ã€ŠRESTARTã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Discover your true self. Live your dreams. Chase your fantasies. Let go of reality¡­ RESTART.

    These words played over and over in her head as she slid into bed, unable to contain her excitement. Tonight was the night.

    Normally, nighttime was simply another dull moment of her existence. School was easy for her; a poor excuse of a time waster that society deemed necessary despite technology having taken over much of the world. Like most everyone in today''s society, she learned more online than she''d ever learned while in a classroom.

    Her social life was practically nonexistent, as she just couldn''t seem to fit in with her peers. Other girls were more interested in chatting about designer clothes and makeup or flirting with guys at the school, while she would personally rather read books, watch anime, or play games in her free time.

    The guys on the other hand, some of whom shared similar interests with her, were especially interested in being more than just friends, a fact she loathed. She wasn¡¯t about that sort of thing, why couldn¡¯t they understand?

    Finally, her family life was well ... shit. Both of her parents grew up in the early 2000s and had met, fallen in love, which culminated in her existence the year 2030. Right on the cusp of what was simply referred to as the singularity. The singularity changed life for her parents. The singularity changed a lot of things.

    In fact, most of the world changed. A little over a year after the singularity, everything had become automated. Planes, trains, automobiles: all automated. Wished to purchase something? Simply place the order using technology, and within 24 hours, you had it. The human in the loop for almost everything, excluding further technological developments, had become automated.

    Within five years, nearly the entire world had embraced technology. Almost every form of business was conducted online, in virtual worlds. The world, which had been engaged in countless struggles before the singularity both political and physical, plus another war looming in the middle east, now knew a time of peace.

    The biggest reason? The harbinger which had become the downfall of her family life? A full-on immersive world, accessible from every home in the world, known as the DreamScape. It was only a matter of time before her parents succumbed to the sirens call that was the DreamScape. Thanks to the DreamScape, she had been sorely neglected by her parents.

    In the DreamScape, people could live their entire life without any of the hazards of actually, you know, living. You could go bungee jumping or skydiving and it would feel real. However, if something went wrong, there were no consequences and you walked away perfectly fine. Who wouldn¡¯t want to live such a risk-free and easy-going life?

    As such, her parents only ever logged out in order to eat, drink, and deal with the pesky biological functions that bodies still had to put up with. Science was amazing, but humans were still, well, human. Hell, most of the time they logged out, they didn¡¯t acknowledge her. It was like she was simply another being living in the same house. She silently wondered if they had a new daughter in the DreamScape. One they actually interacted with.

    Because of their blatant disregard for her, she had taken full control of her own life. Well, at least, as much control as she could until she turned 18. Until then, until the time she could finally leave her home, every day had almost the same routine. She would wake up, make herself a meal, take the local transportation to her school. She was pretty sure the only reason school was still around was so that adults wouldn¡¯t have to deal with their children during the day.

    Most people worked in the DreamScape anyways, but for some reason, society hadn''t deemed it appropriate for children and teenagers to stop going to school. If she had to guess, the adults were simply making their children go through the same pointless routines they had to when they were that age. This is how she interpreted lessons she was able to glean from her history classes.

    After school, she would head home, grab a quick snack, perhaps a Mt. Dew and some chips, and head upstairs. Her room was sparse, with a decent gaming computer on one side, and a massive bookshelf on the other. Though, sadly, most of the book space was empty. Paper books were hard to come by. But one day, she wanted her shelf to be full of them.

    While she could easily log into the DreamScape, and accomplish all of her hobbies there, she tried her best to avoid it. Nothing could beat the feeling of an actual book in her hand, as she leafed through pages filled so lovingly with the worlds of the authors who wrote them. And even though those worlds could feel real in the DreamScape, in her mind they weren¡¯t the same experience that the books gave her.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Her other hobbies: anime, and gaming could also be accomplished in the DreamScape, but she generally avoided the game world. Had her parents not been completely addicted to it, she would probably have been more willing to give it a go. She had a slight grudge against that particular technology and blamed it for her lack of family life.

    Ironically, that same technology would probably give her a social life, and even more. But, those were the big questions she did her best to avoid pondering.

    Tonight though was different. For as much as she loathed the idea of utilizing her DreamScape module, she was going to do just that. The reason; a game that she couldn¡¯t play any other way. The hottest, most anticipated game of not only 2047, but probably the hottest game to drop since, well, ever. Sure, Pokemon Alpha and Omega had been grand, and Halo Infinite XX was probably her favorite FPS of all time, but this new game made those pale in comparison.

    The game was called RESTART, and everything about it fascinated her. Part of her fascination was based on early reviews and beta testers. RESTART took immersion to a whole new level. Players claimed that the game literally felt real and that while playing, they actually forgot they were in a virtual world.

    There was a second reason for her to be excited about RESTART as well. Because of her rampant attempts at avoiding the DreamScape, she had little to no income. Of course, that wasn¡¯t as important in 2047, as her family received a basic living stipend from the government. Because most of the world dealt predominately in the virtual world, they had moved the majority of the economy into the virtual space. As such, it had been simple for the government to establish a basic real-world stipend.

    ''Basic'' being the main point of the stipend. Every human at the age of 12 was equipped with an ID bracelet. This bracelet contained all of the information on the wearer, and could not be removed save by government officials, or in extreme cases, medical personnel. The bracelet was made of a smart synthetic material that fits snug and would grow and flex as the wearer did.

    The Cuff, as many nicknamed the bracelets, were used in the real world for everyday needs. Purchases were routed through it, and the living stipend was automatically uploaded to it weekly via wireless frequencies. The amount placed on her cuff by the government was just enough to purchase simple sustainment powder, known as ''Soylent Green''; a powder which was mass produced provided the nutrients needed for the human body and tasted absolutely horrid. She was sure human flesh probably tasted better than Soylent Green. Tolerance for the taste varied person to person.

    However, that could all change, and soon, thanks to RESTART. Nearly every form of entertainment in the DreamScape had ways to create virtual currency. This currency could be uploaded instantly into the user''s cuff and use for real-world purchases. However, most people chose to keep their e-money in the virtual world in order to buy virtual necessities.

    She, however, wanted the real world currency so that not only could she eat food other than Soylent Green, but most importantly, so she could purchase new books. The ones she currently owned were torn and tattered. The only reason she had been able to read many of the stories she enjoyed in physical form was courtesy of the local government library.

    It was one thing to read books borrowed from a library. It was another to own them, to be able to call them your own and to cherish them. Ever since she had been little, even before her parents began to neglect her, she had dreamed about having a large, full, bookshelf. Her own little library. The few books she did own, were remnants from before her parents were consumed by the DreamScape.

    The final reason she was excited about RESTART, was one that she partially hated about herself, was that this particular game offered exactly what her favorite genre of writing hinted at. Full on immersion in a virtual, fantasy, RPG setting. She had devoured practically every book in the LitRPG genre and calling her obsessed with it wasn¡¯t really a stretch.

    As such, even though she had an irrational or rational grudge against the technology, she would put that aside to live out her own portal type fantasy. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

    Because quite honestly, even in the stories where the players were trapped in the game forever, that didn¡¯t seem too bad, considering the alternative. No, she had finally made the decision, that she would put aside her feelings with the DreamScape and give the technology a chance. After all, she couldn¡¯t really blame the DreamScape for having crap parents.

    In fact, shitty, negligent parents seemed to be a trope in some of the LitRPG novels she read. The thought brought an ironic smirk as she laid her head carefully down inside the poorly, ironic named VR device that was commonplace in every household. The DreamScape machine had one of those strange neck pillows she had seen people use on airplanes, though it had space for the entire head, not just the neck.

    The inside of the DreamMachine was cushioned with a type of memory gel, and once the activation words were spoken, the machine pulsed gel lightly over her skin. The gel contained countless nanobots and would pulse electrical waves through the system into the user, and back, creating a full neural link. At that time, the user would be transported instantly from their frail human body into the DreamScape of their choice.

    She had already ensured her DreamMachine was set to load her into RESTART upon activation, and she could feel her nerves rising again as she tried to steady her breath. She took in one last deep breath and closed her eyes, activating the machine with two words. Whoever had made the dream machine had a twisted sense of humor.

    ¡°Dream On¡±

 Chapter 2

    A bright flash and a bit of disorientation later, she was standing in what most people took to calling the ¡°Lounge¡±. The Lounge was the main screen you saw on login and when switching between programs, although many have turned theirs into secondary homes. Looking around, she took in the comfortably lit room she had spent years building. It was designed after an old study she had seen pictures of, once used by her favorite author, and with elements of his works for flair. In front of her was a grand fireplace crackling away, filling the room with the scent of smoke and a welcome heat. The mantle was covered in small photos and fantastic scenes depicted from stories and games. To her left was a large circular window that looked on a sunny garden and multiple grassy hills with chimneys poking out at odd angles, underneath of which was a battered, yet well cared for, leather couch positioned to catch the sunlight just right. On her right a large wooden desk filled with bits of paper, pens, notes, letters, and the occasional drawing, all from her many, often random, boring hours spent here between books or when looking for a quiet place away from the modern world. Maps lined the walls from fantasy worlds and historic journeys alike.

    Last was the back wall, which she turned to now. From floor to ceiling was a bookshelf, slotted with the many titles she had yet to find physically or those from today that only existed in this digital world. She ran her hand along the spines, still amazed at the almost perfect realism of the leather and cloth bindings. Within this shelf, she hid the few programs looking like books themselves that she had downloaded so as to merge seamlessly in this fantasy which she had created for herself.

    Wishing to start as soon as possible, she moved to where the newest book lay, looking at the golden inlay titled, ¡°RESTART¡±. Boldly printed above the symbol, a green dragon coiled around a large silver tree, which she admired as she walked over to the couch and made herself comfortable before opening the cover.

    She continued to look at the first page, beginning to worry that she had picked the wrong book. Once a program is opened it takes you into that world or stage, but right now she was simply looking at the first page which held one line in a flowing script. ¡°So the Journey begins¡­.¡± With a deep breath to calm the slight twinge of nervous excitement, she flipped to the next page, only to find it blank.

    ¡°Odd,¡± She thought out loud.

    ¡°Very,¡± said a light voice next to her.

    So, like a reasonable adult in their own personal space, she acted rationally.

    By screaming and throwing the book in the direction the voice came from.

    Very rational.

    Jumping up and rushing to the nearby mantle, she pulled down one of the replica swords and turned to face her attacker. Or is it an intruder? Thief? Vagabond? Focus! Right, the to-be-determined stranger.

    Picking up her poorly thrown book was one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. Humanoid in nature, it was as if a lizard and an owl had a beautiful child. The creature was under 5 foot tall, covered in a colorful variety of feathers and dressed in what seemed to be leaves and bits of bark. The creature was staring at her with bright green eyes.

    Walking over to her, the creature returned her book, holding it in a six-clawed grasp. Speaking in the same quiet voice,

    ¡°I think you dropped this?¡±

    She tentatively stretched her hand out the take it, as if the book itself might bite.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for startling you like that, I was merely interested in what it was that you found odd.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± She asked, a bit lost for words.

    ¡°I said I was sorry for startling you, I merely tried-¡°

    ¡°I GOT THAT PART! WHAT ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET HERE? WHY AM I YELLING?¡±

    She was shouting mainly in confusion at this point. As said earlier, totally rational.

    The smug little feather lizard actually seemed amused by this, smiling and looking at her, the picture of innocence.

    Getting a grip on her rampaging thoughts and panic, she simply finished with the first thing that leaped to her mind.

    ¡°Well?¡±

    Classic, Right?

    Standing a little taller, the diminutive being spread their arms and stated with enthusiasm:

    ¡°I¡¯m your guide!¡±

    ¡°My guide? My guide for what?¡±

    ¡°To your new life, of course.¡±

    New life? What new life? Then it hit her, much like the book had hit it.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°RESTART?¡±

    As she said the word the world around her shifted a bit, and instead of her Lounge they were now standing in what looked like a high-class dressing room complete with a full-length mirror. The lizard walked up from behind her to stand next to the mirror.

    ¡°If you would please step forward we can start on your character creation.¡±

    Deciding to listen, she moved in front of the mirror and watched as everything dimmed around her. She was standing in the middle of an abyss, surrounded on all sides by thick mist and darkness, the only light coming from the illuminated mirror. The frame of the mirror was covered in strange carvings, but upon closer inspection, the carvings turned out to be small imitations of a variety of body shapes, sizes, and genders that were highlighting the changed portions. Out of curiosity, she poked the one that looked to be taller, and in an instant, her body grows a couple of inches taller.

    ¡°Oh, this is going to be fun!¡±

    Hours must have flashed by as she morphed her body to her imaginations perfect self. What she ended up with was elven in nature, with full lips and a bust to match. She stared at herself, unable to come to terms that she was the woman standing in the reflection. Many minutes went into staring in wonder at this ethereal body before she realized that she didn¡¯t feel any better about how it made her look. She may have changed many perceived flaws about herself, but none of this was real, she wasn¡¯t the reflection, and while others might enjoy this beautiful version of her, she never would.

    Hitting the appearance reset button, she looked back to see herself, in all her lanky and underdeveloped glory. This was the body she was comfortable in, she knew all its bells and whistles, all its dings and chips, and despite her perceived flaws, this was the only form she would want to take in this new world.

    OKAY, maybe I got rid of a bit of baby fat, it¡¯s still basically me.

    Selecting finish before she could change anything else a prompt appeared.

    *NAME?*

    Huh? she hadn¡¯t really thought of that. Normally going by an old Gamertag from PC playing days, but this was a whole immersive world. Who wants to be known as something like that? After a few minutes of thought, a memory struck her from childhood.

    Without another thought, she spoke out.

    ¡°Alyss.¡±

    And then hit confirm.

    ***

    The room darkened as the prompt screen blinked out of existence. Alyss gasped in surprise as the floor dropped out from underneath her. The wind rushed by her face, her eyes trying and failing to adjust to the darkness, while her body fell.

    Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the darkness was cast off by a golden glow. The light grew to engulf her entire sight, yet she felt no pain from the bright contrast the light brought. Only a sense of warmth and renewal.

    The descent continued and her eyes gradually grew accustomed to the light, revealing a grand forest below. Her fall was, in fact, a form of flight. She sped above the emerald canopy, passing crystal lakes, herds of fantastical beast, and the ruins of kingdoms long gone from this world. In the distance, in the direction of her flight, she could see the broken claw-like remnants of a stone tower, covered with ivy and moss.

    Alyss could feel her body slow in its flight, decelerating as she closed in on the strange tower. While she had zero control over the path, Alyss took a moment to really study her surroundings. At the foot of the tower sat a crumbling cottage, built of the same gray stones, with a drooping wood shingled roof.

    Whatever force that was controlling her flight angled her closer to this cottage and set Alyss on what may once have been the front porch, before years of neglect and harsh weather had beaten the wood and stone platform into the ground, leaving a lumpy moss covered square that she found herself standing on.

    Finding herself in an odd new world her curiosity outweighed her caution, she decided to explore. Walking up what may have been a path, after some yard work and a heavy dose of TLC, Alyss knocked on the old wooden door - which promptly fell off the hinges and landed in a cloud of dust.

    *cough*

    ¡°Hello?¡±, she called out into the gloom.

    Silence answered her.

    There¡¯s only one way to see if anyone is home.

    She walked into the house, careful not to trip over the fallen door. Peering through the settling dust she saw what appeared to be an average homestead if it were from the 1400s or before. A small hearth and kitchen area, a rotting bed, a broken wooden desk, and a toppled table completed the sparse furnishings. Grime covered everything in a thick layer turning everything a monotonous brown-grey.

    ¡°Wonderful place, really.¡±

    ¡°It has been almost a century since the last Guardian was here.¡±

    Oh, look! About to be reasonable again.

    ¡°AAAAHHHH!¡±

    Spinning around, almost falling over the door again, Alyss laid her eyes on the feathered lizard.

    I really need a better name for it.

    ¡°If you¡¯re gonna keep popping up can I at least know your name?¡±

    ¡°Certainly, it¡¯s ¨C¡° after which unintelligible clicking and whistling noises replaced words.

    ¡°Bit of a mouthful, that one. Any chance you have a name I could pronounce without possible calling your mother a bad name by accident?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ is Cleite more to standard?¡±

    I think the little guide is being sassy. I¡¯m ok with this.

    ¡°I can say it without throwing my voice out, so yes, thank you.¡±

    Happy that she''d finally gotten a little information out of the guide, Alyss recollected the other tidbit Cleite had shared.

    ¡°What did you mean when you said, ''It has been almost a century since the last Guardian was here.'' And who was this guardian? And for that matter, a guardian of what exactly?¡±

    ¡°You humans certainly ask many questions before halting to listen.¡±

    Slightly irritated with Cleites antics, Alyss shot off a reply.

    ¡°Tell me, how would you act if you had been suddenly thrown into this world with next to no information?¡±

    ¡°First? I would listen ¡­ As to your original questions, I would ask that you read the journal sitting on the desk over there.¡±

    Her guide lifted one clawed hand to point at the toppled desk, upon which sat a pristine leather-bound journal, untouched by the all-consuming dust blanketing the cottage.

    That wasn¡¯t there a second ago.

    She turned to say as much to her companion but was left with nothing but air to address. Alyss sighed.

    Magic, teleporting, feather lizards that can make books appear out of thin air, this game is gonna be weird.

    Deciding she had nothing better to do, she turned back to the cottage and started making her way across the dusted and rotting floorboards. Listening to the sound of the wood groan and creak under her shifting weight, doing her best to move quickly without falling through to whatever lay beneath.

    She made it to the desk unscathed and grabbed the journal. Exiting the crumbling structure, Alyss walked a short distance to a comfortable looking tree and settled herself down for a bit of reading.

 Chapter 3

    The tree was old oak and rubbed rough on Alyss'' back through her blouse, but she didn¡¯t care. The ground was dirty and would be hell to wash out of the long skirt the game had given her if she had any intention of keeping it, which she didn¡¯t. The journal felt heavy in her hands, leather, and paper, neither treated nor bleached, just as she liked them. Beams of sunlight shone through gaps in the canopy, and a faint breeze carried the scent of fresh grass and forest compost.

    Alyss took a moment to just soak it in.

    Feeling indulgent, she then took another. Then several more. She eventually stopped counting and just resigned herself to having probably stolen the entire cookie jar¡¯s worth of relaxing moments.

    Somewhere off in the distance, a bird started singing.

    A fly landed on her nose.

    ¡°Right!¡± Alyss said out loud, swatting the insect away. ¡°That¡¯s enough soaking. Time to learn how to make money!¡±

    She opened the journal.

    Instantly, everything changed. The light shining through the canopy faded, the faint breeze cooled, sending a chill down her spine, and the smells of the forest vanished.

    It was the year of plenty, boomed a deep voice.

    Alyss was instantly on her feet, all thoughts of reading forgotten. She anxiously waited for more, but it didn¡¯t come. The forest lightened again, and the smells and warmth returned.

    She looked down at the book in her hands. In her surprise, she¡¯d slammed it shut.

    Feeling rather foolish, she settled back down on her rock with her back to the tree, and, now better prepared, opened the journal again.

    It was the year of plenty, boomed the voice again, followed quickly by the light dimming and the air cooling. And all across the land, the races of magic lived in harmony with each other. Great kingdoms were built and heroes defended the weak.

