Prologue

As he sat on the throne, Momonga ignored the faint satisfaction and redoubled shame he felt for a moment and began looking around the interior of the room, whereupon he saw Sebas and the maids standing stock-still and motionless. Standing so rigidly in this room made him feel a little lonely.

坐上玉座，飞鼠暂且不去注意自己心里那少许的满足感及成倍的羞耻心，而开始环顾室内，随即发现眼下的塞巴斯和女仆们直挺挺的站着不动。在这个房间一动也不动地站着着实叫人有些寂寥。

He recalled that there had been a command for this. Momonga thought back to the commands he had seen before, and then extended a hand before gently waving it from top to bottom.

记得好像有这样的指令。飞鼠回想起过去曾经见过的命令，伸出一只手轻轻地从上往下挥。

“Genuflect.”

「膜拜吧」

Albedo, Sebas, and the six maids (Pleiades); all of them knelt before him in the way subjects would abase themselves before their master.

包括雅儿贝德、塞巴斯和六名女仆[Pleiades]，一起跪下以示臣下之礼。

That was good.

这样就好。

Momonga raised his left hand, and checked the time.

飞鼠举起左手，确认时间。

23:55:48,49,50––

He ought to be just in time.

差不多勉强可以赶上时间。

Right now, the GMs were probably nonstop broadcasting and others were setting off fireworks outside. However, Momonga – who had blocked all these things out – did not know of them.

此时恐怕ＧＭ已经开始不断广播，外面也在施放烟火吧。不过将这些东西全部阻绝的飞鼠并无法得知。

Momonga leaned against the throne, and slowly raised his head to the ceiling.

飞鼠背靠王座，慢慢抬头望向天花板。

He had built Nazarick, this most difficult dungeon, with his friends. For that reason, Momonga had thought that a group of players might decide to invade on this final day.

和同伴们一起打造的这座纳萨力克地下大坟墓正可谓最高难度的迷宫。正因如此、飞鼠本以为在这最后一天，或许会有玩家组队闯入也说不定。

Momonga waited.

飞鼠等待着。

He would welcome any challengers in his position as Guildmaster.

为了以公会长身份接受前来的挑战。

While he had sent messages to all the former members, the number of people who did actually arrive could be counted on one hand.

虽然对过去的所有成员都寄出了邮件通知，但真正过来的人却屈指可数。

Momonga waited.

飞鼠等待着。

He would welcome any returning friends in his position as Guildmaster.

为了以公会长身份欢迎同伴的归来。

“A relic of the past, huh–”

「过去的遗物吗——」

Momonga thought.

飞鼠思索着。

While this guild was nothing more than an empty shell now, he had had enjoyable times with it in the past

虽然现在的这个公会只是徒有其表的空壳，但是曾经也有过愉快的时光。

He shifted his gaze to count the gigantic flags dangling from the ceiling. There were a total of 41 of them in all, the same number as there were guild members. Each flag bore an emblem of a member. Momonga extended a bony white finger to point at one of them, and allowed the memories in his mind to reawaken… but his hand stopped mid-motion.

移动目光数着从天花板垂下的巨大旗帜、总共四十一面。和公会成员的数量相同，上面有每个成员的印记。飞鼠伸出白骨手指指向其中一面，并让脑海中的记忆复苏……但是手的动作在中途就停了下来。

–Now’s not the time for such things!

（──现在不是做那种事的时候！）

Momonga thought about a certain plan he had prepared for today.

飞鼠想起他为了今天事前准备好了某个计划。

A plan for a glorious finish at the end.

为了在最后做个华丽总结的计划。

In order to celebrate with his friends who had come back on the last day of operation, in order to do something big with them right at the very end, Momonga had gone to a shopping district that he almost never visited, purchasing vast quantities of items, intending to use them to conduct an event.

为了和营运最终日回来的同伴们，在最后一起做件大事，飞鼠特别去了平常几乎不会去的街上购物，他购入大量的道具，打算使用这些东西办个活动。

However, while several of his friends had come all the way back to the guild, regretfully none of them had stayed until the very end.

