Apophis woke up in an unknown place.
A plain of emerald grass stretched out before him as far as the eye could see.
Everything was beautiful, not just the grass. The sky was clear blue, the vegetation was dense and vibrant, and a gentle breeze touched his skin.
It was a real paradise.
Apophis got up from where he was sprawled on the ground… and noticed something odd.
He was completely naked.
He immediately opened his character menu to see if everything was okay.
╔══════════════╕
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ ╟─╼<strong>CHARACTER </strong>
║ ╰╼[Name] : Apophis
║ ╰╼[LvL] : 32 [25 Skill Points available]
║ ╰╼[Rank] : B [Space Warrior]
║ ╰╼[Class] : Esper
║ ╰╼[Biology] : Male Fallen Zetark [Tier 3; Next Tier: LvL 50]
║ ╰╼ [Galactic Coins] : 15,125,552 GC
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>SOUL </strong>
║ ╰╼[Host Soul] Enclabossa
║ ╰╼[Dark Energy]: 10,000 x2 = 20,000 DRK
║ ╰╼[Alignment] : -2500 [Darkness]
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>STATS</strong>
║ ╰╼[Strength] 600 x2 = 1,200 STR
║ ╰╼[Intelligence] 600 x2 = 1,200 INT
║ ╰╼[Agility] 600 x2 = 1,200 AGI
║ ╰╼[Dexterity] 600 x2 = 1,200 DEX
║ ╰╼[Luck] 1 LUK
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>BOOK SKILLS</strong>
║ ╰╼[~Berserk (lvl 2) (Epic)~]
║ ╰╼[~Cosmic Materialization (Legendary)~]
║ ╰╼[~Dark Cosmic Meditation (lvl 2) (Rare)~]
║ ╰╼[~Dark Lord of Flames (Rare)~]
║ ╰╼[~Demonic Wing (Legendary)~]
║ ╰╼[~Eternal Flame (lvl 3) (Rare)]
║ ╰╼[~Susanoo (lvl 2) (Legendary)~]
║ ╰╼[~Universe Editor (Runic)~]
║ ╰╼[~Zooanthropy (Epic)~]
╟─╼<strong>TALENT TREE SKILLS</strong>
║ ╰╼[~Energy Regeneration: 100 pts~]
║ ╰╼[~Firebending: 550 pts~]
║ ╰╼[~Telekinesis: 140 pts~]
║ ╰╼[~Waterbending: 65 pts~]
╟─╼<strong>PASSIVE SKILLS</strong>
║ ╰╼[ Archaeologist ]
║ ╰╼[ Ghost ]
║ ╰╼[ Rehabilitated ]
║ ╰╼[ Warrior-Esper ]
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>EQUIPMENT</strong>
║ ╰╼[N/A]
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>FACTION/GUILD</strong>
╟─╼[Faction] : Kingdom of BlackStar [King]
║ ╰╼ [Faction Funds] : 3,458,500 GC
╟─╼[Guild] : Eclipse [Supreme Leader]
║ ╰╼[Guild Funds] : 89,786,000 GC
╟─╼[Bounty] : 1,000,000,000 GC
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼<strong>SUMMARY</strong>
Your cosmic power and corruption are becoming a real problem for every living being in the galaxy. The darkness no longer corrupts you… But you corrupt the universe around you. You are irretrievably lost.
╚═══════════════╛
Everything seems to be in place, except, of course, for his missing equipment.
Unfortunately, that included the Zetark armor, which boosted his stats by 10%.
Apophis then opened his political menu.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼<strong>POLICY</strong>
╟─╼[Stellar Year] 7009
╟─╼[Galactic Sector] ???
╟─╼[Stellar Faction] ???
╟─╼[Planet] ???
║ ╰╼[Biome] ???
╟─╼[Continent] ???
╟─╼[Country] ???
╚═══════════════╛
Well, that wasn't exactly useful.
