I'm in Overlord.
*I'm in fucking Overlord.*
I'm screwed.
I remain standing there, frozen like an idiot, staring at the two Frost Virgins who are guarding the cathedral entrance.
If I still had a working heart, it would be hammering against my ribcage right now. If I still had adrenaline, it would be flooding my system. If I still had the capacity for a proper panic attack, I'd be hyperventilating on the floor.
But I'm undead.
A vampire.
So instead, there's just this cold, crystalline clarity in my mind. A detached sort of terror that sits in my chest like a block of ice.
*Calm down. Breathe.*
Except I don't need to breathe.
*Calm down anyway.*
I need to think. I need to *think.*
Okay. Facts. Let's establish facts.
I'm in Nazarick. The Great Tomb of Nazarick. The biggest dungeon of YGGDRASIL, now transported to the New World along with all its NPCs and—apparently—me.
The freezing climate, the frozen lake, the winter wasteland... that means I'm almost certainly on the fifth floor. Cocytus's floor. The Frozen River and Glacier area.
And they called me Alukard.
I don't remember there being any Area Guardian named Alukard on the fifth floor in the anime. Then again, the anime didn't cover every single NPC in Nazarick—there were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Just because I don't remember doesn't mean he didn't exist.
I'll worry about that later.
Right now, I need information.
"Excuse me—" I begin, taking a step toward the Frost Virgins.
Before I can even finish the sentence, both of them bow so deeply and so quickly that I'm genuinely worried they might snap their spines.
"Yes, Alukard-sama?" they ask in perfect unison.
Their voices are identical. Soft, feminine, completely devoid of emotion. Like wind chimes made of ice.
It's creepy as hell.
Also, they called me *sama.*
That's... significant. In Nazarick's rigid hierarchy, honorifics matter. Sama is what you call someone of notably higher status. Which means as an Area Guardian, I outrank these summons.
Good to know.
I clear my throat—still weird, doing things I don't technically need to do—and try to sound authoritative.
"You mentioned that Nazarick is at maximum alert level," I say, keeping my tone measured and calm. "Can you elaborate on what that means? Has something happened?"
They bow again.
Jesus Christ, do they bow after *everything?*
"Our sincerest apologies, Alukard-sama," the one on the left says. "Cocytus-sama did not provide us with extensive details regarding the situation."
The one on the right continues seamlessly, as if they're sharing a single brain. "We were merely ordered to prepare defensive positions for a possible invasion and to ensure that all Area Guardians remain within their designated domains until further notice."
The left one speaks again. "We exist only to serve, Alukard-sama. We ask only what we must in order to fulfill our duties to the Supreme Beings."
*Supreme Beings.*
The title sends a chill through me that has nothing to do with the cold.
That's what the NPCs call the Forty-One. The guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown. The players who created this place and then abandoned it when the game shut down.
Except one of them didn't abandon it.
Momonga—Suzuki Satoru—stayed logged in until the very end. And when the servers shut down, instead of being kicked back to reality, he woke up *here.* In the New World. Trapped in his avatar's body, surrounded by NPCs who had suddenly become real, sentient beings who worshipped him as a god.
And now I'm here too.
Fuck.
But okay, focus. Maximum alert. Possible invasion. Area Guardians confined to their domains.
That tracks with the timeline.
"One more question," I say carefully. "Was Cocytus-sama summoned to the amphitheater on the sixth floor recently? Within the last few hours?"
"Yes, Alukard-sama," they answer in unison. "Approximately two hours ago, he was called to attend an emergency gathering of all Floor Guardians."
*There it is.*
The pieces fall into place.
Two hours ago, the Floor Guardians were summoned to the amphitheater. That means Momonga just held his first big meeting with all the Guardians.
Which means I'm at the very beginning of the story.
Right after the transportation.
Probably somewhere around episode two of the anime.
Carne Village is going to be attacked in a few days. The Sunlight Scripture disguised as Baharuth Empire soldiers. Gazef Stronoff. Ainz's first big heroic rescue that kicks off his reputation as a powerful magic caster.
And then everything spirals from there.
The Happy Farms. The Kingdom's massacre. The Katze Plains. Splat. Splat. Splat.
*Fuck.*
I'm in Overlord, and I know *exactly* how bad things are going to get.
"Thank you for the information," I say, trying to sound dismissive in the way I imagine an Area Guardian should. "You may return to your posts."
"As you command, Alukard-sama."
They bow one final time and then return to their positions flanking the enormous doors, becoming perfectly still once more. Like they'd never moved at all.
I turn and walk back into the cathedral's great hall, my armored footsteps echoing in the vast emptiness.
I need to think.
I need to *really* think.
---
The cathedral is massive. Impossibly, absurdly massive. The kind of architecture that shouldn't be able to exist without magic holding it together.
I wander through it aimlessly, trying to process everything, my mind racing.
Okay. I'm in Nazarick. I'm an Area Guardian named Alukard stationed on the fifth floor. The Frost Virgins—level 82 summons, if I remember correctly—are treating me with respect, which means I'm probably around their level. Maybe a bit higher.
