Chapter 195 - Overlord: The Price of Happiness

(A/N): not mine! I have seen this fic for as long as I have been a fan of The witch and the Sorcerer as it is by the same author but as I look into the review's of this fic ppl keep saying it was sad or just something that contains drama and this world (Drama!) is not my friend (i don't like the genre) but as of writing this i am desperate as there's not much overlord fanfictions that I like in fact there might be only 2 I am very picky (very very picky) so yeah that's it

Originalauthor: ZeroSenpai

Read it here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14250096/1/The-Price-of-Happiness

The Price Of Happiness

The first time he met her was in Midgard. The undead player known as Momonga was just coming out of one of the smaller dungeons Nine's Own Goal just raided. As his inventory was full he could not help the others gather the remaining loot so he offered to guard the entrance to avoid unwanted surprises.

It was then that he heard sounds of battle just a little bit deeper in the forest surrounding the dungeon's entrance.

Casting [Invisibility] and [False Data Life] he decided to investigate, for if there was a large group nearby he would have to make sure to contact his and leave the scene as soon as possible.

What he found was quite not as bad as he thought but not really good either.

Fighting among the trees were two heteromorphs against six human players. It was quite rare to see small groups of heteromorphs in Midgard as that was the humans' favorite hunting ground for other races.

A quick information spell revealed that both humans and heteromorphs were around level 40, while he was level 50, not that he had any obligation to help them in the first place. It would be better to notify the others and get away before the humans arrived. 'To save someone in need is but common sense!' who was he kidding? If he notified his leader, Touch Me, he was sure he would forget the loot and help the two of them with the full power of Nine's Own Goal.

But the thing was, the loot was quite good and he didn't want to lose it, so there was only one real answer to this dilemma.

"(Delay Maximize Magic: Dragon Lightning) (Delay Maximize Magic: Firestorm) (Delay Maximize Magic Blind)"

He casted his silent spells depleating most of his remaining MP, it was quite the gamble, if this didn't work he would immediately retreat inside the dungeon and ask for backup.

"[Skill: Hate]"

That was one of his most unused skills as it made the, lower than his level, enemies' aggro focus on him, something counter productive for a magic caster and summoner such as himself.

As expected, the six humans immediately were forced to face him instead of the two heteromorphs.

"[Magic Arrow]"

Six magical arrows shot for the group of humans, but that was just mere bait as he felt his silent delayed spels activate at once.

The players which were already damaged immediately died and the remaining were left on the brink of death and blinded, he made short work of them with another [Dragon Lightning].

It was a shame he could not collect the loot, but his inventory didn't get any emptier and so he had to renounce, not that they had anything worthy taking probably. 'I should use some of my next check to purchase inventory slots…' he mused to himself.

He almost didn't notice what seemed to be a pink slime approaching him and starting running circles around him.

"Uwa! Thank you a lot Elder Lich-kun! Buku was so scared of those mean humans!"

The high pitch voice almost made Momonga recoil, he actually never thought girls could make those voices without voice filters.

"Yo! Name's Peroroncino, thanks for the help Lich-san."

The other heteromorph, a birdman, approached him and introduced himself.

"Ah, it was nothing, we heteromorph must stick up for each other."

Momonga answered with a smile emoticon.

"I am Bukubukuchagama! Thanks again! I was so scared I was gonna lose my items again!"

The pink slime introduced herself as she literally showered Momonga with love emoticons much to his embarrassment, he never had a girl express so much interest into him, the few he met at school were just educated to try and end up with the best in the school for an easy future, while the ones at work were either married or pretty much the same. He being a mere employ didn't help much.

"Stop that sis, your grotesque form is making our friend uncomfortable."

The birdman, Peroroncino, mocked much to the ire of his supposed sister.

"Ah?! The hell did you say?! Maybe it is your bird shit for brains ugly face that is making him uncomfortable, oh brother of mine!"

The slime's voice changed completely, becoming much deeper and angrier. 'A pair of siblings playing together? That's kind of rare nowadays' Momonga thought as the two apparent sibling started arguing.

"A-ah… u-umu… I am M-Momonga, nice to meet you."

The two stopped bickering and looked at him in unison.

"Pfft! Man that's quite a nickname ahahahah!"

The birdman said with a hearty laugh.

"You stupid bird shit for brains! Don't worry Mo-kun! It is a very cute name!"

The voice change was quite disturbing but Momonga appreciated her words nonetheless.

"You guys shouldn't be going around Midgard alone though, it is the humans' hunting ground for heteromorphs."

Momonga warned.

"Yeah, we know, it's just that we needed some stuff for our Racial levels."

The birdman answered his concerns. 'At least they are aware' he thought as he wasn't speaking with noobs apparently.

"Umu, did you not come with your clan or guild?"

He asked as the two siblings just shrugged.

"We don't have one, most don't find my appearance… up to their standards…"

The slime said, well, the voice didn't really match the avatar but calling it ugly would be a far shot, she was a slime after all.

"I don't think you are ugly at all, the color quite fits your personality."

Momonga said in his usual friendly manner, he knew how hard it was to be judged based only on one's appearance.

The slime went silent for a few seconds before the birdman exploded into a laugh.

"Ahahahahah… what the fuck?! You are blushing in real life! Oh god this is too precious!"

Peroroncino's avatar was bent forward in laugher, while the smile remained unmoving.

"Eh? Wait why did you take out your VR?... no sis! Put that down! No please! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The voice channel remained open as Peroroncino's avatar stilled while it's owner probably suffered untold horrors.

'Well, they are surely a lively bunch… maybe I should invite them back with me and see what Touch Me thinks…' the undead hummed as the screams of agony on the other side of the channel continued.

XxXxX

"Hey Mo-kun! I heard you, Touch-kun and Ulbert-kun bested the Dragon Claw clan!"

The pink slime said energetically as she settled on the sofa next to Momonga's skeletal avatar.

"Well yeah, Pero was a great help too, we decimated them while they were focusing on Touch-san… he is truly amazing! They thought they could storm him in a 10 vs 1 and instead they got destroyed due to taking too much time in trying and kill him."

The undead explained.

"Oh? My stupid brother helped too? That's a surprise, I thought he would be your downfall!"

She said earning a laugh from the skeletal player.

"Oi! Oi! The hell are you saying sis?! You know there was also this cute cat girl with Dragon Claw? I took her from the back, she didn't expect it at all."

The birdman shouted from across the room, his statement accompanied by a suggestive emoticon. 'That moron… why does he have to embarrass me every time I speak with… people!' she pushed down the need to get up and smash her brother's face in. she was just fine here! Seating next to Mo-kun! She just gulped, that last part, was not what she meant to say! They were just good friends that's it!

"Ah… umu… I remember her, that build was pretty trash if you ask me, not optimized at all…"

And there cam the usual Momonga, always taking her brother seriously.

"Well yeah, she was the right size though."

She swore, her brother would sooner or later make her hang herself to avoid public humiliation.

"I'm going to reveal what you did when you were twelve to all the clan if you do not shut up this instant."

She said using her normal voice to emphasize how serious she was. To her satisfaction her worthless brother recoiled.

"A-Ah c'mon sis! She was just as perfect as you! You both are flat as a board, no need to fe-"

This time she didn't hesitate and jumped him.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP TONIGHT!"

It was a good thing friendly fire was off, it was a bad thing they lived in the same house.

XxXxX

Suzuki Satoru just came back from work when he immediately jumped on his VR chair, all fatigue forgotten. His day began now, and what a day it would be, they were going to raid the Black Dragon of Muspellsheim, it would be quite a challenge but he was sure they could do it, they could win this!

His enthusiasm was halted for a moment by the mail notification on the corner of his vision, he opened the message.

Hey Mo-kun!

Sorry for the notification, but I have been pulled in for an all night today and I cannot join you guys on the raid!

Kick its draconic ass for me too, kay?

Love,

Buku

The message was translated automatically from voice to text on his screen, he sighed, it couldn't be helped then, they all had their lives after all.

The message replayed in his ears a second time before he stopped it. For all Buku's voice was pleasant to hear he had stuff to do. It was a shame really, her masterful Hate value management would have really helped moving the dragon's focus away from their glass cannons.

He entered Yggdrasil and found Pero already waiting in their clan base, the birdman worked from home so he really had no problem with managing hours.

"Yo Momonga."

Saluted the birdman who seemed quite tamer than his usual exuberant self.

"Hey Pero, how is it going?"

The undead caster asked.

"Fine."

The heteromorph answered swiftly, Momong knew there was something wrong but he didn't want to pry in his friend's life if he didn't want him to.

"I heard about Buku, I'm sorry she will miss out on the fun."

He decided to change the subject but he apparently said the wrong thing as the birdman kicked the floor of the base with all the violence his avatar allowed.

"Those fuckers at her job are working her to the fucking bone! And I am pretty sure there is an asshole harassing her! If I see him I'm going to fucking kill him!"

The birdman exploded in a fit of rushing anger embedded in his every word.

Momonga knew that situation well, it wasn't a new story, but still, to hear it happening to random people was very different from knowing the person in question. He tightened his fists in real life followed by his avatar doing the same.

"Well, that sucks."

He said between gritted teeth.

"Sorry man, I just ruined your evening with this shit."

