System notification player has died!
System updating!
Starting process of revival initiating!
New skill unlocked Monarch's Revival
Accept skill? Y/N
Congratulations you have learned the skill Monarch's Revival!
Skill rank level Monarch
Updating player from rank above average to D rank
All attributes have gained + 15 to their stats
Skill Analysis and visualisation have level up from level 1 to level 2
Player's level cap increased from level 15 to level 30
Use skill Monarch's Revival!
Sam awoke to a strange mix of darkness and light surrounding him, a surreal landscape that left him disoriented. "Where am I? Is this heaven?" he mumbled, still trying to piece together the events that led him here.
"It's unfortunately not heaven, sorry to burst your bubble, Sam," a familiar voice responded, laced with a hint of amusement.
Sam’s eyes widened as recognition dawned on him. "The Goddess' Domain," he whispered, remembering the last time he had been in this ethereal place.
"Really? That's what you call this place?" the goddess sighed in disbelief. "I'd rather you call it the Creator Dream World," she corrected boldly, earning a slight smirk from Sam.
As she moved closer, Sam couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. The goddess was staring at him intensely, making him shift uncomfortably. Is there something on my face? he wondered. Her gaze seemed to probe into him, as if searching for something hidden deep within.
She opened her mouth as if to speak, then hesitated, making Sam even more uneasy. He tried to think of what he could have possibly done wrong, but his thoughts were interrupted when she finally spoke.
"How are you still alive?" she asked, her voice tinged with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "That fire magic should have either crippled you or killed you outright. At your rank level, you shouldn't even have been able to apply that crystal to your head, let alone hold a flame for fourteen seconds."
Her words left Sam more confused than ever. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked, his bewilderment clear in his voice.
The goddess, whose name he recalled as Melissa, remained outwardly calm, but inside, her thoughts were in turmoil.
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Melissa's Internal Thoughts:
Does he really not know how lucky he is? Only 2,000 out of millions of Sams have ever been able to use the fire crystal, and those who did went on to master it. Not only that, but he held the flame the third longest out of those 2,000. That would make him one of the top three strongest Sams in the future. There's something different about this one in particular. I can’t get a read on him—he's different from the others.
This will make the other Sams jealous. They might even try to influence the creatures of this world, turning them into powerful killing machines. I can sense both a bright and dark future emanating from him. Just who is he?
He might even be able to break me out of this cursed place...
Her internal monologue was abruptly cut off by Sam's voice.
"Can you maybe stop staring at me so intensely? You know you're a bit exposed down there," Sam pointed out, his gaze shifting awkwardly to her skirt, which had ridden up in a way that left little to the imagination. A small nosebleed betrayed his discomfort.
Melissa quickly looked down, her face turning bright red as she realized the situation. Standing up swiftly, she tried to cover her embarrassment by changing the subject. "Ahem, anyway, what are you going to do now?"
Sam was jolted back to reality. If I'm here, that means I haven't died, right? "I haven't died, have I?" he asked, a note of worry creeping into his voice.
"Do you feel dead?" Melissa replied sarcastically.
"I don't feel dead, but how am I here? I saw the light fading away—I was sure I was gone." He paused, then asked, "Did you revive me with your goddess powers?"
Melissa scoffed at the suggestion. "Who do you think I am? I may be a charming goddess, but even I don't possess the power to revive people from the dead," she said, hoping Sam would reveal more about how he survived.
"If you didn't revive me, then who did?" Sam wondered aloud.
Just then, a system notification echoed in his mind:
You used the skill Monarch's Revival.
You obtained this during the brief period you died.
It's a Monarch rank skill.
Sam's eyes widened in realization. "Question, goddess," he said, his curiosity piqued. "What is a Monarch rank?"
Melissa's heart skipped a few beats at the question. "What do you mean, 'What is Monarch rank'?" she asked, her voice tight with anxiety.
"I was just curious," Sam clarified. "I've heard about it somewhere before."
"Do you not know about the rank system in this world?" she asked, clearly puzzled.
"It never really crossed my mind, I guess," Sam shrugged, though now he was genuinely curious about the ranking system.
Melissa took a deep breath and began to explain.
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Fifteen minutes later, Sam had learned more about the world than he ever expected. "So, No Talent rank is the lowest and God rank is the highest," he repeated, still processing the information. There were a total of 18 ranks, from No Talent all the way to God.
"Why so many ranks? Can humans even reach God rank?" he asked.
"You're talking to a human right now, you know," Melissa huffed, collapsing onto the misty floor. "You know you can't be born a god."
"Including me, eight other beings have made it to God rank," she added proudly.
Sam's mind whirled with possibilities. If there’s a human god, there must be others—what about a demon god? "Are you the human god?" he asked suddenly.
"Yes, I am indeed the human god, and the fourth one in history," Melissa replied, taking a prideful stance.
"There are other gods, but there are also 20 demi-gods with the potential to become gods themselves. Two of them are human," she continued.
Sam’s brief moment of happiness faded into worry. I should meet those two human demi-gods someday. He quickly set a reminder in the system.
System Notes have been successfully saved.
You have been given the reward: Infinite Pages!
Do you accept reward? Y/N
Sam selected "Yes" without much thought. I’ll check it out later, he decided.
"Our time is nearly up," Melissa said, her voice tinged with sadness. "But do tell me how you managed to revive yourself in the future."
"If I figure it out, I’ll let you know," Sam lied. He already knew from the system notification, but something told him not to reveal his Monarch’s Revival skill or the existence of the system to Melissa—at least not yet.
"One more thing before you go," Melissa said softly, her voice trembling slightly. "Please come back at some point. You don’t know how lonely it is here." A single tear slipped down her cheek, making Sam blush slightly.
The Creator Dream World slowly faded away, and Sam found himself returning to consciousness.