Hades used magic to create an underground space, placed the newly made bed inside, and left a hidden vent in the grass on the surface. With that, Hades had a wonderful sleep.
As expected of a magical bed with buffs, Hades felt refreshed and full of energy after waking up. The only regrettable thing was that his stomach started to rumble again, and he had no food to eat.
"It's a bit strange that I haven't seen any animals in such a large forest."
Hades stored the wooden bed in his infinite backpack. Although the wood for the bed came from the trees in the forest, a small portion of the materials still used materials from YGGDRASIL.
As it was unclear whether there were replenishable high-grade materials in this world, he couldn't waste them, and besides, his backpack still had some space.
Hades stretched, then suddenly squatted down, and with tensed muscles, he leaped upwards, inexplicably stirring up a whirlwind in the confined space.
He was about to hit the ceiling, but Hades showed no intention of changing his posture. Instead, he clenched his fists and shot straight up, then, like a bullet, he burst through the roof of the underground space and emerged onto the surface.
However, merely breaking through the thick ground was still not enough to dissipate the impact from his jump. It wasn't until Hades ascended dozens of meters into the air that the force slowly faded.
At this moment, what greeted his eyes was a fiery sunset and a vast expanse of forest below.
"It's already evening, I slept for a whole day."
Hades wasn't surprised. He had been testing skills until dawn last night before resting, and his usual life was quite leisurely, so sleeping until noon was a common occurrence.
When the upward force completely disappeared, he felt a moment of weightlessness and began to fall towards the ground. Hades calmly activated his "Flying Necklace" and floated in the air.
Although Hades didn't know the combat power level of this world, having all his abilities from YGGDRASIL gave him some confidence.
Therefore, the next step was to gather information. Since it was about gathering information, it was natural to first go to the village from last night to understand the basic situation.
He remembered the man saying that this was the border of Re-Estize, and to the west was the Baharuth Empire. From the word "Empire," based on his experience in his original world, the level of civilization here should not be very high.
There was still some time before sunset, so going there now should not lead to a situation like last night, he thought.
Thinking this, Hades controlled his flight towards the village. The village and the forest were at a moderate distance, not too close, not too far. Using flight, he quickly reached the village from last night.
But when Hades arrived above the village, he suddenly noticed something was wrong. From the sky, he saw that the village looked as if it had been ravaged by war; many houses were burned to ruins, broken pottery and metal fragments were scattered on the ground, and the shack he had kindly borrowed from the man last night was now nothing but burnt charcoal.
From his position, he could still smell the scent of burning wafting up from below. Clearly, something had happened here. His gaze shifted, and he noticed that some liquid seemed to have been sprayed on the ground and walls.
"What happened here?"
Hades was stunned. Just as he was about to descend, his eyes suddenly widened, and his heart pounded rapidly. Then, without a moment's delay, he rapidly ascended until the houses of the village became a small dot to the naked eye.
But his actions didn't stop. He immediately pulled out a monocular telescope from his infinite backpack. This was a cash-shop item from the game, usable for physical reconnaissance in guild wars, unaffected by anti-information magic, and capable of magnifying the image up to one hundred times.
Of course, the magnification level depended on the tier of the cash-shop purchase. For Hades, he naturally bought the highest-grade monocular telescope that could magnify one hundred times.
Hades put his eye to the lens and looked down. After seeing the image clearly, his heart pounded even faster.
"That's right, it's him! It's him!"
Hades shouted in his mind. The person appearing in the telescope's lens was none other than Momonga, the Guild Master of the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, which had committed all sorts of evil deeds in YGGDRASIL.
"Ha, now I'm in trouble." Hades continued to observe Momonga below. That luxurious, gold-embroidered mage robe, there was absolutely no mistake.
He didn't believe in such coincidences in the world, that a second such outfit would appear. In YGGDRASIL, equipment items could have customized appearances, just like classes. Unless it was a deliberate imitation, identical designs were rare.
Moreover, the The Great Tomb of Nazarick was located northwest of this village. There was no way it wasn't Momonga.
"No, for now, I need to calm down."
Hades activated the "Seed of the World Tree," transforming into an Undead character in a breath. Using the Undead's passive ability, his mood finally calmed down.
He wasn't so excited because he encountered a player in this strange world, but because a member of that evil heteromorphic guild had actually come here, and it was their Guild Master—Momonga.
This made him feel troublesome. What Momonga had done to him before was nothing, but their notoriety in YGGDRASIL left Hades with a very bad impression of them. Unless there were special circumstances, he didn't want to contact these people at all.
Through testing last night, he could use all his abilities from YGGDRASIL. This was a huge temptation for ordinary people.
He believed it was the same for Momonga. What would happen when a villain who used to commit all sorts of evil in the game accidentally gained such power?
In the early 22nd century, environmental destruction was severe, and the primary industry (agriculture) collapsed. The sky was often covered in black mist, making it almost impossible to see the sun. Because the streets were enveloped in thick fog containing harmful substances, one could not go out without wearing a gas mask. Due to insufficient sunlight, plants withered away, and at the same time, birds and insects rapidly decreased. Water pollution was, of course, also very serious, with rivers turning into turbid flows that did not resemble rivers. Water purification plants were dysfunctional due to severe pollution, and water could not be drunk without installing a purification filter on the tap.