    Alyss realized the voice was reading the words on the page, which was actually kind of annoying, as she could read a lot faster than speaking speed.

    But of all the heroes of the great kingdoms, there was always one who stood out among the others. They who held the task of keeping the seven ruby pillars of binding active ¡ª to keep the forces of darkness banished from the world ¡ª the undead, the demons, the ''rin¡¯seti'', and the ones from over there.

    ¡°Seven ruby pillars,¡± Alyss muttered, ¡°And that hero is me, right?¡±

    And that hero was¡­ The Guardian!

    ¡°Nailed it.¡±

    My name is Roth, forever after to be known as the failed guardian. I write these words in the hope that one day a new guardian will come to the great kingdoms ¡ª to put right what I let go so very wrong. It was me and my hubris that saw the first ruby pillar destroyed. The six others were guarded by the six great kingdoms, led by noble warrior kings of powerful magic, and backed up by large standing armies. The first ruby pillar though was guarded only by myself in my tower. This was a mistake.

    Alyss snorted. ¡°You think?¡±

    A shadowy cabal with designs on the great kingdoms attacked the tower one night, let in by one of my own pupils! I fought with all my years of training and experience, but I was no match against an army. The pillar was shattered and a wave of dark magic pulsed across the world. It was all downhill from there. I tried to stem the tide, but fresh from their home planes, the dark ones were strong. One after another, the kingdoms fell, and soon all the pillars had cracked, leaving the world a husk of its former self.

    ¡°Okay, so big evil stuff happens, and now the world is evil. How do I fight against evil if evil has already won?¡±

    Hope is now gone for me, but I swear, one day, it will re-kindle. Five-hundred years from now, the darkness will weaken. Then, and only then, may the pillars be once again restored, and the forces of evil pushed back from this plane. I pledge you, new guardian, if you are reading this, restore the ruby pillar at the top of my tower, build a village around the tower, now your tower, to defend it, and reach out into the world, to the shattered remains of the once great six kingdoms. Find the lost royal blood-lines, if they still live, and restore them to their former glory.

    ¡°Restore pillars, found village, reach out, help re-build kingdoms, win the game, gotcha.¡±

    But beware! As each new pillar is activated, and your power as the guardian grows, so too your enemies will become more determined and ruthless. Now, go forth!

    The chill in the air receded and the light came back, shining golden beams once again through the leaves in the canopy above. The book shuddered in Alyss¡¯ hands and fell silent.

    Alyss nodded to herself. All very interesting, but it didn¡¯t give her any clue about how one might go about making money. Real books didn¡¯t just show up as this one did.

    Now without the old man¡¯s booming voice shouting in her ear, she continued to read in the traditional, and, in her opinion, better style. Passages leaped out at her, some important, others less so, but all the while the subject that truly interested her, eluded her scrutiny.

    Unlike other games, restart does not use base stats, such as strength or dexterity, Instead, your effectiveness is determined by your skills alone.

    But how do I make money? Alyss thought.

    Many skills have crossover applications with other skills. For example, increasing your ¡®bench press¡¯ skill will increase the effectiveness of your ¡®sword swing¡¯ skill, but will do little for your ¡®sprint¡¯ skill.

    But how do I make money?

    You can see the skills map by saying, ¡®skills map,¡¯ out loud.

    ¡°Skills map.¡±

    A huge spider¡¯s web made of stars filled Alysss vision.

    ¡°Whoa.¡±

    The majority of the map was covered in vision-clouding fog, but she could make out one lighted circle in the middle. After some experimentation with her hands, she figured out how to zoom in to a little chibi picture of herself sticking out her tongue while standing on a star that said, ¡®Restart¡¯. Eight glowing lines spread out from the center circle, each one a different color, each heading into a different skill type, and each illuminating the first mandatory skill to level up from that category.

    Alyss closed the skill menu. ¡°Yes,¡± she practically shouted. ¡°But ¡ª how ¡ª do ¡ª I ¡ª make ¡ª money?!¡±

    Economy ¡ª how to make money

    ¡°Thank you! Finally!¡±

    Once restored to their glory, however, you wish to achieve that, each of the six kingdoms can construct a building called the Player Marketplace ¡ª a closed instance in which players can trade with each other, cross world. Great fortunes can be made in the market place, for those with the knowledge of the way. A Player Marketplace is also required to transfer in-game currency to your ID bracelet (Note: Game augmented skills do not work in the market place)

    Alyss tapped her chin. ¡°So, the big money will likely be made through trade with other players¡­ that makes sense.¡± Getting one of these marketplaces built would be a top priority so she knew what she was working with. And that required restoring at least one of the six kingdoms. And she couldn¡¯t do that until she¡¯d built up her own village somewhat. She smiled impishly and climbed to her feet. It looked like she¡¯d simply have to make do with adventuring in her very own litRPG setting until then.

    There wasn¡¯t anything left to read, so she slapped the journal shut, and the moment she did a prompt filled her vision.

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    You have finished reading ¡®The Failed Guardian¡¯s Last Journal¡¯

    You gain 5 XP

    Certain actions, such as defeating enemies, completing works of art, or reading important books, grant XP. Gain XP to level up. Level up to gain skill points. Invest skill points to become the woman you always wanted to be.

    Alyss just managed to stifle a squeal of joy ¡ª then realized there was no one around and so let it out anyway. Her very first prompt! Just like in the really old-school stories from the founding of the genre.

    ¡ª Bong ¡ª

    You have reached level one!

    You have gained one skill point

    Skill points granted per level increases with each level achieved

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    You have completed a main story-line quest

    The Failed Guardian: Discover what the Guardian is, and what the world now expects of you. What you do from here, is up to you.

    You gain 5 XP

    Quest reward: Old Skill Book

    Main storyline quests are not shown in advance and do not appear in the quest log. You must follow your heart, mind, or soul to discover them, and will only understand the consequences of your choices after the fact. The world is not black and white, but only shades of grey.

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    A new quest has been added to your quest journal

    Time To Skill Up: Use the skill book to improve one skill of your choice.

    To access your quest journal, say, ¡®Quest Journal,¡¯ out loud.

    Quest reward: 5XP and a little something extra

    Prompt after prompt filled Alyss¡¯ vision. She read them all quickly, then stared down at the grass in front of her where another old book had materialized out of thin air and dropped to the ground with a quiet thunk.

    Grinning from ear to ear, she snatched it up.

    Suddenly, the world went weird. There was a terrible feeling of wrongness, like waking up to the sensation of falling, only to realize you¡¯re still in bed. Alyss clutched at her chest, her breathing had suddenly jumped up by a hundred percent, and stared at the last prompt.

    Some of the words had jumbled themselves up into a mess of incomprehensibility. It now reads:

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    A new ********** been ********** to your *********

    Time To Skill Up: Use the ****&&&***** to improve one skill of your choice.

    To access your **********+ , say, ¡®Quest Journal,¡¯ out *******.

    ¡°A bug?¡± Alyss asked, incredulous. ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m about to trapped in the game. Or slowly lose my mind as an NPC.¡± She smirked. ¡°Or maybe I¡¯ll get some awesome OP ability. That would be nice.¡±

    She opened the book and stared. Then she cursed.

    Old *$¡ê¡ê$¡ê$$¡ê Book

    &%%^%¡ê¡ê@¡ê*Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    -1 to any skill of your choosing.

    ***$$%$$&^^&

    Most of the book text was unreadable, but the one line that was clear made it obvious that her reward was worse than useless. ¡°Minus one to any skill?¡± Alyss all but shouted into the crisp, beautiful, forest air. ¡°MINUS ONE?¡± She tried to throw the book away, but another prompt appeared, along with the book, back in her rather pissed off hands.

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    Quests in the tutorial cannot be abandoned. You must complete these quests to complete the tutorial. The tutorial will complete once the first ruby pillar has been re-activated.

    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡±

    Still cursing under her breath, Alyss brought up the skill map again, in all its star-lit glory.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she muttered under her breath. ¡°So, which of these is the least useful skill?¡± There were eight available, each one the first stepping stone into one of the eight skill categories: Physical Combat, Magic, Diplomacy, Trade, Culture, Crafting, Subtlety, and Love. The eight skills she could access for each of the categories were: Punch, Magic Arrow, Lie, Haggle, Sing, Knit, Sense Direction, and Flirt.

    She also saw she could invest as many skill points into each skill as she wanted, to increase its effectiveness, although presumably there was some theoretical cap.

    Alyss paced up and down the tree line, looking at each option in turn, and carefully weighing just how much she didn¡¯t care.

    In the end, it came down to a photo finish between flirting and knitting, both skills she could easily do without. In the end, knitting carried the day, in part because she was kind of interested in crafting, and wanted to see what else lay ahead in the skill tree, just not in knitting.

    Still feeling annoyed at the game for forcing her to make this kind of stupid choice, she pressed her hand on the book and selected knitting.

    Her brain exploded. Not literally of course, but it certainly felt that way. It felt like a hundred angry buffalo had decided to go on a stampede down corpus callosum canyon. Or a thousand hungry armadillos had mistaken her parietal lobe for a sandpit made of sugar-coated worms.

    She knelt there, panting on the wet grass on her hands and knees, her skirt now very much in need of the wash that she had no intention of giving it.

    Eventually, her mind stopped feeling like ten-thousand resident male ants had all simultaneously spotted their queen metaphorically heading off to the shower with a suggestive look over her shoulder, and was able to process what the hell had just happened.

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    Congratulations! You have reached level 999 in knitting.

    High above the forest treetops, birds took flight in startled alarm at the cry of rage and frustration pouring out from below them. A Griffin, perched on a craggy mountainside, many miles away, started and settled down protectively on her eggs. And a party of goblins hunting deer by a faraway stream all went prone as the fearsome predator¡¯s howl of anguish sounded across the land, warning all who heard it that something they did not want to meet was having a very, very bad day.

    ¡°WHY?!¡± Alyss screamed, thumping the now lifeless book with her small fists. ¡°WHY? WHY? WHY?¡± She could have been the most badass magic-missile wielding mage the world would ever see. She could have the most masterful liar or a legendary haggler. Hell, even being a mythic flirt would have been better.

    DreamScape glitches like that were the stuff of whispered legend. She would never see another like it in her entire life. And she¡¯d wasted it on, ¡°Fucking knitting!? Are you actually kidding me!?¡±

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    You have completed a quest

    Time To Skill Up: Use the skill book to improve one skill of your choice.

    You gain 5 XP

    You have started down the path of the craftsman ¡ª Here¡¯s a little something to get you started.

    Quest Reward: 2x Steel Knitting Needle

    ¡ªDing¡ª

    You have found 2x Steel Knitting Needle

    Quality: Common (sharp, but nothing special)

    Damage type: Piercing

    Base damage: 1-2

    Example skills which make use of this item: Thrust, Stab, Knit

    The two knitting needles clattered down on the ground in front of Alyss¡¯ dropped head, still on her hands and knees, her hair spreading out all over the ground, now at risk of getting just as dirty as her clothes.

    Alyss allowed herself to wallow in despair for opportunities missed for another five minutes before raising her head, climbing to one knee, and grabbing both needles like they were three months behind on their rent. She then climbed to her feet the rest of the way and held the knitting needles at her sides as though they were twin rapiers.

    ¡°Right!¡± she declared to the empty clearing. ¡°Utterly stupid skills aside. What now?¡±

    As if in answer to her question, three more prompts filled her vision, one after the other:

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    A new quest has been added to your quest journal

    Setting up base: Clear the Guardian¡¯s Tower of enemies and reactivate the first ruby pillar

    Rewards: 10 XP + One Skill Book + Village Tools Unlocked

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    A new quest has been added to your quest journal

    Adventures are more fun with friends: Find a friend to help found your village

    Rewards: 10 XP + One Skill Book + Follower Tools Unlocked

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    A new quest has been added to your quest journal

    Investigate your domain: Find all the border stones that mark the domain of the Guardian¡¯s Tower.

    Rewards: 10 XP + One skill Book + Map Unlocked

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡± Alyss put a finger on her chin. ¡°Well, right now I do feel a serious need to stab something, so clear the tower it¡¯s going to be.¡±

    **** Restart ****

    The imp of the first floor polished his dagger in anticipation of the final showdown. He wasn¡¯t anticipating much, however. The Guardian¡¯s Tower had been in the hands of his master for nearly five-hundred years, and there hadn¡¯t been a final showdown yet. And since there wasn¡¯t a good reason why the final showdown had to be this afternoon, after he¡¯d finished polishing his dagger, he waddled over to the little kitchen and cut himself a slice of homemade fruit cake. The trees around the tower were so abundant at this time of year.

    As if to taunt him, an alarm went off and the front door creaked open.

    WARNING, boomed a loud voice.

    You have entered the Guardian¡¯s Tower. You have ten minutes before reinforcements are summoned.

    The imp cursed, snatched at his dagger, and turned, plate still in his other hand. He found himself face to face, not with some great warrior, but rather with a lanky-looking human female. She had long hair the color of mud and a rather angular face, although his brother upstairs would probably say that her nose more than made up for it ¡ª a perfect button shape ¡ª very feminine ¡ª and her eyes were like gimlets. She was also wielding two pointed sticks of metal, which his rather limited knowledge of humanity identified as cloth-making tools.

    He gave her an indulgent smile. ¡°Human female walked in the wrong door, did she? Easy mistake. Many doors around here. Hehe.¡± He laughed at his own joke. ¡°Perhaps she would like cake?¡±

    The woman looked cautiously at the cake while advancing towards him. ¡°Is it poisoned?¡±

    ¡°Poisoned, yes. The human female is wise to ask. High in sugar, fat, sodium, and primary allergens, all highly processed, and quite lethal in high quantities over many years ¡ª obesity, heart failure, diabetes, and many more.¡± The imp took a large bite out of the cake, swallowed, and sighed in utter bliss. ¡°So good.¡±

    He was in such bliss, in fact, that he didn¡¯t spot the two knitting needles coming straight for his head until it was too late.

    **** Restart ****

    Critical hit x2!

    You hit Imp for 8 damage

    Imp dies

    You gain 2 XP

    Critical hits occur when you strike an enemy in vulnerable locations. Improving attack skills makes landing these hits more reliable.

    Alyss panted as she watched the foul little pot-bellied creature topple over with her needles lodged right in its forehead ¡ª a hard target to aim for. The cake-filled plate crashed onto the floor, along with several coins, which she happily scooped up.

    You have found 2 copper pieces

    Not waiting around to inspect anything else, she bolted over to the spiral stone staircase that circled the tower¡¯s edge and started to climb. The quest text hadn¡¯t said anything about being on a timer! Damn it. If she¡¯d known, she¡¯d have prepared a bit more thoroughly. Not only that, but she didn¡¯t have a clock or anything, so there wasn¡¯t any way to know how long left she had.

    Eight minutes remaining, boomed the loud voice.

    Well, that solved that.

    Alyss arrived at the door to the next floor, shoved it open with her shoulder, and stumbled into the room, knitting needles at the ready.

    She was, however, certainly not ready for what she saw.

    ¡°Hello there, lover,¡± said what had to be both the buffest and tallest imp Alyss had ever seen, as well as the most well endowed. Unlike the foul little thing downstairs, this¡­ male¡­ looked like it had been carved from marble by some genius ancient sculpture. It was lying naked on a bed of red silk with flower petals strewn around it, deep black eyes firmly locked with hers. ¡°And I must say, you have the cutest nose I¡¯ve ever seen on a human.¡±

    Alyss just stared, her own eyes wide.

    ¡°I want to love you,¡± the imp purred. ¡°I want to know you as no man has ever known you before. I want to take you.¡±

    That was enough to break Alyss from her spell. Several quick steps to the bed and several vicious strikes later had the imp screaming in pain. Loverboy hadn¡¯t even been armed.

    Critical hit x2

    You hit Imp for 6 damage

    Critical hit x2

    You hit Imp for 6 damage

    Imp dies.

    You gain 2 XP

    Hitting the vulnerable spot this time had not been hard at all, and by the time she was done, neither was the vulnerable spot.

    You have found 2 copper pieces

    Again Alyss bolted for the stairs.

    Seven minutes remaining, boomed the voice.

    She was making good time at least.

    Another shoulder smash into the next door found her stumbling into a room much different from the one below. While the room below had been like some playboy¡¯s medieval boudoir, this room looked like it had been cut from some medieval banker¡¯s office. The imp in the middle of the room gave Alyss an unimpressed once over. He was wearing black robes, embodied with gold, and again, Alyss couldn¡¯t spot a weapon.

    ¡°A pleasure to meet you, Miss?¡± The question hung in the air.

    ¡°Alyss.¡±

    ¡°Miss Alyss. What a delightful name.¡±

    Alyss was already half-way to the imp, knitting needles firmly in hand when it threw up an urgent hand. ¡°I can tell you more about the player markets!¡±

    Alyss stilled. Was this a trick? How did he know she wanted to know? Come to that¡­ ¡°How do you know about the player markets?¡± she asked. ¡°You¡¯re an NPC ¡ª a demon ¡ª cannon fodder in the tutorial zone.¡±

    The robbed imp chuckled. ¡°We travel across all the worlds, Miss Alyss. Some worlds we lose in, true, but in other worlds, we win.¡± He licked his lips. ¡°Will we win in yours, I wonder?¡±

    That gave Alyss pause to think. The idea that all the demons and other evil forces that fought over the player worlds were all in connection with one another was actually a rather unsettling thought. She raised her knitting needles.

    ¡°I can give you information,¡± the imp said quickly, raising its other hand so that both were raised in supplication. ¡°But I will require a trade.¡±

    ¡°Your life in exchange,¡± Alyss said quickly.

    The imp licked its lips. ¡°As it so happens, that is exactly what I was going to propose. I¡¯m so glad we¡¯re on the same wavelength, so to speak.¡±

    ¡°Go on,¡± Alyss said.

    ¡°During the early times, the first player guardians bought and sold everything in the markets, but it quickly became obvious that most common resources, the guardians could always find in their own worlds ¡ª wood, stone, metals, etc, but the one resource that they could never easily flood the market with was high-level crafted magical items, especially ones with unique magical effects. These items require very high skill levels in both magic and crafting, so most players will never reach the levels required to make them, and are willing to trade huge quantities to get them.¡±

    Alyss nodded. It was valuable information. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    The imp nodded.

    Alyss lowered her needles and pointed to the door. ¡°Then leave.¡±

    The imp walked behind her, and Alyss realized her mistake a split second too late ¡ª a split second before a blinding pain stabbed her in the back.

    ¡°Fool!¡± the imp snarled. ¡°Did you really think I would trade so easily like that with a guardian?! Greed is your downfall!¡±

    Pained, screaming, Alyss flailed wildly, trying to dislodge the evil creature where it had what felt like a dagger shoved right into between one of her shoulder blades. One particularly wild swing threw it across the room, and another desperate reach around and yank, found her with the cruel looking weapon in hand, red blood dripping from the blade. The game might not have pain levels the same as the real world, but it still hurt like the dickens.

    Imp crits you for 9 damage

    You are low on health

    The imp was already back on its feet and bouncing from foot to foot like a boxer. Another dagger had already found its way into its hands, slipping out from the depths of its robes.

