Chapter 3: Fate Pushes Me Into Madness
James began to regain consciousness with excruciating slowness, returning from the cold claws of death.
The weight of the coma was pulling away from his heavy body, and he felt his soul being forced back into him.
He opened his eyes with extreme difficulty, grasping at the fragile threads of reality.
After moments of staring into emptiness, he pushed his exhausted body to rise very slowly, sitting on the edge of a bed that felt like the last lifeline.
He had barely raised his head when a scene struck him with such force it shook his very core; the young woman was there, clutching him in a desperate embrace, her tears pouring like a burning waterfall.
James froze in place for a moment, drowned in a sea of questions, but his instinct led him to return the embrace naturally, searching for an anchor in the midst of this emotional storm.
Suddenly, she pulled away from him and kissed him fiercely on the lips. Despite his overwhelming shock, he did not stop her; instead, he kissed her back with equal passion, their tongues intertwining in each other's mouths.
He grabbed her hair and began kissing her again, forgetting completely that moments ago he had been staring death in the eyes.
"Dad, are you okay?"
spoke the little boy suddenly, looking at the ground shyly, gripping his shirt tightly, his hands trembling with fear and worry.
As soon as James and the young woman heard the boy's voice, they separated quickly, both overwhelmed with intense embarrassment, each looking in a different direction.
After a few moments, James stood up, feeling strength and new energy flowing through his body, and walked toward the boy, lifting him and kissing him on both cheeks.
The boy hugged him tightly, crying and screaming with happiness, clutching James' white hair as if letting go would mean losing his father forever.
James found himself trapped in another body in a world entirely new, a world whose days passed with frightening speed, and soon the memories of its original owner began to knit themselves together in his mind, revealing to him the secrets of "Athena."
James discovered that the name of the body's owner was James Rohan — the same as his previous name — living in the kingdom of Lorinia, specifically in the city of Lorance, inside a worn-down village barely holding itself against time.
His life had been simple and harsh, surrounded by his wife Rona Felin and his two children, Jin and Rin, living in extreme poverty in a collapsing house.
This bitter reality was a stark contrast to the life he had known in his previous world — a world he had once thought cruel.
But the rules here were far more savage and blatant, terrifying enough to make his old life look like a flimsy "paradise" compared to this raging hell.
In "Athena," a world as enchanting as it is terrifying, weakness had no place; it was a roaring sea of brute force.
The fundamental concept of life here was not coexistence, but survival of the strongest — a natural law carving destinies without mercy.
If you were strong, you lived a comfortable life, bathed in oceans of respect and overflowing with wealth.
But if you were weak, your fate was sealed: either dying of hunger like a feeble animal, or becoming mere cheap fuel to feed the endless wars of others.
It was a world that elevated the strong to the rank of gods and crushed the weak beneath their feet.
Mysterious magical powers spread through "Athena" like the air everyone breathed. Skilled mages used their deep knowledge to extract sparkling mana from the atmosphere, weaving destructive spells that tore hearts apart and shifted the course of battles.
Meanwhile, powerful knights roamed the land, mastering the art of internal ki, turning their bodies into lethal weapons capable of splitting mountains.
This world was not unified; it was a mosaic of kingdoms and nobles locked in endless conflict, racing for dominance and expansion.
Different factions competed for ultimate power, fighting over every inch of land, paying no heed to the weak who inhabited disputed territories, powerless in the face of political and military storms.
James, in this new body, was just one of those weak people; a leaf tossed by violent winds in a merciless world.
He possessed neither magical strength nor combat techniques — just a witness to a cruel reality he had to adapt to at terrifying speed or face certain death.
In this world that knew no mercy, James realized the bitter truth: survival was a privilege earned with blood and sweat.
He had to fight, not only for his own existence as a living being, but for his new family, which had begun planting a strange, heavy sense of responsibility in his heart.
They had become his only bond to humanity in this desolate place.
Strength, James realized as clearly as daylight, was the only acceptable currency here; it was the key to a decent life, a shield of protection, and a lifeline.
There was no room for leniency or hesitation.
He had to gather strength at any cost, to accumulate it even if he had to walk over corpses, because his fate and the fate of his new family hung by a fragile thread of the power he would acquire.
James suddenly realized he had a "cheat ability." The word "system" echoing in his mind wasn't a coincidence; it was a ticket to power, a classic cheat tool given to someone reborn into a weak body to help him defy the brutal rules of this world.
Yet the euphoria of this discovery quickly faded. James also realized that this system was neither simple nor straightforward.
It was extremely mysterious — a tightly locked box. The promise of strength was there, but how to use it, or even activate it, remained an unopened secret.
Days passed, and half a month had gone by since James awoke.
During this period, all his memories returned with painful clarity.
James was sitting in the courtyard of his humble home, leaning against the cold mud wall, his eyes fixed on his young children who filled the place with vitality and joy.
They ran in an irregular circle, their innocent laughter ringing in the air like silver bells, while his wife played with them wholeheartedly — chasing them at times and pretending to fall at others, triggering waves of hysterical laughter.
Their voices shattered the barrier of silence imposed by the brutality of the outside world.
Amid this warm family scene, the system remained silent.
Since that first day, it had not appeared again.
None of James' calls nor his desperate attempts to activate it worked; silence was the only response.
But in moments like these, James forgot about the missing power and found everything he needed in the laughter of his family, a soothing balm for his tired soul.
Happiness flooded James' heart like a rising tide as he watched the beautiful family scene before him.
He looked with affectionate eyes at this pure image overflowing with parental warmth; these moments were like a rare painting crafted by destiny's hand in a bleak and harsh world.
A warm, sincere smile rose from deep within his heart — a smile that rarely found its way to his weary face recently.
He found temporary peace in the warmth of these precious family moments, a brief escape from the claws of fate.
