《Awaken Online - Conception (A FanFic)》 Chapter One Chapter One November 27, 2076 - 4 days before release Chris woke up in utter darkness with a splitting headache. ¡°What happened last night?¡± He muttered into the nothingness, reaching a hand out to the dark for the lamp switch next to his bed. He switched on the light and winced against the sudden brightness illuminating the mess around his bed. He glanced around his tiny quarter-split micro-apartment and his mouth tightened into a line. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Chris groggily recalled the night before as he sat up and pulled off the clothes he had fallen asleep in. He had been up all night playing the popular fantasy MMORPG Vorpal Blades and had finally passed out, fully dressed, just before dawn. Chris glanced at the time on his Core before slipping it off and heading into the bathroom shower attached to his kitchen area. He sighed and stepped into the shower. It was late, and he¡¯d slept almost the entire day away, although this wasn¡¯t especially unusual for him. Chris spent a lot of time playing Vorpal Blades, farming the most difficult dungeons for loot that he could then sell on RogueNet, the legal MMO item exchange website. He didn¡¯t make a lot of money but he¡¯d been doing it for several years now and since he was pretty good at it, it was enough to pay his bills. The lights flickered to life as Chris moved from the shower to his bed a few feet away, toweling himself off. The apartment was very small, essentially a single room with a bathroom duct-taped to one side. Housing throughout the city was becoming more and more scarce, and home owners had started to take advantage of this by putting up extra walls to build quarter-splits. Splitting a single moderately sized apartment up into four micro-apartments. The bed, kitchenette, and a living room sofa all took up the same single space. Chris pulled on some clean clothes and waved his hand over his old and battered personal pedestal. A semi-transparent digital keyboard flickered into life and a digital screen hovered above it. Chris started tapping away at the keyboard, flipping back and forth between several windows. Many of them were filled with columns of item names and prices - loot from Vorpal Blades that Chris was selling on RogueNet. Though even more of the rows were simple listings for large amounts of gold. Chris transferred the money that he¡¯d earned from the website into his bank account and his mouth tightened as he checked his total balance. ¡°Barely enough to pay for the electrical this month,¡± he said finally, closing out most of the open windows on the screen and leaning back in his chair. ¡°But what else is new.¡± A knock at the door interrupted Chris¡¯s moment of self-reflection. ¡°Hello?¡± He called out while moving towards the door. A female voice called out through the door. ¡°Chris! Hey, it¡¯s me!¡± Chris pulled the door open and was immediately swept up in a hug. ¡°Oh!¡± He smiled and gently unwrapped his sister¡¯s arms from his neck. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you too.¡± Lily laughed and walked past her brother into the kitchen area. ¡°I can¡¯t stay long, I have to go meet some friends.¡± She pulled open a cupboard and peered inside, then pulled out a box of cereal. ¡°I actually have a favor to ask though.¡± She popped open the top of the cereal and shoved a handful of the crunchy food into her mouth.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Money?¡± Chris tried not to let the disappointment hang on his face. He was starting to get used to these visits, and Lily barely even made small-talk anymore before asking for cash. ¡°Lily you know I barely have enough to pay rent these days.¡± ¡°Really? Well I don¡¯t need much, just a few thousand. I kinda borrowed some money from a guy and it¡¯s not really that big of a deal, but I know he owes another guy and if my marker goes up the chain it might get," she dropped her gaze to the floor. "Well, maybe kinda ugly.¡± ¡°Is this¡­¡± Chris pulled the cereal box from Lily¡¯s hands and noticed the way she immediately grabbed her wrist, rubbing the tendons lightly. ¡°Lily is this for Sarcoline? I thought you were done with that stuff. Is that why you¡¯re so cool right now? Are you high?¡± ¡°What, no! I¡¯m totally done with that. No, I just made a bad bet. I thought it was a sure thing but it kinda went sideways. I¡¯m not taking anything, I¡¯m totally clean.¡± ¡°I suppose this guy won¡¯t take credits?¡± ¡°Yeah, only cash. You know how these people are.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really have cash around. Especially not that much. If you can wait a few days that new game I told you about, Awaken Online, is coming out. The first few days of a new game are always the best for me to sell stuff. The other people who are just starting out are always willing to pay for a little boost to get ahead.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you make money doing this. It¡¯s kinda ridiculous that you can play video games for a living.¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not really much of a living,¡± he laughed and gestured around himself at the tiny, dingy apartment.¡± Lily smiled softly. ¡°It¡¯s better than living on the streets,¡± she replied under her breath, then looked up and put on a bigger smile, ¡°Hey, this place isn¡¯t so bad!¡± ¡°Oh, I want to show you something before you go.¡± Chris sat down on the floor and pulled forth a small grey box which was attached to his old pedestal by a handful of wires running into the base. ¡°Speaking of bets, I won this last week. It doesn¡¯t look like much, and I never actually expected it to work, but this little guy should be pulling in around a grand every month for us.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Lily¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Is this another one of your gaming things?¡± ¡°Sort of. It¡¯s running a modified version of the Vorpal Blades game client, with a bunch of scripts and programs running so it automatically farms the in-game gold and then sends it to a different character that I control. Then I sell the gold on RogueNet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s that legal? I mean I know you¡¯re allowed to sell gold and items on that site, but I thought running those automatic systems was outlawed.¡± ¡°No, it was. This thing is totally illegal, but it¡¯s such old tech that it¡¯s much harder to trace on the modern network. I honestly don''t even know how this machine is still running. And it¡¯s got all sorts of.. I don¡¯t know. Sub-routines I guess? There¡¯s a bunch of software to make it undetectable. You know I¡¯m not an engineer, I don¡¯t know anything about how these things work, but it¡¯s definitely working. I¡¯ve had it running for a few days now and it¡¯s solid. It¡¯s not very much, but it¡¯s making money.¡± ¡°Chris, that¡¯s awesome!¡± ¡°Yeah, so between this and whatever I can get in the first week of Awaken Online, I think we should be able to cover this debt that you owe.¡± ¡°Yeah. About that. I better get going, I''m gonna be late.¡± She scratched absently at her wrist and headed toward the door. ¡°Lily, wait.¡± Chris grabbed a jar from the kitchen and pulled out a handful of bills. ¡°I don¡¯t keep very much cash around, but here.¡± ¡°Chris, it''s..." Lily frowned for a moment and hestitated, before finally taking the money from his hand. "Thanks. I really appreciate everything you do for me.¡± Lily forced a smiled and closed the door behind her. Interstice 1 Interstice 1 Lily hides her face in her hands and rocks back on her heels. She¡¯s leaning against a brick wall outside of an electronics store and muttering quietly but furiously. ¡°Why did I do this, why did I do this, why am I here, why am I doing this,¡± the words are tumbling out of her faster than her tongue can keep up, and she stumbles over them, muttering and stuttering in a fast anti-rhythm. She stops talking immediately when the steel door next to her slips open and two men emerge, carrying pillow cases full of machines and small boxes of electronics. Both of them are wearing dark woolen masks over their faces.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Good girl,¡± one says with a smirk. He sets the filled pillow case on the ground next to the door. ¡°We¡¯ve only got about six more minutes before the security system and the cameras kick back in.¡± The man pulls a small pistol from his jacket pocket and holds it out for her, his eyes searching her face. ¡°You want your score? I need you to do more than just act the look-out this time.