    Alyss darted forward with all the elegance one would expect from a lanky nerd. It did the job though. The imp screamed as her knitting needles found their way repeatedly into its body, trading its certain death for only a minor scratch in return.

    You hit Imp for 4 damage

    You hit Imp for 2 damage

    You hit Imp for 3 damage

    Imp hits you for 2 damage

    You hit Imp for 3 damage

    Imp dies

    You gain 2 XP

    Panting, Alyss stood over the downed imp and wearily glanced to what she hoped was the final set of stairs leading to the top the of the tower. Then she glanced back at the imp.

    You have found 5 copper pieces

    You have found rough black imp robes

    After a bit of searching, Alyss found her status window. She had only 4 HP left and no way to heal herself.

    Five minutes remaining, boomed the voice.

    Shit. What should she do? There was no doubt any ¡®final boss¡¯ was going to be harder, and she¡¯d already taken 11 damage fighting this bastard. If she was going to win, she¡¯d have to win while taking zero damage. But that was going to be a tall order. After all, she only had one real extraordinary skill, and that was freakin¡¯ knitting.

    Alyss looked at her knitting needles. Then she looked at the black robe the imp had just dropped. Then back at her needles again.

    **** Restart ****

    The top floor imp checked the sand timer that had turned over the moment the intruder had entered the tower. It wasn¡¯t a perfect defense system by any means, but they had to work with what the gods had given them, and what the gods had given them, was this. A huge obelisk-like ruby stone was mounted in a metal trestle in the center of the room.

    With any luck, his subordinates would have sufficiently weakened the new guardian, such that his task would be that much easier.

    The door creaked open.

    The top floor imp hefted his ax.

    What walked through the door was not what he¡¯d expected. A human female, brandishing two knitting needles, already loaded with course-looking black thread ¡ª a thread which trailed up around her person and ended in a perfect ball hanging from one ear.

    Anger pooled in his gut. ¡°Is¡­ this¡­ a¡­ joke?!¡± he roared.

    The woman edged closer. ¡°I am not a joking kind of person,¡± she said.

    The imp snarled. ¡°Then I have nothing to say to you.¡± And he lunged.

    He did not expect the needles to jab at him as if possessed by one of the greater demons. He did not expect to find his ax pulled from his grasp by simple yarn, coiling and re-coiling around him, like some terrible serpent, and he most certainly did not expect to find himself hoisted up in the air by one of the tower beams, arms tied behind his back, legs tied together, knotted and stitched, and the case of his fingers, actually plaited.

    ¡°What is this?!¡± he shouted, totally immobile, swinging and helpless.

    ¡°The greatest guardian to ever live,¡± the woman said. ¡°I am the legendary knitter.¡±

    That was the last thing he saw before two needles plunged into his face and his world went red, and then black.

    **** Restart ****

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Alyss cried out, panting wildly with her hands on her knees. ¡°How badass was that?!¡±

    A sea of prompts filled her vision, but she dismissed them to deal with later.

    Four minutes remaining, boomed the voice.

    ¡°Oh, right. Got to complete the quest.¡± Alyss hurried over to the ruby pillar and placed a hand on it. Another prompt appeared.

    ¡ªDing¡ª

    Do you want to activate the first ruby pillar?

    [Yes] or [No]

    Alyss hit [Yes].

    The whole room shook. Alyss stood back, alarmed, as the pillar began to glow. Then, a bright red light shot up into the air, right through a hole in the roof of the tower, and up into the open sky above.

    ¡ªFwoosh¡ª

    You have completed a quest

    Setting up base: Clear the Guardian¡¯s Tower of enemies and reactivate the first ruby pillar

    Rewards: 10 XP + One Skill Book + Village Tools Unlocked

    Alyss grinned.

    ¡ª End of Chapter Three ¡ª

 Chapter 4

    If there was one person whom Kratawar hated to talk to, it was Defa, the spiteful demon lord of the neighbouring city. Usually, their communications consisted of raids and the placing of the heads of the slain on border defenses. Defa might speak a dozen languages but the only voice the demon lord listened to was that of power. What was always particularly galling about Defa, was how superior he thought he was. Kratawar came away from their conversations with the message that he was merely a stupid undead skeleton, while Defa was a genius to be heeded. However, the truth was the other way around and one day Kratawar, ''stupid undead skeleton'', would prove that a Lich Lord was a far more powerful being than a braggart demon.

    The Cauldron of Visions rested in the most secure room of the castle; the chamber containing the broken ruby pillar. Surrounded by the blood-red glow of the shattered gem, Kratawar stood, steeling himself. With a sigh, he waved his fleshless arm and cast an enchantment. Within the silvery water of the cauldron, a picture came into view: the broken pillar and throne of the demon citadel to the north.

    ¡®Kratawar, I knew you would be in touch. So the imps have let us down?¡¯

    ¡®You felt it, all the way over there?¡¯

    ¡®Of course.¡¯ Defa was sneering.

    ¡®Well then, you know we have to agree a truce while I recapture the ruby tower for the forces of darkness.¡¯

    Leaning forward, Defa grinned, showing long incisors. ¡®Maybe I will, maybe I won¡¯t.¡¯

    A number of responses ran through Kratawar¡¯s thoughts. Being smart ¨C and next in line should some hero actually make a success of the new settlement ¨C he quelled the desire to swear at Defa.

    ¡®This a situation where we come to an agreement or we both fall. As do our brothers and sisters of the other pillars. I have to act fast, before the forces of good turn that settlement into a strong point.¡¯

    ¡®Yes, yes, you do.¡¯ Defa waved a long-nailed hand dismissively. ¡®Off you go then. Send your best troops.¡¯

    ¡®I will, when you cast Oath of the Ruby Pillar and swear to a truce. A month should be enough.¡¯

    ¡®Or, I could take advantage of your weakness.¡¯

    ¡®Hardly a weakness.¡¯

    ¡®Tell you what,¡¯ Defa was smirking now. ¡®I¡¯ll give you a truce if you give me Dearbhgilla¡¯s Forest. It should be mine in any case.¡¯

    ¡®You ask too much. Never.¡¯

    With a feigned yawn, Defas tail swishing too eagerly for him to really be tired, the demon lord settled back into his throne.

    ¡®You know how to contact me if you change your mind about the forest territory.¡¯

    A swift motion of his enemy¡¯s hand and the surface of the liquid in the cauldron showed nothing more than the reddish reflection of the room.

    Kratawar felt rage surge inside him. Yet it was with a certain detachment that he noted the sensation as it rose to a peak and then subsided. It was difficult to really taste any emotion in full when you had been dead for over 500 years. Very well, he would face the challenge alone and he would triumph over Defa.

    After several minutes adjusting his production priorities and mulling over his options, Kratawar conjured a skeleton scribe so he could dictate two scrolls. The first was to his extremely competent northern general, Supitha the Wraith.

    Take the northern army and the next cohort of Grim Battlecarts to come from the Barracks Level Five and occupy defensive positions in Dearbhgilla¡¯s Forest. I''m anticipating a major thrust from Defa. If, no, WHEN you defeat his army, you may destroy as many of his buildings as you can, so long as there is no substantial risk to our elite forces.

    The second was to Captain Trakada, a promising minor-lich.

    Take thirty skeleton archers and fifty zombies to the Guardian Tower. The imps there have lost control of it. Kill anyone you find and destroy the gem if it has been restored. Once you have seen to your duties, send word and wait for further instructions.

    If all went well, Kratawar should be able to influence the new dark commander of the recaptured Guardian Tower. He relished the thought of tipping the balance against Defa. And beyond ¡­.

    With the thought of the demon lord one day begging for mercy eliciting a rather unpleasant smile, Kratawar turned to his leadership management tools. Was everything balanced for optimum military growth?

    **** Restart ****

    Whistling cheerfully to herself, Alyss strolled around the top of the tower, feeling like the queen of all she surveyed. Beyond the crenelated battlements were lands that were mostly hers, at least to judge from the pale grey hexagons that her new Village Tool UI allowed her to superimpose on the view. The mountains to the east, however, were beyond her domain, the hexagons disappeared beyond a rise of hills. Far too short of the nesting gryphons, which was a shame.

    To the south, a fine river flowed through green and fertile fields. Walking clockwise around the central pillar of ruby light, Alyss studied a swampy-looking land, the swaying reeds giving way to a lake. No good for farming, but perhaps there was hunting or other useful purposes for the swampland. Northward were more hills and interestingly, when she opened a buildings menu, the menu cascaded into several options that looked like like they could help make her fortune. She noted copper mines and iron mines with particular interest. Alyss concentrated, focusing on the copper mine option.

    Basic Open Cast Copper Mine

    Laborers required: 2

    Tools required: 2 picks and 2 shovels

    Output: 1 copper ingot / day

    Prerequisites: smelting furnace

    Cost: 360 planks of wood

    Interesting. Yet there was so much else to look at. Like diamond mines! Or even the buildings. Dozens of options were available and they changed according to the land she was looking at. There was the Player Market, massively out of reach. It needed thousands of planks of wood, hundreds of blocks of stone, also marble, iron and gold paint. Gold paint! Damn. Frustratingly, even a basic villager¡¯s hut required 48 planks of wood. And as she had no wood, Alyss wasn¡¯t sure how she could even begin to create the vibrant community that would make her fortune.

    She remembered an ominous phrase from the book. Hadn¡¯t it lectured her in it¡¯s sombre voice, saying, ¡®Beware! As each new pillar is activated your enemies will become more determined and ruthless.¡¯

    Were there enemies on the march already? Those goblins had disappeared from view, and her mind invented an image of them gathering to attack. The magic of the ruby pillar was like a beacon, telling the whole world where she was. If she could have, she would have covered up the magical pillar and in a hushed retreat, carefully built a community away from any attention.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    This wasn¡¯t an option, so she turned her attention to the information she could find on troop building. Alyss searched and came across pay dirt.

    Inexperienced Archer

    A level 1 soldier armed with bow, dagger and wearing leather armor

    Cost: 2 cp a week.

    Prerequisites: Barracks level 1

    Right, so, Barracks level 1, where are you? Several frustrating minutes later, in which her sense that time was hurrying past her was exacerbated by a cloud front crossing the sun and bringing a dark line flowing over her lands, like the approach of a vast enemy army, Alyss found that by looking at some flat grassland, she could call up the barracks branches.

    Barracks Level 1

    Yields two inexperienced militia soldiers or one inexperienced archer per day

    Cost: 220 planks of wood

    More planks of wood! Everything needed planks of wood it seemed. She had better get started on that right away. The obvious place to rest her gaze and call up some kind of forestry building was on the treeline to the south. But that was miles away and there were some promising small copses of trees much closer. To the east, towards the mountains, were several resource rich sites within a mile of her. And to her great pleasure, Alyss found that she could indeed select a woodcutter¡¯s hut by staring at one.

    In the middle of the grey hexagon, a ruby icon appeared. It was of an ax, an adze and a trestle table. And after a flick of her finger, the icon slowly turned from red to green. There was a clock underneath, counting down from just over eight minutes. Fine. Now another one at the next nearest copse. And another at a third. Why not? Wood was such a basic resource. But wait, wouldn¡¯t it be wise to think about upkeep? What if these woodcutters needed food? Her nine copper pieces wouldn¡¯t go far, even if she found a place to spend them.

    It was a shame she was on her own. Experienced players would have flown through this set-up and known exactly what to build to get started. Still, there was no point dwelling on feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. She was off to a great start and she knew she could figure this out. Alyssville (if Alexander the Great could do it ¡­ ) was going to be awesome, a veritable gold-plated fantasy town full of thousands of players.

    Alyss paced the battlements of the tower, looking carefully at her building options as she stared out over the landscape. It was the swamp that had the building she wanted, a hunter¡¯s tent. No wood needed, hurray, just a fifteen minute countdown on the build. May as well get two more then. However when she tried signalling with the twitch of her finger, a method which had worked for her with the other buildings, she recieved a disappointing message:

    ALERT! You have reached your maximum allocation of villagers

    ¡®Damnit!¡¯ It felt good to hear a voice, even if it was her own, so she swore again. Then she made a mental note. Maybe she should buy a villager¡¯s hut first? Would that allow her to build more hunter¡¯s tents?

    While she was brooding on this and the question of a barracks versus civilian infrastructure, a gladly recieved message popped up.

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    You have completed a woodcutter¡¯s hut.

    You gain +5 Village Builder Exp.

    The woodcutter¡¯s hut created six planks per hour. Deciding to go look at it close up, Alyss descended the tower steps; stone, worn smooth in the center of each when the same message popped up and then a third time. She was halfway to her nearest woodcutter¡¯s hut when she got the hunter¡¯s tent message.

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    You have completed a hunter¡¯s tent

    You gain +5 Village Builder Exp

    ¡ª Bong ¡ª

    You have reached level one Village Builder!

    You have gained one leadership skill point

    Oh, leadership skills. That was new. Just as she was beginning to feel like she was getting up to speed with the game, Alyss found herself thrashing around in darkness once more. What the hell were leadership skills all about? And what choices did she now face? Still, Alyss wasn¡¯t going to stop and figure out how to spend her new point just now though, not when there was an intriguing sound ahead. Her first woodcutter was systematically hacking into a tree trunk; she couldn¡¯t yet see him but two annoyed ravens came cawing out of the copse, flying erratically around the treetops.

    Alyss walked towards the noise of her hard-working villager speeding up to a run in anticipation. This was exciting. Fun even. And there he was, younger than Alyss had expected, with a loose shirt, open down his chest, short black hair and a solid face. Not unattractive, she noted. Except for perhaps his brow which was currently lined in concentration.

    Forgad the Woodcutter

    Poor, but honest

    Level 0

    Equipment: Simple axe

    Poor but honest, thought Alyss. Like me. ¡®Hello, Forgad.¡¯

    ¡®Oh,¡¯ the woodcutter looked over at Alyss, tugging at a few spikes of his hair. ¡®Good afternoon ma¡¯am.¡¯

    ¡®You can call me Alyss.¡¯

    ¡®Thank you, ma¡¯am.¡¯

    ¡®Alyss.¡¯

    ¡®Thank you, Alyss.¡¯

    The NPC might be little more than a chatbot, but she was confindent he could learn. Slowly.

    ¡®How do you get to become level one?¡¯, Alyss wondered aloud.

    ¡®By chopping down fifty trees ma¡¯am.¡¯

    Scratch that about learning. ¡®Is there anything I can do to help?¡¯

    ¡®I believe if you had the motivation leadership skill line, that would increase my output and so I¡¯d also level more quickly.¡¯

    ¡®Oh, good tip. I don¡¯t know anything about leadership skills.¡¯

    Forgad paused, mid-blow. ¡®But you¡¯re the Lady of the tower.¡¯

    ¡®Yeah but I¡¯m new to the game.¡¯

    ¡®Aren¡¯t we all?¡¯

    Alyss stared at him. ¡®What did you just say?¡¯

    ¡®I said we are all new. Or at least, that¡¯s what I meant.¡¯

    ¡®But you¡¯re an NPC, you¡¯re not new?¡¯

    Putting down his axe, Forgad began to chuckle. ¡®Really? Am I that dumb sounding?¡¯

    Alyss rushed to answer, ¡®No, no of course not. It¡¯s just I was expecting to meet an NPC. How did you come to be here?¡¯

    ¡®Mind if I take a break, ma¡¯am? It¡¯s not a long story but when I¡¯m chopping trees, that takes all my breath.¡¯

    ¡®Go ahead.¡¯

    Forgad brushed his hands on his shirt and then sat on a log. ¡®I started yesterday with a warrior but got killed about an hour ago by some goblins. Restart is supposed to have crafting progression that''s really important to the end game. And it matters more to me to make money than become a famous fighter. So when I saw the new options for character creation that were available with the Guardian¡¯s Tower unlocked, I took one of them.¡¯

    ¡®How does that work though? Are you just going to chop wood for hours, all day every day?¡¯

    When Forgad smiled, it was infectious and Alyss found herself smiling back at him.

    ¡®I hope not. When you have enough wood to make a crafting building, you can promote me. I¡¯d like to be a bowyer eventually and make high-end player bows.¡¯

    ¡®What if I don¡¯t? What if I leave you here?¡¯

    ¡®I can up and go at any time. Set up somewhere else and practice my skills outside of the community. But progression in crafting is supposed to be a lot faster inside a village. And you¡¯ve unlocked the first of the seven pillars. This should be an amazing place given time, with all the other crafting buildings inside, so I won¡¯t have to travel far for components.¡¯

    Alyss fell silent. She had so many questions she didn¡¯t know where to start.

    ¡®Can I ask you something?¡¯ Forgad picked up his axe again.

    ¡®Sure.¡¯

    ¡®How did you get control of the tower? You don¡¯t look like a powerful wizard or anything.¡¯

    ¡®I¡¯ll tell you if you promise not to laugh at me.¡¯

    ¡®I promise.¡¯

    ¡®Knitting, nine hundred and ninety-nine.¡¯

    For a moment Forgad stared at her. Then he clapped a hand over his mouth. It was no use though, his shoulders were heaving. His eyes, wrinkled with humor lines at the edges, were filling with water; he bent over, sides quivering. And after a few moments of this, a huge series of laughs burst out through his fingers.

    ¡®Idiot,¡¯ fumed Alyss and turned away, walking quickly back towards the tower. She wasn¡¯t really cross with Forgad though, in fact, she liked him. But there was a lot to do and he really needed to get on with his job while she figured out what else she ought to be doing.

 Chapter 5

    Rudeness aside, having other players around was interesting. Alyss took the time to investigate the other two woodworking stations where she met Kaliope and Bob, respectively.

    Bob wasn¡¯t much of a talker. He nodded when she introduced herself, barked his name, and went back to work. His pop-up display read:

    ¡ª¡ª

    Bob the Woodcutter

    Reserved, but resilient

    Level 0

    Equipment: Simple ax

    ¡ª¡ª

    ¡®Reserved¡¯ is a word for it, Alyss thought.

    Her meeting with Kaliope went better. The square-faced young woman had a small stack of wood planks already waiting by the time Alyss beat her way through a thick copse to the final station.

    ¡°I hope. You know. You''re not. My boss,¡± Kaliope said, punctuating each word with an ax swing.

    Alyss stopped in her tracks. What the hell had she done to deserve that greeting? A few feet remained between herself and the other player, giving her the room both to appreciate Kaliope¡¯s rippling muscles and read the player¡¯s pop-up display.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Kaliope the Woodcutter

    Boisterous, but blunt

    Level 0

    Equipment: Simple ax

    ¡ª¡ª

    ¡°Nice to meet you, too,¡± said Alyss, amused despite herself. Blunt indeed.

    The ax met wood with a resounding thunk, the blade remaining buried as Kaliope stepped away from her work. Crossing her arms, she fixed Alyss with a cheery grin.

    ¡°Don¡¯t take it that way, yeah? This is the third instance I¡¯ve tried, and I¡¯m getting tired of people ordering me around like they¡¯re my personal messiah or some shit.¡±

    ¡°You mean the different ¡®dimensions¡¯ of the game?¡± Alyss said, remembering what the goblin from the tower¡¯s third level had told her. The Player Markets would connect her tower to other versions of the game. She supposed if a player rolled a crafting character they¡¯d have the ability to migrate between other players¡¯ games until they found one they liked.

    Just what she needed, really: game politics. Great. She wished the game had just spawned some NPCs.

