"Sigh..."

A man deeply sighed to himself as he entered his home after escaping the plague-like air outside. The calming decor of the living room was a nice change of pace from the green fog after all. He proceeded to hang his air filter and goggles on the rack next to him.

"I'm home."

The man known as Fugi Sato, or to a select few, Touch-Me, had said that to no one in particular. While his wife and daughter would normally be the ones to receive that greeting, they were currently out running errands, so there was no point to use such a gesture. But it felt wrong not to do it, so he acted on impulse.

What to do? Usually I just have small talk and rant about work. Hah...it's been a good while since I've had the place to myself.

After unfastening his tie in the way a middle-aged man might after a long day at the office, he proceeded to release his fatigue by falling forward onto the couch. Once he found himself in a sufficiently comfortable position, he began to furrow his existent brows.

Since Touch-Me always boasted about protecting the weak, one might think that working as a police officer would be a dream job for him. However, reality is rarely so kind. More often than not, he found himself unable to do anything due to the overabundance of crime or being relegated to the sidelines, leaving him as nothing but a glorified hall monitor. Thus, he often found himself ranting to whoever was unfortunate enough to cross his path (the victim almost always being his wife). But with no one to share his misery with, he thus ranted to the only one present: himself.

"I swear if I have to deal with this shit one more time, I am going to quit. BuT We DoN't KnOw If He WaS tHe OnE wHo DiD iT. HOW?! He was at the scene of the crime—with blood on his clothes! How do you not…"

Many similar shouts filled the room for a time. While it was true that People who were truly passionate about their job were a rarity, that also meant that they had to pick up the slack of the ones who Weren't so caring. Thus, having to blow off steam in private could be seen as an essential matter.

But...I can't quit now, can I? If I were to leave, then I would need to find a new job. And trying to find a job that pays as good as this one may just be a slight bit impossible. I just have to bear with it until I can retire. Besides, it's not like I'm truly miserable. It's still the closest I'll get to my dreams. Huh...well, seeing as I've got some time to kill...what should I do?

After thinking it through, his options weren't so vast. He could watch TV, but there was almost nothing to watch now. The news was basically for getting depressed, and he had watched practically every re-run of old superhero movies, so he crossed off that option in his mind. He had some board games that were available, though what's the point with only one player? This pattern of suggesting an idea and then trashing it continued on for a longer period than normal.

It's at times like these where just how little there is to do becomes apparent. Hmmm... Oh! I guess I haven't used my VR set in a while.

Ever since YGGDRASIL had closed its servers, Touch-Me had found himself using his VR set less and less, as that game was really the only thing he had used it for during his eight years of playing. Even though he hadn't logged on in over two years, he still felt a tinge of regret upon hearing that it was shutting down. Even his old friend Momonga had wanted to give one last hurrah on the last day, but he was so caught up with work that he wasn't able to make it. I do hope he forgives me for that…, he thought to himself.

"Eh, I may as well look for something on it." Yggdrasil wasn't his only passion after all. After injecting himself with nano machines, he put on his headset and began to flip hap-haphazardly through his repertoire of games. After continuing in this motion for a minute, he saw something that caught his eye.

"Hang on, wasn't Yggdrasil shut down already? Why is the icon still available? Wouldn't the bots and government have taken it down by now?"

Since VR games worked by connecting with the users' brains that had been modified, it was important to remove games off the select screens. If they were shut down while someone was still in them, they may be stuck in a loading screen for a while, or in serious cases, enter a catatonic state. It was for these reasons that the government implemented heavy rules to log everyone off before the shut down, then take the game off the market as soon as the servers were down. If YGGDRASIL was still up, there would have been a storm of media on it since the game was popular enough for people to notice it still being up.

"If it's still here, then that would mean it's still playable, right? I mean, I would definitely have heard about one of my favorite games being under fire for not adhering to the law. Maybe I can say hi to Momonga and apologize for not being at the meeting if he is still on."

Having made his decision, Touch-Me selected the icon for YGGDRASIL, and hoped that the game was still up for him to do what he wanted.

And then the world became a sea of white.