Pero finally calmed down and apologized.

"No, don't worry about it… just make sure to give Buku some breathing space when she comes back."

The undead said seriously.

"For sure! I will prepare a relaxing bath for when she comes home!"

The two heteromorph fist bumped each other as some more of their friends began to log in.

"You should try speaking with sis too when she logs in again… she enjoys your company the most out of the other guys here."

The birdman whispered into Momonga's ear with a suggestive wink, Satoru muted his microphone to avoid sputtering the nonsense that came out of his mouth next as a blush crept over his face in real life. 'That fucking bird…' was all he thought before Touch Me started the pre-battle meeting.

XxXxX

"Whoa! Where did that shield come from Buku?"

Yamaiko asked as the slime settled on a chair opposite to her.

"Fufufu… Mo-kun gave me half of his share of loot from the Black Dragon's raid, with that I finally managed to ultimate this beauty here!"

The slime explained as she showed her new flower like shield to the other female members of Nine's Own Goal.

"Ah, Momonga-san is such a nice person."

Ankoro added as she sipped her tea while examining the new shield.

"Uhm! Uhm! For real! Mo-kun is a great guy!"

The slime confirmed while nodding the upper part of her body.

"Are you sure this isn't a token of his love?"

Asked Yamaiko teasingly much to the pink slime embarrassment.

"W-what are y-you saying Y-Yama-chan! M-me and Mo-kun aren't l-like that!"

She spluttered out, her face in real life now matching the color of her avatar.

"You sure? You two would look cute together…"

Ankoro paused to sip her tea again.

"For once, I am sure he is single too."

She continued, much to the slime's further embarrassment.

"You- where did you-… it doesn't matter! Stop teasing me!"

Buku blurted out even as she stored that info in the back of her mind.

"You are just too easy to rile up Buku, it's just too much fun."

Ankoro snickered, the slime pouted.

"Anko-chan is so meaaaaan!"

She protested in her voice acting usual pitch.

"I also heard Touch-san wanted to make an announcement, maybe we should go to the meeting room."

Yamaiko said prompting the three females to leave their table.

"Is this about Gouji-kun quitting?"

Buku asked remembering the events of a few days ago.

"Probably, Touch and Ulbert clashed very hard that time, I thought one of them was going to leave the clan after that."

Ankoro added as they entered the meeting room of the clan only to find most of the members already there.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, since you are all here, I think I will finally make my announcement!"

The white paladin said attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

"After recent events I have decided to officially step down from my position as clan leader and disband Nine's Own Goal."

The words hit the members hard causing many to rise in protest to such an extreme action. Even Buku did not restrain herself from making her displeasure known. The uproar continued until Touch's booming voice echoed in the room once more.

"PLEASE LET ME FINISH!"

That seemed to calm down most members even if discontent grumbles could still be heard all around the room.

"This does not mean we will disband as a group! Considering out growing numbers, I think it's finally time to transform this clan into a proper guild! Name and all still needs to be decided, but I will not lead such a group, recent events proved I am not worthy of such a position."

The grumbles now turned into excited murmurs, with the creation of a guild came far more perks but also responsibilities and Buku already had an idea who might be best to lead the new guild.

"After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that the best person to lead us to new heights would be our dear friend! Momonga!"

All the eyes in the room turned toward said player who sqeaked in surprise at the sudden turn of events. 'Good choice Touch-san! Mo-kun would be great as a leader!' the slime thought as she decided to make her opinion known.

"Hey! I second this, Momonga-chan is a great guy!"

She said in her usual adorable and excited voice.

"Then let's proceed with the vote if there is anyone else who think they are fit for the position, speak up now or forever hold your peace!"

XxXxX

"Uhm, I think this would be a viable option as we have no idea in which order we will have to face the bosses."

Momonga said as Ulbert proposed a good one shot combo using his glass cannon build.

"Still, they may possess unknown skills capable of protecting them from damage, we should use a Super Tier to scout this out."

Touch added, pointing out the potential flaw.

"That's indeed a problem, there are very few data on those bosses and we paid good money and crystals to acquire them from those who attempted to conquer the dungeon first."

Punitto Moe pointed at the five known floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"AI are very dumb sometimes, they might waste their skills even if we use non-harming Super Tier, for example, if Momonga used [Creation] I am pretty sure the boss would still register it as a charging Super Tier and might waste its skill to protect itself against a non-harming spell."

The plant heteromorph elaborated eliciting nods from the other players.

Before Momonga could give his final approval, something he was still unused to, he felt a [Message] trying to establish a link, he accepted the invite.

"[Hey Mo-kun, do you have a moment? I wanted to speak to you.]"

The voice of Buku echoed through the message spell.

"[I will be there In a moment.]"

He sent his answer back before severing the connection.

"I will give my final approval after reviewing the plan later, now I have other matters to attend."

He said as he stood up from the meeting table.

"Off to see your girlfriend Momonga?"

Touch teased much to the skeleton's embarrassment.

"She isn't-"

He was interrupted by Ulbert's suggestive emoticon.

"Ah, I know how it feels to be in love, I myself married just a couple years ago."

The paladin continued but, for once, Momonga didn't bother to listen to him and just teleported away.

He reappeared a couple floors below his previous position in a room he knew the females usually used to have tea together and talk about girlish stuff.

Waiting for him there was only buku though.

"Hey, Mo-kun! Take a seat."

She said cheerfully as he obliged her. She placed a cup of tea in front of him, even though he could not drink it, he appreciated the very Japanese like gesture.

"What's wrong Buku, you usually don't call me like this."

He asked, not sure what the slime had going through her mind. But as a guildmaster he had the responsibility of hearing his guildmates' out. Uhm that was it! It had nothing to do with the fact that his heart was beating quite fast now that he was alone with Buku.

'Get a hold of yourself Satoru! God, it's just a meeting!' he tried to rationalize his nervousness.

"Well… you see… it's about my stupid brother…"

She said making all of Momonga's hopes vanish, no! He wasn't expecting anything else! No, he totally wasn't! And he would deny it to his dying breath!

"Ah… uhm…"

Those were the only sound that came out of his mouth. 'Good job Satoru! Very smart looking you are now!' he felt like punching himself in real life.

"I know of your quarrel due to him betraying your No Cash Items Alliance, he was an idiot as usual, nothing new… but he is really ashamed about it, I haven't seen him as depressed as this in a long time… he even tried to see if he could return the item but was denied a refund, could you please forgive his stupidity? I am really asking you as his sister, it hurts me to see him like that."

She said, her acting tone gone, leaving only her normal deeper voice. That made Momonga actually feel bad, he was mad at Pero but he didn't want for such real life repercussions to come to be.

"My little brother always had trouble making friends, so this is hitting him really hard, please Mo-"

"I understand."

He interrupted her as he didn't want to hear her beg.

"I will speak to Pero, don't worry about it, leave it to me."

He declared.

"Thank you Momonga."

She thanked him, her sweet voice making Satoru's heart jump in his chest.

"Satoru."

Momonga mumbled.

"Uhm?"

The slime questioned.

"My name is Satoru."

He wasn't sure what possessed him to say it, he just knew that he wanted to hear his name said by her, they have known each other for almost two years after all.

"Uhm, then thank you, Satoru-kun!"

He felt like smiling, not that his avatar could.

"My name's Katsumi by the way."

The slime introduced herself.

…

That night Satoru was about to finish washing his dishes and go to bed when he received a notification on his personal mail. He and Buku, no… Katsumi, exchanged it back after their conversation today.

He opened the app with a certain trepidation only to notice it was just his monthly bills record, he was about to close the app when a new mail jumped into his box, this one was indeed from Katsumi.

Forgetting whatever he was doing, he opened it and began to read.

Hey Satoru-kun, thank you for listening to me today.

Whatever you told my idiot brother seems to have worked as he is in very high spirits this evening.

You are a life saver! Here is a little token of my appreciation! Hope you enjoy!

Love :3

Katsumi

He was glad his conversation with Pero cheered him up, he didn't mean for this to happen in the first place, but it was a good thing he managed to fix it.

Though, now that he noticed, there was an audio file attached to the mail.

Knowing Buku was a voice actress he already had an idea what that could be, though, he was still curious.

He pressed the play button, the audio was just a couple minutes long but by the half of it Satoru was already blushing from his toes all the way to his hair. His head felt light and he had to seat or risk collapsing here and there on the spot.

To that moment he had no idea what kind of voice actress Katsumi was, to think she made an exclusive audio for him and even used his name in it was quite the low blow.

By the end of the audio he was done for the day and ready to had to his bed, not before a quick detour for the bathroom of course.

XxXxX

"I swear! This piece of shit!"

The pink slime raged, not even bothering using her cute voice by now, she was that pissed!

Their guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, didn't just raid this damn tomb for hours just for the fucking last boss to kick their asses!

And it was managing to do so only because she could not understand his Hate hidden value! For some damn reason the Asura wasn't focusing on her or Touch Me! No! the fucker was going for Momonga and Ulbert!

She activated once more a provocation skill which got ignored once again, only one of the arms trying to attack her and Touch Me while the other four still went after their DPS specialists.

'You fucking six armed freak!' she yelled inside her mind. The shitty devs really outdid themselves with this one!

