Chapter 178

A plain system notification flashed briefly before vanishing. The game’s algorithm deemed it an ordinary occurrence, but in Ardenia—a world devoid of microtransactions—it held far greater significance than even the drop of a hero-tier item.

“It couldn’t be a drop… Did they obtain a hero rank through class synthesis?”

Of course, class synthesis was entirely possible. As guilds grew larger and members amassed more class cards, instances of such combinations began to emerge.

The issue lay with both the type of class card acquired and the individual who obtained it.

“Does any of this make sense?”

Even if you scoured the entire Human Empire, you’d be hard-pressed to find thirty individuals with Hero classes. In Ardenia, where everyone played for free, not just anyone could obtain such a class, no matter how many synthesis attempts they made.

And Edward—does he even have the money to attempt synthesizing a rare class? And even if he did, why would it result in a paladin of all things?

“I suppose I should go check on them,” I mused.

Just as the thought crossed my mind…

“Your Highness!”

The door to the rooftop swung open, and one of my maids rushed in. Her labored breathing betrayed how hastily she had climbed the stairs, despite her own class presumably aiding her agility.

“What has happened?” I asked.

“Huff…huff… L-Labor has begun!” the maid replied between gasps.

”…Let’s go.”

I immediately started down the stairs.

She really is quick.

This wasn’t the usual speed for a human childbirth. At this point, I should be worried about whether the birth would progress normally.

“Ugh…”

As we arrived at Flower’s room, I heard moaning. It was a weak voice that seemed like it might stop breathing at any moment.

“Great Heal!”

“Great Heal!”

“Great Heal!”

More than twenty nuns around her were endlessly casting healing spells, but even that couldn’t maintain Flower’s condition.

“Take the baby out quickly instead! Miss Flower can’t hold on…!”

“No, I can’t! It won’t come out! Ah, the child is sucking in all the mana and nutrients one last time!”

“Damn it all! Just cut through the abdomen and pull it out!” The doctor and his assistants cried out in frustration, pacing back and forth, but their actions couldn’t resolve the situation.

“Flower.”

“Your Highness… Your Highness…”

A much thinner Flower took my hand. Her face was pale, almost skeletal, with skin so dry it seemed on the verge of peeling off.

It was clear that eating wouldn’t solve her problem now. She lacked even the strength to digest food, as the baby inside her continued to drain her nutrients more voraciously than ever before.

“Your Highness. I-if we reach a moment where we must choose…” At that moment, Flower clutched at me with hands devoid of any discernible strength.

“I must… I must have a child…”

She spoke those words before closing her eyes. She wasn’t dead; she had simply lost consciousness.

”…”

I gazed down at her quietly. It was only recently that I began recognizing her as a woman. Naturally, this was because I had taken her in when she was just a child.

This sight… is strange in many ways. To be honest, it hasn’t sunk in that my own child will soon be born.

Nevertheless, as adults, we must face reality and accept its consequences. I refused to yield to any tragedy.

“Log out.”

I returned to Earth and said:

“Honored God.”

“Grant me proof of honor.”

Woooom…

A strange power spread throughout my body. It wasn’t mine—it was an external divinity that made me a priest of the Honored God. The entire process had been too swift. It was so convenient that all my previous hesitation seemed pointless.

I moved towards the chair in front of the computer and sat down.

Pop!

With a slight flash of light, the reinforced plastic chair turned golden. It wasn’t just a change in color; its fundamental material had transformed.

The words that appeared left me speechless with amazement.

“Wait, I’m a Transcendent—can’t this be better?”

The ranks of the Three Gods were like those commonly found in ranking games:

Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, Grandmaster, Challenger.

Currently, there was no Challenger on Earth-34, and even considering that Grandmasters were considered apostles of the Honored Gods, being ranked Gold seemed a bit excessive.

Well, how many Transcendents are active on Earth-34 anyway?

It was unfortunate, but this would be sufficient to achieve my purpose.

“Login.”

I entered Ardenia again.