¡± Chapter Two Chapter Two November 30, 2076 - 1 day before release Chris trudged down the sidewalk, a large bag of groceries in his arms. His mind had been preoccupied with Lily¡¯s problems, and he had spent the last few days trying to come up with ways to help her. Since their parents had disappeared he had tried to take care of her as best he could, but there was only so much you could do. If he hadn¡¯t already been running his little video game ¡°side hustle¡± as a teenager, they would probably both be on government assistance, scrapping coupons just to eat. The slight ping-pong sound of the ¡®walk¡¯ signal pulled him out of his reverie, and Chris trundled across the street. At least Awaken Online was releasing tomorrow, and that should give them some relief. If they¡¯re lucky, he¡¯d be able to pay off Lily¡¯s debt, and that might make the air a little easier to breathe. He smiled a little and turned off the sidewalk, up onto the first steps of his apartment complex. He trips over a person sitting on the steps, listening to headphones. Chris¡¯s bag of groceries flew out of his hands and scattered his apples, peanut butter, and boxes of mac and cheese all over the steps and sidewalk. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry!¡± His sister said. ¡°I was listening to music and wasn¡¯t paying attention, gosh!¡± She pulled her headphones down around her neck and picked up the paper grocery bag. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay.¡± Chris said. He watched one of his apples roll out onto the street and promptly get flattened by a passing driverless car. He nudged his chin toward the sticky mess on the road. ¡°I couldn¡¯t afford applesauce, so really you did me a favour there.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Lily tossed a box of mac and cheese between her hands, looking agitated. Her eyes darted between Chris and the box in her hands. ¡°I was waiting for you, I should have been watching.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Chris said. ¡°I¡¯ve got it all back in the bag, nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°Hey, can we talk for a minute?¡± Lily looked up at him and pulled on a strand of hair. ¡°Sure,¡± Chris pulled his door key from his pocket. ¡°Come on inside.¡± Lily glanced at the door and a strange expression crossed her face. ¡°Wait,¡± she said and sat down on the step abruptly. ¡°Let¡¯s talk here for a minute.¡± ¡°Lily, come on.¡± Chris said with a forced laugh. He tossed her a blueberry muffin before pushing his key into the lock and opening the door. ¡°I don¡¯t want to sit out on the front step, this bag is heavy.¡± Chris left the front door open and walked up the short flight up stairs to his apartment. He looked back and saw Lily reluctantly following behind him. She seemed distracted, and was twisting her fingers around her left wrist in a motion as if she were spinning a bracelet. She spotted Chris looking back at her and immediately dropped her hands to her sides. Chris¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed this, well aware that itchy wrists was a clear sign of Sarcoline withdrawal. He wondered if he really was doing as much as he could for her. He started to think about how much they had both changed since their parents disappeared, and in his distraction he reached out and completely missed the doorknob. Chris shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and reached out again. This time, he noticed that the entire door handle had been broken off. A moment later he realized that his apartment door was slightly open, and broken.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Chris, wait.¡± Lily said, her tone pleading for him to back away from the door. ¡°Lily stay back,¡± Chris said, his face dropping quieter. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Lily sobbed into her hands. Her knees gave out and she sank to the floor, crying. Chris frowned and pushed the door forward. Was Lily responsible for this? Well, he didn¡¯t have time to think about that right now. The door eased open and Chris saw two men standing in the middle of his small apartment. Having clearly overheard Chris and Lily from inside the room, they stood facing the door. They were each wearing dark masks with only their eyes exposed, and one held a small handgun, pointed casually at Chris. ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to be home yet.¡± The gunman snarled. ¡°Don¡¯t try to be a hero.¡± ¡°Woah hey, it¡¯s okay.¡± Chris said, raising his hands and stepping slowly into the room. He motioned for Lily to stay put, but with her face buried in her hands and her sobbing, he wasn¡¯t sure if she noticed. The gunman jerked his chin towards the other man, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He motioned with his gun towards the door. The other man leaned down and picked up a cardboard box from the floor, then walked out the front door. As the man passed him, Chris saw his new Vorpal Blades auto-farming computer was disassembled and lay in the box. Chris frowned and bit his bottom lip, holding his tongue. That was a good chunk of his monthly income they were stealing, but Chris knew better than to fight someone with a gun. At least they couldn¡¯t steal his pedestal as it was built-in to the apartment. The man with the gun locked eyes with Chris as he moved toward the door. ¡°Thanks Lily, we¡¯ll be seeing ya,¡± he said and was gone. Lily shakily rose from the floor and stepped into the apartment. She pushed the door closed, and the broken handle slapped pathetically against the frame. ¡°Chris, I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she started. ¡°Stop,¡± Chris said. He was staring at the middle of the room where the men had been and suddenly realized that his fists were clenched, his knuckles white with the tension. He exhaled sharply and opened his hands. ¡°Tell me the truth, Lily. You¡¯re taking sarcoline.¡± Lily¡¯s gaze turned downward and her voice went quiet. ¡°Yes. I owed them money. I helped them with a job to try to pay it back but¡­ things didn¡¯t go well.¡± Chris glanced up and saw tears forming in her eyes once more. Lily sat down at the kitchen table. ¡°They said they would kill me,¡± she said. ¡°Okay,¡± he said with an eerie calmness. ¡°Chris, I have a problem.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m going to help you.¡± Lily looked up abruptly. ¡°What? You¡¯re not angry?¡± ¡°No. Yes.¡± Chris grimaced. ¡°Of course I¡¯m angry, Lily! You just lost me thousands of credits per month. There¡¯s no way I can replace that thing!¡± He sighed and sat down in the chair next to her. ¡°But you¡¯re my sister. I know this isn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Chris, I-¡± ¡°Are you even with them now? Do you still owe them anything?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s it, I¡¯m settled.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Chris said. ¡°I have some money saved up. Legal credits, not cash. Enough to send you into therapy. If you really want to get well, you¡¯ll do this.¡± Lily nodded and jumped up from the chair, throwing her arms around him. ¡°I¡¯ll do it! I will!¡± ¡°You need to do this for me,¡± Chris said. He paused for a moment, his sister sobbing lightly into his chest. Chris frowned, remembering that she¡¯s said all of this before. Although, last time he didn¡¯t have the money to get her professional assistance. Maybe this time he can finally come through for his baby sister in a way their parents never could. Chris looked around at the mess of his apartment. Chairs were smashed, his bed was thrown up against the wall. All of his cupboards and drawers were pulled out and dumped on the floor. His small amount of savings was intended for emergencies, so he could pay his rent, buy food, keep everyone off his back. Now that he was using it all up for Lily¡­ His mind turned back to the release of Awaken Online. If he couldn¡¯t turn things around in AO tomorrow, he would have much bigger problems to deal with. Interstice 2 Interstice 2 Lily enters the electronics store holding the gun in one hand. She regards it as one would an infant; with a mixture of fear and wonder. Mostly fear. The man in front of her pulls another gun from his coat and holds it at his side in a casual but practiced manner. He''s clearly no stranger to using weapons. They enter the store and he immediately points to a door near the back. ¡°The manager¡¯s office is back there.¡± He says. ¡°With the way we fried the power in this place, his safe should be open. Go empty it.