What is adventure?
Adventure meant engaging in highly free, risky activities without regard for danger.
What are adventurers?
In the world of Danmachi, adventurers referred to armed individuals engaged in the career of dungeon exploration.
However, being an adventurer was, in fact, a popular profession in some other worlds as well.
By taking on quests issued through the guild, adventurers explored treasures scattered around the world, sought out the unknown, and earned generous rewards while venturing through various places. Ultimately, they used the money to support themselves and purchase various equipment and items.
In the eyes of many who understood the culture of other worlds, especially fantasy ones, adventurers represented a dream-filled existence.
However, adventurers in this particular world were much more grounded in reality than one could imagine. Even though it was a world somewhat similar to the world of Danmachi, it also resembled the Akasha Continent.
In a medieval fantasy world like this, monsters existed, just like on the Akasha Continent, and similar to the world of Danmachi, there were also numerous intelligent races.
In this world, adventurers, to put it simply, were mercenaries paid to exterminate monsters—a group specialized in dealing with monsters.
Some of them did engage in ruins exploration and sought out the unknown in unexplored territory, but the majority of adventurers were essentially monster hunters, viewed as experts in dealing with monsters by others.
However, their social standing was, in fact, not high, as they were not favored by those in power.
Although they were highly popular due to their profession, outside of handling monsters, they were often regarded as a violent armed group in the eyes of others.
As a result, the Adventurer's Guild was often seen as a monster-hunting brokerage, a place that assigned dangerous jobs rather than a location where one could become rich overnight or embark on mysterious endeavors.
Nevertheless, in the human-established kingdom known as the Re-Estize Kingdom, many people still made a living as adventurers.
For example, in the border city called E-Rantel, also known as the Fortress City, a lively scene unfolded inside the Adventurer's Guild.
Here, one could see fully armored warriors standing in front of the bulletin board, browsing the quests posted there.
Here, one could see agile, bow-wielding archers eagerly introducing themselves to potential adventurer groups.
Here, one could also see magicians dressed in robes and holding staves, surrounded by enthusiastic adventurers.
Of course, there were also those adventurers who treated the guild like a tavern, continuously drinking, eating, laughing, and shouting boisterously.
Meanwhile, the receptionists at the counters, accustomed to this noisy environment, calmly assisted the adventurers in front of them, either taking on quests for them or handling their affairs.
Scenes like this played out in the Adventurer's Guild almost every day, so they were considered pretty routine.
However, today, the Adventurer's Guild was visited by someone rather unusual.
"I want to become an adventurer."
When this sentence was spoken in front of the receptionist, a woman who appeared to be in her twenties, she was startled to realize that someone had bizarrely appeared before her without her noticing.
Upon seeing who it was, she saw a rather peculiar young man.
Unlike other adventurers who usually carried weapons, he had none—let alone weapons, he didn't even wear armor. Even more so, his clothing was quite ordinary, completely unlike someone who seemed capable of taking on the profession of adventurer.
Moreover, he didn't seem to be older than twenty, with rare black hair and eyes. Although he wasn't bad-looking, his presence was oddly faint, making him difficult to notice.
However, his tone was surprisingly calm, and his gaze was deep. Even in a place surrounded by rough, armed individuals, his expression didn't change in the slightest—it was as if he weren't in a gathering of violent, armed individuals but at any normal service desk.
Regardless, if one were to say what was most noticeable about him, it would be the green jewel pendant around his neck, which appeared expensive, giving his otherwise plain appearance a touch of mystery.
An ordinary but also not ordinary young man—it was what made him seem so peculiar yet intriguing.
At this moment, the receptionist was struck by the oddity and contradiction, staring at the young man in front of her for what seemed like forever without reacting.
"I want to become an adventurer."
Seeing the dazed receptionist, the young man repeated his words.
"Is there a problem?"
Such an overly calm question finally snapped the receptionist out of her daze.
"N-No problem at all!"
She quickly shook her head, pulling out a quill and parchment to begin processing the young man's adventurer registration.
Since there weren't any strict requirements for becoming an adventurer, anyone could sign up as long as they applied at the Adventurer's Guild.
However, looking at the peculiar young man in front of her, the receptionist hesitated.
"Um… Are you sure you really want to become an adventurer?"