The Amazon rainforest had been completely razed. Due to severe environmental pollution, traditional agriculture using farmland declined, and crop cultivation mainly occurred in dome greenhouses. Agricultural product prices soared, becoming high-end luxury goods unaffordable for commoners.
In today's world, the entertainment of enjoying delicious food was limited to high-class residents living in Arcologies. The staple food of the impoverished class consisted of synthetic processed foods and Supplements, consumed solely for nutritional intake.
The country was controlled by large conglomerates. These conglomerates manipulated laws and controlled the populace for their own benefit. The world, which had barely maintained itself until the 21st century, saw its natural environment collapse in the early 22nd century.
Food shortages triggered riots and coups. Politicians of the time were hung by revolutionaries, and political functions were paralyzed. Large conglomerates seized the opportunity to take control of the judiciary, legislature, and administration, becoming the de facto rulers of the country.
Government functions had become ineffective, and the police were virtually useless. Although public order deteriorated, most people still worked diligently. Because once fired from a company, one could not survive, almost no one resisted, even when treated cruelly.
Homeless children were common in commoner districts, and it was not unusual to see corpses openly appearing on the streets.
People belonging to large conglomerates lived in Arcologies, enjoying a paradise completely different from the outside world. Each Arcology was equivalent to a country, with commoner districts built around it, thus forming a city.
Terrorist attacks targeting the wealthy class, and conflicts among the wealthy class, sometimes triggered wars, but it was often the impoverished class who participated in these wars.
In 2118, the Arcology War broke out in Europe, leading to the emergence of neo-Nazi organizations.
After being dominated by large conglomerates, compulsory education was abolished. Nominally, this was to "suppress public expenditure," but in reality, it was the wealthy class depriving the impoverished class of their ability to think.
For the wealthy class, the impoverished class were worker bees who worked for them, expected to know nothing, think nothing, and become cogs in the company.
Although attending elementary school required a considerable tuition fee, impoverished parents tried their best to send their children to school so they could find a decent job. However, for the impoverished, raising tuition fees was very difficult, and some even died from overwork.
As long as one graduated from elementary school and possessed a minimum level of knowledge, one could engage in jobs requiring higher mental effort, effectively becoming a cog in the winning group.
With the loss of the natural environment, outdoor recreational activities such as outdoor sports and mountain sightseeing had disappeared. Gourmet food made from expensive agricultural products and high-fee indoor stadiums could only be enjoyed by the wealthy class.
The entertainment of the impoverished class was limited to indoor games, including board games like chess and Go, online movie streaming, and online network games like DMMO-RPGs.
After logging into the game, one would see beautiful nature, could communicate with many people, and could vent dissatisfaction with the company through combat.
DMMO-RPGs, which allowed players to do many things they had lost in reality without leaving their homes, had become reality itself for many players.
Human relationships had become almost very cold, with almost everyone becoming selfish.
Therefore, it was not surprising that for some people, the game world was considered the real world, and things they dared not do in the real world due to legal constraints were done in the game world.
Now, in another world, there seemed to be no laws to restrain them. In the original world, there were laws to restrain them outside the game.
But now, both parties possessed the power of YGGDRASIL and were beyond legal jurisdiction...
Hades' body grew cold. Based on the environment of his original world, he speculated that those mentally abnormal people tormented by society would likely become inflated, and given the past behavior of Ainz Ooal Gown members, this possibility was very high.
Perhaps after discovering him, the other party would eliminate him to ensure their uniqueness.
He held his breath. The reason for his rapid ascent wasn't just seeing Momonga, because besides Momonga, he also saw another unexpected person.
Albedo, an NPC from the Ninth Floor of the The Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Hades, who had only managed to invade the Eighth Floor of Nazarick, wouldn't have known about the Ninth Floor. But precisely because of this, to prepare for overthrowing the Ainz Ooal Gown guild in the future, he not only spent a lot of money to improve himself but also sought out information about Nazarick everywhere.
Although such information was very secretive and unknown to non-Ainz Ooal Gown guild members, he still managed to buy some of it.
Burning Three Eyes was a guild in YGGDRASIL primarily focused on selling information. Due to their egregious act of sending spies to infiltrate top guilds to steal and sell information, they were not only not banned by the operators but were even affirmed, which enraged all top guilds.
Ultimately, the Burning Three Eyes guild was hunted down by an alliance of top guilds, its members were PKed at the resurrection point, the guild collapsed, and its members scattered.
Although the Burning Three Eyes guild's actions were reprehensible, Hades didn't care about that. As long as they could provide the information he needed, he would pay.
From former members of Burning Three Eyes after its disbandment, Hades offered a high reward for information about the The Great Tomb of Nazarick beyond the Eighth Floor.
However, it wasn't until the game's popularity declined that he managed to acquire some information about the Ninth and Tenth Floors of the The Great Tomb of Nazarick. But by then, Hades had already lost interest in Ainz Ooal Gown, according to the former Burning Three Eyes member who sold the information.
This information was obtained from Ainz Ooal Gown members who had quit the game. Because Hades' offer was high enough, and YGGDRASIL's popularity had already passed, that Ainz Ooal Gown member wanted to make a profit, so they revealed some information.