¡± Lily hesitates. ¡°But why do I need a gun,¡± she asks. ¡°Stop wasting time!¡± The man snarls. ¡°We¡¯re down to six minutes, just go!¡± Lily rushes to the back of the room and through the door. She quickly finds the office safe in a corner next to a large managerial desk and squats down on the floor next to it. She sets the gun down on the floor, eager to be rid of it, and starts pushing large paperbound wads of cash into the pillow case. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The case is about half full when Lily realizes how strange this situation is. Why would the manager of an electronics store would have so much cash on hand? She looks down at the stack of bills in her hand. Where did this come from? Hardly anyone uses cash anymore, even though it¡¯s still perfectly legal currency. She runs her fingers along the stiff paper, ruffling the stack. She could do a lot with this money, and the others wouldn¡¯t need to know. She starts to move the bills down into her coat pocket, but as she¡¯s about to pull the zipper open a loud braying sound barks out from overhead. The noise startles her and she drops the stack onto the floor. Lily looks up as the lights overhead change to a deep red. A whirring sound draws her gaze back to the office door and she spots a small security drone floating in the air in the doorway. It clicks and whirrs and a single bright glass lens on the front twitches into focus, directly on her startled face. ¡°Oh. This is not good.¡± Chapter Three Chapter Three October 1, 2076 - Release day Chris stepped out of the rain onto the steps of his apartment building and glanced up at the dirty window three floors above. His little home. He walked up the stairs to his room and looked around at the mess of his tiny apartment. Cleaning all of this was going to be a lot of work. He shook his head at the situation and hoisted the paper bag of supplies up to the kitchen counter, not noticing the small tear in the bottom which caught on the edge of the counter and ripped open completely, spilling his newly purchased tools and equipment on the floor. He laughed at his own misfortune and shrugged at the mess, ¡°Seems like every time I come home lately I¡¯m dumping a bag of something on the floor.¡± His laugh faded into a sigh as he leaned down and started cleaning up. An hour later he had most of the place swept and the broken furniture stacked in a pile near the front door. At least in such a small space there wasn¡¯t a whole lot of stuff to break, he conceded. Chris grabbed an electric screwdriver from his pile of tools and got to work installing a new deadbolt on his front door. He muttered to himself that he shouldn¡¯t have put off getting one of those for so long, especially in an area like this. It might not have stopped those guys, but it could have at least pissed them off a little. He was standing in the open doorway, half out in the hallway drilling into the doorframe, when a delivery girl emerged cautiously from the stairwell. She glanced at him first, sizing him up, then he saw her eyes flick to the numbers on each of the suite doors one by one, finally stopping on his. ¡°Chris?¡± she asked. He nodded and she continued. ¡°I have a package for you.¡± She paused for a moment as his eyes dropped down to her empty hands. ¡°Oh,¡± she said with a tinkling laugh. ¡°It¡¯s down in the truck still! It¡¯s pretty big and I didn¡¯t want to bring it all the way up here if you weren¡¯t home.¡± She turned and half-sprinted back to the stairwell. Chris watched her leave and stared at the peeling wallpaper in the building hallway. He really needed to save up some more money and move away from this place, even the delivery people were scared to walk down the hallway. But the rent was static, and he was already here. It¡¯s hard to move away when you can¡¯t save up enough for a deposit.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The girl returned a few minutes later just as Chris was finished with installing the deadbolt. She had a large box in her hands, plastered with the Cerillion Entertainment logo on each side. Even if he could have afforded it Chris never had much interest in owning one of their VR headsets before, but after Awaken Online was announced he and every other gamer on the planet couldn¡¯t wait to get their hands on one. Chris had started saving to buy it since the game was first announced, and that gave him several years of cash saved by the time the game was finally available to pre-order a few months ago. The delivery girl handed the package to him and grinned. ¡°You must have bought this for AO, huh? All I¡¯ve been delivering all day is this headset to everyone! Seriously, my whole truck is just full of these boxes right now. Man, you¡¯re lucky. I can¡¯t wait for my shift to end so I can play too.¡± Chris did a small double-take, ¡°You play MMOs too?¡± he asked, turning and setting the box down just inside the door. ¡°Hell yeah!¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been playing games since basically forever. My grandma got me hooked on RPGs when I was little. My parents weren¡¯t around much and they left me at home alone, so she was kinda like a remote babysitter through the games we played.¡± Her wide smile faded and she laughed nervously, ¡°And now I¡¯m oversharing! Sign here please!¡± She smiled and held the Core on her wrist up to Chris, while handing him a stylus from her coat pocket. ¡°Half our delivery team booked today off so they could get a head start.¡± She shook her head wistfully as Chris signed the delivery notice on the small screen hovering over her Core. She accepted her stylus back from him. ¡°Can you believe they booked it like two years ago!¡± She said with a snort. ¡°I wish I¡¯d thought of that. I¡¯d be lying down at home right now instead of running around making deliveries like a chump!¡± She laughed again and Chris felt his cheeks get warm as the sound tinkled in his ears like music. ¡°I guess you¡¯re not working today?¡± she asked. Chris looked sheepish for a moment and hesitated, unsure how to answer. Finally he met her gaze. ¡°No. No work today,¡± he said. The girl tucked the stylus away in her jacket and started to turn away. ¡°Good luck in the game, maybe I¡¯ll see you in there!¡± She said over her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be wild!¡± Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Character Status
Name: Chris Gender: Male
Level: 1 Class: -
Race: Human Alignment: Neutral Good
Fame: 0 Infamy: 0
Health: 100 H/Sec: 0.30
Mana: 140 M/Sec: 1.45
Stamina: 110 S/Sec: 1.10
Str: 13 Dex: 10
Vit: 10 End: 12
Int: 11 Will: 15
Chris took aim at the slightly glowing green slime and let loose a blast of water shaped like a spear. It erupted from his fingers and pierced through the blob, splattering green ooze across the grass. He had been murdering whatever low-level monsters he could find in the forest around his starting village of White Promise for the last few hours, getting used to his spells and abilities. These slimes were a part of his orientation quest, but they''d proven difficult to spot as they could blend in with the greenery of the forest. The new player orientation quest had first sent him to meet up with anNPC named Samantha, a weapons trainer in the center of the village marketplace, and pick out a variety of basic weapons. Essentially choosing what his combat style would be. He told the trainer right away that he didn¡¯t want to use weapons, but would like to be a group healer instead. She had tried to convince him to take a staff or dagger anyway, for defense, but Chris refused. He knew that in games like this, players who focused exclusively on healing would be in huge demand during dungeon crawls, and he intended to meet that demand. Dungeons were the best way to get rare loot, which he''d l then be able to sell for real money on RogueNet.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Chris had rushed through the initial training quest with a group of other players, but each time they had stopped to marvel at a new skill or show each other some exciting new spell effect, he pressed on by them to the next checkpoint. His sole offensive spell was a fast casting water spear with low damage. But the MP cost was very low, and he could cast it over again very quickly, making it efficient for his soloing purposes. Besides, he wasn¡¯t expecting to use it very often, since most of his time would be spent in groups using his support spells. The exploded remnants of the slime melted into the soil, and a system prompt blinked into existence in the air in front of him.
