Re-Estize Kingdom

4 years before the New Calendar.

Re-Estize Kingdom.

Royal City.

Although it was the center of the entire country, everywhere except the main street was drab. The gray stone bricks covering the ground were riddled with tiny cracks and eroded gaps.

Most of the surrounding buildings were single- or two-story European-style structures, giving off a distinct sense of age.

But the closer one got to the center of the Royal City, the neater and cleaner both the streets and buildings became.

The air was fresh.

Yet the atmosphere of the surrounding environment told Tang Zheng without a doubt that this was the New World!

Clink, clink, clink—

Clang—

The continuous sounds came from the metal of Adventurers' weapons colliding with their own armor as they walked along the streets.

The shops on both sides were filled with noisy sales calls, while all kinds of signs glimmered faintly beneath the sunlight.

The whole scene was even more boisterous because of it.

Luxurious carriages moved with some difficulty through the streets, but they never stopped. Most people would take the initiative to make way for them.

Quite a few people wore armor, while a smaller number wore mage robes, making them especially conspicuous among the crowds. Others wore bright, unusual-looking clothing.

In short, it gave people the impression of a chaotic mix of all sorts.

The entire Royal City of the Re-Estize Kingdom had been flooded these past few days by crowds arriving from every corner of the country.

In such a lively atmosphere, most people's moods naturally rose along with it.

But not one person's.

Tang Zheng wore a set of poor-quality long sleeves and drab trousers, blending into the crowd without attracting the slightest attention.

His current mood was the same color as his clothes.

Aside from bewilderment, what weighed more heavily on his heart was an entangling sense of fear.

The merriment belonged to them.

Tang Zheng had crossed over into this world only yesterday, but he had already more or less figured out the situation.

This was the world of Overlord—or, more precisely, the New World that the Great Tomb of Nazarick would descend upon in the future.

That was why Tang Zheng was panicking.

Other people crossed into the real world of Overlord, endlessly grinding and paying to win in the game YGGDRASIL, thereby obtaining large numbers of World Items and Special Classes.

Then they descended upon the world with invincible strength, or simply joined the Great Tomb.

He, on the other hand, had directly crossed into the New World. If he had been in the same situation as those people above, Tang Zheng would not have been nearly as panicked as he was now.

The only thing that gave him a little peace of mind at present—

Was that the current point in time was more than four years before the descent of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Why could he determine the timing?

Because of the Royal Tournament—the Royal Tournament!

Gazef, who would become the Kingdom's strongest warrior in the future, won the championship in this very competition and was awarded the title of Head Warrior.

And today was the future Head Warrior Gazef's climactic showdown with Nail Clipper Brain.

One could say—

This competition had attracted the attention of every Adventurer and commoner in the Kingdom. That was also why the streets were so crowded and exceptionally lively.

Although he had only been an ordinary person before crossing over, reading too many novels had its advantages. At the very least, it allowed him to calm down quickly.

It was only after hearing information about Gazef, Brain, and the Royal Tournament that Tang Zheng confirmed the world and point in time he had crossed into.

"Four years before the New Calendar" was naturally not the calendar system used by this world. It was a timeline Tang Zheng had calculated according to the setting devised by content creators in his previous life.

After all, according to the plot of Overlord, the Great Tomb would rule the world sooner or later. Using the New Calendar clearly made sense.

As for why he could understand the language of this world—

It was because some kind of "language translation" world law existed in this New World. Not only could people from different countries understand one another, even different races could understand each other's speech.

To use Ainz Ooal Gown's own sarcastic description, it was as if the entire world had eaten translation konjac.

Of course, understanding spoken language was one thing. He clearly could not recognize the written language.

The rough fabric of his clothes rubbed against his skin, causing an itchy discomfort, but compared with his current circumstances, it was insignificant.

He did not know why he had crossed over. He had simply been lying on the bed in his rented apartment when, in a moment of distraction, he had arrived here.

What a cliché way to cross over.

Tang Zheng complained inwardly, while also feeling somewhat self-mocking.

He was an orphan, after all, and had always been alone. Even if he suddenly disappeared, no one would likely care.

Fortunately—

Because this climactic showdown between two commoners had attracted huge numbers of Adventurers and commoners, Tang Zheng's pajamas and shorts were not particularly conspicuous compared with those Adventurers dressed provocatively or even just as strangely.

Perhaps because this world contained various races, faiths, and countries, its clothing was unexpectedly not very conservative.

After confirming the situation in this world and calming down—

Tang Zheng immediately found a shop that sold goods and sold the enamel-painted gold pendant around his neck, the only thing he had brought to this world besides his clothes.

He received three gold coins.

He had spent roughly two months' salary on it, intending to give it to his former girlfriend. But they had broken up before he could give it to her, so he had simply continued wearing it himself.

169 copper coins = 13 silver coins = 1 gold coin.

[PS: The currency exchange rate in the New World where Ainz Ooal Gown lived probably was not based on tens. In the anime, Sebas once bought a Magic Scroll for 1 gold coin and 10 silver coins. If the system were decimal, he should have paid two gold coins.]

[One content creator analyzed two possible systems: base thirteen and base twenty. Personally, I think base thirteen is more appropriate.]

Above gold coins were platinum coins, jewel coins, mithril coins, and so on.

Compared with his pendant, which contained only around ten grams of gold, the value of three gold coins was clearly much higher.

The shopkeeper was obviously willing to pay that price not for the gold itself, but for the enamel-painting craftsmanship on it.

In this New World, where all kinds of craftsmanship were extremely backward and most things could only be achieved through magic—

If the shopkeeper resold it to some noble young lady or the like, he could make dozens or even hundreds of times his money.

Tang Zheng knew this, but he also knew that his circumstances were unsuitable for haggling.

Next, he spent five copper coins on a set of cheap clothes and one silver coin on a short sword.

He now had 2 gold coins, 11 silver coins, and 3 copper coins left.

With the extra five copper coins, he bought several rye loaves.

"More than four years to prepare. Stay calm... my ass!"

Tang Zheng brought his left leg down heavily against the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching as he cursed inwardly.

His only hobbies before crossing over had been novels and anime, so naturally he had read all the novels of Overlord as well.

Therefore, he understood perfectly what difference there was between four years and the descent of the Great Tomb of Nazarick tomorrow.

Tang Zheng felt there was none.

Everyone in the Re-Estize Kingdom before him, himself included, was destined for destruction.

In the future, there seemed to be only two paths to choose from.

Either he would die in the aftermath of the war between the Sorcerer Kingdom and the Re-Estize Kingdom—if one could even call it a war when the conflict was so one-sided.

Or he would be lucky enough to survive and become a citizen of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

But...

Tang Zheng raised his head and looked at the magnificent yet ancient Royal Capital standing atop a distant hill, his panic growing stronger.

Could he really conceal his identity as a transmigrator from the people of the Great Tomb of Nazarick?