My family runs an adventurer's guild.

A bright sun hung high in the sky, illuminating the vast, flat grassland with dazzling light.

Looking around, all you could see were waist-high, lush grass, and the occasional cricket or hare.

The emerald green grass swayed in the wind, accompanied by the clear chirping of insects, creating a vibrant scene.

The scent of grass and earth in the air instantly invigorated Phil and his party, who had just arrived.

"...Hmm, this body is pretty good, quite sturdy, meow! Even stronger than when I was young."

Having been transformed into a "short, chubby version of a cat-faced tiger man" by modifying his body's physique settings, Old Kunka rubbed his muscular arms and legs on the grass, then said to Phil with apparent satisfaction, "...Is the great tomb we're going to over there the stone house over there?"

He pointed to the end of his field of vision, to a group of Greco-Roman style megalithic buildings standing in the middle of a flat grassland, and asked a question.

—On the vast grasslands all around, this was the only man-made structure in sight, so old Cuenca noticed it at a glance.

Upon seeing this, Firi was slightly taken aback: "...This Ainz...didn't he, like in the original story, instruct the NPCs to pile up dirt and grass on the outside of the wall to disguise the surface structures of the Great Tomb of Nazarick as hills, but instead left it to remain as it was without any cover?"

But upon further reflection, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself:

Because there's an extra version of himself, Ainz Ooal Gown's entire transmigration process is different, so how could his subsequent coping strategies be the same as in the original story?

So, instead of directly answering old Kunka's question, Phil opened a portal on the grass outside the Great Tomb and invited everyone to go in, "...Alright! We're all here, let's not stay outside in the sun! Let's go in and say hello to our master!"

Author's message

P.S.: My new book, "My Magic Wand Isn't a Selfie Stick!", has been released. I hope both new and returning readers will click to add it to their collections. Thank you!

Chapter 117, We're here to fool you!

[YGGDRASIL] The second day after the game servers were down, the world of OVERLORD

Yesterday's office worker and corporate slave, Suzuki Satoru, today's Ainz Ooal Gown, is still in a state of utter mental breakdown.

After engaging in various indescribable behaviors, such as summoning NPCs for dialogue and touching and probing female NPCs, Ainz finally confirmed a fact as the green light of his [Forced Calm] passive skill flashed above his head time and time again.

At this moment, he and the Great Tomb of Nazarick did not seem to be in an online game that could not be logged out.

Rather, it is very likely that it has completely transformed from virtual data into a physical object and has been transported to a real, otherworldly realm.

But... God! How is this possible? What on earth is going on?

Wasn't that little cat-man telling me that he had simply moved the Great Tomb of Nazarick into a new online game called "OVERLORD"?

Is he trying to extort money from me? But why would he want to extort money from me?

With his mind in complete disarray, Ainz Ooal Gown could only repeatedly cast the [Message] spell, sending messages to Firi, who was already on the guild member list, and "Lulu Tia," who was suspected to be Firi's superior, but he never received any reply.

Sitting alone on the luxurious throne in the Throne Room (the audience hall), Ainz Ooal Gown was filled with confusion, fear, and bewilderment.

"...Master, please have Darjeeling tea!"

An elderly man dressed in standard butler's attire approached Ainz with utmost respect, carrying a cup of red tea on an exquisite tray.

This is a charming and elegant old gentleman with completely white hair and a white mustache. However, his back is very straight, and his face is handsome and kind. If he were to walk down the street, he would definitely attract a lot of attention from women.

He is Sebastian, the butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick—a classic butler name from Japanese manga.

Although he may not look much different from a human at first glance, Sebastian is actually a dragonkin. Therefore, this old butler's physical strength far surpasses that of an ordinary human. In terms of hand-to-hand combat ability, he is the strongest among the guardian NPCs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

More importantly, Sebastian is one of the few benevolent NPCs in the chaotic Great Tomb of Nazarick.

So, seeing the old man's gentle smile, Ainz finally stopped his self-inflicted anxiety and reached for the teacup.

