1 A New Beginning
Logan was a normal healthy man of 28 years. He followed his predetermined life from his birth to school and later in the world of commerce. The longer he lived, the more he felt that this world was a cruel one. People preyed on the weak like vultures.
Now he sat in front of a table and was scribbling on a white piece of paper. There were some doodles of black shadowy beasts and skulls and amidst all those little drawings was a small text.
+++
A beginning is always the start of a new journey. And every journey has an end.
For every path taken forward in determination, one will leave behind the past, but not the grudges.
And humanity - a fickle object. Forever, warps in the face of greed.
Slaughtering its own for wealth and gains. Circling in an infinite loop.
Until the song of the reaper rings its melody - the ode of tranquility.
And immense greed for power evaporates into the fleeting wind.
So shall the last breath be simple - filled with the sweetest dreams - until it escapes.
And dreams once end, the evil deeds start clawing with devouring hunger.
Be your unfulfilled wishes of ambition, together with your calls for justice, suffocated by the purifying flame.
They do not matter in the eyes of Death — the Overlord of Life.
And so I dictate, for every world, there will be retribution — a new beginning.
Let ash and fire glow the brightest were cold, and ice resides - in men and beast alike.
- Logan Meliar
+++
It was not poetic. For that, Logan had no brains. At least he thought so himself. He didn't even know why he was writing these words while thinking about the problems he had.
He should be worrying about himself right now because he already lost his job a few weeks ago and was far behind in rent.
This life where money dictated ones worth were depressing him.
He would never have thought to end up as one of those poor beggars he sometimes met on the streets.
But he ignored the problems of the world like any other person. Just smiling lightly and donating to let himself think that he did something worthy of calling himself the right person. All the while he knew otherwise.
Of course, he wasn't a Samaritan. No one was free of sin. And he deceived people of that same money. But this time it didn't end up well, and he got himself caught up in a fiddle play of his superiors.
He was blamed for misleading the clients and wasting their money — a perfect scapegoat.
Now he was one of them. The people he ignored most of the time. Only now does he know just how such a life is. He is just living life from one day to the next.
He was even lucky to have this roof still. But even that would be soon over. It was the last day he could sit in a warm home. And from then onwards he would live on the streets.
Logan knew it would be over at that moment. Not even if a miracle happened would he be saved from this fate.
Sure, he put some of his hopes into the last letter he received. It was from one of the companies that he applied to and went to a job interview.
But it was a rejection. It was not just any kind but the kind that broke his last bit of will. And that catapulted him straight into despair. Not everyone had an iron will.
Right, that is why he was sitting around like this and started writing something that distracted him from all this bullshit.
But at some point, it just made him angry about all the things in his life.
He swept his arm over the table and threw everything down from it. The note softly fell from the table and just landed on the carpet.
Logan himself lay his head on the table. Just looking to the side and staring out the window. He could see the trickling of the rain outside. The sound of it hitting against the frame made his eyelids heavy, and he slowly drifted into his dreams.
What he didn't know was that the paper that he threw aside started to burn and wreck chaos in his home. The whole apartment block started to catch on fire, and it spread out like a beast swallowing everything around itself.
Logan woke up while coughing. Only flames in the reflection of his eyes. The flames were burning brightly. He did try to escape immediately, but it was already too late at this moment. The fire surrounded him and cut off his escape routes. And like the messenger of death, the monoxide just did the rest.
Losing all his strength after being suffocated, he stopped breathing altogether and collapsed. The light in his eyes was slowly fading.
The apartment burned down swiftly and only would leave a grimy black place with his burned and charred corpse in it. It may as well just turn to ash.
He didn't want to lose that last grip he had in life, but now it was over. The fire just swallowed him whole without any mercy.
Everything faded in front of him into a blur.
---------------------------------
After some time he regained what seemed to be his consciousness.
Logan was confused. Every memory of his death was still present. So what was this place? The Afterlife?
Looking around he saw massive pillars surrounding him - 7 on each side. The right ones were black, and the left ones were white. They all were directly positioned in a way that they led to a throne at the end of those pillars.
Not knowing what to do he started to walk forward. That was the moment he noticed something substantial was on his body. Looking downwards he saw chains all over his body. They were even molten together with him at some places.
"What is going on?", he asked in a swift breathe.
And without knowing when, a crisp voice answered his question. "Sinner of Avarice, welcome to your tribunal."
Logan looked around to find the source of the voice, but it seemed to come from everywhere.
"Go up to your stand to receive your trial." When those words were said a light rumble happened in the hall, and a stand was created as if he was in court.
Still being confused he just followed that order and walked to the stand. It's not like he could do anything else anyway.
Reaching it, he stood there and awaited his judgment. He already heard the voice call him a sinner of greed. Ironic while he was never rich and died as a poor man. Not as poor as some sad blokes but still not rich.
