Who Let This Spider Cook?! Ch.22 (Patreon)

— Three Years Until The End of Yggdrasil —

— Kakuei —

As expected, with the end of the war between Hell’s Paradise and Asgard, the game lost much of its player base over the months.

Many people from the other realms still played, but most of Asgard had cleared out.

They had lost all they had worked for, and more than that, there was absolutely no chance they’d ever get their things back from us.

So, they quit.

It was a shame to see; the guild had mixed feelings about it. Some laughed at all the Asgard residents for giving up just because they got their asses handed to them, while some of the guild felt remorse for our actions.

Immediately after it happened, I was a bit upset to see people leaving the game I loved, but at the end of the day, this wasn’t just a game; it was my next life. It needed to be done, emotions be damned.

Beyond that, all of the guild was still here, and there was one reason for that.

Maliketh, the World Eater, the Final Boss of Yggdrasil.

No one had defeated all the fragments of the boss and traveled to the dimension where the World Tree stood tall to take on the massive dragon.

So, of course, it was up to the strongest guild in all the realms to take a shot at the beast.

Beating the game was one thing everyone who played Yggdrasil wanted to do. Some worked harder than others to fulfill that goal, while others helped people get there in their stead.

Us? We were going to strike that fucker down!

‘[You must bring an end to the World Eater.]’

There was also that message that World Savior, my stick, told me daily.

Also, fun fact: I checked out the flavor text of World Savior, and it turns out it contains remnants of Yggdrasil’s soul.

Yggdrasil isn’t dead, lore-wise, but she is in a sealed state thanks to the World Eater. This stick has some of her unsealed consciousness within it.

Which had me wondering how this bad boy would work in the New World once Yggdrasil shut down.

Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is a being that grows world items on her leaves. A better way of putting it would be to say that Yggdrasil can grow entire worlds!

Her existence is beyond anything I can comprehend!

To make her a real, living, breathing person…

Part of me thinks about throwing this stick away, but a few thoughts hold me back. World Savior is soul-bound to me, which means part of Yggdrasil’s consciousness is also bound to me. Which means she should end up being an ally… right?

My logic is flawed, I know, but having a badass tree inside my body like a more powerful tailed beast would be fucking awesome!

I’ll figure it out.

Now, what came next was figuring out how the hell we would beat this monster. The World Eater is strong enough that I can confidently say that our entire guild would have to be present, and even then, we’d be engaged in the fight of our lives.

I mostly had a strategy that I believe would work, but no one has ever seen the World Eater’s health cues beyond the first one. Upon getting the World Eater to below 75% HP, he shrouds his scales in a tough black armor, which is really just my armor, the Midnight Black Armor, but incredibly buffed to the point that it’s a World Item.

No one has ever gotten the World Eater below 50%, so we don’t know what it will do at that point and beyond that.

Which means that we’re mostly going in blind.

So, the plan thus far is that everyone will stick to what I have cooked up, and then whenever the World Eater pulls out it’s bullshit, Buku, Ulbert, Momonga, and I will try and organize the guild to victory on the fly.

It isn’t foolproof, but it’s the best we can do with our information.

Beyond the World Eater, I need to figure out a way to keep as many of my friends on as possible. With the World Eater dead, there will be little left for us to do besides the occasional raid boss that we’d definitely slam.

Yggdrasil would be freed, and the game would be completed. There would be no need to keep playing, and with the shitty world we live in getting shittier by the day, I can honestly see almost everyone leaving unless I do something.

I suppose I don’t need everyone to be on all the time, only at the time of closing. Since everyone already keeps in touch in our group chat, I can definitely get some people on before the game closes.

Either way, I have plans for both that I hope will succeed, and I’ve been slowly putting some into action.

One of them being Touch Me’s family. His wife and daughter have already played on Yggdrasil before, explored the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and leveled a bit with Touch Me, putting them at around level 15. So, if things go well, Touch Me will bring his family on during the countdown, and we can all go to the New World together.

“I don’t like how Kakuei is just standing there… menacingly!” Pero shouted from before me, and I wished my character could have facial expressions because my deadpan was vicious.

“Shut up, Baka! He’s thinking!” Buku scoffed at the large bird-man before looking my way.

“Yeah, I think I have it all figured out.” I nodded.

The guild members who were still on at this late hour gave me their undivided attention as I continued.

“We’ll finish this raid game boss, in a week's time. That’s when everyone should be available. Should anyone cancel, no biggy, we’ll wait and keep waiting until all fifty of us are ready and able to beat this game, once and for all.”

““Right!”” They all shouted and started to rise from their seats.

As Momonga stood up, she caught me staring at her. More than anything in the world, I wanted to hold her, and the moment we logged out, I planned on doing just that.

Momonga gave me a small nod before her character disappeared. I was just about ready to go as well before a soft voice met my ears.

“...K-Kakuei.”

I looked over to BukuBukuChagama's slimy body, which was standing there before me. Several players were still in the room, but they were more or less heading out to their individual rooms within the tomb to log off.

“Buku.” I sent a smiley emoji. “Is something up?”

“Uh, yeah.”

