The Systems Challenge - Chapter 262: Waking Up in the Dark

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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[Love After Marriage]In order to avoid an arranged marriage, Shen Yin, the young miss of a prominent household, jumped into the water in protest. When she opened her eyes again, she found that the world had become fantastical. Not only was she naked, but she was also lying in a large white tub. Just as she thought she was dead, she was told that she had a child and a husband. She tried to regain her clarity.

Qin Zheng transmigrated into the role of the Princess Consort, but Qin Zheng, an engineer dispatched to a foreign country, didn’t get the script for a palace drama, nor did she have the chance to experience the luxurious life of a Princess Consort. Because, the nation had perished. A eunuch held three feet of white silk and said, “Your Highness, the city has fallen. Please leave with dignity.” Qin Zheng: “…” What kind of beginning was this? In order to avoid being forced to commit su*cide, Qin Zheng had no choice but to go to the bed of her half-dead husband, the Crown Prince, and pretend to be deeply affectionate, shedding a few tears to delay time. Emperor Chu Chengji, founder of the Great Chu Dynasty, was valiant and skilled in warfare. He conquered the northern barbarians and drove out the southern savages, ushering in the prosperous era of Xuan Chu. He spent his entire life in battles, without a wife or concubines. Consequently, after his premature death, only a young scion from a collateral branch was selected to succeed him. He departed during the peak of his prosperous reign, only to open his eyes and find himself at the time of his nation’s demise! He was reincarnated as the current Crown Prince, his own nephew of many generations. Learning that the territory he had opened up in the past was directly lost, the Emperor of the founding dynasty couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. How useless were these descendants? Back then, he could establish this long-standing empire single-handedly, and today, he could rebuild it! As for this stunningly beautiful Princess Consort, who cried so pitifully in front of him, the Emperor of the founding dynasty was extremely disdainful: “Women would only hinder his speed of restoration!” Later, the Emperor of the founding dynasty would knock on the door of the Pepper Room every night and ask, “Azhen, can I come back to sleep?”

Hadica was built around one of five Towers, an infinite structure filled with floors of monsters, magic, and treasures that the city plunders like clockwork. Most of the city, at least. Growing up in Westhill, Micah's family abstained from all of their Tower's bounties. He became an [Alchemist] at an age younger than most and just wanted to level in peace, but soon ran out of mundane ingredients to brew into potions. Ryan is a budding [Fighter] with the strange ability to mimic beasts, including monsters, but he doesn't understand it or even himself. After a Tower climb goes horribly wrong, their lives and the world around them begin to change as they try to figure out who they want to be.The Salamanders is a slow-paced story about characters growing up in and exploring a fantasy setting. It updates sporadically. Please mind the tags.