The sun was shining brightly outside, and the streets were bustling with people. The antique shop was located in a quiet alley in the middle of the busy market, occasionally passed by people in thick winter clothes, but rarely noticed.

The black-haired young man had just finished cleaning the antique shop. He was a bit tired but had a contented expression on his face. He looked around the shop, seemingly very satisfied with his work. Then, he donned a cotton coat, sat behind the counter, and slowly opened a popular history book.

"Ancient Era, Mysterious Era, Era of the Gods, Era of Demons, Human Era."

Who would have thought, he had died for thousands of years, and the outside world had gone through three eras.

"In the era I came from, the gods were at war, and humans were the weakest race. Who would have thought that with the passage of time, humans would become the masters of the continent?"

"At least on the surface."

Hughes nodded thoughtfully.

He was a transmigrator from Blue Star, and his original name was not "Hughes."

Hughes was his name in the game. Back then, humans were extremely weak, unable to compete with other god-created races. The human mage who was the eighteenth Grand Sage at the time united with several gods to make this world into a game on Blue Star, and he was one of the beta testers, one of the seven hero saviors.

There were more than seven beta testers at the time, but only those who completed the "Hero" quest received the title of hero.

Back then, he felt a bit embarrassed to receive the hero title. A hero, huh? He was just a corporate slave, but his undying passion for games made him accept it.

He knew nothing when he entered the game, and it wasn't until he awakened that he realized this world was real!

He was utterly shocked and incredulous, but after awakening, he found he couldn't travel back. Helplessly, he stayed in the other world, striving to survive and level up, accepting the name Hughes and the hero's identity.

Among the seven heroes, he was undoubtedly the weakest. Back then, for fun and because he was a 3D modeler, he chose the [Creator] path. He didn't expect that the [Creator] would be extremely difficult to level up early on, with an initial stat panel of 1 for attack, 1 for defense, and zero for both magical and physical resistance, worse than a wimp with a combat power of at least 5.

While others needed 10 resources to level up, he needed 100, consuming massive resources! And even after leveling up, there was little improvement, as talent points could only be added to [Creator] job attributes. To become stronger, he couldn't just enhance himself; he had to strengthen through the creations he made. Only when they leveled up could he level up.

"Sigh, I used to enjoy it back then, but only after transmigrating did I realize the hardship."

Hughes reminisced, feeling melancholic. But being the type to accept his situation, he gradually adapted. Hardships were temporary, as long as he leveled up well, life would improve, right? As a corporate slave and game enthusiast, his tolerance was relatively high.

However, just when he reached level 10, while adventuring in the Abyss with other heroes, a sudden spatial instability caused the passage connecting the present world to the Abyss to almost collapse. He didn't know if the others had returned safely, but when he came to his senses, he found himself left behind.

"Back then, it was truly despairing. I was just a level 10 [Apprentice Creator], with attack and defense stats both at 10, unable to beat even an ordinary Abyss monster, destined to die."

Hughes felt even more melancholic recalling the past.

But he survived. Was it strong willpower or good luck?

"Hmm…"

Hughes paused, frowning, his tone complex, "Maybe I didn't entirely survive."

Indeed, he still died. When he was almost at level 19, an accident happened. In theory, he should have died, his health bar depleted, and his system panel shattered. However, unexpectedly—

"I actually resurrected."

Hughes murmured, puzzled by this.

Living was, of course, something to be happy about, but he couldn't understand why.

"Let's set that aside for now."

Hughes stopped flipping the book, his expression serious, his body slightly trembling.

He died, but what about his little ones?

While surviving in the Abyss, he used his [Creation] skill to shape many little creatures. Suddenly dying left them vulnerable in the Abyss.

Hughes opened his system panel, looking at the greyed-out creation catalog, falling into prolonged silence.

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A few days ago, he walked out of the graveyard, knowing nothing about the world thousands of years later. The game system hadn't been restored, and he had no idea about the condition of his little ones.