The only information in the menu told Apophis that the in-game stellar year was still 7009, which meant that he hadn't gone into the future or past again. That meant he probably hadn't been accidentally transported into another raid, either.
Apophis looked around. There seemed to be a hill in the distance which was a little higher than the others. He approached and then climbed it, the grass feeling soft and warm underneath his feet. The trees grew more dense as he approached, and he realized that he had basically woken up at the edge of a forest.
From this vantage point, he could see through the trees of the thick forest, spying a small, sparkling lake in the distance.
Apophis walked down the hill again and towards this lake. The trees were more and more magnificent as he walked, and the grass at their roots was so perfect that it was as though the world's greatest gardener had tended to each blade individually.
All one would need to do is add some singing birds, and one might mistake the scene for a classic Disney film.
Apophis finally spotted the edge of the crystalline lake, which seemed purer than any water he'd ever seen in either real life or the game.
However, as he approached the edge of the water, Apophis saw something bizarre.
The lake's surface reflected a vast castle straight out of a fairy tale, a building with cloud-white walls, completely unblemished.
Yet this reflection matched nothing in the world above it.
When Apophis looked up from the water and out across the crystalline surface, he saw only trees and a brilliant blue sky.
Apophis reached out to touch the water...
…And jerked back with a pained scream! The water had burned his fingers like acid!
"Damn you!" Apophis growled.
"The corrupted of your kind cannot access this place," said a young, feminine voice from nearby.
Apophis turned to see a young woman of immeasurable beauty step out from behind a vast oak. However, the edges of her silhouette shimmered, as though she had just materialized there, rather than having been hiding behind a tree the whole time.
Apophis was shocked. "Who are you?"
"A simple woman," she replied.
Apophis immediately inspected her.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼<strong>UNKNOWN CHARACTER</strong>
║ ╰╼[Name] : ???
║ ╰╼[LvL] : ???
║ ╰╼[Rank] : ???
╚══════════════╛
Apophis frowned. So she was at least of a higher level than him and could hide some of her attributes. "What is this place?"
The woman smiled. "What a strange question. Heaven, obviously."
Apophis snorted. "Obviously. Why am I here?"
The woman replied, "Well, the usual way. You're dead, I'm afraid."
Apophis grimaced. He'd been expecting that answer. "Well, how'd I die, then?"
The woman said, "The Goddess of Truth found you guilty of a crime against the gods. She killed you and sent your soul here."
Apophis replied, "That sounds pretty logical. But if this is supposed to be something like my personal prison, where I can see this beautiful castle but am too corrupted to touch it… why exactly are you here?"
The woman said, "I am the… positive aspect and representation of your soul."
Apophis smirked. "I didn't realize the good part of my soul was a hot little bombshell."
The woman gave a smile in response… which was perhaps fairly similar to the smile Apophis tended to wear himself. "I am the representation of your nobility. Your grand purpose. Your good fight… Alexander."
Apophis froze.
This NPC had just called him by his real name.
That… wasn't possible.
Her eyes narrowed as she saw his confusion. She slowly spoke his full legal name, including information he hadn't even entered into his game account, and then kept speaking.
"You were born in Paris on 19 May, 2079. In 2100, you start to play Horus after failing your degree. Over the next nine years, you begin playing almost twenty-four hours a day.
"You spend all this time devoting yourself to a game that will take everything from you—your family, your love, and even your life.
"But just as your miserable life is about to end, you are reincarnated in your body from nine years earlier… and you begin playing Horus again.
"But you make exactly the same mistakes as the first time. You spend all your time playing Horus, even when you learn the truth that no amount of money could cure your mother's cancer. Instead of taking full advantage of the last month you have together, you prefer to keep playing, telling yourself there must be a miraculous solution in Horus to save her.
"But this is not the only way in which history repeats itself. After more than five years apart, you find Emma again. You use your knowledge of her to lead this woman into falling in love with you a second time, then you beg her to live with you.
"But how will you react when you learn Emma will always be the charismatic hero of Horus? For in this new life, she has become the heroine of the Eternals, the woman who led the Coalition fleet to save ten million players.
