Overlord - Prologue

Once the scroll opened, letters reading “New Information Obtained” appeared.

Momonga ignored the scroll which had vanished into light and touched those letters. Immediately, line after line of text appeared.

The first piece of information pertained to the terrain.

There was an X in the exact center of the sprawling swamp. A man had written in not very presentable letters “Dungeon Here”. Beside it were three symbols marked “Frog Base”. Then, there were other icons labelled “Lots of Slippery Things”, “Poison Gas”, “Boss Level” and so on. In addition, there were lines labelled “Probable Patrol Routes”.

I see, Momonga mused as he digested the information. Then, he touched the characters corresponding to the next set of information.

Next was the monster data.

There were blurry pictures of monsters, with their name, level and other data.

Lv64 Grenbera Devil Lich

Lv74 Grenbera Purple Worm

Lv78 Grenberan Swarmlord

Lv80 Mad Eater

Lv80 Swamp Naga

Lv80 Grenbera Tuveg

Lv83 Grenbera Tuveg Fighter

Lv83 Grenbera Tuveg Priest

Lv84 Grenbera Tuveg Knight

Lv85 Grenbera Tuveg Warlord

“And then—”

Nishiki’s words made Momonga stop halfway through his study of the monsters, and he turned to look at him.

“—These are the guys I met. I visually confirmed them, but there might be monsters I have not encountered yet, so be careful. Also, I saw some stronger guys in the distance, but they were near the labelled bases, so I didn’t close in to check.”

“Hm. Level 80ish means the highest levelled monsters in the depths of the dungeon will be 90 or so. That should also be the ideal level.”

Most of Ainz Ooal Gown’s members were around level 90 or so. He felt like they could clear the dungeon without a problem.

“Take-yan. Carelessness is forbidden. It’s common knowledge that dungeons are more difficult than their surrounding areas.”

Of course, the opposite case could also be true, but they had never heard of such examples before.

“Still, luck is going to be a big factor. Clearing a level 90 dungeon in one shot isn’t completely impossible. If that’s the case, then let’s go in all guns blazing. Now’s the time to burn up our cash items.”

“If we do that, it’ll be a pretty amazing sight.”

The idea that they might be able to do it filled the room, and Momonga felt his stomach cramping up.

If they felt it was impossible, they could comfort themselves when they failed by saying “It was as expected”. But if they thought it was possible and failed, the impact would be much greater.

Momonga regretted his foolish announcement.

Trying to temper their excitement with a caution was the thinking of a loser. However, that caution might help matters.

However, he could not say that, as the organizer of the event.

Just then, a savior appeared.

“—Everyone, you’re being too overconfident. Do you know how low the odds are of one-shotting an unknown dungeon? The effective level of a dungeon goes up several times when you try it for the first time.”

The speaker was Ulbert.

Granted, those words were rain on their parade, but because of that, everyone calmed down.

At the same time, a ringing reached Momonga’s ear. It was a magical ‘Message’, and it was from Punitto Moe.

『—Good luck, Momonga-san.』

Momonga signed onto the dedicated ‘Message’ channel, and cast his spell. This way, his voice would only reach the recipient of his ‘Message’.

“Thank you.”

『Don’t worry about it, but do keep in mind that panic is the seed of defeat, so you must keep calm and think logically. Remain calm, look beyond your surroundings, and don’t waste your effort on unnecessary details, Momonga-san. Carelessness is your greatest enemy. However, I’m also planning to clear this in one go. So, all the best!』

After saying what he wanted to say, the ‘Message’ ended.

“All right! Then, everyone, we’ll set out for our objective in 30 minutes’ time. Please get yourselves ready!”

To be continued—