Free Web NovelChapter 2: Step 2 to Greatness: Listen To Your Ancestors
"Why is everyone so obsessed with clapping my cheeks!" Adrian yelled loudly, only to realize what he had said. "I did not mean it in that way!" fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The old man before him buried his face in his hands and sighed loudly, clearly disappointed by Adrian’s words.
"Wait... what’s going on here?"
Adrian’s hands shot towards his supposed wound, only to see it had mysteriously vanished. His eyes then looked around and realized he was no longer in the alley but in a strange place.
What place it was? He had no idea where he was because everything around him was pitch black except for the strangely glowing old man standing before him.
"What is this place?" Adrian mumbled. "And who the heck are you?"
The old man peeked through his fingers and gave Adrian an angry look.
"This fool has no respect for his elders. No wonder he’s useless!"
Adrian was confused and rubbed the back of his head. His mother has always taught him to be respectful to the elders, but unfortunately, all the elders he had met were useless folks who didn’t deserve any respect either way.
Unfortunately for him, the old man standing before him didn’t appreciate his silence and whacked him with a stick that appeared out of thin air.
"Ow! Stop hitting me! You sadist geezer!" he yelled, covering his head.
"Then learn to show some respect to your elders!" the old man retorted. "Reply when you’re told to, and shut up when you’re asked, you brat!"
Just then, another orb of light appeared, this time in the form of a bulky man with bulging muscles who stood beside the old man.
"Hey, hey, old timer, lay off the kid, will you?" the muscular man called out, grabbing the old man’s stick. "He might be a screw-up, but that’s no way to treat our descendant."
"Descendant...?" Adrian said the word and went mute.
Before he could process what was happening, a multitude of orbs materialized, each morphing into a peculiar figure.
One resembled an ancient scholar, and another was encircled by women around him. There was even one that took the form of a stern military officer, while another exuded the regal presence of a king.
Before long, Adrian found himself surrounded by several strange, luminous beings, their eyes gleaming with curiosity as they stared at him.
"Trust a brute to ruin everything," the scholar called out the muscle man.
"What did you say?" the muscle man called out, ready to exchange fists as usual.
Ignoring their fight, the soldier marched forward and grabbed Adrian by his shirt, lifting him up like he was some odd creature.
The other men, glowing in the light, gathered around and gave him a curious glance before shaking their heads. When they were done, the soldier let Adrian go and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"The lad’s a disaster, sir," the soldier reported back to the elderly man. "He does not have a speck of talent in any area, I’m afraid."
"No wonder he died miserably," the playboy remarked, playing with the hair of the blonde woman next to him. "Tsk, what a lame way to end our bloodline."
"WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE!?" Adrian yelled, unable to take their strange behavior anymore.
"Will you look at that?" The muscle man smirked. "The pup knows how to bark, after all."
The others also had a lot to say, but the old man raised his hand to stop them. Instead, he took a step towards Adrian and offered him a hand.
"You, my child, are our final kin, who just passed away," the old man revealed at last.
"I... died, huh," Adrian sighed. "So, what now? Are you people here to welcome me to the afterlife or something?"
"Quite the opposite," the scholar stepped in, covering the lower half of his face with a paper fan. "We are here to give you another chance."
"Another chance?" Adrian asked, unable to process the words. "I already died. How can I—"
"That’s why I told you to listen first!" The old man barked, ready to smack Adrian again, but decided otherwise at the last second.
"Ahem, allow me to elaborate further," the scholar intervened.
What Adrian heard next was straight out of some webnovel. Apparently, all the ’spirits’around him were his ancestors from both the past and the future timelines.
Some died over a thousand years ago, while some weren’t even born yet, at least in the current timeline, and had been brought there from an alternate timeline where Adrian didn’t even exist in the first place.
However, all of them had something in common. They all were talented in one field or the other and successfully performed the ultimate task of carrying the bloodline before their demise.
Unfortunately, that’s where Adrian fell short. Not only was he untalented, but he also failed to create offspring to carry on the family name, as he died before he could even do the deed... once.
The playboy then grabbed Adrian and pointed him towards another spirit of his ancestor. It looked like a gloomy guy who was sitting in the corner all by himself.
"Hey, look at him! Even this loser managed to score!" the playboy hollered, giving Adrian a rough shake. "What’s your deal, man? How come you couldn’t find a single girl to hook up with?"
Adrian was embarrassed and scratched his head. Talking about his virginity was never easy, and it wasn’t any easier talking about it with the ghosts of his ancestors.
The old man whacked the playboy off Adrian and continued, "Your duty is to carry on our family line. But since you seem unable to handle anything yourself, we’ll lend a hand..."
"But how? I’m already dead—"
"Um, yeah... So, here’s the thing," the spirit, dressed like a regular office guy, muttered, fiddling with his glasses. "See, the big boss upstairs got interrupted by an elder before he could mark you down as gone. So, we might be able to figure something out, you know, so you’re not totally, uh, gone for good."
"...I don’t know what’s happening here anymore," Adrian said, looking even more confused than before.
"Meh, don’t worry about it," the muscle man replied. "Leave it to us and prepare for your second life."
"Prepare—"
"In the name of Fortuna," the old man murmured, clasping his hands as if in prayer.
But then, swiftly, he lifted his staff once more, striking Adrian with such power that it rattled their realm. The next thing he saw was the figure of his fading ancestors as everything turned dark.