She saw her brother use his elemental arrows to take down the Elementals Asura was spawning, so he could not help. The others were bombarding it with all they had but their main DPS specialists were not in the right condition to battle.

An idea came to her mind, risky, but it might solve their current aggro problem if she was proven right.

"Momonga summon a Death Knight!"

The undead didn't even answer and just limited himself to doing as instructed.

The mid-tier undead immediately assumed his signature defense stance as soon as it was summoned. It's passive ability [Hate] activating at the same time. The most useful thing about this type of undead was their ability to stack Hate points, they would automatically activate [Hate] every time they received damage, making them the perfect punching bags for PVE.

But the thing was, a single hit from Asura would kill a Death Knight, that was unless she did something about it.

As the punch went for the Death Knight she used one of her best abilities, if her hunch was wrong this would be a huge waste, but there was no other choice by now.

"[Incorporeal Shield]"

Said ability reduced the damage of the next hit to just 1HP, a skill she could only use 3 times per day.

She observed as the undead took his 1HP damage before roaring once more and stacking a new [Hate] over the previous one.

The Asura shifted and this time two punches went directly for the Death Knight. 'Perfect!' she cried out in joy as she activate her last two uses of [Incorporeal Shield].

"Go Go Go! Death Knight-kun!"

The only answer she received was a couple of roars.

It worked just fine for her as other two arms went for the Death Knight, leaving the other members of the guild free to act as they pleased.

Now it was just a matter of defending the Death Knight.

She flew in front of it and activate her one time use skill [I am the Wall], even with such a cringe name it was a skill many would not scoff at.

All damage for a whole minute would be nullified, though that came at the cost of everything else, she could literally do nothing, not even use items or move, she truly became a wall.

It was over by then, her guildmates already began to use their combos or cast their buffed spells and she will hold, no matter what!

XxXxX

"Yo Momonga!"

The undead turned only to be greeted by none other than the perverted birdman.

"Hey Pero, how is it going?"

The Overlord saluted as he moved around the first floor of Nazarick inspecting the various traps placed there.

"I heard from sis yesterday was your birthday."

The avian continued.

"Yeah… it's not something I usually celebrate."

The skeleton said.

"So, what did my sis gift you? She wouldn't say…"

The curious player inquired, for a moment Momonga faltered, remembering the audio the voice actress sent him for his birthday.

"A-ah… uhm… i-it's a secret, you know? I-I can't just go around telling e-everybody eheheh"

The undead stuttered out much to the birdman's resignation.

"C'mon, I thought we were friends?"

Momonga just ignored him, he knew Pero would not get upset over this and he really wished to discuss her gift no longer than needed.

"Did she send you nudes?"

That comment from the birdman sent Satoru into a stuttering mess as his avatar convulsed spastically, much to the hilarity of Pero.

"NO!"

The embarrassed undead fervently denied the accusation.

"Ah well, not that there is much to see there to begin wi…th…"

The birdman slowed down on the end of his last comment, Momonga wasn't sure what happened until he turned around only to see a pink slime looking at them from the other side of the room.

"Uhm, man, I gotta run, checkyourmailthisevening, bye!"

The avian player disconnected followed shortly by the pink slime. Momonga should feel bad for him, but really, this time he asked for it.

…

Satoru Suzuki opened the dry artificial meat can, it was tastless as usual, well, at least it filled him up and it was cheap. 'Just like real meat my ass' he thought as that brand's commercial came back to his mind. Not that he knew about it, he never tasted any real meat or fish in his life, it would probably take half his check for just one meal of low quality, but real, food.

He tried to think of something else so to avoid thinking about the tasteless pulp he was putting in his mouth. Pero did not log in again that day, he probably got the beating of his life, well, not that Satoru could blame Katsumi, he might not be the brightest lady killer but even he would not dare comment on a lady's assets.

Trying to not think about Katsumi's assets he swallowed the last of his meal before throwing away the can in the compacter.

His perverted friend told him to check the mail, it made him wonder where did Pero find his mail in the first place. Probably asked it from Katsumi now that he put some thought into it.

He sat on his VR chair and connected, indeed, there was a couple of notifications waiting for him.

A few commercials and an unknown address writing to him. Curious, he checked the unknown mail.

Hey Momonga, hope this is the right address, I kinda… stole it from my sis.

Well, just wanted to wish you a late happy birthday and give you my gift.

I think you are going to like this one, I have the sudden hint you are going to like Akane most of all.

Your friend,

Peroroncino.

He had no idea what he did expect from Pero other than something like this.

He wasn't an idiot, he had a good idea of what that gift attached to the mail was, but… he actually received no birthday gifts for the last almost ten years, ever since his mother died.

He turned toward the digital photo he had of her, he decided to turn it to face the wall, she should not have to see her son do this.

There was little choice now, he started to download the game his friend sent him.

"High School Harem Life… Pero, really? What the fuck man?"

He voiced his thoughts, according to the summary the story was about a guy going to a demi-human academy in a fantasy setting, and well, he was the only human apparently. He had no need of the 18+ symbol popping up on his screen to know what he was getting into.

'I will give it a try, play half an hour and then log in Yggdrasil' that sounded like a plan, he didn't want for his friend's gift to go to waste, it would be quite rude.

The game finally finished downloading and he jumped in. it was quite colorful to say the least.

He skipped through the prologue as he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, these kind of games were mostly visual novels, so, skipping through dialogue would make the experience definitely shorter.

The graphic details were quite low, the probably spent all their budget on the erotic scenes… 'god, that sky texture is horrible, even Yggdrasil had better texture at its launching 4 years ago' he lamented as he moved around the outside of what he deduced to be the main academy of the game.

"E-excuse me?"

The female voice interrupted him. 'And here we go, first encounter' he was just about to skip the whole scene but then.

"A-are you perhaps the new transfer student?"

That voice was familiar, too familiar. 'Oh no! Pero, you didn't! you motherfucker!' he screamed internally as there was only one girl he knew that could ever make that voice. He gulped as he immediately got nervous for no apparent reason.

"My name is A-Akane! Nice to meet you!"

Katsumi's voice greeted him but only one thought was looping in Satoru's mind by now. 'God damn you Peroroncino!'

XxXxX

"Are you for real?!"

Yamaiko asked sounding outraged at her friend's words.

"Yeah, that asshole even had the balls to say it wasn't a big deal!"

Ankoro continued to vent her frustration, while the other two female members of Ainz Ooal Gown gave her space.

They were all seating around a table on the 6th floor which was currently being completed by Blue Planet who was busy finishing setting up his beloved realistic sky.

"After forgetting about your anniversary, he didn't even apologize? That's just rude!"

Added Buku who was just enjoying the momentary peace.

"Well, at least yours has some balls, I have been waiting for a proposal from mine for the last three years and he hasn't made up his mind yet."

Yamaiko lamented. Katsumi knew that her dream was to have a classical Japanese wedding and she loved her partner very much, but he seemed to be an indecisive and frustrating man.

"Hey Buku, how are you doing on your side?"

Yamaiko decided to shift the focus on her.

"Don't joke around Yama-chan, I am a kind of idol, relationships and marriages are a big no-no in the industry."

She used the same excuse as always to avoid the subject, but this time it didn't seem to work as well as the last ones.

"C'mon Buku-chan! We are all girls here! I know the industry is strict on stuff like that but you just only need to not make it public."

What Ankoro said was technically true, many famous female voice actresses had relationships or were even married, they used aliases to work after all, it wasn't like fans could go and pry on their personal life.

"Be it as it may, there are no good guys around anymore, they are all taken."

The slime lamented much to her friends amusement.

"Don't play around with me Buku, you are just what… 25?"

Asked Yamaiko receiving a nod of confirmation from the pink slime.

"Don't say such things Buku-chan, we all know how you puppy-eye Momo-kun, he isn't certainly a bad candidate, don't you think?"

For once, Katsumi was happy she hadn't a human avatar to show her real expression in game, not that her blush would be visible, but the expression she was making was telling enough.

"D-don't joke around Anko-chan! I am sure someone as wonde- ehm! As gentle as him is already a taken man ahahah!"

She laughed nervously as she tried to push that conversation aside.

"Well, as of now I know for certain he is single, I heard him and Touch speak not long ago about it, he wasn't very explicit but the hints were all there."

Yamaiko intervened.

"That's it, if you are not interested I might take a shot at him myself, he seems like a great guy."

Ankoro proclaimed causing Katsumi to frown. That scenario was not something she wished to see, she hadn't made her mind up about this at all, and for all she liked Ankoro, the idea of her getting together with Satoru didn't sit well with her.

"You can't."

That was all that came out of her mouth.

"Why not? You said you weren't interested."

The other girl said brushing off Buku's denial.

"I mean-! Why you-! Augh, okay fine, I think I-"

She stood up from her chair, for all a slime could get up in the first place, she was flustered and worked up. 'They wanna tease me! That's fine!' she never shied away from confrontations after all.

Both Ankoro and Yamaiko seemed taken aback by her sudden outburst. 'Not so confident anymore, are you?' she thought in satisfaction.

"So, what if I like Momonga?"

She proclaimed feeling liberated by saying it out loud.

