Chapter 100: Potato Is Not Taro
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 100: Potato Is Not Taro
The following day, news of the Northern Empire’s founding swept across the world like a wildfire.
Virtually everyone who had any contact with the outside world heard the news.
The Northern Territory, a land plagued by perpetual civil war, had been unified in a mere ten days.
Fissures that had lasted for millions of years were mended overnight as dozens of Northern demigods set aside their differences and shook hands.
They abandoned all previous grudges and disputes, choosing instead to look toward the future together, dedicated to building a unified, harmonious, and powerful Northern Empire.
Slap!
"Who in their right mind would believe this garbage?!"
After slamming the latest newspaper onto the floor, Virgilis slumped back into his seat, looking utterly distressed.
"Sigh, it’s over. It’s all over. Keeping the Aodu Empire in check was exhausting enough, and now a 'Northern Empire' suddenly pops out of nowhere? Is this the Age of Great Empires or something...?"
After a moment of anxiety, Virgilis picked the newspaper back up.
"The Emperor of the North... Aisarakus? That Frost Dragon who does nothing but huddle in his lair making ice sculptures actually had a sudden rush of blood to the head and decided to pull this off?"
As much as he hated to admit it, this newspaper was an official publication of the Aodu Empire. This was equivalent to the Aodu Empire personally recognizing the legitimacy of the Northern Empire.
But for Virgilis, this meant something else entirely.
As the current Pope of the Holy Church, Virgilis had always harbored the noble ideal of maintaining world peace.
Relying on the power of the Angel Race, the Holy Church had occupied Heavenly Mountain at the center of the continent tens of thousands of years ago.
By sheer force of geographical advantage, they had managed to restrain the ambitions of various factions.
The fact that the Aodu Empire had not yet expanded to other continents was largely due to Virgilis guarding Heavenly Mountain.
Otherwise, given the fragmentation of the Western Continent and the mild temperament of the Southern Continent, the world would have long since been ground into the dirt by the Aodu Empire.
In Virgilis's eyes, he was like a fence.
The Southern and Western Continents were the lambs behind the fence, while the Aodu Empire was the hungry wolf outside.
If a hole appeared in the fence, the only way the lambs could survive would be if their sheer collective mass managed to choke the wolf to death.
But now, a second wolf had appeared. The lambs no longer had even the slightest hope of choking them out.
Thinking of this, Virgilis pushed the Aodu newspaper aside.
"No, it’s not a total dead end. It’s hard to imagine two massive empires not running into conflict eventually. Besides, the Aodu Empire launched an expedition against the North not long ago. That kind of hatred isn't something that can be reversed in a short time."
Just as Virgilis was pondering how to drive a wedge between the two empires, a new newspaper was delivered to him.
Seeing that it was another official Aodu publication, Virgilis immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
After a quick scan of the headline, his vision went dark.
"What do you mean... 'The Aodu Empire and the Northern Empire establish diplomatic relations; the Dual Emperor Alliance is officially formed'?"
Staring at the paper that had just been handed to him, Virgilis nearly stopped breathing.
"Tsk... This world is so absurd, we might as well just let the Chaos Church destroy it. An alliance between two empires... How am I supposed to play this?"
Setting the paper down, Virgilis looked at the Bishop standing before him.
"Aside from this, is there anything else you need to report?"
"Pope, besides the Dual Emperor Alliance, there is one more major matter you need to be aware of."
"Another major matter? Could it possibly be worse than the alliance?"
Virgilis’s brow furrowed slightly. In his mind, there was nothing in this world worse than the Dual Emperor Alliance.
Under Virgilis’s gaze, the Bishop’s eyes darted around nervously.
Finally, the Bishop gritted his teeth and spoke with every ounce of courage he possessed.
"Pope... your daughter, Elania, secretly escaped yesterday. It was confirmed today that she fled toward an outpost within the borders of the Aodu Empire..."
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room dropped below freezing.
Virgilis stared at the Bishop, his voice icy.
