My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Guild Master Laksil muttered something as he picked up a candlestick made of pale purple crystal, examined it against the sunlight, and then channeled magic into it. In an instant, the entire candlestick radiated light, brighter than even the highest-grade candles, though it emitted no heat.

"...This is a magic candlestick blessed with [Eternal Light], so it can light up without candles or flames. It's not used very often here in our country, but it's quite common in the Bahars Empire... Hmm? Sniff, it even has a fragrance? Rose scent?!"

He suddenly snorted twice, revealing a look of surprise. "...Not only can it illuminate, but it can also emit fragrance! This is no ordinary magic candlestick. In my estimation, it could be kept as a family heirloom by a mid-level noble family and could sell for at least two or three hundred gold coins!"

Next, President Laksil picked up a black obsidian hound statue. After activating it with magic, it came to life and turned into a small hound the size of a palm. It barked and ran around the office desk several times before turning back into a stone hound statue.

"...Uh, although this doesn't seem to have any use, it's a very suitable toy for showing off. It could probably sell for at least a hundred gold coins!"

Next, Guild Master Laksil examined a small golden bottle adorned with jewels, discovering it to be a magical water bottle capable of continuously producing clear water—a rare find that would make any wilderness traveler clamor for it. Finally, there was a lily made of crystal glass; when activated with magic, it not only emitted shimmering, iridescent light but also automatically played beautiful music…

According to Guild Master Laksil's conclusion, the combined value of these four magical items could be as high as eight hundred gold coins!

(In Nazarick, these little things are actually just piles of unwanted garbage and waste...)

So, apart from the old lady Liji who was only concerned about the life and death of her grandson Enferea, all the other adventurers who were watching and peeking at the scene had their eyes light up and their faces showed greedy expressions, thinking that the [Black Sword] adventure team must have discovered some great treasure.

Guild Master Ainzak also sensed that something was wrong in the room, so he coughed and continued to shout at the four members of the [Black Sword] adventure team.

"...Ahem! You all heard it just now, these four magical items are worth eight hundred gold coins together, how could poor people like you afford them? If you don't want to suffer, tell me the truth! Where did these items come from?"

He said with a serious expression, "...Don't test my patience anymore, don't make up stories about ancient kings for me! My patience is limited!"

"...Yes, yes, stop making up ridiculous stories! Tell me quickly, where is my lovely grandson right now?"

Grandma Lizzie chimed in, "...If anything happens to him, I will absolutely not let you off the hook!"

Faced with such a fierce interrogation, the four members of the [Black Sword] adventurer group trembled violently, tears welling up in their eyes.

"...We really didn't make this up! Enphirea should still be imprisoned in the tomb of that resurrected ancient king right now..."

"...Looks like you're not going to tell the truth, are you? Someone, bring over that set of equipment from the basement, loosen up these bastards' bones..."

Moments later, screams of agony echoed throughout the Adventurers' Guild...

Chapter 150, The Army of Elderly Players

Meanwhile, on the grasslands dozens of kilometers away from the fortress city of Ye Lantier, the young apothecary Enfilea-Barreare, whom many people were concerned about, was forced to stand trembling beside Ainz Ooal Gown, watching a motley crew of soldiers slowly assemble on the grasslands.

—According to the young apothecary Enfield, this should be the army of the dead that the "Ancient King" Ainz Ooal Gown, or "Tomb King" for short, brought out from his Great Tomb of Nazarick, which he intended to use to conquer the world.

However, what puzzled the young apothecary was that while the army gathered on the grassland did indeed contain some undead monsters such as death knights and vampire brides, the main force consisted of living soldiers such as elves, orcs, humans, and goblins.

As for the skeletons, the cannon fodder units that always seem to swarm like the sea when the undead are attacked, not a single one was seen here.

Overall, the army was not large, only a few thousand men, but they all looked muscular and very strong.

