Unholy Player-Chapter 177: Misunderstanding

"I never heard the term Genesis before," Liora said slowly, her voice trembling with an uncharacteristic mix of awe and anticipation. Liora Virell was a Rank-4 practitioner who had lived at least one and a half centuries—someone who rarely showed surprise at anything. Yet here she was, eyes shining.

"Sister," Mirela asked, voice shaky not from fear but from that same thrill of discovery, "how can this be possible?"

Their reactions made Adyr’s interest sharpen. "What exactly is this Bloodline you’re talking about?"

Liora took a long breath to steady herself before she spoke. "There are countless races in the world—thousands of them—but only a very few are called elder races." Her gaze was intent. "And among those elder races, even fewer trace their lineage directly back to the gods themselves."

She paused for a heartbeat, then went on, her excitement now impossible to hide. "Bloodline talents, as we call them, only manifest in those true godborn races. They’re a mark that someone is a direct descendant of the divine—someone carrying their ancestor’s power in their blood."

That revelation left everyone visibly shaken. Even Lucen’s stony face showed a rare, fleeting surprise.

And as Adyr listened, the pieces began to fall into place.

Mirela swallowed before she spoke again. "Sister... you mean our Velari race is one of the elder races too?" Even she could hardly believe it as she asked.

The Velari were one of the many races that followed Astra Path. By all they knew, they weren’t an especially ancient people—their recorded history went back only thirty or forty thousand years, which made them relatively young compared to the true elder races.

And yet they thought Adyr was one of them. That was what truly amused him. From their perspective, someone they assumed to be Velari had awakened a Bloodline talent, forcing them to rethink everything they thought they knew.

But Adyr was not Velari at all.

He was human.

And that led him to a deeper question that tightened like a knot in his chest.

If Bloodline talents belonged only to godborn elder races... then what did that say about humanity?

Adyr considered what he knew of this world. Every being was bound to one Path — a single god’s legacy. Players were the exception. They could choose two, sometimes even three Paths. And Adyr had already unlocked a fifth—a Path no one had ever heard of.

What if humans weren’t an upstart species at all? What if they were an elder race too—one descended from a god nobody remembered?

The thought struck him like lightning. Was humanity tied to some lost fifth deity? Was that why they could defy the world’s rules, choosing paths at will? Why had Adyr himself been pulled toward that secret fifth Path without understanding it?

Each question was another piece in a vast, half-assembled puzzle. He felt them settle into place inside his mind, his mind palace arranging them carefully. But the picture was far from complete—too many pieces were still missing.

And until he found them, all he could do was wait and look deeper into the forgotten history of this world.

"So that explains why you’re strangely tall," Malrik broke the tense silence with a loud laugh. "Looks like our ancestors must have been quite tall. Being one of their pure-blood descendants, it only makes sense."

Adyr wasn’t sure whether to laugh or sigh. Where he’d expected suspicion, they weren’t questioning his identity at all—they were piling on evidence to convince themselves further that he was Velari.

"That does add up," Lucen agreed with a small nod, accepting the idea as fact.

In their minds, if Velari were truly an elder race, then it was inevitable that their history stretched much further back, and with that long stretch of time, it was only natural their appearance would have evolved. Adyr’s taller height must simply mean he carried his ancestors’ most dominant traits—the mark of a pure-blood Velari.

"Can I ask," Liora said at last, unable to hide her curiosity, "what bloodline talent this is?" Every race had its own Bloodline ability, and even if she didn’t know the specifics for other races, she was dying to hear what this one was.

Lucen, too, had witnessed some of Adyr’s strange effect but hadn’t fully grasped its nature. Now he was equally attentive, waiting for Adyr’s answer.

Adyr gave a small smile. "I can show you."

He had no intention of correcting their assumptions. This misunderstanding was working entirely in his favor—and more importantly, this was the perfect chance to check the limits of his new Presence.

He let his gaze drift across the four of them. The look in his eyes was far from the predator lurking beneath his skin and even warmer than mere friendliness. It was gentle, kind, and openly heartfelt.

He’d already learned how to direct Presence like a tide. To amplify it fully, he manipulated his own emotions, convincing himself that, just for this moment, he was a true Velari ancestor looking upon his distant kin.

An indescribable warmth began to settle around. It wasn’t physical heat; it was something deeper, an enveloping comfort that felt like being wrapped in a protective embrace.

Adyr’s invisible Presence swept over them like a warm blanket after a long, bitter cold. His gaze was forgiving, filled with a quiet, paternal affection.

Mirela shuddered, her rainbow-hued eyes glazing over. Memories buried for over a hundred years surged back—nights spent as a frightened child, trembling at thunder, calmed only by the steady embrace of her father’s arms, a silent promise that no harm could reach her while he held her.

Even Liora, who possessed the most unshakable mind among them, felt a profound stirring in her chest. When their eyes met, an inexplicable ache took hold of her heart, as if she were finally seen by someone she’d never met yet had been unconsciously searching for all her life. It was like receiving the full attention and grace of God, Astrael himself.

"So this is what an Ancestor Bloodline feels like," Liora murmured, breathless.

With all her speculations swirling together and Adyr’s overwhelming Presence reinforcing them, there was no room left for doubt. The young man before them was undoubtedly one of the gods’ children—a pure-blood heir to their ancient lineage.

***

A/N: I hope all of you read this little complaint of mine. (Especially to the pirate sites that copy and paste the page, I’m not against you, but I kindly ask you to include this part without cutting it. Thank you.)

For a long while now, Webnovel has lost interest in the book and hasn’t promoted it for quite some time. So I haven’t been gaining new readers and I’m only being supported by the existing ones. I especially thank them, I’m glad you’re here.

The problem is that I spend hours just writing the daily Chapters, and as someone who relies on this book for income, right now it’s at a level that doesn’t even cover a small part of my monthly expenses. This pushes me to question whether the time and effort I’m spending are truly worth it.

For now, I’ll continue writing the book, because I started with the desire to see it through to the end as a promise I made to myself. But if things get harder and Webnovel continues to ignore it, then I’ll have to decide what to do.

For the time being, if any of you are still actively reading, I’d really appreciate it if you could at least come and leave a review on the book. Just so I can understand how you feel about the direction it’s going and whether the time spent is worth it. Thank you all and I wish you a good day.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on fre𝒆web(n)ovel.co(m)