《Dragunov by YoYo》 Chapter 1 thanks to my co-author N. Polsteam, without her you would be reading something of a 2 levels worse quallity Start A few months ago, the dream of every gamer came true: virtual reality was made possible via capsules in Korea and this novelty now went international. That is to say, not every gamer''s dream, only of those with deep pockets, and the only game that comes with it is Royal Road, an MMORPG ¨C not everybody''s first choice but still all those who could buy it and loved games in general did so. There were many debates about virtual reality concerning Royal Road not being a game but instead an entire new universe but let us not go deeper into that and no ¨C there will be no persons from other dimensions coming into RR. (sorry ) A tall, athletically built man in his twenties was sitting at his desk at home, his eyes glued to the Hall of Fame videos playing on the computer screen. He ran his fingers through his jet black hair as he smiled absentmindedly, excited like a child wanting a new game. After all, he did spend most of his free time reading fantasy novels and watching anime, so this innovation was right up his alley. He is a computer tehnician who goes by the name Vladimir, also assistant master aikido instructor, currently 1st kyu*. At this moment, he was sighing at his computer screen, or more specifically, at the price of capsule + monthly subscription. The price was insane but still understandable as it was, after all, such high tehnology. But can you really put a price on possibilities? As a tehnician his payment was average. He wasn''t a very materialistic person so even though he could make much more money he chose not to. And as for why he was doing this boring job of dusting computers, replacing parts and installing Windows while overpricing his labour, well that''s a story for another time (perhaps after a few chapters). Suddenly:... Plop plop plop plop ... plop. It was that funny facebook notification sound which regularly frayed on his nerves. Wishing the stupid thing could somehow be changed, he moved his mouse over the tab and saw that his friend Darya was messaging him. She sent him a link to a tournament event, saying that there still is a chance to play RR. Apparently, winners of each category are awarded with a capsule and at least one month of subscription (subscription length may vary). Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.His interest piqued, he replied: V: This is for real? Fuck yeah, I''m going! D: You mean we''re going V: Team up in RR, that''d be awesome Oh wait, what''s this tournament about again? Not a lot of info in that link. D: Doesn''t say much, just that it''s a test of skills V: Weird, but whatever. Tomorrow? (It''s a 5-day tournament, and you can only enter on one of those days meaning 5 winners) D: I can''t tomorrow but will go on Wednesday. V: Ok, will let you know how it went D: Ok, do that for me, bye kiss V: Bye Darya was an old friend, as absorbed into anime and fantasy in general as he was, if not even more. They had a thing going on, and would occasionally hook up. There was never any serious development though, but that didn''bother Vlad in the least. Logging out, he stretched in his chair and grimaced as he yawned. "It''s evening so maybe I should train some jo** katas and meditate so I can relax and fall asleep. Who knows, training with jo might come in handy tomorrow,yeah right." He did 31 jo kata a dozen times and, settling himself comfortably on his bed, meditated until he fell asleep. He was never much good at the whole meditation thing but it came in useful in situations where he had to relax and fall asleep quickly, at the very least. In the morning he did his usual routine and went on to register for the tournament. It was starting at 17:00, which gave him enough time to eat lunch and read a few more chapters of this novel he recently got hooked on, much to his pleasure. Utilizing his amazing cooking skills, he made perfect instant ramen, and actually managed to read all the way through Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Afterwards, he dressed and made his way to the gym where the tournament was being held. *aikido ranks : 7 to 1 kyu and then 1-10 dan which are black belts **Jo is a stick of about 160cm in lenght Chapter 2 thanks to my co-author N. Polsteam, without her you would be reading something of a 2 levels worse quallity Tournament After a short bicycle ride, Vlad arrived at the location of the gym. He found it easily, since it happened to be a well-known landmark of the eastern part of the city. It was a white geodesic dome, towering over the rest of the neighbourhood with around 100 meters in height and covering almost 9000 square meters at the ground floor level. Needless to say, it was a gigantic sports complex housing all the prominent clubs as well as lesser known ones, as long as they could afford the astronomical rental prices. The outer shell of the dome was covered with an extremely thin layer of protective netting, which made it appear white as well as reflecting the sunlight. The entire dome except for the inner walls was built out of glass and steel, and if not for the netting and a high tech cooling system, the heat inside would be unbearable. Vlad parked his bicycle at a designated spot and looked up at the grand entrance. He eyed the long list of shops, clubs, gyms and an occasional cafe or restaurant which was displayed at the entrance, sorted by floors. There