A Brother's Regret.

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In a different world; a world of technology, a world ruled by shadowy mega-corporations who would do anything to protect their power over the common masses, there lived a family.

A family of four:

A father, who sweated day and night to support his family in this world.

A mother, who supported her family any way she can. Whether that be by lending an ear to their frustrations or woes, or by making sure they come home to a warm smile and warm food.

Their oldest son, who failed his GCSEs. Who could not support his family except by other, unsavoury means. Means that would be looked down upon if anyone found out.

And their youngest son.

A boy named Ryan.

Jack, the oldest son, was downstairs, watching an irrelevant tv show, just passing the time until it was time for tea and then he would head out in the night once again.

Ryan did not know about Jack's illegal activities, about how he carried packages from one location to another, never looking once what was inside.

And he would keep it like that.

Jack has no desire for his little brother to follow in his footsteps. Jack did all he could to make sure Ryan would pass his GCSEs so that he would raise up and live a better life in this society, a society run by those who do anything to stay in power.

But Jack hated it.

Fore, after these sets of tests, Ryan's life will become nothing but work. Day in, day out, never once being able to rest until his shift was over well into the night.

Indeed, it was not rare to hear about those who worked themselves to death. His father almost became a victim of that very thing, had it not been for his mother to calm him down.

Jack's neck stiffened and he could feel his hands grip around the armrest. He slowly took a deep breath and slumped against the couch, exhausted despite not doing anything.

It was for this reason he let Ryan spend some time on that game he always talked about.

YGGDRASIL, he thought it was called.

Ryan talked endlessly about the game when he first found out about it, spending nights reading up on the Japanese language on his NNI, on how to speak it before he finally managed to get his hands on a copy.

At first, he praised the game, but he mentioned that his first character was boring so he was going to delete in return for something called a 'Dragonoid' or something.

Then, his opinion turned sour as Ryan muttered under his breath about 'Lizardmen, bloody level 80s' and something called 'PKing'.

In truth, Jack didn't understand a lick of what Ryan said about YGGDRASIL.

But he was happy. And that was enough for Jack.

Ryan even started to make some friends from overseas on the game, someone called 'Momo' and 'Pero'.

Yes, Ryan loved YGGDRASIL, even if he could sometimes hear from Ryan's room about 'Pay to win bullshit'.

So how could Jack not let his little brother just enjoy another hour on it? It could be the last thing that Ryan legitimately enjoyed before he started working.

But…

"Jack?" A mature woman's voice called out from the kitchen, the smell of cooking steak drifting through the air, "Could you get Ryan from his room? Tea is almost ready."

"Sure Mum," Jack said from the living room. He picked up the remote to turn off the TV and made his way upstairs.

That one, innocuous, choice to let his little brother stay a boy, at least for a little while longer…

Jack knocks on Ryans bedroom door, "Ryan, tea's ready."

Jack waited for Ryan to shout back.

And waited.

Nothing.

Jack couldn't help but frown and tried again, "Ryan, come on, it's steak. Are you really gonna make Mum and Dad wait?"

Silence yet again greeted Jack.

Frowning, Jack opens up the bedroom door and sees Ryan's small, prone form. Lying back on the NNI Chair with the helmet on his head.

"Dammit little bro," Jack huffed, "Did you fall asleep again?"

Jack kneels down his little brother's form and gently rocks his shoulders, "Come on, get up. Big day tomorrow."

Nothing.

Jack frowns even more, "Ryan, it wasn't funny the first time and it's even less funny now."

Still nothing.

Getting worried, it was at that moment that Jack noticed something off.

Ryan snored when he slept.

He was not snoring now.

Panicking, Jack quickly turned off the NNI System at the power plug. It was dangerous and not recommended in the slightest, but it would give Ryan a nasty shock, more than enough to wake him up.

If he was sleeping.

The lights of the NNI power down and Jack saw the lights of the helmet power down so Ryan should see nothing and hopefully wake up.

Nothing.

Jack runs over to Ryan's body and takes off the helmet to see the serene face of his little brother.

Not breathing.

Jack drops the helmet on the floor with trembling hands, a small crack on the glass and sprints outside the room.

"Mum! Dad!" He cries out.

That one, little choice to let his little brother be happy…

Made for nothing more, but regret and anguish for the Brother.

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So, I know this might piss a lot of people off that this isn't another chapter, but rather an Omake, an Omake that I planned since the start of this fic actually. You see, Dracul's main motivation of returning home is his family, which I made quite clear by now, but you guys don't actually see how the family is during Dracul and Ainz's time in the New World.

Until now, that is.

However, if you guys hate this, tell me and I won't write these kinds of Omakes anymore. I understand that people want to see Dracul's time in the New World and not this, so if you hate, please don't hold yourselves back and just tell me. Thank you.

One last thing, for those you don't know, I have a poll on my FF account for my second fic and that will close on the 9nth of August. During that time, I WON'T write the E-Rantel chapter until the poll is closed. Mostly because I just wanna recharge my writing batteries and get work under control in RL. After the poll is closed, I will write the first chapter of that new fic and then start writing the E-Rantel Chapter for this fic. It'll take a while, I know, but I really don't want to run the risk of burning myself out and just making this a chore rather than a very fun hobby.