, asked.
"Our security system was considered one of the best in the industry. Who could have such skills?"
"Exactly!" - Mr. Tanaka exclaimed.
"Not only are we losing players and money, but also our reputation. We probably won't be able to release any more games. We'll be seen as a company that can't protect its customers!"
"Do we have any options?" - Mr. Sato asked.
"We need to urgently find a way to stop this 'baldy' or we'll go bankrupt!"
"Our developers are looking for a solution, but so far to no avail," replied Mr. Kato. "They've dug through all the code, restarted all the servers, but 'Bald Ripper' continues to wreak havoc."
"We have to shut down the game immediately!" - insisted Ms. Ito, the marketing director, her voice shaking with tension.
" We've already lost the trust of players with monster-like avatars. If we close down Yggdrasil now, we can save at least something. We'll still have money and reputation. We can regroup and create a new game in the future!"
"That's unacceptable!" - Mr. Kato, the technical director, objected, his voice full of despair.
"We can't just give up like that! We have to fight for our game! We've put so much effort into making it! To shut it down now is to admit defeat!"
"But we're losing money every day!" - Mr. Sato, the CFO, exclaimed, his face pale with anxiety.
"The players are suing us, our revenues are falling, and the stock is rapidly depreciating. If we continue like this, bankruptcy awaits us! We must be prudent!"
"Prudence is to close the game now and not let this bald monster crush us completely!" - Ms. Ito insisted, clenching her fists.
"We have to save something before it's too late!"
"But what will our players say?" - Ms. Suzuki, the legal director, asked, her voice full of doubt.
"I mean, they'll just hate us! Our reputation will be destroyed. We'll never be able to create anything worthwhile again!"
"It's better than total bankruptcy!" - Mr. Sato shouted, pounding his fist on the table.
"We have to save the company, even if it means sacrificing Yggdrasil! We can't risk everything over some stupid virus!"
"Enough!" - Mr. Tanaka, the chairman of the board, exclaimed, his voice full of determination.
"We've wasted too much time arguing. We must act, and act fast!"
"I suggest we give the developers a week," he continued, looking at his colleagues.
"A week to deal with this situation, to find a way to rein in this 'Bald Ripper' and restore order to the game. If they can't do that, then we'll have to shut down Yggdrasil and try to keep something of our company."
"A week?! That's too short!" - exclaimed Ms. Ito, the marketing director, her voice sounding anxious.
"But what can we do?" - replied Mr. Sato, the CFO, sighing. "If we close the game right now, we're in for an imminent disaster. We have to give the developers a chance. Maybe they'll figure something out."
"But if they fail?" - Ms. Suzuki, the legal director, asked, her voice sounding doubtful.
"I mean, we're just delaying the inevitable. We could lose even more money in a week, and eventually we'll have to shut down the game anyway!"
"That's a risk we have to take," Mr. Kato, the CTO, replied, his voice resounding with firm determination.
"We can't just give up! We have to try to save our game, even if it's our last act!"
"Okay," Mr. Tanaka said, sighing heavily.
"We're giving the developers a week. A week to find a solution, and a week to restore order to Yggdrasil. If they can't handle this situation in that week, we're shutting down the game and starting bankruptcy proceedings."
The board fell silent and there was an oppressive silence in the room. Everyone realized that they had just made a decision that could determine the fate of the entire company. A week was their last chance, a final push that could either save them from collapse or doom them to imminent defeat.
Momonga, known in Yggdrasil as Ainz Owl Gowon, sat in his private sanctuary, immersed in somber musings. His skeleton avatar remained unperturbed as always, but conflicting emotions raged within the player. In all his years of playing, he had grown accustomed to winning and being in control of the situation, but now a wave of anxiety mixed with worry and despair was hitting him.
"This 'Bald Ripper'... What is he?" - Ainz thought, running through every possible scenario in his head.
But what troubled Ainz the most was another thing. A few days ago, when the entire world of Yggdrasil was plunged into chaos due to the appearance of the Bald Ripper, he had received a message. A message from his friend from the real world, Takeshi, one of Yggdrasil's programmers, whom he knew under the nickname "Ulka".
In that message, Ulka reported in a panic that they were facing a serious problem. Their game has been infiltrated by an unknown virus that they cannot control. A virus that manifests itself as "Bald Ripper." They have tried to remove it, but all to no avail. The board of directors gave them a week to fix the situation or else the game would be shut down.
"They'll shut the game down..." - echoed in Ainz's head.
" If the game is shut down, then all of our achievements, all of our memories, all of our efforts will be wasted. But worst of all, we will lose touch with each other."
That was what frightened Ainz the most. He realized that Yggdrasil was not just a game. It was a second home for them, the members of the Ainz Oul Gone Guild, a place where they had made friends, a place where they felt at home. And now that connection to his friends, to all his comrades, was threatened.
Ainz started running through the worst-case scenario in his head: what would happen if the game was shut down? Where would they all be after that? Would they ever be able to meet again? What would become of their friendship, of their shared memories?