    ¡°Sure, why not,¡± agreed Kaliope. ¡°Point is I¡¯m here to work on a team, not to be anyone¡¯s lackey.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me. I didn¡¯t know the game would put other players in as the villagers until you guys showed up.¡±

    Kaliope gave Alyss another assessing look. ¡°Newb?¡±

    ¡°Just started today.¡±

    ¡°Damn, girl. You work fast.¡±

    Alyss spared a glance at the tower looming above them. She hadn¡¯t thought clearing it was all that difficult, one sneaky goblin notwithstanding. But this was the second player who¡¯d implied otherwise.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t restore the ruby, either?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± Kaliope sounded offended for half a second. Then she was grinning again, and shrugged. ¡°Lost it pretty quick, though. That lich is a bastard.¡±

    She yanked the ax out of the stump. ¡°Thought about rolling another Guardian, giving it a second go but, eh, I¡¯m not much of one for resource management. Figured I could lend a hand, get promoted up the ranks a bit.¡±

    Thinking back to what Forgad said, Alyss offered, ¡°Are you looking for a specific title?¡±

    ¡°Not as a crafter. Figured when you can spare the woodcutting, you might promote me into a fighter or, like, a general? By the time we¡¯ve a barracks up, my Physical Combat should be off the charts.¡±

    ¡°Why not roll a soldier from the start?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t. If there¡¯s a way to unlock that, I haven¡¯t found it. I know a few guys who got cross-promoted by their Guardians though.¡±

    After pondering that a moment Alyss said, ¡°Then why does the management system have an option for archers?¡±

    ¡°Oh, base soldiers are NPC craftables. They¡¯re not too smart, though, which is why you want other players working with them.¡±

    ¡°Huh. I need to dig into this more.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing. You know where I¡¯ll be. Though you might have to yell. I¡¯m putting a podcast on.¡± Kaliope ended the statement with another swing of her ax. Quickly, she fell back into rhythm, oblivious to the world.

    * * *

    Introductions out of the way, Alyss found her way back to the top of the tower. She pulled a few pillows up to the battlements with her, making herself a perch from which to survey her little kingdom as she handled character and village maintenance.

    As she was about to close the hatch door leading into the upper chamber, Alyss spotted a familiar journal lying beneath the spot where she¡¯d strung the boss up. A skill book? She slid back down the ladder and scooped it up.

    Yeah, it was a skill book! But where¡ª

    ¡°I¡¯m a moron,¡± Alyss groaned. In her hurry to get started with settlement building she had completely forgotten about the quest she¡¯d completed. It must have dropped as part of the reward.

    She returned to the battlements, book tucked under one arm and plopped onto her pillow seat. The lands surrounding the tower splayed out before her on all sides, once more overlaid with a faint tracework of hexagonal regions. A small panel at the corner of her vision showed the current inventory of her little kingdom:

    ¡ª¡ª

    Rough Stone: 0

    >> Refined Stone: 0

    Wood Logs: 9

    >> Planks of Wood: 11

    ¡ª¡ª

    It¡¯d been just over an hour since her huts were up and running. Each woodcutter was supposed to produce six planks an hour. That meant there ought to be eighteen planks. Instead, there were eleven? She sighed to herself. Stopping Forgad and Kaliope to chat clearly impacted production.

    Promising herself she¡¯d be better about not wasting the other players¡¯ time, Alyss continued sorting through the Village Building menus.

    There was a leadership skill tree, as promised. In fact, it was tied to the main skill tree. Both shared the star field-map, her little icon in the exact center. A toggle on the side let her grey out either the main skill tree or the leadership tree in order to see the other more clearly. She took a +-moment to understand why.Stolen novel; please report.

    Whereas on the main skill tree Alyss could see all available skills under the main branches, on the leadership tree she could only read the skills available under the ¡°Crafting¡± section. There were other skills in the network, each tied to one or more of the main skill trees, but they all read ¡°?????¡±

    ¡°Great. So I have to spend a point in a skill class to gain leadership skills of the same class. Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much!¡±

    Alyss screamed and flailed at the unexpected voice.

    Cleite blinked its owl-like eyes. ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°Where did you come from?!¡±

    ¡°Around. Do you want to learn about skill improvement or not?¡±

    Pressing a hand over her racing heart. Trying not to be annoyed at the strange little¡­ thing, Alyss nodded. It was about time it showed back up.

    ¡°Okay, so, you¡¯ve found some skill books, I see! That¡¯s great!¡± Cleite whistled sharply. ¡°A whole ton of ¡®em, by the looks of it. Has someone been item cloning?¡±

    ¡°No. Your screwy intro-quest glitched on me.¡±

    ¡°Huh. Y¡¯know if it were anything but knitting, I might report you. As it is¡­¡± The owl-lizard ruffled its feathers. ¡°Your main skills don¡¯t just influence who you are as a Guardian, they also decide what sort of leader you¡¯ll be.¡±

    ¡°Meaning?¡±

    ¡°Meaning,¡± Cleite drawled, ¡°New leadership skills are unlocked by putting points in regular skills. Then, you activate the leadership skill with the required number of leadership points. The better the leadership boon, the more expensive it is to activate.¡±

    ¡°What about upgrades?¡±

    ¡°Leadership skills automatically upgrade based on the number of points you¡¯ve spent in the corresponding main skills. For example, that lvl 999 in knitting will net you some ridiculous crafting perks.¡±

    Alyss¡¯ grin was cut short as the little lizard cocked its head to one side. ¡°I¡¯d be careful with that, though. Some skills have drawbacks, and some don¡¯t play well with others.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Oh. You¡¯ll find out.¡±

    With that dire warning, Alyss returned her attention to the skill tree spread before her. The one linked to crafting was ¡­

    ¡°Artist¡¯s Soul?¡± she said.

    ¡°The Artist¡¯s Soul inspires skilled laborers to produce works of greater quality at the cost of quantity,¡± said Cleite.

    Alyss made a face. That could be useful if it only applied to people making sellable goods. She didn¡¯t want to sacrifice the number of resources. Besides, it wasn¡¯t useful right now.

    ¡°What about a skill called ¡®Motivation¡¯? Which skill line is that?¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll have to play around to figure it out.¡±

    ¡°Cleite!¡± Alyss knew she was whining. She didn¡¯t much care. She¡¯d had a hard day, if a rewarding one, and didn¡¯t understand why her self-professed helper was being so unhelpful.

    ¡°Fine, fine. Motivation is a cross-tree skill. It draws levels from both Physical Combat and Diplomacy lines.¡±

    Which meant Alyss would need two main skill points to unlock it. She sighed, already resigned to waiting when she flipped back to the main skill tree and noticed a mark in the upper left hand of her vision:

    ¡ª¡ª

    Points Unspent: 1

    ¡ª¡ª

    Where had that come from? Alyss glanced at the book still tucked under her arm, then back at the message. Wait. What level was she?

    ¡°Character Sheet.¡±

    The Skill Map was replaced with a panel that had a mirror to one side, reflecting her avatar¡¯s face back at her, and a list of stats on the other. She skimmed through until she found the level indicator: level one.

    She hadn¡¯t gained another level. So where¡­?

    Groaning, Alyss realized just how bad things could have gone with the goblins. She¡¯d been so distracted by the skill book glitch she hadn¡¯t even assigned her level-up skill point!

    ¡°At least it gives me one of the points I need,¡± she said, then grinned. ¡°And the skill book gives me two!¡±

    Half expecting another mysterious boon, Alyss rushed to open the skill book. This time, however, she was met with unaltered text and a choice of skills.

    ¡°Too much to hope for,¡± she muttered, looking first to Physical Combat and Diplomacy. To her surprise, there were new selections there; ones she hadn¡¯t noticed when she¡¯d been focused on leadership skills.

    ¡°Punch,¡± was still Physical Combat¡¯s first offering. It was followed by ¡°Stab.¡±

    Diplomacy now offered both ¡°Lie,¡± and ¡°Listen.¡±

    ¡°Listening is a skill?¡± Alyss asked no one.

    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised,¡± said Cleite. She¡¯d almost forgotten it was there.

    ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡±

    The other skill trees also had new offerings. Magic gained ¡°Minor Illusion,¡± trade had ¡°Appraise,¡± and culture had ¡°Dance.¡± Those seemed pretty normal, and possibly even useful.

    The other three Alyss didn¡¯t know what to do with. Subtlety included ¡°Detect Odor.¡± Love listed ¡°Repel,¡± which she supposed could be a good thing if you didn¡¯t want to bother with weirdness like the sexual harassment goblin from the tower¡¯s second level. Crafting now listed, of all things, ¡°Origami.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a hard decision. Alyss needed to take a point in Diplomacy for the leadership skill. While lying wasn¡¯t abhorrent to her, the notion of putting points there on purpose made her uncomfortable. Besides, who would she be using combat skills against?

    She selected ¡°Listen,¡± and turned her attention to Physical Combat. Finally, something straightforward.

    ¡°Stab goes well with my needles, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Cleite chirped. ¡°Given what you did to the goblins, yeah, I¡¯d say so.¡±

    She selected it. When the little ¡°lvl 1¡± indicator lit up beside Stab, Alyss toggled the skill map back to Leadership. Two new entries were listed. The first entry for Physical Combat read ¡°Pragmatic Defense.¡± Next to it, with a glowing green line connecting it to both Physical Combat and Diplomacy, was ¡°Motivation.¡±

    ¡°Score,¡± she said and spent her skill point.

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Listening.

    You¡¯ve learned the fine art of shutting up. People say more than they mean to when you show interest in what they have to say.

    ¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    Congratulations! You have reached level 1 in Stabbing.

    You¡¯ve learned to penetrate just a little deeper, causing 2% more direct damage with stab wounds, and a 0.5% increase in bleeding damage upon weapon removal.

    ¡ª¡ª

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    Congratulations! You have reached level 2 in Motivation.

    All villagers receive a 2% production increase so long as you¡¯re around. This boon decreases to 1% production increase when you are not present.

    ¡ª¡ª

    * * *

    By the time Alyss finished with character maintenance, the sky had darkened to a blood red-orange. She waved away the UI and cleared the alerts before standing and walking to the nearest crenellation.

    The game''s world stretched around her bathed in sunset light. The landscape was vibrant and enticed her with the promise of opportunity, perhaps even conquest.

    This world really is beautiful, she thought. I can see why the heroes of LitRPGs would want to get stuck.

    Wait. No! What was she thinking? Alyss stepped back, perturbed by her own thoughts. Wasn¡¯t this the exact thing she¡¯d derided her parents for; getting so caught up in a virtual world that they ignored their reality?

    She wasn¡¯t ignoring her reality though. It had only been¡­ Alyss thought back. It hadn¡¯t been a full day, yet, in game. She tried to find a real-world clock, and couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Hey, Cleite?¡± Turning, Alyss found the lizard-thing had disappeared again, leaving her alone atop the tower. ¡°Great. You¡¯re not any help at all, are you?¡±

    She could log out to check. In fact, she should. Though she wasn¡¯t feeling hungry, some games were known to override sensation from your real body. That¡¯s why most people set timers when they went into the DreamScape. Still, there was a lot to do here, and a long way to go before the Player Market was available. If she wanted to make real progress, well, some sacrifices had to be made. Right?

    Cleite was mostly useless, sure. However, he wasn¡¯t her only option. There were three other players around, each with more experience than her. She didn¡¯t think either Forgad or Kaliope would mind answering a simple question. Besides, what harm could it do? Alyss turned for the hatch leading into the tower proper.

    A scream rose from the nearby woods, startling a flock of birds into the air.

    Alyss whirled around. The birds were near Bob¡¯s woodcutting station. She pulled up the village UI, hoping to get more information, and frowned to see the once-golden hexagon around his station was blinking red.

    Alyss remembered something, a passing comment Kaliope had made just a little while ago: ¡°That lich is a bastard.¡±

    Alyss hadn¡¯t thought to ask what the woman meant.

 Chapter 6

    From her not-so-ivory tower, Alyss'' attention abruptly laser focused to where the birds fluttered off in the distance. In clear view of her vantage point, a thick, white mist rose from the ground, slowly turning a sickly greenish purple before her eyes.

    Oh shit, that can¡¯t be good.

    * * *

    Having reached the edge of the newest Guardian¡¯s territory, Captain Trakada smiled to himself in his ghoulish way. Not so long ago, that had been his tower to defend, his city to build, and his players to order around like so many worker ants. For just a moment, he envied the new player holding his old lands, but the feeling passed quickly.

    That had been another life.

    Unlike most players in RESTART, he had been lucky enough to defend the tower, save the land, and grow bored with it all.

    Playing tower defense had been boring as all hell despite the lucrative business he''d had with other kingdoms. He''d amassed enough money for five lifetimes before he grew bored. He was set for life, why should he keep playing? The challenge was gone. On his final day in RESTART, right before the boredom consumed him and he quit playing for greener pastures, he received an offer from an unlikely source; the newly reborn Kratawar. Apparently, Trakada had missed his phylactery during his conquest of the other towers, and in the months that he had moved his Cauldron of Visions and secured the rest of the world, the creature had reformed.

    The offer he made was a simple, beautiful one. Give up the ruby tower, and the lich would recreate Trakada in his own image as a lich. In addition to this, he was promised a fair share of the spoils for everything he captured. RESTART''s promise on top of it was even better. When he felled a realm with his new master, he would join a new Kratawar in a new instance and start the war all over again.

    For a player like him, who wanted nothing more than to experience the new, it was delicious.

    Where once his flesh was flush with the essence of life and lively brown eyes had been a key trait signaling the former mage¡¯s form, things had¡­ changed quite a bit. Now, Trakeda had morphed into a bastardization of his former self. His skin was a garish gray with sunken, white eyes that saw much, much more than when he had been a Guardian. Silver hair strode down his ashen robes while a long, gnarled staff touched down with each step he took. All in all, he couldn¡¯t complain about the changes. His new life was much more interesting.

    Name: Trakada Grayfellow

    Race: Undead

    Level: 10

    Class: Lich (Lesser)

    HP: 120/120

    Mana: 200/200

    Title: Captain IV - Kratawar¡¯s Army (80 of 80 units) Skill Tree: 18 Points Spent (10 Level, 7 Bonus, 1 Racial) (Unused skills have been hidden by user)

    <ul>

    <li>Motivation (5)

    <ul>

    <li>Diplomacy

    <ul>

    <li>Fearful Tactics

    <ul>

    <li>Your command over minions extend to the living and the You can command living troops just as easily as the undead despite your undead status.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Necromantic Visage

    <ul>

    <li>Your minions understand what fear No orders will be ignored for as long as you are within visual or attack range.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Magic (12) ¨C Class Specialization: Necromancy

    <ul>

    <li>Necrotic Arrow ¨C Cast (20)

    <ul>

    <li>Fire a magic missile of necrotic energy at a target for minor damage and a high chance of lesser poison.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Haze III ¨C Cast (75)

    <ul>

    <li>You are a creature of the night, and your magic reflects Cover the field in a haze of mist for the next five minutes to increase your stealth and quiet your movements.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Fear ¨C Cast (30)

    <ul>

    <li>You are a creature to be feared. Project your aura to those around you and you may send them into a panic or root them on the spot. Undead are unaffected.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Miasma ¨C Channel (25 per 5 seconds)

    <ul>

    <li>Once a haze has been cast over the field, convert the fog into a field that gives your undead creatures a minor regeneration effect. Lasts as long as a channel is held.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Summon Lesser Undead ¨C Cast (30)

    <ul>

    <li>Convert a creature¡¯s corpse into one of your undead minions. Must have at least one-unit spot for the creature to be summoned.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Bone Zone ¨C Channel (20 per 5 seconds)

    <ul>

    <li>Once Haze has been cast, channel your necrotic energies into the mist to seep your necrotic energies into the earth and corrupt the grounds. For as long as you channel, whenever any creature would fall in this area, spend X mana to convert it instantly into a lesser skeleton with half of its previous level, health, and This effect cannot create a minion at level 0.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Unique ¨C Lich (Lesser)

    <ul>

    <li>Phylactery</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>When you die, you lose all experience towards the next level and are reborn at the location of your phylactery. It takes 2+X days, where X is the level of the opponent that killed you. If you are felled by a magic or silver weapon, double this time. If your phylactery is destroyed and you cannot make another before your next death, you must re-roll your character.</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Spirit Bound ¨C Kratawar

    <ul>

    <li>If Kratawar is defeated, you can no longer respawn in this instance of RESTART. Upon your death after his defeat, you will be respawned at level one in a new instance.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    Checking his HUD, Trakada flicked past his stats and checked on his troops. They were gathering along the outskirts of the rather poorly prepared ruby village. No matter the rarity of monster that constituted his troops, their traits changed from spawn to spawn. Maybe this time he¡¯d be luckier than the last.

    <h1><u>Below Average Zombie Horde (50)</u></h1>

    Average Hit Points: 12/12 Trait:

    <ul>

    <li>Infection

    <ul>

    <li>While acting as your troops, NPCs bitten by zombies have a 25% chance of turning. This can only occur if you have open spaces in your minion reserve and if the bite breaks skin.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    <li>Sunlight Aversion

    <ul>

    <li>While attacking during the day, zombie stats are reduced by half.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    Zombies are your lowest level undead. They will never be the brains of the operation, but they make up for all their weaknesses with their horrible smell and stubbornness. They will complete any task you give them, or they¡¯ll die trying¡­ again. Just make sure to wear a helmet when commanding these hordes if you¡¯re being smart about it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    <h1><u>Below Average Skeleton Archer Bigrade (30)</u></h1>

    Average Hit Points: 20/20 Trait:

    <ul>

    <li>Brittle

    <ul>

    <li>Skeletons take double blunt and striking damage.</li>

    </ul>

    </li>

    </ul>

    As a minor undead, skeletons have no bones about their place in the order. They have great spine and even greater courage all things considered. In fact, they¡¯ll have anything you want them too since they have no will of their own.

    So much for lucky, Trakada thought to himself, the puns are getting worse. The minor lich smiled all the same. When did he prefer the easy route for anything? If this player was anything like the last, he might be in for quite the fight. With this thought at the forefront of his mind, he made the decision to hold nothing back.

    Raising the undead treant arm of a staff high above his head, he announced the beginning of his attack.

    ¡°Haze.¡±

    Dispersing what was left of the light of day and heralding the end for yet another Guardian, a deep fog began to percolate from the ground like a sickly pustule bursting its foul load into the air. The animals knew better than to stick around, and a flock of nesting birds fled from his spell¡¯s advance. All around, the third level skill spewed through the area, rolled through the trees, and more importantly, towards the woodcutter¡¯s hut that was oh so fortuitously unguarded.

    Take out their resources first. Then play. Trakada wanted to giggle at the mad rush of power his new role brought to him, but he stifled the urge and directed his attention back to the troops. His sunken white eyes turned to the closest of the two groups first, and his orders billowed like a rotten stench from the back of a meat market on a hot summer¡¯s day.

    ¡°Group one, move in and attack the woodcutter.¡±

    With an echoing groan, the first group obeyed and began their slow, undead lumber towards the woodcutter¡¯s cottage. They weren¡¯t the most silent of mobs as they moaned and groaned between the chattering, grating of bones and teeth. Thankfully, the haze did silence them to a dull roar.