然而、虽然最终日有几个同伴特地回来公会，但令人惋惜的是谁都没有留到最后一刻。

Those particular friends who did come back… had of course put their real lives first. As Momonga had watched many of his friends leave the guild for the same reason, it was a conclusion he could have anticipated.

特地回来的同伴们理所当然地……以现实世界的事情为优先。由于飞鼠过去目送过很多次同伴们因为同样的理由而离开公会的背影，因此这其实是个能够事先预测的结果。

Even so, Momonga still felt terribly lonely, and terribly frustrated at the same time.

尽管如此、飞鼠心中依旧极为寂寞，同时也感到相当的恼火。

It was because these two emotions filled his heart that he had completely forgotten that his original intention was to take part in the event with his friends. No, perhaps it was because he did not want to remember it.

正因为心中抱着这样的两种感情，所以才完全忘记了这个打算和同伴们一起进行的活动。不、说不定是因为他不愿意想起来的缘故。

Perhaps there might have been another ending, which was to forget about the event and sit on the throne to await the end.

说不定，也可能会有另一种结局，就是这样忘掉活动的事，坐在王座上迎来那最后时刻吧。

However, he thought of it now.

但是、现在已经想起来了。

In that case–

这样一来——

Momonga suddenly rose to his feet.

飞鼠猛地站了起来。

I have to go! Even if it’s only me! I need to give this whole thing a glorious conclusion at the end, even if it’s only me!

（必须去！就算只有我也好！即使只有我一个也要在最后来个华丽的收尾！）

There was no more time.

已经没有时间了。

Momonga released the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown which had been in his firm grip, and at once activated the ring on his right ring finger – the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.

飞鼠放开了手中紧握的安兹·乌尔·恭之杖，并立刻发动了右手无名指戴着的戒指——安兹·乌尔·恭之戒的力量。

As he operated the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, a list of teleport destinations appeared.

操作着安兹·乌尔·恭之戒，让转移处列表浮现出来。

However, the first was his own room. Why the hell was it set to a place like that? Momonga griped over something that normally would never have bothered him, and scrolled through the selections.

不过第一个出现的是自已的房间，为什么要设置在这种地方啊，飞鼠一边对平常不会在意的小事感到不快，一边滑动着选项。

“Got it!”

「有了!」

Momonga could not keep himself from exclaiming in delight.

飞鼠不禁发出了高兴的声音。

After finding the teleport destination closest to the surface, Momonga was about to tap it when he hesitated for a moment

找到了离目的地的地面最近的转移地点后，飞鼠在马上就要按前，犹豫了起来。

Momonga’s eyes went toward the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

飞鼠的视线朝向了安兹·乌尔·恭之杖。

As a Guild Weapon, its destruction meant the destruction of the guild. From that point of view, leaving it there was the safest choice he could make.

身为公会武器的这件道具要是被破坏的话，那就代表着公会本身的崩坏。因此就这点来说，将它留在这里才是安全的选择。

However, had Momonga not thought of something before he had taken it up earlier?

但是、飞鼠在之前将它拿起来前，不就曾经这么想过了吗？

That’s right, walk with me – for you are the proof that the Guild Ainz Ooal Gown once existed.

（没错、跟我一起走吧——我安兹·乌尔·恭公会的存在之证啊）

Momonga gripped the staff tight, and activated the power of the ring.

握紧公会之杖，飞鼠发动了戒指的能力。

The teleportation went through in an instant, and he was transported to an expansive room.

转移瞬间就发动了，他被传送到了一个宽敞的大房间。

There were two rows of narrow stone biers used to lay corpses to rest on either side of him – though they were unoccupied now. The floor was made of polished limestone. To the rear was a flight of stairs heading down, and at their bottom was a set of double doors – the doors leading to the first floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

左右两旁设有几个用来安置遗体──虽然现在并没有──的细长石台。地板则是被打磨过的石灰石。后方是一道往下的阶梯，尽头有着双开大门──通往纳萨力克地下大坟墓第一阶层的门。

This was the closest place to the surface to which the teleportation power of the ring could take him.

这个地方正是利用戒指的力量能转移到的最接近地面的场所，

The displayed location name indicated that this was the Central Mausoleum of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

在地标上标注的地名是纳萨力克地下大坟墓地表部中央灵庙。

“I need to hurry!” Momonga shouted, to spur himself on.

