Tales of the Endless Empire - Chapter 10: The Next Day

In the year 2100, global warming has long since made the Earth's natural surface uninhabitable with a new ice age. Humanity takes refuge in huge, closed cities, but life is difficult. Video games are the opium of the people, letting them escape the chaos of life in immense metropolises.

In 2100, the first fully immersive VRMMORPG, "Horus," was released, and the world changed! Entirely coded by an independent AI, "Horus" made all other games look meaningless by comparison.

Megacorporations quickly monopolized on the wealth "Horus" allowed its players to amass, and soon people like Alexander were spending their lives slaving away to make money for the companies who employed them.

But on the day Alexander died of exhaustion, collapsing in his gaming booth...

...He woke up, alive, nine years earlier.

One day before "Horus's" launch.

"This time, I'll do it right! I know everything that's going to happen! I'll become the strongest, and no one will take advantage of me again!"


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///This work takes place in an MMORPG whose main goal is the exploration and conquest of space.///

///my two main inspirations are: The Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God and the Legendary Mechanic.///

///I care about the coherence of the story, even if the theme of overpowering is present, it is thanks to the reflexive and opportunistic choices of the MC and not a chance to come out of nowhere. ////

The smell of blood invaded my nostrils. I watched helplessly as the woman standing over me raised her sword. I was completely drained, I had no mana left, no items, nothing. As the crimson tendrils held me down by my arms and legs, all I could do was wait for my death.

As the sword drew near, I felt the last bit of courage I had disappear. I was going to die. Alone. In this god forsaken place filled with evil. And for what? To protect those ‘friends’? The same people who mocked me, took advantage of, and used me?

Oh, who am I trying to fool? I was here only because of my own greed. Because I wanted to be useful to someone. Because I wanted to that group to need me. To value me. To have a reason to keep me around. How naïve I was, thinking that power would grant those wishes. All it did was help build a wall between me and everyone else.

The sword approached. I saw the purple light reflect off the sword’s blade. After everything I went through, I hadn’t expected my death to be by the hands of another player. I saw her smile, but this time I didn’t think it was beautiful. It was an ugly smile because it was genuine. She was enjoying watching me die. She was enjoying killing me.

The sword struck my chest and pierced my heart. I let out a scream of pain and agony. The pain was so real, all of this was so real. It shouldn’t be, but it was. What should have been a simple game had become my new reality – all of our new reality. A reality filled with magic, war, blood, and death.

My vision darkened as the pain slowly faded. I felt the last of my vitality leave my body. It felt cold. I wondered to myself, when would I stop being? When would my thoughts disappear?

Soon, I saw those words I feared for all this time appear before me. “DEATH”, in the pale blue font the game always used. They remained suspended in the air for several seconds. It was over. After a long time of fighting, grinding, and exploring, it was finally over. I had died. This was the end of my story.

Suddenly, words before me shifted and changed into something different. I took a shallow breath as I heard a faint heartbeat.

……………………………………………………………

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Possessing the power of the demonic path, he follows a cultivation method that absorbs the essence of heaven and earth and seizes the spirit of all beings.Yet this power invites endless enmity, shunned by the heavenly way and despised by righteous sects. His sect is destroyed, and he barely escapes with his life.By chance, he acquires a mysterious blood mirror that opens a portal to an apocalyptic world overrun by zombies.On this world, he can freely sacrifice zombies without facing divine retribution; instead, he gains boundless merit and luck!Freed from the restraints of the heavenly way, his lifespan and cultivation soar to unimaginable heights, rivaling even the heavens.True demonic cultivation is not just the pinnacle of power—it is the path to defy fate and reshape destiny!

There was once a hero.

Unique black hair. Excellent eyes. Contrary to his delicate features, he who had abnormal strength was called the Otherworldy Hero.

At the hero’s long adventure (up to the point where his wooden sword that had been kindly granted to him by the king was replaced by the holy sword blessed by the holy maiden) he saved the prince that had been kidnapped by the demon king, and so the kingdom was swept by worry.

The hero’s strength that could fell the demon king was deemed too dangerous to leave unrestrained.

One advisor spoke up. Why not marry him to royalty?

The king thought that was a viable option. Family, to an alien from another world would be the best of chains. There was one problem. The king was abundantly blessed with sons and had princes galore, but not a single daughter.

Ho, and it wasn’t like I could marry off two boys.

At a burst of inspiration the king slapped his knee.

That was it!

You just had to turn a prince into a princess!

And so the hero ended up in a position to be marrying a man.

This story, is a tale of the aforementioned otherworldly hero, and his bride, the former-prince-now-princess and their ridiculously hilarious marriage.