Out of habit, Raine scanned the booth, ensuring they hadn’t left anything. He opened the door for the girls and the three of them filed out to find the mayor waiting patiently in the luxuriously decorated hallway.

  These booths are supposed to be anonymous. Obviously that's not the case. Romaxillions always had a stalwart reputation of defending their patrons’ identities. Everything has a price though. When I make a real splash, all bets are off. I’ll have to entice them with something so valuable they won't be interested in betraying me.

  The mayor dipped his head, “Cha-ahem, Expert KongRu. Your winnings.” A tight-stream communication zipped to his watch and Raine gave it the signal to display the details to his optic nerves. For defeating the previous champion, he’d earned a large house in one of the nicer parts of town, two gyms, and two dojos. Additionally, there was a paltry one-point-nine million credits.

  He must have bankrupted himself fighting DyingNight. I should have made him include his virtual assets.

  As for his five percent, it came to a slightly more respectable seven million credits. Raine sent the details of the properties to Celeste. She reviewed them, then looked up at him uncomprehendingly. He grunted a laugh, “You deal with this. Let me know if you have any issues.”

  Her expression twisted and her words were tight with forced politeness, “Managing assets? I was hoping to join you in ZionLine. Clearly, the wealth to be made there goes beyond… real estate management.”

  Raine frowned at her sudden interest. In the past, she didn't re-enter for a month. When she did, she went on a killing spree that never ended. He reminded himself that the family betrayal which pushed her down that dark path hadn’t happened yet. If he guided her carefully, the homicidal nature that lurked just beneath her pretty exterior would become a valuable asset.

  “What level are you?”

  “Zero,” her gaze fell to the floor as she trailed off.

  Raine harrumphed, “Not a chance then. The stuff I’m fighting would kill you with a look.”

  Mel chimed in, raising her hand, “Oh, I’m level zero too! Are you still in Mirror Lake Town?” Her exuberance faded in a flash. Her arm dropped and her shoulders slumped, “I can't play though. Some jerkface broke my headset.”

  Seeing an opportunity to ingratiate herself, Celeste was quick to grab Mel’s hands in hers, “I have a spare headset if you want to use it, and yes, I’m still in Mirror Lake Town. My… house isn't a great place right now. Do you have access to a hyperlink?”

  “Yes!” Mel jumped at the chance, her adorableness so blinding Celeste flinched. “I mean, the hotel I’m at doe-urk!” Celeste yanked Mel to the side of the hallway where they continued the conversation in hushed tones.

  Raine sent a quick message to Morty, then faced the mayor fully, “I have a few minutes. What was on your mind earlier?”

  “Thank you, Expert KongRu! I know there are two gyms now in your possession. I can assure you that Dimitrey’s disciples are quite loyal to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if both those locations were trashed, or even burnt down by the time you get there. If you’re interested, I could send over the corpus to keep an eye on things.”

  “I don’t care about any of that,” Raine waved his hand as if dispelling a foul odor, “Just tell me what you want.”

  Unused to Raine’s straightforward nature, the mayor stumbled over his words, “Uhh, well… I was hoping you would be interested in taking on a more official role as instructor in some of the city's more affluent dojos. And I assure you, the city would bend over backwards to meet any reasonable demands your master may have for allowing their style to be passed on. Obviously, I'm not talking techniques. The thing is, if Carter doesn't increase interest in training, our longevity will only deteriorate further. With a rising star such as yourself at the helm, the common folk will flock to our side!”

  The mayor held his breath while Raine appraised his altruistic, if a bit overly-enthusiastic expression. The man didn’t appear to be lying, but politicians were more adept at the practice than anyone. Trusting his words without seeing his sincerity was out of the equation. On the other hand, there might be some worthwhile recruits hidden in obscurity among the city's dojos and he wouldn’t have long to poach them.

  “I’ll take a look tomorrow. No promises.”

  “Thank you very much, Expert KongRu! If it pleases you, Galant’s Gym is our most premier establishment with state of the art equipment, facilities, and staff.”

  Raine wasn’t interested in what the mayor would consider state of the art, but he had to start somewhere, “Very well. I’ll begin my tour there.”

