It was another event in NWO, unlike any other. It was the creation of a kingdom for each of the guilds, as always. Though the premise was simple: the construction of your kingdom in NWO, they took it a step further and announced that the resulting kingdom would be used for the next floor. With that, all the guilds worked hard on building their kingdoms. But, as we all know, things didn’t end that simply. Maple, upon seeing that the kingdoms could be merged, gathered the following:

  Mega Guilds, Extra Guilds, Large Guilds, Medium Guilds, and Small Guilds, to have them unite their kingdoms that they were making so that everyone would have a chance to have their kingdom appear on the next floor. Of course, it was impossible for Maple to meet with all of them, no matter how much of Maple she was, since there were so many:

  30,000 Small Guilds

  3,429 Medium Guilds

  2,286 Large Guilds

  333 Extra Large Guilds

  7 Mega Guilds

  So, she first gathered her friends. With that, everyone joined her, starting with the Mega Guilds:

  THE 7 MEGA GUILDS

  Congregation of the Sacred Swords (Leader: Payne)

  Kingdom of the Fme Emperor (Leader: Mii)

  Thunderstorm (Leader: Velvet)

  Rapid Fire (Leader: Wilbert)Ultra Long-Range ArcherLyli, her lieutenant, summoner of technological golems.

  Dragon’s Garden / Dragon Garde (Leader: Haruka)Dark elf, very powerful, but avoids combat.Expert in barriers, physical enhancements, and dragon taming.Lieutenants:Colin (Treasurer and Archer)Alberto (Impulsive swordsman)Montana (Craftsman and Lie Detector)

  Rainbow Sword (Leader: Aria)Alias: Ash Princess CrownedLight, darkness, enhancement, illusions, poisons, taijutsu, etc.Lieutenant:Snow: Dark mage, blindly devoted to Aria, expert in all attributes except fire.

  Bulletin Board (Leader: Estede)The rgest guild by number. Accepts everyone who wants to help.Estede: Spear-wielder and spiritual mage, with many summoned spirits.Lieutenants:Shadow (Assassin)Percival (Swordsman)Garret (Squire)

  Once she recruited the Mega Guilds to her cause, a domino effect occurred, leading to all guilds joining. The unspoken idea spread that if you didn’t join, you wouldn’t even have a house with your name on the next floor.

  This is how Harmonia was born.

  “Grrraaa,” with a cute roar, the game’s mascot made its appearance to announce the event’s completion. Crification: Maple is not the mascot. NWO has its own mascot, and even though Maple is recognized as the official mascot, NWO cannot use her image.

  “Alright, we have the results. To be honest, we expected to battle with all the designs that were going to be sent, and we expected many unfinished or poorly organized designs—like a kingdom next to a huge canyon, or at the edge of the world, or floating isnds everywhere. But since only one design was submitted by everyone, the kingdom looks beautiful, and I must congratute you all. Grrrauu.”

  Everyone watching the announcement had proud smiles for impressing the developers and being able to help Maple in one of her crazy ideas.

  “Grrraaa, alright, alright, but a kingdom isn’t complete without a king. We hoped that the guild with the winning design could be the king, but since all the guilds contributed, we came up with a better pn: you will vote for a king. Let’s go! Use the rankings table to mark who you want as your king. Grrrauu.”

  And a new mini-event began. It seemed like it happened out of nowhere, but everyone could vote. All 10 million pyers voted almost unanimously for the one who came up with the idea.

  “Grrraaa, alright, it looks like everyone has voted. The results will be out soon. Please don’t be upset yet. There’s still the coronation ceremony for the new king. Grrrauu.”

  With everyone in high spirits, though many already knew who the king would be (except for the person who voted for one of their friends), everyone wanted to see how the new ruler would look on the throne and take pictures.

  “Grrraaa, I’m gd you didn’t disconnect. Now, let’s crown the new king, with a vote so overwhelming, you could say it’s unanimous. With 89% of the votes, the king is Maple of Maple Tree. Congratutions, congratutions!”

  With an expression of genuine surprise from someone who didn’t expect to win, Maple appeared, teleported from where she was watching the announcement.

  “Grrrauu, alright, alright, now, Miss Maple, could you kneel like the knights do, please? Grrrauu.”

  “Ah, yes, something like this, right?” Maple snapped out of her daze and kneeled on one leg, facing the mascot without bowing her head.

  “Grrrauu, well, Maple of Maple Tree, you have been chosen by the people as their ruler. Accept this honor, Grrrauu.”

  “Ah, uh, I don’t know if I’m the best for this role, but I’ll gdly accept it. If so many people have faith in me, I’ll do my best not to disappoint them,” she said, lowering her head a little, clearly embarrassed by her words.

  “Grrrauu, well, in the name of the Administrators, I crown you as Queen Maple of the Kingdom of [choose one of the previous names]. I hope your kingdom is filled with wonderful things,

  . Espero que tu reino esté lleno de cosas maravillosas, Grrrauu,” said the mascot as a bck cape with golden engravings and a simple yet fitting silver crown appeared on Maple.