    His plan of distraction in place, Trakada turned to the second, groaning group of gangrenous wretches.

    ¡°Group two, move in a wide birth around and flank the village. Attack anyone that gets in your way. Try to keep them in the Haze and let the zombies bite them.¡±

    The second group did as the first, meandering out past the path of the first and into the darkness with a macabre waltz.

    As the wretched sounds of the undead grew distant, a smile crept up Trakada¡¯s face. Oh yes, this would be fun.

    A cry of battle punctuated through his excitement and the undead reached visual range of the first once- Guardian, but it was already too late. The Haze had fully engulfed the village.

    Fun indeed.

    * * *

    Alyss knew that the red on her HUD and the fog couldn¡¯t be a perfectly random happenstance. Cursing the multitude of tower steps, she made as careful a mad-dash as she could to her tower base, out into the village and towards the seeping haze of fog. Skittering to a stop at the edge of the wall of mist, the grandmaster knitter was taken aback. She was no more than fifty feet from the where the woodcutter hut was, and she could barely hear anything. If she strained herself, she could make out the hum of harmonious twangs and a few muted moans intermingled with a constant thud of the woodcutter axes. She couldn¡¯t make out any single voice, but someone was saying something.

    ¡°They¡¯re coming from over there too!¡±

    Knitting needles equipped, Alyss bound into the fog towards the noise.

    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡±

    She was coming alright, straight into the back of a monster. The creature''s flesh was nearly melting as she pulled away from it in surprise. The creature turned to her, one of many that lumbered through the mist, and groaned. Its breath was a mix of sulfur, mud, and necrotic, rotting flesh. To the uninitiated zombie fighter, it was best described as a well-aged dumpster fire. Pushing the creature from her with a shove, a new horror joined the scent. It¡¯s flesh pulled away with her hands like ribbons, only to slop back wetly against its grave-worn pants.

    Alyss paused and retched before the creature. Then, her well-honed combat skills kicked in and she channeled her fear at the incomprehensible horror into a war scream, driving her weapons home ¡­

    Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Zombie-8 has died (again).

    Corpse of Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    A lot. She drove the weapons home a lot, driving those long, iron tips into her target until the creature lost its footing and fell towards her. In a manic stabbing session, Alyss kept piercing into the creature¡¯s soft flesh as ichor bled from the wounds while doing her best to keep it from touching her.

    Corpse of Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Corpse of Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Corpse of Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Corpse of Zombie-8 takes 5 damage.

    Corpse of Zombie-8 has been destroyed.

    A moment later, there was nothing left for the needles to hit.

    You have gained 5 Experience.

    Overkill ¨C You destroyed the corpse of Zombie-8.

    You have gained 1 Experience.

    Panting heavily, her victory registered with the sudden absence of foe before a battlefield¡¯s worth of information began to flood her senses. First, she caught a whiff of the smell, and her eyes registered there were at least fifteen more of those things creeping along. Worse, five of them had turned to her while the rest were being cut down by well-placed ax swings.

    The sickly thud of the axes pulling out and splitting rotted flesh rang in her ears as the largest of her woodcutters yelled orders to the others before noticing their fearless leader.

    ¡°It¡¯s the bastard! We¡¯re under attack!¡± Bob yelled as his ax sunk into a rotting skull, splitting it like an overly aged melon and sending the zombie down with a silent parting of the mist.

    The soft thunk of bowstrings caught her attention next as arrows whizzed by their heads. Her hand immediately went to the hairs that had come out of place from the arrow¡¯s wake, and fear tried to take hold.

    No, don¡¯t be scared. It¡¯s just a game. It¡¯s your livelihood. Focus! she demanded and turned her attention back to the battle. Okay, Bob¡¯s here, where are the others?

    Trying to take some count, the Guardian heard Forgad before she saw him.

    ¡°Pansies!¡± rang out followed by the solid, wet thunk of an ax. His eyes caught Alyss¡¯ and he pulled the weapon free of the undead skull. ¡°We¡¯re coming, Ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°Get to Bob and Alyss!¡± Kaliopie agreed as she struck another¡¯s leg. ¡°We need to get a leg up on ¡®em!¡± A grin played on her face as Forgad finished the prone creature off.

    Alyss groaned at the joke but smiled as her allies chopped their way through the hordes, taking two more down on their way to Alyss and Bob. For their sake, the zombies were slow and the archers weren¡¯t the fastest or most accurate creatures in RESTART.

    Reaching their allies, Kaliopie was the first to speak. ¡°The bastard¡¯s here,¡± she spat. ¡°Trakada¡¯s the lich¡¯s dog. He¡¯s a minion master and extremely smart. Beat me with a combination of flaming arrows and burning his own zombies to destroy everything.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re lucky?¡± Alyss asked as the group formed a defensive line against the approaching horde.

    As if to answer her, groaning from behind and the steady thud of fists against wood began.

    ¡°They¡¯re behind us. Great,¡± Kaliopie deduced before turning to Alyss. ¡°If we¡¯re quick, we can handle this. What should we do?¡±

    If Alyss was going to be the Guardian of this world, it was time to put her money where her mouth was.

 Chapter 7

    Trakada brought up his battle screen and watched his zombies dropped like flies. Or maybe like trees since each one was taken down by swift ax blades. Next time he would spring for the fast zombies instead of the slower, plodding zombies.

    The guardians game came down to tower defense, and the ruby towers were the main objective. He had to get in close to the ruby tower to disable it. The easiest way to do that would be to kill the guardian. Once they were dead there was a period of time between respawning that he could destroy the tower. Once the tower was destroyed the guardian would have to respawn in a new world, and this world would be lost.

    He had numbers on his side. From the little he had seen of the area, there were fewer players involved, and all of them were woodcutters. That meant they had arrived early enough to make a clean sweep of the tower.

    Then why were his zombies dying? Of the thirty-five of them, five had already fallen. Only four corpses were left on the battlefield, one having been damaged to the point of complete destruction, but none of them were nearby to use as fodder, or raise up again.

    Five of the active zombies were archers, the rest meat for the grindstone. He could always summon a few more, but he preferred to use the cannon fodder he already had and leave his mana for spells.

    Still, there were no defenses in place, and the guardian''s low-level woodcutters might be handy with an ax, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to take out the entire horde alone.

    With a toothy grin, he pressed forward, ready to join the fray.

    * * *

    Two more arrows landed in the grass near Alyss. Thankfully the archers were terrible shots or they wouldn''t have lasted so long. The rest of the hoard were your standard zombies, unable to think or react quickly, and easy to chop down even if they did have a higher hitpoint count.

    She also learned quickly that her knitting needles were the perfect weapon against slow zombies. One needle to the brainstem was enough critical damage to destroy the reanimated creature. It also meant she had to get close, and while she was now covered in disgusting smelly zombie juice, at least she was still alive.

    Simply being alive didn¡¯t mean she would stay alive. There were a lot of creatures who had powerful attacks if the cracks in the woodcutters hut were any indication. The group barely made it into the hut and slammed the door shut before the horde descended on them.

    ¡°Okay, what do we have to use against the zombies?¡± Alyss asked.

    All three woodcutters held up their axes. Well, she had asked.

    ¡°And you have knitting needles?¡± Bob gestured towards her weapons.

    ¡°Yes, and I¡¯m a master.¡±

    ¡°A master...knitter,¡± Kaliope said with a little frustration.

    Forgad barked out a laugh but quickly stifled it when Alyss gave him a nasty look.

    Alyss threw her arms up. ¡°You guys slice, I stab, what¡¯s the difference?¡±

    ¡°With knitting needles,¡± reiterated Bob.

    Alyss sighed. She was never going to live this down. At least not until she could find a way to make it work for her.

    What good was knitting? Could she make the zombies a pair of socks? The robe had been coarse black fabric and she used that to make a long snake that fought for her, but there were more zombies then one snake of yarn could handle. What else could she knit? Then again, with a level of 999, what couldn¡¯t she knit?

    Glancing around the room she looked for something else she could use. A small table with a washbin, a mirror, a bed stuffed with straw and covered in a thin red blanket.

    Wait, the bed!

    * * *

    Alyss crashed through the door with a horde of creatures at her feet. Tiny men made out of straw with red strands of yarn woven through them. Each stood two feet tall and looked like little straw dolls.

    Straw Golem

    HP 10/10

    Attack 3

    Special attack: Splinter

    Special attack: Strangle

    For a single golem It wasn¡¯t a lot of damage, but there were thirty of them running through the grass. Five latched onto the first zombie they saw. They dug their spiky hay bodies into the putrid flesh, gobbets of red flesh sloughing off and adding to the golems stuffing. The red yarn wrapped around legs and arms effectively throwing the zombies off balance. The end result was an incapacitated zombie unable to fight back.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 3 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 2 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 4 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie immobilized.

    Another group of golems swarmed a second zombie and the undead quickly fell to the same attack. Overcome by the tiny assailants and inflected by multiple paper cuts, the zombies flailed ineffectually against their bonds.

    The woodsmen moved in as a team to deliver final blows and made quick work of the fallen zombies.

    Bob strikes zombie for 9 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 4 XP.

    Immobilized, the blow was an automatic crit. Thanks to Alyss'' golems, Bob racked up an instant kill with surprising ease.

    As soon as the zombie died the golems reeled their cords back in and headed off to overwhelm the next enemy. In this way they moved through the horde slowly whittling down the forces. With fewer zombies, the golems were more concentrated until the last few zombies had ten golems swarming over them like angry bees.

    The killing and grappling had another effect on the golems; the little dolls lost the color from the blanket and took on a green and red hue from the putrid discharge of the zombies. Streaks of zombie decay sprayed out in every direction as golems deposited the slime throughout the area.

    Alyss choked back a moan.¡°This is getting disgusting.¡±

    ¡°Killing is a messy business,¡± Forgad agreed, ¡°but someone needs to do it.¡±

    Bob grunted in agreement in tandem with his swinging ax.

    Kaliope picked up one of the golems by carefully choosing a cleanish corner and threw it at a zombie. The golem instantly latched on, it¡¯s long yarn strands wrapping around the zombie''s arm.

    She wiped the slime off her hand and turned back to us. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, there¡¯s a lich out here too.¡±

    ¡°Life¡¯s a lich and then you don¡¯t die,¡± Forgad deadpanned.

    Kaliope rolled her eyes. ¡°Ohh-riginal.¡±

    Bob snickered, the head of another zombie going splat with a practiced swing of his ax.

    ¡°Knock it off, both of you,¡± Alyss said. ¡°There are more coming from the forest.¡±

    Their banter quieted, they kept pace beside Alyss with renewed focus meeting the next group of advancing zombies.

    The golems kept attacking the zombie swarm, allowing the woodcutters to take them out one by one. Alyss even used her knitting needles on a few.

    Creating the golems had been incredibly easy. Once she pulled apart the blanket with a hatchet and started to knit, she simply envisioned what she wanted to make and the needles went to work. At level 999 in knitting, a simple golem was crafted in a flash. She did not expect the needles to incorporate the straw into the golems form, but it was like the old fairy tale of the woman spinning straw into gold. Like Rumplestiltskin, the needles clacked together, and the straw became strands of coarse fiber, which strengthened and became perfect for the attack golems she envisioned.

    It made her wonder what else she could create or knit. She didn¡¯t have time to dig into all the information, and that feathered lizard was not around at the moment to answer her questions. So far she had used straw and cloth, but what if she tried plants?

    A question for another time. Right now they had zombies to slay.

    They moved deeper into the forest, the zombies dropping around them.

    Forgad strikes zombie for 7 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 5 XP.

    Bob strikes zombie for 8 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 4 XP.

    Kaliope strikes zombie for 6 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 6 XP.

    The zombies weren¡¯t as thick as they were before, but the golems were starting to slow down. Some of them were looking ragged, their little arms ripped by zombie''s teeth. A few had lost a limb or two. One little guy was dragging itself along without any legs, struggling to fulfill it''s purpose.

    They left the struggling golem behind as they pushed deeper into the forest. The path darkened as RESTART''s sun set in the distance. A thick white fog was rolling in. Oddly enough, it was rolling in from the area they were running towards.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Why is that fog so weird?¡± Forgad asked.

    ¡°Weird?¡± Alyss asked. ¡°How is it weird? It¡¯s just getting cold, so it¡¯s coming in.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not cold,¡± Kaliope said.

    Alyss paid more attention to her surroundings and realized it was true. The sun was sinking but the temperature was pretty warm still, feeling like a summer day in the south. Too warm for fog.

    ¡°More zombies,¡± Kaliope predicted.

    And wouldn''t you know, another wave moved up from the south side spitting straight from the thickest part of the fog. With enemies in sight, the golems attacked straightaway, wrapping long strands of red wool around the creatures.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 3 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie regens for 2 damage.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 2 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie regens for 2 damage.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 4 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie regens for 2 damage.

    Zombie immobilized.

    ¡°What? Regen? Since when do they regen?¡± Alyss asked, alarm threading her voice.

    ¡°I bet it¡¯s that fog,¡± Kaliope said. ¡°Damn lich is doing his lich magic and changing things.¡±

    ¡°Then we need to work faster,¡± Alyss urged everyone. ¡°The golems aren¡¯t going to be able to knock the hit points down fast enough for a one-shot kill if that¡¯s the case. Do a double tap."

    Bob moved forward to hack at the creature.

    Bob strikes zombie for 6 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie regens 3 damage.

    Bob strikes zombie for 8 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 6 XP.

    They scrambled to take out the rest of the encroaching horde. Because of the fog, they couldn¡¯t see that many of them, but they could hear the eery moans that signaled they were about to clash head-on.

    The golems swarmed over three more zombies, and the woodcutting team double tapped all of them, and their bodies fell defeated to the earth.

    The second wave of three zombies approached, and they managed to take them all in just a few seconds as well.

    Two more zombies approached, and the swarm of golems grabbed ahold of them.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 2 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 3 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie for 4 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie immobilized.

    ¡°The regen is gone,¡± Forgad called.

    ¡°Take advantage of it!¡± Alyss shouted. ¡°Kill the zombies!¡±

    With renewed vigor, they doubled their efforts and jumped the latest zombies to tumble out of the fog. They pressed the front, pushing deeper into the fog and closer to the cause.

    Forgad strikes zombie for 6 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 6 XP.

    Kaliope strikes zombie for 7 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie dies.

    Party gains 9 XP.

    Suddenly a jet black bolt of ... something zoomed out of the fog, striking Alyss in her shoulder. She screamed in pain, dropping to one knee. It burned as she struggled to yank the arrow out. It took her only a moment to see why.

    Necrotic Arrow Strikes Alyss for 4 hp.

    Alyss is poisoned.

    A green glow shrouded her vision, pulsing with a sickly life of its own. An indicator showed the effect to be a lesser poison that inflicted two damage every five seconds.

    A second black streak whooshed through the night, lodging itself in a tree nearby.

    ¡°He¡¯s shooting poison arrows, take cover,¡± Alyss called through gritted teeth.

    * * *

    Trakada was annoyed. A new guardian wasn¡¯t supposed to be this strong already. They may have activated the first tower, but they had no armor, no weapons, no skills.

    They did have golems.

    What kind of golems were they? Straw, with some sort of yarn extruding from them? Perplexing.

    And yet he had to admit they were effective. In fact, this had been more fun then he¡¯d had in a long time. The fact that the guardian was putting up a good fight meant it might be possible to get a little entertainment out of them before he decided to destroy the ruby tower.

    Kratawar wouldn¡¯t be happy if he let the new guardian survive. Which meant he would have to give a good fight before he could regroup and come back stronger for the kill.

    After casting his spells he only had sixty mana left, and it wasn¡¯t regenerating fast enough for him to cast any of the larger spells. The Haze III only had two minutes left, so whatever he did he had to make it count. However, he did have one more trick up his sleeve, and it would take every last bit of mana he had.

    He still had the five archer zombies that he had kept in reserve, and there were six shamblers remaining. Twenty-nine of his zombies had already died to a group of straw golems and woodcutters.

    It was time to throw out his last ace. He only had fifteen seconds for the spell to last, then he was out of mana and would have to retreat to get more reinforcements. But fifteen seconds might be all he needed if he cast it at the right moment.

    Pulling out the reserves, Trakada sent the archers in.

    * * *

    More arrows thunked into the tree trunks. The new arrows weren¡¯t pitch black like the one that had hit Alyss, but they were just as painful.

    ¡°We need to get out from under this barrage,¡± Kaliope said. ¡°You¡¯re the leader with the skill, do something!¡±

    ¡°Now you want me to do something,¡± Alyss said under her breath. But Kaliope was right, like usual, and just as annoying about it. She, Alyss, was the guardian of the ruby tower, and she needed to earn the right to be the guardian. No one was going to let her keep the title unless she proved herself strong.

    Every single one of her woodcutters were failed guardians. They hadn''t been able to defeat this lich and so they had to regroup under a new guardian. It was someone else''s turn to be the leader.

    Well, Alyss didn¡¯t like being a follower. She could have done that a long time ago and stuck her head in the VR world along with everyone else and wait until her life rotted away. No, she was here to earn her way, and by all the books in all the bookstores of the world both real and virtual, she was going to achieve what she came here to do.

    Her health had slowly drained to half from the poison. None of the woodcutters had been hit, but they had been trapped behind cover. That left the golems. Without direction, they had all dropped to the ground and were hidden in the grass. She had about fifteen of them left that were still in one piece and ten more in various stages of decomposition.

    ¡°We need to draw them closer,¡± Alyss muttered.

    ¡°What? Are you insane?¡± Kaliope asked. ¡°We need them to go away.¡±

    ¡°No, we need to draw them into the field out in the open so the golems can strike. Right now they are hidden in the field, dormant. If we can get the archers into the field the golems can grab them and stop them from shooting.¡±

    Kaliope fell silent, chewing over the plan.

    ¡°I think it will work,¡± Forgad said. ¡°Those golems are better at fighting than I ever imagined they would be. You convinced me that knitting is useful.¡±

    Bob grunted from the other side of her. That was two in her favor.

    Kaliope hedged, looking from one to the other while she thought it over. ¡°Oh fine,¡± she finally said. ¡°As long as you keep winning I¡¯m okay with this, but the second you lose I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    Alyss nodded, knowing it was an empty statement. If she lost they were all out of there and starting over again.

    ¡°How do we draw them in?¡± Forgad asked.

    Alyss smiled. ¡°We make some noise.¡±

    * * *

    The noise came in the form of three people running in various directions away from the fog. They shouted, screamed, and banged their axes while weaving between the trees.

    The goal for the lich was to tear down the ruby tower, so they were giving the lich a reason to go toward the tower. If it looked like they were retreating the zombies would move into the field with the golems.

    The three ran as fast as possible while still dodging the arrows. This part of the forest had enough cover that archers had trouble shooting straight, which worked to their advantage.

    Alyss remained hidden, her HP slowly bleeding out from the poison. She had some time, but she needed to heal soon.

    They didn¡¯t have to wait long for the zombies to take the bait. Though they were slow the walking dead picked up their pace as the three woodsmen lured the enemy through the field. The zombies didn¡¯t want to let their meal get away and gave chase.

    Alyss held still as the first wave of zombies rushed past, allowing them to go unharmed. There were only a few of the shamblers left. She needed the archers. She didn¡¯t have to wait long.