Quest Update
Tutorial Chain 4 of 5 - Slimes for Samantha Samantha the weapon trainer has sent you out into the big scary forest to track down and murder 5 green slimes. Why? You never asked! Difficulty: D Success: Find and kill 5 green slimes. Failure: Get killed by a slime. That would be really embarrassing. Chain Reward: Tutorial Completion Current Progress: 3 of 5 Green Slimes killed.
Chris sighed at the sassy tone of the in-game prompt and pushed forward. ¡°Two more slimes to go. At least it¡¯s not an escort quest.¡± ---- A few hours and a couple slimes later, Chris was running at full speed through the forest, leaves flying up in the wake of wind behind him. With a soft ding another notification popped up in the corner of his vision. He¡¯d moved the popups away from the center of his eyesight so they would be less distracting. X1 Skill Rank Up: Sprint Skill Level: Beginner Level 4 Effect: 8% increased movement speed Cost: 5 stamina / second His sprint skill had increased very quickly. As a magic-user, he didn¡¯t have any need to conserve his stamina, so he was sprinting pretty much everywhere. No time to be walking about! Suddenly the treeline broke and he was just outside the village gates. He slowed down to a walk as he entered the village. Just inside the front gates was the marketplace, and even though it was just a game it still felt rude to run at full speed through a busy village. The market square was bustling with new players, some just beginning their adventure late and others returning from adventures around the village. Chris marveled for a moment at just how many people were around him. It was so lively, with the NPCs and players laughing and cheering. It was just like a real living marketplace. Chris was walking towards the weapons training area where he had left Samantha, when his eyes caught on one player running through the middle of the square at full speed. ¡°Really?¡± Chris said quietly under his breath. He shook his head and tried to ignore the player barrelling toward the gate, but as she ran by him he looked up and realized it was her. The delivery girl. With a massive double-bladed axe on her back and her eyes locked on the opening in the village gate, she didn¡¯t notice him or even anything that wasn¡¯t directly in her path. Her mouth was a tight line, focused in concentration. Before he could react she was outside the gates and gone. Chris¡¯s mouth opened in surprise and his foot caught on a root, faltering in his steps. He caught himself and paused against the side of a building. What sort of coincidence is it that out of all the millions of players, and hundreds of starting locations, they would both happen to start in the same village? He shrugged and continued walking. No time for conversation right now anyway, there¡¯s too much to do. ----- ¡±Five green slimes!¡± Samantha grinned at Chris. ¡°I can feel that the energy of the forest has shifted! You¡¯re doing great work out there, Traveller.¡± ¡°Yeah. Killing slimes is great work,¡± Chris said. He still couldn¡¯t get over how realistic these NPCs were. They spoke and reacted just like real people. If he didn¡¯t actually know better, they¡¯d be nearly indistinguishable from the live players. ¡°That¡¯s the end of the quest right? Is the tutorial over?¡± ¡°Ah! No, no. There¡¯s one last thing I need you to do.¡± Samantha glanced up at the heavens for a moment, stroking her chin, before she leaned in close to Chris, ¡°There¡¯s a place nearby which the locals call the Deciduous Dungeon. None who have ventured inside have ever come back alive.¡± Chris perked up at the mention of a dungeon. ¡°A dungeon? Finally. I¡¯m in. Which way is it?¡± Samantha leaned back and laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve marked the location on your map,¡± she said with a wave of her hand in the air. ¡°Be careful in there,¡± she said with a sly wink. ¡°You may want to bring a friend.¡± Chris hurried back to the village gate, excitement pumping through his veins. He was practically salivating at the thought of the loot he¡¯d be able to find in a proper dungeon. He checked his map for the dungeon entrance as he left the village, then stepped up into a full sprint once he was oriented in the correct direction. While he ran, he thought back to his conversation with Samantha. Realizing that he forgot to update his quest log while he was with her. He cursed out loud, then was immediately interrupted with a flashing system notice.