I saw Flower gasping for breath amidst healing spells flying around and people panicking. I picked up Flower from among them.

“Your Highness?”

“You should be more careful…”

Ignoring their chatter, I sat down in a nearby chair.

Poof!

The wooden chair transformed into a throne of honor. The noisy room suddenly fell silent.

“What… what is this?”

“The chair…”

Ignoring their confusion, I checked the text:

…This is different.

I had considered that there might not be a Throne of Honor in Ardenia, but I never anticipated it would actually be higher than expected.

How surprising. Even if you combine the populations of all the Human Empire’s planets, it wouldn’t reach ten million…

In truth, this was absurd. It made even less sense when one considered that this wasn’t a time like the End Project, when power was being freely distributed.

However, my most pressing concern at the moment was Flower.

“I want absolute purity from Ilsung Pharmaceuticals,” I muttered quietly.

My subjects were bewildered by these incomprehensible words, but this was precisely the most powerful ability possessed by an apprentice of the Honored God:

Material Creation.

While it was impossible to bring physical objects from reality into Ardenia… with this ability, I could manifest even tangible items from our world.

Whoosh!

My rank plummeted in an instant. Thankfully, it stopped before reaching Iron or Unranked status.

Not bad. I was worried it might be too much, but this works out perfectly.

With a satisfied smile, I grabbed the large syringe falling before my eyes.

This was the pinnacle of perfection from Earth-34’s largest pharmaceutical company, Ilsung Pharmaceuticals. Although designed specifically for bio-energy trainers, even ordinary people could benefit from its effects, achieving peak physical condition…

Making it incredibly suitable for the current situation.

Thwack!

Without hesitation, I injected it directly into Flower’s vein.

Though I had no prior experience with such procedures, I managed without error, seamlessly blending the elixir with her blood.

“Ugh…! Eek!”

The flower had been lying with her eyes closed as if dead, but now she began to groan. It was a sign that she was feeling pain, which was actually good news. After all, one could only feel pain when they were alive.

“It’s alright. Everything will be fine.”

I cradled Flower’s small body in my arms. With each surge of healing energy from me, her body sparkled brightly.

“Your Highness, Your Highness…”

“Yes, Flower. I’m here.”

She nestled tightly against my chest, and I could feel the fetus wriggling inside her womb.

To make poor Flower suffer so much, I thought. Just wait until you’re born—you’ll receive rigorous training.

I had been planning to train Flower as a knight regardless of her future aspirations, but now I could finally consider Edward’s situation.

Given how things have turned out… it seems meeting him won’t be possible.

Still, I wasn’t overly concerned. He might be stubborn as hell, but he possesses an honest heart. More importantly, he suffers from severe Sister Complex.

As long as Harmony remains with the Earth Mother, nothing truly disastrous will occur.

Even if something does go awry, it wouldn’t matter much.

If necessary, I could always give him a good scolding, couldn’t I?

Shaking off these idle thoughts, I embraced Flower once more.

The first special boss, Madman Edward, was initially just a monster with the backstory of being ‘a cleric corrupted by external influences.’

However, there was a problem:

His character design was too well-executed.

There was no particular reason for this. It was simply the result of the character designer having a good day and giving their all to the task!

But the outcome flowed in an entirely unexpected direction for the developers. If one had to find a cause, it could be said that humans are creatures overly enamored with visuals.

This humanoid monster, conceived as a rare beauty even within the context of Revenge, garnered positive reactions from many female players. Fanfics centered around Edward began to emerge, along with artists who drew illustrations of him.

Later, Nemesis Soft recognized this situation and introduced a new Mythical Class called Holy Lord (HOLY LORD). They set Edward’s [Potential] as this class.

Thanks to this, Edward’s background was completely overhauled.

In Revenge, he had merely been a corrupted human with divine power on his back, but now he became an extraordinary and exceptional being within the world of Revenge.

If he fell from grace, he would become a special boss; if he overcame adversity, he’d be reborn as an epic character—a mythical hero.