    The archers appeared just at the edge of the fog, their jerky movements pushing them forward. They would stop every few feet, struggle with another arrow, and shoot. That kept them from connecting with very many of the shots, though they were still too close for comfort.

    The zombie archers moved into the field. Alyss counted five in total. There did not appear to be any arrow shots coming from deeper in the fog, so she sprung her trap.

    ¡°Now!¡± she cried, jumping to her feet.

    As she rose so did the sea of golems sprawled out and hidden in the grass. They wrapped their strings around the five archers, pinning the bows down, or forcing them to drop them.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie archer for 3 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie archer for 2 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Straw Golem splinters Zombie archer for 4 hp

    Straw Golem strangles zombie.

    Zombie immobilized.

    The five archers fell to the ground.

    From the bushes to either side of the field the woodcutters emerged brandishing their axes. As planned, the three had circled back to the field to cut down the archers once immobilized.

    Forgad strikes zombie archer for 6 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie archer dies.

    Party gains 6 XP

    Bob strikes zombie archer for 8 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie archer dies.

    Party gains 6 XP

    Kaliope strikes zombie archer for 5 damage.

    Critical hit x2

    Zombie archer dies.

    Party gains 6 XP

    Each of the zombies fell to the ground, their bodies going immobile ... until then they began to glow.

    ¡°What now!¡± Kaliope shouted.

    ¡°Move back,¡± Alyss said. ¡°Whatever it is, it doesn¡¯t look good.¡±

    The three woodcutters backed up from the twice dead zombies, leaving the last two archers writhing around on the ground trying to break free of their golem prison. The glow brightened around the corpses, then their flesh began to slide away from their bones leaving a clean skeleton behind.

    Then the skeletons rose.

    Bone Zone Activated

    ¡°What is a bone zone?¡± Alyss cried. Things were getting complicated.

    ¡°Stop asking stupid questions and just kill them!¡± Kaliope shouted back.

    As blunt and aggravating as Kaliope might be, she was right. No time to deal with the why. They needed to finish the job.

    ¡°Right, grab the skeletons, and hack those sons of liches apart.¡±

    The golems had already ganged up on the skeletons, wrapping them in yarn, but they were doing zero damage this time.

    Straw Golem splinters skeleton.

    Skeleton immune.

    Straw Golem splinters skeleton.

    Skeleton immune.

    Straw Golem splinters skeleton.

    Skeleton immune.

    Skeleton immobilized.

    At least they could still immobilize the skeletons. The woodcutters moved in for the kill and they got their second surprise. One chop wasn¡¯t enough. Each attack took down three to six damage, but the skeletons were made of sterner stuff than their zombie friends. They were not dying.

    To make matters worse the horde of zombies had circled back around, tracking their prey, and were about to cross into the field. All of the straw golems were busy holding down the two zombie archers and the three skeletons. There were no more to help with the incoming horde.

    ¡°Forget the skeletons,¡± Alyss called. ¡°We can¡¯t kill them that easily, but they aren¡¯t able to damage you. Attack the incoming zombies.¡±

    Forgad was the first to jump in and swiped at the nearest shambling zombie.

    Forgad attacks zombie for 5 HP damage.

    Zombie attacks Forgad for 3 HP damage.

    There were no bonuses for immobilization, and the zombies were fighting back.

    Kaliope ran forward to help Forgad, and together they managed to trip the zombie and attack while he was prone. The zombie shuddered, dying on the ground.

    Then the light surrounded the zombie and his flesh began to slough off.

    Bone Zone Activated

    ¡°Not again,¡± Forgad said. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work, boss. Whatever that bone zone is, we can¡¯t kill them as long as they are able to rise again.¡±

    ¡°Just hold them off, I¡¯ll think of something,¡± Alyss said.

    She mentally commanded several of the golems to detach from the zombie they were attacking and grab one of the incoming zombies, but that only held two more. She had to think of something before they were overwhelmed.

    She could knit raw materials, like straw. What else could she knit? What would make a better golem?

    They were in the middle of a forest with leaves, trees, and brush that surrounded them. None of it looked much like yarn. With the blanket she had torn off a strand to start knitting, but what could you knit from a tree?

    She cursed herself for thinking more like real life than a video game. By a stroke of luck, she had the highest level of knitting possible, so if a thing could be knitted inside the video game then she could craft it. She just had to try an idea, any idea to find out what would happen.

    She touched her needles to a low hanging branch and willed them to be knitted. Nothing happened. She tried again with a leaf. It tried to be knitted, but it was too small an amount to make anything. She ended up with a short piece of green rope. She needed something larger, with more substance.

    She could try the grass, but it was stubbly, covered in leaves, and would only produce more straw golems. They weren¡¯t particularly strong, and without the yarn to help them immobilize the zombies she wasn¡¯t sure how good they would be.

    She scanned the area. Trees, leaves, grass, and bushes. What about the bushes?

    Knitting needles in hand, she grabbed the end a bush and started knitting. It worked! The branches spun into a yarn that fed into the needles, quickly shaping into something new. She thought about a golem, bigger than the straw golems, and it began to form as the needles clacked together.

    Stick Golem

    HP 20/20

    Attack 6

    Special attack: Splinter

    Special attack: Stab

    The stick golem detached from the needles and stood, awaiting orders. It was a head taller than the straw golem, coming up to her thigh. It was constructed with woven sticks and leaves, spikes bristling in multiple areas. The eyes glowed a bright green, while the rest of it''s face was featureless.

    ¡°Get the skeletons!¡± Alyss commanded.

    The stick golem immediately went to work as she started knitting another golem, a fierce hope springing in her chest.

    Stick Golem splinters Skeleton for 3 HP.

    Stick Golem stabs Skeleton for 4 HP.

    Stick Golem splinters Skeleton for 5 HP.

    Stick Golem stabs Skeleton for 4 HP.

    It was working. The golems could directly attack the skeleton, and they were slowly taking down its health.

    She kept knitting and a second golem joined the first.

    Stick Golem splinters Skeleton for 6 HP.

    Stick Golem stabs Skeleton for 4 HP.

    Stick Golem splinters Skeleton for 3 HP.

    Stick Golem stabs Skeleton for 5 HP.

    Skeleton dies.

    Group XP 10.

    The skeleton fell, crumbling to dust. This time there was no light and there was no resurrection.

    ¡°It can¡¯t rise again!¡± Alyss called out to the others. ¡°Kill the skeletons, then use the straw golems to hold the zombies while you kill them one at a time.¡±

    They got to work. Alyss kept making stick golems until she had a small army of eight. Three of them would attack a single zombie or skeleton together. The zombies would fall, resurrect as a skeleton, then fall again and turn to dust.

    The straw golems held onto the other zombies, attacking the new ones coming into the field, and holding them off while they defeated them a few at a time.

    It didn¡¯t take long before all of the zombies were triple dead, their skeletons powder in the wind. By the time the last zombie and skeleton fell the fog had cleared, and the forest looked normal.

    ¡°What about the lich?¡± Forgad asked.

    Just then a wind blew up drawing cold shivers down their spine.

    ¡°I....will...return....¡±

    The whisper was barely audible, drifting on the cold wind. Did she detect a note of satisfaction in it''s tone?

    Quest Complete. Congratulations

    You have fended off the first wave. The Lich Trakada has no mana or troops to continue and has returned to his tower. But beware, this is only the first wave.

    Group XP 200

 Chapter 8

    --Ding--You''ve gained a skill point

    --Ding--Kaliope has gained a level. She is now level 1.

    --Ding--Forgad has gained a level. He is now level 1.

    --Ding--Bob has gained a level. He is now level 1.

    Ding ding ding...!

    The silence of victory only lasted for the moment between Alyss gaining 200xp from the battle and the deluge of level up notifications which filled the forest like a bell choir. They also spammed her vision with so many "helpful" pop-ups she had to wave away frantically. She''d check the logs later and figure out what all new game systems and points she had to spend. Right now, she was tired and wanted to bask in the glow of winning.

    And so, Alyss and crew stood in the forest panting as they came down from the craze of the battle. Each leaned on their chosen tree or ax-handle as they watched the undead-imposed haze lift from the forest. Then they recoiled from the horrifying odors.

    "Yuck," Kaliope said, sticking her tongue out at the ichor-splattered trees.

    "Not the worst thing I''ve seen in a game," said Forgad, as the woodcutter wiped zombie gunk from his face. "But once you''ve done a serf-tour for cash in Zpocalypse Unlimited... Yeah..."

    Alyss raised a hand to pull a glop of something green from her hair and flicked it on the ground with a splat. "This is the grossest victory ever," she said. "But I won. Heck yeah."

    She''d meant to sound upbeat and celebratory, but Bob frowned while Kaliope turned away to clean her ax with a cloth from her inventory. Alyss wondered what was wrong as only Forgad''s grin remained.

    "Good job, boss," Forgad said, slapping her on the shoulder. "Haha! We really do stand a chance of making some money on this world." The woodcutter flexed his arm like the Brawny man and grinned. "Just remember who helped put you on the throne when the cash train arrives. Ok?"

    "I''m counting on you," Alyss said, adding a nervous laugh. "Just chill with the ''boss'' stuff, please. I''m used to flying solo, so it''s weird."

    The understatement of the century,Alyss thought. Ever since DreamScape had entered her parents'' lives, she''d had to be alone for more and more of real life. She wasn''t the kind who made friends easily either, so her partners in crime were few to none.

    Real players as allies had been super useful, but why couldn''t the game have just given her NPCs? A bunch of soul-less stat bags would have been much easier for her to handle. Now she had to worry about leading without being too bossy, or wondering why Bob was still frowning down at his ax like she''d insulted his cat.

    "Ok, bossina," Kaliope said. The woodcutter snatched up her ax and stomped off towards the damaged hut.

    "Why''s she mad?" Alyss asked. "We just won and leveled up and everything."

    The taciturn Bob hefted his ax to his shoulder before speaking. "We have to repair the hut before we can get back to chopping. It''s work that consumes planks but gives us no achievements or rewards."

    "A speed-bump then," Alyss said. "You guys get stuff for chopping wood?"

    Bob nodded, then turned and silently jogged off after Kaliope. Alyss shot a glance at Forgad and saw that he didn''t look convinced by the explanation though he did cover it up with a smile a second before he turned to face her.

    "He''s right ma''am," Forgad said. ¡°I''m real close to getting the first woodcutter''s achievement too, so I''ll join them. DreamScore points don''t earn themselves after all."

    "Don''t wait on my account," Alyss said. "It''s your playtime too. Thanks for being so solid in the battle." This earned her a thumbs up as Forgad trotted off to join the repair team. She sighed. "I''ll get back to figuring out my next move. The lich will be back."

    Putting her grumpy subordinates out of mind, Alyss strolled back towards the tower. As she walked, she brought up her logs and started sorting through messages. Five lines in and she realized that the wall of text was 99% about her crafting skill.

    The system had finally caught up with the fact that she had 999 knitting when she hit level 2. There was a crafting tutorial apparently, but it''d never bothered to show her that ¡ª stupid bugged ability.

    This meant that 999 levels worth of notifications had hit all at once. It was an epic amount of achievement spam. She about gave up and ask Cleite for the tutorial when Alyss saw the one notice that truly mattered.

    Crafting tutorial completed: Normal crafting restrictions now in place. You have 10 crafting points per day.

    "What?!"

    She broke into a full run back to her tower. Her horde of golems followed like a pack of dogs. The moment she''d reached the front steps her system helper, a lizard-owl-thing named Cleite appeared in a puff.

    "Guardian!" he said, eagerly. "I must tell you about--"

    "Not now Cleite. I need you to tell me about crafting points."

    Cleite blinked its owl-like eyes at her for a moment, as if it was having a conflict of priorities. "They are a resource assigned to all players as a means of limiting items circulating within the in-game economy," he said. "This protects the value of player-crafted goods. There are many ways to increase your crafting points--such as raising your base level, skill point allocations, and more. But Guardian, I must inform you--"

    Alyss didn''t hear the rest because she was groaning too loudly. Plan A for "how to beat the lich" was her knitting up an army. She focused on bringing up her straw golem stats.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Straw Golem

    HP 10/10

    Attack 3

    Special attack: Splinter

    Special attack: Strangle

    Crafting Point Cost: 1

    The last line spelled the doom of her potentially unlimited defense. At a modest 1 point per golem, she could now only make ten of the little guys per day. That wouldn''t be too bad¡­if the lich took a week to attack her.

    As if. She scoffed at the very idea of getting a week of prep--this game wasn''t so easy as that. She''d need to find another solution beforeTrakada showed up again with something bigger and better, which meant grilling Cleite for options.

    "Guardian!" Cleite said, interrupting her thoughts. Her lizard-owl helper was now hopping back and forth on its clawed feet in alarm.

    "What?" Alyss asked. "I''ll ask you for help in a minute, hang on."

    "I''m sorry, but this is priority protocol!" Cleite said. "I am to inform you that your DreamScape machine has detected entry into your chamber."

    At that same moment, something bumped her leg. Alyss jumped, then looked down. Unless the grassy foot-stones could move, there was nothing that could have touched her in the game.

    "You mean IRL don''t you?" she asked, going still.

    "Affirmative," Cleite said. "Do you wish to log out?"

    Her parents only logged out for biological necessities, and they never sought her out. So, the bump couldn''t have been one of them. "Yes," Alyss said, her voice rising in alarm. "Initiate emergency logout. Now!"

    "Commencing..." Cleite''s voice faded as darkness swirled around her.

    ***

    VR released its hold on Alyss at its normal pace, which is to say an agonizing slowness that did not respect her panic. As she fought for full consciousness, she heard the sound of someone getting slapped.

    "Ow! What was that for?" a young man cried.

    "Don''t touch the dreamies, moron!" an old man said, his chain-smoker''s voice diminishing as he left the room.

    "But her machine is better than mine!"

    "Forget it, you''d have to pay to get its limits lifted again," the old man said. He coughed hard before continuinghis rebuke. "And if these bastards can''t zonk out, then we can''t keep coming back. Now stop being stupid and find something else to steal."

    We''re being robbed!Alyss realized, struggling harder.And mom didn''t sell the TV last week...It was these bastards!That final curse was meant to express her explosive anger, but it came out as slurred "eww az tards..."

    "She''s waking up!" came the panicked cry.

    "That''s what you get for messing with her rig! Now we have to go!" the old man snarled.

    Alyss forced her eyes open to see a brown-haired boy, dressed in dirty street clothing, standing over her. His pupils dilated as she met his gaze and his hand groped backward until it bumped into her lamp. He raised the heavy plastic light high, his chest heaving with rapid breaths.

    She fought to move, but couldn''t. The languor of sleep paralysis wasn''t receding fast enough for her to save herself. Alyss couldn''t believe that she was about to die to a strung-out kid in a smash-and-grab gone wrong. If she could move, she knew what she''d do to him. Instead, all she could do was stare up from her bed helplessly as the lamp''s base came down.

    A huge man in a brown stained coat surged through the doorway of her bedroom to grab the kid''s arm at the last second.

    "Stop it!" he said.

    "Let go! She saw me!"

    A rough hand with silver hair on its knuckles waved back and forth in front Alyss''s face.

    "She''s still blitzed," the old man growled. "She won''t remember crap. We''re going. Now."

    Both burglars were gone less than a minute later. They vanished from her room, thumped down the stairs, and ran into the dark street outside.

    Alyss lay there as her body finished waking up and went straight to shaking violently. Her trembling hands came up to cover her face. She lay there, breathing deeply for many minutes before she felt like she could face the world again.

    Only then did she get out of bed to see the damage. Her bookshelf was the first place she checked. Alyss practically flew across her room to it. Then she stood still as she methodically counted every single precious title.

    They were all there, ratty yellow pages and all. By luck, the thieves had had to bail before they''d spotted her bookshelf in the darkness of her room. Alyss almost did cry then, in relief. Each one of these paper books had either been a gift or had come at great sacrifice. Her hardback of The Last Unicorn had taken a month of self-reduced rations to afford.

    She drifted her fingers down the spine of The Hobbitto help settle her rattled nerves. Books were constants. A great story was great every time she opened it. No book would refuse to open or turn her away. No stupid company could shut down the server that ran her book. As long as she had her books, she could hang with her favorite characters as much as she wanted, whenever she wanted. They were always here for her.

    That-which-mattered-most was secure, allowing Alyss to move on to see what had been stolen. She walked through the empty kitchen--which was normal--passed the sink full of dirty plastic cups with soylent stains--also normal--and stopped to stare at the front door. She expected a kicked-in frame or a cut deadbolt, but instead, there was nothing. Given the old robber''s comment about repeated visits, she swung the door open and tested the lock.

    To her horror, turning the lever didn''t deploy the deadbolt because it was gone, most likely removed. She kicked the door in anger. The lock might have been this way for weeks, and she''d never known. That old bastard had been sneaking in while she was at school and her parents were in DreamScape for who knows how long.

    And they were going to come back. Even if the thieves weren''t planning on hurting her, Alyss felt the fear rising in her throat of the thought of laying helpless in VR while someone was raiding her home. All so he could afford illegal, pay-by-the-hour DreamScape programs that ran sensory input at ''better than life'' levels.

    It was a prospect so terrifying that she considered calling the police. Then she shuddered as she rejected it. Long ago, they''d been mugged on a family outing, and little Alyss had innocently asked if they were going to go to the police for help. Her mom, who had been calm at gunpoint, fell to pieces at the suggestion and shrieked at her. After the fireworks died down, Alyss''s father had merely said that their family couldn''t trust the cops. Ever.

    That left her with one option. Swallowing her pride, Alyss admitted she''d have to try the unthinkable. She''d have to involve her parents. So, before she could hate herself for needing them, she walked over to the door to their bedroom with her hand raised to knock. She froze before her knuckles could hit the cheap plastic though.

    "Mom, Dad," she said in a small voice to the door. "We got robbed."

    No answer. Not that she should expect one given that her parents'' minds were gods knew where in DreamScape. But sometimes while they were in chat rooms or match-making lobbies, they could hear her. Years ago, when she''d been younger, they''d been more responsive. As Alyss had gotten older, they''d taken to abusing her growing self-sufficiency so they could play longer and with fewer interruptions.

    It had been a scary day, in-game and out. She wasn''t feeling very strong right now. Part of her desperately wanted her mom to get up and help her deal with this. Nothing of the sort happened though. The wall of silence from her parent''s room hurt just as much today as it did every other time she''d needed them.

    Alyss considered using the ultimate words, the ones that always worked to roust her parents no matter what they were doing in-game.

    "Mom, I''m hungry,"she said, silently whispering the holy phrase. She hadn''t used those words for two years, and she wasn''t sure if they''d work anymore. Now, if her last lifeline to her parents was gone, she didn''t want to know. She couldn''t take it, so she kept it in.

    This left her to deal with the problem alone though. "You don''t need them," she said, her voice thick. "It''s just another Tuesday around here. Team: me, myself, and I are gonna get it done, as usual."

    With that, Alyss threw open the door to her parents'' room and marched across the dirty carpet to stand over their bed. They lay there, side-by-side, doing whatever in VR while looking like two gaunt bodies in sweatpants kept alive by machines. She grabbed her mother''s phone while trying not to look at the faces of the parents who''d abandoned her.