「要快点了！」

飞鼠喊着，催促着自己。

He glanced at the watch on his left hand, and the time was–

看了眼戴在左手的手表后，时间──

23:58:03

–He was almost out of time.

——已经不是快来不及那种等级了。

It was as though he could hear the door-closing chime of the train doors cease, replaced by the hissing of gas from within the door.

已经到了电车关门铃声停止，能听到从门那里传出像是漏气声那种状况。

Momonga cast 「Fly」, as though he were a salaryman sprinting up the stairs

就像全力冲刺在楼梯的上班族一样，飞鼠发动<飞行>的魔法。

Despite his panic, Momonga’s movements as he scrolled down the console and selected the flight spell were not misplaced in the slightest.

尽管心中十分着急，但飞鼠操作面板、选择<飞行>魔法的动作却没有丝毫含糊。

Every spell had its place on the spellcasting console.

魔法的操作面板上，在什么地方配置了什么魔法。

If he did not know these things, if he made any mistakes when he needed to cast spells, it would affect activities such as combat. For that reason, Momonga had spent upwards of a year memorizing every single position of the console. While this effort left his other teammates dumbfounded, Momonga had still never managed to beat Touch Me even once despite his hard work. Even so, Momonga had always felt that his good PVP track record was due to his practical diligence, and that was probably true.

这些东西要是不记忆清楚的话，在需要使用魔法的时候要是有了什么闪失，就会对战斗之类的活动造成阻碍的。正因如此、飞鼠才会花了一年以上的时间，将面板上的所有配置几乎全部记得一清二楚。虽然是连其他公会的同伴看了都为之哑然的努力，但飞鼠就算如此努力，也还是从来没有赢过塔其米一次。尽管如此，飞鼠认为自己PVP的战绩之所以良好，应该是要归功于这类的踏实努力才对，这大概也是事实。

Momonga flew with all his might towards the great swamp surrounding the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

飞鼠朝着纳萨力克地下大坟墓外的广大沼泽全力飞去。

Posture control during flight was surprisingly difficult. He had once heard someone say it was like playing a dogfighting game. Still, if he was only flying in a straight line, then simple movements would suffice. Or rather, there was no need to control anything at all. All he had to do was not touch the control interface.

飞行状态的操作意外的难。曾听人说就像是在进行某种空战游戏的感觉。但不管怎么说，如果只是要笔直飞行的话进行简单的操作就已经足够了。不如说根本没有操作的必要。只要不动操作接口就好了。

Once he left the surface portion of Nazarick – in other words, the graveyard – behind him, he would be in the mist-filled swamp region.

只要越过纳萨力克的地面部分、也就是墓地，马上就是雾气弥漫的沼泽地带了。

The forms of monsters appeared in the mists, but right now, all active mobs had been set to an inactive state, so he would not be attacked so long as he did not strike first.

在雾中、可以看到怪物如影浮现，不过现在所有的主动怪都被设定为了非主动状态，因此只要不主动攻击的话就不会被袭击。

This shift to inactive mode had been implemented roughly a week ago. That, combined with the frequent sightseeing activities, had apparently led to a lot of new discoveries.

这个非主动化状态是在大约一周前开始实施，加上频繁举办的名胜观光旅游活动，事到如今似乎还产生了很多的新发现。

Even Momonga could not contain a gasp of delight when he saw the videos of those discoveries. As for the ones which had not drawn such reaction from him, he instead cursed, How the hell would anyone know about this, were the devs stupid? in his mind.

当看见那些新发现的影片时，就连飞鼠也不禁发出赞叹。至于那些他没有赞叹的新发现，则是发出类似「这种东西怎么可能知道啊，制作团队是脑子进水？」之类的咒骂。

I thought that someone would try to invade us for sightseeing purposes. After all, they’d be able to pass through the Grenbera Swamp without expending any resources.

(本以为会有侵入者会以类似这种观光团的形式过来的。毕竟不用消耗资源就能突破格伦贝拉沼泽)

But nobody had come.

但是谁也没有来。

It was worth celebrating, of course, but at the same time it also made him feel lonely, as though he had been completely forgotten by the world. Something like that.

