Nyxfall 7: The Veilbreakers

The quest unlocked? This was amazing! He leveled up, received two items—one of them even a skill book. And he received a chain quest! His start with this character was much better than his last one. Or maybe the game had simply decided to be more generous with rewards this time..

Still, a bow that could shoot infinite arrows! That was something one could sell for millions of Exelons. But Kai would never sell it, no matter the amount. Nyxfall had an official site that allowed players to sell or trade in-game items for real money or other in-game goods. However, it was entirely player-operated. And it wasn't just humans who had access to it—aliens could also sell and exchange things online, with the internal currency converter handling everything.

That was another way humans had lost a lot of resources. No one in human civilization truly understood the reality of this game, and many top players played simply to sell or trade items, becoming rich in the process. This was also the biggest reason Nyxfall had attracted such a massive player base in human society despite people not knowing the reality of the game.

Three SP for a skill was a bit too much. But high cost came with high rewards—and high risk. There were plenty of cases where a skill costing even five SP turned out to be nothing more than something anyone could obtain elsewhere. Still, the name Godstep was promising. Nyxfall didn't bait players, especially when it came to names. Naming conventions mattered a lot. Only skills with a high SP cost and an obscure name—one that could mean anything—were a gamble.

Even so, Kai didn't rush to acquire it. He needed to verify whether his old knowledge was still accurate. Many people must have started playing the game by now, and soon, videos of it would flood the internet. Kai himself was recording everything and would edit some parts before uploading them to his channel.

It felt nostalgic just thinking about doing his usual gamer stuff after so many years. The moment he realized this was the same game, albeit with slightly different features, he had made up his mind—to at least teach his fellow humans an important way to grow stronger. His goal was for as many humans as possible to make it past the 10,000-player ranking. Numbers were a huge advantage, especially once the real thing started.

He was already level six, just four levels away from meeting the minimum requirement to wield the bow. The thought of leveling up further got him pumped, but the time showed 4:20 in the morning. He should probably head back to his hut. Characters needed to sleep at least once a day to avoid tiredness or sleep-deprivation effects that could hinder gameplay. He didn't have items to fight off such effects yet and was extremely weak.

"You received a quest.." Deimos said, eyeing him sharply.

Kai was startled. He had completely forgotten he wasn't alone. She had been busy checking her rewards, so he hadn't been paying attention to her.

"No, I didn't," he replied without hesitation.

"I read it, insect," she said, squinting at him.

"Want to steal this quest too?" Kai challenged, keeping the new bow in hand to scare her—though he still couldn't use it.

"Not today." She replied simply and started walking away.

However, before she had taken even ten steps, a sudden notification popped up in his interface.

[Deimos Emperium sent you a friend request.] (Accept) (Reject)

For a second, Kai couldn't understand what the hell had happened. His biggest enemy in the last timeline—the one he had killed and had been killed by—wanted to become his friend? This had to be some kind of joke the gods were playing on him.

Kai hesitated for a moment before accepting the request. This way, he could always keep an eye on her levels and online status. He wasn't her friend, but he wouldn't throw away the chance to spy on her just out of spite.

When he looked up, she had already disappeared into the darkness of the forest, most likely heading off to level up. Kai felt his own excitement rising and was just about to re-enter the forest when a phone ringtone echoed through his interface. A name flashed on the screen—Mom—accompanied by a circling hologram of her looking furious, brandishing a ladle.

"Ah, right! My holo is connected to the VR headgear!"

Kai immediately answered the call.

"Didn't I just tell you to come down and eat on time? When will you start liste—"

Kai wore an awkward expression as he endured her scolding for a full two minutes before he could finally reply with a simple text: Okay, I'm coming.

His mother gave a satisfied nod with a little 'Hmph' before cutting the call.

Kai sighed. He really wanted to hunt some monsters, but he was also hungry. Without wasting time, he traveled back to the hut, logged out of the game, and returned to the landing planet. Still standing in the player landing zone of Kilmarnock G7. Then he shut down the VR headset.

When he woke up in his room, the holo displayed 1 PM—their usual lunchtime.

Heading downstairs, he found his mother already waiting for him. But she wasn't alone. Mimi. Young Mimi was there too.

As soon as he sat down at the dining table, his mother—never one to miss an opportunity—gave him a few more words of "health advice." Mimi, seated beside his mom at their old six-seater dining table, glared at him with an expression that was probably meant to be angry but only looked funny to him.

She raised her hand and pointed at him while saying, "Why don't you answer my calls?"

Kai simply smiled and raised his hands up replying, "I was playing the new game." Then, without another word, he sat down and dug into the delicious-looking dish his mother had prepared.

The moment the familiar taste hit his tongue, he was lost in the sheer joy of eating, completely ignoring whatever Mimi was saying in response. Not that it mattered—he was hungry. Any conversation would have to wait until he was finished.

Mimi ate with them as usual. It wasn't anything new—she came over all the time, their houses being so close. Sometimes, Kai wondered if she was only his friend because of his mother's cooking.

After the meal, his mother started washing the dishes while Kai and Mimi moved to the living room, enjoying the sweet dessert. Whatever anger Mimi had earlier was already forgotten as she focused entirely on the treat. It was cute seeing her like that.

Then, suddenly, a face flashed in Kai's mind.

Phoenix_Resurrect.

She ate the same way—like it was the best thing in her life. She was a picky eater, too.

Kai found himself smiling without realizing it. But then his expression hardened.

He had to find her.

A nudge from Mimi brought him back to reality. She had finished her dessert alredy, "What game is so important that you forget your girlfriend?" She asked. 

Kai set down his half-eaten dessert on the side replying, "It's a new one.. Why don't you play it too? It's going to be the biggest thing in the future."

He needed to get as many people into the early game as possible while there was still time. Guess, he could start with his own family and friends first. He would never let them step into that brutal world in real life, but having an option was always better than regretting later.

Back then, no one had known what had happened to Earth after the game revealed the existence of aliens and broadcasted planetary survival as a TV program in all of the galaxy.

That was the only information they had received later. By then, it was already too late to do anything. Their families hadn't even been informed about the real-life game invitation.

Kai could only imagine what his mother must have thought, watching him—her son—slaying monsters and men alike, broadcasted live for the whole world to see.