January 22 – NEW YORK – 1:50 P.M.
Despite the time, the city glowed with flickering lights. Winter draped everything in its icy shroud, but New York's energy never faltered. A jet-black Rolls Royce slid through the lively streets. Inside, Liliana sat in the backseat, her elegant dress making her beauty shine even under the gray sky, staring at the glowing skyline.
Her vacant gaze snapped back to reality as she adjusted her hair using the faint reflection on the tinted glass. Her face revealed the storm quietly burning in her chest.
Guilt, tension, pain... it was all in her eyes, and the same thought kept circling in her head:
"Why do I feel like this? I saved my career... and yet..."
Her gaze drifted with the city lights—fragments of memories and emotions tangled together. Brian's face filled her mind again. A thought floated up...
"Since I moved to Boston a year ago... everything's changed so much... and still, he bought a helicopter just to come see me."
Her smile faded. A single tear ran down, smudging her makeup. It hurt... remembering the first time they were together.
Flashback – September 18, 2028
Boston – Liliana's Apartment
Out of breath, naked, tangled in the sheets, she smiled as she bit her lip, staring at the man in front of her.
—"How can you be this good at it?"
—"Experience," he replied, buttoning his shirt.
She crawled seductively to the edge of the bed, toward where he sat, and asked:
—"How many women have you been with?" Her eyes were filled with curiosity.
—...
He stayed silent for a few seconds, then finally answered:
—"Hard to say."
—"What do you mean?" Her expression grew unsettled.
—"Of the ones I remember... you'd be number ten."
—"Of the ones you remember?" Her eyes widened, caught between surprise and disbelief. "Are you saying you've been with hundreds of women?"
He avoided her gaze, got up from the bed, and explained:
—"Well... technically yes, and no. The thing is, I don't remember most of it."
—"You don't remember? How the hell does a guy forget something like that?" She wrapped the sheets around herself and stood too.
—"It happened in college. I went to a party with some friends, got mistaken for someone else... one thing led to another, and I woke up in a dimly lit room, naked, with a pretty serious ache... down there."
She smirked, biting her lip with playful sarcasm.
—"Did you get raped?"
—"Technically, yeah. It was a sorority. When I opened my eyes, there were six naked girls around me… another dozen passed out on the floor, fourteen more in the living room, also naked. And more waving and smiling at me."
—"Okay, now I don't believe you. You and I just went at it for four hours, and you're telling me you handled what? Fifty women?"
—"The party was on a Friday. When I came to... it was Monday."
—"You lost two whole days?! What the hell were you drinking?"
—"No idea. But I know I was the only guy there—Michelle told me."
—"Michelle?" She raised an eyebrow.
—"The sorority leader. We had a thing... she got obsessed with me."
—"Honestly? I don't blame her."
She paused. Let the sheet fall. Undid a few of his buttons, looked straight into his eyes.
—"But now... you're mine."
—"Whatever you say, babe." He said that while smacking her ass with one hand and squeezing it with the other. "Now lie down, I'm making us something to eat."
—"Wait, no—I'm going with you. You'll destroy the dishes if you try to cook on your own, my little nervous wreck." She smiled tenderly at the last line.
—"Nervous wreck? Ten minutes ago you weren't complaining about my hands... you were—"
—"Shut it, dumbass. Let's go cook. I'm starving."
End of Flashback
That memory painted a melancholy smile across her lips. Those warm moments now felt so far away.
"He was always such a good man. He supported me when I needed it most... and I... what did I do?"
The car stopped at a red light. A crowd of fans gathered nearby, some holding signs with her name: Lilian Rhymes. Seeing them, she told the driver:
—"Let's go. I'm not in the mood to wave today."
The city ignored her storm. Guilt ate away at her, no matter how hard she tried to bury it.
"If only I'd been more understanding... if only he'd been more... him. But he just didn't get what I needed."
The driver nodded and made a turn. Liliana looked out the window again, catching the faint shadow of her reflection on the glass.
"Why can't it just be simple? I shouldn't feel this way."
As if hearing her thoughts, the driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
—"Everything's gonna be alright, Miss Rhymes. People always find their way back to love."
She nodded, but the words didn't bring any comfort. Her mind kept spinning with the scandal, the whispers of infidelity, the way the Dreifus family defended her while trampling Brian.
"They don't know the truth. Not even I do."
Impulsively, she grabbed the necklace around her neck—Brian's gift. Her heart felt tight, like a fist clenching inside her chest.
"What if he wakes up...? What if he finds out?"
City lights flickered. A taxi honked in the distance.
The fog of confusion and guilt refused to lift.
***
NEW YORK – TIMES SQUARE – 2:00 P.M.
Neon lights. Giant screens. Laughing tourists. The world kept moving.
Except him.
Marcus walked with his hands in his pockets, eyes low. His leather jacket gave off confidence—but inside, he was wreckage in expensive clothes.
"I took back what was mine. I stole her... and I enjoyed it."The line echoed in his head like a curse."I took Liliana. I took your peace. And just when I started to celebrate..."
A massive screen showed an ad for War Of Kingdoms, a countdown ticking down toward its January 30th release.
Marcus froze.
Brian's face appeared—laughing, full of life, clueless of what was coming.
—"F*** you..." he muttered, with the ghost of a smile. But the lump in his throat didn't move.
"Why don't I hate you, you dumb bastard?Why does it hurt more for me, when you're the one who can't even open his eyes?"
The city noise seemed to fade. His mind couldn't shake the cruelest echo:
"Damn it... while I was at that hotel...you were dying."
***
Hours earlier
KYOTO – OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL – NIGHT
That night, the moon reflected off the windshield of a black van parked discreetly outside the hospital.