For a single moment, he completely forgot the brutality of the external world of "Athena" and its bloody laws, choosing to live trapped within that fleeting happiness.
But fate had a different opinion. While James enjoyed his fragile peace, destiny's hidden threads were weaving a new conspiracy.
That calm was merely the silence before the storm, and "Athena" would never allow him to remain safe for long.
While James was lost in the warmth of the family moment, a cold, metallic voice tore through the quiet of the courtyard, echoing inside his head:
[First mission for the host: Save your family from the imminent destruction]
Followed by more commands like lightning:
[Time limit: 5 hours]
[Reward: 150 points]
James jolted to his feet as if bitten by a serpent, a muffled scream trapped in his throat.
The gentle expression on his face vanished, replaced instantly by deadly shock and overwhelming terror.
The words "the destruction of his family" were enough to awaken the raw fear he had lived through in his past life.
His mind recoiled and convulsed in fierce panic, rejecting entirely the idea of experiencing helplessness and loss again.
He would not allow that to happen ever again!
Sweat poured down him like a waterfall, and his heart pounded violently against his chest, almost breaking his ribs.
He had come to regard this new family as his real one; he wanted to live with them in peace and happiness, and now the system told him they were on the brink of ruin.
Anxiety surged to its peak; he tried desperately to regain his composure: "Calm down, James… breathe… everything will be fine," he whispered to himself in a barely audible voice, inhaling slowly to quiet the storm of fear overwhelming him.
At that critical moment, the system echoed again, offering a second lifeline:
[Second and final system reward: 10 years of sword arts]
[Transferring reward… Reward transferred successfully]
James felt immense power rush through his body like a raging flood, a fierce energy filling every cell of his being.
It wasn't just a sense of strength; waves of memories and combat skills surged into his mind, and in a visual flash he saw himself mastering the sword with skill and precision for an entire decade.
In a single moment, he transformed from an unarmed man into a seasoned swordsman who had trained for years.
"Who are these mortals, Edward?" boomed a rough, provoking voice across the area, a voice drawing nearer bit by bit to James' courtyard, carrying with it an omen of doom.
Edward couldn't hide the look that appeared in his eyes when they fell upon Rona — a look carrying a dangerous mixture of admiration, desire, and dominance.
A crooked smile formed at the corner of his lips as he whispered, as if the words escaped him unwillingly: "What a beauty… looks like tonight will be interesting." His voice was calm, yet charged enough to make the air heavier, as though Rona had become the center of his attention — a target he had no intention of giving up.
A few tense, silent moments hung over the place.
James felt a coldness crawling into his limbs, while Rona grasped her son's hand tightly, pulling him close with primal instinct.
A dark feeling surged within James like nothing he had felt before; a primal, overwhelming desire threatening to swallow what remained of his reason.
He stared at them as if some obscure instinct within him was awakening — instincts whispering that they were prey… and he was the predator.
His pulse quickened, his breath tightened, and the thoughts clashing in his head were anything but human; a desire to tear them apart, to crush them one by one, as if unseen forces were pushing him to the brink of madness.
He didn't know what was controlling him… but something hidden, shadowy, was rising inside him.
"Hmm, I'll enjoy myself as well," the man muttered arrogantly, his gaze roaming over Rona and her children, a look devoid of any human regard.
James froze where he stood, his body turning into a statue of frozen rage.
The man's words were like knives stabbing his heart hundreds of times, squeezing him with indescribable pain and pressure.
He clenched his fists with insane force, so hard that his nails pierced his palms deeply, blood dripping onto the silent ground.
After hearing those words, James felt as if his heart had ignited with merciless fire.
An intense pain surged through him, deeper than anything he understood; it was no longer just about protecting a new family, but a primal instinct to defend what was sacred to him.
A sweeping, irresistible desire to fight overwhelmed him.
"You there, girl… come here. The gentleman won't harm you, just answer his call," Edward said with falsely calm arrogance, waving his hand dismissively as if she were a doll waiting for orders.
James stepped forward, his body shifting from stillness to lethal intent.
He gestured quickly and firmly to Rona, lowering his voice to a serious whisper: "Rona… take the children and go back inside.
Get in and lock the door well… no matter what happens." His words were a command beyond debate, born from a deep awareness of the danger ahead.
Edward did not accept being challenged by a mere peasant. He pressed his lips together in restrained anger and said mockingly, his tone dripping with insult: "You, peasant… you're the last person who gets to speak. Step aside, this won't take long."
Then he pulled out two silver coins from his pocket and waved them with disgusting disdain: "Look… isn't this enough for you to eat tonight? Take the money and mind your own life."
He burst into loud laughter, convinced that everyone around him was too weak to oppose him, oblivious to the storm he was waking.
As for Rona, she grabbed her children with frantic strength and ran toward the house like a terrified gazelle.
But she couldn't stop herself from looking back for a brief moment.
She looked at James with eyes full of fear, worry, and disbelief — seeing for the first time the fierce, dark aura engulfing his gaze, a new color of cold, absolute anger, as if another person — a veteran warrior — was rising within him, ready to spill blood to protect them.
The gentle peasant had vanished, replaced by a savage beast poised to strike.
James walked toward Edward with slow, deliberate steps, each one calculated, his eyes locked onto Edward's face still filled with arrogance.
The laughter slowly faded from Edward's lips as James approached, something uncertain beginning to flicker in his eyes.
This peasant wasn't acting like a peasant.
Something in his stance, in the way he stared, was entirely different from anything Edward had seen before.
James stopped just a short distance away, silence swallowing the space between them, broken only by their quickened breaths.
Edward slowly reached for the sword at his waist, but before he could fully draw it, James lunged toward him with a swift, unexpected movement.
He was far faster than Edward could ever have predicted.
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