One couldn't blame her for asking.
Adventurer was, after all, a dangerous profession, and having some degree of physical strength was the most basic and only necessary requirement for it.
Whether you were a 'Warrior' or a 'Magic Caster', as long as you could fight, you could be an adventurer.
Even though the young man didn't look entirely powerless, he had no visible equipment on his body. He was empty-handed and dressed simply, and from head to toe, aside from the green jewel pendant, there was no other item on him.
For this reason, he didn't seem like someone who could fight—more like a young nobleman traveling incognito.
Why not assume he was a commoner?
Simple.
It was because he was far too clean.
Ordinary commoners usually did some sort of manual labor, leaving their skin, hands, clothes, or other things with a somewhat 'worn' look.
Meanwhile, the young man was spotless, with not a trace of wear on him, as though he had never experienced any hardship.
If not for his calm demeanor, the receptionist might have assumed he had walked into the wrong place.
Seeing the receptionist's attitude, the young man had just one response.
"Got a problem?"
Such a short and straightforward question left the receptionist feeling inexplicably awed.
"N-No!"
Poor guild receptionist.
She had faced countless intense situations over the years, enduring the rage and roaring of many a terrifying adventurer with an unflinching expression, sometimes even managing to offer a professional smile in return, yet today, here she was, completely thrown off by a young man who wasn't even armed.
Needless to say, the whole scene was almost comical.
With that, the receptionist quickly processed the young man's application and pulled something out for him.
It was a necklace with a small copper metal plate in the center, designed to hang around the neck.
"It's an identification tag used to gauge an adventurer's abilities and determine their rank."
Saying this, the receptionist explained slowly to the young man.
"Adventurers have eight ranks, and each rank has an identification tag made from a different metal, which includes Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril, Orichalcum, and Adamantite—the later the metal, the higher the rank and value."
"Having a higher-rank identification tag means you'll be seen with more respect and have better benefits. Basically, you can take on tougher quests and earn more rewards."
In other words, if one's tag rank was too low, they wouldn't be able to take on difficult quests and would be stuck doing odd quests with little pay.
"Right now, you're at the lowest rank, Copper—a Copper Adventurer."
"Complete enough quests and improve your evaluations, and you'll rank up your tag."
"We look forward to seeing your future accomplishments."
With these formalities out of the way, the receptionist handed the copper identification tag to the young man.
"Thanks."
As the young man took the identification tag, he simply pocketed it instead of hanging it around his neck before making another request to the receptionist.
"Can you get me a map of the surrounding area and the locations of monsters?"
While speaking, there was a hint of interest in his voice.
It gave the impression that this was his true reason for coming here and that becoming an adventurer was just a side matter, which, in fact, was true.
Evidently, the young man didn't want to be an adventurer to make a living; he just wanted to use the guild as a convenient intermediary to gather the information he needed easily.
However, the map of the surrounding area wasn't his main concern, as what he truly wanted were the locations of monsters.
He wanted to find powerful monsters.
He wanted to find as many opponents as possible.
Given this, the Adventurer's Guild, known for being a monster-hunting brokerage, could naturally meet his needs.
Yes, it was the very first thought that the young man, who was none other than Riezel, had just after arriving in the world of Overlord, barely half an hour ago.
Unlike the world of Demon Slayer, where he had arrived in the middle of wilderness and mountains, this time he found himself landing directly in the city of E-Rantel, just as he had descended into the city of Orario in the world of Danmachi.
"You want a map of the surrounding area and the locations of monsters?"
As expected, the receptionist didn't find Riezel's request strange, but she still asked cautiously.
"Excuse me, how detailed do you need it to be?"
"As detailed as possible." Riezel replied without hesitation.
"I'm really sorry, but the most detailed map requires payment." The receptionist smiled apologetically. "We can only offer adventurers the basic one for free."
"Is that so?" Riezel nodded calmly, thought for a moment, then spoke again. "In that case, would this be enough to buy the most detailed one?"
*Thud*
Riezel suddenly dropped a fist-sized gold nugget onto the counter.
Seeing the gold nugget hit the counter, the receptionist froze in place.
Meanwhile, the surroundings instantly fell silent.
At this moment, every adventurer present stared at the shiny gold nugget with dumbfounded expressions.