Quest Update
Tutorial Chain 5 of 5 - The Deviant Deciduous Samantha the weapon trainer has asked you to dive deep into the nearby Deciduous Dungeon and bring back¡­ what, exactly? You forgot to ask again. It¡¯ll probably work out in the end anyway though. Right? Difficulty: B Success: ??? Failure: ??? Chain Reward: Tutorial Completion
Interstice 3 Interstice 3 Lily stares directly into the lens of the camera, knowing that she¡¯s totally screwed, as the two men laugh at her from the door. ¡°You should have been keeping track of the time,¡± one of them says with a malicious laugh. ¡°Hurry up, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Luke, you sonofabitch!¡± Lily screams at him. ¡°What the hell is wrong with you!¡± He says. ¡°No names!¡± ¡°Oh shit,¡± she says, eyes wide and a look of abject fear painting lines on her face. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I wasn¡¯t thinking! I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re not sorry,¡± he growls back at her. ¡°But you¡¯re gonna make it up to me, and then you will be.¡± He grabs her by the arm and shoves her passed him, forward and through the door into the street. ¡°Get in the car,¡± he says. This car is old, and the automated driving system had been ripped out. Criminals and privacy nuts frequently did this so their cars couldn¡¯t be tracked. It wasn¡¯t exactly illegal, but it did mean those cars weren¡¯t allowed to drive on expressways. Lily is shoved into the backseat of the large car and sits uncomfortably among piles of garbage and the boxes of equipment they had just stolen.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You never use names, what the hell is wrong with you?¡± Luke continues yelling at her as he slides into the driver¡¯s compartment. He turns and glares at her, his eyes hot with rage and his fist raised. ¡°If we weren¡¯t in the middle of a goddamn heist right now,¡± he says and trails off, his mouth tight as he turns back and starts driving. Lily drops to the floor on the backseat, and tries to force her breathing to slow down. She has never been so careless before, this is a huge disaster. Almost on its own accord her hand slips into her pocket and pulls out a small ziplock bag of powdered Sarcoline. She takes a pinch of the powder and rubs it into her left wrist. As the drug is pressed into her pores she closes her eyes and slowly her muscles relax. Her mind starts to clear, and the veins on her wrist where the powder was absorbed start to pulse with a dull purple colour. Lily puts her head back against the seat and lets the Sarcoline hallucinations wash over her consciousness. They should only last for a few minutes, and then she would be back to her confident self again. The real her. Lily¡¯s mind races through everything that just happened over the last hour, and the Sarcoline fueled hallucinations bring it to life in mind. She watches herself make the deal with Luke. They go to the stake-out, waiting for the security team to leave. She helps him set off the EMP to knock out security. Then Lily is inside, during the robbery itself. Lily can see herself kneeling down on the floor of that small office, stuffing cash into a bag. She watches herself stand up and stare dumbly at the security drone, then turn and run out of the building. But the hallucination doesn¡¯t follow her out of the office, and Lily¡¯s eyes lazily focus in on one detail. An object that is softly glowing in the Sarcoline haze. A soft purple outline around the gun she had dropped, laying on the carpeted floor. With her fingerprints all over it. Chapter Five Chapter Five Chris reached the location marked on his map. He stepped out of the trees and into a massive grassy clearing. A perfect circle of large trees lined the clearing, and Chris glanced up at them as he passed underneath. They seemed to be pulsating gently with an odd amber colour, and the branches were covered in needles instead of leaves, like a Christmas tree. Chris decided that these must be deciduous trees, though admittedly his knowledge of foliage was pretty limited. At the centre of the clearing were three large trees surrounding an enormous wooden door laying flat on the ground. Next to the door was a group of three players dressed in leather armor, talking animatedly to each other. Chris put on a big smile and walked up to them. Time to play the socializing game and get some intel. ¡°Hey there! Have you guys been inside?¡± Chris raised his hand in a wave and as he entered the inner circle of trees a notification popped up in the centre of his screen, overriding his default corner notification setting.
New Quest: Heavy Infan-Tree
You have stumbled upon (or perhaps were sent to?) the secret hiding place of the fearsome Heavy Infan-tree. Will you deny your debilitating dread and delve deep into its depths? Of course you will. Difficulty: S Success: Reach the final room of the dungeon and escape with a deciduous. Failure: Die inside the dungeon. Reward: ???
Slightly confused, and more than slightly annoyed by the developer¡¯s jokes, he wiped the notification away, while a large red-haired man with a massive sword approached him. ¡°Hey! You just got that quest too, huh?¡± The swordsman looked to be in his early twenties, and had a huge smile on his face. Chris nodded and approached him with a hand extended in a friendly gesture, ¡°Yup. I¡¯m Chris. Everything in this game is a pun it seems.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± The man gripped his hand and pumped firmly. ¡°Yes! I love the puns! I¡¯m Corey. The little one over there is my brother Malik,¡± He gestured at the younger looking man behind him. Chris guessed he looked around seventeen. Malik waved at Chris dismissively. By the way he was waving his hand in the air he was clearly preoccupied with the in-game menus. ¡°And this is my sister Levie,¡± Corey nodded his head at the girl next to him who was throwing a dagger up in the air and catching it, clearly the youngest of the three. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t let her age fool you, she¡¯s the toughest of all three of us.¡± Levie beamed at the compliment and missed catching her dagger. ¡°Dangit, Corey! You distracted me!¡± She picked up her dagger and hopped over to Chris. ¡°Hi Chris!¡± she beamed a smile up at him. ¡°Are you going inside?¡± ¡°Levie, relax for a minute,¡± Malik said. ¡°I¡¯m checking the posts to see if anyone else has been through here before. There¡¯s no point in going in blind.¡± Corey nodded thoughtfully in agreement, but Levie rolled her eyes. ¡°Come oooon! Half the fun is exploring the unknown!¡± she said. ¡°Reading all the strats beforehand is basically cheating in my book.¡± ¡°Well, hey,¡± Chris said, trying to split his attention between the three. He wasn¡¯t yet sure who was really leading their social dynamic, and he knew not to make assumptions too early. ¡°It looks like you guys are all front-line type classes? I¡¯m a healer if you want to team up and go in.¡± ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Levie let out a cheer and punched the air. ¡°A healer! Score! Come on you guys! We¡¯ll be unstoppable!¡± Her smile dropped when she saw the perma-scowl on Malik¡¯s face was unmoved. She looked at him with a pout. ¡°Malik, please? We¡¯ve been standing here for a hundred hours let¡¯s just go in, come on! Live a little!¡± ----- Chris sat down on the ground and watched the blue specks of the Deathscape float around him. ¡°Well that didn¡¯t work,¡± he said. From where he was now standing on top of a large boulder, he had an excellent view of the entirety of the cavern below him, and he watched himself die once again. All around him was the slightly hazy blue motes floating up from the ground which signalled that he was inside the Deathscape. The four of them had rushed into the dungeon full of verve, and were promptly massacred. He looked down at his bloody body lying broken on the rocky dirt floor, and moments later the scene reset itself. The cavern went dark, and the air seemed to shiver. Then the wooden door in the roof slid open and he saw Corey drop down onto the dirt floor. He grinned and looked up at the others. ¡°All clear in here!¡± Levie dropped in next, with Malik and Chris close behind. All Chris could remember of the next few moments was a swarm of teeth and claws ripping all of them apart before they could react. Even in the Deathscape, with everything slowed down, they moved incredibly quickly. But at least here, without the threat of death immediately in his face, he was able to get a better look at the creatures and he now knew that they weren¡¯t fangs and claws after all, but thorns and sticks. Chris watched Malik pull out a small orb, some sort of magical reusable torch, and after a murmur from his lips the entire room erupted in light. A moment later all hell broke loose. Chris looked up to the ceiling and could see the creatures illuminated in the bright light. They looked like living trees but they hung upside down from the ceiling, like bats - or like they had been planted in the soft earthen ceiling and were growing downward. ¡°Deciduous,¡± Chris snorted. ¡°Why am I surprised? Again.