"The Ashford family alone donated over 2,000,000 Star Credits this year! They expect to see their daughter’s first mission quest on the main screen. If we deny them that—"

"If the kids don’t see why the Culling Game is bad, how do we deter the younger generation from the temptation next time?" Principal Constance interrupted him.

Teacher Dean opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Let the younger generation watch and see exactly why we deem the Culling Game forbidden."

He paused, then added with a slight tilt of his head, "As for the nobles, stream their children’s battles on the smaller screens. They too are interested in the Culling Game, whether they admit it or not. Every single one of them is curious about what happens in that arena. They simply lack the courage to experience it themselves."

"Now. Do as I have asked you."

Teacher Dean glanced around the table but no one said anything

Teacher Dean sighed, pushed himself up from his chair, and went to do as instructed of him.

A few minutes later, a massive 3d holo screen appeared at the center of the stage.

These were state-of-the-art mana-crystal projection arrays, capable of displaying lifelike, 3D holograms. Normally, they were used to broadcast the first dungeon runs of the academy’s elite students.

The moment the image resolved, the crowds of spectators gasped in various expressions.

It was the Culling Game.

They started discussing with each other, letting their voices converge into a loud noise.

The arena was massive, easily half a kilometer radius with trees, grasses and boulders around the place.

And at the edge of the arena, two figures could be seen.

One was massive and muscular while the other was thin and scrawny.

At that moment, a hushed silence fell over the stadium.

•••

Sparks exploded in midair as the two weapons collided with devastating force.

"Clang!"

Andrew’s face dropped as a massive force transmitted from Daerius’s sword straight into his body.

His arms went completely numb in an instant and he was pushed back by an uncontrollable force.

"Bam!" "Bam!" "Bam!"

The ground released muffled sounds as he stumped heavily to the ground three times to regain his footing.

Across from him, Daerius’s smile widened into a massive grin.

’What great luck!’

His opponent was even weaker than he had expected! He had assumed Andrew’s Combat index was somewhere in the high 20’s or low 30’s. But the force he felt from his opponent blade wasn’t much.

He didn’t wait for Andrew to fully recover.

There was no honor or rule in the Culling Game. The only rule was survival.

Daerius blasted forward once again with explosive speed. The distance between them vanished in the span of a heartbeat.

He raised his sword high and struck down in a devastating cleave.

The wind shrieked as the sword slashed at Andrew skull.

If it connected, it would split him in half like a log under an axe.

Andrew’s eyes widened. He had only just recovered his footing, making a full dodge impossible.

He immediately brought the machete upward as he slashed at the sword.

"Clang!"

The sword scraped along the machete’s edge with a shower of sparks and slid off to the right, missing Andrew’s head by less than two inches.

But the sword’s tip still slashed hard at Andrew shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Blood sprayed from the wound as it stained the air.

Andrew inhaled sharply in pain but before he could do anything, a fist shadow enveloped him and before he could react — BAM!

His entire vision went blank and he crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

A thin trail of blood crept from his nose falling down the side of his cheek.

"Dead in a single punch?" Daerius face was stunned.

He hadn’t expected it to be this easy.

’The Culling Game isn’t so scary after all,’ Daerius thought in happiness. ’I can climb all the way to D-Rank! Maybe even C-Rank!’

His face lit up with joy

Without hesitation, he deactivated his talent.

His swollen muscles compressed and shrank back to their normal size, the bulging veins receding beneath his skin as his height decreased by several inches.

[Body Enhancement: Deactivated]

[Combat Potential: 36 → 24]

He still needed his talent for the next match.

According to the information he had gathered before entering the Culling Game, when a player’s talent advanced a rank, for example, F-Rank to E-Rank, the talent’s cooldown might automatically reset.

But that was a very big ’might.’

The information Daerius had found was decades old and the rules might have changed.

He couldn’t afford to take any chances.

If he entered his next match with his talent on cooldown and the reset didn’t trigger, he would be facing a stronger opponent with nothing but his baseline stats, that was basically courting death.

Daerius rolled his shoulders, and then looked down at Andrew’s motionless body.

’A shame,’ Daerius thought, a brief flicker of sympathy crossing his features. ’He probably had his own reasons for being here—’

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

Andrew’s right index finger suddenly moved.

’He’s not dead?’

It seemed the punch had merely knocked him unconscious and not killed him.

Slowly, Andrew’s right hand began to move as it curled up against his machete blade.

Daerius’s gaze hardened when he saw this. He smirked evilly and stepped forward, raising his sword to give the finishing blow.

[Ding!]

A notification suddenly appeared directly in Daerius’s vision.

[System: The Saintess of Reversal has joined this livestream.]

[Please entertain them to earn gifts and rewards.]

Daerius’s eyes went wide as his sword paused in midair.

’The Saintess of Reversal?’

One of the sages who watched the Culling Games from the 7th realm. A being close to demigod was actually watching this match.

The sword trembled in Daerius’s grip.

His mind, which had been so focused on killing was distracted.

’She’s watching, a saint is watching MY fight.’

If the Saintess of Reversal was watching his battle, then every second of this fight was being evaluated.

