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[HSRGSS] Chapter 16: Returning to Reality, Reviving Followers
🕑 Added 2025-07-14 05:02:43 +0000 UTCBefore Lucian even opened his eyes, he felt the touch of water on his body.
He appeared to be in a bathtub.
Once he opened his eyes, it turned out to be true—he was back in the bathtub from ten years ago, before he entered the script.
He remembered that back then, he had just spent the night with Cocolia, and after Bronya called Cocolia away, he came to soak in the tub.
'Did I soak in the bath for ten years?'
Lucian found himself a bit confused because the ten years he had spent inside the script felt completely real, as if it had truly been a part of his life.
From his perception, it was as if he had lived through ten years, yet the scene in front of him seemed no different from how it was ten years ago.
'No, wait, this smell...'
It was none other than the scent of hormones left behind from sexual activity.
Yes, it was the scent left by him and Cocolia.
Lucian suddenly understood—it must have been that the flow of time in reality and in the script was different.
Judging by how much the scent had faded, not much time should have passed in reality—no more than ten minutes at most.
[DING! Congratulations on completing the script! You have gained a conceptual ability: Disarm.]
A System notification suddenly echoed in Lucian's mind.
Lucian snapped back to reality, got up from the tub, and quickly got dressed, but when he picked up his clothes, a piece of paper fell out.
As he grabbed it, he found that it was a drawing of a man, a red-haired woman, and a red-haired little girl holding hands, with a temple, trees, and the Dawn Device in the background.
Needless to say, this was the family drawing Tribios had given him as a gift when she was eight.
'Is this also a reward from the script?'
Lucian looked at the drawing, unconsciously smiled, and carefully put it away.
As if remembering something, he quickly looked at his left hand, and sure enough, there was a red string tied around his wrist.
It had been handmade and tied by Mortis herself.
After remembering the mother and daughter pair for a moment, Lucian opened his System panel to see if anything had changed.
...
[Host: Lucian]
[Ability: Disarm]
[Follower: Tribios 3/1000, Mortis 0]
[Script: 0]
[Revive Follower]
...
'Mortis?'
Lucian raised his eyebrows in surprise.
'Does this mean I can recruit the script protagonist's family and friends too?'
If that was the case, it was truly unexpected good news.
More importantly, there were numbers after each name, clearly indicating something.
Lucian guessed from the 3/1000 that it probably represented their life status.
1000 meant a thousand Tribios, and 3 meant only three were left.
As for Mortis, 0 should mean there were none, which meant she was dead.
'What a pitiful mother and daughter...'
Unlike in the script, in reality, their fates were so tragic.
Lucian didn't hesitate and immediately chose 'Revive Follower.'
It didn't matter if they had met or not in this reality—better to revive them first and figure it out later.
[DING! Revival successful.]
[Follower: Tribios 1000/1000, Mortis 1]
Just as Lucian had guessed, the numbers after their names indicated whether they were alive or dead.
Unfortunately, he could not find a way to reach Amphoreus, so he would have to wait a little longer to meet them again.
For now, his top priority was to develop Belobog's technology before reconnecting with the outside world—at the very least, he needed enough military strength so Belobog could protect itself.
===
Amphoreus, Okhema, the Hero's Bath.
Aglaea took ten minutes to find Hyacine, but unfortunately, Hyacine was busy with urgent matters at the moment, so she immediately returned to watch over Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon.
Castorice, on the other hand, was uneasy and paced back and forth nearby.
"Why are they crying?"
Aglaea noticed that Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon were all crying, as if they had dreamed of something very sad.
"But just now, they all looked so happy, and they were even smiling..." Castorice could not understand what was happening to the three at all. "Why are they suddenly crying?"
All her life, her hands had only ever brought death, so now, even though she wanted to comfort the three little girls, she couldn't, since she could not even bring herself to reach out and wipe away their tears.
As Aglaea and Castorice grew anxious, Tribbie suddenly opened her eyes.
Right after, Trianne opened her eyes as well.
Trinnon, whose eyes were covered by an eyepatch, probably opened her eyes as well.
"It was a dream..."
Tribbie sat up, looking completely lost, still adjusting between dream and reality.
"We dreamed of our mother... She wasn't dead... and she even became the greatest holy maiden in Janusopolis... Trissha, Trillie, and everyone else were also alive..."
Trianne rambled on, talking about everything at once.
"And Big Brother Lucian... He was the real hero... Because of his help, the Flame-Chase Journey went smoothly... and we... we had a happy life..."
Trinnon added in a dazed voice.
Aglaea and Castorice were left at a loss by all the information the three little girls had suddenly revealed.
"Lucian again..." Aglaea frowned. "Teachers, let's not talk about that dream for now. Just now, you were all in a strange state—you couldn't be sensed or touched. Did you feel anything unusual?"
She wanted to hear the stories of her teachers, but her rational side was stronger, so she needed to figure out how that strange phenomenon happened and what effects it might have first.
"Unusual? Emmm..." Tribbie scratched her head. "We felt extremely comfortable. Does that count?"
"Yes! It was really comfortable!" Trianne suddenly raised her hand and shouted. "Trianne doesn't feel any weakness after opening a Century Gate! We think we could open a hundred more now!"
Upon hearing this, both Aglaea and Castorice fell silent.
They knew that the three were the Demigods of Passage, able to open the Century Gate and go anywhere in Amphoreus.
However, opening a gate alone used up an enormous amount of divine power, so every time they opened a gate, not only was it a huge drain for the three, but it also could not be reversed.
Especially for Trianne—she barely had enough divine power to open three more gates, and after that, she would die.
Yet now, she said she was fully recovered?
It was hard to believe.
"I suspect you were affected by some kind of power and fell into an illusion..." Aglaea concluded after thinking it over. "Maybe it was a Chrysos Heir's doing, someone with the power to create illusions."
In her heart, she was suspicious of someone named Lucian, but she did not know him, nor did she have any information about him, as if he did not exist at all.
"Could it be... the Demigod of Trickery played a prank?"
Castorice voiced her guess.
"No, it couldn't be her." Aglaea immediately shook her head. "Cifera has always been avoiding me, so she would never pull a prank right in front of me. Besides, she respects Teachers too much to mess with them."
Just as she finished speaking, suddenly, a breath of the nether realm spread through the bath before a dark, triangle-shaped portal appeared in front of them.
It was a familiar portal they all knew well—the Century Gate.
"It's... Thanatos's aura... I can feel it..."
Castorice's eyes widened, and she wanted to step forward because she felt that behind the gate was the Death Titan she had been searching for, but—
"Wait!"
Aglaea, not wanting to see Castorice fall into a trap, quickly stopped her, worried that this was another layer of illusion.
However, unlike what Aglaea expected, a somewhat familiar little girl's voice came from behind the gate in the next second.
"Huh? Why is the Century Gate I opened so dark?"
"Looks like our 'siblings' are on the other side?"
"Mother, let's hurry over!"
As the voices fell, a red-haired little girl jumped out, then a second, a third, a fourth...
'Is this really an illusion...?'
Aglaea watched as a crowd of red-haired little girls appeared one after another before her eyes, utterly dumbfounded.