“…Thank you, Sebastian. The tea is very well made.” He said casually.

“…Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty.” Butler Sebastian bowed.

Smelling the aroma of black tea, Ainz Ooal Gown felt his anxiety ease considerably.

But the problem is... how am I supposed to drink tea now? His body is basically a giant skeleton, with no digestive organs below his mouth. Whatever he eats or drinks will just leak out through the gaps in his bones!

Holding the warm black tea that Sebastian had just brewed, Ainz found himself in a dilemma.

Or, how about temporarily switching to the human version skin that was created under the pressure of that cat-human Phil?

Just as Ainz was thinking this, a violent magical fluctuation suddenly came from the center of the Throne Room.

A thick shadow suddenly appeared on the floor, then transformed into the shape of a door. Several figures of varying sizes emerged from the doorway. Ainz, the Overlord on his throne, stared intently and recognized the leader as none other than the cat-man who had claimed to be the "Human Resources Manager of the Totoro Town Adventurers' Game Company" from the previous night. The cat-man wagged its tail, waved its paws, and greeted him with obvious delight.

"...Hey, Ainz-san! How was your first night in the New World?"

Then, Sebastian, the butler standing next to Ainz, immediately bowed to them and said, "...Greetings to the two Supreme Beings!"

—On the eve of the [YGGDRASIL] game's shutdown, Firi used deceptive tactics to trick Ainz Ooal Gown into giving him control of the guild, and added himself and the silver dragon mistress Lulutia to the [Ainz Ooal Gown] guild's membership list...

Therefore, at this moment, the NPCs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick also implicitly regard Firi and the Silver Dragon Lady as the other two "Supreme Beings".

However, Ainz Ooal Gown himself was far from calm. He practically threw down his teacup in a fit of rage, rushed off his throne, grabbed Phil by the collar, and demanded, "...What's going on? Why can't I log off? Where am I?"

Admittedly, being lifted up and interrogated at such close range by Ainz Ooal Gown was quite stressful for Phil—just imagine, a skull without any flesh, pressed straight against your nose, centimeters away. Terrifying red light flickered in its large, empty eye sockets, while its body was constantly enveloped in an extremely unsettling black aura: this was the innate talent of a high-level necromancer, [Aura of Despair]. If encountering a weak creature, Ainz Ooal Gown could often kill it instantly with a mere flick of his finger using [Aura of Despair].

In short, even at almost zero distance, facing Ainz Ooal Gown's interrogation, Phil felt a certain amount of pressure.

"...Calm down! Calm down, meow! Didn't I just drag you and the Great Tomb of Nazarick into the Overlord game?"

He struggled to explain, glancing pleadingly at his mistress. At the same time, Ainz's [Forced Calm] passive skill triggered again. With a flash of green light on the bones, Ainz seemed to calm down somewhat, though he was still filled with rage.

"...Is this still in the game? Are you kidding me! I've been checking and testing for hours, and the entire Great Tomb of Nazarick has clearly materialized! All the maids and guardians have come to life, but I've completely lost contact with the outside world!"

Ainz roared at Firi, but his grip on Firi's boned hand loosened considerably.

Lulutia, now in human form, seized the opportunity to snatch Firi back, and said to Ainz Ooal Gown, "...Mr. Ainz, please stop making things difficult for my Firi! He didn't deceive you! This is all God's will! You are now in a god's game!"

"...A game of gods? Is this real?" Ainz asked suspiciously. "...And who are you, Miss?"

"...Of course it's true, Mr. Ainz, you have indeed entered a game called 'Overlord.' However, it's a grand online game created by a god, using a real world as the game map and countless believers as players..."

Following the pre-arranged script with Firi, the silver dragon Lulutia smiled calmly and said, "...I am the chosen one of the God of Sleep, the president of the Adventurers' Guild in Totoro Town, or rather, the general manager of the Totoro Town Game Company, and your future direct superior, Lulutia. Next, I will answer your questions, including why you came to this world, and the origin of the game 'Overlord'..."

