Overchaos Chapter 2: Venture Into Chaos (Patreon)

~Ludo Wright~

I could only lament my situation so much before I had to plan about what I wanted to do with my new life.

First of all, no giving up.

This was my new life, and even if god even themselves comes down to deny me it, I will throw hands with them until the bitter end. You only get a second chance once.

Then there was the topic of Nazarick.

There was no way around it; they had to be stopped.

I might have had the slightest chance of convincing Momonga- no, Ainz to not be evil if I were in the same guild as him, but as a human, my chances were none. Ainz will never value the words of a new worlder above those of one of his NPCs.

Ainz would gladly let millions of humans die for the sake of the happiness of his NPCs. He was a sociopath even before coming to the New World, due to living in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world as a salaryman.

And even if I did manage to make contact with him and convince him despite all odds, I would be murdered by Demiurge or Albedo. They are more than willing to disobey or go behind Ainz's back if they thought it was to his benefit. They would have me killed for 'poisoning' his mind or something.

I watched all seasons of Overlord. I really liked Nazarick, but only as characters.

But as people, I utterly despised them. I would not tolerate them in the same world I live in.

Remorseless, monstrous sadists without any value to human life.

Not only that, but compared to the residents of the New World, they were practically gods since the natives of this world were kneecapped with ridiculous level caps.

Now, I never claimed to be a righteous person, but I was never a bad person either. Sure, I had my own vices, I had my own faults and bad tendencies. But I don't want to see humanity butchered and kept as mere cattle.

I guess that's what a functioning sense of empathy does to you, unfortunately.

But at the same time, it's not like it was impossible to subvert them, if I actually managed to make friends with Ainz in his Momon personality and reinforce his morality enough while managing to fool enough of Nazarick's plans it is also possible to turn them into an ally or even a force of good.

Whether I would be capable of such a thing remained to be seen.

Whelp, too early for full plans now. What I had to do for now was to gear up and get as strong as possible as soon as possible.

And that starts with what I already have.

___/Status\__________

Name: Ludo Wright

Current Tickets: None.

/Abilities\____

-Ability Slots(0/1)-

1- None.

Storage:

None.

/Skills\_______

None.

/Traits\______

[Lese Majeste]

|Rarity: Rare|

Your chutzpah and boldness are perceived as more charming rather than irreverent or disrespectful by people in positions of power. In addition, people in power, like nobles, bosses, royalty, etc., find themselves more attracted to you.

/Familiars\__

[Samson]

|Rarity: Rare|

A parasite that fuses itself to their host's hair and manifests as a maw filled with sharp teeth and yellow eyes. Samson is capable of growing, strengthening and manipulating his host's hair to form tentacles, whips, blades etc. he can also use it to manifest himself and fight. He is rather foul-mouthed and gruff.

/Items\______

[Vial of Lifeblood]

|Rarity: Rare|

A vial containing condensed vitality in the form of blood, drinking it grants enhanced vitality, a minor healing factor, and an increased lifespan.

But before I was about to check those, I noticed something on my right hand's middle finger. It looked like a ring made of flame shaped into the shape of a ring, but I physically could not feel it on my finger.

[Ring of Chaos]

|World Item|

A ring carved from an infinitesimal piece of the infinite and eternal chaos. This ring marks the wearer and their party as Exclusions, granting them immunity to all scrying and effects such as timestop.

So this is what my bonus was, that was a big weight off of the mountain on my shoulders. This really expanded my horizons, and not having to worry about being killed without even knowing it was a good thing.

With a single thought, the Chaos Ring seemed to shimmer out of existence, cloaking itself so as not to be seen as I nodded in approval before I shut my curtains.

Just because I was immune to scrying did not mean I was immune to having people peek through my windows. Assured of my privacy, I decided to summon my only form of protection.

"Samson."

My hair felt tingly for a second before I heard a voice come out of the back of my head and out of my hair. My hair felt like it was alive and moving on its own, yet I could still feel it like I was the one moving it. It felt strange but not uncomfortable.

"Sure took your time summoning me, kid, got too spooked by where you ended up?"

Samson's gruff voice sounded as I sighed.

