New Game+

Up on the dark skies of the fading twilight, and aircraft continued to fly higher and higher on the sky. With the pretense of launching a Sky Satellite over the high skies of Pangea, the strongest members of Harker's armies were sent.

Only three in that crew were actual soldiers. The rest were teenagers with the majority being gamers.

"Can you believe this? How stupid it is for us to want to be soldiers." A soldier laughed. He was one of Harker's top soldiers.

They were all seated on their seats as the aircraft steadily increased its speed as it vaulted upwards like a spacecraft headed for space.

Yet the intense vibration and pressure did very little to even give discomfort to these passengers.

"Who would have thought that gamers would be the kings of the future?" The other soldier laughed.

"Pro-Gamers. Any regular gamer who's just fooling around wouldn't make it." A young teen with bucktooth spoke up.

"You must be Titan. Or should I call you Strawberry Situps?"

"Any would do."

"So you mean only Pro-Gamers make it this far?"

"And not all games. Some pro at playing Match 3 games wouldn't be helpful. They have to be gamers who play Hack-and-slash or first-person shooter games or other online battle arena types. These games naturally allow us to see through the chaos of a fast-paced environment."

"I get it. Soldiers can only go through those fast environments when they are on combat."

"Correct. You're Tyler, right? Genera Harker's second in command?"

"Yeah. This is Scribs Reatheart and that gentlemen over there is Earl Hither."

"Erm… Nice to meet you?" Titan gave a meek wave as they were unable to leave their sits during the launch.

"Don't mind ol' Titan. He's very shy despite his towering name." Danny laughed.

"Lieutenant Danny. I saw that video of your fight against Lander. Very inspirational. You actually managed to hit him!" Scribs immediately called out.

"Eh, it was nothing. Meryl's been helping me train. So it was only natural for me to get that far. Still Piercing Hallow. That was quite a sight to see. An exoskeleton designed to be your character."

"Oh, but you should see Dara. She's actually the strongest among us. Well except, of course, Kristine. Lucky bastard."

"She's the lucky one? I don't see anyone else dating Meryl." Earl gave a merry laugh.

"Approaching the High Point." A voice prompt was heard.

The speed of the airplane started to slow down and started to float in the sky.

The crew finally was allowed to leave their seats. Most of the passengers were teens and immediately rushed to the window to view everything that was going on.

"So this is a Sky Satellite." Danny laughed as he looked and admired the view.

"Wow. Things look so small." A young girl remarked.

"So this is the view of being around twice the altitude that airplanes usually fly in..." Danny whistled.

Everyone began talking to each other.

Cliff silently held the comm device on his hand. He continued to look at it and had a very blank and almost depressed expression.

None of those around him dared laugh or tease Cliff.

Surrounding Cliff was his group of trusted drug-dealers who have been trained as a covert ops team.

"I miss you." Cliff dared to type the words and then he sent it.

As the aircraft was capable of receiving and sending signals, the message that Cliff from the peak of the sky was easily sent.

The soldier next to Cliff was one of the strongest among Harker's men.

He tried his best to avoid looking at it, but his peripheral vision, which was enhanced by the Unlocking could clearly see it as day.

Who would have thought that while this Cliff was sent off to fight a rumored Near-Overcomer where many of them would probably die, he had the luxury of sending cheesy text messages to his girlfriend!

"You saw it didn't you? I have Realm Somatotopy so don't bother lying." Cliff frowned as he glared at the soldier.

"So-sorry sir. I couldn't help it. It was on my peripheral vision."

"Oh. Right. I keep forgetting that we are Unlocked. Don't judge me though. I am acting like this not because I know I can survive… but rather, I just want to enjoy these last moments." Tears started welling up on Cliff's eyes.

"Get over it you big wus! You're the strongest among us here and all you do is the text that girlfriend! What have you been telling her? That you like her? That you miss her? For crying out loud! That girl is a True Inheritor! She's even richer than me and my dad!" A petite girl complained as she pushed around the crowd to insult Cliff.

Cliff gave the girl a harsh look.

"I really wonder why Seeker allowed you to live. If it was me, I'd have killed you. This isn't Piercing anymore, Malicious Unicorn. Just because you're a step up compared to the other soldiers doesn't mean you stand a chance against me!" Cliff berated angrily.

"Can- can we calm down? Look. This is our first joint operation. Piercing and Warfreakz plus Harker's Soldiers. Erm… do you guys have a name? Oh, and what do you call your group, erm… General sir, Lieutenant… What is he again?" Stanley Vagrant asked in a very shaky voice.

"Small Time Drug Dealers." Cliff answered without hesitating. The group of gangsters who always followed this troubled Cliff was all red from embarrassment.

