Transmigrated to Game World with SSS Wife

It was a strange thing– to finally find a familiar place, only for it to feel completely alien.

The moment the portal dropped the duo off, Nick knew where they were. It was a location introduced in World 3 and quickly became a favorite amongst players because of all the events that happened there.

Also, it introduced the original best girl, Anaya. One of the daughters of the god Hephaestus, she was his only lucky kid who somehow dodged receiving all of the ugly genetics.

More than that, she was an extremely op, fearsome warrior. What weeb wouldn't like a strong, hot, blue-haired warrior who also made good food? Add in her overall shy personality, and she was a smash success for Aether Babes.

Between her and all the other events associated with the Forge, it was an extremely busy location within the game. The lowest player count he could remember was still in the hundreds.

So, why was it empty? The machines were still there, and the multitudes of portals were still there as well, even if both were turned off.

Looking around, he saw that all the shops that opened up after the boom in popularity were closed. He looked to the far edge of the Forge, to a huge lava pool.

In the game, a big dragon that went by the name of Elereon often bathed in that pool. Now, the dragon was nowhere to be found, and the pool of lava was quickly cooling into rock.

A sense of dread washed over Nick as he realized the entire landscape was dying. It was like a ghost town.

He wasn't scared because his good memories were gone or anything like that. It was because, in the game, The Forge held one of the 8 pillars.

Too anxious to notice Juliana's frantic, darting glances around the place, Nick ran to Hephaestus' Forge. There was a little pathway behind one of the shops, and this led to a tunnel that eventually ended with a small room. Without slowing at all, Nick ran into the tunnel.

A clicking sound beneath his feet stopped him dead in his tracks.

Cursing himself as a stream of fire roared past his face, burning his nose, Nick did his best to calm his nerves. He really had to check if the artifact was still ok, but he also couldn't die on his way there. Obviously.

Turning his gaze to the ground, it wasn't hard for him to find each and every pressure plate within this maze of traps. In the game, Hephaestus' Forge was deliberately hard to get to. This was because daily rewards waited on the other side.

Nick was one of the few who had memorized every trap. It was one of his many secrets to becoming a top player.

'It appears being a no-life gamer still has its perks.' Nick thought as he walked through the traps.

Even though he was wary of accidentally pressing on a pressure plate, he couldn't help but think about what he'd find. Maybe his feeling of dread was misplaced and nothing was wrong. Or maybe he'd find some weird cult that was trying to end all of reality.

'Is that really possible?' Nick thought, though he knew the word possible had lost all its meaning. Traveling to a game world wasn't really possible, and a girl liking him was definitely impossible.

The game was kind of an a$$ too. If it meant putting him in a precarious position, why wouldn't he find some endgame boss keen on destroying all of reality? Even if it defied all the logic of being in the early game.

He was nearing the end though, so there was no need to keep thinking about it. Either he'd get lucky and get some nice reward for making the daily trip, or he'd find some impossibly strong enemy destroying an entire tether of reality.

Normal early-game stuff!

Shaking his head as he sighed, Nick placed his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Then he opened the door quickly before fear could take hold.

There was no reward.

There were no enemies.

The room was completely empty. Forge, desk, weapons, armor– they were all gone. Just like [The Head of the Titans]–a very powerful artifact that was one of the 8 pillars of reality. When the Insignia was equipped by the player, it gave them a pretty powerful passive:

The ability to channel mana 5 times easier, making any spell 5 times as effective. That included healing, annihilation, illusions, and everything in between.

It obviously would be an object of interest, so he wasn't surprised that someone like him would take it. But that meant one of two things– either the NPCs in this game were suicidal, or... there were other players.

Neither of them really felt all that unlikely. Although the monsters behaved very game-like, Juliana didn't. Her reactions had felt real, at least until she was bound to him.

So it could be likely that other NPCs actually behaved like real people as well. If that was true, any of them would've wanted such an artifact.

But Nick didn't think highly enough of himself to think he'd be the only player, even if he had a title like [King of the Cosmos]. Kings could be usurped and kingdoms could be conquered.

Whoever was here, they were far gone at this point. Not only that but the level of destruction they left behind... this place was practically erased into nothingness.

He'd rather not meet them, not yet anyway.

'And don't get any bright ideas, game.'

Nick was about to leave when he heard a small sound behind him. Turning slowly as he summoned the [Fang of Finality], he prepared himself for a battle to the death.

The space in front of him was as empty as ever. 'It must have been the wind...'

A giant rat, at least 2 feet tall, began charging at him. Somehow, it had managed to hide in plain sight. Now that it made its appearance though...

[Emperor's Slash] sent its invisible shockwave through the air before his [Fang of Finality] even connected with the target, splitting the beast in half.

[1 F-Rank Giant Rat killed]

[1 experience gained]

'Not even this place has strong monsters? Seriously?' Nick lamented his still slow progress. At this point, he wouldn't reach level 50 until he was a few thousand years old.

Whatever. At the end of the day, the place didn't offer much more than an unpleasant mystery. There was no reward here.

'Stupid portal wasted my time.' Nick thought as he left the tunnel, ready to meet back up with Juliana.

[Hostile action detected: Rat Murder]

[Appropriate security sent into action]

'Security?' Nick thought, realizing that maybe The Forge wasn't as dead as he first figured. But then, if they still had security...

'Dang nabbit!'

--(5 D-Rank monsters detected: Dyson Guardians)--

Juliana noticed him the moment he came out of the tunnel. Running over to him as The Forge filled with the sounds of machinery, he noticed her eyes were wide with fear.

Grabbing his arm, she almost pulled it out of its socket. "Nick, we need to leave, now!"

Smiling, he placed his free hand on top of hers, saying, "It's just some D-Rank monsters, Juliana. Let's level up a bit first, huh?"

Then he heard 2 other voices talk, somehow perfectly clear amidst the humming of the machinery. At the same time, the portal appeared again, as if it had done its job, and zapped them back to Game 1–The Tower of Eternity.