It worried him sick!

Luckily, he met the kind-hearted church priest, Silas.

Priest Silas, a human adventurer, frequently explored ancient ruins. Seeing Hughes, who had no one to rely on and "lost his memory" in the graveyard, he generously provided temporary accommodation and work. Hughes was immensely grateful, guarding the antique shop during the day, helping to look after it.

Priest Silas was a gentleman in his fifties with slightly graying hair, seemingly holding a high position in the church. Even on days when he wasn't adventuring, he was exceptionally busy.

Priest Silas had said, "It's not uncommon for people to get lost in the Abyss and reappear in the human world with memory loss. Your situation is not strange. I'll report to the church, and if the process goes smoothly, you'll receive some relief funds."

Hughes didn't expect his amnesia story to be accepted so quickly.

On Blue Star, Hughes was a model young man, easy-going and stable, not getting irritable unless he worked overnight. He believed that everything would work out in the end. His colleagues considered him a nice guy, like a central air conditioner. Although he thought he was just average, a bit lazy, not fond of socializing, and being equally nice to everyone was more about not wanting to spend time distributing social energy. His interactions with the other six heroes were much the same.

He didn't want to lie to Priest Silas, but his situation was hard to explain. Fortunately, Priest Silas didn't doubt him.

"No matter what, the priority now is to understand the current era and wait for the game system to restart."

Hughes continued reading, struggling through the human history of the Era of the Gods.

After he fell into the Abyss, what happened to the other six heroes?

Just then, the door opened.

The visitor looked travel-worn, dressed in a heavy military coat, with white hair streaked with snow, his face aged but eyes sharp, staring at Hughes as soon as he entered.

Hughes was stunned for a moment, looking at the old man.

The old man seemed surprised to see a different person at the counter and asked, "Who are you...?"

"Hello, I am Isaac," Hughes said, showing a harmless, bright smile. "Priest Silas asked me to help look after the shop."

The old man's demeanor indicated he was from the Os Empire's military.

When Hughes transmigrated, this world was still at a medieval level of productivity. After his death, the world had clearly developed, not yet to the electrical era, but various modern amenities were becoming available.

This was a great thing. He had struggled to adapt to life in another world back then. Without his little ones accompanying him, he would have almost given up.

Ah, just thinking about it, images of his little ones popped into Hughes' mind.

At this moment, the old man introduced himself, "I am Ronald, passing by. I wanted to find Priest Silas, but it seems he is not here."

Ronald didn't think much about the black-haired young man in front of him, only noting his rare black hair and eyes.

It's a pity…

Ronald squinted his eyes. Sensing no trace of magic from the youth, he knew he was just an ordinary person.

In this era, it's hard to survive without magic. An ordinary person with no magic power would struggle to live.

Especially with recent subspace fluctuations, creatures from the spirit realm occasionally intrude into the human world. Despite the royal city tightening security and several great mages overseeing control, some slip through.

Creatures escaping subspace are usually above level 30. If the young man before him were unlucky enough to encounter one, it could mean death.

As an imperial soldier, Ronald's duty was to protect such ordinary people. With this in mind, his gaze grew sharper, his presence more imposing.

Ronald looked into the young man's eyes, speaking seriously, "Since Priest Silas is not here, please relay a message to him."

"What message?"

Hughes was willing to help but added, "I'm not sure when Mr. Silas will return."

Ronald nodded, "Just tell Priest Silas that 'the matter' requires his personal attention."

Hughes nodded, about to agree.

Suddenly, Ronald's body trembled, his face turning pale as if something happened. He immediately looked at his right hand.

On his palm, ominous black particles were swirling.

The black particles roiled, like a living monster, attacking Ronald.

Ronald frowned, realizing his contracted demon was becoming unstable.

Years ago, the abyssal demons emerged, causing chaos in the Era of the Gods, leading the world into the Era of Demons.