.

.

.

"Ugh...my head."

After an unknown amount of time had passed, a dazed Touch-Me found himself aching and dizzy, lying on what appeared to be solid stone.

Either I was drugged and kidnapped, or I'm in a coma...because that's not normal, he thought to himself.

The first thing he found odd was that he was feeling pain. In DMMO-RPGs, pain was not only basically impossible to program but also completely useless. Who would want to feel on fire in a virtual volcano? The second oddity was the location. If he were logged in to YGGDRASIL, then he would be at the Great Tomb and not...wherever he was.

After resting his hands on his head and antennae, he tried to assess the situation. If this was option A, then he would need to get a feel for his surroundings and try to negotiate with whoever had him here. If it was option...

"WAIT, WHAT?!" he suddenly shouted and recoiled back at the realization that he was most certainly not normal. When he looked at his arm, it was covered in dark green chitin plates, with black, muscular skin in between. After that, he looked at the rest of his body and noticed that it followed a similar trend. Scythe-like, serrated growths were attached at his wrist and ascended up the length of his forearm, ending at the elbow. His thighs and legs also had similar tooth-like edging to them, though much smaller, being an inch at the largest. His feet were similar to a normal person's, though each one ended with a sharp talon, like the ends of a tarantula's foot. All of this led him to only one conclusion.

I was drugged, wasn't I? I mean, this is just ridiculous. I'm my old character from YGGDRASIL, and I can actually feel things. This has to be me on some SERIOUS hallucinogens, right? Right?!

Although he was trying to comfort himself with these self-made lies, he was beginning to become seriously worried. If he suspended his disbelief for a moment and, for the sake of argument, was now in YGGDRASIL, how was he going to get back? Are there other players here? What the fuck is happening?

While complaining about his current predicament was a normal reaction, it was getting him nowhere fast. Maybe I can find a way out of here...it looks to be a cave from the look of things. Though my vision doesn't help me find a light source. As a heteromorphic race, Touch-Me had access to [Dark Vision] as a passive ability. Almost all heteromorphs had this as a starting ability, and it remained useful throughout the game as it made dungeon-crawling easier for those who could see at greater distances than, say, a torch could. Many players had actually complained to the devs about this since most picked Human as their race and felt like they were losing out on treasures that others could see in the early game. To which the devs semi-sarcastically responded with, "Can YOU see in the dark?" And that was the end of it.

Touch-Me did, however, notice the path to his right was ascending, so he used common sense and followed it. He did encounter a wolf-like creature on his way, which had at first frightened him, but when the creature pounced at him, he threw a punch to attempt to defend himself. He found a wolf-shaped hole where the wall was.

I guess I can assume that I'm the same level, at least, he thought.

After five minutes of walking, he finally saw a light source that was brighter than the tunnel. If he was right, then that must be the outside, which meant it was currently daytime. As he left the dank tunnel, he felt a cool breeze and was soon awestruck.

As far as the eye could see, there were giant trees that easily dwarfed the now extinct California redwood. Lush grass that seemed to be molded out of pure emerald, and a beautiful river that flowed a crystal blue. "Picturesque" was the only word that came to mind. While he was enamored with the sights before him, he found that his foot had accidentally knocked into what appeared to be a skeleton. It appeared to be in tattered clothes and had a bloodied short sword lying next to it.

I guess he won't be needing that anymore.

Turning thought into deed, Touch-Me proceeded to retrieve the sword so he would at least have a weapon. But as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

That wasn't like me at all! Normally, I'd at least feel a little saddened, or at the very least unnerved, after seeing something like that, right? Though death is hardly uncommon on Earth, it's still sad. Could I have adopted a more insect-like mindset due to my race?

While thoughts like these were going through his head, he heard a commotion coming toward his location. In this unknown situation, his fight or flight kicked in—and he chose flight. He quickly hid behind a tree on an elevated piece of land that was above the trail leading to the cave. He needed to know who or what was coming.

.

.

.

As the sun began to hit its peak, Neia Baraja and her band of mercenaries began to reach their destination.