"Something like that, how would you know about that anyway?"

I saw two tendrils of black hair stretch out from behind me to in front fo me as Samson gestured nonchalantly.

"Us familiars get an infodump 'bout where we are and such. So I know you think we are boned, I can feel your panic through our bond, kid."

Now that he mentioned it, I could feel something like an invisible string connecting us, and I could also sense his presence too. I could feel all individual strings of my hair too, but only vaguely, idly I commanded them to stretch out and pick a pen from my bed, and a tentacle of hair stretched several meters and brought it over to me.

"Can you blame me? Despite rolling 20, this feels like a 1."

Samson snorted in response.

"Yeah, and I thought the Medici were bad. But that just means we got our work cut out for us. Or are ya saying you're too chicken? Don't worry, you've got me in your deck. And I've been round long enough to know about babysitting."

Two tendrils of hair extended to my sides before turning sharp and spinning like drills. That brought me a sense of relief, at least if I did not know what I was doing yet, Samson has been doing it for hundreds of years.

"Right, enough moping around. I've got a question, though. How can we both use my hair?"

After all, I could direct the hair as I liked too, like making one of the bunches of hair turn into a hand and rub my chin in contemplation.

"You aren't really. We are combined kid, I'm doing the heavy lifting here interpreting your signals and acting accordingly, think of it like a game, I'm taking your inputs and running with them. If it was only up to you, you'd take months to do the simple stuff."

I nodded at Samson's words; they felt reassuring rather than insulting to me because they were simply true.  

Stretching a little I moved to the bathroom and took a good look at myself in the mirror. I had rogue colored eyes and had ink-like medium-length hair, it looked messy like bed hair, if not a bit unnaturally sharp due to Samson. I was quite handsome too, not enough to be a model, but handsome enough for most people. Kinda like a male Filia but different enough to look like a sibling.

Really, the thing that stood out the most about me was the gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and the large pupilless yellow eyes on the back of my head.

I turned on the sink and washed my face, being rather surprised and grateful that this world actually had plumbing.

"Done admiring yourself? Good, now can we get some food?! I'm starvin' over here!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll see what we have, don't have to scream in my ear."

I wore a simple white long-sleeved shirt I found in my wardrobe along with some brown pants as I headed downstairs and into the kitchen. And thankfully, this world had some unusual modern conveniences.

Such as the existence of the Cold Box and the Hot Plate. No doubt introduced by Players. These were basically Fridges and stoves that worked off of simple tier 0 magic powered by simple enchantments. It was used so much that it has been innovated to great efficiency.

As I pulled some eggs out of the fridge and started cooking them on the sizzling pan I asked Samson a question.

"So, Samson, you think I should drink the Vial of Lifeblood hungry or not?"

"Better drink it after eating, never seen something like it in my life other than the stone of life, but better be safe than sorry."

"Good point."

I decided to cook two portions of eggs and sausage, one plate for me and another for Samson, who almost instantly devoured his plate while I took my time eating.

"Where does your food end up anyway?"

"Don' worry about that. Don't you have a potion to down?"

Shaking my shoulders and quietly agreeing with Samson, I pulled the vial of Lifeblood out of storage. It looked like a glass vial with approximately 100ml of rose-red viscous liquid that softly glowed in my hands.

"Bottoms up!"

I pulled off the stopper and down the entire vial, not stopping until every drop of liquid was emptied. It had a very intense cherry flavour as it went down my throat. Once I had emptied the entire vial, I felt a subtle change as my body got warmer and warmer, as if I had submerged myself in a sauna.

The feeling of warmth lasted for around 30 minutes, and afterwards I felt very healthy, like I had just recovered from a common cold and had a good night's sleep. A sensation that was deeply unfamiliar to me.

Having never felt this healthy, I could tell just how amazing this was, I felt awake and healthy. And I looked like it too, my complexion was better, and most of the blemishes on my skin were gone too. I had even lost a bit of fat around my body, and there was even the beginning of abs on my stomach.

"Ahh, that's the good stuff! I think I feel a lil' stronger too. Haven't felt this good in ages."

The logic looked sound to me, since Samson was bound to me, my body affected his effectiveness.