"So, how am I greedy?", he asked while standing trial in front of really no one but air.
But just as he said those words a being appeared on the black and white throne in front of him.
It wore a white silk robe with some black accessories like its black boots and a black silk belt that held its outfit together. The being looked a lot like a Chinese minister from those warring times. That is how he would compare his clothing style. The face of it was not discernable, and only nothingness looked at him.
"You are trialed for swindling people of their money for your gain. Is that not greed?", the being asked.
"...I only did my part of what I was asked of. The world I lived in is not exactly a cozy place.", answered Logan.
"And that gives you the right to tramples others beneath you?"
"No, but there is no other way. I couldn't change anything. If I am already greedy, then the world is already corrupted to its very being of existence. What would change my outcome?", answered Logan.
He was answering truthfully. He felt that lying would not work and only bring him harm.
The being stared at him for a while. "If you had the power to change something. What would it be?"
"The world itself. I would start eradicating those corrupt people and try to better the lives of the people."
The being took out a paper after it heard his vigilante answer. It was his handwritten poem.
"Very well. You shall amuse me. I will give you some of my power to build an army and will name you as my champion. I will send you to the world you know as Game Of Thrones. I will await your return and see how you fared. That will be your trial. If you fail, you know the outcome. Until we meet again..."
The paper burned once more, and everything slowly faded into darkness right before his eyes.
----------------------
In the deepest darkness, he slowly awoke by the call of a voice.
[Host has regained consciousness. Initiating "Overlord System."]
´What?´, the state a question in his mind.
[The Overlord System is the power that was bestowed by God Svarog upon Host. It lets Host summon an army to his aide to fulfill his goals. There are also other options as well.]
´That is not what I meant...Where am I?´
[Host is...]
----------------------
The scenery changed and a lake could be seen. A thick forest surrounded it. Nature in this world still claimed most of the planet´s surface.
On the shore of the lake, a man was throwing out his fishing rod to try and get something like a meal for himself.
Waiting patiently for something to bite he noticed something unusual at the surface of the lake. He squinted his eyes and tried to get a better look. But what he saw next shocked him and let a cold shudder run along his spine.
It was a freaking corpse in the water. But what was even more surprising was that this corpse didn't float but slowly rose further and further out of the lake. At first, it was only its scalp but then its cold and hollow eyes and lastly its thin ghastly bones.
Not long after its appearance the corpse finally came ashore. The peasant that looked at it just pissed his pants already and didn't even think about running away for some reason.
The corpses gaze slowly shifted in the peasant's direction. Then some fire started to spread all around the dead body, and it charred the earth underneath it. The peasant now became panicky and saw how flesh began to move on the corpse, and a half mangled face was restoring itself. Then a fiery gaze started to appear inside the skull of the now transparent undead creature.
Right at that moment the fear the peasant felt overcame the shock, and it was too much. He immediately started running away as fast as he could. He even left his fishing rod.
The corpse still burned until a human shape restored itself to live and at the end, one could finally discern who it was.
It was Logan. He stood firm with his 1,82 meters height and raven black hair. His hollow eye sockets now vibrated with emerald green eyes that wandered about the scenery.
His clothing was regular line clothing — both his pants and shirt. And minus the boots. There was not much else on his body. Good thing it was not wintering right now. But he also doubted that he would feel cold anyway.
After looking after how the men run away, he walked over to the fishing rod that was left behind and threw it out again and sat down.
´So I am undead now?´, he asked in his mind.
[Host is blessed by the Divine Flame. You are the Champion of God Svarog after all.]
´.....Would that not conflict with R'hllor?´, he asked about the actual Lord of Light in this world.
[The Lord of Light is only a deity and therefore under God Svarog in rank. Besides that God Svarog has more divinities than just fire.]
´I asked if there will be conflict...´, asked Logan once more and frowned a little.
[That is very likely so.]
With a sigh, he stayed silent for a while until he got curious about something.
´Show me what this Overlord System is all about.´
[Understood. These are the following commands. Status, Inventory, Skills, Summons, Diplomacy, Buildings and lastly the Shop.]
´...Just like a game... Start from the first command and give me some more detailed explanation about Summons, Diplomacy, and Buildings since the other ones are pretty obvious. Well, maybe tell me what currency the shop uses.´, he ordered.
[Understood.
- Status -
Name: Logan Meliar
Age: 22 (Immortal)
Race: Human (Undead)
Title: Champion of Svarog
Hollow: 0%
System Level: 1
As you can see, there is only your necessary information. There are no real things like HP and MP and the likes. You would still have to be prepared to die if hit in your vitals. Then there is the hollow factor. It displays the amount of how empty you are.
- Inventory -
It is Empty...]
