The Runic Alchemist - Chapter 158: And So it Begins

--WSA 2025 ENTRY--Neraxis saved the people and wiped out the monsters, but instead of cheers, he faced silence and a glowing blue text:[Task Failed Successfully!][Rating Generated: SSS-Rank]“The hell does that even mean?” he muttered, finding the situation a bit strange.Before he could process, the so-called heroes—who had hidden while he fought—emerged. He waited for gratitude, only to feel a dagger pierce his back.The only girl he loved stood behind him.She betrayed him.The crowd and heroes? They were staring at him with disdain and contempt.“You...” he groaned as a spear and sword headed for him, ending his life.But instead of dying, he was sent back to the past—specifically, to the first day of the academy, year 2367, 8 years before his death.However, many things had changed. One of the most significant was the sudden appearance of a Tower, a mysterious structure that had appeared across all the continents, granting power to those brave enough to contest its challenges.“Not again... With this chance I will end you all” Neraxis vowed to himself, embarking on his path of revenge, while also trying to give his life new meaning.

Arthur Grail, a hardcore player of the VRMMO Trinity Star Online, woke up one day in the body of Gerard Astoria—a petty villain fated to die before the main story even began. To make matters worse, Gerard's death was a crucial event in the game's narrative. If he didn’t meet his predetermined end, it could disrupt the story entirely, leading the universe toward one of the countless “bad end” routes!Unwilling to leave his fate to chance, Arthur decided to take matters into his own hands—recruiting the “player” as his partner to help him clear the game and rewrite his destiny.But wait—“Why is the player not a dude but a sharp-tongued beauty instead?!”Follow Arthur's odyssey, filled with trouble at every turn, as he works to uncover the mystery behind his awakening in a universe eerily similar to Trinity Star Online's setting, all while trying to save the entire universe… without forgetting to enjoy himself!

Growing up in poverty, Sunny never expected anything good from life. However, even he did not anticipate being chosen by the Nightmare Spell and becoming one of the Awakened - an elite group of people gifted with supernatural powers. Transported into a ruined magical world, he found himself facing against terrible monsters - and other Awakened - in a deadly battle of survival.
What's worse, the divine power he received happened to possess a small, but potentially fatal side effect...

On one spring evening when I was eight years old, I, Erica, Duke of Aurelia’s daughter, realized something.