Now, with the Vial of Lifeblood downed, it was time for me to take my first venture into the E-Rantel proper.

"Good to know. So, before we become adventurers, how do I... hide you, Samson? Having a massive mouth on the back of my head can be a bit conspicuous."

"Just unsummon me, duh. I can chill out at the Familiar Space until you need me. Normally such a thing would be impossible but eh, everything about you is impossible ain't it?"

"Alright, see you when I'm done, Samson."

With a simple mental command, I unsummoned Samson, the feeling of control over my hair vanishing was a bit weird but I got used to it as I made my final preparations before leaving my house such as grabbing a bag full of essentials such as money and my identification.

Money in this world was pretty simple, though hard to equate to the modern world due to the difference in economy. I could buy a loaf of bread with a single Copper Coin, or a night at an inn for 8~.

And the currency ladder looked like:

Small Copper Coin - 0.1

Copper Coin - 1

Large Copper Coin - 5

Silver Coin - 10

Large Silver Coin - 50

Gold Coin - 1,000

Large Gold Coin - 5,000

Platinum Coin - 10,000

(A/N: No, I'm not making one silver coin equal 13 copper)

My parents left behind roughly 2 gold and 7 large silver, or more simply 2,350 copper to me. I remembered registering at the adventurers guild required money, so just in case, I took 1 large silver and 5 silvers with me.

Walking down the streets of E-Rantel felt strange. I remembered remembering walking down these streets so I vaguely recalled the city's layout too, and I couldn't help but admire the architecture of the city as I walked.

It was quite novel seeing how a medieval city like this one looked in real life, there were some people in leather armour and robes too although they were in the vast minority. It almost felt surreal to take it all in but the second set of memories helped.

8 minutes was all it took for me to reach the Adventurers Guild, it was a bit large compared to the surrounding buildings, with a large sign atop it. Entering inside, I was greeted with a building that was different from the others.

The floor was made of dark blue stone tiles and the walls were made of plaster, brick and timber. Most of the furniture and everything else seemed to be made of dark oak. There were dozens of adventurers inside the building who briefly turned their heads to look at me before quickly losing interest.

I'd be lying if I said my nerves weren't at least a little frayed. But I pushed on regardless. If I were too intimidated to enter the adventurer's guild, I may as well say goodbye to surviving Nazarick.

So I held my nerves and approached the front counter.

"Hello! Welcome to the E-Rantel Adventurers Guild. How may I help you?" Asked the plain woman behind the desk, and I replied with surprising calm.

"I'd like to register as an adventurer."

The woman did not seem at all taken aback by my request as she nodded and pulled out 2 forms from under her desk and slid them over.

"Alright, sir, but first, you will need to pay a 5 copper fee for the literacy test. And if you pass, you will need to fill out this form and pay 5 silver as the registration fee."

I could do that.

----------------------------------------------------

~Ludo Wright~

After roughly 30 minutes of taking the literacy test, signing other forms, and waiting in line, I had officially become an adventurer. It was rather easy, though it made sense as they wouldn't want to make it hard for people to become adventurers.

"Congratulations on becoming an Adventurer, Mr. Ludo. Here is your copper plate identifying you as an adventurer. Please do not lose it, as it costs 5 silver to replace. You are free to pick out the quest of your choosing as long as it matches your rank, but I would recommend that you join the party as a newbie."

"Alright, thank you very much."

I grabbed the copper plate with my name on it from her hand and wore it around my neck.

Now then, time to start for real.

Feat Achieved! Become an Adventurer

+1x Gold Ability Gacha Ticket

A/N: Ludo may be screwed, but he is not completely fucked! Ring of Chaos kinda exists purely to make sure he does not get hyper haxxed by Nazarick bs. He is pre-canon but not by a lot, so he has time to prepare, but not so much that it delays the plot. One thing is for sure, he is going to have to grind as hard as he can to be able to stand up against Nazarick.

At least Ludo's start is pretty good for the start of his adventure, Samson is a damn great familiar for a beginner and Vial of lifeblood is great in any circumstance. Ludo sure got a head start on his adventures, hopefully it can carry him far. What did you guys think about Ludo's start? I'd love to know.