Table Game to Understand Humans

Human Understanding Table Game is a CD drama story of the Overlord series. It was released alongside Overlord Volume 10.

Main Summary
Ainz Ooal Gown tries to play a tabletop game with the Floor Guardians to help them understand humans better.

Full Summary
Ainz Ooal Gown sneaks into the library to return his borrowed business books. He complains that all this sneaking around is stressing him and that should be relaxing. Ainz knows he can’t do that as Nazarick will be engaging more actively in the New World. The fact that many in Nazarick look down on humans doesn’t help. Majority of his subjects hold the image that humans are weak, which Ainz believes It is dangerous to underestimate them.

Ainz hopes he can change their views, and stumbles upon an old rulebook to a table game. Reading it, the Overlord gets an idea.

Later Ainz summons, Albedo, Demiurge, Shalltear Bloodfallen, Aura Bella Fiora And Mare Bello Fioreella to his chambers. On the pretense as an exercise to understand humans, Ainz has the four play the table game: Hack And Slash Adventure. Some of the Floor Guardians query why it would be necessary to understand humans as they believe them to be nothing special. Ainz explains it would allow the Guardians to understand their temperament and special features, their strengths and weaknesses. He further points the existence of various powers which Nazarick knew nothing about that humans in the world possess: Martial Arts and Talents. In addition he also referenced Shalltear's own unfortunate experience.

Demiurge understanding his master's intentions to provide the Guardians a way to ascertain humanity's abilities so as that in the future the Floor Guardians will not expose any weaknesses for them to exploit. Realizing wisdome in his words, the Guardians agree to play.

The game is then set each Floor Guardian taking a role as a human adventurer with a specific class. Aura becomes a Thief. Mare becomes a Priest. Shalltear becomes a Mystic Warrior. Demiurge becomes a Magic Caster. Albedo becomes a Warrior.

In the first map, the Guardians' adventurer characters find themselves in a small village at twilight. Demiurge suggests that they find a place to rest, taking not that they lack magic items and abilities to eliminate sleep. The group come to a large house in the center of the village. Knocking a old man appears, Albedo then has her character kill the villager. Her actions cause Ainz to momentarily halt the game and ask her reasoning for why she did that. Albedo states in order to secure a safe place for the party. Mare interjects stating that killing a villager will bring unneeded trouble, since the villagers would come for retribution and outnumber the adventurers. Albedo refuses to allow begging for charity from a human. Demiurge suggests that the old man be controlled by Ainz and allow them to be taken in. The action satisfies Shalltear and Albedo allowing the game to proceed.

Ainz as the old man who is the village chief tells the adventurers that the village is being harassed by goblins. He offers a deal, the adventurers destroy the goblins and the villagers will offer them a place to sleep and a reward. The group accepts the quest from the village, clearing the first map.

The second map takes place in a path leading to the goblin caves. At first there is nothing strange, until several bandits jump out and surround the adventurers. The adventurers defeat the bandits though they complain about their limits. As they strip the human bandits if valuables, the Guardians wonder why humans would even live a life of banditry.

The third map has a lake with fairies. However they are mistrustful of the human adventurers, prompting Mare to use his Charisma to befriend them. It’s learned that the fairies were recently robbed by human bandits, the same that the Guardians encountered. As reward the fairies tell the group of their quarries, the goblins in the Goblin Caves advising them to use the secret path.

The Guardians’ characters reach the caves and upon spotting two goblins guarding the entrance quickly kill them. Entering the cave they avoid a trap and further more goblins. Along the way the Guardians' pick at the holes in the plot of the game and the fragility of humans. As they clear the caves, the discover a chamber containing five potions. Mare drinks on and his gender changes to a girl. Aura's character ages ten years. Shalltear's potion turns out to be a bomb, that damages not only the drinker but the group. Demiurge however uses his magic to heal Shalltear and the group sustained minor damage.Albedo takes the chance and drinks one of the potions. The potion turns out to be a Love Potion and Albedo receives minor fire resistance and also the title as Warrior of Love. Seeing the various effects of the potions, Demiurge opts not drink the last one and the party moves on.

The characters encounter the last boss of the current map: Goblin King. The group faces difficulty in defeating the goblin, however they manage to overwhelm him using teamwork. The goblin is slain and they are victorious. However Demiurge raises several questions. Why did the village want the adventurers to slay the goblins? Why not ask the local lord? Better why did the village seem untouched even under the threat of the goblins? Also the goblins possessed high level gear, very atypical of their kind. Demiurge realizes that the village chief was secretly in league with the goblins and originally sent the adventurers to their deaths when he made the request. A messenger to the goblins would have been sent by the chief. However the bandits that the group killed, must intercepted the messenger, thus why the goblins were unprepared of the adventurers. Ainz sees that the Guardians have overthought the game hastily agrees with their assessment to maintain control. He then adapts the game accordingly having the Goblin King confess that the village chief sold his brethren out leading the adventurers to return to the village for retribution.

Though the Guardians’ technically completes the game, he extends the plot to their benefit. The characters proceed to burn the village with villagers inside. They then encounter the village chief who Ainz plays and turns into a demon.

Trivia

 * Given that Ainz returned the business books he got from the library, it can be assumed that the time period of the CD Drama takes place after Overlord Blu-ray 01 Special.