“Ahhhhhhh~ I never thought I’d say it, but it’s nice being back here.”

  The large man stretched, thick red runic tattoos rippling across his broad arms as his shoulders rolled with a satisfying crack. His username fit his image appropriately: Smash. His actual birth name, Florian, did not.

  Not that anyone ever called him by his birth name. Not even the three companions that exited after him out of the fluorescent blue portal. The group stepped through and into the busy central court of the Agency of Order and Game Development, the Division on Coin Allocation.

  The space was immense. Deep green stone floors stretched in every direction, converging on towering pillars of light that rose into a ceiling too high to see. Unlike other agency departments, this section exuded opulence. The air hummed faintly, with reward calculations, announcements, and a thousand overlapping enchantments processing victories across countless realms.

  Players gathered here in loose clusters, queuing at glass and marble counters or lounging in velvet circular armchairs near shimmering screens that tallied rewards and the current Ranks. Most paid the four no mind.

  But a few whispers followed them, those who recognized them.

  “That’s them, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. They just cleared ‘Rise of the Heavenly Demonic Clan.’”

  “No way. That Game was supposed to be impossible.”

  “If one of them could enter ‘Adovoria’s fall’, I’d bet they’d clear it too.”

  However, the group ignored the attention. They were too engrossed in their own conversation and thoughts to bother with the curious glances and gossip regarding them.

  Smash turned toward the woman beside him. Her short hair was dyed a deep purple, and a translucent light-blue visor hovered just above her eyes, data flickering across its surface.

  “Hey, Ria, what do you plan to do with your quarter of the winnings?” he asked her.

  “Retire,” she replied without hesitation.

  Smash blinked. “Retire? Really? With that payout, you could access Celestialism. That’s my plan.”

  “Celestialism?” asked the short man at Smash’s other side. He barely reached Smash’s elbows. His head was full of curly ginger hair and the arms at his sides were just as hairy. “You weren’t joking about that?”

  “Why would I joke about that, Blaze?” Smash snorted. “I’ve got enough Nexus coins to buy myself a comfortable realm to manage.”

  Blaze frowned, adjusting the straps on his gear. “It’s not about the cost. You really want to open that can of worms?”

  Ria nodded in agreement. “He’s right. Managing a realm is its own kind of hell, from what I’ve heard.”

  “I’ll manage,” Smash said confidently, then jabbed a thumb toward Blaze. “What about you, then? What’re you doing with your winnings?”

  Blaze shrugged. “I’ll keep playing and remain a Player. I like my home realm. But now? I’ll take it easy. I’ll only enter Games that actually interest me. There will be no more grinding Nexus coins just to avoid deletion.”

  Smash hummed approvingly, then turned to the final member of their party.

  “Yelena? What about you?” he inquired.

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  The beautiful woman with long black hair and a small mole beneath one of her eyes hadn’t spoken once since arriving through the portal. She wasn't ever particularly chatty, but she had been unusually quiet now.

  Smash paused, then grimaced. “Ah. Right. Your kid.”

  Blaze hesitated. “Not to be morbid, but… do you think he’s still alive in his realm? We’ve been gone for hundreds of years.”

  Smash roared with laughter. “We just cleared the number one hardest Game in history. I’d imagine Yelena has enough Nexus points to get him back, regardless of whatever prophecy. And even if he is dead, worst case, she could do what Taikee is doing.”

  “Are you comparing Yelena’s kid to a pet rabbit?” Blaze chimed in.

  “I heard it’s no longer a rabbit, but human,” Ria added.

  “Second highest,” Yelena said calmly.

  Smash blinked. “Second—?”

  “We cleared the second-highest Game.” Yelena lifted a finger and pointed. The massive board suspended above the court shifted, lines of glowing text rearranging themselves.

  [ #1 Adovoria’s Fall : IN PROGRESS ]

  [ #2 Rise of the Heavenly Demonic Clan : CLEARED ]

  Smash stared.