However, on the other hand, the discipline of this army was very lax. Even during the march, they did not form squares or anything like that; they just walked slowly and chaotically across the grassland. There were even a few vendors mixed in among them, weaving back and forth among the army, shouting and hawking their wares.

"...Come, come, take a look! Affordable and high-quality enchanted weapons! Flame Sword, Shocking Rod, Demon-Slaying Hammer! Every single one of them is worth having!"

"...Hmm? How do I pay? Please tell me the location of the temple you entered in the game and your bed number. The priest of the Temple of Sleep will come to collect your payment."

"...Let me make this clear from the start: please don't try to get away with making up a bed number just to save a little money. Don't forget how you came into this world. Under the watchful eye of the God of Sleep, no lie can escape detection..."

—This is Firi, a cat-like creature pulling a small cart, or rather, a "cat cart," to sell all sorts of junk weapons from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"...Woof woof! Low-level healing potions, four gold coins a bottle! This is a special price only available for the first month after opening!"

"...What? You want the kind of drug to enhance pleasure in bed? Preferably an ointment? Oh dear, we're out of stock for that kind of thing right now. But I have a bottle of 'Beast Potion Dog,' guaranteed to make every organ in your body incredibly powerful, including, of course, that organ between your legs..."

—This is Quark, the kobold slave warlock, hawking a basket of low-level potions.

"...Hey buddy, I get your thinking. You all specially swapped for young, strong bodies, wanting to show off your prowess to the girls in this world, right? But once you're in the city, how can you expect the girls to willingly lie down if you don't have a lot of money in your pockets? Relying solely on violence is not only boring, like playing with dead fish, but you'll also be laughed at when the game is over!"

"...So, buddy, how about exchanging some in-game currency now? What? You think the exchange rate is too high, not worth it? Okay, there's a [Currency Box] in the Treasure Hall of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. If you find any loot in this world, you can put it in the [Currency Box], and it will automatically be converted into in-game currency. However, you'll have to give the owner of the [Currency Box] a cut as a handling fee..."

—This is Ernest, the fake dragon boss who wants to run a currency exchange business.

"...Oh dear, sir, you seem to be a gentleman of such high status, yet you've come to this other world to play without even a servant or henchmen by your side. Isn't that rather unseemly? I have something here that can help you solve this problem: the [Goblin General's Horn]!"

By blowing it, you can summon a fully armed and loyal goblin army, including two goblin archers, one goblin mage, one goblin priest, two goblin cavalry, two dire wolves, and one goblin commander.

This way, you can have a large army in the game world, making things much easier for yourself. After a thrilling duel with the enemy, the goblins can handle all the chores like burying corpses, looting the ground, and interrogating prisoners.

How about it? Don't hesitate, buy this horn now! It only costs you 1000 game coins!

—This is Lulutia, the Silver Dragon, who specializes in catering to high-rollers.

In short, Ainz Ooal Gown, now known as the "Tomb Lord," is leading an army towards the fortress city of Yerantil. This is not the undead army that the young apothecary Enfilea initially thought, but a super task force led by NPCs from the Great Tomb of Nazarick, with a large number of paying players spontaneously following him on various accounts. And almost from the moment they set out, they have been in a state of chaotic command failure...

What puzzled Ainz even more was that the first batch of players who entered the game "Overlord" from the Golden Dragon Kingdom were mainly middle-aged and elderly men... This completely overturned the general concept of the game industry!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"...Speaking of which, isn't our army a bit too chaotic? It doesn't look like an army at all!"

Sitting atop a massive palanquin carried by four death knights, watching the loosely organized and bustling army of players slowly advance across the vast, desolate grasslands, Ainz Ooal Gown, holding the vampire loli Shalltear in his arms, muttered with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

"...There's nothing we can do! They're not soldiers who obey orders; they're players who paid their own way to have fun in this other world, meow!"

