When I first opened my eyes and looked around, my first thought drifted to the strange figures hunched over by my side. A cursory glance told me that they were poor. Dirt poor. The man and the woman both wore old rags that loosely clung to their bodies.

My attention was then directed to the room I lay in. It was a dilapidated house. Mouldy, damp walls and a crumbling ceiling. I could see the peeling wallpaper curling down the sides of the walls.

Who were these people? Where was I?

As I attempted to force those words out of my mouth, I heard some babbling instead.

A baby's cries and whines.

Was… Was this… Me?

Seven Years Later

A couple years ago, my parents buggered off to who-knows-where, leaving me to fend for myself. Dead or alive, I couldn't care less about them. I barely knew them, as they frequently left the house at the break of dawn and came back well after sunset. One day they just didn't come back.

I scratch my head and feel the headlice dig into my scalp. Living in the slums is no joke. I barely make it through each day with the motivation or the sustenance needed to survive. I had to resort to thievery for food and money.

I've was caught once by a trader after stealing some strange looking vegetable called a 'Kinshu'. I was extremely lucky to have kept my hands that day.

One thing I was grateful for was that I kept my knowledge from my previous life. Parkour was a hobby of mine. I loved the thrill of wind rushing by my face, adrenaline and blood pumping in my veins.

I escaped capture many times by leaping atop roofs and running along them. I did it so often, the slums began to nickname me 'Climb'. The name struck me as odd, but it grew on me over time. My parents never bothered naming me, much like the rest of the nameless living in the slums. Having something to differentiate me from the crowd was my only claim to fame thus far.

My motivation was steadily raising, and I was looking forward to the future. I was planning future business plans to bring across future technologies to this world, seeing as it was so scientifically underdeveloped. Things were looking good…

Until I overheard some pedestrians chatting amongst themselves. They mentioned that some empire had crowned a new emperor.

The new emperor's name?

Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix.

That one threw me for a loop. I swore that the name was familiar, and it was. The 'bloody emperor' of the Baharuth Empire.

Shit.

I was reincarnated into the Overlord Universe. As Climb. That poor excuse of a shounen protagonist in a grimdark disguised as a comedy harem. It would have been fine and all to be reincarnated into Overlord... but not like this. Reincarnating as anything other than this would have been fine.

If the canon timeline is ruined, I am guaranteed to be either dead or endlessly tortured in an organ harvesting operation.

I had formulated several plans to survive and thrive. One of the riskiest ones though was impersonating a 'supreme being'. Calling myself Peroroncino or Touch Me would garner the attention of Ainz, no doubt.

Although I had knowledge of the canon timeline, I was completely clueless as to what Ainz and his guild specifically did Yggdrasil, I couldn't bullshit my way through pretending to have played it with him for years. It'd just take a "did you remember this raid?" to ruin the entire charade.

My meta knowledge up till now has been useless. Canon hasn't started yet. If the timeline deviates, it will remain useless. I had to follow the script… but I could make some favourable changes here and there if possible.

One Year Later

It's been about a year since that life-changing discovery. I've been working hard to prepare myself physically and mentally. Although I am nowhere near the power levels required to 'rest easy', I could fairly say I was unordinary for my age.

I had no clue how old I was, as timekeeping isn't at the forefront of people's minds here in the slums. I guess I am roughly 10 years old. Although young, I had the strength of a fully grown adult. How?

Metagaming and exploits.

I remembered that Yggdrasil, as a DMMO-RPG has remarkably similar mechanics to regular MMOs that I am familiar with. Levels, skills, jobs etc. The thing was, that the 'New World' operates loosely from those mechanics as well.

How do you gain power? Through levels.

How do you level up? Gain experience.

Where do you get experience? Killing.

The world item Avarice and Generosity clued me in on this. I remember reading that it could store and use EXP. That was why Ainz brought it to the massacre at Katze Plains. EXP was that. Souls.

My first course of action? I considered murder. But there was no way a malnourished, scrawny slum kid like me could kill others and get away with it.

Quantity over quality in the early game. It didn't matter what I killed, as it would yield EXP all the same. If PKing and monster grinding both worked in Yggdrasil, wouldn't the same work here? Humans were ruled out for now, so were the monsters. The solution I came to? Insects. Easy to kills, and could be found in abundance.

The first day I exterminated an anthill was the most incredible day of my life. I must have killed thousands of ants. Right afterwards, I felt a surge of power, unlike anything I had ever felt before. I came to the conclusion that what I had just felt was a level-up, and it filled me with confidence that my hypothesis was correct.

I had experienced five of those strange feelings thus far. It was safe to assume I was at least level 5. Pitiful, but considering that most residents of the new world would barely reach level 20 by the end of their lifetimes if they dedicated their lives to adventuring, it was a huge step forward.

However, I could not grow conceited. There are beings like the Platinum Dragon Lord or Zesshi Zetsumei who aren't Players that would no doubt destroy me without any effort.

Life right now is just a monotonous cycle. In the morning I grind for levels, in the afternoon I hunt for food and valuables, in the evening I sleep. Looking up at the cold, grey sky, I feel drops of rain land on my face. I hug my rags closer to my body and pull the hood up.

Sitting in an alley adjacent to the noble district, my eyes follow those walking by with arrogant looks on their faces and the jingling of coins in their pockets. It was hopeless in trying to rob the carriages that go by, but those without escorts were free game.

As I was about to make a move on a passerby, a luxurious carriage pulls up and comes to a halt in front of me.

I pause, waiting for the carriage to continue its course. Instead, the door swings open to reveal a girl. I must admit, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She wears a simple but stunning light blue raincoat. Long, flowing locks of brilliant blonde hair partially hidden behind her hood and bright blue eyes stare at me. I couldn't shake the feeling that they were appraising me.

She smiled innocently and walked slowly towards me. My jaw hung open and I stared dumbly at her as she came closer. What did she want from me? She paused a few paces from me, her retainers standing behind her with looks of disgust directed to none other than me. She placed her hand on her chest and spoke elegantly.

"My name is Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. The third princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom. What is your name?"

AN: I was browsing the Overlord fanfics, and almost every single one of them with an OC character had the same premise: OC is a guildmate with Momonga and is transported to the NW. Rarely any canon divergence happens. I'm trying something else for this one. If I've gotten any info wrong, please tell me. Please review!