´Wait, stop there. What do you mean with hollow factor?´, Asked Logan after noticing the system went on not explaining that hollow factor. Also, why did the system still explain his stuff even though he said only to get more details about specific commands?
[Right, Host doesn't know yet. If Host dies, the hollow factor increases. The more Host accumulates that state, the less he becomes human. In the end, only an ashen husk would remain that would seek the warmth of a fire. Meaning at 100% Host would succumb to the darkness and burn his last bit of the soul inside him. That means losing every bit of reason and sanity until enough sacrifices are collected to restore your soul.]
´Hey, that is pretty important information you damn thing. Okay, new order. Inform me about everything noteworthy in my commands. Anyway, is there a way to restore that factor if I die only once? With you telling me that it would need sacrifices to restore itself only means that there should be a way, right? ´
[There is. Either absorb the soul of a living being on your own accord or buy a soul shard from the shop. I advise absorbing souls since a shard is very expensive. Since I am at that point right now. The Shop uses merit points as currency. Killing things, leveling up and fulfilling randomly generated quests are granting those points. I am getting back to the soul part. For a full restoration, 2500 souls from adult humans are needed. I should also mention that while battling and killing people, Host does absorb souls automatically in a radius of 2km. But they are only worth half the amount because of their death. So Host would need to take part in battlefields where 5000 men died or suck the lifeforce out of 2500 humans to restore to full "health."]
´And how much of my soul will I lose after death?´
[That depends on the way Host dies. The more brutal the way of death, the more energy is needed to resurrect Host.]
´Great...Alright, no dying unless it is impossible to avoid...Well, I could use that as a trump card to fake my death. Continue.´
[Understood. Also, Host should know that souls collected over the threshold of 0% are stored inside your body and can later be used in various other ways. Not dying has its benefits as well...Update. I will display the amount of souls Host has collected in the status, and they will be found inside Host his inventory for later use.
I am moving on.
-Skills-
Fishing (Beginner) Level 1: The art of fishing. The higher the expertise, the better the chance to get a big catch.
Skills are divided into Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Master. Each stage has ten levels. If Host reaches the rank of Master levels up to level 10, it changes to Grandmaster. Practice your skills to become a powerful individual.]
´...´ He was just dumbfounded by his first skill. He just threw out this rod out of boredom and because he wanted to chat with the system and that did gain him the skill? Damn it. ´Please inform me of new skills beforehand...´
[ Understood.
-Summons-
There are two categories here. There are your retinue and your army. Your escort is a lot stronger than your primary detachment. Your retinue could also follow you around as companions or command parts of your army. Note that your entourage has souls in them while your army is mostly controlled through the system. That makes them react to your actions, and even betrayal may occur. You could also turn people from this world into your retinue. Then they would regain their counterpart characters. To enlarge and upgrade your army, the higher the system level is the more and better troops you can create in one go. It does also affect your retinue slightly.]
´Well ain't that a lot like these damn white walkers?´, commented Logan now.
[Host´s assumption is correct. Moving on.]
´Wait, how do I level you?´
[Host needs to gain experience and become stronger. The longer Host uses the System the stronger it becomes. See it as a power that slowly mixes with the laws of the world. Even just spending time doing nothing will accumulate experience over time. That is because the Host is a part of the system. Any more questions regarding this matter?]
´So you are saying I am an intruder in this world and slowly grow larger like cancer?´
[...Yes]
Logan chuckled. So he was the bad guy here...Well, he did tell that entity Svarog that he would purify the corrupt. There were plenty of unscrupulous individuals in this world. That was for sure.
Looks like he had a lot of work cut out for himself. But he also wondered what would happen after he becomes too powerful or loses his sanity forever.
Or if those deities would start acting up. Right now they may not know of Logan´s existence, but that didn't ensure the later events. And where there are deities, there also should be gods...
[....
-Diplomacy-
Here all relationships are shown with the various noble houses you encounter. Depending on what you do, you may get favors or hatred against you. Choose your allies wisely.
-Buildings-
If the host can gain land or conquer it, you could start building your kingdom. There are various options for buildings that could be developed to create a mighty empire. It could also be an option to play the game of thrones if Host decides not to use his army. But Host should be aware that human soldiers will have to be trained and such and this path, in general, is very time-consuming...
That was about all. Does Host have any more questions?]
´Not right now...Thanks for explaining everything...Oh, wait. Do I need to eat?´
[Host does not need to eat or drink. But doing so would give a satiation buff that would provide benefits in some skills. The host should always consider.]
´I see. Good. That is about all. Oh, I caught something.´, He thought and noticed a fish was on his hook squirming around. He tried to reel it in with this medieval damn rod that had no reel.
´Let's see if I can have some fun in Westeros. I doubt that I am in Essos right now. There are just too many lush forests around me.´
