Emperors.

"What in the gods' names did I just read? The emperor is a puppet? He is a she? What about Olympia..." Alex nearly choked as he read this. Olympia wasn't the typical Greek legend he was familiar with.

"Olympia... mother of Alexander the Great, is that her?" Alex pondered. Historically, Olympia was a mysterious figure who adored her son and ensured he would ascend to the throne. When another heir became a possibility, she made sure Alexander remained the rightful ruler.

Women in history could be considered some of the strongest mothers imaginable.

"If this is really her, then either she's just a random person here, or Alexander the Great is also in this world... Wait... Macedonian Empire... FUCK!!!" Alex stood there, pulled his dick to his pants stunned by what he had just read. This was insane. He expected to encounter mythological characters in this world, not actual historical figures.

"Let's see what happens."

[At age 35, the emperor managed to escape, but the city was left in ruins. The Kelion army quickly invaded and destroyed it.

At age 36, before Kelion could fully demolish the capital city— which had held out for some time due to the presence of powerful individuals—a sky-shaking thunderstorm erupted, with lightning flashing across the sky.

At age 37, Kelion's army inexplicably bypassed the capital city and began conquering other territories.

At age 38, you survived in the capital city, hiding in a safe environment. You discovered you could not advance to the next ranks and felt as though you had reached the limit of your power.

At age 39, you uncovered a secret plot within Emperor's main force, Guildia, when you secretly entered their library to find out why you had been stuck at the same rank for nearly 10 years.

At age 40, you were discovered by Guildia and instantly incinerated.]

You can keep one thing from the simulation:

The strength you had at age 30The experience you had at age 30The knowledge you had at age 30

"This was... the longest one I've ever had..." Alex jumped back and decided to think it over. The simulation revealed a lot, but it also hid many things, like why his friends decided to stay in the empire, what happened to the emperor, and why Kelion—

"Zeus? Was it Zeus..." Alex looked up, swallowing nervously. He was encountering powerful figures too quickly and didn't like it. Wasn't this supposed to be a leveling world where he would gradually meet powerful characters, not be thrown into their midst like this?

"Anyway, let's see..." Alex was in a state of indecision, unable to choose.

"I want to know what happens, so I should choose knowledge. But in return, I will lose power..." Alex sighed and selected the first option.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed as pain surged through him, causing him to collapse.

Red dots swirled around him like a tornado, and he glowed red.

"SHUAGAGHAGHGHGH!!!" He screeched.

"HOLY!!! WHAT'S WRONG!!!" Gard rushed in.

Alex struggled to his feet and said, "It's my SPARK!!! IT'S BREAKING THROUGH!!!" He gritted his teeth to hide his pain.

"Shit... come with me..." Gard covered him as they moved inside his house.

"YOOO!!! ARE YOU OK!!!" His friends called out in concern.

"I AM—AGHGHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Alex yelled as he soared into the air, glowing like a bomb exploding. Red dots swirled beside his mouth, making him look possessed.

The display created a huge light show, shattering nearby wooden windows.

Alex calmed down after a few moments, utterly exhausted, and collapsed on the ground.

The next day...

"Ugh..." Alex woke up on his couch.

It was already morning.

"Yo—" He stopped when he saw his friends sleeping either next to him or on the floor, their hands entangled as if they had been watching over him while he slept.

"They're really good friends... I wonder how Alex made such good friends in the first place..." He smiled and slowly stood up.

He needed some fresh air.

Alex went outside and took a deep breath. It was refreshing to see birds flying around and feel the cool morning breeze.

"Huh?" He noticed a few bronze-armored individuals on horseback.

"Hello, could you spare us a few minutes?" the polite soldier asked a random passerby.

"Yes, what's wrong?" A young girl responded.

"We saw the incredible red light last night. It shone through several districts, so we've been searching all night. Did you see where it came from?" the soldier asked politely.

"YES!!! SIR!!!" the young girl exclaimed.

"The light was enormous—so intense that it almost blinded me while I was working. It was like someone turned on red lightning. It was an incredible sight, but very strange..." the girl explained.

The soldier nodded and asked, "Do you know where it originated?"

"I believe it came from that house..." The young girl pointed directly at Alex.

"Fuck..." Alex muttered.

"So, nothing unusual here? You also saw the light," the soldier asked.

"Sir, look around. My friends and I were drinking so much that if Zeus himself came down to earth, we'd probably mistake him for a regular person," Alex said with a smile.

"I see... We've spoken to several people, and they reported different locations. We've checked those houses, so I'll need to check yours as well." The soldier whistled to his colleagues.

"Yes, of course (FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK MY BACKPACK!!!)" Alex almost yelled but managed to keep a smile on his face.

The backpack was in a safe place; they'd have to search thoroughly to find it.

The soldiers entered the house and began their inspection.

"Hmmm, what's this???" They found the bags.

"(Shit...) Oh, that's just my potato bag..." Alex muttered nervously.

The soldiers nodded and prepared to open it.

"OIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!! BROTHER HAHAHAHAHAH!!! ARE YOU ALL SLEEPING!!!" Gard staggered in, looking drunk.

Alex glanced over and saw that Gard was no longer where he had been.

"Huh?" The soldiers stopped.

"Huh? More DRINK BUDDIES GAHAHAHAHAH!!! HELP OUT HERE!!!" Gard laughed and swayed as if in a wave.

"Who are you..." one soldier asked.

"Hahahaha, excuse him. He's just a friend," Alex said, standing to handle the situation.

"OiIIIIIIIIIII... AGH!!!" Gard bumped into a soldier, knocking him down.

"YOU!!!" The soldiers drew their swords.

"WAIT WAIT!!! EXCUSE HIM, SIRS!!!" Alex jumped in before things could escalate, while Gard looked at the soldiers and spoke.

"Oi, what the hell are you looking at, dumb—Hip asses... look..." Gard raised his hands, and the soldiers stopped.

"He's in the army..." The soldiers calmed down. While it wasn't forbidden to kill army men, killing civilians in the capital was a crime.

"You idiot!!!" Alex grabbed Gard's shoulder and led him outside.

"You guys continue your search. I'll just teach him a lesson, please." He smiled at the soldiers.

"HahahaHAHAHAHAH, it doesn't matter. We've already checked everything. Soldiers, go out." The officer said, and everyone nodded.

Alex returned inside and sighed.

"Oho, looks like my acting worked," Gard said with a grin.

"Huh? You were acting? Why?" Alex asked.

"Isn't that bag filled with bronze and silver coins? If the soldiers discovered it, they might... let's say, break some of it, you know?" Gard nudged Alex.

"You know this..." Gard said, glancing at Alex.

"What the hell happened last night? It was like you were possessed by some kind of fire goddess... it was crazy," Gard asked curiously.

"Man, I broke through and became more powerful. I don't know the ranks or anything, but I didn't expect it to be so flashy," Alex sighed.

They went outside to avoid disturbing their sleeping friends.

"I hope nobody saw I—" Alex was interrupted.

"I saw it..." A child's voice came from next to a tree.

Alex and Gard looked over, shocked.

End of Chapter.