"Buku calm-"

Yamaiko tried to say something while Ankoro face gesturing for her to settle down or something, but the pink slime did not want to hear any of it.

"He is a great guy, he is respectful and always calm, he can be funny and has a lot of interesting stuff to say if you push him enough!"

She said without an hint of shame or embarrassment, something she will be probably dealing with once she was done ranting.

"No, really-"

Ankoro tried to interrupt her flaying her arms around.

"No, you listen! Know that if you go after him I will declare war on you!"

Ok, now she was just exaggerating in the heat of the moment, she didn't like him that much, but still, her female pride demanded it.

Now that she was done, she turned to make an epic exit but when she turned she came face to face, or it would be better to say face to chest, with a familiar undead. 'Aha' her mind stopped working for a few seconds before rebooting, the silence persisted.

And then, Katsumi did what any maiden would do in that situation, she logged out.

XxXxX

"Are you for real?! Ahahahah that is too funny! What the hell sis?!"

The birdman was laughing his ass off at the situation both his friend and sister found themselves in.

"It's not funny Pero, I didn't see her since then, and it has been 10 days!"

The skeletal player cried out but the birdman's high spirits didn't relent in the slightest.

"So, go speak to her! I will give you her number if you want… though, how are you gonna answer?"

Satoru was baffled at her friend's words.

"Eh? Answer?"

His only answer was a multitude of facepalm emoticons from the birdman.

"C'mon Momonga! You can't be this dense! She basically confessed her feelings for you! You gotta answer!"

It felt strange to be suddenly advice on this field by the open pervert, though, Momonga was pretty sure he was right on that statement, he had to answer, and he had no idea what to do.

"It's alright man, I will respect any choice you make, though, if you accept… and later on break her heart… I will fucking come for you."

The statement was far more intimidating than the perverted birdman had any right to be.

"Now… how did you like my birthday's gift?"

The sudden tension disappeared taking Satoru aback for a moment.

"Did you go with the Akane route?"

The birdman asked prompting a still confused and distracted Momonga to answer the first thing that came to his mind, unfortunately for him, such thing was but the truth.

"Yeah, it was fun."

Silence descended between the two players as both seemed stunned by his words, one because he didn't expect to say it so nonchalantly, the other because he didn't expect his friend to actually play the game.

"Damn… you truly got the hots for my sis if you enjoyed that trash character…"

…

The human known as Satoru Suzuki marched up and down his apartment like a caged rat.

He already had dialed the number in his holophone, he only needed to press the call button, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' he wasn't one to usually swear, not even in the silence of his mind, but this whole thing was stressing him out to great lengths.

He had never been confessed to before, not that he ever was the one to confess first either. He was a 24 years old virgin for crying out loud! He never had a girlfriend or anything like it! He had no idea how to deal with all of this!

He took a deep breath, he needed to do it! For once in his miserable life he needed to make a god damn move and have a spine! With a trembling finger he finally pressed the button.

He regretted it immediately, he panicked, all the perfect plans and replies he had practiced gone from his mind in an instant.

He was about to close the call before it was too late but he didn't have the chance as the other side picked up.

"Yes, who is it?"

The tired voice of Katsumi greeted him, he felt his throat suddenly dry up.

"H-hey Katsumi-san."

He greeted back. 'Yeah, totally sound like a shrimp! Good start Satoru!' he wanted to smack himself in the face.

"S-Satoru-kun! How did you get this number?!"

She, at least, seemed as startled as him.

"Your brother."

Silence followed his words. 'Sorry Pero!' the salaryman silently prayed for his friend's soul.

"I-I see… so… what do you need?"

She asked, her tone as tense as it could be. Being the socially inept he was, Satoru could only say the first thing that came from his mind.

"I-I wanted to give y-you an answer."

Which unfortunately, was the truth. 'God… way to alleviate the tension jackass!' he reprimanded himself again.

"I-Oh! Well-! Ok, just tell me!"

She blurted out, clearly embarrassed, her voice was a far cry from her usual cheerful tone.

"I would like…"

He began but he felt totally awkward saying it out loud.

"I think…"

He tried again much to the same result.

"Please, go out on a date with me!"

He was dead, he wanted to bury himself under three kilometers of earth and never surface again. That was like the worst way possible of asking someone out, he knew it! He was such an idiot!

"Ok"

That was the only thing she said before cutting the call short, leaving a dumbfounded Satoru to pick up the fragments of his fractured mind who was still trying to understand what just happened. 'Eh?' his holophone fell from his hand as his brain started a forceful reboot.

XxXxX

The short girl was a bubbling mess, she couldn't believe she was doing this, she was about to go on a date with Momonga. They apparently didn't even live so afar from each other, just a couple hours by train.

But, of course, their date wouldn't be a physical one, yet. Ever since the air in the world outside became poisoned and nature died out people started using VR for all kind of purposes, dating was a big part of it.

There were many industries that offered a virtual dating simulator where couples could go and have a good time. Due to heavy regulations anything physical was denied, apart from hand holding and kissing. They couldn't have their precious workers get addicted to online sex after all, where would they get new generations to exploit from otherwise?

Shacking those thoughts out of her mind she focused with the matter at hand. They didn't speak ever since that call and decided the how and when of their date through text, knowing Satoru, he was probably trying his best, he had always been shy. Not that she was fairing much better, she was totally embarrassed about this as she had never dated anyone before. She was too embarrassed about her body for much of her school period and then she had started working a job that didn't look with a good eye at relationships.

She had to provide for both herself and her younger brother ever since their parents passed away after all, she had no time for that stuff or, even less, risk losing a good paying job over it.

But now it was different, using her popularity she managed to get her brother a job as an eroge beta-tester. For all they bickered and argued, they really cared, growing up they only had each other for the most part and so it was only normal that seeing the other happy would mean the happiness of both.

She also liked Satoru, of course, and the fact her brother didn't tease her at all about her date meant that he not only approved but wished them the best.

She already knew that there would be no problems at work either. She was a famous voice actress after all, people would close an eye if she decided to have a silent and peaceful relationship. Satoru didn't seem like the guy to brag around with his accomplishments, so there was no problem on that side too.

She nervously glanced at the clock, just a few seconds and she will be transported to the virtual reality where their date would take place.

They chose a simple park, nothing crazy, to just chill in the middle of, fake, flowers would be enough.

One thing about these virtual realities was that to avoid complaints, the only way you could access was by verifying your identity, meaning, your avatar here should be compatible with the owner of the VR chair you were using as well as your identity scan. In short, there was no way to cheat one's appearance here, unless you hacked the whole thing.

She looked around as she spawned inside the chosen environment. It was quite strange to see a not polluted and yet realistic environment. Berries grew in the bushes while flowers bloomed on healthy trees. It was quite the lovely place, they just paid for two hours but she wouldn't have minded staying much longer than that.

"Katsumi-san?"

She just started relaxing when the familiar voice caused her muscle to tense up again.

Almost robotically she span around, Satoru was quite tall, towering over her like her brother. Black hair currently set straight but she knew from a glance he usually left the to their own device, she was quite the expert in those kinds of things. Black eyes regarded her with uncertainty as his mouth seemed to quiver a little.

Well, he probably didn't expect the pink hair tied in two twin tails, she was a sort of idol, of course she dyed them, but maybe Satoru wasn't just well versed into those matters.

"Hey Satoru-kun."

She greeted back as she played with her thumbs behind her back in sudden shyness. It had been quite a long time since that happened. She usually had a strong demeanor both to stop her brother from doing stupid stuff and pushing anyone with bullshit intentions away.

"Ah… uhm… you look very good…"

He said, she smiled internally, the short dress with a miniskirt she chose seemed to have caught his eye, maybe it was due to it being pink as well, but that was beyond the point.

"Ehm… you too… look quite good as well…"

She said back as she looked at his business like attire. She did not know what to think of it really, he just seemed professional, not really her style, but that wasn't a great concern.

"Uhm, maybe we should sit?"

The man asked looking around for a bench or something, it was quite easy to find an empty spot next to some beautiful flowers. Still awkward silence persisted, Katsumi had no idea what to do so she just did what she did better, joke around.

"So, where did you get that skin?"

Satoru seemed to be confused for a few moments as realization passed through his eyes. A smiled for the first time, Katsumi felt her heart skip a beat, that was actually a very beautiful and gentle smile.

"I could ask you where did you get the bones instead."

He said amused and that actually made her giggle a little.

"So… you wanna talk a little about life?"

She asked curious to know more about her usually reserved guildmaster.

"Ah, uhm, sure…"

He said averting his gaze from her, what seemed to be a light blush on his face. 'That's adorable' she thought as Satoru really seemed to be quite the kind and gentle guy.

"That's kind of bad."

His next words confused her for a moment before he elaborated.

"The sky… I mean, Blue Planet-san did a far better job with it on the sixth floor."

At that she smiled, he was quite attached to Yggdrasil it seems.

"Yeah, it truly is."

She said as she gazed up at the clearly fake clouds while her hand found his.

XxXxX

Momonga sighed contently as he sat at the table, a steaming tea cup in front of him as the slime proceeded to serve the two other occupants of the table.

Two twin blond dark elves, the new guardians of the sixth floor of Nazarick… and his two little darlings according to Katsumi.