Ainz began to remember each of his friends: Nishikiya, with his eternal thirst for adventure, Lord, with his sharp wit and sense of humor, Herohero, with his devious plans, Touch Mi, with his unwavering loyalty, Paroroncino, with his eternal desire to flirt, Bukubukuchagama, with her eternal enthusiasm, and Yamaiko, with her analytical mind. What will they do without Yggdrasil? How would they go on with their lives?
He began to remember his conversations with them, their jokes, their arguments, their shared accomplishments. All of that could just vanish into time like smoke.
And then it hit Ainz: this "Bald Ripper" was not just a mob, not just a virus, not just a bug in the code. It's a threat to their friendship, their shared home, their memories. ...
"This Bald Ripper... It's like I'm looking at the end of the world," Ains thought, running through every possible option in his head and finding none that would make a difference.
"A week..." - Ainz whispered, his voice sounding like a pathetic groan.
" We've played this game for so many years, we've put so much effort into building our guild, developing our characters, and now it could all just disappear because of some damn virus."
And that's when Ainz was overcome with a sense of his own insignificance. He, Ainz Owl Gone, the guild leader, wasn't the strongest player, he was a tactician, he was a strategist. But against this Bald Ripper, against this looming threat, his cunning and tactics were worthless. He was powerless in the face of this virus, in the face of the board's decision. He was simply a player, dependent on the actions of the developers, at the mercy of their code.
He as a leader was supposed to lead them, but now he felt he couldn't protect them.
He pictured their confused faces, their frustration, their despair. He felt guilty that he couldn't help them, that he couldn't protect them, that he couldn't influence the situation. He, as the guild leader, was supposed to protect his comrades, but he could do nothing.
It was this feeling of powerlessness, this realization of his own insignificance that frightened Ainz the most. He realized that all he could do now was just wait. Wait for the developers to try to correct their mistake. Wait for the board of directors to make their decision. Wait until it was too late.
Ainz wanted to act, wanted to protect, wanted to fight, but he couldn't. He was trapped in this virtual world, dependent on those who had created it. He was just a player, dependent on the will of others.
And that was Ainz's worst nightmare - realizing his utter dependence, his limitations, his helplessness. And he realized that all hope now lay only with the developers, who had only one week to prevent the inevitable.
With this oppressive thought, Ainz remained seated in his hideout, his skeleton avatar remaining motionless, hiding the growing terror and despair within. He knew that he was not alone in his despair, that all of his friends were suffering as well, but he could not help them. He was simply powerless in the face of impending disaster.
The Yggdrasil control room was silent, heavy and oppressive, like a crypt. The monitor screens flickered, but their light could not dispel the darkness of despair that hung over the place. The developers, once proud creators of the world, were now haggard and depressed. Their faces were pale, their eyes red from lack of sleep, and their desks were littered with crumpled pieces of paper and empty coffee cups.
A week had passed, and they still hadn't come up with a solution. The Bald Ripper virus remained invulnerable, its chaotic movements across the world of Yggdrasil continuing to wreak fear and destruction. All their efforts, all their attempts to remove or at least curb the virus were in vain. They were powerless.
The chief programmer, Akira, sat with his arms around his head, mumbling incoherent phrases under his breath. His eyes were filled with despair, and his shoulders shook with helplessness. He felt completely broken, unable to right his own wrong.
"We lost," he whispered, his voice sounding like a pitiful groan.
"We did everything we could, but it wasn't enough."
"We spent all our effort, all our knowledge," Miyuki, the lead designer, her voice sounded pained, replied.
"We revised all the code, checked all the scripts, but nothing helped.
"Players with monster-like avatars hate us," added Takeshi, the lead tester, his voice full of frustration.
"They think we're racists who added this virus on purpose to destroy them."
"The board has to make a final decision today," said Yumi, in charge of gameplay, her voice full of anxiety.
"I'm afraid they'll shut down the game. They don't see the point of fighting anymore."
At that moment, the phone rang in the hall. Miyuki walked over to the machine and answered the call. After listening for a few seconds, she hung up and turned to her coworkers. Her face was whiter than chalk.
"That was the public relations department," she said, her voice sounding quiet and shaky.
"The board of directors has made a decision. "'Yggdrasil' will be closed."
There was an oppressive silence in the room. The developers looked at each other as if numbed, their faces full of despair. All their hopes, all their dreams of creating the perfect game had been shattered.
"We failed everyone," Akira whispered, his voice shaking with sobs.
"We failed our players, we failed our friends. We failed to save Yggdrasil!"
"We should have seen it coming," Yumi said, her voice tinged with sadness.
"We should have been more careful, we should have tested our game better. It's our own fault for what happened."
The developers fell into a mournful silence, feeling their world crumbling before their eyes. They were powerless, they were defeated. They were the losers.