So I'm level 80-something.
Powerful by New World standards.
A complete joke by Nazarick standards.
Shit.
I have the same power level as a *summon.* I'm basically a glorified mob.
Any of the Floor Guardians could crush me without breaking a sweat.
And I still don't even know what I can *do.*
What are my skills? My spells? My abilities?
I need to test this body. Figure out what it's capable of.
I look up at one of the cathedral's many staircases, this one leading to a balcony about thirty meters above me.
Alright. Let's see what this vampire body can do.
I crouch down, feeling the muscles in my legs coil like springs—do vampires even have muscles? Is this magic? Negative energy? I have no idea—and then I *launch* myself upward.
And I immediately realize I've made a terrible mistake.
I don't hit the staircase.
I *overshoot* the staircase by about fifty meters.
And I slam headfirst into the cathedral ceiling.
**CRACK**
The impact is like getting hit by a truck.
Pain explodes through my skull—*vampires can feel pain, good to know*—and the entire cathedral *shakes* from the force of it. Dust and small chunks of stone rain down from above.
The ceiling itself doesn't break, thank god. Must be reinforced with magic or something. But *I* definitely took damage.
And now I'm falling.
Fast.
*Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck—*
**BONNNNNGGGG**
I slam into the massive bell that hangs in the center of the cathedral, and the sound is *apocalyptic.*
It reverberates through every stone, every pillar, every surface. My entire skeleton vibrates with it.
And I'm *still falling.*
**CRASH**
I hit the ground flat on my back, my armor clanging against the stone floor like a dropped pot, and just lie there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling I just headbutted.
Okay.
New plan.
Go *much* slower.
I tilt my head toward the entrance, half-expecting the Frost Virgins to come running to see what the hell just happened.
But they haven't moved.
They're still standing at perfect attention, like ice sculptures, as if I didn't just ring the cathedral bell loud enough to wake the dead.
*We're all already dead, technically.*
Good. At least nobody witnessed that humiliation.
I peel myself off the floor—nothing broken, apparently, vampires are durable—and make a mental note: *super strength requires practice.*
This time, I take the stairs.
Like a normal person.
---
After what feels like an eternity of climbing—seriously, this cathedral has to be at least two hundred meters tall—I finally reach another section of the building.
It's smaller than the grand hall, more intimate, but no less ornate.
Two rows of pews carved from black obsidian stretch toward the front of the room, each one polished to a mirror shine. At the far end is a pulpit, also black, carved with intricate designs that seem to writhe and shift when I'm not looking directly at them.
But what really catches my attention are the windows.
Stained glass. Massive panels of stained glass lining both walls, each one depicting a different figure.
The Forty-One Supreme Beings of Nazarick.
I walk slowly down the center aisle, looking at each window in turn.
Some of them I recognize from the anime. Touch Me in his gleaming silver armor. Ulbert Alain Odle wreathed in dark flames. Bukubukuchagama in her pink slime form. Warrior Takemikazuchi with his halberd.
Others I don't recognize. Members of the guild who were never shown in the anime, or only mentioned in passing.
And at the very end, dominating the far wall, is the largest window of all.
A skeletal figure in elaborate robes, clutching a golden staff topped with seven serpent heads. Empty eye sockets that seem to stare right through me. An aura of dark power radiating from every line of the image.
Momonga.
Ainz Ooal Gown.
The Supreme One.
"Fuck," I whisper.
Seeing it in the anime was one thing. Seeing it as a drawing on a screen, knowing it was fiction, knowing it was just entertainment.
This is different.
This is *real.*
That's a real person—or was a real person, anyway—now trapped in the body of that skeletal avatar, surrounded by NPCs who worship him as an absolute god-king, expected to rule over an empire of monsters.
And his avatar is *terrifying.*
I mean, I *know* Suzuki Satoru. I know he's just a regular guy. A salaryman who worked too much and played too much MMO and probably had crippling social anxiety.
But looking at that stained glass window?
Yeah. I'd shit myself if I met that thing in a dark alley.
I sink down onto one of the rear pews, my armor clanking, and put my head in my gauntleted hands.
*Man, I'm so fucked.*
Okay. Okay. Calm down. Think.
What do I know about the story? What do I remember from the anime?
I should have read the light novels. I should have binged the wiki. I should have done *literally anything* other than just watch the anime once and call it good.
But it's too late for regrets now.
Let's go point by point.
**Point One:** Nazarick has been transported to the New World. That just happened.
**Point Two:** In a few days, maybe a week?Carne Village will be attacked by the Sunlight Scripture disguised as Knights of the Baharuth Empire.
**Point Three:** Ainz will save the village, meet Gazef Stronoff, and that'll be his first real contact with the New World beyond just scouting.
**Point Four:** And then everything snowballs from there. The kingdom. The empire. The theocracy. Demiurge's "experiments." The Happy Farms. The Katze Plains massacre where Ainz kills seventy thousand soldiers in a single spell.
Splat. Splat. Splat.
I'm a member of Nazarick.
