Chapter 1: Yggdrasil

One had a face that made others frown unconsciously, the wrinkles on her face was truly a sight to behold as such that the word ugly isn't enough to describe her.

However, the tone of her voice didn't match her face at all. Instead, her voice sounded like bell chimes or even the whispers of an angel! It was simply too mesmerizing!

Naturally, she was speaking to the person in front of her, Lucas II.

"Then why did you let him die now!?" (Witch)

"But-" (Witch)

After saying so, Lucas II disappeared into the shadows, leaving Which stupefied.

Finally, she left the room.

+ + +

What!? Huh!? They-...they're pregnant!!!??? Dammit! Who's the father!? I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!

Hm?...Wait...I can feel that Vil and Fen's feelings haven't changed with my [Bonds of Connection] but

"Welcome back Master~" (Vil)

Vil and Fen approached me while holding a bag of potato chips...These lazy bums! What? Don't tell me they did nothing while I was gone!?

"Xene sis cooks better though~" (Fen)

"Ara, these are...the rabbit and snake from before? Wait, before that, where am I? Why did a door suddenly appear in midair? What's this do?" (Mei)

Mei lifted a silver rectangle shaped...thing...wait, what is that?

Wait...huh?

Vil and Fen are here, so this is definitely [Earth]...then why!? Why is there a futuristic holographic TV!?

Unless...they...used [Zoulang's] time?

ImpressiveI wonder if they made hoverboards?

Anyway, I quickly seize Mei who was curiously poking and looking around things and bring her to the sofa.

For now, let's lecture these two.

""Eat!"" (Vil & Fen)

"Move your bodies more! Eating junk foods like that is unhealthy!" (Lucas)

"Ya!" (Vil)

"Exercise!" (Vil)

...Talk about a sudden flip of the switch

Well, they seemed to have snapped out of it, I doubt they'll instantly remove that much fat. Well, I don't particularly mind, they say that these types feel nice to hug. I'll try it later...but let's hope I don't suffocate

"Well, stuff happened. Right, I should start explaining huh?" (Lucas)

After a few hours, I've finished telling Mei what she needed to know, and that the fact that she came from [Zoulang] is a secret.

Just as I was about to go to [Sennerth] to Eu, Aeran, and Aleris, six figures suddenly appeared emerging from the front door.

"Lucas!" (Steph)

"You finally decided to show up!" (Lily)

"Eh? Ah, right...I should start explaining huh?...again..." (Lucas)

"Nah, what with you being you, we already guessed you'll take home more women. We're actually more surprised you only brought back one even though you're in there for over 6000 years!" (Eu)

Sigh...I don't even know if they really trust me or not...it seems it's fine for them if I bring back many girlsbut at the same time, not. I don't get it

"No, wait, what victims!?" (Lucas)

Freya's acting like everything's normal...well, whatever, they seem fine with it so there's no harm...right?

+ + +

This question again

"Ah right, you've missed a lot of things, Lucas. The seal on [Harus] is gone. There's no more need for the [Portal] device anymore, or more like, you can no longer use it." (Freya)

"The [Death Eaters]. They destroyed the seal so they will have a more...direct access to [Harus] and now, even [Harus] people no longer needed to be contracted and summoned so they can travel worlds. In other words, though it helped people, it also brought more chaos than ever before. Even monsters can freely pass now." (Lily)

"No, the [Harus] world was unstable to begin with. That's why there was the seal. But with the seal gone, numerous wormholes appeared throughout [Haurs]. Even after 15 years there, we still haven't contained every wormhole. Some wormholes even connect to other worlds we have yet to discover." (Lily)

But still...even after Crow's death, the [Death Eaters] are still causing mayhem...I need to see Trask, or Bram. Actually, let's just go to the [Gatekeepers HQ]...Oh, nevermind.

Bram appeared out of nowhere and greeted me. I sensed his divine sense just now so I let him discover me. If I didn't let him, then even if he wanted, he wouldn't sense me.

"Up for a tour? A lot of things has changed you know? But still, you should really consider placing a [Spacelock Array] on your house." (Bram)

I said as I looked at the holo-TV that was still on.

"Give me your best shot then." (Lucas)

"I'll look forward to it then, been awhile since I last ate...oh, also, keep watch of Vil and Fen! Those girls eat way too much..." (Lucas)

Chuckling, I stood beside Bram as he grabbed me and teleported us away.

+ + +

Surprised at being stared suddenly, Mei shook and revealed an awkward smile.

"*Bzzt* wrong! No surnames! From now on, you're also a Lauwers!" (Aeran)

"Hehe, don't mind it. So? What's your story? Like I thought, Lucas saved you too huh?" (Eu)

"Hey, not all of us here are saved by Lucas! Me and Aleris wasn't!" (Lily)

Seemingly just realizing it, Aleris also protested. But who can blame her? After all...Lucas did save her...well, not the current Lucas anyway, but they don't need to know that...rather, they really don't have to know

Aeran started boasting her time with Lucas and how she saved her selflessly. Since the other girls understood what she wanted to do, they also did the same and told their own stories.

She didn't know why that is so she didn't know if it's fine to tell the other girls.

"Wow, you waited for 6000 years? I got to admit, at first, I thought you were just liking Lucas as a fan at first but...you're pretty cool after all." (Eu)

"And here I thought waiting for Lucas for 5 years is too long..." (Freya)

Like that, Mei has been accepted to the family.

"So tired vii~ So hungry viii~" (Vil)

...While eating

+ + +

Just now, I stretched my divine sense to see how the girls are doing. They seemed to be fine now but Vil and Fen...I don't even know what to say

A lot has really changed. Just now, when I stretched my divine sense to see the girls, I found out that I can cover the whole [Earth] with my divine sense. Meaning, I can see what everyone's doing

Judging from the location of the girls to here, it seems that the previous [Gatekeeper HQ] has been moved and is now somewhere beneath [Antartica].

