Overlord: The Wandering Sorcerer Chapter 25 — The Girl Who Wasn’t an NPC
Nabe did not move.
She simply stood at the bottom of the staircase, staring upward.
The tower remained silent.
Yet Momonga could feel its attention.
Not on him.
Not on Seraph.
Not on Evileye.
On Nabe.
“Momonga.”
Evileye’s voice was unusually quiet.
“I think the tower knows her.”
Momonga nodded.
“I think so too.”
Nabe slowly raised her head.
“I don’t understand.”
Seraph stepped backward.
“Neither do I.”
Momonga looked at him.
“You said Touch Me discovered something.”
“Yes.”
“About Nabe.”
“Yes.”
“Then start talking.”
Seraph didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at Nabe.
“You truly don’t remember?”
Nabe frowned.
“Remember what?”
“Your creation.”
“I was created by my master.”
Seraph shook his head.
“No.”
Nabe’s expression hardened.
“Do not question my master’s authority.”
Momonga immediately stepped between them.
“Seraph.”
The man raised both hands.
“I’m not insulting her.”
“Then choose your words carefully.”
Seraph nodded.
“Of course.”
He looked at Nabe again.
“What do you remember before arriving here?”
Nabe answered immediately.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing at all?”
“No.”
“Not even the moment you were transported?”
Nabe shook her head.
“I remember standing beside Master.”
Momonga looked at her.
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
Seraph’s face became grim.
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
Momonga’s voice became colder.
“Explain.”
Seraph walked toward the wall.
“There are three kinds of beings we need to distinguish.”
He raised one finger.
“Players.”
A second.
“NPCs.”
A third.
“And entities created by the World.”
Momonga frowned.
“The World?”
“The New World itself.”
Evileye crossed her arms.
“You’re saying the world can create living beings?”
“Not exactly.”
Seraph looked at Nabe.
“It can create rules.”
Momonga understood.
“And those rules can manifest.”
“Yes.”
“Like Wild Magic?”
Seraph nodded.
“Something similar.”
Evileye’s expression changed.
“Dragon Lord magic.”
“Among other things.”
Momonga thought about the things he had learned.
Wild Magic.
World-Class Items.
Players.
The strange connection between YGGDRASIL and this world.
There were too many pieces.
But one thing was becoming clear.
Nabe didn’t fit into the normal categories.
Seraph continued.
“Touch Me discovered records about her.”
“Where?”
“In this tower.”
Momonga looked upward.
“So this place was built before your guild.”
“Yes.”
“By the first player?”
“Yes.”
“Then what did he discover?”
Seraph hesitated.
“He discovered that YGGDRASIL was not the source of the system.”
Momonga stared at him.
“What?”
“YGGDRASIL was connected to it.”
“Connected to what?”
Seraph pointed downward.
“The World.”
Momonga’s expression darkened.
“So the game was only an interface.”
“Perhaps.”
“And this world was underneath it.”
“Perhaps.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because nobody knows the truth.”
Momonga stared at him.
“You do.”
Seraph smiled bitterly.
“I know enough to be afraid.”
Suddenly, Nabe spoke.
“What did Touch Me want from me?”
Seraph looked at her.
“He wanted to know why you existed.”
“Why?”
“Because you were impossible.”
Nabe frowned.
“I am an NPC.”
“No.”
Seraph shook his head.
“You have an NPC’s appearance.”
Momonga’s eyes narrowed.
“And?”
“You don’t have an NPC’s origin.”
Silence.
Nabe looked at Momonga.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
Momonga immediately noticed.
He stepped beside her.
“You don’t need to listen to him.”
She looked at him. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“But I want to know.”
Momonga nodded.
“Then we’ll find out.”
Seraph looked toward the staircase.
“The tower can show you.”
Nabe looked upward.
“Show me what?”
“Your beginning.”
The staircase lit up.
A single step.
Then another.
Momonga stepped forward.
“I’ll come with you.”
Seraph shook his head.
“No.”
Momonga stopped.
“Why?”
“The tower may reject you.”
Momonga smiled.
“It already accepted me.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It recognizes you as a player.”
“And Nabe?”
Seraph looked at her.
“It recognizes her as something else.”
Evileye sighed.
“I really hate mysterious ancient towers.”
Momonga looked at her.
“You don’t have to come.”
Evileye glared.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
Momonga almost smiled.
“Fine.”
They began climbing.
Nabe walked first.
Momonga followed.
Evileye behind him.
Seraph remained at the bottom.
Momonga stopped after several steps.
“You aren’t coming?”
Seraph shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“The tower won’t let me.”
Momonga looked at the staircase.
“Then how did Touch Me enter?”
Seraph’s expression became distant.
“He didn’t.”
Momonga frowned.
“What?”
“He sent something in his place.”
“What?”
Seraph looked at Nabe.
“His sword.”
Nabe stopped.
Momonga stared.
“Touch Me sent his sword?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the tower recognized the weapon.”
Momonga thought about it.
Then he understood.
“The tower recognizes connections.”
Seraph nodded.
“Exactly.”
Momonga looked at Nabe.
“And you are the connection.”
Seraph smiled.