I'm one of the *bad guys.*
Actually, scratch that—I'm one of the *villains* of this world.
The thought sits in my stomach like a lead weight.
Should I run away?
Just... leave? Escape Nazarick and try to make it on my own in the New World?
No. *Fuck* no.
That's possibly the worst idea I've ever had.
If there's one thing I absolutely, positively do *not* want to be in the New World, it's a renegade Nazarick NPC.
I've seen what happens to traitors in the anime. I've seen what Demiurge does to people. I've seen the Happy Farms.
And that's not even considering what *Albedo* would do.
Albedo, who's been programmed to be madly in love with Ainz. Albedo, who interprets any threat to Ainz as a personal insult. Albedo, who once casually created a hit Squad to hunt doenthe other Supreme Beings if they ever returned because they "abandoned" Ainz.
Yeah. I'm not fucking with Albedo.
Or Demiurge.
Or Shalltear.
Or any of them.
Everyone in this place has a supernatural hard-on for Bone Daddy Ainz. They worship him. They would burn the world to ash if he asked them to.
And I mean that literally.
Just look at this place. Look at where I'm sitting right now.
They built an entire *cathedral* dedicated to worshipping the Supreme Beings.
There are stained glass windows. There's a pulpit. There are *pews* for the faithful to sit and pray.
This isn't just loyalty. This isn't just programming.
This is religious devotion.
And I'm supposed to be part of it.
I lean back against the pew and stare up at the vaulted ceiling.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
I can't run away—that's suicide.
But I also can't just... go along with everything. I can't be complicit in what's coming.
The massacres. The experiments. The *Happy Farms* where Demiurge skins people alive and uses their hides to make scrolls.
I'm still human. At least, I *was* human. I've only been undead for like... two hours? Three?
I still have my morality. My conscience. My sense of right and wrong.
I can't just throw that away.
But at the same time, Ainz—the *real* Ainz, Suzuki Satoru—he's not evil either.
He's just a guy. A normal guy who got trapped in an impossible situation and is desperately trying to play the role everyone expects of him.
He's gullible. He's impulsive. He's terrified of disappointing his NPCs, so he goes along with their increasingly insane plans because he doesn't know how to tell them no.
He's just like me.
A human, alone, surrounded by monsters, trying to figure out how to survive.
And that's when it hits me.
The key is Ainz.
No—the key is *Suzuki Satoru.*
If I can reach him. If I can make him see me as an ally instead of just another fanatical NPC. If I can remind him that he's still *human* underneath all that bone...
Maybe I can steer things in a better direction.
Maybe I can prevent some of the worst atrocities.
Maybe I can save some lives.
It's not much. It's probably not even possible.
But it's *something.*
It's a plan.
The problem is: *how the hell do I reach him?*
I can't just waltz up to the throne room on the ninth floor and demand an audience with the Supreme Being. That's probably the fastest way to get a one way trip to Neuronist.
Or worse—it might get *Demiurge* interested in me.
And if there's one thing I want to avoid at all costs, it's having Demiurge pay attention to me.
That demon is smart. Too smart. He can read people, predict their actions, manipulate them into doing exactly what he wants.
If he ever suspects I'm not a loyal NPC...
No. I need to be careful. Strategic.
I need to think about my advantages.
**Advantage One:** I know what's coming. I know about Carne Village. I know about Gazef. I know about the Sunlight Scripture. I know the general trajectory of the story.
That's huge. That's potentially game-changing.
**Advantage Two:** I'm an Area Guardian. That means I have *some* authority, some standing in Nazarick's hierarchy. I'm not just a random mob.
**Advantage Three:** I'm a vampire. In YGGDRASIL, vampires were powerful. If I'm an Area Guardian, I'm probably level 80-something. That's strong. Not Floor Guardian strong, but strong enough to matter.
**Advantage Four:** I'm in a Mordekaiser-inspired armor, which is objectively awesome and might give me some credibility in this world of monsters.
But I also have disadvantages.
**Disadvantage One:** I don't know jack shit about my abilities. I don't know my skills, my spells, my equipment. I'm a noob piloting a high-level character I don't understand. I just proved that by jumping into a ceiling like an idiot.
**Disadvantage Two:** I don't know who "Alukard" is. I don't know my backstory, my relationships, my role in Nazarick. I don't know which Supreme Being created me.
**Disadvantage Three:** I'm on house arrest. Cocytus ordered all Area Guardians to stay in their domains. I can't leave the cathedral.
That voice in my head... those instincts that aren't quite mine... those are Alukard's memories. The original NPC's programming.
But they're fragmented. Incomplete. Like muscle memory, but for knowledge.
I need more information.
But where the hell am I supposed to get it when I'm trapped in this cathedral?
I look up at the stained glass windows again, at all those Supreme Beings staring down at me with their divine, judgmental gazes.
Somewhere in this tomb, Suzuki Satoru is feeling exactly what I'm feeling right now.
Alone.
Confused.
Terrified.
And I need to find a way to reach him before this whole situation spirals completely out of control.
I just have no idea how.