"Um… Small-Small time drug dealers? Alright… So um… we guys need to unite. This is our first mission, and it's a tough one. We have to-"

"Oh, Shut up, Stanley! You guys are equally as useless as these drug dealers! Of your entire team, only two of you are actually going to join us to battle?"

"The rest have different roles and that is not battle-related. This battle cannot be another Piercing battle. If you think that being strong is enough for this battle, then I don't know what to say to you. I don't need a lecture from some muscle-brained idiot who's the only role in the team is being a masochist." A long-haired, girl with average appearance argued back.

The average appearance of this girl had continuously enraged her as a Pro-Gamer and even as a person. This woman never streamed her games, never cared for her looks, but this average face was well-known throughout the world. If Meryl was the e-sport player that people would kill to have, this was a streamer who many would die for.

AverageLady was her game handle. Confirmed kills in Generals, over 32,000. Only Lowengren was attributed to have killed more than her with his Maneuver during the General's match a few years back. But since Lowengren died, the confirmed kills were not attributed to Lowengren. And so, this woman held the highest record of kills worldwide.

When Lowengren's avatar was killed in-game, the nations that survived assume that Warfreakz was defeated. But who knew that Lowengren had reserved her and kept him alive. And as the war continued, no one noticed that this lone soldier would infiltrate the battlefield of two countries and would kill randomly. In this room full of gamers, none was more respected than her.

"You wanna go, Roselyn? You might be some hotshot in Generals but this is real life and I can easily wipe the floor with you!" Dara rose from her seat.

"You're right… This is real life. And as always, despite your pretty petite face, your rich father, and whatever advantages you have, I'll always be better than you." Roselyn smirked.

Dara raged and moved to attack Roselyn.

At that moment, Cliff stood up and angrily shouted.

"Enough!" Everyone felt as if something was enveloping although they couldn't see anything. The sensation was strange. It was not as if something touched or covered them. But it was as if they were aware that something was there in their own space.

Cliff gave an annoyed look at Dara and a disappointing look towards Roselyn.

"Does it really matter? You guys put so much value in your fame and net worth and blah blah blah…" Cliff started to give a speech.

"But in reality, what do you have? What can fame do to help you? It's annoying that you kids who are smarter and better than me don't understand this basic principle! You still hold these titles valuable? You guys still want to be the strongest person in town? Are you insane?" Cliff exploded.

"I hate being the strongest one among you! I hate being one of the guys you people connect to be on par with Lynd and Meryl and whoever! I hate it all! Every mission I lose a part of myself literally! I even had to kiss a freakin weapons dealer! And the girl that I like believes me to be in some intensive care where my conditions are unstable and I could die at any moment! Don't you know that Harker even prepared what he would say to Charm if I died? He'd just say that the Eradication tech that got me deteriorated my conditions so fast than he can recover! They have a freakin back up plan of what to do when I die! That's how it is if you're as strong as me!" Cliff shouted.

Everyone was silent. Roselyn took her seat in fear of Cliff. They could sense the Realm of Cliff entering theirs. Though they couldn't feel it, they knew that Cliff was everywhere in that room.

"Seeker made me the leader of this trip because I know what's up. I faced one Near Overcomer with the help of the Dragon's Fang. Even then I lost my foot. Now I'm with all of you, and though I know you guys are strong, the strongest among the people we can command, it may not mean anything facing these people called the Overcomers. And here you are bickering of who's the strongest! Should I just let you fight the Overcomer alone! Do you want to take my position! Go ahead! I hope Seeker makes you kiss toad's farts!" Cliff released the fullness of his Reapers Breath.

Suddenly, all the gamers took their seat as they felt a creeping fear warp over them.

"Impossible!" Dara couldn't believe it as she felt the constricting force.

"General… You've grown in your Realm." Tyler spoke.

"Ugh. Already calling me General? I'm still a kid you know? Call someone like Seeker a General." Cliff sighed.

"These are General Harker's orders. I have no choice." Tyler was the only one who was able to remain standing up. Scribs and Earl also remained standing.

"Now if you don't mind. Please stop releasing the breath." Tyler smiled.

Cliff turned around and sat back down.

"I bet your kids learned your lesson. So it looks like, that we soldier have something that's naturally better than gamers. It's being more resistant to fear." Tyler smiled.

Dara's expression turned sour at hearing this.

"Of course… General Cliff is still better. I know why General Harker made us address General Cliff as a General. He is stronger than Harker. And you kids haven't defeated Harker or Lander haven't you? So imagine who strong General Cliff is."

"Off a suit he is." Dara scoffed.