  “You are most kind. I won’t take more of your time,” with a deeper bow than before, the man scurried off, rounding a corner out of sight.

  The girls were waiting to the side, Mel quivering with excitement while Celeste wore a too-smug grin. Raine narrowed his eyes at them, then headed for the exit, “What did you two decide?”

  They fell in line with him, drawing every eye as they navigated the short distance to the escalators. Mel spoke up first, voice loud with excitement, “The servers are still offline for a couple hours so we’re going to take a nap, meet up at the hotel, then play all night!”

  Raine snorted, “Unnecessary.”

  Their questions came at the same time, “What?”

  “Why?”

  Because after this content update, you'll be able to play while sleeping.

  Verbally, Raine responded with a simple, “You’ll find out soon.”

  Mel once again spoke before Celeste, “O-oh. Okay. Well, I trust you.” She beamed up at him with one of her signature, overpowering smiles.

  Celeste held in a snarl. [Opportunistic hussy sure is quick when she needs to be!]

  “Does that mean you’re okay with me putting off organizing these assets until tomorrow?” Celeste angled to walk a little closer, her bare arm brushing against his suit.

  “That's fine. You can meet me at Galant’s Gym in the morning.”

  “Yes, master,” she drawled, “I don't have anything else in the whole world that might take my attention from waiting on you hand and foot.” [Can't let him suspect I know how much he made tonight.]

  Mel hid a shit-eating grin behind a hand. Raine rolled his eyes at Celeste’s nonsense, “Cancel your other obligations. Or don't. If you want the benefits of working with me, you'll be where I tell you, when I tell you.”

  She pulled her lips to the side as if in thought, “Hmm. I'm not averse to the benefits a champion can provide. You did mention something about more credits than I could possibly imagine. Though, you've yet to offer more than words.”

  Raine accessed his watch and sent her five million credits, “Consider it a sign-on bonus for the information you gave me earlier. Show me what you're capable of for a month, and we'll negotiate a real salary.”

  “That's more like it,” she purred, then leaned forward so she could see Mel around him, “I'll leave first and get the headsets. See you soon.” Celeste veered to the side toward a separate exit ramp, waving over her shoulder.

  Mel called after her with a return wave, “Great! You're the best. No, you're Celeste the best! Bestest Celestest? Grr. That's not good enough.” With the object of her praise out of sight, Mel squeezed Raine's arm, “You should be nicer to her.”

  “Not a chance. Being nice to girls like her will only encourage them to walk all over you. Be careful around her, she's more dangerous than she looks,” his warning earned him a confused, scrunched expression and a glimpse of the tip of her tongue as it poked from between her lips.

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  The trip back to Mel's hotel was refreshing. Raine hadn’t felt truly at ease since waking up in his old, weak body. The launch of ZionLine, gaining an edge and keeping it, while struggling with imperfect ten year old memories and poverty had kept his stress levels tapped out, which wasn’t a bad thing. More and more, he was discovering how much he thrived on the chaos and intensity.

  Better yet, he wasn't weak anymore. His current physical body was certainly still inferior to his past self, but his brain's improved functionality more than made up the difference. Anyone short of a peak master foolish enough to come looking for trouble would find it in spades. Froust—a man he never managed to beat in the past—had learned that the hard way. Others would certainly follow.

  Personal strength aside, Raine had another reason for being over the moon. Mel’s constant cheer and goofiness were a level more exaggerated than he remembered from the past. Likely because this time, her cafe hadn’t been completely robbed from her. She was a joy to be around, yet no good thing lasts forever.

  A block away, she turned to him with a serious look, pink hair flying, “I don’t want to work for you.” She stated bluntly, a hint of fear in her eyes.

  “Okay,” Raine easily agreed, curious where she was going with this.

  “I… you’re not mad?” She tilted her head, searching his face for answers.

  “Nope. Why would I be mad that you’re doing what you want? I assume you have a plan.”

