Strings Wrapped Around A Bone

00:00:00

'I'll have to go to sleep as fast as possible if I don't want this to affect my work.

00:00:01

I hope Bijou has a nice dream today, along with every other day after that.

00:00:02

She definitely deserves that, at the very least, for helping me take care of the guild.

00:00:03

Suzuki Satoru opens his eyes, the black screen with a window blaring the notification at him of the server shutdown is absent. The revelation that his peripheral vision is that of him still on his throne, and not in his apartment, fills him with sudden confusion. 'Was the shutdown pushed back?' 'Also, why is the screen clearer?' 'Did the Devs improve the graphics?'

'No, that can't be. There would have been an announcement.' Satoru swiftly moves his hands to open the command console.

The command console is inaccessible.

He tried the forced connection, the chat function, a GM call, and lastly forced log out.
Nothing is responding. As if they were just deleted from the system.

"...What the hell is going on?!" His voice reached the entirety of the throne room. 'His voice-'
As he moves his head to his left side where Bijou was last seen leading against the 'Throne of Kings', she is nowhere to be found.

'Where is she?' 'Bijou was with me a second ago!' 'Where could she have gone?' 'Wait, let's not get ahead of myself here, she could be around the corner...'

Calming down from his internal outburst, he noticed that something, an aura of sorts, was forced on him and an unsettling calmness came upon him. That is something he needs to investigate later, however, finding her is the top priority. He adjusted his vision to the clearer view inside the throne room to search for her, and surveying more of his surroundings, a gentle feminine voice spoke, "What's wrong, Momonga-sama?"

Satoru ignored the voice, he was vision tunneling and stood up. He can't lose her. The circumstances are dire enough, there are many things that have gone wrong. If this was just a prank on the player, then he is more than furious. His grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown tightened.

Due to him ignoring the voice calling out to him, it repeated what was already stated. Yet, this time was a bit more forceful, "Is something wrong, Momonga-sama?!", the voice sounds more worried and distressed. Finally, annoyed at the interpretation, he looks over to the source of the voice, Albedo. 'Since when were NPCs so... alive?' 'Her chest rises and falls as though she is really breathing. This can't just be an improvement in graphics.'

He can only respond with silence, there are too many things that he does not understand. And her talking, her mouth moving, the slight movement on her face, which is something 'Yggdrasill' lacked, were some of the things he can't take lightly or casually. Instead of panic, confusion, or shock, he feels oddly calm. 'Is this also linked to his previous outburst of emotion?'

"Pardon me." Momonga can only utter as much. He is too deep in thought to realize that Albedo is closing in on him, only to return to the present and be started at the proximity.

"Are you alright?" Albedo's gentle and pristine face inches nearer as she assesses him. 'What if this was a planned attack from other players, maybe they used the wish-granting world item to extend the shutdown?' 'But how would that explain the NCPs' behaviors?'

Momonga came out of his thoughts, and due to the faint aroma radiating from Albedo, he finally formed a full sentence. "No, everything is alright. Nothing is wrong-" He cut himself off, something was 'wrong', Bijou was missing.