Chapter 52: Transcendental Talent: Is it good?

Suddenly, a few silhouettes appeared at the scene.

They stood silently atop the roof of a house nearby, overlooking the broken road below.

All the 7 figures wore pure white robes that fluttered lightly due to the violent winds, and their faces were hidden under their hoods.

Among them stood one man, standing in front of the others, who was clearly different.

He was taller, broader.

Even the aura coiling around him was denser than the others—like an invisible pressure. He was the strongest among them and he was their leader.

All of their eyes were locked onto the white, blinding dome below them, a few meters away from the house.

“What… is he?” one of them asked quietly, her voice tinged with bewilderment.

“A monstrous talent,” another replied, his eyes widening beneath the hood as they observed the spectacle before them.

He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.

None of them could.

This had never happened in recorded history. At least, not that they knew about it. No human had ever awakened like this.

Which meant only one thing.

A being with a monstrous talent had been born before their very eyes.

“Fire, Wind, Water, Earth… and Light.” The strongest of them said slowly.

Even he couldn’t believe it, but it was the truth, and he could see it

He could feel it.

The other five people snapped their heads toward him instantly.

“Are you sure? Five affinities?”

“And Light? Is that even possible? To possess the four main affinities is already a very big deal… but you are saying he has light affinity too?”

Then—

“Are you sure you are not… wrong?” one of them asked hesitantly.

The tall man slowly turned his head toward them.

Even without seeing his eyes, the sharpness in his gaze was unmistakable.

“Are you questioning me?” he asked calmly.

All of them stiffened.

“N-No, that is not what we meant—”

They knew that he was telling the truth. It was very obvious from the way the elements were reacting, but it was simply too impossible for them to accept it.

“Forget it,” the man—Richard, muttered dismissively, shifting his focus back to the ball of blinding light hovering above the broken road.

“One of you,” he continued.

“Take him to the Church.”

His tone clearly made it clear that it was a command.

His eyes fell on the man who had just asked if he was mistaken.

The man, feeling the gaze, nodded, understanding that he would have to do the job.

He continued.

“The pope will decide whether he lives or dies. But if he lives… then he might change humanity’s fate.”

Silence followed.

All of them agreed to it.

Someone like this could not be allowed to roam freely.

They either had to control him.

Or eliminate him.

There was no third option.

None of them objected.

There was no way they could allow someone like Arthur to escape their grasp.

Then Richard’s gaze drifted elsewhere.

Not far from this scene, in another direction entirely, a massive golden pillar pierced the heavens. It stretched high into the sky, radiant and pure, as if a divine being had descended—or ascended from that very spot.

At first glance, it looked like God Himself had manifested.

But they knew better.

The light was coming from a human.

And that fact alone was even more terrifying.

Richard, along with the others, could feel a pull from that direction.

A holy presence.

One that rivalled—perhaps even threatened the authority of the Pope himself.

His lips curled slightly beneath his hood.

“Others come with me,” he said.

“We have a Saintess to welcome to the Church.”

Without another word, his body blurred—and vanished.

Five of the white-robed figures disappeared alongside him, leaving only one silhouette standing behind.

The remaining man let out a long sigh.

“Why do I always get the boring tasks…”

He wanted to go along with them.

To see the Saintess.

He had heard about it for a while. About a woman blessed by divinity—someone who was most probably a Saintess.

Now it was confirmed.

And it was this woman who was the source of the golden pillar.

While he was lost in thought, the raging ball of light before him began to shrink.

The violent winds weakened. The trembling ground stilled.

He noticed immediately and stepped off the rooftop, landing on the road below with a thud.

Slowly, the light dimmed.

The blinding radiance faded layer by layer until the silhouette of a man became visible within.

The body that had been suspended in midair began to descend, finally dropping onto the road.

The white-robed man—James—felt his eyes twitch.

“Lucky bastard,” He muttered under his breath.

The light vanished completely, revealing Arthur’s unconscious body as it lay on the cracked ground.

Naked.

“5 affinities… and a now this.”

James shook his head slightly.

He couldn’t believe the unfairness of the heavens.

How could the gods favor someone this much?

Arthur’s body had changed entirely.

The fat in his body was gone—completely erased, revealing his well-developed muscles that shaped his frame. They were defined and balanced, as if sculpted over years of disciplined training.

His skin was smooth and unblemished, and the acne that had once dotted his face was gone.

His short brown hair shone faintly under the morning sunlight, carrying a subtle luster.

And his face…

Handsome.

Not just average, but handsome.

Strikingly so.

There was almost no resemblance between the Arthur before awakening and the one lying here now. It was almost like someone had taken his old image and edited it for hours, finally turning it into this.

Of course, James didn’t know that.

He and the others had only arrived after Arthur was engulfed in light.

Arthur’s fingers twitched.

His eyelids trembled.

“Ugh…”

He groaned softly and pushed himself up.

“W-What happened?” He muttered.

Then he froze, instantly noticing something.

His voice.

It sounded deeper. Cleaner, smoother, and much better than before.

Slowly, memories came flooding back.

The goblin. The gunshot. The dead officer.

But, most importantly—

The screen.

Arthur’s eyes widened.

“Right! I got my status window!”

He abruptly stood up—

And immediately noticed something else.

His body was lighter, way different from how it had been for years.

His body felt lighter like a feather—of course, metaphorically.

He was confused, but as he looked down, his mouth opened in shock.

He was naked, completely, with his weapon hanging from his crotch, but more than that—

His body.