After the Jaldabaoth incident, Neia had taken it upon herself to keep the peace in the north by acting as a de-facto pope of sorts, by spreading the name of the word of Ainz Ooal Gown throughout the holy kingdom. While this was originally because she simply was enthralled by his charisma and simply wanted to improve his reputation in the holy kingdom, she had amassed a group of like-minded supporters, and her hobby had turned somewhat into a religion. While Neia was ready to reject the claim when people began to herald her as some important figure in the holy kingdom, she soon realized that she could use this as an opportunity to make the holy kingdom see the sorcerer king for what he really was. A king of kings. And so, rumors of the faceless one began to spread throughout the world.

King Caspond seemed to support her in this decision, giving her some rights over the churches in the holy kingdom. Neia had no idea what she had done to earn Caspond's favor, but was nonetheless happy that the current monarch was someone who believed in her mission. Since she was also something of a mercenary in the area. Since the sight of her bow in action inspired so many people during the final siege, and the power of her troop, she was relied upon whenever stragglers of demi-humans would rear their heads, or whenever monsters were causing trouble.

Today, Neia was on her way to a cave which a barghest had made its den. The people traveling with her weren't her usual group of Ainz stans, but instead some mercenaries from the south, who had traveled there to here to about the talk of a new religion in the north. When Neia explained it to them, they were somewhat shocked at first, but soon asked her more about him. Neia, of course, couldn't resist talking their ear off about his greatness, but soon found that she needed to head out to slay the beast that had been attacking villagers. The mercenaries, not ready to end it, asked if they could assist her and talk as they walked. Seeing as the extra help would be useful, she agreed.

As the cave came into view, they could also see the remains of a poor soul that had been a victim to the barghest. There was an incline near the side of the path that formed a small cliff that she had said would be a good spot to eat before they fought. As she was kneeling down to grab some of the rations, her keen senses heard the distinct sound of a bow knocking. She rolled to the side, just barely dodging the arrow that was most certainly aimed for her head.

"Tch...missed."

"She is regarded as a genius archer; it's not surprising she dodged."

From those two lines, she instantly knew that this wasn't an accident nor a third party, but a betrayal.

"What the hell was that for?!" she shouted at the one who made the shot.

"The south has grown tired of your preaching. Hearing what we heard today just confirms it. There's no way an undead can even come close to the greatness of the six. Have you lost your mind?! Or are the undead controlling you?"

Anger began to rise up in her chest. How could they insult the integrity of His majesty like that? These people don't even know the meaning of loyalty.

As she gave them a fierce glare (thought there was little difference to her face) she simply shouted "Ainz-sama is the greatest being to ever exist! Hearing you mock his greatness is truly pitiable. What, am I supposed to believe that YOU are better than him. The one who tried to kill me when my back was turned like a coward?"

"Enough of this already! It's 12 against 1. Your spiels will die with you and your so-called religion."

Neia simply held her side arm at the ready, since fighting with a bow at this distance was practically impossible. She wasn't liking her odds. But if she simply gave up, that would just tell them that she was weak. Strength was needed to protect what one cares about, and the same applies here. If she couldn't defend his majesty's honor by slaying these heretics, then what good was she?

As the battle was about to break out, a figure descended from the sky that would certainly give all present nightmares for years.

The being was clad in a dark green carapace, covered in so many spikes that it seemed like one would cut themselves by looking at it. Scythes extended on the sides of its arms that gave all viewing them visions of death, like a grim reaper coming for their souls. And a head, which seemed to be somewhat mantis-like, with two antennae angling toward its back, and eyes that seemed to be glaring constantly, given their shape.

The creature's very presence was enough to stop all parties in their tracks, its every movement had their full attention. Its arm carrying a standard broadsword then began to move across its chest and the left side of its body, and with a grand swing, struck a pose, and shouted...

"Justice has arrived!"

A/N Hello there! Since there are barely any fanfics (much less finished ones) of Ainz seeing his guild again, I thought I'd take a crack at it. Not all of his guildmates will be here due to lack of information, but I will bring in some of the lesser talked about ones eventually.