  She nodded vigorously, her excited grin creeping back, “I want to play ZionLine full time and make enough to rebuild dad’s cafe exactly as it was. I could probably get close with the creds I have now, but I don’t want to be broke again. It’s not a stupid idea, is it?” She crossed her fingers, arms, and even her eyes, making a face that had him choking with laughter.

  “No, not at all. It’s a great idea. You’ll make more this way than you would with the old cafe. You can design it from the ground up to support ZL,” Raine lowered his voice conspiratorially, leaning close enough that her mouth fell open and her breath caught, “My job offer was going to be in ZL anyway. You know, in case you change your mind.”

  The hovoursine smoothly glided to a stop and Raine pulled away from her. He didn’t miss the disappointment on her face as he got out and walked around the long flying car. She stepped out slowly when he opened her door and took her hand. Raine’s eyes roamed over every deep shadow as he walked her to the door. She snuck repeated glances at him, an unusual silence hanging over her.

  They locked eyes and she nearly jumped out of her skin, eliciting a bark of laughter from Raine, “What’s gotten into you? If it’s about the job, I really don’t mind either way. I’d only be disappointed if you end up doing something you don’t want to do.”

  She shook her head fiercely, “No, it’s not that. I-I’m nervous about… fighting! Yah, fighting in Zio-ZL. It was really painful last time. Do you have any tips?”

  “Thousands, but nothing’s as important as being brave. If you can’t bring yourself to face your enemy and watch their every move with open eyes, you might as well give up. I wouldn’t worry about that if I was you. I know you have what it takes.”

  She did fine in the past. I know she can do it.

  Somehow, Mel felt like she could feel his faith in her and the strength of it caused her eyes to moisten. [Face my fears. Be brave. Can someone like me really do that? I’m such a weenie that I’m terrified right now! Is this situation any different than facing down a monster? I made it through the tutorial, so I can make it through this, too! Don’t be a cant-aloupe, Melbell, be a can-alope!]

  They reached the doors and Mel spun to face him. Raine’s brows hiked to his hairline when she grabbed his lapels and pulled herself up to kiss him. Her lips were hard, nervousness pulling her mouth tight. Raine leaned back, cupped her cheeks in his hands and started over. Slowly and methodically, he leaned down. Her eyes grew wider the closer he got, and when their lips met again, it was perfect.

  She pulled away this time, blinking up at him with heated breaths, “H-ho-how about a more practical lesson? M-maybe you could show me one of your stances?”

  [Ohmygosh that sounded so much worse out loud! I’m going to diiiiie.]

  Raine’s face was stone as he refused to laugh, “I can think of one. I have to warn you though. It's a very… hard stance.”

  Her heart skipped a full three beats as his words registered. Without making a sound, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Raine, not satisfied with the pace of her short legs, scooped her into his arms. She squealed, the sound striking an instinctive chord in him that demanded his feet move even faster.

  They reached the elevator in a flash, oblivious to the many eyes watching them. With her arms around his neck, Raine had no memory of the elevator ride or stumbling to her room, but he would never forget what came next.

  Raine excused himself in time for Mel to clean up before Celeste arrived. He entered a regular taxi, an unquenchable smile plastered on his face.

  Unfortunately, a short message from Morty dispelled his superlative mood, “Master, as you suspected, there are seven armored vehicles stationed two blocks from the house.”

  “Perfect. You can come, but don't interfere unless I tell you to,” Raine rerouted his taxi, eagerly falling back into the mindset of a warrior.

  “Are you sure?” Morty inquired, “Thermal puts their numbers at forty-three.”

  “Positive. I've been itching for a decent fight since I woke up,” by the time Raine pulled up in front of the black, tinted vehicles, his mental state was perfectly primed for the release of internal force. His fitness wasn't quite ready to fully disable his mental limiters, but it was close.

  Exiting, he stood in the middle of the street with his hands behind his back. Four doors on seven vehicles opened at once. Men and women wearing cheap suits piled out. They spread out in a fan-shaped formation.

  Their leader—a man with a clean-shaven head—eyed Raine critically, “Mr. KongRu. Come quietly and I'm sure we can reach an equitable arrangement.”

