Chapter 0120: Waiting for Server Shutdown
Overlord World.
Wealthy District.
Hayashi Residence.
"Shh, shh, shh—"
Hayashi clasped his hands behind his head, whistling nervously, while facing the emotionless projection of Kayaba before him.
"You left me behind."
"I didn't."
"You left me behind."
"I did not."
"You left me behind!"
"You were the one who didn't want to go!"
"You didn't tell me it was another world!"
At this moment, Kayaba was utterly heartbroken. His feelings were akin to waking up from a dream where he had a date with Jeanne Alter, only to realize he was too timid to even hold her hand.
Regret. Deep, profound regret.
If heaven gave him another chance, he would tell Hayashi, "I'm willing!" And if he had to set a time limit on this promise, he would wish for ten thousand years!
"You didn't ask," Hayashi scratched his head, looking somewhat innocent. "Besides, there's nothing fun in this world! Why would I go out?"
"..."
Kayaba almost felt there was some logic to Hayashi's words—almost.
"Anyway, from now on, you'd better focus on grinding progress!" Kayaba's heart was as cold as steel, even itching to let out a sinister chuckle. "No more vacations like this!"
"Really? None at all?"
"Not a single day! Get ready for the 007 life!"
His resolve was unshakable.
"What if the vacation is still in another world?"
"..." Kayaba's expression twisted into something fierce. "Just take me with you!"
"Heh heh—"
Hayashi grinned.
...
...
Over the next five months, Hayashi did take Kayaba to the Pokémon world once to watch the intense World Championships. Cynthia had actually invited him before, but Hayashi had been too busy grinding levels and ended up standing her up.
Now, finally having some free time, Hayashi hurriedly bought tickets to watch the matches live, making up for the missed opportunity. He witnessed Cynthia defeat Steven Stone and Lance before engaging in an epic 300-round battle against Leon...
The thrilling predictions, switches, and tactical exchanges left Hayashi in awe—though he didn't fully understand, the excitement had his blood boiling. He almost wanted to rush onto the field himself and unleash his Aura to battle Leon's Charizard and Cynthia's Garchomp for 300 rounds!
Alas, trainers weren't allowed on the field, much to Hayashi's regret.
Gengar in the shadows: "?"
What about me? You could send me out! My Ice Punch is pretty strong too!
Swish, swish, swish! Kekeke!
...
...
"So, how was it?" Hayashi asked Kayaba on the screen, curious. "Pretty fun, right?"
Kayaba nodded. "Pokémon are indeed fascinating creatures. But I don't understand—why do the champions' Pokémon know over a dozen moves, yet only four are allowed in battles?"
"That's a competition rule to limit tactics and make matches more exciting—Cynthia told me that." Hayashi stroked his chin. "After all, the same Pokémon with different move sets can employ entirely different strategies."
To put it bluntly, Pokémon battles are still about "spectacle" and "competitiveness," so they sacrifice some of the top-tier advantages to allow weaker Pokémon trainers to shine more brightly—but in a life-or-death battle, who cares about the four-move limit? I'll throw a left hook with Fire Punch, a right hook with Ice Punch, follow up with an uppercut Thunder Punch, then hit you with Flamethrower, Dragon Claw, and Dragon Pulse to show you what love really feels like!
"So that's it—for the sake of excitement, huh—" Kayaba nodded thoughtfully and said, "But capturing pets to battle? That's an interesting concept. Maybe it could be implemented in a game..."
'So, Sword Art Online might get a full-dive Pokémon game?' Hayashi's expression turned peculiar as he wondered whether bringing this game back to his own world could make him a fortune...
...
...
After enjoying their hard-earned vacation, Hayashi's team resumed the thrilling and intense journey of building their guild's headquarters.
Thanks to inspiration from a certain anime and Kayaba, Hayashi and his group created the most expensive guild structure—"Sky City." It was a twelve-story floating castle, its interior so luxurious that even the Great Tomb of Nazarick would pale in comparison.
Why? Because they had resources to spare!
With the announcement of the game's shutdown, more and more players learned about it—and about Hayashi still buying materials. They quickly logged in to sell off their once-precious rare materials to him. The money might not make them rich, but it was still a considerable sum.