¡± When the light bathed over them, they all woke simultaneously and dropped down onto the unsuspecting adventurers. ¡°Beginning of the end,¡± Chris said. He watched the nearest creature launch itself onto Malik with its root tentacles while a hole in the front of its tree-trunk body opened up to reveal several rows of tiny razor-like teeth. Before anyone even knew they were there it had bit into Malik¡¯s shoulder, taking a piece of him with it and spraying a gush of blood out onto the ground. The rest of the team went down just as quickly and the entire battle, if you could call it that, was over within seconds. As he watched his lifeless body fall to the ground for the third time Chris threw his head back in a sigh, but then paused as he noticed something new, high above him. There, looking down through the opened dungeon trapdoor, was the same familiar delivery girl peering down at his bloody corpse with a most peculiar look of curiosity on her face. Chapter Six Chapter Six ¡°It¡¯s nice that the respawn is right outside the dungeon,¡± Chris said to the group. ¡°Those games when you have to spawn in a graveyard or a nearby village make it such a pain to run all the way back.¡± ¡°Ugh, tell me about it.¡± Levie said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I hate games that don¡¯t respect your time as a player.¡± The group sat in a circle facing each other, next to the big wooden door laying on the ground leading into the dungeon. They had all respawned a short time apart from each other, and spent the next few minutes sharing what small amount of tactical information they had learned from watching the deathscape replay. ¡°I dunno guys, I feel like calling it for tonight.¡± Malik asked, rubbing at his forehead absently. ¡°I think we¡¯re gonna need to level up our skills some more before we can take this on.¡± ¡°Oh come on, Malik!¡± Levie said, jumping up to her feet. ¡°Don¡¯t give up now! We can take on the world if we work together!¡± She pumped her fist into the air and beamed a huge smile at her brother. Malik just rolled his eyes and looked over at his brother with a pleading expression. The red-haired warrior smiled and laughed with his sister. ¡°I mean, I guess it is getting kind of late, I don¡¯t mind trying to pick this up again tomorrow.¡± Corey winked at Levie and quickly turned to Chris before Levie could interject with any arguments. ¡°I¡¯m sorry we didn¡¯t make it through. If we run into each other again, let¡¯s give it another go?¡± ¡°Definitely,¡± Chris replied. ¡°It was great running into you guys.¡± He stood up to shake hands with Corey and bid them each farewell as they gathered up their belongings and started up the path back to the village. Chris dusted off his hands and looked around the clearing. ¡°Well,¡± he said to himself. ¡°Maybe I can make it further on my own with a little extra caution.¡± ¡°Or maybe what you need is LESS caution?¡± came a voice from behind him. Chris spun around startled, pulling his mana up to ready a water spear, then released it as he saw the delivery girl from earlier walking toward him. She grinned and pulled the enormous double-bladed axe off her back, swinging it casually in the air as if it were weightless. ¡°You¡¯re Chris right? I¡¯m Sienna,¡± she said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird how we both started in the same village? This game is wild.¡± Chris nodded and let go of the tension he was holding from being surprised, ¡°Yeah, it really is.¡± He eyed the massive axe she was holding and wondered how she was able to maneuver it the way she did. A question for another time perhaps. ¡°Were you spying on us? I saw you looking down into the dungeon during the instant replay after we all died.¡± Sienna chewed her bottom lip and looked down at the ground, ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, pausing for a moment. ¡°I came into the clearing right as you guys were going in, and I wasn¡¯t sure how dungeons work so I didn¡¯t want to yell out and mess you guys up.¡± She suddenly looked up and caught Chris¡¯s eyes, ¡°It looked like tree monsters in there, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Chris. ¡°Not just regular trees though, they have teeth and claws.¡± ¡°Right, right, monster stuff sure,¡± Sienna said. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking that since they¡¯re made of wood, maybe I should go in there and¡­ axe them a few questions.¡± She grinned triumphantly at Chris and slammed the butt of her axe into the ground dramatically. ¡°Seriously?¡± Chris groaned. ¡°Come on, that was a good one!¡± Sienna protested. Chris rolled his eyes and let a slight chuckle escape his lips, ¡°Okay, okay! You must be loving all the ridiculous puns this game has in the system messages.¡± ¡°I do,¡± she beamed. ¡°I really do. But enough of that. Are you going back in? I¡¯m going in. You¡¯re coming right?¡± Chris thought for a moment. He didn¡¯t really have anything to show for his time so far. He¡¯d be able to sell off the little amount of gold he¡¯d earned, but it wasn¡¯t much and he didn¡¯t have any magical items yet that would be worth anything. ¡°Sure. But let¡¯s try to be cautious. Okay?¡± ----- ¡°Come at me, you sonsabitches!¡± Sienna shouted, her axe slicing through the air and severing a large vine off the enormous creature before them. The giant tree lumbered a step closer and a sharp spear-like branch stabbed out at her. She ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the spear and the series of vines which whipped out in quick succession after it. The sheer size of the creature created a constant pressure and forced Sienna back a little with each swing of her massive weapon.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A sizable pile of wooden bodies were scattered around the cavern floor surrounding her. Chris stared at her with amazement from the slight alcove he was crouched in as he gathered in more of his mana and directed a stream of healing energy at her. A wound on her right leg where the creature had slashed at her stitched itself back together as he concentrated. Sienna let out a howl as her health climbed back up. ¡°Come and get it!¡± she screamed, slicing off a thick branch before it was able to connect, a maniacal grin plastered on her face. Chris had wanted to take things slow and move quietly through the dungeon, but Sienna had had other plans. Immediately after dropping into the cavern, Sienna had let loose with an animal-like ferocity that Chris never would have imagined possible from someone otherwise so cheerful. The second her axe made contact with the first wooden creature, a form of bloodlust seemed to overcome her and the air around her was quickly transformed into a whirlwind of steel and wood chips. It was all Chris could do to keep up with her rapid pace and throw out healing spells as they moved from room to room, deeper into the caverns, until they finally arrived here and encountered the dreaded Infan-tree. ¡°Ugh! This thing bleeds sap like it¡¯s acid!¡± Sienna yelled to Chris. ¡°Keep your guard up!¡± Chris saw her stumble a little as she flung a large gloop of sappy liquid off her right arm. She adjusted her stance and gripped the axe tighter with her left hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she called out. ¡°I think it¡¯s almost down!¡± Chris agreed, the creature was swaying on its feet. On its roots? Huge gouges and scores were all over its body, and the ravenous mouth that was full of teeth at the beginning of the battle was now hollowed out, like an old man missing it¡¯s dentures. As Chris tossed another heal at Sienna he noticed a thin fracture that traveled vertically up the full length of the beast¡¯s body. ¡°Sienna!¡± he shouted. ¡°I think you¡¯ve caused a fault line! Hit it from above like you¡¯re splitting firewood!¡± Sienna nodded and launched herself into the air as Chris¡¯s blue water energy surrounded her in a protective glow. She brought the oversized axe to bear above her head and slammed down into the creature¡¯s head. A resounding crack filled the air as the wooden body of the Infan-Tree split cleanly down the middle, it¡¯s final dying shriek piercing the air before fading away into silence. ¡°Nice work,¡± Chris said, walking over to where Sienna knelt on the mossy ground between the two severed halves of the treant. ¡°I don¡¯t know how we managed to beat this thing with just the two of us, but somehow-¡± ¡°Somehow?! We did it because we¡¯re AWESOME!¡± Sienna beamed. She wiped a splotch of mud off her cheek with the back of her hand and grinned up at him as he offered his hand to help her stand. ¡°That. Was. Awesome!¡± she said, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up. ¡°We rock, that¡¯s how we did it!¡± Chris smiled, and was about to protest when he noticed movement from the crevice where the tree monster had split open. ¡°Sienna, look out!¡± He cried out. A single thin vine snaked up out of the crevince slowly, and licked at the air. ¡°Wait,¡± Chris said. ¡°What is that?¡± The pair stepped forward to look closer and there, buried among the wood chips and bubbling tree sap, was a small creature. ¡°Is that¡­¡± Sienna¡¯s eyes widened as the creature¡¯s tiny eyes opened and watery burbling sounds came from its mouth. ¡°I think it¡¯s... a baby treant,¡± said Chris. ¡°How is that possible?¡± ¡°Wait,¡± said Sienna. ¡°I think I know.¡± She started tapping at the air in front of her, bring up some information on her in-game menu that Chris couldn¡¯t see. A few moments later she smirked. ¡°Infant tree. The quest we got back in the village was to come here and find the Heavy Infan-tree. I thought it was just a pun, but it¡¯s literally an infant tree. I guess. So the boss we fought was a tree that.. grows.. Infants? Like a seed or a fruit? This game is insane.¡± Chris gazed down at the baby treant. It¡¯s body was more vines than solid wood, and it seemed to be sleeping in the goopy semi-hardened pool of sap. For the first time, he realized that its body was curled up around a softly glowing piece of solid wood. He reached down and slowly pulled it free from the tentacle-like vines of the sleeping treant child. As he hefted it up a soft glow began to emanate from within it, and a notification suddenly crashed into his vision.