was a staggering number of 25 floors, 24 of which housed nearly 300 various facilities. The last floor housed only one though. Vlad tapped the fancy silver letters which glittered in the afternoon sun: Spectrum Gym. ''So that''s where I have to go.'' He entered the lobby of the complex and found himself surrounded by a crowd. There was still plenty of time before the tournament so he wasn''t too worried about being late as he made a beeline for the elevators. However, the crowd seemed to get denser the closer he got to his goal. A realization dawned on him: could they all be here for the tournament? ''No way'', he thought as he violently pushed through the mass and managed to squeeze into a departing elevator. The doors closed and they were ascending. The elevator shafts were located in the very heart of the dome, and as everything else, made of glass. Every floor offered a different view, as there was a different themed lobby on each one. The lobbies got smaller as they went up, and Vlad noticed that the elevator hasn''t stopped once since the first floor. His heart sank. Competition wasn''t an issue, but crowds and waiting were, very much so. Most people there will most likely be complete amateurs, so sifting through them all could take a while. He just hoped that the evaluators had some quick tests in mind, otherwise they could be here all day. And night. Finally, the elevator stopped at the top floor. The door slid open as a female voice announced the number of the floor, and the name of its only facility. People poured out into the already crowded lobby, and the elevator hurried back down, undoubtedly in order to pour more fuel onto the blazing inferno which was the crowd. Vlad looked around. The smallest lobby in the complex was circular like the rest, but the floor was lined with numerous luminous panels depicting the color spectrum. As he looked up, he saw that the ceiling was also decorated with stained glass, mirroring the floor. There were two exits from the lobby: the lounge, shower and changing area as well as an office for the staff, and the entrance to the gym itself. People seemed to be slowly moving in the direction of the gym, so he took a spot in the long, winding line. ''There must be at least 500 people here, plus the ones that are yet to come.'' He glanced at the people around him. Bored people, nervous people, aggravated people, scared people, angry people. Recipe for disaster. Linecutters, as well. Many tried to get to the front by saying that their friends were saving them a spot or some similar bullshit, and some just rudely tried to cut in line with no excuse at all. Fortunately, the security got involved and they were quickly disposed of before a major incident erupted. After that it was just a long, long, looooooong wait. Soon enough, people who got in first started coming back, spreading the news of an entry fee and strange preliminary tests to the anxious and curious crowd. Vlad felt his brow furrow for a moment. A written test and 20 pushups? Will that be enough to disqualify most of these people? Surely there weren''t many people who couldn''t do 20 pushups. Darya wasn''t exactly fit and even she could do at least 30. The line moved constantly, and finally Vlad entered the gym with another 49 people. The seemingly uninterested instructor which introduced himself as Frank eyed them up, and told them to do 20 pushups in a minute, one by one. Upon confirming that the lobby rumors were true, a surprising amount of people left the room immediately. Vlad stared after them, making a mental note to tell Darya how he saw a burly, 2m tall guy who was apparently less fit than her. Or just a bigger pussy. Meanwhile, Frank was switching songs on his mp3 whilst keeping an eye on the 12 y/o boy whom he had picked to go first, probably in an attempt to get rid of the weaker ones first. The boy kept at it though, and just barely made it under a minute. Frank had gigantic headphones around his neck, the kind that just shove the music of his choice right in your face. His music of choice happened to be some random electro which reverberated throughout the room. Vlad couldn''t be sure whether the music was there to give them a rhythm or to distract them, but he did notice a thing about Frank. The guy was obviously old fashioned. Mp3s are rare these days since everyone uses their smartphones, but not Frank. At one point, he got a message and pulled out the legendary, sturdy Nokia 3310. Somehow, this made Vlad respect him slightly. Soon enough, it was his turn. He finished the pushups in some 25 seconds, and 10 minutes later, everyone was done. Next came the written test. It turned out to be an IQ/personality test coupled with an RR questionnaire. Top 3 preffered classes, goals and aspirations for after entering RR - simple questions, really. As his preffered class Vlad went for: 1. battle mage; 2. fast draw samurai; 3. assasin. From what he''d seen, those seemed to match his style the most. As soon as they were all done, Frank instructed them to wait for the results outside, walking them to the door and calling in the next group. Vlad looked outside and let out a deep sigh. The sun had set already. The preliminaries lasted at least an hour per group, plus the time they''d waited already, plus the time they would have to wait for the results to be announced. And that was just the preliminary tests. He realized that his prediction of staying there all night might just come true. To keep