The fact that she joined this late and the name of her divinity:’Reversal’ meant that she’s expecting some time of comeback from Andrew.

Which meant she wanted a show.

Daerius’s sword arm slowly lowered.

A part of him wanted to finish Andrew off while he had the chance but he needed to impress this saintess to earn rewards.

Killing an unconscious opponent was not entertaining nor dramatic enough to warrants gifts from the Saintess.

"Get up," Daerius growled.

•••

[Ding! 10,000x Multiplier Activated]

[Ding! Infinite Extraction Activated]

[System: Warning! Heaven’s Domain System code has been overwritten by 2 higher authorities]

[10,000x Multiplier has now been integrated into Player’s System]

[Infinite Extraction has now been integrated into Player’s System]

•••

『10,000x INVESTMENT MULTIPLIER』

[SYSTEM FUNCTION (1): Invest or gift an item to receive upto 10,000x return. Quality or Quantity]

[SYSTEM FUNCTION (2): Rewards can be stored up as Investment Points or used directly to increase quality or quantity of an item.]

[SYSTEM FUNCTION (3): Investment Points (IP) can be used to increase the proficiency of skills, bloodline abilities. It cannot be used to increase Player’s level, stats, or mana.]

•••

『INFINITE EXTRACTION SYSTEM』

[SYSTEM FUNCTION (1): Infinitely extract talents, stats, bloodlines, classes from people and also extract weapon impurities.]

•••

Andrew was still stunned when another set of notifications popped up.

[SYSTEM: Warning! Due to changes in protocols, Talent: Zoomable Eyes (F-Rank) will be rerolled.]

[Ding! Zoomable Eyes (F-Rank) has been erased]

[Ding! Talent awakening commencing]

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained : Origin Transmutation (S-Rank)]

[Name: Origin Transmutation]

[Info: Calibrated by the system. Can fuse Talent, equipments, items, jewels together to create a unique creation]

[For example: Scorch Talent + Fireball Skill + Fire jewel + Magma bone + Sunlit grass + Blaze Sword + Fire Lizard Egg + Blade Claw Chicken Egg = One-Legged Suncrow Egg (Divine Beast)]

***

Andrew hadn’t even opened his eyes when the text appeared in the darkness of his vision.

The notifications hung before him like glowing ghosts, burning brightly against the blackness.

His brain was hazy and he dint know what was happening.

But as he read the notification, it made him even more confused. At this time, he remembered.

’Didn’t I die from the plane crash?’ Andrew muttered in the darkness. ’What the hell is going on?’

Suddenly, a cool sensation flooded through his mind like iced tea in a sunny day. At that moment, he remembered it all.

He remembered developing the water engine prototype which he called the H2 Andrews engine.

He remembered opening TikTok live to show off his craft and make sure he wouldn’t disappear like many that had done that before him.

Even when his investors wanted a meeting overseas, he didn’t dare book a flight. He made them come to him and had the meeting in Time Square.

He had taken every precaution but how would he survive, a plane crashing directly into Time Square, killing Jim and several thousands?

Luckily he had made preparations to release the prototype schematics publicly in case of his death.

But what he didn’t know was that everything about him on earth was wiped out like he didn’t exist.

The plane crashed and was pain, numbness and total darkness.

Until now those notifications lit up the darkness.

"Wait," Andrew whispered in the void of his mind. "Wait, wait, wait. Is this... did I...?"

"If I’m dead and I’m seeing this texts, it could only mean I’ve transmigrated!"

Just then, massive amount of memories flowed into his brain like a stream of warm water sifting through his brain pathways.

It was as though he watching a movie in 10,000,000x speed but he could actually understand it.

What seem like a lifetime was actually less than a second as successfully merged with the original Andrew’s memories and fully absorbing predecessor’s soul.

At this moment, Andrew felt cool stream flowing through his mind and he felt his mind open up. His soul had become even stronger at this point.

Without even opening his eyes, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him.

’I understand it now,’

He had died on Earth and his consciousness had been transplanted into the body of a 16 year old boy in a world where reality and a video game had merged four hundred years ago.

He slowly opened his eyes and squinted due to the lights.

The arena became familiar to him and when his eyes focused, he saw a young man standing ten meters away from him.

"You’re still alive?" Daerius asked.

He sounded... happy?

Andrew’s brow furrowed in confusion. Why would his opponent be happy that he was still alive?

[Ding! ’Saintess of Reversal’ has joined your livestream.]

[Please entertain them to gain amazing gifts and indescribable rewards.]

Andrew stared at the notification for a moment, then he understood.

’So that’s how it is,’ his eyes flashed.

A Saintess was watching their battle and Daerius, having received a similar notification, had realized that killing him quickly was not the kind of spectacle that earned divine favor.

The Saintess wanted entertainment, killing him when he was alredy unconscious would simply make the Saintess leave the live stream.

Which was why Daerius was happy he wasn’t dead.

’He won’t kill me quickly,’ Andrew realized, ’Not while the Saintess is watching. He’ll drag this out. Make it dramatic. Give her a performance.’

’Which means I still have time.’