  Raine smiled softly, having examined each of their movements as they left their vehicles, “I'm afraid you're unqualified to make that claim. If Juan Pauel Luu Rahn were here in person, then I'd at least be willing to talk.”

  Impressively, the man's face remained impassive as Raine easily guessed who sent them, “I wasn't asking, Mr. KongRu. You'll be joining us one way or another.”

  The night was still young enough for the air to still be warm. It ruffled Raine's air and he greedily breathed it in, relaxing fully into his primed body. He shook his head and slowly moved toward the man. The large group bristled, growing more tense with each step he took, “Sadly for you, I'm new to town and need to set an example to those who come knocking at my door.”

  As one, his assailants reached for weapons and Raine exploded into action. Internal force had his body heat skyrocketing as his foot cracked the ceraphault, sending him jetting forward. He arrived before their leader as the man's hand reached the club at his belt. Raine's shou-dao strike caught him in the chest, the movement too quick for a current-day class three martial to stop. Despite wearing armor, his heart ruptured inside his chest. The sudden increase in pressure through his veins caused blood to gush from his eyes and nose.

  Raine didn't see the results of his strike, he was already onto the third martial by the time the first realized he was dead. He ducked under the woman's machete, escaping the grasping hands and the swing of a club that failed to keep up. Now behind her, his reverse knife-hand chop blasted into the base of her skull. Fueled by internal force, the blow turned her brain to jelly and severed her spine.

  She fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The next four died just as swiftly, their mundane weapons and abysmal speed leaving them helpless against his perfected body control and decades of combat experience. From the corner of his eye, Raine spotted a flash of dark metal and his instincts screamed danger. He dove as an extremely illegal pistol released a high-pitched whine that sent fine hairs standing at attention.

  The flechette round (A dart-shaped projectile) tore through air, cloth, flesh, and an armored car with deplorable ease. It finally stopped inside a nearby duracrete building after punching through several walls strong enough to shrug off an auto collision.

  Sliding across the ground, Raine grabbed someone's leg and used it to redirect his momentum toward the gunman. A slap to the ground threw his weight two meters into the air, dodging the next shot. The roadway exploded behind him, shrapnel taking out windows and eyes. Nobody tried to get in his way as he dashed toward the man. All of their expressions held horror that one of theirs had a weapon that would not only guarantee the end of their lives, but also leave their entire city facing unimaginable consequences.

  Raine landed and the gun shifted to follow. He looked straight down its barrel, unblinking. His focus crystalized on the man’s fingers squeezing the trigger. All distractions faded away to nothing. Flesh twitched, and Raine sidestepped. His mastery over the martial technique was lacking compared to in ZionLine, but it was close enough. He moved so fast he vanished from normal sight, appearing three steps to the side.

  The gun whined as it released a flechette at four thousand meters per second, (over ten times faster than old-age bullets.) While Raine could move his body quicker than a normal person could imagine, the laws of physics could not be completely denied. His clothes trailed behind and the corner of his new jacket was struck.

  Unlike the other materials the flechettes had so far come in contact with, the armored cloth from Shillids didn't even tear. Still, the force yanked at his body, spinning him in a circle multiple times as he continued toward the man. He bent his knees, gravity bringing him low. Fingers dug painfully into the ceraphalt street to slow his wild rotation. Unable to see through the blurring of the landscape, Raine leaned entirely on battle-honed instincts and leaped. He spun through the air with the last of his momentum, his foot connecting with the side of the gunman’s head. Combined with internal force, his armored shoes did exactly what they were designed to do and the other half of the man's skull shattered, spraying gore across the ground.

  The pistol clattered to the street. He didn’t dare touch the weapon. None of them did. Already, its appearance guaranteed that a grandmaster would be paying their insignificant city a visit. There wasn’t a sane person alive who wanted to consign their entire family to death by allowing its metal to graze their fingers.

  “Morty, contact the mayor and the corpus,” Raine’s voice was dripping with threat as he returned his attention to the terrified assailants surrounding him, “Tell them I’ve killed the traitors of humanity. The vodcast of their execution will be arriving momentarily.” The night air filled with the screams of the dying, drowning out the AI's confirmation.

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