"Here you go Aura-chan, Mare-chan, enjoy your tea!"

She happy pink slime said as she proceeded to absorb a cookie.

It had been months since Satoru and Katsumi started dating, and really, he didn't feel such happiness since before the death of his mother.

They spent most of their time together in Yggdrasil, something he loved as well, since seeing each other would be almost impossible and virtual realities for dates were expensive.

He looked at the NPCs as they took sips from their cups, a shy smile on the boy's face and a very large grin on the girl's. According to Katsumi, they were a representation of them as their children should take from them both, he also suspected that the relationship between the two was an hint at what his girlfriend wanted her brother to be like.

God, it was weird even to consider, him? Having a girlfriend? It was weird aliens didn't invade yet.

"Oi! Mo-kun! Don't ignore me!"

He was suddenly brought back by Katsumi's voice.

"Uhm, you were saying?"

He was sure by now the girl was pouting, something he found quite adorable.

"I asked you if you wanted some sugar."

She said in her adorable tone.

"Uhm, no thanks."

He glanced at the NPCs as the slime served them some sugar. He was a bit weirded out by the crossdressing so he had felt like providing them with gender accurate clothes as well, mostly for Mare as Aura had a plentitude of girly things to wear since Katsumi loved to use her as a dress-up doll.

The only reason why Buku was allowed to make two lvl 100 NPCs in the first place was due to her creating a powerhouse such as Mare first, even if Aura is the older sister according to her settings. Momonga might have had a little push on that decision, not that Buku needed to know it, but seeing her so happy made all the grumbling from other members worth it.

"Are you sure I can't make a uniform for Aura as well, she would look fine in it, and Mare already has one, so they would make a good pair."

The Overlord asked as the slime wrapped around the tomboyish elf.

"No! You will not lead astray Aura-chan with your military fetishes!"

The slime protested. 'Look at that, the pot calling the kettle black' Momonga refrained from voicing his thoughts as he knew it would not end well for him if Pero was ever an example.

"You should create your own, you know?"

Katsumi said catching Satoru's attention.

"I mean, your own NPC, your could put them in charge of the Treasury, we have nothing guarding it after all."

That… was not a bad idea… but still what kind of NPC should he create?

XxXxX

Satoru fidgeted on the spot. He was nervous, too nervous. He should stop his hands from shaking, he will look like a fool.

'It will be alright! It isn't a big deal!' his mental self-convincing wasn't really working, for IT was a big deal!

He went up and down his apartment like a madman. His eyes continually darting from his door to the table where dinner was already served. A dinner for two people.

He had to work his butt off for many extra hours just to be able to buy this, real food! Made with real meat! Coming from real animals! A luxury few could afford! He was sure that it wasn't of the best quality considering someone of his caliber could buy it with an entire monthly check, but he hoped it would impress his guest.

For this was no normal evening, this evening he would finally meet Katsumi in real life for the first time, and, if that wasn't enough, today was their first anniversary. He gulped, he had no idea how to do this, or what to do, he just didn't want to screw this up!

The doorbell ringed making every last one of his muscles tense, he felt like a stiff puppet as he walked to the door and opened it.

What greeted him was a carbon copy of what he saw during their virtual reality dates, still, to see her in the flesh was just as stunning as the first time.

"So, Sato-kun, will you let me in or are you too stunned by my beauty to move?"

The familiar voice teased him, making him immediately move aside, letting the woman in.

She placed her mask next to his and took off her jacket, gloves and boots. During all of this silence persisted as Satoru could do nothing but nervously observe his girlfriend.

Her pink hair fluttering with each movement of her body, a mesmerizing sight, a beautiful angel who stole his breath away, a despicable fear gripping his heart, how could he ever hope to be enough for her? He, a miserable, normal looking, salaryman! What could he offer her? How could he have even imagined, for a mere instant, to be enough?

"Hey, I'm sorry for the lateness, just, don't give me the silent treatment, kay?"

Her words took him out of his negative spiral, it took him an additional few second to understand what she said. He glanced at the clock, and indeed she was an hour late, he didn't even notice.

"I-I, no! I was just s-stunned! You are far b-better looking in real life compared to t-the VR…"

He tried to explain himself. 'The hell am I saying?!' he had panicked, he knew he would mess up!

To his surprise, the pink haired woman actually blushed at that.

"D-don't say stupid things! Anyway, what have you got for dinner?"

…

"Ah! That was so good!"

Katsumi exclaimed contently as she lied back on her chair.

"Glad you enjoyed it, this was my first time having real food."

The salaryman said, as he had to admit that the food actually tasted real good, no wonder rich people ate it all the time.

"This was my second, first time was at an important dinner to discuss work."

She admitted trying to take away the dishes from the table before being stopped by Satoru.

"No, no, I will do it, don't worry."

He took the dishes from her hands and proceeded toward the small kitchen.

He washed the dishes with the cleaning powder and came back only to find Katsumi lying on his sofa.

"Wanna join?"

She invited him in her cheerful and teasing tone. He obliged, he may as well enjoy it till it lasted. There was no way he would get another shot at someone this amazing after all.

He sat next to her just in time for her to press her head against his shoulder.

"Ah, I needed that! I worked so much today!"

She sighed as she relaxed against him while he tensed up once more.

"I hope it wasn't too much, I myself am a little burn out on work as well."

He admitted.

"You are such a dork, that was an invitation to give me a hug and pamper me."

She giggled as he felt his throat go dry all of a sudden. Noticing his discomfort Katsumi glanced at him seriously.

"Do you perhaps not find me attractive?"

She asked in her true voice which only emphasized her seriousness.

"NO! O-of course not! Y-you are very beautiful! I-I know I am not really m-much, I will u-understand if you don't want to-"

His ramblings were interrupted by the smaller woman tackling him to the sofa, he was now sprawled on it while she sat on him, pinning him down by his shoulders, her face closer to his than ever before, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Listen well Satoru! Because I will repeat myself just one time!"

Her angry tone took him aback, he never heard such a deep tone coming from her, not even when she got pissed with her brother.

"You are a great person! You are funny! You are kind! You are smart! And, even if you don't think so, when you are embarrassed you are fucking cute!... so, don't ever say those things again, don't you ever think that I am so shallow that I would dump you just because you don't have the best paying job ever!"

As she said those words, her tone passed from angry to sad, and by the end of it he could see tears fill her eyes.

Her words resonated with him, stirring deep in his heart emotions he thought he had completely forgotten. 'I am truly pathetic… an idiot… now I truly messed up' his self-reprimands only served to fill his chest with more pain. To think he caused her to cry for someone as worthless as himself…

He wrapped his arms around her and brought her down on him, her head now laying on his chest, he could feel her hot breath through his clothes.

"I promise you Katsumi, I will be better, I will, if you will have me still."

He whispered, both a promise to her and himself.

"Don't be an idiot Satoru, you are perfect as you are."

She moved up, their faces so close, he could feel her breath over his lips, with the slightest of movement his lips met hers. Satoru's mind blew up, the emotion of the moment combined with the body of his girlfriend pressing on him and their first kiss overwhelmed him.

In that moment his job didn't exist, Yggdrasil didn't exist, this very world didn't exist, all that existed for him were just Katsumi and his lips on hers.

He would give up everything in exchange of making this instant last forever. There was no price he was unwilling to pay.

XxXxX

"Pandora-kun! Say aaaahhh! Mommy has a biscuit for you!"

The pink slime said as the doppelganger stayed still, vocal commands could do just so much after all.

This was Satoru's NPC, a doppelganger of great power, the ability of changing his form in all guild members reflected his creator's mindset, adapt and overcome.

Though, the form he was using now was not linked to any of their guildmates.

No, the doppelganger had another form, he looked like a boy around his early teens with her brown eyes, Satoru's black hair and a couple of pink strands among it. He was sporting a military attire, a clear sign of his creator's tastes.

She glanced at her own two creations, which sported similar military attires, in the end, Satoru managed to sneak in one for her sweet Aura as well.

Though, the three of them together looked rather good, not that she would ever admit it to Satoru.

"So, you were here?"

She looked back at the door of the treehouse only to be greeted by her brother's avatar.

"What's up little bro, you caused a mess again?"

She asked amused. The fact that he didn't answer her provocation was proof enough of his seriousness.

"I want to talk about Satoru."

He said as he sat opposite to her.

"What about him?"

She knew he had not been as active as before on Yggdrasil, he was working a lot and, while still loving the game, started dedicating free time to amassing more knowledge so to advance through his career. He said that he wanted to be a man worthy of her, even though, she said time and time again, he already was.

"Did any of you think about the possibility of moving in together?"

That was a bit of a sore point for them.

"Yeah, though with our jobs… it is difficult, none of us can really move without compromising our careers right now… Satoru was thinking of having his boss transfer him in the future, his company has an office not too far from our house and we could buy a small apartment around there, we are already began setting some money aside for that."

She explained to the birdman.

"That sounds nice, but remember, if you ever get in trouble with that, I could always move and leave the apartment to you two."

Her brother offered much to her surprise.

"You, you really mean it?"

She asked in surprise.

"Yeah, if you can lend me a hand I could find a smaller apartment, you know the guy under us is selling his, it's not the best but I can manage."