  “Grrrauu, well, in the name of the Administrators, I crown you as Queen Maple of the Kingdom of [choose one of the previous names]. I hope your kingdom is filled with wonderful things,

  . Espero que tu reino esté lleno de cosas maravillosas, Grrrauu,” the mascot repeated.

  “Yes, I’ll make sure of that. After all, I’m Maple, the walking fortress. Hehehe,” she said with an innocent smile. But everyone who had fought Maple knew that she was indeed a weapon of destruction. With a queen like that, they would surely be safe from anything.

  “Grrrauu, with this, the event is over, but we have one more announcement, so don’t disconnect yet, Grrrauu.”

  01 Name: Anonymous Viewer“Surely it’s the new cape.”

  02 Name: Anonymous Viewer“Yes, after all, this kingdom we created was the design for the next floor.”

  03 Name: Anonymous Viewer“I wonder if they have more to add. Honestly, I had a lot of fun designing the new guild with everyone.”

  04 Name: Anonymous Viewer“I agree.”

  05 Name: Anonymous Viewer“I agree.”

  06 Name: Anonymous Viewer“We all agree.”

  “Grrrauu, well, this is the final announcement.”

  “The pnet Earth is about to die due to the death of the sun. The developers and I have created this game as a way to acclimate you to the new world you’ll enter from now on. Please, this isn’t a joke. People, please, don’t leave the game. Please don’t leave the game. The administrators are not gods of this world, so we can’t intervene. But if you remain in the game, we can save everyone who’s connected and send them to a world we govern. Only by staying can we save those who are connected, Grrrauu.”

  “Is that true? Why can’t you save the others?” Maple asked, shocked by what the game’s mascot had just said.

  “Everything I said is true. We can’t intervene because we’re merely guests in your world. We can’t take anything from the other gods. But if we create something in your world, nothing stops us from taking the things we’ve created. That’s why we created NWO, so everyone would be acclimated, and when the time comes, they’ll understand the new world easily. There’s not much time left. Any other questions, Maple?”

  “Ah—oh,” words didn’t come out. She was confused, unsure whether this was just a bad joke from the administrators or if it was real. If it was real, what should she ask?

  “Will we all be together when we reach the new world? We won’t be scattered around, right?” she finally asked, gathering her courage and trusting that the administrators wouldn’t make such a tasteless joke.

  “Grrrauu, yes, everyone will awaken in the coliseum of the kingdom you created. It’s just big enough to house everyone when you arrive in your new kingdom. Well, time is almost up. I hope to see how you lead your new kingdom, Queen Maple. Grrrauu.”

  With these final words, all those watching the transmission, many of whom were already in a panic, passed out when everything turned bck.

  When everyone woke up from their unconsciousness, they were in a huge coliseum that gave a full view of the royal stage where Maple was.

  “W-what… where are we?” Maple asked, but upon remembering what the mascot had said, she tried to open her system to disconnect. Not only had they transported her to the new floor, but when she opened her system, she couldn’t find any settings, help functions, or logout options—only the inventory, chat, and status panel.

  As Maple tried, others did the same, thinking it was just the administrators pying a cruel joke. But no matter how much they searched, no matter how they tried to log out or screamed for a session exit, nothing happened. Soon, they noticed things like their bodies feeling stronger or being able to see farther. Some even jumped to test how high they could go and were amazed at how high they reached.

  “Maple!” she heard from behind her. Maple turned around to see Sally arriving at the royal stage, accompanied by the rest of her guild.

  “Sally!” she excimed, hugging her friend, crying on her shoulder as Sally did the same on Maple’s.

  If what the mascot said was true, their mothers and fathers had died.

  They didn’t say anything else as they cried. Yui and Mai, the youngest members of the guild, joined in. Kanade only observed with Kuromo, watching the sad scene as Iz and Kasumin comforted the girls.

  When they finally stopped crying, Maple realized that all eyes were on her. Scared, she turned around, and Sally answered her silent question.

  “You’re the queen now, so many people are waiting for your guidance in this moment.”

  “Ah—I see…” Maple said, looking at the gathered crowd. There had to be at least 10 million people in the coliseum, all waiting for her words. With her companions silently supporting her, Maple spoke.

  “Everyone, I think we more or less understand what happened, so I’d like to address three main points. First, we all have a blueprint of the kingdom because we made it ourselves. I don’t think there will be a problem finding your guild houses so you can rest. The second point is food. I think we all have food in our guild houses, so that’s sorted for now. The st point is the creation of a new mega guild where those who don’t have guilds can join, so we can use the guild system to track the wellbeing of everyone. With that said, we’ll meet here tomorrow. Today is a day of mourning. Please, everyone, cry for the loved ones you left behind in our world. I think it’s okay to cry today. We can handle everything tomorrow. With that, I’ll say goodbye.”

  Maple said, leaving the royal stage with Sally and heading toward the pace. Once inside the room where she used to be, she broke down in tears again. She wasn’t alone. Everyone in the coliseum did the same. After Maple’s speech, they locked themselves in their rooms, in their guild houses, or the homes they had created, and cried all day long.