    Tap tap tap and she was in. A few more taps and Alyss brought up their apartments'' work request page. Grabbing her mothers'' arm, Alyss brought her mom''s ID cuff up to the phone to sign the request to repair the deadbolt. Then she slumped as she saw the response.

    "Estimated position in the repair queue: 2-3 weeks. For $150 processing fee you can hot-list for 24-hour turn around."

    She growled at the message as she exited the room. Money. It always came back to cash, which they''d have if her parents didn''t spend all of their basic income on in-game purchases. She slammed the door on her way out. Her parent''s never roused.

    Sitting down in the dark kitchen, Alyss got out her phone to make a plan. In three months, she''d turn 18 and could leave. Still sniffing, but ignoring her emotions as best she could, she drew up a list of what she''d have to do by her birthday. Thirty minutes later she hurled herself into action.

    She pulled the kitchen table over to barricade the front door for starters. She wrote a note, "We got robbed," stuck it to the inside of her parents'' door, turned the lock on the inside of their door, and shut it. The microwave was gone now, so she raided the trash for plastic bottles, washed them out, and filled them with cold soylent; which she stockpiled in her room. It was the most unappetizing way to drink it, but whatever. Closing her door, she turned the crappy lock and stuck a chair under the handle.

    Preparations complete, Alyss stood over her bed to glare down at the DreamScape machine. She cracked her knuckles.

    There were only three months until her birthday. As far as she was concerned, that was three months to get that marketplace up and running and to make as much cash as she could. There was no point in moving out of her parents¡¯ place if she was just going into the hell of a public housing block. She didn¡¯t have time for do-overs, so the plan had no room in it for losing her tower.

    Alyss steeled herself to play like a maniac and to take no prisoners.

    If she could make enough money, then she''d buy her own place to live, she¡¯d eat real food, and she¡¯d buy real books. Most importantly, there¡¯d be no more depending on people who were never there. It''d be just her. She''d finally be safe.

 Chapter 9

    Before entering the game world, Alyss checked out the virtual bulletin boards that players from all the different virtual worlds used to communicate. Displayed on a massive screen in front of her in a vast space, she glanced at the most recent threads. The technology was ancient, sure, but the feel of the forum gave her comfort sometimes. With such a realistic world available, she enjoyed slowing down and perusing the forums. They reminded her of print books. She loved them almost as much.

    ¡°There we go,¡± she muttered to herself, selecting a thread with merely a thought.

    The screen in front of Alyss refreshed itself with a mental tap. She scrolled through the thread, halting when a familiar name appeared. Gordon Lightfingers. He¡¯d been busy playing RESTART. Alyss knew that building all the necessary prerequisites for her Market would take forever, much too long. To get ahead in the game, she needed help from a familiar friend. No woman was an island, Gordon had told her once. An English professor in the real world, he¡¯d taken her under his wing years earlier and introduced her to many classical writers.

    ¡°Please, please, please,¡± she pleaded to the emptiness of the forum zone as she thought out a quick message to her old gaming friend and occasional literary mentor.

    Gordon:

    Greetings, old friend. I need your help. Busy?

    -Alyss

    --Whoooosh--

    --Message Sent--

    The private message would appear to him instantly, but she wasn¡¯t sure if he would answer her right away or even at all. They hadn¡¯t parted ways amicable the last time they¡¯d met inside an older RPG based on anime that wasn¡¯t very popular. The two of them had almost complete control of the major servers for the game, but they¡¯d disagreed on implementing cheats to make it the final mile and gain control of the entire system for Ring Art Online.

    ¡°Come on¡­¡±

    Her guide in Restart, Cleite, couldn¡¯t reach her outside the game, but she wondered if Gordon could bend the rules to sneak into the game and help her. Virtual gold gripped the old man¡¯s heart in a way she didn¡¯t understand, but she would use that knowledge to get him to help. Merely telling him she needed gold paint would intrigue him enough if he didn¡¯t already have any of the items in his multi-world inventory sheet. He wanted all the badges for King Midas, something nobody had ever been able to claim. With a bit of luck, he hadn¡¯t yet bothered to get the item yet and would help her.

    --Whoooosh--

    --New Message--

    Alyss! Long time no see! How have you been? Private chat?

    -Gordon Lightfingers

    An invitation to join him in a private chat appeared. She selected yes then turned to wait for transportation to a private room. The worlds dull white room melted away, and she appeared in a room with walls made from rough stone blocks. Gordon stood next to a window, looking out. He turned and smiled.

    ¡°Long time no see¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again,¡± Alyss admitted. ¡°I need your help.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s interesting because I need help too.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you with anything if you can help me with this new game, Restart.¡±

    Gordon nodded, thoughtfully stroking the tuft of hair on his chin.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever hear from you again,¡± he said. ¡°Not after what happened.¡±

    Alyss realized she needed to apologize for her actions in Ring Art Online finally.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I fought you on RAO,¡± she said then lowered her gaze to the floor.

    ¡°And I¡¯m sorry I acted like a selfish asshole.¡± He took a few steps forward. ¡°Greed can turn even a righteous man¡¯s soul dark in an instant.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Alyss looked up and smiled. ¡°We had so many fun times in that game too.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Remember the kaiju squirrel we created?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Alyss clapped her hands together. ¡°So much fun!¡±

    ¡°We can reminisce later,¡± Gordan said. ¡°What do you need help with.¡±

    The smile faded from Alyss¡¯ face as she remembered her current predicament.

    ¡°I need money in the real world,¡± she said. ¡°My parents are DS zombies, and our house got robbed. I¡¯m moving out soon, and I need a way to ensure I have a better life.¡±

    Gordon nodded, his thin, pale lips pressed together.

    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re in trouble. You haven¡¯t sold the copy of The Hobbit I gave you, did you?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Alyss emphatically shook her head. ¡°I¡¯d never sell my real books. To come up with the money, I¡¯m working toward a Player Market. With a little bit of capital investment from you, we could rule the marketplace of every virtual world.¡±

    Gordon frowned and averted his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m having credit problems.¡±

    ¡°You were set-up for life,¡± Alyss said. ¡°What happened to all your wealth?¡±

    ¡°Foolish investments,¡± Gordon admitted. ¡°Your Player Market idea does sound like a good one. Maybe we could work together. I¡¯ve avoided Restart because 4x isn¡¯t my style.¡±

    Alyss rolled her eyes. ¡°Nobody calls it 4x anymore. I love base building games.¡±

    ¡°Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate"!¡± Gordon grinned. ¡°Let me see about the characters I have in the game .¡­¡±

    With his love of literature, Gordon had made a lot of money off role-players who wanted to experience books in virtual reality accurately. After spending years fleshing out novels into virtual worlds, he had enough money to live full-time in the virtual environment. The procedure would extend his life in the real world and make his retirement very interesting. If he were having money problems, he¡¯d be more likely to help her fast-track a Player Market.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Gordon mumbled. ¡°All I have is Bigelow Burrfoot, a low-level halfling thief.¡±

    ¡°While he sounds amazing,¡± Alyss said. ¡°I don¡¯t think a low-level halfling can help me against Kratawar, the lich lord. He¡¯s what¡¯s standing in my way. If I can conquer him and take control of his tower and lands, I¡¯ll be able to expand and be even closer to having everything for a Player Market.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± Gordon leaned forward and lowered his voice. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be worth anything unless he happened to have a hacked scroll that allows him to take over an NPC.¡±

    Alyss¡¯ eyes widened as a smile crept over her face.

    ¡°You would do that for me? We can¡¯t get caught.¡±

    ¡°No kidding,¡± Gordon said, straightening.

    He sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m so close to broke again. That¡¯s why I spent the last of my fortune on this hack. With it, I can accumulate enough virtual wealth that I won¡¯t have to worry for at least another hundred years.¡±

    ¡°You...you would use the hack to help me?¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s treasure to be found in a new game, yes,¡± Gordon said. ¡°Besides, with two skilled players such as ourselves running a Player Market, imagine what we could accomplish.¡±

    ¡°Great things,¡± Alyss said.

    She looked away, eyes darting around the empty stone room as ideas bounced around in her head. Working together with him, they¡¯d have a Player Market in a month or two at the most.

    ¡°Is Kratawar the lich lord a player?¡± Gordon asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Alyss said, nodding.

    ¡°Who¡¯s underneath him that you¡¯ve encountered so far?¡±

    Alyss rattled off the names.

    ¡°Captain Trakada.¡± Gordon grinned and nodded. ¡°I likey. Tell me more about him.¡±

    ¡°He just attacked my tower in the game, but I repelled him. I had to leave the game for a bit to check on some things. That¡¯s when I thought of contacting you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you finally did,¡± Gordon said. ¡°We work well together.¡±

    Alyss nodded. The idea of running a Player Market with Gordon intrigued her. While she enjoyed playing alone and not cheating most of the time, she only had a few precious months to raise enough money to save herself in the real world. Cutting corners with a single hack wasn¡¯t so bad if it paid off in the end. With the system stacked against her, she didn¡¯t feel bad.

    ¡°I¡¯ll log into the game first,¡± Gordon said. ¡°That way, it won¡¯t be as easy to connect us when we start working with each other.¡±

    ¡°Perfect,¡± she said. ¡°That will give me some time to research the best ways to approach the lich lord who controls the nearest tower.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get with you in-game,¡± Gordon said then smiled.

    He raised a hand in farewell before disappearing. The room faded, and Alyss found herself in the white forum space. Was cheating bad when used to fight against a corrupt system? She wondered. As she waited to enter RESTART for the second time, she paid a few of her remaining credits to anonymously search for a real-world revenge bot to get her family¡¯s possessions back, but the service was too expensive.

    She browsed a few RESTART strategy threads as she waited to spawn back into the game. Forty-two minutes after Gordon went into the game with a hacked scroll that would enable him to take control of an NPC, she entered herself. Cleite bounced around happily as she appeared in her tower. Game on, she thought ¡ª time to take my second tower.

 Chapter 10

    Outside the numerous slim windows of her tower, the largely undeveloped land of Alyssville lay in a lush fertile stretch of varying terrains in all different directions, from soft green fields to deeper shades of the dense woods that flanked both sides of the buildable area. Alyss turned her attention toward the reed-filled land to the south. On the edge of the misty blue lake that the river flowed into, the superimposed hexagons from the Village Building UI lit up to mark the future location of the much-coveted Player Market. She let her focus linger on the spot, and the vague gray outlines of the grand-looking four-storied market tower slowly materialized, a ghost-like illusion of a place she would one day build, with thousands of wood planks and marble and gold paint and whatnot.

    Well. Alyss took a deep breath. That day would have to be soon.

    ¡°Everything all right on the other side, Guardian?¡±

    Alyss jumped. Cleite was right behind her, but the fact was not what had made her jump. His question had startled her, and it took her a second to realize that no one had really asked her that question in a long time.

    Her guide¡¯s green eyes were looking straight at her, bright, round, un-human-like, with a spark of interest that perhaps had always been there but that she had never noticed, and Alyss was suddenly tempted to tell him everything as the reality of her situation caught up with her.

    She had come very close to being murdered in her state of semi-consciousness. Shouldn¡¯t she be able to at least talk to someone about it? A stranger was in her house, standing over her bed, planning to end her life. Shouldn¡¯t someone at least care enough to ask her how she felt? She knew well her problems were ultimately her own to fix, but shouldn¡¯t someone at least acknowledge they existed and say ¡°Yes. It¡¯s terrible. I¡¯m sorry you¡¯re going through this¡±? And here was Cliete, a game-generated NPC, a mindless program, an information box, who at least appeared to care. Comprehension or no, he would listen without interruption, without waving his winged arm and saying a dismissive ¡°That¡¯s nice, honey. Keep us updated.¡± before disappearing into his own bedroom. Whenever she logged in, day or night, for five minutes of five hours, he would be here, waiting for her in her own kingdom, her own Alyssville.

    ¡°Guardian?¡± said Cleite again. ¡°You all right?¡±

    Alysss blinked and inhaled deeply as she fought down the urge to hug him out of the blue. She was going to fix her life, and for that she needed to stay focused.

    ¡°Yes.¡± She tried to sound as cheerful as possible.¡°Perfectly fine. It was just¡­ my¡­ cat.¡±

    Even if by any slim chance that Cleite could understand her predicament, now that she was flirting with the idea of hacking, the last thing she wanted was to go anywhere near the authorities. What if the guide was auto-programmed to alert the cops when he hears mention of a robbery? She had heard that similar safety features existed in many of DreamScape¡¯s virtual worlds.

    ¡°I¡­ forgot to close the door.¡± She found herself stammering as she turned away from her feathered lizard guide. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a new cat and¡­ my parents forgot to register him as a member of the house, so he triggered the security alert.¡±

    It was a blatant lie, and a horrible one. Security alerts didn¡¯t really work that way, and her family wasn¡¯t anywhere well-off enough to afford an actual pet. Alyss secretly winced and told herself she might need that ¡®Lie¡¯ skill on the Diplomacy tree after all.

    Luckily, Cleite only appeared a little confused by her unnecessary explanation, and she took the chance to quickly change the subject.

    ¡°Now that it¡¯s all taken care of, let¡¯s look at the damage, shall we?¡± she said brightly, making a slightly exaggerated wave to sort through her previously-dismissed notifications to look at what she had just earned.

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    First Battle: Repel the first threat from a neighboring demon-controlled city

    Quest Complete. Congratulations.

    You have fended off the first wave. The Lich Trakada has no mana or troops to continue and has returned to his tower. But beware, this is only the first wave.

    Group XP 200

    Group XP is awarded for collaborative achievements that involve more than one player. Up to 50% of group XP can be allocated to your Followers who have participated.

    Quest reward: 1 Leadership Point, Minor Healing Salve x 3, Wood Plank x 12, Refined Stone x 6, Marble Block x 1

    Not having been expecting the extra resources, this gave her hope. If she could gain resources directly from questing and battles, she would not have to solely rely on her Followers to gather them. She pulled up her inventory to check her new acquisitions.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Rough Stone: 0

    >> Refined Stone: 6

    Wood Logs: 5

    >> Planks of Wood: 26

    Marble Blocks: 1

    >>Marble Tiles: 0

    ¡ª¡ª

    All right, stone and marble! Not bad considering how she had not even managed to build a quarry yet. A quick check of the Player Market requirements again, however, turned her smile into a slight frown. She had no idea how many tiles she could get from one marble block, but she was certain it was not the required 800.

    But Gordon had said he had a way, and if his hack would allow her to capture other towers faster, she might be able to speed it up as much as her playing time would allow. You allegedly only need one meal a day. She would force that horrid Soylent down her throat in the morning and stay logged in as much as possible. Determined, Alyss waved the quest notification away and the next one popped up.

    ¡ª Bong ¡ª

    You have reached level two!

    You have gained one skill point

    Skill points granted per level increases with each level achieved

    Not bad. One more skill points to spend, plus another leadership point. Switching back to her skill map view, existing icons rearranged themselves to make room as more gold-trimmed options bloomed around all eight skill branches, like yellow spring flowers in time-lapse mode. Alyss couldn¡¯t help feeling a rush of excitement.

    Physical Combat now had ¡®Tackle¡¯ as the third option. The Magic branch had ¡®Minor Heal¡¯. The Diplomacy branch gained ¡®Negotiation¡¯, and the Trade branch gained ¡®Market Sense¡¯. Culture, Crafting and Subtlety now got ¡®Etiquette¡¯, ¡®Decoupage¡¯ and ¡®Stand Still¡¯ respectively.

    ¡°Stand Still?¡± Alyss muttered. ¡°I can do that without a special skill.¡±

    Under Love was now ¡®Self Sacrifice¡¯, which she rolled her eyes at.

    ¡°At this rate, won¡¯t I end up with a billion options in few levels?¡± she said. If each level added one more option for each branch, in ten levels there would be eighty skills for her to choose from. She had no idea how that would fit onto her map.

    ¡°Luckily, no,¡± said Cleite. ¡°After Level Three, options don¡¯t automatically show up when you level. You will need to invest a certain number of points into each skill before additional options show up.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Alyss looked at her new choices. With her Knitting sitting at 999, her skill map looked completely lopsided, and at the moment her one additional skill points looked very meager. Putting another point into Stab or Listen seemed sensible, but she wondered if she should also explore new avenues. Once the Player Market was up, she guessed she needed Trading skills. Should she start investing in that now? Haggle would be useful, since it was something she was pretty bad at in real life.

    No. Alyss shook her head, deciding to concentrate on what mattered right now. ¡°Anything that can help me gather resources faster?¡± She turned to ask her guide.

    ¡°You can keep leveling Motivation,¡± Cleite suggested. ¡°Upgrading your village is the fastest way to gain resources.¡±

    Alyss sighed. ¡°Not what I want to hear.¡± It meant dealing with Followers again. And it¡¯s definitely not faster than hacking. She wondered what Gordon was doing, and how he would meet up with her. As far as she knew, there was no way to actually visit another player¡¯s instance of the game before the Player Market was built. Or was there? A thought occurred to her. Maybe, he could sign up as one of her Followers? That made perfect sense.

    She was limited to only three Followers at the moment, but she could increase that number by building a Villager¡¯s Hut. She quickly checked the requirements.

    ---

    Villager¡¯s Hut Level 1

    Allows you to recruit 3 more Followers for your village.

    Cost: 48 planks of wood

    Time to build: 1 hour

    ---

    ¡°Exactly what I need,¡± said Alyss. Pulling up the village inventory menu again, however, she saw her Wood Planks count change from 26 to 27.

    ¡°What are they even doing?¡± she cried in frustration. Almost half the number had come from her completing the battle quest, which meant they had managed to add only two more during the time she was gone. Annoyed, she found a different menu that listed the status of her village.

    Woodcutter¡¯s Hut [Forgad ¨C Level 1]

    Status: Active (Productivity boosted by 2% from Motivation. Estimated time to next Wood Plank: 4.39 minutes)

    Woodcutter¡¯s Hut [Bob ¨C Level 1]

    Status: Inactive (Damaged, 87% repaired)

    Woodcutter¡¯s Hut [Kaliope ¨C Level 1]

    Status: Inactive (Damaged, 62% repaired)

    She only now recalled her Followers mentioning something about having to repair the huts before they could continue production. Alyss sighed. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. Battles came with a cost. She probably wouldn¡¯t be able to smash her way through quests and dungeons on her own and gather resources that way.

    After staring at the numbers for a minute or so, Kaliope¡¯s number change from 62% to 63% repaired.

    Alyss felt a small pang of guilt. She had not spared her Followers a single thought after what had happened. If she remembered correctly, they had told her repair work was free work and they got nothing in return until their station was fully functional again. From what she was seeing, the rate of repair was depressingly slow. To her Followers, it must have appeared as if she had logged out and left them to deal with the tasks on their own.

    But I was robbed and almost killed! Alyss reasoned with herself. Unfortunately, she could never tell that to a bunch of strangers. The game could have simply given her NPCs and cut all this drama.

    ¡°Be right back,¡± Alyss told Cleite as she dashed through the wooden door of her tower into the sun-lit field in the front. After hesitating for a little, she decided to make her way toward Forgad¡¯s hut by the nearest copse of trees. His station was already up and running, so he would most likely be in a better mood than the other two.