“Now you’re beginning to understand.”
The three continued upward.
The higher they climbed, the stranger the tower became.
The walls changed.
Stone became metal.
Metal became something translucent.
Then even that disappeared.
They were walking through darkness.
Stars seemed to shine beyond the walls.
Evileye looked around.
“Are we still inside the tower?”
“No,” Momonga answered.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Nabe suddenly stopped.
Momonga nearly walked into her.
“What is it?”
She pointed ahead.
A door stood in the darkness.
A simple wooden door.
Nothing special.
Except for the symbol carved into it.
Momonga recognized it.
Nazarick.
His expression changed.
“That’s impossible.”
Evileye looked at the symbol.
“What is it?”
Momonga didn’t answer.
He reached toward the door.
Nabe caught his hand.
“Master.”
He looked at her.
“Yes?”
“I think I should open it.”
Momonga hesitated.
Then nodded.
Nabe placed her hand on the handle.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a room.
A familiar room.
A guild hall.
Momonga froze.
Not the Great Tomb.
Not Seraph’s guild.
His guild.
Ainz Ooal Gown.
The black marble floor.
The enormous table.
The banners.
The empty chairs.
Everything.
Except…
there were only two figures.
Momonga.
And Nabe.
Evileye stared.
“What is this?”
Momonga couldn’t answer.
He knew this room.
He knew every detail.
But something was wrong.
The version of Momonga standing inside the room wasn’t the Momonga who had entered it.
He was wearing his Overlord robes.
And Nabe stood beside him.
Both were looking toward another figure.
Someone sitting at the end of the table.
A man.
His face was hidden.
Momonga stepped closer.
The figure spoke.
“You have been chosen.”
“Chosen for what?”
“For the journey.”
“Which journey?”
The figure pointed toward Nabe.
“With her.”
Momonga stared.
The memory wasn’t his.
Or rather…
it was his.
But he had never experienced it.
A false memory?
A forgotten memory?
A possibility?
The figure continued.
“She will protect you.”
Nabe looked at the image.
“Why?”
The figure answered:
“Because you were created for him.”
Momonga stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The figure looked directly at him.
Not the younger version.
The real Momonga.
The memory froze.
Then the figure spoke.
“Not yet.”
The room shattered.
Momonga found himself back in the tower.
Nabe was standing beside him.
Evileye looked terrified.
“What the hell was that?”
Momonga didn’t answer.
He was staring at Nabe.
She was trembling.
Barely.
But he could see it.
“Nabe.”
She looked at him.
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
She nodded.
“I believe so.”
“You saw it too?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember?”
Nabe closed her eyes.
“No.”
Momonga relaxed slightly.
Then she opened them.
“But I felt something.”
“What?”
She looked at him.
“I was happy.”
Momonga froze.
Nabe continued.
“Standing beside you.”
She touched her chest.
“It felt natural.”
Momonga didn’t know what to say.
Evileye looked away.
The silence became awkward.
Then the tower spoke.
MEMORY FRAGMENT ACCEPTED.
Momonga looked upward.
Another message appeared.
IDENTITY RECONSTRUCTION: 12%.
Nabe stared.
“What does that mean?”
Momonga’s expression hardened.
“It means the tower is rebuilding your memories.”
A second message appeared.
ORIGIN RECORD LOCATED.
Then:
WARNING.
Then:
ORIGIN IS NOT PLAYER-BASED.
Momonga’s eyes widened.
The tower had just confirmed what Seraph had said.
Nabe wasn’t an ordinary NPC.
A third message appeared.
ORIGIN: WORLD SYSTEM.
Evileye whispered:
“World system…”
Momonga stared at Nabe.
She looked back at him.
Neither spoke.
Then another line appeared.
DESIGNATION: WORLD GUARDIAN.
Momonga’s eyes widened.
Nabe whispered:
“Guardian?”
The tower answered.
CORRECTION.
The letters changed.
WORLD VARIABLE.
Momonga felt a chill.
Seraph had been wrong.
Touch Me had been wrong.
Everyone had been wrong.
Nabe wasn’t created to serve a player.
She wasn’t created as an NPC.
She was something entirely different.
Something the World itself had produced.
And somehow…
that being had chosen Momonga.
The tower began shaking.
A final message appeared.
WORLD VARIABLE ACTIVE.
Then:
SECOND PLAYER SIGNAL DETECTED.
Momonga immediately raised his staff.
“What?”
The tower showed a single point of light.
Far away.
Very far away.
Another player.
Evileye looked at him.
“Is that…”
Momonga nodded.
“Yes.”
Nabe stepped closer.
“Who?”
Momonga stared at the light.
“I don’t know.”
Then the tower displayed one final message.
PLAYER SIGNAL: SERAPH.
Momonga froze.
“That’s impossible.”
Seraph was standing at the bottom of the tower.
Alive.
The tower had just identified him as a player.
Momonga turned toward the staircase.
“Then what exactly is Seraph?”
And from far below…
a voice answered.
“That’s the right question.”
Momonga looked down.
Seraph stood in the darkness.
His eyes were glowing.
And for the first time…
he wasn’t smiling.