On the forums, millions of players had already joined the event "The Great Riposte!"
Their first objective, they decided, was to drive the Federation soldiers from Monstinopolis. Since it connected two continents, its location was the most strategically important on the whole planet. However, since the Federation didn't anticipate much trouble, barely a hundred soldiers and a single combat mecha were guarding it.
Apophis read these plans on the forum. He smiled as he read them, knowing that it would be the perfect place to strike a blow against the anti-Federation Eternals!
Only about a hundred players had joined the Federation so far, but they were mostly elite solo players. Apophis was more than confident that, if he joined them, they could hold their own in the war.
However, when he joined them in person and inspected the players under his command, one particular detail made Apophis freeze in place.
Lotus was there.
Emma.
His girlfriend from his first life.
The woman he'd dumped in a fit of jealous despair, then spent the rest of his life regretting it as Neo-Crack held him in a tight grip.
At this point in the game, Lotus was a LvL 8 Engineer. It seemed that her ability as an individualistic solo player was already strong.
Lotus was a dark-skinned girl who had originally lived in India, though by this time, if Apophis remembered correctly, she had already moved to Paris, like Apophis.
Apophis was meeting the other Federation Eternals in a small office building in Tyo, which had somehow survived much of the destruction. Lotus had used an Engineer Skill to temporarily restore some power to the room they were occupying, and the dim lights almost gave a romantic shade to the whole scene. Her face was calm and collected as she talked with a few other players about the upcoming mission, an expression which hid her caring and selfless nature.
In this new life, Apophis had decided that he would never rely on anyone else ever again if he could help it. He could only redeem his failure of an original life by amassing strength!
If he sought strength, Apophis believed, the rest would inevitably follow.
Yet, as he saw Lotus in this new life for the first time, Apophis's heart tightened. He wanted to rush to her, hug and kiss her, and catch up after the five years they hadn't seen each other—
Then Apophis's blood ran cold.
No, it hadn't been five years since they'd seen each other.
In this life, the two of them had never met.
In this life, they'd never fallen in love, had never watched together as his mother grew sicker and then finally died.
And in this life, they'd never drifted apart, and Apophis had never driven her from him.
As he stared at Lotus, Apophis was torn. This mission was an important event! He needed to focus on his role as Commander of the Federation Eternals… but no matter how hard he tried, he could only focus on Lotus.
Seeing Lotus again made Apophis realize that he still loved her terribly, and the possibility of starting over with her gave him a feeling of strange, manic happiness. It was like what a condemned prisoner must feel when he is told, at the last moment, that he is to be released! Somehow, this possibility of a new beginning with her filled Apophis with a longing that was far greater than his desire for money or fame.
But Apophis took a deep breath and reminded himself of his purpose. He pushed aside those feelings, reminding himself of the promises of self-sufficiency which he'd made to himself. He needed to rise higher than any other player. He needed to seize the strength to remain independent so that no one would control him and force him into pathetic weakness ever again.
He would take this opportunity to start over with Lotus… later. And this time, he wouldn't lose control. He wouldn't become weak. She'd been so much stronger, famous, and popular than him in their first life.
That would never happen again.
No. Apophis would never lose again, especially not when it came to love. For the moment, that meant he needed to focus on the mission. He needed to lead Lotus—and all the others—towards Monstinopolis. He'd lead them to victory and prove his worth to Lotus again.
***
NEAR THE RUINS OF MONSTINOPOLIS—THE NEXT DAY
About 20,000 anti-Federation players were camped in the withered forest near the remnant of the giant city. They were so preoccupied with their own plans to attack the city that they were completely unprepared to be attacked themselves!
In a few short, brutal minutes, Apophis and his squad charged through the camps surrounding the city. They struck with precision and focus, wiping out low-level players and winning huge amounts of EXP!
After exterminating most of the enemy forces, Apophis saw a message pop up.
System: Level 11 achieved. Gain 5 Skill Points for the Talent Tree.
Apophis ignored the notification completely—but then realized that it was Lotus who occupied his mind, not the mission!
Lotus hadn't yet learned the same Skills that she'd relied on in her first life—the ones which let her command an army of battle robots—but her Engineer Skills were still quite impressive. She fought using explosives and mechanical armor she'd invented. It was amazing to behold!
But though Lotus was powerful, and would obviously rise to be one of Horus's top players in this new life as she had before, she was still nowhere near Apophis's current ability level.
That security filled Apophis with confidence.
No one could stop him now. He didn't care how many people he had to murder, how many planets he had to burn, how many friends he had to betray, or how many enemies he had to ally with.
Only the victory was important. The rest was just a bunch of meaningless details.
Consumed with this philosophy, Apophis cared nothing for the former allies whom he slaughtered in the Federation's name, many of whom had charged by his side during the Siege of Tyo.
So it was that Apophis earned the reputation of a traitor, an infamous and honorless man.
On the forums, Apophis's reputation plummeted. The player who'd once been known for protecting weaker players against tyrannical guilds—a reputation built on misunderstanding in the first place—was now seen as an antagonist to normal players.
Apophis became known as the "God of Death," a title used both as an insult and, sometimes, in begrudging respect.
Lotus, on the other hand, admired this commanding player named Apophis. Not only was he powerful and famous, but he was also quite independent, unlike all the SuperGuild players! Like her, he didn't seem to care what people thought of him and didn't rely on other, stronger players to give him gifts or favors!
The extermination of the anti-Federation players around Monstinopolis didn't take very long. Afterwards, Lotus joined Apophis and spoke to him. "Thank you, Commander! It was a pleasure to serve under you for this mission. I hope we can meet again!" She realized with surprise that her voice was wavering just a bit and that she felt like a nervous schoolgirl. Lotus wasn't someone who fawned over others, but she couldn't deny the truth: her admiration for Apophis seemed to have turned into a crush!
For his part, Apophis was quite surprised to see Lotus acting like this. She certainly hadn't been this giddy during their first meeting in their first life. But, back then, the difference in power between them had been undeniable… and Lotus had been more self-sufficient and confident than she was now.
Now that Apophis was the senior player between them, it seemed clear that Lotus was feeling the same attraction towards him that she'd felt before… but it was manifesting in a different way. So Apophis, who was burning from the inside out, responded to her unusually nervous words by planting a small kiss on her mouth. "Thank you, Lotus," he said with a genuine smile.
Shocked, Lotus didn't say a word as Apophis walked away from her.
Flustered, but not knowing how to react, she received an invitation to join the party of a few friends. This was a great opportunity to distract herself from her own feelings, so she quickly accepted the invitation.
For a long while after, Lotus thought to herself over and over, Who is this Apophis? Did my fighting impress him? I really prefer to work alone… but if he asked me to fight alongside him again, perhaps I would take him up on it.