The Arcane Emperor - Chapter 21 Deliverance

Eric Maddox, a 70-year-old American retired football coach once hailed for his tactical brilliance, now forgotten by time—closes his eyes for what he believes is a normal nap in his quiet Florida retirement home.But when he opens them, he's not staring at ceiling tiles, instead, he's on a touchline.Wearing boots in the rain.With players running on the pitch, fans jeering behind barriers, and the smell of cheap turf pellets in the air.“What the hell is this?”He’s twenty-five again, but it’s not Earth. It’s a world where football reigns supreme. A world where the sport is religion, its practitioners, deities in cleats. Coaches are revered, players are worshipped, and even the kit man gets treated like royalty.But there's one catch: none of it is familiar. The clubs, the players, the leagues, the competitions, and even the currency—they're all different. Alien. Like waking up in a dream where the rules are the same, but the language is foreign.As if that wasn’t enough, the body he’s now in? A youth coach with a laughable win record, a looming divorce, and a measly fifty thousand in the bank that his ex-wife is fighting tooth and nail to take. All of it.Just when the spiral seems inevitable, a monotone chime pierces the noise.[Initiating Golden Finger…][…45%… 75%… 100%][System Integration Complete.][Welcome, host. You are now bound to the Pro Manager System. Objective: Dominate the Football World. A new era begins]From washed-up has-been to chosen one of destiny, Eric Maddox is about to trade arthritis pills for tactical boards, and shuffleboard for Prestigious Cup glory.Because in this world, tactics are power.And on this touchline, he’s about to become a god.

“A cheat system? Do you take me for a fool? Nowadays, where can you find such a good thing falling into your lap? Scram from my head. Is this is new kind of fraud? Or is this a murderer training system of aliens that contains the ability of hypnotism?”

“No, I am the chaos that whispers from nothingness, the nightmare of all living beings in the Southern Ten Stars, the successor of the unparalleled God and… your elder sister.”

“…I only have a younger sister, I don’t have an elder sister!”

“No, you have one. I am an illegitimate daughter. It’s just that your dad didn’t inform you.”

- Description from Novelupdates

The story is about a man who’s opposed to the now-common practice of implanting false memories, but is one day given memories of a fictional childhood friend. This fabricated happiness torments him, but then, to his surprise, he meets her – a girl who shouldn’t exist.

An Unexpected Turn: Villain Becomes DadIn a hilarious twist of fate, Yang Chen is reborn as the brainless villain in a romance novel, already at odds with the destined hero, Lin Yan. Knowing he can’t directly challenge him; Yang Chen makes a strategic move – saving Lin Yan’s mother from a chronic illness.This act of kindness blossoms into love, and a year later, they welcome a child. Yang Chen, hoping for a peaceful family life with his wife and son, is met with a shocking system notification:[Host’s son is born, plundering his elder brother, the male lead’s Providence Luck by 3000 points!] [The Great Villain System is officially activated!]The system throws Yang Chen’s plans into chaos. He’s forced to become the antagonist he was originally destined to be, but with a hilarious twist – his target is now his own stepson!