Meanwhile, in the world of Yggdrasil, the players felt a growing unease. Rumors that the game might be shut down spread with lightning speed. Panic reigned on the forums and chat rooms, everyone was afraid that their favorite world would soon disappear.
Ainz Owl Gone, sitting in his hideout, felt a heavy weight on his heart. He knew that the developers had failed, that day "X" had come, and that their shared world would soon be gone. He wasn't ready for it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was more powerless than ever before.
The remaining hours before Yggdrasil closed were filled with chaos and despair. The world of gaming, once a place of joy and adventure, was now engulfed in a storm of resentment and mutual accusations. Forums and chat rooms were ablaze with angry posts, and shouts of protest resounded across the expanses of virtual cities.
The player community split into several camps, each blaming the others for what was happening. In this turmoil, a variety of voices were heard, each trying to deliver their own truth.
"It's all because of the Bald Ripper!" - shouted some.
"The developers should have done something about him! Why couldn't they stop him!"
"We demand that Yggdrasil remain open!" - others insisted.
"We demand justice! We demand that those responsible be punished!"
"No, this is all because of a rift in the community!" - were the voices of those who blamed the players themselves for what was happening.
"You destroyed your own world with your arguments and animosity! Now reap the rewards of your hatred!"
"You monster-like avatars ruined everything!" - screamed some of the "humans".
"You attacked us, you killed our characters, and now you're paying for your sins!"
"What are you talking about?!" - replied the "monsters" to them. "It's all because the developers made this discriminatory virus! They added the Bald Ripper on purpose to destroy us!"
A heated debate broke out in the expanses of virtual cities, players shouted at each other, insulted each other, but no one wanted to listen. Everyone was consumed by their own grief and despair, and no one wanted to take responsibility.
In this storm of mutual accusations, a few youtubers and streamers stood out and took advantage of the situation to boost their popularity.
"I told you Yggdrasil was headed for collapse!" - shouted one of the youtubers, his demon avatar full of schadenfreude.
"I warned you that you can't depend on one game so much! Now reap the rewards of your carelessness!"
"The developers are to blame for everything!" - echoed another youtuber, his knight avatar full of indignation.
"They're the ones who failed to protect their game from viruses! They failed to maintain balance! They should be punished for their actions!"
But there were those who tried to appeal to the players' reason.
"Stop blaming each other!" - shouted one streamer, his angel avatar full of sympathy.
"We lost everything, but we have to stay together! We must remember all the good times we had in Yggdrasil! We must say goodbye with respect and love!"
But his voice was drowning in the general chaos. Everyone was too absorbed in their grief to listen to his words.
Ainz Oul Gowon, watching all this from his hiding place, felt nothing but hopelessness. He realized that the world of Yggdrasil was doomed, and that nothing could save it. He felt powerless and devastated as he watched everything he held dear crumble.
There was an atmosphere of collapse in the Yggdrasil control room. The developers, broken and depressed, sat, unable to take their eyes off the monitors on which the countdown timer ticked inexorably. The announcement of the game's closing at midnight had already spread across the world of "Yggdrasil," plunging players into an abyss of despair.
The hours until the game closed were melting away inexorably. The world of Yggdrasil was falling into darkness, and with it all hopes and dreams disappeared.
The timer hands were inexorably approaching midnight. The world of Yggdrasil fell into an ominous silence, as if preparing for its last breath. Forums and chat rooms fell silent, silenced by cries of protest and mutual accusations. Players, tired of fighting, silently prepared for the inevitable end.
Most of Yggdrasil's cities were deserted. Many players chose to leave the game beforehand, not wanting to witness its demise. Others, desperate and frustrated, chose to stay in their shelters, not wanting to see anyone.
Ainz Owl Gowon, formerly known as Momonga, sat on his throne in the guild hall, looking at the countdown timer. His skeleton avatar, still motionless and unperturbed, seemed frozen in time.
He was going over all the past years he had spent in Yggdrasil, all his victories, all his defeats, all his adventures. He remembered his friends, his comrades, his guild.
He remembered their jokes, their arguments, their shared moments of joy and sorrow. He realized that all these memories would soon become mere ghosts of the past, mere echoes of a former life.
He tried to contact any of his friends, but all of their accounts were inactive. They, like many other players, had chosen to leave the game, not wanting to relive this painful moment.
Ainz didn't blame them, he understood their feelings. He himself wanted to run away, wanted to disappear, wanted to not witness the demise of his world, but he couldn't. He stayed, as if feeling some kind of duty, as if wanting to see Yggdrasil off on its final journey.
The timer showed the last minutes. Ainz looked at the clock, and realized that there were only seconds left before the game closed. He sat in his hideout, alone in this vast and empty world.
"Well," he whispered, his voice sounding quiet and sad.
"I guess this is the end."
And then, as the seconds to the end went to zero, he felt nothing. No pain, no fear, no disappointment. Only emptiness.
The world of Yggdrasil was gone.
Ainz Oul Gowon was alone.
In total darkness.
It was the end.