In Eternia, the magically gifted ruled the world.
It was a mage-eat-mage kind of world. Magic was ever-present, may it be in a lightning bolt, a flying sword slash, or even a protective barrier.
It was especially true in the Holy Theocracy. There, the believers with the most potential were chosen by the Holy Goddess and destined for greatness.
The Noble Bright family was clearly one of the chosen ones.
For them, every minute in this realm felt like it came straight out of an Epic. Conquest, domination, miracles left and right, and more.
Yet, even they had their woes.
No matter what, they couldn't have a child.
Even after 80 years of trying day and night, the Bright family still didn't have a successor. Their bloodlines were so strong that it was virtually impossible for them!
This was perhaps the Holy Theocracy's greatest shame.
After all, this union had been blessed by the state itself as it had tried to create the perfect vessel for the Goddess' power:
Holy Guardian X Saint of the Burning Light! = ?!?
But just as everyone had resolved themselves to this fatality…a stray soul came straight from Earth, nesting itself in the belly of the Holy Guardian!
Everything changed with Jack Bright!
Against all odds, he reincarnated as a fetus…still a Bright!
When it was known that the Bright family would have a child, the entire Holy Theocracy celebrated! Yes, all of it!
Wine flowed freely, marriages quadrupled, and the crime rate fell to an all-time low. Meanwhile, local and foreign powers lined up to make peace with the Bright family.
This new son was destined for greatness: the purest bloodline, the strongest backing, and infinite resources at his disposal.
Jack Bright was a goddamn miracle!
The nine months that led to his birth were the craziest. The entire Theocracy spent all it could to make sure this baby would see the world:
- A security detail bigger than the Pope's
- Legendary artifacts lent to the mother
- Invaluable elixirs used by the dozen
- Greater blessing rituals done daily
- EVERYTHING!
The city's citizens seemed almost possessed as they gossiped about this baby. Their fervor was unequaled under Heaven.
To many foreigners, this was unfathomable. "What?! Ten years of the national budget spent in a month?! Are you guys crazy?! Back in Blackwater, no one's dumb enough to—"
Of course, anyone slandering the Rising Star of the Theocracy was nicely sent to a cozy 2x2 damp room with bars on the windows.
Many protested, and god knows how many tried to assassinate the unborn…but it all failed in the face of the believers' zealousness. Did the bastards even sleep?!
All that mattered for nine months was:
1. Jack Bright
2. Jack Bright
3. Jack Bright
…. And he wasn't even born!
How would Jack have reacted had he known? But as they all prepared for his arrival, so did he! In fact, he had long awakened….
.
.
.
Jack had become a fetus.
Even before his body had formed, his spirit awakened.
"So this is what it's like to be reincarnated? It's….soothing."
He floated in his mother's belly, embraced by her warmth. Blissful oblivion replaced his once hectic life on Earth. He could definitely get used to it!
But the peace and quiet wasn't the only thing that was different.
Turns out Eternia was a game-like world!
[Ding! Welcome to Eternia!]
[Linking Player to the World System! Please Standby!]
"Standby? Sure…Not like I have anything else to do." He chuckled.
As the thing activated, Jack gasped. Not only could he see his stats in the form of a status screen, but he even started receiving notifications about them.
[Growing up! All stats + 0.00…]
[Growing up! All stats + 0.00…]
[Growing up…]
Was there a need to hear them all?! Wasn't the womb supposed to be a "safe space"? But just as Jack didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it…
[Mute Repetitive Notifications?]
"YES!!"
As sweet silence came back, Jack gave a satisfied sigh. This was the start of his new completely normal life! He was so lucky!
He was the happiest baby.
At least he was until he was rudely interrupted!
[Ding! A Certain Holy Goddess' Blessing is Pending!]
[Check Your Status For the Full Info!]
[Auto-Accept in 30, 29, 28….!]
Jack felt so sleepy and safe.
His groggy self waved a hand, dismissing the message.
A blessing was a good thing, right? He'd sleep now and politely thank the Goddess later. After all, he wasn't an ingrate.
But as he tried closing his eyes….He suddenly felt sick!
His stomach twisted, and his heart started to beat faster than an avalanche. This was his Sixth Sense warning him! "What the heck?!" Was he being attacked?!
As the countdown went down, he felt increasingly worse.
No, it couldn't be….unless?!
"Status!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Holy Goddess' Blessing!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Unlock Legendary Hero Class!
+ S Tier Holy Magic Affinity! 🔮
+ S Tier Sword Affinity! ⚔️
+ S Tier Devotion! ✨
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
What was the issue?! Jack hurriedly hovered over the options…
Holy Magic? This seemed incredibly useful. Not only could it heal, giving one a second life, but it could also ward off and defeat evil.
Sword Affinity? It was boring, but it would definitely be extremely useful. There was a reason this weapon had always been so popular.
But as he saw the last one, his blood turned cold….