4 years before the Common Era.
Although it was the center of the entire country, except for the main street, all the ground was dull gray, with patches of gray stone bricks laid out that were covered in tiny cracks and corroded gaps.
Most of the surrounding houses were one or two-story European-style structures, radiating an old, worn feeling.
But the closer to the city center of the capital, the more orderly and clean the streets and houses became.
Yet the surrounding atmosphere clearly told Tang Zheng that this was a different world!
The constant sounds were the metallic clashes of weapons and armor carried by adventurers on the streets.
The noisy shouts from shops on both sides and various signs reflected faintly under the sunlight.
Adding an extra layer of bustling energy.
Luxurious carriages struggled to weave through the streets but never stopped; most people would proactively give way to these carriages.
Many were clad in armor or, less commonly, mage robes, drawing attention in the crowd, while some wore bright and peculiar clothing.
In short, it was a colorful mix.
The entire capital of the Li Yestige Kingdom had been flooded with people from all over the country in recent days.
Amid such a lively atmosphere, most people's moods naturally rose with the crowd.
But one person did not.
Tang Zheng wore cheap long sleeves and drab trousers, blending into the crowd without standing out.
His current mood matched the color of his clothes.
Besides confusion, what weighed heavier was a fear tightly wrapped around his heart.
The liveliness belonged to them.
Tang Zheng had only just crossed over into this world yesterday, but he had already basically figured out the situation.
This was the world of the Undead King, more precisely the other world where the Great Tomb of Nazarick would descend in the future.
Therefore, Tang Zheng was very anxious now.
Others crossed into the "Overlord" real world, tirelessly grinding and paying to advance in the game YGGDRASIL, acquiring massive world items and special professions.
Then, with invincible power, they descended into the world or directly joined the Great Tomb.
But he had crossed directly into the other world. If he were like those above, Tang Zheng wouldn't be this panicked now.
The only thing slightly reassuring was the current time point: more than four years before the Great Tomb of Nazarick would arrive.
How could he be sure about this timing?
Because of the royal competition—the Imperial Trial!
The future strongest warrior of the kingdom, Gejiefu, won the championship in this contest and was granted the title "Captain of the Warriors."
And today was the peak showdown between the future "Captain of the Warriors" Gejiefu and "Nail Clipper" Brian.
This contest attracted the attention of all adventurers and civilians across the kingdom, which explained why the streets were so crowded and lively.
Although he was an ordinary person before crossing, having read too many novels had its benefits—at least it helped him calm down quickly.
Upon hearing the names Gejiefu, Brian, and the Imperial Trial, Tang Zheng confirmed the world and time he had crossed into.
"4 years before the new calendar" was naturally not this world's calendar system but Tang Zheng's way of calculating time based on previous life streamers' settings.
After all, according to the Undead King's storyline, the Great Tomb would eventually dominate the world, so the "new calendar" calculation was reasonable.
As for understanding this world's language?
It was because this other world had a certain "language translation" world rule. Not only could people from different countries understand each other, but even different races could comprehend one another's speech.
To quote the Undead King's sarcasm, it was as if the whole world had eaten translation konjac jelly.
Of course, understanding spoken language didn't mean recognizing the written characters.
The rough fabric of his clothes caused an itchy sensation against his skin, making Tang Zheng somewhat uncomfortable, but compared to his current situation, it was negligible.
He didn't know why he had crossed over—he had simply been lying on the bed in a rented room and suddenly found himself here.
Such a cliché way of crossing over.
Tang Zheng internally scoffed and was somewhat self-mocking.
Anyway, he was an orphan and had always been alone. Even if he suddenly disappeared, no one would probably care.
Because this peak showdown between civilians had attracted a flood of adventurers and commoners,
Tang Zheng's sleepwear shorts were not glaring compared to those wearing revealing or equally strange adventurer outfits.
It seemed that due to various races, beliefs, and countries, the clothing in this world was not particularly old-fashioned.
After confirming the situation of this world and calming down,
Tang Zheng first found a shop selling goods and sold the only item he had brought besides his clothes—a cloisonné gold pendant around his neck.
He earned three gold coins.
It was something he had spent about two months' salary on, intending to give it to his ex-girlfriend, but they broke up before he could, so he had kept it himself.
169 copper coins = 13 silver coins = 1 gold coin.
[ps: The money system in the Undead King's other world probably wasn't decimal. In the anime, Sebastian once bought a magic scroll for 1 gold coin 10 silver coins, which, if decimal, should have cost 2 gold coins.]
[Some streamers analyzed two systems: base 13 and base 20; personally, base 13 seemed more appropriate.]
Above gold coins, there were white gold coins, gem coins, mithril coins, and so on.
The price of three gold coins was obviously much higher than the pendant he had, which was only about 10 grams of gold.
The shop owner was willing to pay that price not just for the gold, but for the cloisonné craftsmanship on it.
In this other world, where craftsmanship was very backward and mostly reliant on magic,
if the owner resold it to some noble lady, they could earn dozens or even hundreds of times the price.
Tang Zheng understood this well but knew his situation wasn't suitable for bargaining.
Then, he spent five copper coins on cheap clothes and one silver coin on a short sword.
He now had 2 gold, 11 silver, and 3 copper coins left.
With the extra five copper coins, he bought several rye breads.
"More than four years left. Relax... my ass!"
Tang Zheng heavily stamped his left foot on the ground, twitching the corner of his mouth and cursing inwardly.
His only hobby before crossing was novels and anime, naturally including the Overlord series.
So he understood perfectly well: was there any difference between four years and tomorrow when the Great Tomb of Nazarick would descend?
Tang Zheng felt there was none.
In front of him, the Li Yestige Kingdom—everyone, including himself—was simply destined for destruction.
The future seemed to hold only two paths.
Either die in the aftermath of the war between the Sorcerer Kingdom and the Li Yestige Kingdom, if it could even be called a war at all.
Or survive by a stroke of luck and become a citizen of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
Tang Zheng looked up and saw the magnificent and ancient royal city built on the hill in the distance, growing even more uneasy.
Could his identity as a crossover really be hidden from those people of the Great Tomb of Nazarick?