boredom at bay, he counted the time it took other groups to finish the test, as well as people who left right after finding out what the tests were compared to those that left after failing the pushup test. Typically, out of a group of 50 only about 10-15 people actually managed to finish the entire thing. As time slowly slipped by, the much smaller crowd grew more relaxed. Idle chatter was heard everywhere throughout the lobby, some of it cheerful, some boastful and some annoyed, as many people felt as if they were wasting their time. About half an hour after the last group finished, Frank came out of the gym, his face weary and his hand clutching a sheet of paper. The lobby went silent as all conversation died out instantly. Those that were sitting down stood up, and the ones that were standing up went completely rigid. The anticipation was downright tangible. Frank waved them in. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Once they were all inside, he held up the rather short list and started to announce names. Vlad''s was the first, and soon another thirteen followed. They stood a bit to the side of the large group of people which grew more and more anxious. As he finished reading, he turned to the fourteen chosen people and spoke up: "Those whose names were read pass the preliminaries. The rest of you can leave.". After a moment of stunned silence, murmurs started amongst the crowd. Murmurs turned to talking and talking in turn turned to shouting. The volume was steadily rising as if someone was slowly turning the control knob on a speaker. People were discontent, desperate and most of all, jealous. Just before the situation escalated, Frank called in the security. As people got "escorted" from the gym, Frank''s face absolutely lit up. He grinned as he turned his back to the rejects and faced the competitors. Vlad understood him fully. After hours and hours of watching people fail at pushups and solve IQ tests, every bit of action is extremely welcome. Completely rejuvenated, Frank cheerily walked to the opposite side of the gym where two large boxes were located. Their lids were slightly out of place, and Vlad could see an end of a jo stick topped with soft rubber poking out from within the box. ''Lucky!!'', he thought to himself. Frank clapped his hands together: "Right, equip yourselves! This is where the real fun begins!". The participants crowded around the boxes, each taking a jo stick and fiddling with protective gear. Vlad took a closer look at the gear box. There were stuff such as shoulder plates, headgear and gloves specifically designed to slide the jo through the grip enabling the user to use thrusting moves, which are jo''s main advantage over other weapons. As he put on the gear they were all approached by Frank who was handing out binded sheets of paper and pens. Vlad took a closer look: it was a contract. In case of injury, no charges are to be pressed against the gym, organizers or any other party involved. True, even with protective gear and soft rubber ends, it was entirely possible to seriously hurt a person. He signed it. Next, they wrote their names on pieces of paper and put them all in a box to decide pairs for the matches. Vlad''s opponent was a man called Randal and they were up fifth. Rules were simple as follows: fight until your opponent gives up, faints or you score 5 solid hits and refrain yourself from casing unnecessary bodily harm. First four matches were a bit disappointing with people swinging jo''s like baseball bats and generally using brute force. One guy managed to score four hits before he tried to be flashy and threw the jo as a spear only for it to be deflected, causing him to lose the match. When Vlad''s turn came up, he stood across his opponent and set himself into a jo stance*. As expected, the other guy came at him directly, swinging the jo to and fro like a deranged baseball player. Vlad rotated his hips to bring out the full force of his body into the tip of the jo, his left hand pushing the jo while his right one controlled its direction. He thrust it into Randal''s chest, stopping him in his tracks. Poor guy collapsed, ending the fight after merely a second. Seeing him fall, Vlad kinda wondered if he was a bit too rough. Other participants were in utter shock and a silent agreement was unanimously formed: take Vlad down first. In the remaining matches they were trying their best to copy his form and the thrusting attack. Well they tried, at least Vlad can compliment one guy for a couple of good parries. Some guy asked the obvious: ?What happens now, there''s 7 of us meaning one would have to go without a pair?¡°. Frank grinned and clapped his hands, outright emanating giddiness: "Well then, how about battle royale?". Vlad sighed as others smiled in relief and said stuff like : "Yeah, ok."; "I guess we can do it."; "No problem!", pretending that they didn''t care. "Alright then, please proceed if there are no problems." Before the sentence even fully left Frank''s mouth, everyone turned against Vlad. Still, he wasn''t very nervous. He had watched the rest fight and they were complete newbies. They surrounded him, but he simply evaded and slipped out of the circle. Aikido does, after all, revolve around evading and using the opponent''s strength against them, and he was very well trained. Vlad used the front two people as shields so he wouldn''t have to dodge all of the attacks at once, and allowed them to swing first. The big muscled guy on his