Flatbread studied Cola's expression before shaking his head helplessly.
"Man, you're still way too obsessed with fighting."
"It's always about the thrill of combat with you. I swear, those chainswords have you completely hooked."
"But..."
He suddenly remembered something.
A mischievous smile spread across his face.
"Speaking of which, I've noticed that Neve Theodore from the Third Secretariat of the Garden of Dawn's General Affairs Office seems pretty interested in you."
Cola's ears instantly turned red.
"Bro! Don't start making stuff up!"
"Making stuff up?"
Flatbread's grin widened.
"Every time she sees you, she blushes right up to her ears."
"You think I haven't noticed?"
"Neve Theodore."
"Long, golden-white hair. Beautiful blue eyes. Always wearing that black administrative secretary uniform..."
"She's practically the perfect Imperial noble beauty."
"And her father's General Roger Theodore of the Dawn Defense Force."
"If you manage to win her over, I guarantee you'll make a whole bunch of the new Crimson Dawn players jealous as hell."
"Just so you know, plenty of talented young men from Crimson Dawn are already pursuing her. Some of them are players, too."
"So if somebody else sweeps her off her feet, don't come crying to me afterward."
Cola's face turned even redder.
He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but eventually just shook his head.
"Come on, bro. Stop messing with me."
"She's General Roger's daughter..."
"And I'm... I'm just some loser who plays video games."
"So what if she's General Roger's daughter?"
Flatbread immediately cut him off.
"General Roger used to be a miner from the Redblaze Wasteland."
"Crimson Dawn gave him everything he has today. Why shouldn't his daughter marry a warrior of Crimson Dawn?"
"Besides, her father's a pretty open-minded guy."
Cola remained silent for a while.
When he finally spoke again, his voice had grown serious.
"Bro."
"I really do envy what you guys have."
"But I still love my bolter and chainsword more."
He tapped the steering wheel with his power-armored hands.
"As long as I've got these, I feel at peace."
"As for women..."
"That can wait."
"Besides, this is a game. Somebody's gotta enjoy the fighting."
"Otherwise, who's going to protect you guys and your families?"
"Somebody has to make sure you can all come home and spend time with the people you love."
Flatbread looked at him.
He saw the determination in Cola's eyes and realized there was no point trying to change his mind.
So he simply smiled.
"Fair enough. You've got your priorities."
"Now drive."
Cola took a deep breath and started the engine.
The Chimera rumbled to life and began traveling along the broad road toward the center of the Garden of Dawn.
Rows of magnificent villas stretched along both sides of the road.
The scenery swept past their windows.
Every property was identical, a [Player Personal Home (Standard Model)] purchased from the system store.
Each was a detached three-story villa with its own courtyard, garden, and garage.
[Price: 1,500,000 Imperial Coins]
[Features: Portable and deployable anywhere. Durable enough to withstand direct hits from light artillery. Includes a compact life-support system and integrated storage space.]
[Note: Owning portable real estate in the Warhammer universe? Only you lunatics of the Fourth Scourge could pull something like this off.]
All kinds of vehicles were parked outside the villas.
Chimeras.
Rhinos.
Even a few Land Raiders.
And every vehicle displayed the same emblem.
A rising sun.
Wheat stalks.
Gears.
Stars.
These homes belonged to the players of Crimson Dawn.
Through some open windows, families could be seen enjoying breakfast together.
Outside other houses, neighbors stood chatting in small groups.
Children chased one another through gardens, their laughter drifting through the cool morning breeze.
It was a peaceful, heartwarming scene.
Anyone witnessing it would have struggled to believe that such a place existed in the Warhammer 40K universe.
Yet this was the miracle Crimson Dawn had brought to the grim darkness of the far future.
Flatbread leaned back and watched the villas pass by.
Four and a half years.
A lot could happen in that amount of time.
The original Crimson Dawn players who had once spent their days mining on Planet Dal had now put down roots on this world.
Some had chosen to continue fighting, pursuing increasingly powerful enhancements in their quest to become stronger Astartes warriors.
Others had laid down their weapons and started families.
Some had chosen both paths. After having children, they'd reconstructed themselves as Astartes again, fighting during the day and returning home to their wives and kids at night.
Others had focused on their careers, taking administrative positions throughout the Garden of Dawn.
And some simply wanted to relax.
They finished their daily mining quotas, returned to their little villas, and spent the rest of their time growing flowers and tending their gardens.
Some worked themselves to the bone.
Others took it easy.
Some married and raised children.
Others remained single.
Everyone had chosen a different path through life.
But regardless of the choices they'd made, this place had become something more than a game world.
It had become another home.