Katsumi suppressed a sob, that meant a lot for her. Their ong-distance relationship was beginning to affect them, they wanted to spend more time together, and even with Yggdrasil and VR dating, it was still difficult to fill the need for physical touch.

"You would do that for me?"

She knew she must have sounded pathetic, but this meant so much for her.

"Sure, sis, I think it's time for this bird to leave his nest!"

Her brother joked making a strangled laugh come out of her mouth.

"You did a lot for me, this is the least I could do for you."

He continued, damn, by this rate she would never be able to find an excuse to reprimand him anymore.

"Thank you, Taiyou."

XxXxX

"Good job Suzuki-san."

Yamada, his boss' right hand, congratulated Satoru for the contract he managed to snatch from one of their competitors. It had been a very time consuming endeavor, but a very profitable one in the end.

"I am sure Shinozaki-sama will be happy."

Yamada continued giving Satoru a smile. Shinozaki was their elderly boss' name, he was close to his retirement and Yamada, with this last catch, had all but assured his position as the new boss once Shinozaki retires.

"I am sure your transfer request will go through without problems once Shinozaki-sama retires and the new manager is nominated."

Yamada smirked to him, something Satoru tried to return with a small smile of his own.

"Thank you, Yamada-sama."

Satoru bowed. Oh, how much he despised this, but this was a necessary evil, for Katsumi's sake he would do this and much more.

Corporations' internal policies were hell to navigate. You had to bootlick your way up or remain a minimal wage worker for the rest of your life. Something Satoru resigned himself to, but that was before he met Katsumi. He wanted to provide something for her and don't just be a leach, feeding on her good check every month.

If they were ever having a family of their own he wanted to be able to support it… and if he had to play their game to do it, so be it.

To this end, he bettered himself, buying e-books for higher education on economics and contracts which were the main subject of his job. After a few months he caught the eye of Yamada, the manager's right hand, from there he got assigned some of the most convoluted jobs the office got, some of them tempted him to bash his head against the wall.

But in the end he made it and got the sign of approval from Yamada who made him his unofficial right hand. There were actually no pay raises for all the work he did but certainly he earned a few favors which he would cash in by having his transfer request accepted.

He made to leave the office, quite content with himself.

"Ah! Suzuki-san."

He stopped midway and turned around to face Yamada once more.

"The small branch office where you will be transferred to is growing at a rapid pace, it might need a branch manager in the future, when the times come I might be the one deciding who will take that place… keep that in mind and keep up the good work."

Satoru wasn't deluded enough to believe such a thing would ever come to be, this was just one of the classic ways higher ups used to control the aspiring lower ranks. It was mostly a way to not let him forget where his loyalties lied.

"Of course, Yamada-sama."

He bowed once more. He would do anything it takes, for Katsumi.

XxXxX

"So, how is the couple life treating you Buku-chan?"

Yamaiko teased the pink slime as they repaired the 1st floor after one hell of an invasion. Not that the invaders managed to pass Shalltear on the 2nd floor, but they made a huge mess on the first.

"Everything fine, Mo-kun is just the cutest thing when he is flustered."

The slime admitted nonchalantly.

"Damn, you guys are serious then… you don't even get embarrassed anymore."

Yamaiko pouted.

"It's been more than three years… what do you think?"

The voice actress shrugged the comment off while Yamaiko got closer and lightly nudged her, as much as a slime could be nudged.

"So, so, tell me… how is sex with Momonga?"

She whispered to the slime who just spluttered in real life.

"W-W-What the hell?! Yama-chan! D-Don't ask this type of questions!"

The embarrassed woman stuttered out as she escaped the teacher's grasp.

"Aww, c'mon, there are only the two of us here…"

Her guildmate teased.

"What kind of elementary teacher are you?!"

The slime retorted.

"Well, I am a very serious teacher… but you know, I don't mind a little bit of girl talk."

The slimed fidgeted on the spot.

"You are starting to remind me of Anko-chan."

Buku said slithering back.

"Hey! That is just insulting now!"

Protested the heteromorph.

XxXxX

Satoru placed the box down on the floor. 'This should be the last' he thought happily, even if he was exhausted, he could not help but skip around while walking.

This was finally happening, he was finally moving together with Katsumi, a dream come true, to finally be able to see her everyday.

His transferring papers were processed just the other day and the corporation graciously offered him a free week to settle in the new city. Of course he will have to cover the lost hours with overtime but he couldn't care less right now.

Taiyou, Katsumi's brother and his best friend, was currently settling in the apartment below theirs. He felt bad kicking out Peroroncino from his own house but the birdman player just said it was alright and that it was about time he left the nest, which was pretty ironic.

He still owned his old apartment as the mortgage was fully paid by his mother before she died but, in all honestly, he wouldn't mind selling it, that place held far too many bad memories for him to care about it anymore.

Katsumi's parents' apartment was bigger than his, three bedrooms and two baths, it was quite the luxurious house for Japan's standards. Katsumi told him her grandfather bought it during the Bankrupt Crisis where banks were begging to sell their assets. It still took two generation to pay it off though.

He looked around, he was currently in his girlfriend's room, she insisted he placed his stuff there. It was exactly how he imagined it to be, girlish and full of cute things, not that he minded, he still considered her a far too good catch for a plain guy like himself, no matter how many times she said the opposite.

The door suddenly opened making him jump.

"Ah Taiyou-san you scar-"

He stopped in his tracks as the one who opened the door wasn't the birdman player but the owner of the room herself. 'Shouldn't she be at work right now?' he asked himself for the briefest of seconds before their eyes met.

There was something wrong there, in that gaze, something that sent a shiver down his spine, not in fear, but extreme uneasiness. It didn't help that the smaller girl launched herself on him pushing him back and bringing the both of them down on the bed.

"W-what? Katsumi, what's wrong?"

Satoru asked, confused by his girlfriend's sudden actions. She remained silent, her face pressed against his chest, her hands clinging to him. The lied there in silence as Satoru instinctively brough his arms around her and embraced her.

"I got molested at work today."

Those six whispered words broke him, his heart plummeted down as his mouth went dry and his body stilled, he probably paled too even though he could not confirm such a thing.

"Outside the bathroom, Natsuo groped my ass and tried to pin me against the wall."

She continued. He knew that name, the son of her employer, he clenched his teeth as rage surged through him, this anger, he never felt such rage consume him before.

"I slapped him and ran away."

A small consolation at last.

"Eh… I might lose my job now."

He really didn't care, even if such a thing came to be, he will work day and night if it meant her happiness and safety… was this how his mother felt? Is this the feeling that brought her to her death?

In that moment he understood, more than ever, how his mother felt.

"You are not going back… and that is final."

He had never been commanding in his life, he never ordered anyone to do anything, but in that moment, the words from his heart escaped his mouth without his consent.

"I can still feel those hands on me… you know? It's disgusting…"

She said as she crawled over him until their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"I was scared, in that moment, I realized I didn't want to belong to anyone…. But you…. So, please, make me forget."

With those last words she kissed him, their lips hungrily colliding with each other, unwilling to let the other escape.

Satoru's mind was going blank, he had no idea what was happening, it was like he was melting under the touch of his beloved. Her hands roaming all over him until they reached the most sensitive of spots.

He grunted in pleasure as his hands instinctively went for her butt, squeezing it to his heart's content, eliciting a moan from the smaller woman, was that how heaven was supposed to sound like?

She removed her lips from his and for a moment he feared he had been too pushy in his approach. But then, in just a couple of movement, both her top an skirt went flying across the room, leaving her in her pink underwear.

Satoru gulped, was this really happening? He was uneasy to say the least, this was so sudden, what if he messed up? What if he wasn't good enough?

Seeing his doubtful expression, Katsumi decided to take charge of the situation.

In a swift movement she pulled down his pants and underwear, exposing him to her completely bare. Satoru should feel embarrassed but he was far too engrossed in roaming his hands on every part of her body he could manage to grasp to really consider the situation.

She undid her bra, her breast mesmerizing him. Till that moment he always thought he was a big breasts kind of guy but, when it came to it, he simply didn't care. Every moan he could elicit from her was a victory.

"Sato-kun… you make me so horny."

She said as she launched her panties on the other side of the room and, indeed, there was quite a clear sign of her arousal present between her legs.

She positioned herself atop him, their sensitive spots touching ready to enact the ultimate primordial act of lovemaking.

"Satoru…"

She moaned, her eyes asking for an answer.

"Katsumi…"

His trembling hands moved, grasping her hips and slowly pushing her down.

And then, they were one.

XxXxX

"Shit! Look at what those fuckers have done to Mare-chan and Aura-chan!"

The pink slime raged as the skeleton looked at the devastation on the 6th floor. Not that he expected anything less from a 1500 players invasion.

"It was a good thing Punitto-san had gathered enough information on the raid so to avoid further damage… guess we will have to thank Tabula-san for that."

He said as the slimed cuddled her two dark elves surrogate children.

"That squid for brains! Never!"

Her outburst made him chuckle, the slime and eldritch abomination had a somehow dispute ever since Aurra's creation, he had said multiple time how Aura was not good enough to be paired with Mare and how her classes were unbalanced. Him proposing of using her as a meat shield for Mare during the raid didn't help the situation.

