READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 43
43. Are You The Same Kind As Me?
Jack Jarce.
Forty-three years old, unemployed.
And incidentally, a virgin.
He worked for a certain company but got laid off during downsizing two months ago.
Literally, he was at a loss.
His parents are already gone, and he has no specific lover.
In fact, he’s never even dated anyone in his life.
Losing his job, he fell into a state of sudden apathy.
With no family to support and no other means of livelihood— one day, he impulsively chose suicide.
And then, he met them.
In a strange otherworldly space, with a being called a god—.
“My name is Vim Force. You are what you call a war god.”
In front of Jack, a knight clad in golden armor stood.
“A war god?”
Though he has no experience as a soldier, he knows that name well.
Vim Force, the god of war who revered by mercenaries, knights, and soldiers who make war their business.
“I dislike long talks. I’ll get to the point.”
The golden knight spoke bluntly.
“First, let me explain the situation. You’ve died once. You’re drifting in this ‘interstice of time and space’.”
Jack murmured to himself, realizing that he indeed died.
“But your soul is not ordinary. You can cancel this ‘death’ and come back to life. Furthermore, you will be granted a god’s skill— a special ability.”
“Eh!?”
Jack looked at the war god in astonishment.
“Come back to life? And a skill… what do you mean?”
“The type of skill is ‘enhancement’. You’ll find out the details— after you come back to life.”
Vim Force’s explanation was curt to the core.
“Now, take it. The Forse Crest.”
The radiance overflowing from his hand was absorbed into Jack.
“What you do with your power is up to you. If you’re on the battlefield, no one could match you. Becoming a hero running across the battlefield would also be fine.”
“Me, a hero?”
It was a story he couldn’t quite grasp.
He has almost no martial arts background, after all.
“It’s about time. I’ll send you back to the mortal realm.”
The figure of the golden knight slowly faded away.
“Uh, um, I still don’t understand anything at all—”
“With this, six skill holders including you have been born. Only Ilfaria remains.”
Ignoring Jack’s questions, Vim Force’s voice gradually faded, and then—.
Jack was reborn as one who holds the skills of a god.
Since then, his life has changed drastically.
Te became superhuman thanks to the enhancement skill bestowed by the war god.
True to its name, it’s the ability to enhance anything.
The targets of the skill include not only oneself but also other objects.
For example, by enhancing his agility, he gained the combat ability to repel hundreds of soldiers with a single fist.
If he enhances paper, it becomes harder than iron. If he enhances the speed of a pebble thrown, it flies faster than sound.
To earn his daily bread, Jack became a manual laborer.
He could also take on professions like mercenaries or adventurers with the enhancement skill, but he inherently disliked fighting.
He effortlessly handled workloads tens or even hundreds of times that of an average laborer, and soon became a valuable asset in the workplace.
The treatment at the company where he was laid off was like night and day compared to before.
Recently, he has been getting along with a woman in her mid-twenties who works as a clerk, and things are getting better between them.
His life was modest and peaceful but filled with happiness.
But, on that day—.
Jack’s life took a tumultuous turn when he met a certain boy.
“W-what… is that!?”
A pillar of light rising from beyond the grove.
And looking up at the strange pattern floating in the sky, Jack muttered in astonishment.
In the shape of a dragon with spread wings.
It resembles the pattern that appears when Jack uses his skill.
His was a design more akin to a knight clad in heavy armor.
The pillar of light vanished in an instant, leaving Jack standing there.
He had already finished today’s job— transporting goods to a neighboring town using his enhancement skill, and he had plenty of time.
Half out of curiosity, half out of an impulse he couldn’t quite understand—.
Jack set off toward where the pillar of light had risen moments ago.
Pushing through the grass, he advanced, and—
“Soldiers?”
He saw two soldiers beyond the bushes.
Judging from the crest on the chest of their armor, they seemed to be regular soldiers of the Adonis Kingdom.
Why would they be in a place like this?
There was, of course, no talk of Adonis being at war with other countries.
“…There are more.”
Jack enhanced his senses, like his vision and hearing, and surveyed the surroundings.
In addition to the two soldiers in front of him, soldiers stationed every two hundred meters or so.
It was like they were on guard duty.
What could be beyond them—?
His curiosity was further piqued.
(Should I take a look?)
If Jack were to enhance his combat abilities, the two soldiers before him would be no match.
But he had no intention of confronting regular soldiers of the kingdom, and he didn’t particularly enjoy fighting.
(I’ll take a quick look and come back.)
Jack poured his enhancement ability into both his legs.
A design resembling a knight appeared on his calves.
Jack’s enhancement skill basically had two types.
[Full Focus], which enhances a single point, and [Disperse], which enhances various points.
If the enhancement value could be set at 100, then with [Full Focus] on leg strength, he would add 100 to his strength, whereas with [Disperse] evenly distributed between leg and arm strength, each would receive 50.
This time, he used the former and fully enhanced his leg strength.
“On your mark…”
With a small shout, he kicked the ground.
The next moment, Jack’s body shot up like an arrow, reaching several hundred meters high in the sky.
Switching the enhancement target from leg strength to vision, he looked at the scenery below.
“That is…”
Enclosed by forest trees, the interior has turned into a plaza, with dozens of soldiers.
They appeared to be training, all holding spears and thrusting them out simultaneously.
However, their coordination was abnormal.
Their movements were as precise as machines, with timing perfectly synchronized.
It was literally flawless coordination.
Commanding them was a boy.
Judging from his attire, he seemed like a student.
The sight of such a boy commanding soldiers was also strange.
Perplexed, Jack landed.
Instantly, a tremendous vibration struck the ground.
“Ah… darn it.”
He hadn’t even considered the thunderous noise upon landing.
Immediately, a large number of soldiers rushed over.
“What was that noise just now— an intruder?”
Furthermore, from beyond the soldiers, a boy appeared.
With flowing black hair and an almost freezing beauty.
His almond-shaped eyes were the color of rubies.
He was clad in what seemed like a military uniform, reminiscent of a black school uniform.
“Tch, did some nearby resident sneak in after seeing the light pattern earlier? My skill control isn’t perfect. My power overflowed.”
The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance and fixed his gaze on Jack.
“At any rate, we can’t let you be known yet— seize him.”
The boy ordered coldly.
“Understood, our Lord, my master.”
The soldiers nodded mechanically, as if they didn’t have emotion, and surrounded Jack.
“Not exactly peaceful, huh?”
Jack shrugged with a wry smile.
Even surrounded by dozens of soldiers, he remained calm.
Perhaps the old him would’ve been paralyzed just by this.
But now, it’s different.
“I’ll deal with the sparks that fly, but I don’t want to resort to violence.”
Scratching his head, Jack enhanced his arms and legs, his dynamic vision and reflexes, in ‘Disperse’.
Bright patterns appeared on his upper arms, thighs, and calves.
Though he couldn’t see it himself, the same pattern would be floating in his eyes and probably in his body’s nerves— all the parts enhanced by ‘Enhancement’.
“Could it be, the emblem of the gods!?”
Suddenly, the boy exclaimed with agitation.
“Eh?”
“Are you— of the same kind as me?”
The design resembling Jack appeared on the boy’s forehead.
A pattern resembling a dragon with spread wings.