当然这是可喜的事情，但同时也令人感到寂寥，彷佛是被世间一切所遗忘一般，那样子的感觉。

Momonga narrowed his eyes – although his expression did not change. He had reached his destination, an island floating on the swamp.

飞鼠瞇起眼睛——虽然表情没有变，已经抵达作为目的地、在沼泽上漂浮着的岛屿了。

It was a curious little island.

是座奇妙的岛屿。

It was not very large, but it was covered with a great deal of cylindrical objects, enough to fill its entire surface.

虽然并没有很大，但上头却放着足以将地面整个覆盖起来的大量圆筒状物体。

Momonga produced a stick-like object with a button from his pocket dimension, and held it in the hand which was not holding the Guild Weapon.

飞鼠从空间中取出只有一个按钮的棒状物，用没有握着公会武器的手将其握住。

“Here I go!”

「要上了!」

As he exclaimed those words in a forceful tone that he would normally never use, Momonga pressed down hard on the button.

用和平时不一样的强烈语气呼喊出来的飞鼠用力地按下按钮。

In that moment, the cylinders which were so tightly packed that there was hardly any space between them all discharged balls of light into the skies above. They were too close together, so it looked just like a gigantic ball of light.

那一瞬间、下方的岛上几乎毫无间隙的并排着的圆筒，一齐将光弹打上了空中，由于太过密集，看起就像是一个巨大的光团。

They were fireworks sold by the YGGDRASIL developers – or perhaps the operations team – at a low price.

是YGGDRASIL这个游戏的制作团队，或者说是营运团队以便宜价格出售的烟火。

Momonga had purchased around ten thousand fireworks and arranged them on this island. However, he had not set them all out, because he had gotten bored halfway through. Right now, Momonga probably had at least a quarter of those fireworks still in his inventory.

飞鼠买进了总计一万发的烟火，并把它们排列在这个岛上。但并不是全部都排了出来，因为排到途中觉得无聊就停了。现在飞鼠的道具箱里恐怕还剩下至少四分之一的烟火没拿出来。

“...I need to wake up at 4 tomorrow, huh.”

「……明天四点就得起床吗」

Momonga watched the receding afterglow in the sky, muttering morosely to himself as he watched the orbs of light climb slowly into the sky. He had originally intended to enjoy this scene with his friends who had come back to celebrate the last day of the game with him. However, there was nobody by Momonga’s side now.

飞鼠目送着一边在空中画下清晰的残光，一边渐高渐远往上攀升的光弹，语带寂寥地自言自语着。本来这个景象是打算和一起迎接最终日的同伴们一起观赏的。然而、现在飞鼠的身旁谁也不在。

And then, a massive explosion burst in the sky. Light overlapped with more light; it was no longer a fireworks display, but something that was almost like the super tier spell 「Fallen Down」.

随即、空中发生了巨大的爆炸。光与光相互重迭，那个已经不是烟火，简直像是超位魔法之一的<坠落天空>一样了。

The flashing lights enveloped Momonga as he flew.

闪耀的光芒将飞行中的飞鼠给包了进去。

Ah...

(啊啊……)

Momonga did not know how it would feel when a DMMO’s servers shut down.

DMMO在服务器关闭时会是怎样的感觉，飞鼠并不知道。

This was because Momonga, no, because Suzuki Satoru had not played any games other than YGGDRASIL. However, he was sure that it would not end in a hopeful way. He was sure it would be like a sudden snapping of a string and he would be forcefully kicked back to reality.

飞鼠、不，因为铃木悟这个人并没有玩过YGGDRASIL以外的游戏。但是、绝对不可能是以充满希望的方式结束的。一定是像噗哧一声断线一样地，猛然将你踢回现实世界。

Even so–

尽管如此——

Maybe it would feel better if it ended while I was surrounded with light–

（如果是在光芒的包围下结束的话，至少会感觉稍微好过一点——)

He would return to the real world several seconds later. Even so, this moment felt like it was made to vividly display the joy of Suzuki Satoru.

数秒后就被会赶回现实世界了。即使如此、这个瞬间却像是将铃木悟这个人的喜好给活生生的呈现出来一样。

And then–

然后——

–Momonga began to panic.