Flatbread gazed out the window.
"Man, four and a half years went by just like that."
His voice was quiet, filled with emotion.
"These past few years have given me something I never experienced in reality."
"The warmth of having a family."
"Aria, Sunny, Charlie, and little Nora, who's only just learning to walk..."
"Every time I come home and see them, I know everything's been worth it."
Cola nodded.
He didn't interrupt, keeping his attention on the road.
Flatbread continued.
"And it's not just our lives that have changed. The game's gone through countless updates over these past few years."
"The character information panel is much more detailed now."
"We've got individual stats for strength, speed, mental power, physique, and willpower."
"There's a world chat channel shared by all three factions."
"And they've increased the player limit again."
"Every update makes this game feel less like a game and more like..."
He paused.
His expression became complicated.
"Another world."
"Another two hundred thousand people from reality have been given access."
"That brings the total player population to three hundred and five thousand."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"And thanks to our recruitment efforts, ninety thousand of those two hundred thousand newcomers have decided to join Crimson Dawn."
"Planet Dal has changed, too."
"Thanks to everything we've built, a world that used to be barren is gradually becoming prosperous."
He gestured toward the beautiful villas passing outside.
"These houses. These facilities. Everything we've created with our own hands..."
"For some of us, there are people and things in this game that we genuinely can't bear to lose."
Flatbread lowered his gaze toward his hands.
Hands that had once done little more than type on a keyboard.
Now they'd held bolters.
They'd wielded chainswords.
And they'd held the tiny hands of his own children.
A moment later, his expression grew serious.
"But with what's coming, I think it's almost time for me to put my Iron Hands power armor back on."
His voice was calm, yet it carried the unmistakable resolve of a warrior.
Cola's expression changed immediately.
He kept his eyes on the road, but his voice grew grave.
"We received news from the Imperial faction about six months ago."
"They failed to prevent Horus from falling to Chaos."
"Even though they took Sejanus to Davin ahead of time and prepared an ambush, it still didn't change anything."
Flatbread frowned.
"But Sejanus survived, didn't he?"
"Wasn't he supposed to stop Abaddon and Little Horus?"
Cola shook his head.
"It wasn't that he couldn't stop them."
"Sejanus never even got the chance to meet the Warmaster."
"Those Chaos faction players interfered with everything. They were like a pack of rabid dogs."
"Abaddon and Little Horus completely ignored Loken, even though the Imperial faction players had managed to keep him involved as a member of the Mournival."
"Instead, they listened to Erebus's manipulation and took Horus straight into the Serpent Lodge."
His voice grew even heavier.
"And before the incident on Davin, those Imperial faction players had already tried all kinds of things."
"They actually killed Eugen Temba several times."
"But somehow, every time Temba died, he'd be back at the governor's residence on Davin the very next day."
"Nobody could figure out how."
"And whenever an Imperial faction player tried to warn Horus not to go to Davin, some mysterious curse would strike them."
"Their bodies would rot away until they died."
"They even tried to assassinate that piece of shit Erebus."
"But those attempts failed, too."
"That bastard's luck was just too ridiculous."
Cola tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"It was almost like some invisible hand was correcting everything."
"Undoing every change we players were trying to make."
For a while, neither man spoke.
Only the low rumble of the Chimera's engine and the wind rushing past the windows could be heard.
Flatbread looked out at the thriving Garden of Dawn.
At the beautiful white villas.
At the children running through the morning sunlight.
At the smiling people going about their peaceful lives.
When he finally spoke, his voice was filled with determination.
"Yeah."
"Looks like this world is going to face a terrible war after all."
He paused, his gaze drifting into the distance.
"The Emperor wants to save humanity in his own way."
"But Horus believes the Emperor deceived everyone."
"He thinks the future the Four Chaos Gods showed him was the result of the Emperor's rule."
"But in reality, those visions showed what would happen after Horus launched his rebellion."
Cola's mouth twitched.
"The Four Gods took black and called it white."
"And Horus actually believed them."
"Then the whole galaxy started burning."
Flatbread's gaze settled on the villas outside.
His voice turned cold.
"Heh."
"I don't care whether it's the Emperor or Horus."
"The Chaos faction or the Imperial faction."
"Nobody gets to destroy the hope and happiness Crimson Dawn has created."
He turned toward Cola.
"So, Paul called us together this time because..."
Cola nodded.
His expression was solemn.
"There's a reason Crimson Dawn only provided support to the Imperial faction during the Davin incident six months ago."
"A reason we didn't intervene directly."
"We knew the critical moment was approaching."
He paused and lowered his voice.
"And now..."
"It's almost time."
--
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