Quest Update: Heavy Infan-Tree
You have defeated the beastly Heavy Infan-Tree and discovered it''s most protected treasure. Congratulations, it¡¯s a girl! Reward: Green Capital Staff
¡°Wow,¡± said Sienna. ¡°Looks like a healer¡¯s staff? That¡¯s definitely for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too bad there¡¯s no loot here for you though,¡± Chris replied. ¡°Seems a little unfair.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s okay!¡± She grinned at him, wiping stray chunks of wood from her clothes. ¡°I had a great time smacking these things around. Plus,¡± she said, leaning down and gently scooping up the little treant and holding it in her arms. ¡°Someone has to take care of this little bundle of sticks. That¡¯s kinda like a reward on it¡¯s own, right?!¡± She paused for a moment, her eyes unfocused as she glanced over what must have been some new system notifications related to the baby treant. Chris smiled and shook his head as she swiped away the windows. She bundled up the infant using some of her clothes, then tied it into a make-shift baby carrier on her back. As they began the walk back out of the dungeon, Chris considered the stats on his new staff. It was much stronger than anything he¡¯d seen yet, and was even quite powerful compared to the other items he had researched online from the early beta test players. Keeping the staff would help him take on bigger challenges in the game, and lead him to even stronger loot, but selling it on RogueNet now would earn him a lot of good credits. Chris sighed, thinking back to his apartment break-in and the trouble his sister was in. Keeping it wasn¡¯t really an option right now. Interstice 4 Interstice 4 The car grumbles to a stop in front of a ramshackle old house on a filthy street in a neighbourhood best described as the wrong side of the tracks. Lily crawls out of the back seat, still slightly intoxicated from the effects of the Sarcoline. Luke grabs a double handful of the stolen goods then slams the car door shut. ¡°Come on, hurry up,¡± Luke grabs her by the arm and half-drags her up the steps into the house. Inside, the door clangs shut on old squeaky hinges and a strong but quiet voice comes from inside. ¡°You¡¯ve kept me waiting for quite a long time,¡± he says. The young man is leaning against the kitchen counter, his perfect blonde hair and immaculate clothing immediately gives away that he does not belong in this neighborhood. ¡°Shit, Alex!¡± Luke jumps in surprise and tries to hide the bags of electronics behind his back. ¡°Luke,¡± Alex says with a dismissive wave of his hand, ¡°I don¡¯t care about whatever petty crime you¡¯ve been committing.¡± His voice seems to have a hint of amusement in it, but his face remains unchanged and impassive. ¡°I have my own job for you.¡± Lily drops her bag and assesses the stranger. ¡°Luke, who is this?¡± she asks. Luke scowls at her, ¡°Not now Lily. The grown-ups are talking.¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± she says and rolls her eyes. The sarcoline has mostly worked its way through her system now and she¡¯s starting to feel the first rolling after effects. Not uncontrollable panic. Not yet. Just a little bit of fear, bubbling up. A small sense of impending doom. She¡¯s been here before, she knows this feeling of coming down from sarcoline quite well by now. The memory of the drone from earlier flashes into her mind. The camera that caught her red-handed. She closes her eyes and pushes the fear back down. Steels herself against it. Then she looks up at Luke. ¡°I thought you were going to... Make. Me. Pay.¡± she says, throwing extra emphasis on the last words mockingly.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. At this remark, Alex looks at Luke. ¡°Is this something I should know about? I need you to do jobs for me Luke, I can¡¯t have trouble sniffing around.¡± Luke turned back to Alex, ¡°No. No trouble. We can handle it. Lily here really fucked herself over, but as long as she doesn¡¯t take the rest of us down with her I don¡¯t really care what happens to her.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Alex says and tosses a stack of cash onto the table next to Luke. ¡°I need you to look into someone for me. Find out where he lives, where he goes, what he does. Who he talks to, who he knows. Take notes, I want any information you can find. But don¡¯t let him see you.¡± Alex hands Luke a folded piece of paper. ¡°This is everything I know about him.¡± Alex glances over at Lily. The cold expression on his face warms instantly and he smiles at her. ¡°Lily, is it? You¡¯re cute, but I haven¡¯t seen you around before. Tell me what went wrong tonight?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not any-¡± Luke begins, before Alex cuts him off. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you.¡± Lily hesitates, but Alex seems so warm. So cool, so¡­ trustworthy. She sits down on the sofa and starts explaining what happened. She tells him about the electronics store. About the sacks of parts. About the gun. She feels the sweat collect on her forehead as she recounts the memories, and the sarcoline dread bubbles up all the way to the surface. She tells him about the money. The gun. The drone. The camera. The gun. Running. Alex sits down next to her and doesn¡¯t interrupt. She doesn¡¯t even notice that Alex has placed a hand on her thigh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Alex says. ¡°I can make it all go away.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asks, her voice low. Worried? More than just a little worried. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it tomorrow night,¡± he says, flashing his inviting smile. ¡°Over drinks. I¡¯ll text you the address.¡± Chapter Seven Chapter Seven Chris sat on the mossy forested ground, his back against a makeshift tent. The sun had just started to peak over the treeline, and the NPCs in the camp were rising from sleep and stowing away equipment in preparation to march. ¡°Were you here for the ambush last night?¡± Chris glanced up at the nervous man emerging from the tent. One of the villagers who was conscripted into the army, no doubt. The man was holding a long wooden spear and, from the way he handled it, didn¡¯t seem to have much in the way of combat training. ¡°Yeah,¡± Chris replied with a curt nod. ¡°Yeah, I was here for it. That Jason guy killed me himself. I¡¯ve honestly never been so scared in my life. A couple of his undead chased me through the forest and pinned me down. I almost thought I was safe but they flanked me. Clever bastards.¡± After spending the last several weeks running through dungeons and popping in and out of groups of whatever people would have him, Chris had been travelling with what had come to be known as the Alexion Army for the last several days. It wasn¡¯t his usual style to sell himself off as a mercenary, but Alexion had offered a daily wage of in-game gold to every player who joined his cause, and Chris wasn¡¯t one to turn down easy money. Neither were the hundreds of other players and even NPCs who had answered the call. ¡°At least you Travellers always come back,¡± the man said, fidgeting with his tunic. Chris looked down at his hands and chewed the inside of his lip as the man stumbled off into the nearby encampment. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± Chris muttered. ¡°Did you say Jason himself killed you?¡± A man¡¯s voice asked, and the gold armour of Alexion himself appeared, rounding the corner of the tent Chris leaned against. ¡°Did you get a good look at his face?¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Uh,¡± Chris frowned and averted his eyes. Alexion struck an imposing figure with his enormous sword, and billowing blonde hair. Chris thought back to that brief moment, the faint hint of eyes glinting under a dark hood before that sneaky zombie had crept up behind him and slit his throat. ¡°No, not really,¡± he said finally. ¡°He was wearing a hood. I really didn¡¯t get a good look.¡± Chris stood up and nodded to Alexion. ¡°I¡¯d better go join my regiment.¡± Chris knew that when someone in authority asks you a question, you answer quickly and try to get out of their way. Sticking around is always an invitation for trouble. ¡°Wait,¡± Alexion grabbed his arm, stopping his retreat. ¡°I recognize you from somewhere.¡± ¡°Perhaps from the battle? I¡¯m just a loyal soldier, sir,¡± Chris responded with a hint of unease. He¡¯d never been face to face with Alexion before, but recognition was not something he was interested in. Especially not from the leader of a nation. ¡°Loyal, huh?¡± Alexion paused and thought for a moment. He swirled his golden cape around his wrist, one finger tapping against his pursed lips, though it seemed to Chris as if it was just for show. As if Alexion had already decided his next five moves and was now simply going through the motions of a one man play of his own design. ¡°In that case, I have a job for you.¡± ¡°A covert mission? Something to do with the Twilight Throne I¡¯m guessing?¡± ¡°No,¡± Alexion smirked. ¡°This job is going to be a little different. Come with me, we¡¯ll need to discuss it in private.¡± Chris hesitated. Getting this kind of attention could hurt his chances of getting out of this army once the invasion was finished. His plan was just to come along, collect the more than generous pay, and get out with his money. He pondered and glanced at the golden armour, golden sword, golden wafting hair. Maybe there was an opportunity here after all. ¡°Well as long as the pay is right,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m your guy.¡± Alexion¡¯s eyes suddenly turned dark and the smile on his face appeared plastered on like an unholy facade. ¡°You¡¯ll be doing this job for free, Chris." Before Chris could ask how Alexion knew his name, Alexion pulled the tent open and motioned for Chris to follow. "Oh, and Lily says hello.¡± Interstice 5 Interstice 5 Lily wakes up groggy, her eyes heavy and sticky with a combination of sleep and yesterday¡¯s makeup. Her body feels strangely heavy and she is disoriented. She rolls over onto her back, her eyes squeezed shut attempting to dull the throbbing in her head. She breathes out heavy and slow, then props herself up on one elbow and peels an eye open, trying to get her bearings. With the back of a hand pressed to her forehead to cool the pain, she tries to focus on the room and how she got here. She remembers getting drinks with Alex at a pub. She remembers his smile, charming and beautiful. She remembers thinking how lucky she was to have met someone like him. Rich, funny, caring. A regular prince charming, swooping in out of nowhere to save her. After drinks they started walking¡­ somewhere? She remembers walking with him, and he kissed her neck. She smiles at the memory of his lips. Warm. Hot. Pain. Her smile falters. She remembers being pressed against a wall, his hands on her body. It was nice. No, not pressed. Pushed? She remembers being pushed against a wall. A bedroom? His hands were warm. It was¡­ nice? No. Not nice. She puts a hand over her abdomen and winces as her fingers go over a purple bruise near her waist. No. It wasn¡¯t nice. It was¡­ something else. She remembers his hands gripping her. No. She closes her eyes tight against the wet heat and the pain fighting for control behind them. No, that¡¯s not what happened. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Lily blinks away the heat and stands up shakily. Her clothes are tossed on the floor of the bed and she takes in the room while she hurriedly puts them on. She¡¯s in the same house that Luke had brought her to after the robbery. The bedroom door is open and she can see the living room outside. No one is here. Did someone spike her drink with something that knocked her out? But why would someone have done that? And when? She was with Alex the whole time, he would have stopped them¡­ her mind goes numb as she looks down at the half a dozen photographs that had been tucked beneath her crumpled shirt. Photos of her. Her and Alex. Except Alex¡¯s face has been cut out of them, leaving only her face visible. Her face, clear and wide-eyed, not apparently under the influence of anything. Her face, and all the things their bodies had done together. Written across the image in blockface print reads a message: ¡°You¡¯ll do whatever I say now, or everyone you know gets a copy.¡± Chapter Eight Chapter Eight ¡°So. You¡¯re the guy Alex has running around for him lately.¡± Luke looks Chris up and down with a bit of a disgusted look. Chris is a mess. His hair is dirty, his eyes are red from lack of sleep, he¡¯s scrawny, underfed. His jeans have a nasty rip above the knee and a bandage is visible beneath the tatters. The dirt on his sweatshirt looks like it¡¯s been gathering for a few weeks. Luke frowns and shakes his head. ¡°I was hoping for someone a bit tougher, but whatever. Alex says you can get the job done.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll get it done." Chris thinks about Lily again. It''s all he thought about anymore. The tears. Anguish. Those photographs. "I don¡¯t have much choice.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Whatever man. What¡¯s your name?¡± Chris hesitates. This guy looks tough. And rough. Not the kind of guy you want following you home. Giving someone like this your real name is probably a bad idea. Chris thinks for just a second and then stares Luke in the eye, straightening his back and trying to make himself look tougher than he feels. ¡°Craig,¡± he replies. ¡°Alright Craig. Let¡¯s get in there and take care of this kid so I can go home.¡± ¡°Alex said we just need to rough him up a little right? Maybe break a few things in the house and scare him? Do you even know who this guy is?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care. I don¡¯t want to know. Let¡¯s go.¡±