"Are you trying to tell me we have a mole inside the Church? Or are you suggesting that Elania—a child not even fifteen years old—managed to bypass our entire security detail alone, escape from the ten-thousand-meter-high Heavenly Mountain to the ground, and then slip through the heavily guarded Imperial border into an outpost... all in a single day?"
Faced with Virgilis’s interrogation, the Bishop nodded.
"That is correct, Pope. That is what the divination says..."
Bang!
Before the Bishop could finish, Virgilis slammed his hands on the desk and stood up.
"Then why haven't you sent people to the Aodu Empire to get her back?! That is my daughter! If I don't have any useful news about Elania by the end of the day, I’ll use your head to 'rectify' the Church's discipline!"
With that, a powerful burst of Sacred Light flashed from within the room, blasting the Bishop right off Heavenly Mountain.
*
"Mhm... Power connection normal, nutrient reserves sufficient, registration code entered correctly. OK, everything’s ready."
After adjusting the login capsule, Yu Yunsheng carefully opened the lid, climbed inside, and lay down gently.
As the lid closed, her vision plunged into darkness.
Shortly after, a light screen appeared before her eyes.
[Login Successful!]
[Initial Modules Loaded.]
[Please enter your name: --]
Seeing the familiar interface, Yu Yunsheng immediately got to work.
"Just like they said, the design philosophy of Wheel of Fate is pretty much the same as previous games. This makes it easy for me to get started."
In no time, she entered her usual gaming handle.
[Potato Is Not Taro]
[Are you sure you want to use this name?]
"Confirm."
[Name Entered.]
[Please select your Class.]
The next second, nine class options appeared around her.
After scrolling through them once, Yu Yunsheng chose the class she felt most comfortable with.
Priest.
As a veteran gamer who had played over a dozen titles, Yu Yunsheng knew exactly what kind of player she was.
She was terrified of dying. Therefore, she chose to dump all her points into healing, prioritizing stability above all else.
As long as her HP didn't drop below ninety percent, she felt a profound sense of security.
Even if a terrifying undead monster lunged at her face, she could maintain a calm conversation while slapping the life out of the opponent.
Conversely, the moment her HP dropped below ninety percent, she would become timid and hesitant.
If her health fell below half, she’d consider it a failure of her own soul if she didn't have a Town Portal Scroll out within a second.
As for the fact that Priests were weak and had trouble finding parties in the early game...
Well, that was where her all-purpose workhorse of an older brother came in.
Her closed beta access alone had been secured by him.
It was a pity her brother was currently out of town; they had to rely on the game to maintain what little sibling affection they had left.
Having finished her deliberations, Yu Yunsheng clicked the Priest option.
[Are you sure you want to choose "Priest" as your initial Class?]
"Confirm."
[Class Selected.]
[Character Panel is being created...]
[Generating initial attributes based on your data...]
[Adjusting the Wheel of Fate to match your initial Talent...]
[Adjusting the Lines of Fate to arrange your starting area...]
[Character Panel created successfully!]
[Potato Is Not Taro Lv.1]
[Class: Priest]
[HP: 500/500]
[Mana: 80/80]
[Strength: 3]
[Constitution: 5]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Agility: 6]
[Charm: 8]
[Luck: 3]
[Talent: Mutual Growth and Decline]
[Effect: When using a skill to restore HP to yourself or an ally, you may replace the effect with: Siphon an equal amount of HP from a hostile unit whose level is not higher than your own and transfer it to the target unit. This talent does not trigger if the healing overflows.]
[Game Map loaded successfully.]
[Your starting area is: Aodu Empire - Lightless Outpost]
Hum—!
With a flash of white light, Yu Yunsheng officially entered the game.
"Mhm, everything seems normal. The realism is high, feels about the same as the previous games."
As she spoke, Yu Yunsheng opened her map to check her location.
"An Imperial border outpost... feels a bit dangerous. Whatever, for safety's sake, I should hurry up and add my brother to my friends list."
Just as Yu Yunsheng was about to open the social interface to search for him, a small hand tugged at the corner of her clothes.