Two of the nearby soldiers started to laugh.

"You got a problem?"

"Sorry, Miss Dara. But you've clearly haven't seen Cliff fight, have you? His daily training regime is to fight five Unlocked piloting Exoskeletons. And sometimes he would have to face either Meryl, Lynd and sometimes even Seeker piloting Exoskeletons."

Dara was stunned silent. Everyone was also surprised.

The Small Time Drug Dealers felt a hint of pride as they puffed their chest up almost advertising the fact that Cliff was their boss.

Of course, none of the Small Time Drug Dealers gloated of this fact to Dara. They knew how terrifying that woman is.

Dara could only give Cliff an angry look. She vowed in herself to be far better.

Cliff felt it and glanced at her and kept the comm device on his hand.

"You know… I was probably someone like you. I thought of myself as someone better. I hated you Royals. I hated those Rising. I wanted power, money, and people to fear me. But I don't know… when you spend time around Seeker and those folks who really have power… power to change the world at their whims…"

Cliff waved and showed everyone where they were.

"Right now, we are on a freakin Sky Satellite. That's their power. And when you begin to finally have an idea as to how strong an Overcomer is… because you have seen them, work with them and even fought against them in what they like to call training exercise which is actually how to make an Unlocked go through near-death experiences…you just begin to question the whole point of life." Cliff sat down once again and took out his comm device.

"You begin to see how pointless it was to yearn for strength because even then, with such power you have, powers like those Overcomers, the haunting fact of those Aragarians, who is far more powerful than these Overcomers will always be a shadow that you would look out too. And with every moment being a moment you know you are wasting… you really begin to regret a lot."

Everyone was silent. They had never thought about that feeling.

Cliff had the opportunity to see how the strongest beings on earth could move the world. Anything they planned of how a nation should or would behave and act, was within their grasps. And yet, this authority and power were but a helpless illusion. Those with the real power on Earth had no power at all.

Everyone on that aircraft was reminded of this fact. With every power they had already gained, the future remained grim.

Dara's gazed weakened as she thought of this. Was her desire to be stronger a petty desire that would lead her to regret in the future?

Everyone began to contemplate their mortality and pondered what they could have been spending their time and efforts on. Some couldn't help but look at Cliff and pondered what regrets this man carried. He had wasted his life on drugs and on the amassing of every form of self-exalting pretenses.

Even the Small Time Drug Dealers could not help but reflect on this matter and sighed.

"I should have slept with her that night..." Cliff wept as he gazed on the comm device.

Everyone wanted to curse out loud.

Cliff felt it and turned angrily at the rest of the crew.

"Alright settle down. We're starting this heavenly meeting. Our mission is to infiltrate one of the World Governing Powers' floating fortress. We are to deploy an Australian EMP bomb right in the center to disable its defenses. There is a possibility that after our attack, an Atlantis will surface. I'm sure you've all been briefed as to what to when that happens. Our main concern, however, is their appearance. If we can knock out that big fortress, other organizations may take advantage of this. And so… we could end up fighting them."

"The Near-Overcomers," Roselyn spoke in fear.

"Yes. That bloody Overcomer. As part of our… erm… graduating gift is that Seeker did not inform me of who this Overcomer is and what his abilities are. So if you die, you die. The Near Overcomer I fought could tear metal with his bare hands. My exoskeleton was basically ripped apart and I got away with my leg ripped off…" Cliff trailed off as the memories of that battle resurfaced.

"Ugh. I don't want to go down there…" Cliff gazed at the direction of where they were supposed to attack.

"How are we going to go there?" The Covenant player Asterisxx asked.

"What do you mean how? Isn't this ship going to bring us there?" Dara asked.

"How? Isn't this ship a Sky Satellite? Wouldn't it be weird if this ship went down? President Colestar had to ask the WGP to launch it up here. If this ship would go down it would be a breach of the agreements made?" Roselyn argued.

"Then how are we going down there?" Danny asked Cliff.

"Easy. No parachutes, as we would be seen, no armed techs or boosters or we might be detected. Also, we will be forcibly dropping our body temps so that we would not be detected on their systems"

"What?" Titan cried as he understood the implications of what Cliff said.

"Didn't you know?" One of the Small Time Drug Dealers asked.

"Oh… They don't, Counter. I haven't told them yet."

"Wait… is that why you three have been so silent?" Titan asked the delinquent named Counter.

"Yes. No wonder you guys look so relaxed! I'm already terrified of the first part of this mission." Another member of Cliff's troupe sighed.

"Don't tell me…"

"Right. You must have guessed it. We jump.." Cliff answered with a blank expression.