  “No bloody way…” he muttered. “Second? Second?!?! Another Game appeared and ranked higher while we were gone? How is that even possible?”

  Then a mischievous grin spread across his face and he turned to his companions.

  “Well then,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Care for one last score? Ria, you could retire in obscene comfort. Blaze, you wouldn’t need to touch another Game for ten thousand years if we clear this one too.”

  He pulled up a translucent screen, scrolling through details on Adovoria’s Fall.

  “Ah, damn. It’s single-player.” Smash’s grin faltered, replaced with something closer to concern. He glanced at Yelena. “Hey… would you mind letting me handle this one? As a favor?”

  He was ranked as the #7 top Player, but he was not confident about going against the #1 Ranker. Especially since he knew just how vast the difference in skill between them actually was.

  However, before Yelena could respond, Ria spoke.

  “It won’t work,” she said. Her visor flashed, cascading with unseen information. “The chat boards are saying there’s an error. No one can enter Adovoria’s Fall.”

  “Tsk.” Smash crossed his arms. “Then that Game’s as good as dead. It’ll be marked Incomplete. Shame. Not even getting a chance to try my hand at it.”

  Blaze tilted his head. “Wait. Yelena… It’s been a while. But isn’t Adovoria’s Fall in the realm where you left your kid?” His brow furrowed deeper. “And if I remember right… Adovoria was the country you were in just before we entered ‘Heavenly Demon’.”

  Silence settled over the group.

  The hum of the Agency—footsteps, conversations, portals opening and closing, distant announcements—suddenly felt louder.

  Ria broke the quiet. “The Game’s starting point is listed as Year 784 of the Adovorian Calendar.” Her visor pulsed once. “And Yelena left that realm around Year 764 to join us.”

  “So,” Blaze said carefully, “the boy’s likely still alive. Early twenties, give or take. At least at the Game’s start.”

  All three of them looked toward Yelena. Her facial expression revealed little, but the stillness of her posture said enough. Something was turning over behind her eyes. She was thinking, strategising.

  “I’m sure if he takes after you, he’ll manage,” Smash offered. “And even if the country he’s in falls. He can just move, right?”

  Yelena didn’t reply. Instead, she reached into the air and produced an artifact. It was an old-fashioned console, its casing scratched and worn, the few buttons marked with colorful symbols and arrows. A small antique digital screen flickered to life.

  “There’s a rumor the Game actually starts earlier now,” Ria said, still digging through the chat boards. “Something about a famous bakery still operating. Goods from it are being sold by a user called Player 0.4.” She paused. “Oh? Looks like BlueLizard managed to re-enter. She’s the only one.”

  Smash exhaled in relief. “There you go. With the number-two Ranker inside, that Game will clear. Adovoria—and your son—will be fine. I’m sure of it.”

  “He’s not there,” Yelena said quietly.

  She was staring at the artifact in her hands.

  ?“What do you mean?” Smash leaned in.

  On the console’s screen, two faint pixels blinked. Each was tagged with realm identifiers and shifting location markers. It was an expensive piece of discontinued Agency equipment. Useless inside a Game, but invaluable for tracking Players when messaging them was impossible. It was previously used by the Agency-employed Bounty Hunters to track down Players who were due for deletion. Since then, better technology had been approved for use, and artifacts such as this were available on the open market.

  “Or rather,” Yelena corrected, eyes fixed on the screen, “he’s not entirely there.”

  Ria frowned. “Where else is he?”

  Yelena recited the realm ID for her companion.

  Ria’s visor flashed again. “…That realm is under Celestial review. Early stages. Completely inaccessible as well.”

  Smash burst into loud, booming laughter. “Ha! As I said—looks like that kid of yours really does take after you.”

  However, Yelena didn’t smile.

  Her fingers tightened around the console.

  “Let’s go collect our reward,” she finally stated, putting the artifact away and brushing her long black hair behind her ears.

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