Year -4 of the Public Calendar.
Re-Estize Kingdom.
Royal capital.
It was clearly the center of the entire country, yet everywhere except the main street, the ground was gray and dull. The gray stone bricks that paved the streets were covered in tiny cracks and corroded chips.
Most of the surrounding houses were one- or two-story European-style buildings that gave off a sense of age and decay.
However, the closer one got to the center of the capital, the neater and cleaner both the streets and the buildings became.
The air was very fresh.
But the atmosphere of the surroundings was all telling Aaron that this was another world!
Ding ding ding—
Clang—
The sounds that rang out constantly were the metallic clashes produced when the weapons carried by adventurers on the street bumped against their own armor.
The noisy cries of shopkeepers from the stores on both sides, along with all sorts of signs that reflected the sunlight faintly, added an extra layer of bustle to the scene.
Luxurious carriages threaded their way through the street with some difficulty, yet they never stopped moving. Most people would actively make way for these carriages.
Among the crowd were many people wearing armor and a smaller number in mage robes, making them very eye-catching. There were also some people dressed in bright, strange-looking outfits.
All in all, it gave off a feeling of a motley, mixed crowd.
For the past few days, the royal capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom had been flooded with people rushing in from all over the country.
In such a lively atmosphere, most people's emotions would naturally rise along with it.
But not one particular person.
Aaron wore a set of low-quality long sleeves and drab gray pants, blending into the crowd without drawing any attention.
His mood right now was the same color as his clothes.
Besides confusion, there was an even stronger sense of fear coiled around his heart.
The excitement belonged to everyone else.
Aaron had only crossed over to this world yesterday, but he had more or less figured out the situation already.
This was the world of Overlord—in precise terms, the other world where the Great Tomb of Nazarick would descend in the future.
So Aaron was very panicked right now.
Other people crossed into the "real world" of Overlord, where they would grind levels and burn money on the game YGGDRASIL, acquiring large numbers of world-class items and special classes.
Then they would descend into this world with overwhelming strength, or simply join the Great Tomb from the beginning.
But he had crossed directly into the other world. If he were like those people up there, Aaron would not be as terrified as he was now.
The only thing that gave him a little peace of mind at the moment
was that, at this point in time, there were still more than four years left before the Great Tomb of Nazarick descended.
How could he be so sure about that timing?
Because of the Royal Tournament—the Martial Contest Before the King!
In the future, Gazef, the kingdom's strongest warrior, would win the championship in this very tournament and be granted the title of Warrior Captain.
And today was precisely the day of the peak showdown between the future Warrior Captain Gazef and "Nail Clipper" Brain.
It could be said that this match had drawn the attention of every adventurer and commoner in the kingdom. That was also why the streets were packed and unusually lively.
Even though he had only been an ordinary person before crossing over, reading too many novels did have its benefits. At the very least, it allowed him to calm down quickly.
After hearing information such as Gazef, Brain, and the Royal Tournament, Aaron had finally confirmed the world and the point in time that he had crossed into.
"New Calendar Year -4"—this was naturally not the dating system used in this world, but a notation Aaron adopted based on the settings calculated by uploaders from his previous life.
After all, according to the plot of the Bone King, the Great Tomb would end up ruling the world sooner or later. Using a "New Calendar" clearly was not a problem.
As for why he could understand the language of this world?
It was because there existed some kind of "language translation" world law in this other world. Not only between different countries, but even different races could understand each other.
To borrow the Bone King's snark, it was as if the entire world had eaten translator konjac.
Of course, understanding speech was one thing; recognizing the written characters was another.
The rough texture of his clothes rubbed against his skin, causing an itchy feeling that made Aaron somewhat uncomfortable, but compared to his current situation, it was nothing.
He did not know why he had crossed over. He had simply been lying on the bed in his rental apartment, then in a daze had ended up here.
Such a cliché way to transmigrate.
Aaron complained in his heart and then felt a little self-mockery.
He was an orphan anyway, had always been alone. Even if he suddenly disappeared, no one would really care.
Thankfully,
this peak duel between commoner and commoner had drawn in huge crowds of adventurers and commoners.
The pajamas and shorts Aaron had been wearing when he crossed over did not stand out much compared to those adventurers dressed provocatively or in equally strange outfits.
Perhaps because of the existence of various races, along with differences in faith and nationality, clothing in this world actually was not all that conservative.
After confirming the nature of this world and calming down,
the first thing Aaron did was find a shop that sold goods and sell the only thing he had brought to this world besides his clothes—a cloisonné enamel gold pendant on his neck.
He got three gold coins for it.
He had spent about two months' salary on that pendant, planning to give it to his then-girlfriend. In the end, they broke up before he could give it to her, so he had just kept it for himself.
169 copper coins = 13 silver coins = 1 gold coin.
[ps: The currency ratios in the other world where the Bone King resides probably are not decimal-based. In the anime, Sebas once bought a magic scroll for 1 gold coin and 10 silver coins. If it were decimal-based, it should have cost 2 gold coins.]
[Some uploaders have analyzed two possible systems, one base-13 and one base-20. Personally, base-13 seems more appropriate.]
Above gold coins there were also white gold coins, gem coins, mithril coins, and so on.
Compared to the value of his pendant, which contained only about 10 grams of gold, the price of three gold coins was obviously much higher.
The fact that the shop owner was willing to pay that price meant it clearly was not just about the gold itself, but also about the cloisonné enamel craftsmanship on it.
In this other world where all kinds of craft techniques were extremely underdeveloped and most things had to rely on magic,
if the owner resold it to some noble lady, he could easily earn dozens or even hundreds of times the profit.
Aaron knew this perfectly well, but he also knew that in his current situation, haggling was not an option.
Next, he spent 5 copper coins to buy a cheap set of clothes and 1 silver coin to buy a short sword.
At the moment, he still had 2 gold, 11 silver, and 3 copper coins left.
He spent another 5 copper coins on a few rye breads.
"More than four years left, my ass—"
Aaron stomped his left foot heavily on the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching as he cursed in his heart.
His only hobby before crossing over had been novels and anime, so naturally he had gone through the Overlord light novels after watching the anime.
Because of that, he understood very clearly: was there really any difference between having four years and the Great Tomb of Nazarick descending tomorrow?
Aaron felt there was none.
For the Re-Estize Kingdom before his eyes, everyone—including himself—was facing nothing but a fate of annihilation.
It seemed that, in the future, there were only two paths he could choose.
Either die in the aftermath of the war between the Sorcerous Kingdom and the Re-Estize Kingdom—if that one-sided crushing could even be called a war.
Or somehow survive and become one of the citizens of the Sorcerous Kingdom.
However...
Aaron raised his head and looked at the magnificent, ancient royal castle built on the distant hill, and his panic grew stronger.
Could his identity as a transmigrator really be hidden from those people in the Great Tomb of Nazarick?