Aiden Edward.
He was born in the Radhan Empire but later moved to the Avalon Kingdom.
Aiden's father worked as a masseur. In the Radhan Empire, where most jobs involved heavy physical labor, massage work was in high demand. Because of that, his father was able to earn a decent living and support the family better than most lower-class households.
The extra income allowed Aiden to enroll in a private class where he got an opportunity to learn to write and read.
But then war broke out.
In the chaos, Aiden's father sacrificed himself to help Aiden and his mother escape the empire. It was the last thing he ever did for them.
Aiden's mother worked as a part-time laundry maid for a middle-class family. After escaping the Empire, she and Aiden settled in Apel City, one of the cities under the Avalon Kingdom.
Unfortunately, she passed away just a year later just as their lives started getting comfortable.
Devastated by his mother's death, Aiden decided to leave Apel City. He sold the small house they'd been living in and used the money to start fresh somewhere else.
That's how he ended up in Putih City.
Putih City was a beautiful and quiet place, with a long river flowing along its outskirts. The city was even nicknamed the "Retirement Home" because so many military veterans chose to settle there. Thanks to its warmer climate and peaceful atmosphere.
But just because the city was peaceful didn't mean Aiden's life there was.
Many of the residents were retired soldiers who still carried resentment from the old wars, especially against people from the Radhan Empire.
To them, Radhanians were barbaric, uneducated, and uncivilized. And their natural dark skin tone was viewed by them as a sign of filth or uncleanliness.
While the old veterans openly resented him, the rest of the locals didn't treat him much better. They didn't harass him outright, but they still avoided him like the plague.
This was largely because of a common belief that many Radhanians ended up as mercenaries, pirates, bounty hunters, scammers, or other shady jobs. That reputation alone made the locals uneasy.
And it's not like Aiden's appearance helped much in this regard either. Without knowing him personally, most people found him intimidating at first glance.
He stood around two meters tall, with dark skin, arms thick as pythons, a solid, rounded stomach, and thighs that looked like they could crush a watermelon easily. There were some obvious scars on his face that only added to his rough appearance.
These were common traits among Radhanians, and while they weren't a problem back home, here they only added to people's fear and prejudice.
It had been different back in Apel City. The locals there were more open-minded, likely because it sat on the outer edge of the kingdom and saw a steady flow of immigrants. People were used to diversity and more accepting of those who looked or sounded different.
But even with the cold treatment, Aiden chose to stay.
Using the massage skills passed down from his father, along with the savings he had built up over the past year, he opened a small massage parlor of his own.
Thankfully, there were other immigrants from the Radhan Empire living in the city, and many of them became his regular customers. That sense of community helped him forget the cold stares and whispers from the locals.
His business wasn't nearly as successful as it had been in Apel City. None of the locals ever came through his doors, but he still made enough to live on. It wasn't great, but it was stable.
Then, one day, a local woman walked into his shop.
She asked for a massage.
Surprised as he was, he didn't see any reason to say no. He simply nodded and agreed.
After showing the local woman to the changing area and handing her a massage uniform, he waited outside the room. When she signaled that she was ready, he entered.
But instead of finding her on the massage table, he walked into something else.
A group of priests stood waiting for him.
The woman, now dressed in the massage uniform, was sitting in the corner, sobbing loudly.
Before he could process what was happening, the priests detained him on the spot.
What followed next was a long and grueling interrogation.
Aiden was accused of a crime he didn't commit, and the way they questioned him was far from normal. They used strange, magical methods that hurt both his body and his mind to extract the truth from him.
The whole thing left Aiden completely worn out. By the time the questioning was over and he was finally cleared of the main accusation, he could barely walk home.
During the interrogation, the priests found no proof that Aiden had touched the local woman in any wrong way. There were no marks or signs on her body.
Even so, they still found reasons to go after him, starting with his massage practice, which came from the Radhan Empire. Since it hadn't been approved and acknowledged by local officials, they labeled his business as illegal.
They also had a problem with the massage uniform. They claimed it was too revealing, inappropriate, and didn't match the city's standards.
Because of all this, Aiden was fined ten gold coins, and his massage parlor was ordered to shut down until further notice.
But that wasn't the end of it.
On his way home, still weak and dazed, Aiden was ambushed. He was beaten like a dog.
He didn't stand a chance. If he'd been at full strength, he might've been able to fight back.
But after enduring hellish hours of investigation done by the priests, Aiden was left both mentally and physically drained.
He was too weak to fight back and was quickly knocked out.
That was likely when he died and later on, his body was dumped like trash outside the city.
"Damn, how unlucky am I to end up in a body with such a complicated past? Couldn't the Goddess have picked a recently deceased noble or something? Why did it have to be this guy?" I muttered in frustration.
Then I sighed and spoke more softly. "But honestly, Aiden had it even worse. If anyone was truly unlucky, it was him. His father was killed right in front of him. Even after he and his mother made it safely to Avalon, surviving all kinds of hardship and ambushes, his mother still passed away from grief."
"And just when he was finally trying to start a new life… he was murdered by local thugs. What a horrible way to go."
I mourned for the true Aiden's death for a whole minute before I reined my thoughts back to reality.
Then I summoned the system.
I was hoping the Goddess had left me some kind of welcome gift. A little starter pack, maybe.
Boom!
Boom!
I blinked, stunned.
Instead of the usual menu screen filled with rows of stats and information, I was greeted by... fireworks.
Bright, colorful fireworks explode right in front of me.
And then, a voice echoed in my ears.
"Congratulations! If you can hear this, it means my attempt to send you to another world was a success! This is my first time trying something like this, so I wasn't sure if it would work, but if you're hearing this message, then it clearly did!"
It was Althea's voice.
I stood there, speechless.
'So not only was I the first person she ran over with her divine truck, I'm also her first test subject for transmigration?'
'Do I look like some kind of guinea pig to her?'
'What if there's something wrong with the attempt? Will I die for real that time?'
Then I heard the next part of her message.
"Anyway, first of all, as a welcome gift for arriving safely in Pangea, I've prepared something special for you. You will receive it through the system at the end of this voice message."
"Second, I want to inform you that the quest menu is now active. I've already issued your first set of quests. Some were mandatory and required for you to complete. If you don't… well, let's just say there will be punishment. And trust me, you really don't want to find out what that means."
There was a rare hint of warning in her tone.
I couldn't help but wonder what kind of punishment she got in her mind.
If it were R18 kind of punishment, I think I wouldn't mind tasting it a bit...
Fuck, what am I thinking, I'm not a masochist!
"Lastly..."
Althea's voice snapped me back to my senses.
"Lastly, as my Saint, I want you to work hard and improve yourself. Focus on building a stable life. Once that's done, we'll talk about establishing my cult. But if I find your progress disappointing... there's a chance I'll revoke your position. Without explaining it, you should already know what it means, right?"
'Did she just threaten to kill me if I didn't live up to her expectations? Or will she just take the system back? Gulp… probably the first one.'
I didn't dare take her words lightly. Even though Althea had always shown me a laid-back, easygoing attitude, there was no guarantee it would stay that way forever.
"Goodluck,"