"Have you changed more than her, Alexander? Can you accept a world where everybody cheers for Emma while they hold only contempt and disgust for you, the player who carelessly slaughtered an entire continent to intimidate all who might dare oppose you?
"Alexander, what makes you believe that things will be any different?"
Apophis grew angrier and angrier with every word this woman spoke. Eventually, he couldn't contain himself any longer.
"I'm nothing like I used to be! Back then, Emma humiliated me because I was pathetic and worthless! But now? Things are different! No matter what she does or how much people love her, I have power! I have money! I may even have a real way to save my mother! I'm Emma's equal, and I love her! That is the truth, no matter what anyone thinks!"
Apophis could feel his heart pounding heavily, and his hands shook with rage. He only barely registered his own words after they left his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that he was Emma's equal.
That was ridiculous. He was far more powerful than her, far richer, and had far greater knowledge about Horus than she did. He had given Emma what she'd always wanted, a guild of her own, as well as love and friendship.
Why, then, had his angry and defensive retort been to claim that he was her equal?
The woman's expression didn't change after Apophis's outburst. "You say that's the truth… Yet you once told the Guardian of Truth that there is no such thing as the truth, only facts and interpretations. Yes, Alexander. You are powerful… But in your first incarnation, you were powerful too, eventually. Did that make you happy?"
Apophis stammered, "I..."
The woman continued, "You don't remember it very well, do you? Apophis, the LvL 200 and Rank A+ Esper. But you were about to go even further beyond that, weren't you, just before you died?"
Apophis's mouth felt dry. His head spun. For the first time in months, memories of the last day of his first life filled his head.
And there were new memories in his head, ones he knew for certain hadn't been there on the day he'd reawakened. "The… galactic center… I'd discovered the secret. Now that I'd gotten to Rank A+... I could pass through God's Domain. I was finally able to turn in my Difficulty S quest, Ascension. How… did I… forget?"
The woman said, "You were about to become a god, like the other seven players who ascended before you. You would have been Ra, the luminous god-Esper."
Apophis snapped, "That's enough! Stop tormenting me and tell me what you want!"
The woman looked at him sadly. "All I want is what I've always wanted. Every day, every moment, you have chosen you. I want you to choose me."
Apophis scowled back at her. "I… don't understand."
She smiled, but the sadness was still in her expression. "Look into the lake again, Alexander."
Apophis turned and stared into the water, ignoring the castle and beholding only his reflection.
For some reason, he had expected to see his human self, as though he had looked into a mirror in the real world. Somehow, this place felt more like the real world than the game.
But, almost for the first time, Apophis really took in his appearance as a Fallen Zetark.
He was ugly. His nose and chin were monstrously deformed, and scars ran like fissures all over his skin.
He was a monster, nothing less.
And yet his friends, and even Lotus, had looked at Apophis with this appearance every time they met him in the game. They had looked past it to see their leader… their ally… their friend… their lover.
The woman said, "I leave you with this choice. Choose me, and I will reveal how to save your mother and your relationship with Emma. In exchange, your essence will be destroyed. Apophis will cease to exist in this universe.
"Choose yourself, as you have every moment of every day for a terribly long time, and Apophis will remain. You will lose everything once more: your mother, your love, and your life. But you will become that monstrosity who calls himself God-Emperor, and nobody will stand before you."
<strong>Critical System Notification:</strong> [???] asks that you delete your character. In exchange, you can download the source file <strong>[#Medical Data Human Species n°123: Cancers & Tumors]</strong>
This was the miracle cure Apophis had longed for.
If what this woman said was true, Alexander could save his mother's life!
His hands grew damp with sweat. Was Alexander really about to achieve his goal? Could he really save his mother and leave the game to live an enjoyable life with Emma?
Could he be…
…Happy?
Apophis looked up to meet the woman's compassionate gaze. "Take it. Take it all."
He touched "Accept."
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