I looked at the message and fell silent. How could I not?
If you knew myths and folklore, then you knew exactly how absurd this template was.
Archangel Michael.
Even among angels, that name meant something.
I stared at the panel again.
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ TEMPLATE SYSTEM ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
Current Template:
Archangel – Michael
Synchronization Rate:
5%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current Power:
Tier 9-C
True Power:
Tier 8-C
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current Abilities:
• Smite
• Telekinesis
• Perception of Truth
• Dream Walking
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Equipment:
• Michael's Sword (Sealed)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Notice:
"Divine authority restricted.
Output limited to preserve world stability."
╚══════════════════════════════╝
I kept looking at the panel for a few more seconds before finally speaking.
"System… can you explain this to me? How did I end up drawing such an overpowered character?"
"Host, you can call me Meg, considering my current form."
"…Alright. Then please explain."
Meg nodded slightly and began.
"Let me start from the beginning. This Template System is different from the ones you have read about. It is more like an inheritance that has been transformed into a system. You will only have this one main template and possibly one sub-template in your entire life. No more, no less."
"You mean… this Michael will be my template? My main power?"
"Yes. And because of what you drew, the world you are about to enter has already been adapted to you. That is the meaning of 'Variant.'"
"…Adapted? What do you mean? I'm getting a little confused."
"It means that if you had drawn something like a Harem System, the world would have been adjusted in a way that made it possible for you to build a harem more easily. For example, the system might have influenced history—pushing polygamy to be socially accepted, making relationships more flexible. It would also slightly influence people's personalities, making them more romantic and more open to loving the same person. Not mind control—more like subconscious suggestion and probability adjustment."
"If you had drawn a dragon template instead, then the world would have adapted in that direction as well—more ancient creatures, more suitable environments, more opportunities for growth."
I frowned slightly. "Then… how did the world adapt now that I drew Michael?"
Meg smiled.
"You can think of it like this, Host: You are a player who reached level 100, and then restarted your character back at level 1."
I understood immediately.
"So synchronization… is basically me returning to my original level? I can basically think of myself as him is that right?"
"Yes. You will receive Michael's memories gradually as your synchronization increases. And in order to make your existence reasonable in this world, the world itself was adjusted."
"…Adjusted how, exactly?"
"Everything still follows the normal lore, Host. Lucifer rebelled, you defeated him and locked him in Hell, the creation of humanity, and so on. I am sure you have read enough mythology to understand the general structure. But this is where the story changes."
I stayed silent and listened.
"Your Father—God—discovered other universes. Instead of ignoring them, he connected them."
"Wait," I interrupted. "The Vampire Diaries isn't a multiverse."
"That is correct, Host. So we adapted it. We made it so that it reasonably fits into a structure with Heaven and Hell. As you know, Hell already existed in the TVD universe. We simply… filled in the gaps. You could call it closing loopholes."
"So how does it look now?" I asked.
"Imagine a three-story house," Meg said. "The basement is Hell. The top floor is Heaven. The first and second floors contain many universes, each universe being a different room."
I nodded slowly. That was actually a very easy way to understand it.
"And God?" I asked.
"Your Father left to explore the wider reality beyond this structure. Before he left, he locked Heaven and Hell. They have entrances, but no exits."
"So my brothers and sisters… the other angels…"
"They are in Heaven. Lucifer and his followers are in Hell. None of them can leave or observe the lower worlds. This gives you enough time to grow."
"…So basically," I said slowly, "I'm the only one active in the lower worlds."
Meg smiled. "You could say that."
"And Heaven right now?"
"It has been a few years since God left. Without a ruler and without responsibilities, the angels treat Heaven as a paradise. You could call it the ultimate vacation destination."
"And when I reach… let's say level 100?" I asked.
"When your synchronization is high enough and you unlock your authority, you will take charge of Heaven. From there, you will be able to visit any universe on the first and second floors, stay in Heaven, or even go to Hell. You will have complete freedom within this domain."
"What about God?" I asked. "Will he come back?"
Meg shook her head slightly. "His journey may be so long that by the time he returns, you may already have surpassed him."
"…Surpassed him?" I repeated in disbelief.
"The template you drew is special, Host. Archangels normally do not grow. They are created complete. But you are different. You are synchronizing, adapting, evolving. You have something your brothers and sisters do not have. And if the right oppotrunity presend youself you can jump into higher tier than what you were preddicted simply because you will keep this evolution potential you might say"
"Growth,evolution" I said quietly.
Meg nodded.
"Yes. Growth and evolution."