Athens
The chariot, with its circular shield and its scepter adorned with medals, moved silently along the wide cobbled street, heading toward the outskirts of the city.
Asshu sat on the soft sheepskin cushion, resting his hand on the edge of the window, and with a serene expression, watched the passing scenery.
It was late autumn, and the plain was filled with vast wheat fields on both sides of the road.
The golden ears swayed in the wind, spreading the fragrance of harvest.
"What a fertile and rich land…" Asshu sighed softly.
Sixteen years had passed since he reincarnated into this world.
Although he had already grown accustomed to many things, he was still deeply moved.
The land was so fertile that food required little effort to grow. By simply scattering seeds across the fields, a good harvest could be reaped, even in winter.
Aside from attacks by fierce beasts and the occasional natural disaster or accident, humans rarely suffered from illness, and their average life expectancy reached nearly 200 years.
In addition, their physical condition was incredibly strong.
The muscular strength of an adult in his previous life was about 50 kg.
In this world, however, most people could reach 500 or even 600 kg.
An increase of more than tenfold!
This astonishing physical power allowed them to lift boulders with ease and move enormous logs.
That was why, even though this era was extremely primitive and backward, lacking technology and with scarce production tools, glorious and magnificent urban civilizations had still emerged.
It was not as many modern people imagined—living in caves or crude dark castles, surrounded by cow dung and foul odors.
Most of the buildings here were made of stone and wood, the city streets were wide and orderly, and the houses were clean and beautiful.
The sky was blue, the water clear, and flowers bloomed year-round on the outskirts.
When the wind blew, one could smell their fragrance.
"Could this be the true face of ancient civilizations, with the truth buried in history?"
Since his reincarnation, Asshu often pondered this question.
Based on some clues, the current world should still be Earth.
He had not traveled to another world.
But now, he found himself in the era of Western city-states before Christ. As for how many years before Christ, he did not know for certain.
After all, in his previous life, he had not studied ancient history in depth.
Still, he could conclude that this was ancient Greece, before Christ.
Because since childhood, Asshu had always heard legends of familiar gods such as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, and Athena.
There were also temples built specifically for these gods, and annual ceremonies held in their honor.
Of course… his atheism from his previous life kept Asshu from believing in the gods.
He thought all of it was just a fictitious object of worship created by humans terrified of nature.
Moreover, in the last sixteen years of his life, the gods had never manifested themselves.
Once they left the city, the road was far less stable than the city streets, and the chariot jolted about.
Although it had a soft wool carpet, Asshu still felt a bit uncomfortable.
He shifted his posture, and his gaze unintentionally wandered into the distance.
In his mind, he considered whether he should "invent" a suspension system for the chariot, so that his title of Sage would sound even more impressive.
Asshu had great confidence in his inventions and creations.
Not only because he was a modern man in his previous life, with broad knowledge, but also because in this life, after reincarnating, he had gained an advantage.
Asshu called it the "AFK System"
To be honored as a Sage at the young age of fifteen or sixteen, aside from possessing thoughts and knowledge that far surpassed the times, the credit of the AFK System could not be ignored.
This system was similar to a powerful research and development function.
As long as it was given a direction of inquiry, in time, it could conduct research on its own and produce reasonable knowledge.
Then, it would transfer that knowledge to the host.
And not just the final result.
It also transmitted all kinds of ideas and details of the research process.
This way, it was as if Asshu had thought of everything himself.
Anyone who questioned him could be answered fluently.
Do not think this function was unnecessary.
The sage was the most learned, the wisest person.
And in this era, people were not foolish; simply showing results was not enough to convince nobles and kings.
You also needed to debate with others who raised doubts.
Furthermore, you had to recount the meticulous process of research, including creative ideas, even the difficulties encountered along the way, and how, with a spark of inspiration, you overcame them ingeniously. Bards were very fond of such tales.
And you had to teach people how to use your inventions to improve their lives.
In this era, perhaps because civilization was just emerging and survival was not a pressing concern, everyone, from high to low, held an extremely strong curiosity.
For example, writing… Truthfully, this was the main reason why Asshu had been recognized as a sage throughout Athens and the nearby city-states.
Last year, he created a complete writing system that was faster to write and easier to use.
It replaced the crude pictographs and symbols of this backward age.
This greatly facilitated the documentation of knowledge.
One thing must be understood.
Although Asshu had been a modern man in his previous life, he was not a linguist, and it was impossible for him to remember the actual characters of ancient Greek.
This was in fact the merit of the AFK System, which combined the languages of later eras.
Asshu merely provided a direction: "Research a complete writing system based on the existing language." Then, he set it in motion.
About four or five years later, the research was completed.
The advantage transferred to the host was an ancient Greek script that resembled more the English of later times, including all the knowledge and inspiration of the research process.
He then spread it.
Many people felt this type of writing was easier to use than the previous "symbols," and that it expressed ideas more clearly.
After comparing the similarities and differences between the two systems and their meanings, people, feeling that the new system was superior, gradually began to respect its creator.
Subsequently, the name of Asshu, the sage, spread quickly.
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The so-called "AFK System" was an advantage like this.
After more than ten years of using it, Asshu basically understood it.
It did not create something out of nothing… For example, magic. Even if he set it to research for a long time, it could not enable the host to ignite even a small flame.
The AFK System was based on existing "knowledge," "ideas," and "insights" in his own mind as a foundation, and then it carried out a certain level of optimization and restructuring to finally form those successful inventions.
That is to say, even without the AFK System, if he had persisted in research for decades, Asshu could, based on the foreign languages he had learned in his previous life combined with the simple pictographs and symbols of this era, have invented this set of ancient Greek language with a coherent grammatical system based on English.
Only it would have definitely taken him an extremely long time and countless neurons.
Whereas the AFK System directly shortened this process, and even made small improvements, filling in many details he would not have noticed himself, making it more complete.
In short, this advantage grew stronger the more knowledge the host possessed.