The neon lights at the entrance flickered gently, whispering secrets into the cold night air.
The rear door opened.
She stepped in without a word, still wearing a surgical mask—but her eyes revealed what no makeup could hide: real pain.
She sat down, closed the door, and leaned her head against the icy glass.
—"You did it, didn't you? You saw him," said her companion from the front seat, not turning around.
His tone was dry, but not harsh.
She said nothing.
—"Yukina-san... why do you keep doing this? You don't have to.
He doesn't even know you go there."
Silence.
—"He didn't even know you existed when he was awake.
Why keep punishing yourself?"
Yukina closed her eyes. Her fingers trembled, clinging to her scarf like it held her together.
—"Because... back when I was no one, he saw me. He encouraged me."
—"What?" her friend asked, now turning with disbelief.
—"You don't get it. I... I was scared to even look him in the eye. I never spoke more than four words to him. But... on those days when I saw him in the library... the first time, I stuttered, panicked, nearly cried from stage fright... and he just stood there... and clapped for me. Just him."
A pause.
—"After that contest, he handed me a notebook... He spoke to me unilaterally, told me my lyrics were beautiful, that he wasn't an expert in Japanese... but to him, it was a unique kind of art... He didn't even know I wrote songs... And every time I visited that library, he was there."
—"And that's why you love him?"
—"No." —Yukina said, slowly lowering her mask, her trembling lips now visible.— "I still love him because... not only did he never ask for anything in return, he didn't even ask my name. And no matter who I was... he would've treated me just the same."
The engine started silently.
The van drove off, disappearing among the lampposts and shadows of Kyoto.
Yukina left the hospital behind—without looking back.
"Maybe he'll never wake up.
Maybe he'll never know I existed.
But if that's the price for having loved him...
I'll pay it."
***
Inside the Simulation
Near the Bepnis Strait – Border of Lichstein and Gregorian
Mountain Albur – Hidden Base
The air was dense, filled with tension. Gears hummed, red warning lights blinked, and surveillance sensors were still active. I was surrounded by machines.
—"Hey Quincy, is it ready yet?! ¡There are way too many bots in here!"
[Ready... full access granted.]
—"Good. Disable the self-destruct."
[Done, Master.]
A low hum stopped abruptly.
The lights stopped flashing.
The countdown ceased.
Thankfully, the sequence had been aborted.
That's when a soft, sweet female voice echoed through the base—hypnotic in tone:
[Hello, I am Artia, the AI assigned to this base. Are you the General?]
I paused, frowned, then whispered to Quincy:
—"How should I respond?"
[Master, the system is based on military hierarchy. Just choose the highest rank.]
I stared at the panels, took a deep breath, and answered firmly:
—"Hello, Artia. I'm the one in charge of the entire military force."
[Then... you are the Supreme Commander?]
—"That's right. I am."
[I, Artia, salute the Grand Commander. All facilities are at your disposal.]
— "Excellent."
At that moment, a notification popped up in my vision with a soft but firm ding:
[Ding]
[System Notification: Unexpected achievement... you're the first to discover traces of Ancient Humanity. Achievement unlocked: "Ancient Knowledge."]
[Quest discovered.]
[System Message: Find the secret bases of Ancient Humanity. Base 1 of 2... error.]
[Updating data... Base 1 of 3.]
I smiled to myself.
"Nice... I knew this would lead to something good.
But... why 'Ancient Humanity'?
What does that error mean?"
The question burned in me, so I asked Artia directly.
—"Artia, can you explain this?"
She responded instantly, like she'd been waiting:
[Nine thousand years ago, humanity was nearly wiped out by nuclear radiation.]
—"There was a nuclear war?"
[Yes... every warhead was aimed at a single location. But the radiation spread globally.]
—"And what happened?"
[A period of extreme radiation followed. As a result, great beings emerged.]
—"What kind of beings?"
[Walking natural disasters. Huge. Powerful. We couldn't stop them.]
—"And then...?"
[Other beings appeared. Human-sized, but immensely powerful.
They fought those disasters.]
—"And...?"
[Their battles shook the planet. They distorted the continents.]
—"What happened to humanity?"
[Humanity barely survived those events. But the radiation, the new humanity, and those beings—
that's what led to extinction.]
—"Extinction? But there are still humans...
Please be specific."
[A tree grew to abnormal size and emitted a new kind of radiation. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of people gained the ability to use it.
They were called 'the new humanity.']
—"And the creatures?"
[They also appeared out of nowhere.
They were extremely hostile toward humans.
Eventually, the new humanity declared war on the original one—led by those beings who defeated the disasters.]
—"When did this war happen?"
[It ended 5,000 years ago, with the retreat into the Command Center.]
—"What about this base? Where's the Command Center?"
[The bases were designed to remain hidden forever.
Any intruder would be eliminated.
As for the Command Center... I don't have that data.]
As she finished her story, I felt a shiver run down my spine.
That old manga-translator instinct I had in college kicked in hard.
"This is potential. A LOT of it."
Then Artia hit me with a bombshell:
[Grand Commander, I've been gathering forces as instructed. I've spied on the new humanity for centuries and prepared the "Total Invasion" plan. Shall I execute it?]
—"N-Not yet... I-I'll give the direct and specific order when the time comes."
[Awaiting your command, sir.]
I took a deep breath, letting the information settle. Then I turned to Quincy:
—"Quincy, how long has it been?"
[A total of three hours, Master.]
My heart skipped a beat. My blood boiled.
I remembered exactly what was happening that same night.
Jeremy... that degenerate bastard... was going to try to rape my mother.
—"Quincy, set the route back!"
[Right away, Master.]
—"We have to go. NOW!"