Having just sold a cartload of low-level magical weapons, the cat-like Firi, who was slacking off on Ainz's palanquin, said, "...Strictly speaking, they are not our subordinates, but our customers! It's normal for things to be a little chaotic—in the guild wars and faction wars you've experienced in the past, especially those massive nation wars with tens of thousands of players, the more players involved, the more chaotic things became, and many people stopped listening to commands once they went crazy."

"...Uh, it seems that's true... Oh well, the customer is always right! Considering they've all paid our company, I won't make a fuss. Although this kind of group rush is bound to be ruined by incompetent teammates, I can conquer that city on my own."

Ainz Ooal Gown shook his head and sighed, then changed the subject, "...But the age structure of these players seems a bit off. More than 80% of them are middle-aged or elderly men, with old men making up the majority! As far as I know, when developing and promoting a new game, aren't children and young people usually the primary consumers?"

"...Mr. Ainz, this is a matter of different national circumstances, meow! You can't just directly apply the market experience from Earth, meow!"

Chapter 151, My family sells H drugs?

Generally speaking, what conditions must one meet to become a game player?

Well, at the very least, this person needs to be rich and have free time.

You need money to afford games that require payment; you need free time to dedicate to playing games.

Moreover, compared to various early video games and online games on Earth, Overlord, a "magical panoramic immersive VR online game" launched by the Totoro Town Adventurers' Guild in conjunction with the Temple of Sleeping God, is a game with a very high entry barrier.

The main point is not that playing Overlord is so expensive that few people can afford it—in fact, Overlord, which is currently in open beta, does not have any additional charges besides the registration fee and the sale of in-game items.

While monthly or yearly subscriptions are certainly expensive, ordinary people can still manage to try it out once if they can afford to spend a few silver coins.

Moreover, even the Famicom, which is now an antique on modern Earth, wasn't cheap when it was first released.

The key issue is that, compared to PC online games on Earth, playing this fantasy version of Overlord VR online game is extremely time-consuming. Not only is there no auto-play function, but logging in and out is also very troublesome. Even if you just want to try it out, players have to go to the Temple of the Sleeping God to sleep for a day or two.

As a result, it will be difficult for most minors in the Golden Dragon Kingdom to play the game "Overlord" frequently.

—In modern times, children addicted to games can still find time during their free time or at night to secretly play a few rounds of mobile games on their hidden smartphones. Or they can quietly get up in the middle of the night, turn on their computers, and play for a while with headphones on.

However, this fantasy version of Overlord is not so convenient to play. If you want to play, you have to go to the Temple of the Sleeping God and lie down for at least one or two days... This can no longer be compared with games on Earth, but is more like a trip!

Generally speaking, hardcore online gamers might play day and night, until they collapse and die in an internet cafe. But for backpackers who enjoy traveling, if they also have a job, being able to travel twice a month on average is already considered quite good!

So when Overlord was released, the minors in Totoro Town and the surrounding towns, who should have been most receptive to new things, reacted with indifference. The main problem was that the barrier to entry for players was too high—children from wealthy families had to go to school (or be tutored by private tutors). Taking half a day out to play might be fine, but if they played for several days in a row, they would most likely get a beating from their parents when they got home.

As for poor children who don't have to go to school, many of them have to help with chores at home, and poor children who don't have to work don't have money to play games.

Younger children, while not needing to go to school and having no idea what's so fun about these games—for example, some three- or four-year-olds can play Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja quite well in modern times—but taking it a step further and asking them to play Civilization, Assassin's Creed, or The Elder Scrolls would be far too difficult.

Therefore, while there are children from the Golden Dragon Kingdom playing the game *Overlord*, their numbers are extremely small. Even fewer adult men, busy working and supporting their families, play *Overlord*. Slightly more housewives, supported by their husbands, play *Overlord*, but they also have the responsibility of caring for children and the elderly, so their overall numbers are still limited.

Conversely, for retired seniors from wealthy families, these barriers are essentially nonexistent.

First of all, since they are retired seniors, they have a lot of free time every day, and they also have some savings in their pockets.