"Umu, it wasn't that bad of an idea."

Buku silently gazed at him, he felt his soul leave his body.

"Ah-ahahahaha I-I was just joking! Aura-chan is just too adorable for that!"

He laughed nervously as he patted said dark elf.

"I will make you regret those words later…"

The pink slime mumbled under her breath as a chill went down Satoru's spine.

XxXxX

"Na na na na…."

The short pink haired woman hummed to herself a familiar tune as she cooked, she really had missed this, with her work she had no time to cook or do much else. But ever since she was fired she had a blast rediscovering her passion for the art of cooking.

The exchange went as she expected, they told her some bullshit about cutting costs or some crap and fired her. She didn't waste the precious occasion of giving them the middle finger.

If they thought that deterred her they were pretty wrong, she was quite a famous voice actress after all, and working as a freelancer was quite remunerative as well. She could also work from home, that was quite the advantage. Sure, the pay wasn't nearly as good, but she could always start working for another company if the need for money came to be. She surely didn't lack the offers.

But, as of now, she and Satoru were living happily with their income, the man even got a promotion as of late, so money weren't a problem.

Really, a good income, a few hours a day to relax, a loving adorable boyfriend and a very satisfying sex life. Surely life could not get any better, or so she thought until this morning.

There was a reason why she went out of her way to buy some real meat today. There was something really special to celebrate.

She hoped the news would cheer up Satoru a little, he had been quite down casted ever since Yggdrasil's shut down was announced. That man loved that game, she continued playing from time to time just to see the smile on his face, even her stupid brother would joion every now and then. The rest of their guildmates were pretty much gone. It was a shame really, the legacy of Ainz Ooal Gown would die like this.

She was quite emotionally linked to that guild too, it was there she met Satoru for the first time and it was there she confessed to him. She also found good friends like Ankoro and Yamaiko, friends she had contact with to this very day.

She heard the sound of the door closing and she immediately dashed to said location. She slammed into the man coming through the door like a bullet, almost pushing him back out.

"Oi! Katsumi! You scared me!"

His indignant cry of surprise prompted her to let him go, she couldn't remove the smile from her face though.

Satoru closed the door and proceeded to remove his shoes.

"Yamada-san is killing me with this work loads… it's true he was the one to push for my promotion, but still, ever since he became the manager he-"

Satoru began to complain but stopped once his eyes met with hers.

"What's with that smile?... and is this meat I smell?"

He titled his head cutely prompting her to enlarge her smile even more.

"Sato-kun."

She gulped, she waited excitedly all day for this moment but now she was getting cold feet. What if he wasn't happy? What if… oh fuck this! Since when did she get so fucking spineless?!

"Satoru! I'm pregnant!"

Silence followed her declaration, seconds seemed to turn into days as she waited for any response, any movements, hell, any reaction at all!

Brown eyes gazed into black ones and then she saw them, tears streaming down the face of the man she loved. And so, she had his answer.

XxXxX

The black-haired man settled in his VR chair as silently as possible. It was true that he was a few rooms from his sleeping girlfriend but he would not risk waking her, she needed her sleep with the pregnancy at this stage.

He could not believe it still, he was going to be a father in just a little more than a couple months. Apparently, they were having a baby girl, though Katsumi wanted to wait her birth to name her.

He couldn't stop smiling ever since he received the news. Not even the increased workload could deter him, no, he pushed himself even harder to try and earn another promotion. He wanted his child to be taken care of as best as possible, he wanted her to be proud of him and never leave her wanting.

Katsumi often joked about the fact his little girl already had him wrapped around her finger even before being born. Maybe it was true but Satoru would do whatever he needed to achieve that happiness he so much desired.

Even his days in Yggdrasil became rarer and rarer, sometimes just logging in once a week to ensure the finances were alright before logging out.

Speaking of Yggdrasil, he had completely stopped spending anything on it, he realized that he could not afford throwing even the minimal amount of money away. Not that he spent much anymore since he and Katsumi became a thing.

Today was special though, this was the last day of Yggdrasil, even Taiyou logged in to say goodbye to his walking personification of fetishes. He assured Katsumi he would give her goodbyes to Aura, Mare and Pandora.

As he logged in, he found himself on the 9th floor. 'It would be impossible to check out every place in Nazarick in just half an hour… oh well, I will just do a general tour then' now that he thought about it, it would have been fun to invite his guildmates back for one last time. He had been far too busy though and that idea never popped into his mind till now.

He shrugged, they would probably have some other things to do, life was not an easy thing to plan after all.

Without wasting further time, he teleported to the outside of the tomb and began his descent. Having around 3 minutes for each floor wasn't that much but he guessed there was no helping it.

He started teleporting around, there wasn't much to see on the first floors, he just stopped by Shalltear's room to give her a pat on the head as a salute, she was technically his niece after all.

"Keep up the good work Shall-chan."

He muttered before teleporting swiftly to the 4th floor just to take in the beauty of the underground lake and the giant golem Gargantua.

Next step was the 5th floor where he was greeted by the ice monsters and a standing Cocytus. He took particular attention in avoiding a certain room where a certain braineater placed a certain NPC.

The sixth floor was probably the most beautiful of all, though he really didn't have much time to spare in exploring its every corner and so he limited himself to checking out the twin dark elves currently sporting their usual crossdressing attires.

"Hey, you two, how have you been? Your mother wanted me to bring you two her farewells, she is currently busy carrying around your new little sister."

He had no idea why he said it out loud as if they could understand him, but that sounded like something Katsumi would do. He ruffled the two NPCs' hair and teleported to the 7th floor.

The blazing inferno was the classic final level of any old style RPGs, the demons and other heteromorphs flying through the sky. He just made a quick detour to Demiurge's lair, wishing him good luck with his evil plans, it was quite an Ulbert thing to represent pure evil with the appearance of a classic CEO of a corporation.

On the 8th floor, the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary was as mesmerizing as always, for all the 8th floor was the most dangerous place in Nazarick, it surely didn't lack in the amazing sights regard.

He didn't stop much there, he wasn't particularly affectioned to any of the NPCs there.

On the 9th floor he went around his friends' rooms, he didn't want to enter so to not invade their privacy, even though that courtesy didn't have much sense as of now.

While he was passing through the meeting hall, his gaze fell on the guild weapon, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, a divine item bordering more on the World tier to be honest, its creation represented the last time he actually spent a good amount of money on the game.

'It's a shame we never actually got to using it…' he thought as he grabbed the item from its pedestal. He teleported to the throne room, it's immaculate dark beauty, a result of Ainz Ooal Gown's best designers.

He was greeted by both Battle Maids next to the door and the Guardian Overseer Albedo next to the Throne of Kings.

'Tabula's creation…' knowing the mad braineater as he did he was sure her bio would be a wild ride, he still had a little more than five minutes so, being ahead of schedule as he was, he decided to take a quick peek.

As expected, her bio was massive, he went through it reading sparsely here and there. The last line had him almost facepalm.

She is in love with Momonga on an obsessive level.

'C'mon man… what the hell? I knew you and Buku had your differences, but this is just petty!' he sighed, it was quite a lucky thing Katsumi never read her bio, he wasn't sure Nazarick or Ainz Ooal Gown would have survived the aftermath of that apocalyptic event.

By now he had around three minutes remaining so he just let it be, it would all be gone in a few instants after all, and he still wanted to see Pandora's Actor, he had no time to waste.

He teleported to the treasury immediately and typed in the password to access the internal hall.

Behind a desk sat his own creation in it's doppelganger form, which was just slightly taller than Aura and Mare due to Katsumi's request.

"Well Pandora, I came to give you your mother's farewell, you have been a good boy, haven't you? Ah! It's a shame you never had the occasion of testing out the equipment I gave you."

He said out loud as the NPC stood up for a military salute.

"Take care of Nazarick's treasury, will you?"

There was less than a minute remaining by now.

'I guess this is it… man, I'm really tired, need to sleep immediately after the shutdown… tomorrow will be tough at work, but I guess it was worth it' the undead player thought as he stood there as the clock reached the last 10 seconds.

'Thank you, Yggdrasil, thank you for everything' he closed his eyes, already savoring the sweet embrace of sleep next to Katsumi's gorgeous form.

He heard the timer beeping stop, meaning he reached midnight and the shutdown. He opened his eyes, expecting a logout message and yet, there was nothing, nothing at all.

'Did they delay the shutdown? Without a warning? Oh well, I will check it out tomorrow, now it's time for bed' he went for the icon on the top of the screen, and yet… there was nothing there.

'Eh? What the… is this a shutdown glitch?' he continued to tap on the top of his vision trying to activate any menus at all.

"Father, may I ask what you are doing?"

He froze as the foreign voice spoke from next to him, he turned only to gaze at his NPC.

"Is there something wrong, father?"

There was no doubt about it, the NPC was speaking to him.

"Ah… uhm… I can't activate the menu…"

He mumbled, not knowing what to say in such a situation but the truth.

"Uhm father… I am unsure what this menu you speak about is… should I call for the Guardian Overseer in aiding you?"

Satoru had no idea how he was remaining calm in that situation, he just felt panic rise inside him only to be pushed back by something before he could act accordingly to his inner turmoil.

