A massive crab-like creature sat in an open space within what resembled an ancient catacomb. Around him y immense material wealth—holy metals, radiant gemstones, and relics of untold value piled in every direction. A pair of thick goggles rested on his face, and a bcksmith’s apron fit snugly against his segmented body. Before his sharp yet spindly legs y a humanoid ragdoll, featureless and still, but shifting with every flick of his cw as he interacted with a floating interface. Each motion altered its appearance, as if sculpting its identity from nothing.

  Amanomahitotsu closed his HUD and turned toward the pyer who had addressed him. "How’s the pop mobs?" he asked.

  Garnet, the golem beside him, responded with a sighing emoji.

  "That bad? Why do we even bother spawning them? I know Tabu says they add to the tomb’s atmosphere, but their upkeep costs way too much gold."

  "Eh, leave it," the golem shrugged. "Momonga and the other whales want their LARP to feel immersive, so it’s not like we have a choice. Besides, they’re the ones paying for it."

  Amano replied with a grinning emoticon. "I guess. How’s the repair work for the rest of the tomb?"

  "Not bad," Garnet muttered, lowering himself to sit beside Amano. His avatar showed no signs of stress, but his tone betrayed his frustration. "We spent ages building this pce, and they just tore through it."

  "I know." Amano sounded irritated. "But that won’t happen again."

  "Unlikely," Garnet corrected, but he still leaned in, curious about the newest addition to the tomb. This one was designed specifically to counter mercenary pyers—those who hired swarms of disposable minions from across the Nine Realms. With its summoning abilities and soon-to-be workshop of golems, the next group to try overwhelming them with sheer numbers would be in for a nasty surprise.

  "I want him to be an automaton," Amano mused, mostly to fill the silence. "You wanted to py as one, right?"

  "Yeah, but they weren’t released back then," Garnet shrugged. "Is it gonna be like Rubedo?" He opened his HUD, pulling up the tomb’s map. A single red dot blinked on the eighth floor—their strongest NPC, and the only reason their guild hadn’t relocated yet.

  "Probably not. We don’t have a Caloric Stone anymore."

  "No, we don’t," Amano admitted. "But he’s going to be min-maxed for rge-scale battles, with constant revivals in short intervals thanks to one of the Technomancer css’ skills."

  "I think I heard about that on the forums… Was it [Transfer Consciousness]? That’s the skill, right?" Garnet looked over.

  Amano sent a nodding emoticon in response.

  "Right, that. Seems kinda broken."

  "It is. Too bad this race wasn’t avaible back then—I would’ve loved to py as an Automaton." Amano shook his head in disappointment. "Anyway, you setting up the traps soon?"

  Garnet stood up. "I should probably get on with that, make some pns. You won’t mind reworking the first floor around my traps, right?"

  "I won’t," Amano confirmed, pulling up his HUD again. A 3D model of the NPC he had been designing floated before him. He had mostly made swords in the past, so working on a humanoid was a nice change of pace. Well, humanoid was a retive term.

  "Just don’t overdo it."

  "...That probably won’t happen."

  "Work?"

  Garnet hummed in response.

  Time passed in a blur as Amanomahitotsu refined the ragdoll, transforming it into a monster of heavy metal. The head split open, its form shifting into a sharp oval with glowing orbs for eyes and a speaker for a mouth. Two thick arms emerged from its shoulders, each splitting into three thinner limbs. Amano narrowed its torso further, giving the figure an unsettling, almost skeletal appearance. The smooth metal body enhanced its uncanny design—inhuman, yet eerily lifelike.

  He was still making adjustments when his friends arrived to check on his progress.

  "What is that?" Peroroncino pointed at the gangly machine hanging from hooks on the ceiling. "An Automaton?"

  "Yep," Amano muttered, barely looking up. His cws danced over his HUD, shifting sections of the catacomb walls. A secondary tab floated to the side, dispying images of futuristic architecture. He wanted the first floor to resemble a factory, but the exact design eluded him within the source shop. He knew it was in there somewhere…

  "What’s the NPC’s css?" Peroroncino asked, impatience winning out. Instead of waiting, he opened the NPC’s interface himself. "Automaton... Robot Knight, and Siege Weapon? Damn, those are solid racial stats."

  "I thought so too," Amano replied. "But where it really shines is in its spells. [Overcharge] is insane—it converts mana and health into raw stats mid-combat. That’s banced." He scoffed. "And people wonder why this game is losing pyers."

  "You’re actually right…" Peroroncino muttered. "Wait, this is what—times two?"

  "Yeah. It’s only Mark V, though. No idea why it didn’t get Rubedo’s [Deus Ex Machina], but I’m guessing that’s because of the Caloric Stone. It’s fine—a Mark V [Overcharge] isn’t bad either. Ah—there it is."

  Amano finally found the design he was looking for—a rustic, steel-pted wall with hints of maroon. It reminded him of aircraft carriers. It was certainly better than Garnet’s earlier suggestion, which was modeled after the factories they worked in.

  That was a hard no. Sure, it would have looked ominous, but he had no desire to bring the bleak energy of the real world into YGGDRASIL. Instead, he aimed for a design reminiscent of past wars—something weighty and industrial, but detached from reality.

  "That’s the design you’re going with?" Peroroncino eyed the newly edited wall. "What’s this going to be, anyway?"

  "A factory," Amano answered. "I’ll scatter some fvor furniture around, try to keep it as medieval as I can, but... eh, it might end up feeling futuristic anyway."

  "Just add va cauldrons. Or rivers of molten steel or something. Ulbert said the source shop has those, and they even have environmental effects."

  Amano filed the suggestion away.

  "Anyway," Peroroncino continued, "are you gonna make more of those hanging robots? Because it looks creepy as hell."

  Amano narrowed his eyes at the NPC dangling from the ceiling. "...That’s actually a good idea."

  "What else are you adding? Magical circuit lines? Do those exist?" Peroroncino joked. "Maybe a weapon rack? We could use some of those. I could use a gun or two."

  "Maybe, maybe," Amano muttered, considering the suggestions before returning to editing. He wasn’t pnning to add pop mobs here, but… should he? The ceiling above the now-empty spawn area seemed like the perfect pce to chain up rows of dormant automatons.

  "I can see it," Peroroncino said. "The whole ceiling packed with half-finished humanoids. They drop into the spawning area, pick up weapons, and boom—pop mobs."

  "Garnet and I have a lot of work ahead of us, don’t we?" Amano sighed. "That sounds like a nightmare to code."

  "Come on, you guys made the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown." Peroroncino waggled a finger. "How hard could this be compared to making an original spell linked to the tomb? And we didn’t even get the devs to intervene!"

  "I guess…" Amano muttered. "Maybe."

  "Not maybe," Peroroncino grinned. "That’s a yes, right?"

  Amano hesitated. "Garnet says his job’s been getting harder tely. Something about AI advancements."

  "My sister too. But hey—hey! It’s fine!" Peroroncino said, though his voice cked conviction. "That just means he’ll have more time for the tomb when he gets fired!"

  "Don’t joke like that," Amano warned. "...But yeah. Maybe. We’ll see."

  He gnced around the unfinished floor. "I’ll put manufacturing lines here soon enough. Probably turn it into a maze, full of traps."

  "Sounds good." Peroroncino fshed a thumbs-up emoticon.

  "Maybe. For now, I’ll work on Antikythera’s fvor text."