Secondly, while computer games on Earth require a certain level of physical strength, eyesight, and reaction speed from players, the game "Overlord," jointly launched by the Adventurers' Guild of Totoro Town and the Temple of Sleep, is playable by everyone as long as their thinking ability is not impaired!

Even if you have a limp, poor eyesight, tinnitus, or trembling hands, as long as you lie down in the temple's "game pod," you'll be able to fall asleep, right?

The only factor that might prevent older people from playing the game "Overlord" is probably their generally conservative mindset and resistance to new inventions—in most cases, older people tend to be more conservative in their thinking and less likely to accept new things immediately.

However, no matter how conservative the elderly are, as long as the bait is tempting enough, they can be made to abandon all their modesty and integrity.

In the game "Overlord", there is a wonderful lure that can drive many older men crazy.

That is a healthy, strong, and brand-new body that can run and jump.

There is also the irresistible temptation for many middle-aged and elderly gentlemen who have been "weak" in bed for many years to experience the pleasure that they have long missed for many years with beautiful women!

In short, when the Temple of Sleep held promotional events in the royal capital, Thousand Sails, and several other nearby towns, those idle retired gentlemen couldn't help but hold their breath as they watched the Overlord game trailer projected from the crystal ball. In particular, the scene of the old cat-man Kunkka, dressed in his tiger-man suit, passionately kissing the beautiful and charming female steward Albedo was incredibly shocking and exciting!

Next, they rushed home in a frenzy, pulled out their treasured savings from under their beds or in the cellar, and then, while informing their old friends who didn't know about it yet, they ran in groups to the Temple of the Sleeping God, demanding to register and play the game immediately!

Furthermore, these lustful old men even clamored to spend money to create male characters and to purchase women's "special services"!

Hmm? The integrity and restraint of an elder?

Who cares about anything else when they can finally have a good time with a woman after all this time?

Now that I'm so old, and I've worked so hard for my children my whole life, it's time for me to enjoy my retirement.

If I don't play as many games as I can while I still can, am I really going to take this little bit of money I've saved for my funeral to the grave?

As for those heartless juniors who want to gossip behind our backs, let them gossip!

Hmph, anyway, I'm going all out and completely shameless. What can the pressure from the neighbors do to me?

Besides, do you guys who gossip and spread rumors really think you're moral saints?

Why is it that you young and middle-aged people can go to brothels to relax behind your wives' backs from time to time, while we elders can't?

When an elderly person becomes a complete deadbeat, even if everyone condemns them, there's nothing anyone can do about it...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"...According to the Temple of Sleep, among the players currently following us, there are two retired ministers, four retired generals, over thirty retired mid-level military officers and civil servants, over a hundred retired guild leaders, adventurer guild leaders, and local lords... As for the wealthy individuals who have already paid to register but are still under review, there are quite a few. In short, many of the players these days are people who are both powerful and wealthy. Even the former Prime Minister Pochettino, who retired twenty years ago, has come to play this game!"

Regarding the identity and age structure of the first batch of players in the game *Overlord*, Firi introduced Ainz to Ainz as follows: "...What? Where is the old Chancellor? Look, it's that human hunk covered in olive oil who looks like a boxer, that's former Chancellor Pochettino's game account! It's a pity, really, this former Chancellor has been paralyzed for almost ten years due to a stroke, and this time his family pushed him to the temple in a wheelchair to play the game..."

Besides, it's very encouraging that those retired generals and veteran adventurers have spent their lives fighting bandits, enemy armies, and monsters, possessing a wealth of combat experience. When it comes to the siege, we can consult their opinions instead of relying solely on us laymen guessing.

Upon hearing Firi's explanation, Ainz was immediately jolted, feeling that something was wrong with him—no, with his entire skeleton.

—What? The players behind them are actually that important? Each one has a more impressive background than the last?

Even retired generals, ministers, and former prime ministers are playing this "Overlord" game?!