    ¡°Hi again,¡± she said as she approached. Forgad¡¯s hut was once again in perfect condition, a simple structure with wood planks for walls and thatched hay for a roof that was hardly big enough for anyone to lie down in. Beside him was a small pile of newly-finished wood planks.

    ¡°You logged out,¡± said the woodcutter casually as he swung his axe at the nearest tree. It was more of an observation than an accusation.

    ¡°I had a real life emergency.¡± Alyss grimaced as she realized how much it sounded like a lazy excuse.

    ¡°Understandable, ma¡¯am,¡± said Forgad.

    ¡°Alyss, please,¡± she said.

    ¡°Sure, Alyss.¡±

    Alyss paused for a moment. She was not sure what she was trying to do, and whatever it was, it was clearly not working. Talking to people had never been easy. Hi¡¯s and bye¡¯s? Sure. How are you doing? Same as usual. But beyond that? Alyss had no clue. Real people never behaved like her kind of people in her treasured books: adventurers with hopes and dreams, heroes with upstanding morals who vowed to die defending the weak. Even villains had clear goals at world dominion. Real people were, well, complicated, complacent, dull, perfectly content with wasting their life getting distracted by the blinking lights and sounds and pleasures that DreamScape had to offer. She looked at her first Follower again, but the only information available to her was his brief description:

    --If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Forgad the Woodcutter

    Poor, but honest

    Level 1

    Equipment: Simple axe

    --

    Taking a deep breath, Alyss decided on a different approach. ¡°Okay, poor but honest, right?¡±

    Forgad turned to look at her in slight confusion. ¡°What?¡± His jaw dropped after a moment. ¡°Wait. That¡¯s what my description says?¡±

    Alyss nodded.

    ¡°My God!¡± Forgad laughed, a hearty laugh like when he had laughed after learning about her max-level Knitting skill. ¡°Well, unfortunately that¡¯s completely right, ma¡¯am ¨C Alyss.¡±

    Laughter apparently have magical tension-repelling properties, and Alyss found herself grinning. ¡°I¡¯m dirt poor, too, which is why I¡¯m playing this game in the first place. So I¡¯ll be honest with you and tell you that I have no idea what I¡¯m doing right now.¡±

    Forgad smiled. ¡°That much is obvious.¡±

    Of course, honesty was going to be a bit rough. ¡°Okay, be honest. How am I doing?¡±

    Forgad stopped to think. ¡°As a glitched player with 999 Knitting, somehow incredibly lucky so far. As a village builder¡­ nothing special. You got three huts up and running. A better way might have been two woodcutters and one hunter to give us food buffs, but at this level it doesn¡¯t really matter. As a village leader¡­¡± He paused for a moment, most likely to decide how honest he really wanted to be. He looked at her, and Alyss met his eyes, unwavering.

    ¡°Not great,¡± Forgad finished. ¡°Not the worst, of course, not even close, based on the stories I¡¯ve heard. But¡­ not great.¡±

    Even when she was somewhat prepared, and even when she knew he had not been completely honest, Alyss still winced. ¡°What am I doing wrong?¡±

    ¡°First, you didn¡¯t share the group XP. Then you didn¡¯t allocate resources to help us repair our huts. You didn¡¯t even stay logged in to give us the 2% productivity boost to help speed it up.¡±

    And you all didn¡¯t get robbed and almost clubbed to death while in sleep paralysis, was Alyss¡¯s first thought. Still, it was true that she had completely forgotten about her Followers. The game was their livelihood, too. Or, at least for Forgad it was.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to do all these things.¡±

    ¡°As Followers, we don¡¯t get any XP from anything beyond what we¡¯re directly assigned to do. I get XP and achievements for chopping trees and turning them into wood planks, but I don¡¯t get any XP from combat.¡±

    Alyss blinked in surprise. ¡°But I thought you all leveled after the battle?¡±

    ¡°Yes, for taking part in the battle. Technically, you did assign us to fight, so we each got a flat 10 XP for participating in the ¡®quest¡¯ you gave us.¡±

    ¡°Ten?¡± cried Alyss in horror. Of course, she realized after a brief moment. That was what it had taken for her to go from level zero to one. It must be the same for them.

    Forgad chuckled, perhaps at her genuine surprise. ¡°All group XP sits in the shared XP pool that only the Guardian can access.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Alyss recalled having just read something about it. ¡°Okay, thanks,¡± she said as she dashed back to her tower. ¡°Give me a sec.¡±

    She wondered why her feathered lizard owl guide would not follow her out of the tower just to make things a little more convenient.

    * * *

    Fifteen minutes later, after pestering Cleite with endless questions, Alyss ran back toward Forgad with a grin on her face and announced she was calling her first village meeting.

    ¡°Come with me!¡± Barely able to contain her excitement for what she considered a genius plan to kick-start her leadership, she waved to the woodcutter to follow her.

    Next, she fetched Bob, who said nothing, from his station, then marched up toward Kaliope, who was replacing one of the broken wall planks on her hut with a new one. Alyss noted in slight fascination how the process required no nails, and as soon as the woodcutter ripped out the old plank and put the new one there, it automatically stuck in place as if held by invisible glue.

    ¡°So, the bossina has decided to return,¡± said Kaliope after a very brief glance at the group before returning to her work.

    Ignoring the woman¡¯s sarcasm, Alyss called up the shared XP menu, which she had managed to locate with help from Cleite. According to the description, she could share as much as 50% of it with her Followers.

    ¡°So, I didn¡¯t realize how group XP worked,¡± she began. ¡°Now I¡¯ve found it, and the group XP from the quest and killing the undead we have between us is 548 XP, so-¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re giving some to us like a semi-decent leader,¡± said Kaliope.

    ¡°Nope,¡± said Alyss. ¡°First, I¡¯m going to allocate my own skill point.¡±

    Her Followers gave her slight looks that spoke volumes about their annoyance, but Alyss ignored them. She had coaxed a lot of haphazard information out of Cleite in the limited time she had, and now she had decided on the best option. ¡°Where should I put it?¡± she said nonchalantly. ¡°Nothing looks amazing.¡±

    Kaliope sighed and forcefully yanked another damaged wood plank from the hut, muttering something about wasting her time.

    ¡°Minor Heal will be mildly helpful if we have to fight the lich again,¡± said Forgad.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Alyss. ¡°But you know what? I think I¡¯m going to go with¡­ Love!¡± She made a gesture to allocate the point into Self Sacrifice, whose icon was actually a bleeding heart with a sword thrust through it, something you would expect from a clich¨¦d tattoo. The icon lit up with sparks as it grew more saturated in color.

    Her Followers were utterly confused.

    ¡°Oh, look,¡± Alyss continued casually before Kaliope could open her mouth. ¡°Dropping a point in Self Sacrifice has opened up a new Leadership Option. Generosity, a cross-tree skill between Diplomacy and Love. I guess I¡¯ll use my Leadership Point to buy that right now.¡±

    The notification popped up as soon as she dropped the point into it. Generosity appeared on her map, depicted with a giving hand with some nondescript small items on the open palm.

    ¡ª Ding ¡ª

    Congratulations! You have reached level 2 in Generosity.

    You may share an extra 10% of Group XP with your Followers.

    ¡ª¡ª

    Without waiting for the other players to ask, Alyss called up the relevant menu:

    Unallocated Shared XP: 548

    Under it was golden mental sliding bar, which Alyss slid as far as she could to the right, until it said 60% (328 XP).

    Below were icons of her three Followers, and she tapped on all three of them.

    Are you sure you want to allocate 328 XP to Forgad (Level 1), Bob (Level 1) and Kaliope (Level 1)? [Yes/No]

    Alyss tapped [Yes], and she could hear all her three villagers gasp.

    --Ding-- Kaliope has gained a level. She is now level 2.

    --Ding-- Forgad has gained a level. He is now level 2.

    --Ding-- Bob has gained a level. He is now level 2.

    You gain the remainder 220 XP.

    ¡ª Bong ¡ª

    You have reached level three!

    You have gained one skill point

    Skill points granted per level increases with each level achieved

    --

    Alyss had simply meant to impress her Followers, so the personal progress came as a nice surprise. The extra XP from the shared pool was just enough to push her through the threshold of the third level, but there was no time to rejoice.

    ¡°Also,¡± she said as she called up her personal inventory. ¡°Take this.¡±

    Are you sure you want to give 1 Minor Healing Salve to Forgad?

    Are you sure you want to give 1 Minor Healing Salve to Bob?

    Are you sure you want to give 1 Minor Healing Salve to Kaliope?

    She tapped three [Yes]s in quick succession. ¡°It¡¯s not a lot but it¡¯s all we have right now. Your woodcutting axes are much better at killing stuff than my Knitting Needles. If the lich comes back with his army, you¡¯re more likely going to be in the frontlines while I knit up my golems, so you¡¯re going need the salves more than I will ¡­ although I hope before that I will be able to get some basic Alchemist¡¯s Huts in place so we can make more.¡± Before her Followers could wonder at the sudden magnanimity, Alyss added. ¡°Anyone dying will be a waste of everyone else¡¯s time. So let¡¯s try to keep each other alive and make the best out of what we have, okay?¡±

    ¡°Did someone give you a crash course in Leadership 101?¡± Kaliope frowned, although she was sounding much less annoyed by the second.

    ¡°I learn fast,¡± said Alyss. Maybe people were just like NPCs. Only you couldn¡¯t see their Satisfaction percentage. Give them what they want and tell them what they want to hear, right?

    ¡°Like you said, I¡¯m not your boss,¡± Alyss continued. ¡°I just need to make money, so let¡¯s be the best money-making team we can be and make sure everyone profits.¡± Boisterous, but blunt would probably appreciate blunt in return. To be honest, Alyss wasn¡¯t averse to blunt herself. It cut all the social skills things she didn¡¯t know how to do.

    Forgad¡¯s face split into a wide grin. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±

    Bob gave an ambiguous grunt.

    ¡°All right.¡± Kaliope smiled. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll reserve my judgment of you a while longer. But just so you know, I¡¯m investing all my skill points in Physical Combat, so you¡¯d better building me that Barracks pretty soon and get me out of this wood-chopping business.¡±

    ¡°On it.¡± Alyss returned the smile. ¡°Now how many wood planks do you need to immediately repair the hut so we can get production started up again?¡±

    As she allocated wood planks to help Kaliope and Bob complete their repairs, Alyss breathed a secret sigh of relief. Yep, just like NPCs. Fetch-quest NPCs who won¡¯t tell you exactly what they want. It¡¯s all business transactions. What¡¯s the cross-tree Leadership Skill between Trade and Diplomacy again? I¡¯m sure that will come in handy.

    * * *

    ¡°That was not very fair at all,¡± said Forgad as they walked back to his station.

    All three woodcutter¡¯s huts were back in operation, and Alyss was down to 19 planks of wood in her inventory. But in a few more hours she would finally be able to afford the Villagers¡¯ Hut.

    What now? Alyss thought in horror as she turned to look at him, only to realize he was joking.

    ¡°I had to repair my own hut,¡± Forgad said. ¡°The other two got freebies.¡±

    Alyss smiled. ¡°Show me where Fairness is on the leadership tree and I¡¯ll consider buying it.¡±

    ¡°You unlock it with Level 3 ¡®Etiquette¡¯ and Level 3 ¡®Tough Love¡¯ on the love tree.¡±

    Alyss had no idea if he was making it up or continuing the joke, so she simply chuckled.

    Forgad has sent you a Friends Request. Accept? [Y/N]

    It had been so sudden that Alyss was not prepared for it. Friends? She had friends. Female friends who were always disappointed when she refused to go to Virtual SuperDeals with them to spend money she didn¡¯t have. Male friends who were not exactly content with being just friends. Friends, like Gordon, who was essentially a business partner. ¡°What are¡­ ¡®friends¡¯ anyway?¡± she muttered, only to realize how silly it sounded.

    Forgad smiled. ¡°Names you fill your friends'' list with to convince yourself you are not a complete loser.¡±

    Alyss snorted as he continued.

    ¡°RESTART friends can send you messages straight to your lobby even when you¡¯re not logged in, so we can let you know if the lich comes back when you¡¯re off dealing with the next real life emergency.¡±

    Laughing, Alyss tapped [Yes], and Forgad¡¯s name appeared somewhere on one of her menus titled ¡®Friends¡¯, listing his status as online and logged in.

    ¡ª Fwoosh ¡ª

    Adventures are more fun with friends: Find a friend to help found your village

    Quest complete

    You gain 10 XP

    You gain 1 Skill Book

    Follower Tools are now unlocked

    Followers Tools allow you to view your Followers¡¯ stats, equipment, and skill map, as well as assign quests for them from the Command Table.

    ---

    Alyss had nearly forgotten about the quest, but she appreciated the extra skill point she could now spend. She took a brief glance at the menu that said ¡®Follower Tools¡¯, and saw now listed under her three woodcutters their HP, equipment and empty slots, as well as other things she did not have time to look at.

    ¡°Can I ask a question?¡± she said after closing the menu to keep it for later. ¡°Is it possible to hack RESTART?¡±

    Forgad shrugged. ¡°Like everything that¡¯s too big for its own good, DreamScape is full of holes. RESTART is no different. If you¡¯re wondering about your Knitting glitch, that¡¯s probably what happened. Someone hacked something and accidentally deleted a line of code, and it produced a weird glitch somewhere else in the game. Item cloners usually do wonky things to numbers.¡± He picked up his woodcutting axe again as he reached his station. ¡°They catch you, they ban you from DreamScape for life.¡±

    Alyss winced as Forgad swung his axe at the nearest tree, which had respawned during the time they were away.

    Forgad turned around to grin. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. The glitch wasn¡¯t your fault. If they find out, they will just knock your skill level down to what it¡¯s supposed to be, but in the meantime, I have nothing against using it to our advantage.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Alyss forced herself to smile, yet her heart sank under a new weight. If she was caught hacking, Alyssville would be deleted, and that meant her unsuspecting Followers would have to start over somewhere else, all their time and efforts wasted.

    But this is the only way. She steeled herself. She didn¡¯t have time. She needed to amass a small fortune within three months. Actually, she needed $150 today, to get the lock fixed, as she didn¡¯t trust her parents to notice the note she left. What if that kid came back to finish what he was trying to do, against his older companion¡¯s advice? Alyss felt a shiver. No, this is the only way.

    At the back of her mind, she could suddenly imagine seeing Forgad¡¯s name disappearing off her lonely Friends List one day, accompanied by his last message that said, ¡°Hacker.¡± She was not sure why it bothered her, when it wasn¡¯t even real.

    My real life matters more. She left her Follower with a good-bye wave and walked back to her tower and forced herself to concentrate on the next thing. Two skill points to spend. So many things to do. Villager¡¯s Hut, quests, dungeons, Command Table, golem army. Player Market and money. I really have no other choice.

    * * *

    Lesser Lich Trakada Grayfellow stood calmly in front of his undead liege lord¡¯s Command Table and watched him fume. Kratawar didn¡¯t need to be here. The undead skeleton had unlocked ¡®Mental Commands¡¯ a long time ago from his investments in Physical Combat and Subtlety trees, allowing him to dish out quests without being at the table, but Trakada himself had requested a meeting in the tower, perhaps to make a point that he could not through telepathy.

    ¡°What do you mean you need a quest?¡± Kratawar roared. ¡°You failed the last one, miserably! Going up against a Level 1 Guardian!¡±

    The skeleton slammed his hand on the table, where it clacked so loud Trakada thought the bones were going to crack. ¡°If anyone deserves a dungeon quest, it¡¯s Supitha. She delivered! She showed me results! She defended Dearbhgilla¡¯s Forest against Defa¡¯s sneak attack and forced them back into their sorry land, and then managed to destroy two of their towers.¡±

    This was to be expected. Trakada remained silent and waited until Kratawar had finished. ¡°The Guardian had a golem army that my Below Average Hordes couldn¡¯t defeat,¡± he stated calmly.

    Kratawar scoffed. ¡°Golem army at level one? She probably put up a Golden Beacon and called in a friend.¡± He shook his head in disgust. ¡°These rich players with real life money to blow.¡±

    ¡°There wasn¡¯t a beacon.¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe you just didn¡¯t see it through all that Haze!¡± Kratawar bellowed, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. This is no longer your problem. I¡¯m sending Supitha as soon as she gets back from the borders. Rich kid can put up a Beacon all she likes and watch Supitha¡¯s elite wraiths destroy both her and her helper¡¯s armies.¡± The skeleton smiled. There were no muscles left on his face to actually emote it, but that was what Trakada guessed he was going for by how his lower jaw jutted out a little.

    ¡°There was no Beacon,¡± said Trakada again. Reaching into his inventory, he retrieved a wriggling mass and slowly placed a damaged mess of knitted twigs on the Command Table.

    Stick Golem [HP 2/20].

    Minion of Alyss ¨C Level 3 Guardian

    Missing three limbs, the miserable thing was still twitching pitifully, swinging its arm around as it tried to attack Kratawar¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Impossible,¡± said Kratawar.

    Trakada waited for a moment to let the fact sink in. ¡°I propose we do not destroy her yet, as she obviously knows something we don¡¯t, so why not first learn what it is?¡± It was Trakada¡¯s turn to smile. His delivery had been perfect, and he could see Kratawar swaying. ¡°Which is why I need that dungeon quest in Noridah Depths right now.¡± He pointed his pale finger to a location on the map sprawled out on the table, a jagged line hidden in a dense forest, which was where Kratawar would need to tap to activate the quest for him. ¡°You know what that dungeon has. We¡¯ll wring whatever we need out of this new Guardian. Maybe we¡¯ll even get her golem army to attack your sworn enemy Defa. And maybe even beyond that. Then once she¡¯s of no more use to us, we¡¯ll crush her.¡±

    At the word ¡®crush¡¯, he smashed his clenched fist down onto the wriggling heap of twigs.

    Stick Golem is dead. Your level is too high to gain XP from killing this enemy.

    As someone who once had the Player Market under his finger, Trakada knew he could sell anything. The demonstration of force was unnecessary, and had been more for his own amusement than anything else. With Kratawar, the mention of Defa at the end was enough to seal the deal. Sure enough, a moment later Trakada had his undead liege lord tapping away on the Command Table map, assigning a significant amount of Quest Points and resources to fund his expedition to Noridah Depths.

    Trakada left his liege lord¡¯s tower and stepped into the cool air of the night, feeling perfectly satisfied. This new little Guardian was the most entertaining thing he had encountered in months, especially now that he had his side-project going. In front of the tower, his loyal horde of fifty zombies and thirty skeleton archers stood waiting. He frowned as he thought he saw one skeleton shambling to its proper place in the rows. Skeletons did not need to eat, rest, or even move. Yet one had. But it had been a long day. It was dark, and he had had to spend quite a lot of time grinding dead bodies in a nearby NPC village to replenish his missing troop members. He ultimately dismissed it as a trick of the light combined with his tired mind.

    Things were in motion. No need to rush. The faster you got to the top, the faster boredom caught up with you. A slow death for the mind and soul in perpetual chase. Someone once said that DreamScape had especially been built to fight apathy. Beneath the dashing eyeballs of the technologically-induced REM sleep that had charmed the masses, everyone was running.

    Trakada heaved a small sigh through his wilted lips.

    It was late, and his daughter was coming for a visit tomorrow. Perhaps a good chance to be off DreamScape for a bit.