And so, Ainz Ooal Gown, who had already been fed a lot of false information by Phil as a prelude, was quickly fooled again...

Author's message

P.S.: It's the last day of June, so please throw in as many razor blades and monthly tickets as you can!

Chapter 118, Talking about Treatment with Ainz Ooal Gown (Happy July 1st)

OVERLORD

This is an online adventure game created by the gods.

It is now unknown which deity was initially inspired by Earth's civilization to come up with the idea of ​​creating online games.

However, regardless of the extraordinary power of the gods, the online game "OVERLORD" was still created.

Moreover, this adventure game called "OVERLORD" was full of grand gestures and ambition from the moment it was launched.

—The game takes place on a real planet, with countless indigenous lives on the planet as NPCs and the souls of thousands of believers as players!

Mountains, plains, swamps, forests, grasslands, oceans, deserts... all kinds of terrain and landforms are available in this game.

Orcs, humans, elves, dwarves, dragons... all sorts of races adventure and fight on this stage.

Conquest, massacre, invention, reform, rebellion, conspiracy, trade, exchange, love and hate, passion and vendetta...

The rise and fall of civilizations, the establishment and disintegration of kingdoms, the rise and swan song of heroes, the rampage and end of demon kings...

All the epic legends that mortals can imagine are constantly being performed on this vast stage.

What grandeur, what extravagance, what unbelievable things!

Why don't you mortals quickly bow down in worship and then log in to play the game with a grateful heart?

However, what's truly frustrating is that this "OVERLORD" game is actually a knock-off of the "YGGDRASIL" game.

From magic levels and martial arts techniques to magical items and potions, everything is copied from the game [YGGDRASIL].

It is clear that these high and mighty deities obviously lack even the most basic awareness of intellectual property rights.

Of course, this is also because no law on Earth can govern the gods.

However, to the astonishment of mortals, even with such a grand and ambitious plan, the super online game "OVERLORD" actually crashed and shut down three times due to the gods' mismanagement!

Now, control of the game "OVERLORD" has been transferred to the fourth deity, namely the goddess of sleep, Momo.

And this Japanese office worker from the 22nd century is the game planning consultant that the goddess of sleep, Momo, recruited from Earth this time...

—The above is the general outline that Ainz Ooal Gown, the newly arrived Overlord, formerly the corporate slave Suzuki Satoru, and now the great lich Ainz Ooal Gown, had in his mind after listening to the silver dragon Lulutia introduce the game called "OVERLORD".

Although it all basically originated from a cat's wild imagination and bluffing...

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

After learning the "truth" behind his journey to another world, Ainz, who had not yet been molded into a demon king by his environment, immediately became timid and trembling. He dared not continue to sit high on his throne and arrogantly look down on the visitor in front of the "messenger of the gods".

Instead, they moved the conversation to the same conference room with the huge obsidian round table where they had previously hosted Phil.

—In Ainz's eyes, although he was a max-level player, fully equipped with divine gear, and had such a large base, seemingly very wealthy, the other party was a super-powerful being who brought him to this other world, with a true god backing him up! How could he dare to be negligent?

Moreover, according to this Miss Silver Dragon, it was God's will that he would probably be working under her most of the time, so of course he couldn't continue to act so arrogantly—otherwise, who knows how he would be treated in the workplace in the future!

Therefore, Ainz Ooal Gown not only changed the meeting place to a more equal and relaxed round table conference room, but also ordered Sebastian's butler to serve tea and pastries to his guest. Furthermore, he made sure his tone was as polite and humble as possible to avoid offending his future female boss.

—Although he bears the nickname "Bone Overlord" and has a group of terrifyingly evil subordinates, unlike the "overlord" male protagonists in some transmigration novels who constantly say "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens," emphasize their ruthlessness, and are full of resentment towards society, Ainz, the "Bone Overlord," is relatively timid and amiable, a harmless, overworked, and nerdy guy.

