Nyxfall 7: The Veilbreakers

"Uhm.. I am going to do this.." Kai said, grabbing the game copy placed on the table.

"Hmph! Of course!" his mother huffed, pouting slightly. "Well, do as you like. Just come down to eat on time.."

Kai simply smiled and nodded. The house—and even his messy room—felt so nostalgic. His school things and hundreds of games were scattered everywhere. The retro PS7, PS9, and NS5 consoles, which he had spent months gaming on, sat among the clutter.

He really wanted to spend just one good, free day without touching any games—but he couldn't waste any time.

Kai needed to know if the seventh part of the game in his hands was the same one he remembered or something different. A quick web search confirmed his suspicions: the sixth part of the game—supposed to be launched today, according to his memories—had already been released quite a while ago. The story, from what he could tell in snippets, seemed identical to the one he had played years ago. Yet, the player count and copies sold were barely 5% of what they had been back then.

'What kind of mind hex am I in?'

Everything else was the same. The news about a new company buying the rights to make a VR version of the NYXFALL series was unchanged—except now, they had bought six parts of the game instead of five.

Kai exhaled and grabbed his VR headset, which he must have left charging before heading out to buy the game. He opened the game slot, took out the new chip, and inserted it.

Lying back on his bed, Kai closed his eyes and flicked the switch on his headgear.

The familiar sound of the VR headset booting up filled his ears. His mind went blank for a second, and after a few silent breaths, the white loading screen faded. His avatar materialized in the landing world of his choosing—Kilmarnock G7.

To help players familiarize themselves with VR and provide a vast space for social interaction without buying any games, the most popular VR headset company—N0AH—had created 17 landing planets, each with vast, empty landscapes of different biomes. If a player couldn't log off or encountered technical problems, official company support shops were set up on these planets to assist them.

Of course, the various virtual shops—built in the weirdest styles—were scattered throughout these planets as well. Every VR game had its own dedicated zone, where players could jump into a portal to access it—but only after purchasing the game. A digital version existed, but Kai preferred physical copies. Well.. the old Kai did, at least.

It was time-consuming, but this was the best way to meet famous players and engage with the game's community.

Different games had different time dilations, which made it somewhat manageable for players to indulge without feeling like they were wasting too much time. NYXFALL 6, for example, had a 1:5 time ratio—one real-world hour equaled five in-game hours.

For those who wanted to skip the hassle, purchased games could be set as default destinations, allowing players to jump straight into them. However, they still had to enter the VR landing world first. Each player's game portal could be placed anywhere across the 17 planets, and only the owner could access it—eliminating any risk of theft.

For convenience, Kai placed his portal right at the player loading zone, like many others. Thousands of people crowded the platform most likely playing the same game-the marketing team was on fire for this game that much he remembered. Surrounded by towering mall-like structures with massive neon signs. The shops here sold all kinds of items that could also be purchased online. Business was booming, and the plots near the player landing zones were worth millions of Extols.

Without paying much attention to his surroundings, Kai stepped into his portal and started the game.

The portal took him to a breathtakingly surreal place—he stood on crystal-clear water, bathed in the red glow of a setting sun. The sky was scarlet, and three moons hung above.

Kai remembered this place.

It was the so-called "Afterlife" zone in NYXFALL games, where players were sent after dying. Here, they had to wait out their respawn penalty before re-entering the game.

This was the first NYXFALL title to be fully VR-compatible, allowing fans to truly experience the landscapes they had only seen on flat screens and holograms before. Kai recalled how hyped the community had been about it back then.

A prompt appeared:

Enter Name:

Kai typed the first thing that came to mind: Renatus_Kai.

It was a word from a dead language—Latin. It meant reborn. Kai had read about it once and found Latin words fascinating, like incantations for magic. It suited his situation perfectly.

Skipping the avatar customization, he kept the same look he used for landing planets—his real 3D image, but more refined, fitter, taller, and with better hair. He looked more alive here than he did in real life.

Then, another screen appeared with a new feature:

Select Path:

The Stonebinders

The Exodians

The Nexus Kin

Kai knew the story of the first six parts of the NYXFALL series, so he immediately recognized the Stonebinders—the name given to humans with magical powers in the world of NYXFALL. He also vaguely remembered hearing about the Exodians before. Someone had mentioned them once.. but it hadn't been a human. That was all he could recall from that conversation.

Where was the class selection screen? Were these three options supposed to be the classes? No, that didn't make sense. The Stonebinders alone had four classes, with multiple branching paths within them. And there used to be an option to play from the enemy side as well. The game was already diverging from what he remembered.

Given his extensive knowledge of Stonebinders and the mechanics of NYXFALL VR, Kai figured that would be the safest choice. But another name stood out to him—Nexus Kin.

The clan Deimos Imperium came from was called Nexus Kin..

What should he do?

At the end of the day, the premise of the game had always been about selecting a few of the best players and inviting them to the real thing. If that hadn't changed, then the path he chose now wouldn't matter too much.

Kai made his decision. He selected Nexus Kin.

The Deimos Imperium had an enormous advantage thanks to his race's unique abilities. If this path referred to that, he would have a solid edge right from the start.

As soon as he confirmed his selection, Kai's vision went pitch black. His avatar dissolved into particles, and after a brief moment, he found himself somewhere entirely different.

He recognized this feeling—this was exactly how it felt every time he died in NYXFALL 6 and re-entered the game.

***

"Renatus_Kai, wake up now.. I told you yesterday, didn't I? We have a long day ahead of us today."

A deep, steady voice spoke as a middle-aged, bearded man looked down at him.

"If we don't leave before sunrise, we'll miss the herd of Chwinpakas."

Above the man's head, two glowing green words hovered: Uncle Liam.

Green words.. NPC.

So, the initial framework was still the same. But this starting point—this was entirely different. Not a single class option in NYXFALL 6 had ever begun with this sequence.

This confirmed it.

This wasn't just a slightly different version of the game he had played in the past. This was a completely different game.

The real question was: how much of his old knowledge would still be useful here? And if this game had changed.. What else would in the future?

Kai sat up, taking in his surroundings.

The hut's interior was eerily real. Unlike typical games where certain objects looked artificial, everything here had substance. Every single item could be touched, lifted, and even smelled. The weight and texture of objects were just as they would be in reality.

Of course, Kai knew none of this was real.

The VR technology used by N0AH was leagues ahead of anything else. They called it Neuro-Projection and Implementation Technology—a method that didn't rely on traditional game coding.

Most VR games, no matter how advanced, always had an artificial feel. But N0AH had bypassed that limitation. Instead of using standard programming languages, they coded directly into nanobots—each containing a supercomputer in itself.

Upon activation, the VR headset released these nanobots into a player's system. They worked at a neural level, transmitting signals that tricked the brain into perceiving a fully immersive, hyper-detailed world. Every texture, every sound, every sensation was replicated flawlessly.

Originally, this technology had been developed as a medical therapy to treat psychological blocks. But once its entertainment potential became clear, it was adapted to create the world's first truly realistic virtual experience. NYXFALL was unlike other games with graphics—there was nothing discernible in its atmosphere to indicate it wasn't reality. Like a movie one could step into and exist within.

Of course, it hadn't been perfect at first. The early days were plagued with issues, but over the past 38 years since its initial release, the technology had been perfected.

Even so, there were still limitations—particularly in the nanobot coding and real life recording process. As of now, only NYXFALL had fully utilized this technology to its maximum potential.

And that was only because of The Beyonders—the real masterminds behind the game's sudden leap in quality, making it almost too good to be true.

Kai watched as Uncle Liam walked outside the hut, leaving him alone.

The game has now truly begun.