章 3: Chapter 3: The Map of Myriad Dimensions

A night passed.

As the morning sun's rays appeared from the other side of the horizon, Alex finally sorted out the memories in his mind, clarifying the sequence of events.

First and foremost, he was indeed dead. This left Alex speechless, as he always considered himself a cautious person.

He had always made a habit of preparing for various unexpected risks, from breakups to company bankruptcies, from financial crises to partners absconding with funds, from robbery to being hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street.

Alex would consider every possible risk and make corresponding preparations. He enjoyed a life where everything was under control; his philosophy was to remain unchanged amidst changing circumstances. It was this philosophy that had led to his success.

But Alex never expected that the world would always be so unpredictable, full of unimaginable surprises.

For instance, when he jumped into the river to save someone, he never thought that after successfully rescuing the person and watching them leave in an ambulance, he would be struck by a high-voltage wire that suddenly snapped overhead.

What he found even more unexpected was that not only did he die, but when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he had been reborn in another world.

The situation of the body he was reborn into left Alex quite speechless as well.

In essence, the situation wasn't complicated. The small noble family where he now resided possessed a secret treasure.

Recently, a group of knights from the Holy Kingdom approached this small noble, claiming that the treasure passed down in his family was evil and ominous, demanding its surrender.

Naturally, the small noble refused and drove the knights away. Initially, the noble didn't think much of it, but to his surprise, that very night, the knights launched an attack on their manor, slaughtering everyone.

This small noble, named Conrad, was merely a minor baronet who had never seen such a scene before, and naturally fled with the family's secret treasure.

He hoped to seek help from other noble families in the city, only to find that the Holy Kingdom had publicly declared the Conrad family in collusion with a cult, labeling them enemies of order and issuing a warrant for their arrest.

The Holy Kingdom held a prestigious status on this continent, and a small noble like Conrad was no match for them.

With no other choice, they continued to flee, but ultimately couldn't escape the Holy Kingdom's pursuit and perished.

From a third-party perspective, Alex would undoubtedly think that the Holy Kingdom was a hypocritical.

But after absorbing Conrad's memories, Alex frustratingly discovered that the arrest warrant from the Holy Kingdom wasn't unjustified at all.

According to Conrad's memories, while his family outwardly worshipped the Goddess of Order, they were actually devout followers of a cult called the "Church of Doom."

This cult believed in the end of all things, claiming that one day all creation would be destroyed, even the gods would fall, and the God of Destruction would rise to rule the world.

The followers were tasked with weakening the forces of order as much as possible to await the return of the God of Destruction and other such nonsense.

Naturally, Conrad's family was involved in various dark and dirty deeds. From Alex's point of view, even without the Holy Kingdom's intervention, the laws of his own world would have sentenced this family to death a hundred times over.

How did he end up being reborn into such a character?

Thinking of this gave Alex a headache. Other people who transmigrate either become characters with deep grudges or those with hidden heroic qualities. Why did he end up in the body of a cultist despised by everyone?

To make matters worse, by absorbing Conrad's memories, Alex reluctantly discovered that not only had he become a wanted criminal in the Holy Kingdom, but he couldn't even remain with the Church of Doom.

The reason was simple: according to Conrad's memories, he had damaged the so-called cult treasure during their escape!

The process of damaging the secret treasure was hardly worth mentioning. Faced with the pursuit of the Holy Kingdom's soldiers, Conrad decided to make a desperate move and activate the treasure to ensure mutual destruction.

However, whether due to a mistake in the procedure or sheer bad luck, as Conrad infused the treasure with magic, it shattered with a "pop," and Conrad immediately fell unconscious—this was when Alex took over.

"Serves you right for being hunted for life!!"

Alex could imagine that if he were found by members of the Church of Doom and couldn't produce the secret treasure, he would be dead for sure.

Cults, no matter the world, are the same—filled with endless and grotesque tortures that make you wish for death. In this light, being captured by the Holy Kingdom might even be preferable; at least they'd give him a quick death with one swift stroke...

Moreover, through Conrad's memories, Alex learned that this was a world with a highly developed power system.

Not only did it have magic and knights, but also dragons, undead, and all sorts of other creatures and beings.

Not to mention gods and their emissaries... Unlike the religions in Alex's world, which were mainly scams to swindle money, the cults here had actual divine backing!

In comparison, while Alex himself had some skills, he was far outclassed by the magic and extraordinary swordsmanship in this world.

As for this reincarnated body? Heh, Alex already knew that Conrad only had the strength of an apprentice knight.

The Church of Doom he believed in hadn't given him any divine blessings or the like. If nothing went wrong, any one of those knights Alex saw earlier could easily defeat him ten times over.

But fortunately, this world lacked nothing except for the unexpected.

Thinking of this, Alex raised his hand, and as he did, the previously lavish and heavy book appeared once again. Only now did Alex take a closer look at this book that had appeared out of thin air in his hand.

It looked as thick as a dictionary but was unexpectedly light as a feather in his hand.

On the pitch-black and heavy cover, a luxurious gem that shone with a multicolored brilliance was set in the center, surrounded by silver circles expanding outward like the orbits of planets in the universe.