left swung his jo, but Vlad skillfully deflected it straight into another guy''s face. Flesh and wood collided with a deafening crack, blood spurting out of the surely broken nose. Before the poor guy even had he chance to scream in pain, Vlad swept the left man''s knee, bringing him to the floor. Two down, four to go. After witnessing that absolute overkill, the rest were a bit more cautious, but Vlad still kept taking them down until there was one guy left. For some reason or another, he tried to show off, spinning the jo like he was in a cheap action movie. Vlad felt that his display was an insult to martial arts and all those that commit their lives to studying them and finished him off quickly with a swift stab to the chest. As he turned around he was greeted with a sight of Frank taking his gigangtic headphones off. He pat Vlad''s shoulder as he congratulated him on his win. He then handed him a new contract, chock-full of limitations and starting plans. Vlad was to finish basic and intellectual training within two months and acuire a battlemage profession using only his staff as a weapon. He was also expected to join a certain guild and heed the guildmaster''s every command. Vlad thought the contract strange as they were basically employing him. He''ll be getting paid for playing Royal Road as his preffered class, and although bound to the guild, he''ll most likely be free to do as he wishes most of the time. The money aspect bugged him though, since avatar trading was impossible with RR, so none of it made much sense. He wasn''t stupid enough to let such a chance slip by though, so he signed the contract, shook Frank''s extended hand, and left the complex. His bicycle was where he left it, and besides from stopping by his favorite sandwich stall, he was soon home. As dead tired as he was, Vlad just threw himself onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately, completely forgetting to contact Darya and tell her all about his day. jo stance* giving your opponent half the body to attack-standing sideways as from profile you are more or less 1/2 the width of your front, for left handed the stance would be - left foot behind facing west while in the same line(basically like the -x and y axis) right foot facing forward(north), left hand holding the jo by the back end resting on a hip while the right hand is set loose on about 2/3 length front (I just wrote that from my mind,didn''t look up definitions) Chapter 3 thanks to my co-author N. Polsteam, without her you would be reading something of a 2 levels worse quallity (even though for this one it took her 2-3 weeks) After she spent the entire night calling, texting and waiting for Vlad to respond, all the while cursing at his forgetfulness, Darya finally went to sleep. She woke up some eight hours later, feeling about as fresh as a month old, stale cracker. Yawning, she scratched her head and checked her phone one more time. Utter disappointment. ''Bastard completely forgot.'' Annoyed, she clicked her tongue. The tournament was starting in an hour and he still didn''t get back to her. After a quick breakfast, she made her way to the gym. The front of the building was jam-packed with people, some wielding random sticks which looked like they were torn from brooms, shovels and the like. Darya guessed that yesterday''s tournament had to do with sticks, or jo''s as Vlad called them, meaning he probably won the thing. He might be a forgetful jerk, but the guy was a genius with his stick. She chuckled at her own innuendo and stopped for a second to observe men "practicing" with their broom handles. Despite their enthusiasm, they had no skill whatsoever. Also, the tests were supposed to be a surprise, so she doubted they would repeat them. ''Well, some... 2, 4, 10... 26 people are gonna be very disappointed when the test starts'', she thought, doing a mental count of the stick guys. After dealing with a huge crowd and quite a bit of waiting, she entered the Spectrum lobby. First groups were already coming out, and she was proven right when the first batch of people announced that the test comprised of, how they put it, "ninja stuff". They wouldn''t say more. She turned to the stick guys. Their faces: priceless. Darya''s turn came up after 3 hours and she was in the last group. She cursed the long waiting time, not knowing that yesterday was much, much worse. The 20 pushups rumor had reduced the number of participants by a lot. As she walked in she noticed that the gym was divided by curtains. There was a personallity test again and an illusion test instead of an IQ one. After all that, Frank pulled at the curtains to reveal a maze of sorts. Lots of obstacles, lights turned off. Darya swallowed. This ain''t gonna be easy. Each participant was given a lenght of rope with a grappling hook attached and a stamper. The stampers were all flourescent yellow but each had a different number. Frank explained that they are to stamp other participants and survive without getting stamped. Also there will be guards patroling the hallways and kicking out anybody they catch. 