I frowned internally at just how nervous and stressed she sounded. Buku was usually the cheery, happy, bubbly woman of the guild. There were common times when she would get angry at her brother, Peroronchino, for something or another, but she wouldn’t typically show that anger or distress off on anyone besides him.

“Come to my room, let’s talk.” I offered her, and her slime head gave a small nod.

We teleported out of the War Room and onto the Ninth Floor Hallway where each guild member’s room was, and then we walked into my room.

“You sound troubled, Buku. Is something wrong?”

She slid side to side for a while in silence. Her lack of speaking didn’t do well for my nerves, if I was being honest.

“A lot has happened-” She breathed out after a while. “We met how long ago now?”

That question caught me off guard. “Eh, a little under seven years, I think.” I hummed in thought. “Damn, I’m old.”

“How do you think I feel?! I’m older than you!” Buku shouted out to me playfully.

There’s the Buku I know.

Buku sighed quietly, calming herself down as the serious air rekindled around her.

“For seven years, I’ve walked beside you- and before you say anything, I know I don’t have any legs, don’t be a smart ass!”

I chuckled. Lightening the mood was exactly what needed to be done, and she knew me well enough to know that’s what I was gonna do.

“And in that time, I’ve learned things about myself that I had never dreamed of knowing.” I could practically hear the smile in her voice. “You know… about our home life? My brother and I?”

So this is what she wanted to talk about.

“Yes, Pero’s told me before,” I admitted with a far more serious tone.

“Mhm.” Buku gave a slow nod.

Their story wasn’t unusual in our world. Two parents, tied together by nothing but the need to support the household, eventually succumbing to overwork and leaving behind two children to follow in their footsteps.

“I have a good job.” Buku admitted. “I got lucky.”

“Yeah, I hear the pay isn’t half bad.” I nodded, smiling warmly internally.

“... I hate it.”

“...” Well that thoroughly wiped the smile I had off my face… maybe characters not showing facial expressions is a good thing.

“I got lucky, yes, I make money, that’s also true. But I never enjoyed my job, and if I didn’t have to take care of my little brother, I would have quit a long time ago.” Buku admitted.

I remained quiet as she continued.

“When my brother told me about Yggdrasil, I thought it was just another dumb nerdy game he’d drag me into. I wasn’t interested at all.” Buku admitted. “But… the first moment I stepped into the world, and experienced the clean atmosphere and beautiful graphics… I fell in love.”

“This world… it was one worth living in. So I spent as much time as I could, grinding with my brother. Truthfully, I never thought we’d get anywhere besides having some fun on the side… that was until we met Touch Me.”

I resisted the urge to laugh. Touch Me’s… flamboyant attitude didn’t allow them to reject joining him, he basically yoinked them and kept moving.

“And then, I joined your group.” Buku let out a soft sigh, reminiscing about the past. “At first, I was nervous. I didn’t want to say or do anything that would get me kicked… so I followed along with everything everyone said.”

“That was until… the guild was debating about the Chimera Raid… I was acting how I usually do, staying quiet and giving murmurs of agreement whenever Touch Me would speak… that was until you singled me out and told me to speak my mind.”

“...” I’m gonna be honest, I don’t remember doing that. It was such an insignificant event in my mind that I completely forgot about that shit. I vaguely remember the Chimera Raid though, I think that was the first time Buku took charge of some of the guild members.

“I was so shy at first, but when I let my thoughts out… you accepted them, even when others thought I was just some inexperienced girl, talking about something I had no knowledge of.”

“It was a good idea.” I admitted, the memories of the event starting to flow in my mind once more. “Aggroing the Chimera and funneling them into one of the side rooms. I wouldn’t even have thought of it, but you did, and you did damn good work executing it.” I gave her a proud nod and she tilted her head away from me slightly.

“M-Mhm!” Hearing how happy she sounded tugged on my heartstrings. “From then on, I had the confidence to speak up whenever I felt I had something to offer to the conversation or debate, and even when I didn’t, you would encourage me to speak anyway.”

“Of course, you have damn good ideas and a nice head on those slimy shoulders of yours.” I chuckled.

A soft, soothing giggle escaped her character. “Mhm! You helped me break out of my shell! But… more than that, you helped me see myself in a brighter light.”

“A brighter light?” I tilted my head in confusion.

“All my life I felt like someone was pulling the strings, moving me however they wanted. Taking care of my brother, getting jobs I don’t like, and settling on one I hate. It was all…” She paused, taking a breath. “But you didn’t care about all of that. You didn’t look at me as a tool to use instead of a guild member. You didn’t stand aside as I continued being played with like a fool. You looked at me for my mind, you set me free… you cut those strings.”

I blinked at her heartfelt words and waved my arms in front of me. “Buku, I just did what any good human should do. You’re a smart girl, and it takes an idiot to not see that.”

“There aren’t many good humans left,” Buku admitted, sliding closer to me. “Which is why… I chose you.”

“... Eh, what?”

“I’m saying you’re the only one for me.”

“Oooohhhhh!” I widened my eyes before chuckling. My sudden laughing fit caught her off guard. I took a few breaths and gave her a thumbs up emoji. “I’m glad you think I’m such a good leader.”

“...”

“...”

“I’M SAYING I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU DUMBASS!”

— Chapter End —