Hayashi: "They got several months' worth of salary, and I got the game's rarest top-tier materials—this is what we call a win-win, WinWin!"
Of course, not all players were willing to sell their items. For example, the guild of a certain lonely skeleton believed these items held irreplaceable memories of fighting alongside comrades—selling them was out of the question, never in this lifetime!
For Hayashi, World-Class Items were just nice bonuses—after all, they could only be used in the Overlord world for now. By the time he had the power to activate them in other worlds, he probably wouldn't care much about missing a few items. So he had no intention of forcing Ainz Ooal Gown to part with theirs.
In his view, as long as he prevented the Skeleton King from logging in at the last moment, Ainz Ooal Gown—unable to cross into another world—would pose no threat to him. But this time, luck seemed to be on Hayashi's side.
...
...
Hayashi stared with a strange expression at the dozens of players sitting before him and the World-Class Items laid out on the table—"Throne of Kings," "Greed and Generosity," "Scroll of the Land and People," "Abyss of Hell," and more. He couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Momonga, I remember emailing you before, but you didn't seem very interested. So why now...?"
Facing Hayashi's inquiry, Momonga made a "wry smile" expression and said, "These items were all earned through the efforts of me and my companions. Under normal circumstances, we would never want to sell them. But... a very important member of our guild unfortunately contracted a local virus during a business trip and requires expensive treatment..."
"This..."
Hayashi's expression was complicated. He could swear to the heavens that he hadn't employed any tricks—he had even mentally given up on obtaining these world-class items from the Ainz Ooal Gown guild. Yet luck could be such a fickle thing.
After all, no matter how many world-class items the Ainz Ooal Gown guild possessed, they might as well not exist if he didn't cross over.
"Alright, I understand the situation now—" Hayashi glanced at the players behind Momonga and smiled. "It seems that sick player is quite popular."
No kidding. Most of the players who had quit the game long ago had logged back in just for this. It was clear everyone cared deeply about this matter.
"Exactly." Momonga nodded emphatically, speaking from the heart. "Many of us, including myself, have received his help before! That's why we can't just stand by when he's in trouble now!"
"Good!" Hayashi couldn't help but applaud. He said earnestly, "By the way, I recall the vaccine needed to treat that virus costs... hmm... even if you sell all these world-class items at current market prices, it probably still wouldn't be enough, right?"
Momonga nodded. "For the remaining amount, we've decided everyone will chip in a portion. Combined, it should just about cover it."
Hayashi waved his hand dismissively. "Why bother pooling money? I'll cover it! As they say, adversity reveals true friendship—you have the story, and I'll provide the wine. Consider this funding my contribution to your tale, how about that?"
What else could they do but shower him with grateful thanks? Momonga was even moved to tears as he pulled out all the premium items from his inventory, trying to shove them into Hayashi's hands.
Hayashi naturally accepted them all. At worst, he could just wire a little extra when transferring the money—money he had "earned" through the hard work of Kayaba, of course.
...
...
After watching the overjoyed Momonga walk away—constantly turning back to bow and spamming grateful, heart, and kissy-face emojis—Erina approached Hayashi with a complicated expression. "I feel like Momonga, who's been fighting shadows all this time, just got completely scammed by you. It's like he got sold, counted the money for you, and then blamed himself for selling too cheap."
Hayashi pinched her cheek in mock annoyance. "What nonsense! I didn't pull any tricks here. It's purely their bad luck—I genuinely wanted to help them."
Erina smiled and nodded. "I was just remarking on the irony. Though, I never expected an Undead body would influence personality so much! Pre-isekai Momonga showed no signs of becoming that 'ultimate evil' who slaughtered seventy thousand just to test magic."
Hayashi reached out and wrapped his arm around Erina's waist, saying, "Because the undead body completely shields his emotional fluctuations, and without emotions, Momonga becomes a purely rational monster—no big deal, we're genuine humans through and through, without all those messy passives."
Erina nodded, then said with eager anticipation, "The floating castle is almost complete, and the Floor Guardians and other NPCs are pretty much all designed! I can't wait to see the changes after we cross over."
Hayashi also murmured expectantly, "Yeah—"
Everything was ready—just waiting for the server shutdown day!