That's a big shot who's many levels above even the president of a major company!

With his limited understanding based on his life experience, he tried hard to imagine the rank and status of these important figures, but he had no idea how to compare them.

As a lowly Japanese office worker whose feudal class consciousness was deeply ingrained and who was extremely cowardly at heart, Ainz, the Pride of Souls, who had not yet had a chance to fully show off and be arrogant in this world, couldn't help but feel a series of indescribable tremors and fears.

Perhaps, there was also a slight sense of being flattered and secretly delighted?

After all, it's quite an honor for him, the village chief of the newbie village, that so many important figures are willing to condescend to play this game.

But what happens when a real-life NPC encounters a super-rich player? Well, naturally, they'll just have to kneel down and beg for their coattails!

"...Well, in that case, how should we arrange things for these distinguished guests so that they can have fun in the game?"

After calming down, Ainz immediately asked Firi—as an office worker, he understood the principle that "the customer is king."

"...Naturally, we should be quick to respond to the customers' needs and think about what they want, and try our best to meet their needs and desires in this game, meow!"

Firi spread her cat paws and said to Ainz, "...These old men with all sorts of ulterior motives were all attracted by old Kunkka in the game's promotional video! You can probably guess what they're thinking, right, Ainz?"

Upon hearing this, Ainz fell silent for a moment, and the orange-red soul flames in his eyes seemed to suddenly increase in brightness.

If he weren't wearing human skin and instead had a skull face, his expression would probably be quite ugly.

"...Does this mean that Yarbed...is supposed to serve them one by one, even bathe and sleep with them?"

After a long while, Ainz spoke in a chilling tone that sounded like he was grinding his teeth, as another green light of "Forced Calm" flashed above his head.

—Although the Albedo of this world wasn't altered by Ainz Ooal Gown at the last minute before his transmigration, and still retained her bitch and slutty personality, in Ainz's eyes, this original version of Albedo still seemed like his precious child.

If Albedo herself had a free-spirited personality and changed boyfriends every few days, Ainz would sigh, but not be very angry. He would feel more helpless—just like traditional American parents who feel helpless when facing their rebellious children.

But if Ainz were to give Albedo away as a gift to guests for his own and the company's benefit, turning her into a "high-end toy" ridden by thousands... that would seriously cross his moral line.

"...It doesn't necessarily have to be Yarbed who sacrifices himself, but we have to give them a way to vent and enjoy themselves."

Seeing that Ainz was on the verge of exploding in anger, Firi quickly stopped while she was ahead, refraining from further provoking him. "...Regarding this issue, there are currently two solutions. The first is to transform the Great Tomb of Nazarick into Nazarick's red-light district..."

"...Absolutely not! I cannot agree to this under any circumstances! The Great Tomb of Nazarick holds the most precious memories of my life!"

Without a second thought, Ainz refused decisively, “...I will never agree to turn it into that kind of filthy place!”

"...Yeah, I also think this is terrible. The maids of the Great Tomb of Nazarick are not meant for this kind of thing. Making them work as prostitutes to entertain customers... I can't accept this, let alone you! Besides, if the slime maids and insect maids of the Pleiades maid corps might even eat their customers—such a heavy-handed and bizarre practice would probably be too much for the souls of most older players to handle."

Phil nodded in agreement, saying, "...Another way is to quickly capture a bustling metropolis, then gather all the prostitutes in the city and let these lustful old men have their fill of prostitution. The fortress city of Ye Lantier is a good target."

According to what I've heard, this city has always been a prosperous trading hub with many adventurers, so there are also many prostitutes who make a living off merchants and adventurers. While there don't seem to be any particularly high-class brothels here, there are a few very luxurious hotels.

Then, we can requisition the place and its inhabitants, renovate it, and turn it into a special entertainment venue for certain players. If all else fails, we can even take over the mayor's mansion—you wouldn't want that house anyway.”