“What the fuck happened to me?!” he shouted, staring down at himself in disbelief.

He clenched his fists unconsciously.

Then touched his arms, his chest, his stomach. He even pinched himself to make sure it was real.

Thankfully to him, it was.

His muscles were firm and solid—far strikingly different from the soft, chubby skin he used to have.

He looked like someone who had worked out for years. Even though he hadn’t ever touched a dumbbell or done a push-up all his entire life—just because he hated physical activity and thought that he should take care of his body rather than straining it with exercises.

But now, he had no problem with that.

He ran his fingers through his face, feeling the smooth skin with no acne or sagging.

After several seconds of stunned silence…

A wide grin spread across his face.

“I knew it,” he whispered.

Then his voice got louder.

“I knew it! I was supposed to be the protagonist!”

He laughed, jumping in excitement, completely forgetting that he was standing naked in the middle of the road beside a corpse, along with his thing dangling around.

“Are you done?”

The sudden voice from beside him made Arthur yelp.

James asked, almost disgusted by the sight of looking at a man’s penis dangling like that as he jumped around like a small kid.

Even though Arthur was now handsome, that didn’t mean that James had suddenly become gay or had any interest in staring at him like this.

His lips twitched constantly as he tried to keep his composure.

Arthur jumped back instinctively, covering himself with both hands.

“W-Who are you?! And why am I naked?!” he demanded.

Then, remembering what he had been doing, he instantly covered his crotch.

James almost wanted to curse him out, because Arthur was looking at him like he was the one who stripped him naked.

But still, he just smiled calmly and tossed something toward him.

Arthur fumbled and caught it.

It still felt weird moving his body after feeling that weight for all those years.

He looked at the thing James had given him.

Pants.

Without thinking further, he hurriedly put them on.

Only after wearing them did he notice it properly. The pants were slightly tight for him, and a bit of dust and blood stains were stuck on them.

They looked somewhat familiar.

Slowly, his gaze shifted toward the nearby corpse of the police officer, whom he had almost forgotten after seeing his status window.

The officer’s legs were bare, and only an underwear remained.

Arthur’s face twisted in disgust.

He snapped toward the robed man.

“What the hell did you give me?!” he snapped.

“You wanted something to wear, didn’t you?” James replied calmly.

“Or would you prefer to remain as you were?”

His words made Arthur open his mouth—before he shut it down.

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue and crossed his arms awkwardly.

Who are you?” he asked, eying him warily.

“Me?” James placed a hand over his chest.

“I am James. A member of the Church,” he said with a small smile.

‘He seems to have a high talent.’ James thought inwardly.

‘If I increase his favorability toward me now, then it might benefit me later.’

“Church?” Arthur frowned.

James smiled faintly at his ignorance, then shook his head and asked another question instead.

“Didn’t you see your status window?”

Hearing the question, Arthur’s stiffened.

‘He knows about the system?!’

James could clearly see what was going on in his mind.

It was easy to know what he was thinking, since he was just shouting about his status window right now.

He chuckled softly, almost stifling a laugh.

“Don’t worry. All awakened possess a status window. Just that you cannot see someone else’s, only your own.”

Arthur listened, then his eyes twitched, and his lips twisted downwards.

“So, I am not the only one with that.”

James frowned slightly at his reaction.

“Every awakened has it,” he explained.

“But don’t worry, you seem to have something special,” he added, trying to console him.

‘He has 5 affinities… and maybe a talent higher than S rank, and he wants more?’ James grumbled inwardly.

‘Ignorance sure is bliss.’

James himself possessed an A Rank talent with Holy affinity, and that was already considered to be rare.

And here was Arthur, concerned about whether others had status windows too.

Listening to his words, Arthur let out a small sigh.

“Status window.” He said out loud.

Immediately, a golden screen appeared before him.

He looked at James to see if he really couldn’t see his status window, and sure enough…

James was staring at him through the screen as if there wasn’t anything between them.

‘He really can’t see it…’

He turned back to the glowing display.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name – Arthur Brown

Race – Human

Rank – E

Titles – Child of Destiny, Favoured by Asgard

Bloodline – Solarion Lineage

Affinity – Light, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind

Talent – Transcendental

– – –

His eyes scanned through the information.

His rank had increased, going from F to E, something he didn’t even notice.

He didn’t even remember what his rank previously was.

Aside from that—

His gaze shifted to the titles.

Child of Destiny, and Favoured by Asgard.

The titles looked good.

‘Sounds pretty good. Looks like the titles made for a protagonist, though I don’t know what this Asgard is.’

Then he looked at his talent.

Transcendental

He frowned.

He didn’t know whether that was good or bad.

‘Based on the E rank, the ranking should be in the form of letters, right? Or is it different with the talents?’

He was confused.

So he decided to choose his best option.

He slowly looked up at James.

‘This is probably the scene where the large organization tries to recruit the protagonist,’ he thought excitedly.

‘Like in those manhwas.’

He almost jumped again in excitement, but stopped himself with sheer will.

‘Maybe he came here to recruit me or something.’

His mind ran wild, thinking of multiple scenarios.

‘It might be the scenario where the NPCs come to recruit the Main Character.’

He cleared his throat, shoving those thoughts aside.

“Hey… is Transcendental talent good?” he asked confidently with a small smile, since he was sure that it would be good, just because it sounded so badass.

James froze.

His smile cracked, and his eyes widened.

“HUH?!!!”

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