The main reason he later became a terrifying demon king feared by everyone was that the team he led was problematic—he was surrounded by a group of evil subordinates who were always looking to cause trouble and had a strong sense of "subjective initiative," and they also liked to "over-interpret" and distort Ainz's various instructions.

Even after their various disgraceful deeds are exposed, Ainz, who is protective of his own, will mostly be lenient and cover it up, at most giving them a symbolic punishment—after all, these subordinates' loyalty was maxed out from the start, and who would want to punish their own loyal followers? Don't you understand the principle of different treatment based on personal relationships?

(Another explanation is that Ainz, being a coward, couldn't monitor his subordinates' loyalty levels and, fearing their betrayal, dared not punish them too harshly.)

In addition, Ainz himself would occasionally go too far, losing control once he started attacking, and naturally becoming more and more evil...

However, at this moment, Ainz, who had only been in this other world for less than a day, still possessed the harmless soul of an otaku beneath those bones.

"...I roughly understand now. My current situation sounds like 'summoning a hero from another world' in an old-fashioned RPG game! And the one who summoned me to this world is His Highness the God of Sleep, who sent you here, right?"

Sitting at the obsidian round table, Ainz spoke as amiably as possible, “...In other words, we are all now in a game created by the gods, and the entire world is the stage for the game. Furthermore, this game called ‘OVERLORD’ has already been failed three times by the three true gods, and now Princess Hypnos is leading the fourth launch of the game, while I am the game planner who was recruited…right?”

But at this point, he finally couldn't help but feel a little resentful, "...but to force me and the Great Tomb of Nazarick together without even explaining things clearly...isn't that going too far?"

"...Mr. Ainz, do you perhaps still have some attachment to life on Earth? As far as I know, you're doing quite poorly there!"

Miss Silver Dragon Lulutia said slowly, "...No parents, no wife and children, no status, low salary, but the workload is so heavy that it can crush you... In comparison, the gods have allowed you to take the entire guild to another world and start a life of arrogance with unlimited potential - do you really want to go back to the polluted Earth where you live and continue to breathe in smog and dust day after day?"

After hearing Miss Silver Dragon's words, Ainz Ooal Gown fell silent.

He had to admit that he didn't really miss his previous life on Earth.

Because there were no relatives or friends there, no businesses of their own, and the living conditions and future prospects were so bad that it was despairing.

Chapter 119, Let's continue being corporate slaves! Ainz Ooal Gown!

In fact, a long, long time ago, when Ainz was still a corporate slave, he was already extremely tired of his life.

—Meager wages, terrible food, severely polluted environment, exhausting and arduous work, and hypocritical communication with masks on.

My parents and relatives are all gone, and in reality, apart from my irritable boss and foolish colleagues, I have no close friends.

Personal advancement channels are completely blocked; no matter how hard one works, salary will not increase, and promotion will be impossible.

There is no hope for personal future, no hope for the future of the nation, and even the prospects for the entire human civilization are bleak.

He had countless grievances about the workplace and society, but he was powerless to change them, so he could only suppress his growing frustration.

So, he used his limited free time to escape into the second world of the online game.

They freely change identities, wield various weapons with cool flair, and unleash powerful abilities that are impossible to possess in reality.

Sometimes he plays the role of a brave hero who eliminates evil, and sometimes he transforms into a tyrannical villain who holds the power of life and death over countless NPCs.

Temporarily forgetting all the unpleasant things in real life, living as you please in a virtual world that you can control at will, greedily immersing yourself in the fantasy of freedom, making friends with people from other social classes that are difficult to meet in reality, chatting and adventuring together—how wonderful that feeling is!

Unfortunately, those netizens stopped logging on much afterward, leaving only the guild in 【YGGDRASIL】 as a remnant of their past joy.

But Ainz Ooal Gown remained steadfast in his online game fantasy, a world where everything was so tranquil and beautiful. He was deeply immersed in it, even to the point of avoiding the real world and refusing to see the true nature of others and the world.

Therefore, when the game [YGGDRASIL] shut down, he was so heartbroken and devastated.