Finally, after a short night of sleep, it was time for Alexander to get back into the game.

Most of the players who started playing at the same time as him would be around LvL 2 by then. To avoid falling behind, he needed to keep leveling up—though he also needed to take care of the young Zetark he’d left in the hospital.

After eating breakfast and greeting his parents, he went back upstairs, lay down on his bed, and put on his VRI helmet.

<strong>System:</strong> Welcome to the Galaxy of Horus!

<strong>Server Announcement:</strong> Martial law has been declared throughout the planet. To avoid arrest, go to the Republic of Tyo Army outpost marked on your map.

Apophis ignored the notification.

Now that he was LvL 4, there were no NPCs on the continent who put up more than feeble resistance against him. Once he hit LvL 5, he would be like a god compared to them.

Anyway, he knew from his first life that the Republic of Tyo was living its last days.

***

<strong>Planet Era—Planetary Capital</strong>

A sixty-year-old man looked out the window of the towering capitol building. He had deep rings around his eyes, as it had been over thirty-six hours since he had last slept.

This man was the President of the Republic of Tyo. For the last day and a half, he’d kept busy every moment with the catastrophic reports being sent from all over the planet.

Apparently, humans very similar to Tyottings had appeared from within a huge white ray of light, distinguished from normal people by the peculiar light shining from their foreheads. This initial incursion was massive, and it had been repeated over and over in more than a hundred cities.

These new beings could resurrect themselves after death and were extremely hostile, attacking civilians and animals without reason.

Of course, due to cultural regression, the President had been forced to listen over and over to the infuriating stories of civilians who simply refused to defend themselves or take rational measures against these invaders.

The president quickly realized he had no choice but to request help from the Federation of United Planets.

This organization protected many planets like his own world of Era, planets whose technology had not reached the space age, but who intended one day to join the Federation.

But the Federation was vast, and Era was tiny and out of the way of many more important systems.

Would the Federation actually give aid to a world so insignificant, and if they did, would help arrive before the Eternals destroyed their civilization beyond hope of repair?

The president took a long drink of water. The glass shook in his hand as he continued to stare out the window at the city below.

***

<strong>Apophis—City of Omeya</strong>

As Apophis headed to the hospital, he received a notification that brought back many old memories.

<strong>Server Announcement:</strong> Congratulations to player “Ceasar” for being the first to complete a unique Rank S quest! A reward of 10,000 GC, the title ~Intrepid~, and a unique Passive Skill have been awarded to him.

In Apophis’s first life, Ceasar had been one of the seven greatest players in the MMO world, the “7 Gods” who had risen to fame in the days of World of Warcraft II.

At one time, Ceasar had been the top player in WoW II, though he’d eventually been eclipsed by others.

But even in Horus, Ceasar became a world-famous superstar. He helped create the SuperGuild “Renovatio Imperii,” a guild with the ambition of establishing a new Roman Empire in space.

Just before Apophis’s death in his first life, Renovatio Imperii had amassed over 2,600,000 player members, not to mention their NPC allies. They’d controlled more than a hundred planets!

In order to establish a strong identity, Renovatio Imperii assigned their members the ranks of “Legionarii,” “Legati,” or “Consules,” and forced them to wear civilian clothes from the Roman Imperial era.

Though some people thought this stylization was ridiculous, everyone agreed it was best not to get in the bad graces of a guild like that.

After all, if you made powerful enemies, you might quickly find your game progress halted and all your attempts at making investments in the game falling apart.

In this new life, Apophis decided he needed to keep a careful eye on Ceasar’s progress. If he didn’t want Ceasar to eclipse him even in the early game, Apophis would need to work harder than ever.

[0)ᴠᴇʟ He immediately left his hotel through a back exit so that none of the NPCs in the hotel would see him, wearing a thick hat from the hotel’s lost-and-found room to try to hide his identity as an Eternal.

Then he got onto his motorcycle and headed through streets that were growing more and more panicked.

He needed to get to the Zetark child in the hospital, then plan his next steps.