From birth, Edward was a unique individual.

He possessed far higher stats than ordinary humans, becoming capable of defeating grown men at just five years old after mastering mana.

The people of the Divine Empire pointed at him as a monster and feared him. If his sister Harmony hadn’t possessed an incredible level of charm and political acumen, he would have been hunted down as a witch long ago despite his exceptional physical strength and mana power.

His strength existed outside of context.

A talent given without reason, almost like a sudden mutation.

This abnormal ability, created for reasons Edward couldn’t even begin to fathom, had made him arrogant and narrow-minded. In the ‘predetermined’ future, his only controller—the one who could keep him in check—was killed, causing him to become completely twisted.

However…

He met the emperor.

“Ah, it’s really getting on my nerves!”

Kaboom!

An explosion rocked the room as light collided with itself.

“You fool! How dare you refuse the call of the great Heavenly God…!”

A man adorned in resplendent mid-body armor bellowed at Edward. But Edward could only sneer at him.

“Heavenly God indeed.”

After endless training in Tai Chi Fist, which he had learned from Jaeyeon, Edward had honed his skills to the point where he could perform them even with his eyes closed. It was then that he began seeking actual combat experience.

His chosen arena: The Palace of Light.

Having awakened his innate power of light through martial arts practice alone, he resolved to confront light directly, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of its nature.

As I entered the dungeon of the Palace of Light, at some point, I began to hear a whisper. It was an incredibly powerful whisper that could make my mind go blank just by listening to it.

And it wasn’t just words.

It was the same mad whisper that had consumed Edward’s mind in the original history. The only problem was that, as the world had transformed into a game, status effects were now visible in the status window.

“External whisper? Well, you’re certainly a shady villain.” I mocked the man with the same appearance as me—or rather, what I would look like if I grew up. Naturally, this enraged the hell difficulty boss, Madman Edward.

“How dare you! You insolent—!”

Bang!

We collided again. However…

Whoosh.

The charging Madman’s body spun through the air.

Thud-thud-thud!

He tumbled across the floor, slamming into a wall.

“Gah…!” He sprang to his feet, snarling. The Madman couldn’t comprehend this situation. He was certain his strength and aura were greater, and he even wielded the power of Light itself—so how could he fail to land a blow on this mere child?

“Phew.” Edward stood tall, steadying his breathing. When he had first encountered the Madman in Hell difficulty mode, he too had been astonished. How could he not be? He’d met someone who looked exactly like him, claiming to be his future self. If the Madman had proven overwhelmingly stronger than expected, it would have plunged him into confusion.

But…

“He’s weak. How can he be my future when he’s weaker than me?”

I scoffed. After receiving training from Jaeyeon—after mastering Earth-34’s advanced mental discipline and martial arts techniques—I had dramatically increased my combat prowess through relentless practice.

A mere “Hero” rank was no match for him now. Even special bosses that appeared in fields paled in comparison to this ordinary dungeon boss.

He recalled the emperor’s teachings.

“That’s right. ‘Upright Posture’ means keeping your head and spine straight. Imagine there’s a cord attached to the top of your head. When you pull on that cord…”

Once again, he assumed the posture.

Hollow Spirit, Upright Head, maintaining an erect stance without exerting force.

Ham xiong ba bei: Edward slightly hunched his chest and pulled back his shoulders, concentrating energy in his dantian.

“You wretch! You’ve become an unbeliever! In the face of the heavenly god’s mighty and awe-inspiring power, you’ll be unable to even beg for mercy as you hang on the cross—”

“Awe-inspiring? What’s that got to do with it? Is this so-called ‘heavenly god’ more powerful than His Imperial Majesty?”

Edward smoothly moved both hands in a circular motion. The vital energy that had been residing in his lower abdomen traveled up his spine, transforming into spiritual energy—a state known as refining essence into qi.

As his innate Light attribute awakened within him, like clothing or armor protecting his body, light began to radiate from every inch of him.

Edward smiled. “I see things differently.”