We just reached the bottom and the wall in front of us divided into two, revealing a huge hall in front of us.

On both sides of the hall were a row of pillars, carved into statues...Hey! Is that me on the first pillar on the right!?

Come to think of it, the other [Gatekeepers] are there too like the [White Knight] and...huh? The others also got a nickname? Heck, why are the others cool while mine is still the [White Haired Adventurer]!? I wanna change it!

"No, I don't. It's not accurate! That guy has a right arm!" (Lucas)

"It's my reminder that I can never be weak again." (Lucas)

Well, it's not exactly easy to know yourself...I, myself, forced my way through. But wait...Misty!? Blaire!?

"Yeah, she's part of the [Zoulang] division [Gatekeepers].They're pretty hot, especially Misty. Caused a lot of disturbance when she first went here...well, mostly to the guys..." (Bram)

"So, Wild Gun. What are those things above the people's heads?" (Lucas)

"Sigh...it feels weird calling me that so stop itas for those, they're indicators." (Bram)

They come with different colors while some didn't have them. That includes me and Bram by the way.

"For people from another world. Alright, see those things around the place?" (Bram)

"Those are 3D cameras. For the holograms. Using a system called [Holo-Share], the 3D cams will feed us with live feed from the HQ of other worlds. The HQ from other worlds are all made the same anyway." (Bram)

Ah! There are also people passing through people! So those indicators show which you can pass through. Those that has no indicator, you'll have to avoid.

I can understand why there's none for the private areas. As for the hallways, it's probably hard if there's a lot of people passing. You can't always check their heads after all, and it's not necessary.

"Sounds are also transmitted right?" (Lucas)

I chatted some more with Bram as we walk to the other end of the hall. This hall is actually called the [Legacy Hall] which serves as the entrance to the HQ and tribute for those who had made their mark in the [Gatekeeper] history.

Their tourist guide seemed to be introducing each person on the pillar statues. Too bad I wasn't here when they introduced my statue

"Sir Wild Gun is guiding an old man!"

"Is he Sir Wild Gun's grandpa?"

By the way, I saw some disturbing figures also sculpted on the pillars but I chose to ignore them...they couldn't possibly be...those guys...right?

This place is decorated with grass, trees, benches, artificial sky, and even artificial sun! It feels like I'm outside! Even the wind feels fresh!

Some people can be seen resting on the benches, having picnic on the shades of the trees, buying food from the vendors, jogging around with their dogs...it doesn't really feel like I'm inside a base underneath cold ice!

Bram pointed at a building on the farthest right from where we stood.

Actually, there was more than one building inside, there's even a 7-11. Neat.

"The [Gatekeepers] function like an adventurer's guild. On the first floor of that building, you can accept requests for Ranks E and F. Ranks C and D are on the second floor. As for Ranks B and above, they accept special requests in another area." (Bram)

"The corridor to the right is for the public living quarters for those who can't afford a house. With this, there's almost no more people sleeping on the streets and the homeless people has also rapidly decreased." (Bram)

"Next is that corridor on the left. That connects to the [World Portal] chamber. It's an open [World Gate] connected to a machine and monitor where you can choose which world to enter. Of course, not everything's free." (Bram)

Those that required payment are the worlds specialized in entertainment. Bram said there was a world for gambling and games...must be nice~

Worlds that require specific ranks are worlds that contain high difficulty of monsters. There was talks of [Harus] being one of those but was instantly rejected due to the masses.

If one wants to enter a world that isn't on that list, they apply for a request to an office where various names of worlds that requires payment are listed.

As for the general masses, a [Worldport] is constructed where only some selected worlds are allowed since some worlds are too dangerous. All of which are not free. That's why most would become a [Gatekeeper] instead.

[Root] huh. Apparently, that's what they call the deepest floor of this base. And also where the higher ups are.

Just as I was admiring the machines, Bram walked to one of the corridors so I followed him.

Bram pushed some tiles on the wall and the wall opened, revealing an elevator.

There, we were greeted with a huge room with around two thirds of it being on a lower level.

The whole room is as big as the [Central Park] from earlier.

On the upper level, a long table is placed and some nice looking chairs.

We went up on the upper level and inside the room with the long table.

Hm? That armor...it's the same as the armor on one of the pillars in the [Legacy Hall]! The one named [Guardian]!

"It's just the beard, I'll shave later..." (Lucas)

You're still calling me with a Sir

Heeh, Ban has become a bigshot huh?

"No, Sir Lucas. Your position is still higher than me." (Ban)

"After all, now that you're back. We can begin [Project: World Heroes]." (Ban)

"In other words, you will be tasked to search for the new [Heroes] and lead them." (Ban)

"Welcome to [Yggdrasil], future leader of the [Heroes]. Search them before they fall into the darkness." (Trask)

"Well, that's still for later anyways so you can relax for now~" (Bram)

[/hr]

Hey guys~ I know I said I'm going to include a status window in this chapter but it will actually make this chapter too long so I decided to do it next chap...teehee :p?

Also, just a heads up. Somehow, our desktop has been moved to my mom's room...so it feels weird whenever I try to write...I feel like someone's watching me...it makes me uncomfortable...or maybe I'm just lazy~? Well, I'll start my OJT next week so it will be hard for me to write~

Somehow, I'm using alot of ~ today~~ Maybe it's because I decided to reread Death March~ I got infected nanodesu~ Pochi FTW! Nodesu!

P.S.: Did Vil and Fen shock you? They did didn't you? You thought they're pregnant didn't you? You wanted NTR didn't you? Mwahahahaha~