"N-no, that won't be necessary…"

He said not knowing if the NPCs could contact each other with such ease or if every last one of them had just become sentient.

"I will… retreat to my room now…"

He said unsure of what to do exactly.

'GM call doesn't work… what the hell?' Satoru could not help but try and contact every single one of his contacts, even his friends but he received no answer.

"Father, may I visit Aura and Mare? It has been awhile since we spent some time together… it breaks my heart to be so apart from my siblings!"

Normally Satoru would be cringing at the exaggerated gestures and dramaticism of his creation, but really, he had more important things to think about now.

"Yes, yes, of course."

He said dismissively before teleporting away.

…

He had been in his room for a few hours, he had no idea what the hell was happening, he tried everything he could think of to get banned, from extreme racism to threatening violence to sexual interactions, as much as a skeleton could do such a thing, but nothing worked. No one answered.

He was now in a catatonic state of being, his only hope was that once Katsumi woke up and saw him stuck in the VR chair, she would call the authorities or someone to help him out.

He wasn't sure how many hours he remained like that or if it had even been an entire hour at all, the only thing he knew was that for some reason, his emotions were continuously repressed by some inner calming force.

Maybe if he killed himself this would end? But what if it didn't?... What if this was reality now? No! That was absurd! He would not be stuck in some kind of shitty alternative dimension! No! His mind was just playing tricks on him, he had been locked in his room for too much time!

Before he could move to get out of the claustrophobic room he felt a strange tingle on the back of his head, as if someone or something was trying to contact him. He wasn't sure himself why he felt like that but he just did, so he desperately accepted the connection.

"[My Lord Momonga, this is the Guardian Overseer Albedo, I humbly ask forgiveness for my sudden call but a situation arose on the 1st floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick… the Area Guardians have reported that their minions told them that the location around the Great Tomb has changed from the usual poisonous swamp to a green plain.]"

Satoru's hopes were crushed as he heard the NPC report to him the news, but then again, it was impossible to move an entire dungeon, he had no idea if even one of the Twenty could do such a thing.

Still, sulking here would do nothing for him, he either needed to wait for help or try and solve this himself. And since he could do the former while attempting the latter, it was but a simple choice.

"[I see, please send a scouting regiment of Eight Edge Assassins to scan the area around the tomb for any sentient beings capable of communication.]"

He answered more firmly than he thought he would be capable of in such a situation.

"[Understood!]"

The Overseer answered.

"[Oh, and Albedo, tell the other guardians to meet me in the Colosseum on the 6th floor in around an hour, if possible, except for Gargantua and Victim… speaking of which, have Victim interact with the other inhabitants of the 8th floor and check if they are at all hostile.]"

He requested, he needed to check if the NPCs had any violent tendencies toward him, if that came to be and he found himself overwhelmed he could always retreat to the inner treasury, after all no one could get there without a ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and he was sure he was the only one possessing it right now.

Though, he should check first Aura and Mare, they seemed to be friendly considering how Pandora first interacted with him.

That said, he teleported immediately to the 6th floor, just outside the treehouse. 'They are usually stationed around the Colosseum, though, if Pandora came to visit, they are probably around here…' he could not even finish his thought as a figure descended upon him from on high, he didn't even have the time to dodge as something landed on his shoulder. The childish giggle was the only thing that stopped Satoru from teleporting away immediately.

"Dad! You came to visit too with big brother?"

The tomboyish dark elf with unruly blond hair asked in a joyous tone.

"Uhm, Aura, indeed… I came to visit you and your brother… speaking of which-"

He stopped when he saw the grinning face of Aura shift into a deep frown.

"Mare! You idiot! Come and greet dad properly!"

The shout was directed toward the tree, which was answered by a loud whimper.

"I-I'm using the s-stairs sis!"

The stuttering voice made the dark elf perked on his shulder facepalm.

"NOW MARE!"

With that a second form jumped out from a window on the lower side of the tree, landing just a few meters from Satoru, the second dark elf reached him in no time.

"Took you long enough…"

Muttered Aura scowling down at her brother.

"H-hi papa!"

The tomgirl elf, Mare, greeted him. 'Uhm like Pandora's Actor, they seem to follow their original bio and settings, Katsumi wa always one for this kind of stuff…' the undead finally relaxed as it seemed he had a few powerful allies at least.

"It is nice to see you in good health Mare."

He said, still feeling weird talking to NPCs.

"Mein Vater! You are here as well!"

Pandora exclaimed energetically appearing from nowhere. Satoru felt like gulping 'yeah… Katsumi was right… he is so lame with those German lines…' he despaired inside even though both dark elves were giggling at the Doppelganger's display.

"Umu, I think now it is time to reach the Colosseum as I requested all the guardians to gather up there."

As he said that he heard a groan come from the only female in their group.

"Augh! Stupidtear as well?"

Complained Aura making Satoru chuckle for the first time ever since this whole mess started. Truly, she could be no other but Katsumi's NPC.

'I will need to test my offensive spells too… just in case' he thought as the group teleported away.

XxXxX

Demiurge was instructing his Evil Lords subordinate when all of a sudden they all felt a presence enter the 1st floor, but not from the outside, but rather from the inside.

There were only few who could ever hope to manage such a feat but he needed to confirm this with his own eyes. And, indeed, Lord Momonga stood there in all his glory, he could not mask his slight surprise at his lord's appearance but proceeded to kneel immediately nonetheless.

"Lord Momonga, may this humble servant inquire about the reason of your visit… without an escort."

His lord, clad in that jet black armor, just tilted his head slightly.

"I came just to check on Mare, sending him out without a proper escort in an unknown environment may not have been the safest choice."

The words of his Lord could not help but warm Demiurge's devilish heart, but also caused him much distress. It was obvious his Lord was not criticizing his own choices, rather he was criticizing the mindlessness of his subordinates in not acknowledging such a thing, this had clearly been a test… the first test, and he had failed.

He could not help but berate himself, he was the one who received the title of Defensive Combat Leader by the Supreme Beings, and yet he failed them on the most important field they assigned him.

"Please My Lord, allow me to accompany you and redeem myself from this error on my part!"

He pleaded.

"If you wish so."

The words of his Lord ensured him that hope was not yet lost in redeeming himself. 'For such a magnanimous Master to lead us… we are truly fortunate, it is no wonder the other Supreme Beings chose him as their leader' he thought while glancing at his subordinated with a gaze that promised endless pain if they messed anything up.

The two of them then proceeded on the outside of the tomb in order to find Mare, though, his Lord decided to take a detour to gaze at the starred sky, or that was what a foolish being would think. Demiurge was sure that his Lord wanted to observe this foreign land with his own eyes in order to assess the situation for himself. After all, he only received description of it and never saw it with his own two eyes.

"This world… seems to shine so much under the stars and moon, like a box of jewels."

The words of his Lord stroke a cord in the devil's heart.

"At your command my Lord, we could mobilize the entirety of Nazarick to claim this world for you!"

The guardian proclaimed proudly, silence descended prompting the demon to ask himself if he said something wrong, he was just about to apologize when his Lord spoke again.

"No, that would be pointless… even a world as beautiful as this… without her… it's worthless…"

Those words hit the guardian hard. Till that moment his Lord has been the incarnation of supremacy and what a ruler of his caliber should be, and yet, the melancholy in those words… almost moved the devil to tears.

XxXxX

This wasn't a dream, neither it was an hallucination, after three whole days of absolutely nothing Satoru had to reach that conclusion. For all he didn't want to, he could do nothing but acknowledge what he was experiencing as reality.

The fact he was still stuck here could mean only three things. First case scenario, Katsumi found him stuck in the VR and alerted the authorities that were now working on freeing him. Second case, the flow of time was different here and three days here might have equivaled to minutes or even seconds in Japan. Third case, and worst-case scenario, his original body either disappeared or died.

That last one was concerning, and he tried to not think of it. He had no idea how Katsumi would take it… even more in her condition… he tightened his fist, not for the first time he felt the urge to destroy something, the next instant calm was forced upon his raging emotions.

What would be of Katsumi and his daughter now? He knew Taiyou would take care of them, but that didn't mean he wasn't eager to return. And if the authorities couldn't do it, he would find out himself!

…

Looking around with Mirror of Remote Viewing did not result in much, they were surrounded by mostly plains, a desert on the south-east, and a forest on the west side. The only signs of intelligent life came from a village bordering the forest, the only problem was, the village seemed to be under attack, judging by the armors of the attackers this seemed to be a dispute between nations. Something the Overlord had no intention taking part in.

"My Lord, should we intervene?"

The one interrupting his flow of thoughts was no other than Sebas, as one of the few NPCs with positive karma, he should have expected something like that.

He was about to refuse Sebas' request when a certain scene caught his eyes. What seemed to be a farmer was delaying the invading knight, shielding what he assumed to be his daughters from the attackers, at the cost of his life.

Being a father to be himself Satoru could feel respect for the man, and the image of the two girls getting chased by the knights stirred something in his mind.

"Sebas, tell Albedo to set Nazarick's defenses in full motion and instruct Shalltear to meet me in the forest."

He ordered before casting [Gate]. 'I might as well use this occasion to find out more about this land and how to return home, alongside the strength of the inhabitants' he thought as he walked through the portal.

XxXxX