12 entrances, 50 participants and 2 guards. Time to hide is 5 minutes. Set by her entrance with 3 other participants, Darya waited for the starting signal. Frank just said : "Go hide...", and they were off. One guy in their group was rather slow so he got stamped 2 times before they could even properly start the test, but unfortunately for one stamper the slow guy wanted retribution so he stamped him back. Darya didn''t bother with them, instead running as fast and deep into the maze as she could. There was a rather large number of participants compared to the not-so-large maze. ''There''s gonna be some crowding problems'', she thought. Luckily, she noticed a way to avoid the meandering stamper-armed people, namely a support beam at around eight meters height. It was barely noticeable even from the outside, and practically invisible from inside the maze. She guessed at its location and her grappling hook caught the beam on the second try. Quickly, she pulled up some 3 metres and saw people pass underneath her. In danger of being discovered, she wound the loose rope around her hand and, more or less secure, slowly made her way up. Breathing heavily, Darya rested on the beam. She glanced down below and suddenly it hit her: ''This... was the dumbest idea ever. The hook could''ve loosened and I would have fallen to my death. This height ain''t no joke, and there''s maze walls down there just waiting to break someone''s spine!''. Still, reason couldn''t lessen her pride. For her, this was one hell of an achievement. When she recovered a bit, Darya proceeded with her plan which was - waiting. Yes, she would wait until those idiots down there stamped each other out, and come out as the winner, almost no effort spent. Well, maybe a bit of effort. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. There were sounds of running, shouting and guards throwing people out, flashlights illuminating the corridors like two giant, demented fireflies. Or those glowy fishes maybe. Darya was never much good with metaphors. If one of those lights were to turn up, she''d have nowhere to run. But the guards were so preoccupied with the people on the ground, none thought to look up. But then again, it would be strange if noone else thought of climbing onto the beams, considering they were all provided with grappling hooks. Some people did use them to climb over walls, but most threw them away since they were extra weight. Suddenly, Darya saw movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of a person on the beam next to her. And that person noticed her as well. They threw their grappling hook onto Darya''s beam and tied the end of the rope onto their own. ''Shit. I don''t like where this is going. Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuuck!'' The other participant stepped onto the streched out rope and not only did they balance on it but actually started running in midair, toward Darya''s beam. ''Fuck fuck fuck, okay, tactical retreat, gotta get away quick.'' Darya uncoiled her rope and started descending fast, swinging all the while. As she came close to the walls, her momentum made her smash her knee into a wall. Pain shot through her and she nearly let go of the rope, but somehow managed to get herself on the wall. Now limping, she searched for a new place to hide. Meanwhile, the crazy acrobat person stamped another person hiding on the beams, and in the maze around 10 participants remained. Darya looked around, her eyes more or less used to the darkness by now. There weren''t any proper hiding places in the maze really, so she just settled for a safe distance from the acrobat. Slightly panicking, Darya racked her brain for a solution for this situation. The dull pain in her knee didn''t make it any easier to think. ''Ok, ok, I need a new plan. How the hell do I get rid of the acrobat? Guess I should somehow separate them from their hook then stamp them on the ground, but what if they stamp me out of spite? Not everyone plays fair. People in the maze are also a problem, but this takes priority.'' Then it hit her. ''I''ll just follow them and steal their rope while she''s busy stamping people! Then I can just go up and wait it out! Brilliant if I do say so myself.'' Barely managing to resist striking an evil genius pose, Darya set out to look for the acrobat. She figured it would be hard to notice anyone on the beams above so she instead found two of the remaining four participants walking together. One of them was out - a stamp on his arm emanated a pale light ¨C apparently supporting the other one. She almost felt bad for using them as bait, but they were a slow-moving, glowing target. Sneaking close to the walls, she followed them for a few minutes when she heard a swooshing noise. Her heart in her throat, Darya''s body when rigid, but when nothing happened after a few seconds, she figured it was just her imagination working overtime. Then, another noise, this time real, and the shadow of the acrobat descended upon the two men. ''Oh how very convenient, she left her rope just dangling there'', Darya smirked as she waited for the stamping to begin. The acrobat displayed some amazing skills, jumping around and painting the men flourescent yellow. ''Aaand... now!'' - Darya jumped away from her wall and rolled on the ground, an Aikido move Vlad taught her once, her knee protesting with pulses of pain. Even though the acrobat was distracted, they still heard her landing, and as she stood up the acrobat paused for a second, thinking she might try and initiate a stamp-off. Instead, Darya ran for the rope. The acrobat started after her, but she had some good head start and one of the stamped guys decided to take revenge. Noticing that, Darya pulled herself up to sit on one of the walls. Frank probably got tired of waiting because the maze was brimming with guards leading people out. It was over.