Overlord: Welcome the Birth of the King

The game YGGDRASIL was entirely different from traditional ones, carrying severe death penalties. Upon death, players would lose five levels instantly, and if their level fell below the minimum, their account would be permanently deleted.

To mitigate such risks, players had two options:

1. Use revival magic.

2. Carry revival items like resurrection rings or resurrection rods, typically acquired through microtransactions.

Unfortunately, Lyle possessed none of these revival items. He also suspected that, despite his innate supernatural abilities as a "player," he would not automatically revive upon death in this world.

After all, this wasn't a game—it was a real, living world. Hence, he had to act with extreme caution.

Lyle sat on the ground, chewing on a tough piece of black bread while his hand rested on the dagger strapped to his waist. He had bought it with silver coins, but without any "Item Identification" magic, he couldn't discern its properties.

Still, even without such magic, he was certain of one thing—this dagger was nothing more than an ordinary weapon, devoid of any special attributes or enhancements. He hadn't bought it merely for self-defense. There was another reason—touching it had triggered a job activation prompt.

[Buzz—]

[Weapon touched: Dagger. Basic job identified: Warrior.]

[Do you want to accept this job?]

The message appeared on the translucent status screen before him as soon as he held the dagger. After a moment of contemplation, Lyle quietly rejected it in his mind.

"No."

The prompt vanished. It wasn't the first time he had declined such an offer—he had rejected it once before when purchasing the dagger. Including this, he had now rejected it twice. He had discovered that by touching various weapons for a while, he could trigger job prompts. In a weapons shop earlier, touching a peculiar shield had activated an intermediate job prompt: "Black Guard". However, he couldn't accept it without first acquiring the prerequisite basic job: "Guardian".

This revelation excited him greatly. So much so that, under the shopkeeper's increasingly hostile gaze, he had touched every weapon within reach. Unfortunately, aside from the shield, only the basic "Warrior" job had been available for activation.

In Overlord, jobs were divided into three categories:

•Basic jobs (15 levels)

•Intermediate jobs (10 levels)

•Advanced/Special jobs (5 levels)

Each of these job tiers had level caps corresponding to their categories. With over 2,000 available jobs in YGGDRASIL, the system was vast and highly customizable. Unless intentional, it was nearly impossible for two players to have identical builds.

When Lyle had first bought the dagger, he had immediately noticed that he could take up a job. However, he refrained from doing so, knowing one crucial fact:

Level 100.

That was the cap. Basic jobs could only go up to 15 levels. If he wanted to confront a force as powerful as The Great Tomb of Nazarick, a pure warrior or spellcaster build would be highly susceptible to countermeasures.

In other words, if he wanted to avoid glaring weaknesses, he needed at least one basic warrior job and one basic spellcaster job. Together, these two jobs would consume 30 levels, leaving only 70 levels for further specialization.

He had to choose very carefully. A single mistake in job selection would be costly, as there was almost no margin for error. Thus, caution was paramount.

After finishing the hard bread, Lyle sat with a slight frown on his face, deep in thought. He had no clear leads on which basic job to take—or rather, he didn't dare make a decision yet.

If there were no threat from The Great Tomb of Nazarick and he only needed to deal with the local inhabitants of this new world, he wouldn't have agonized so much. Only beings such as the True Dragon Lords posed a genuine threat in this world.

If he wanted to reach level 100 quickly, he couldn't rely on conventional methods.

In YGGDRASIL, leveling didn't require maxing out a single job. A player could reach level 100 by taking on 100 different one-level jobs. However, such a build would be exceedingly weak and practically worthless.

Ever since Lyle had arrived in this world, he had been contemplating ways to narrow the gap between himself and The Great Tomb of Nazarick. He had identified two potential strategies:

Utilizing unique techniques of this world

Techniques such as Martial Arts or acquiring powerful relics like the Re-Estize Kingdom's national treasures—the Razor Edge or Ring of Origin—might offer an advantage.

Special jobs were inherently more powerful than advanced jobs. They often came with unique abilities or effects that could rival even super-tier magic. Only by acquiring special jobs did Lyle believe he could stand a chance in one-on-one battles against Nazarick's Floor Guardians.

As he pondered, a sudden shadow fell over him, offering a momentary reprieve from the blazing sun. Jolted out of his thoughts by the unexpected coolness, Lyle glanced up.

Before him stood a youth with golden hair styled into a mushroom-like cut, his bangs almost covering his eyes. His timid demeanor was immediately apparent, giving the impression of someone with a meek personality.

Though his clothes were plain, they were of noticeably better quality than Lyle's.

For a moment, Lyle was stunned. His dark brown eyes flickered with a trace of surprise.

"Nfirea?"

The youth would one day be known as a "Genius Alchemist", one of the few humans highly regarded by Ainz Ooal Gown himself. Though the youth's current appearance differed slightly from the beginning of the game's storyline, Lyle quickly recognized him.

"Hello, do you need any help?" the boy asked, his tone shy but sincere.

Help? The question caught Lyle off guard. He glanced down at the half-eaten black bread in his hand and realized how miserable he must have looked, squatting in a corner in ragged clothes.

'Do I really look that pathetic?'

Suppressing the urge to sigh, Lyle forced a neutral expression and replied, "No."

Before the boy could say more, a cold voice interrupted from behind. "What are you doing, Nfirea?"

A short, elderly woman barely five feet tall approached. Her white hair was tucked under a green headscarf, and her sharp expression betrayed no warmth.

Hearing the woman call out the boy's name, Lyle's suspicions were confirmed—this was indeed Nfirea Bareare, the alchemist prodigy.

Lyle glanced at Nfirea again, silently marveling at his potential. Nfirea possessed two rare job variants: "Alchemist (Genius)" and "Pharmacist (Genius)". These job variants, unique to this world, were akin to special talents or divine blessings.

Jobs with the "(Genius)" marker allowed for an increased number of skills, early access to higher-tier abilities, and enhanced skill potency.

In just a few years, Nfirea would create the legendary potion known as Panacea, or as the inhabitants of YGGDRASIL referred to it, "Minor Healing Potion". Though commonplace in the game, such potions were incredibly valuable in this world, and it was no wonder Ainz took an interest in him.

Furthermore, Nfirea possessed an innate ability—"Unlimited Item Usage"—which allowed him to use any item, regardless of class or racial restrictions. This included scrolls, weapons, and even guild-exclusive artifacts.

The sheer potential of this ability left Lyle awestruck. Such a talent was rare even in YGGDRASIL and could easily pose a threat to The Great Tomb of Nazarick if wielded properly.