The Crimson Quest: A LitRPG Adventure

by J. B. Smith

  I read my next message before sending it to him:

  “Dude, we've got the gold! We are still digging the last two rooms. Come here ASAP! We will meet you at the entrance to the cave. Hurry.

  Walker."

  "Perfect," Dante laughs. “He's so desperate. All this trouble for eight meager gold coins?

  A new alert message appeared in front of me and I opened it:

  "Excellent! I'm on my way now. Meet me out front. I'll hide behind the big bush on the left side of the cave. Be there in literally two minutes! I'm running while we talk!"

  Samson."

  Then an alert message appeared in front of me:

  Congratulations!

  Your Persuasion skill has increased by 1 point!

  The persuasion level is 3

  Pleasant! I imagine I was on my way to becoming a little shady liar. Well, if that could help me, it didn't bother me at all. Eventually, I would be able to manipulate anyone into doing anything. Well, at least I hoped so. I looked at Dante and noticed that he looked upset. "It's sad that my cousin is so pathetic," he mumbled. "Now it's time to teach him a lesson he will never forget ."

  “So how are we going to do this?” I asked.

  “You go out with the gold. Stop it for a moment and I'll come over there. Then I'll grab it and bring it here. You two should stay. I think you will enjoy this.

  I looked at Johnny, wondering how we got into such a messed up situation. “Let's go,” I say.

  Johnny followed me. We walked towards the entrance and I laughed. I couldn't help myself. This ugly little elf deserved to be punished. First of all , he didn't tell us about the mini troll. Second, he wanted us to screw up a level 119 character. We could have been killed. So I was delighted to see what Dante was about to do to him.

  Chapter twelve

  We waited outside in the dark. "Samson?" I asked. "Are you here?"

  Johnny slowly looked around in all directions. I looked to my left and tried to locate a bush. "He said he was hiding in a bush to the left of the cave."

  "But what went on? Did he want us to look to the left as we came out of the cave? Or, did he want us to look to the left as we entered the cave? Johnny asked.

  “I don't know. Just smell yourself in the bushes.

  We started to feel ourselves in a large patch of bushes near the cave. But, there was nothing . "Oh, I think he's coming," Johnny said pointing forward.

  Indeed, it was him. He was running really fast too. “We got the gold,” I shouted.

  He fell to the ground in panic. "Keep your voice low," he whispered. "Show it to me. Show me the gol d."

  “Not so fast,” Dante ordered.

  "Cousin? What? What are you doing here?" Samson asked with an incredulous look.

  Dante didn't answer. Suddenly, Samson's body became stiff. His feet went up in the air as he hovered in place. Dante had both arms in the air as he smiled. "Did you think you could steal my gold?" Did you really think I was that stupid?

  I felt sorry for the ugly little elf. Dante had complete control over him and there was nothing he could do. "You caught off guard, didn't you?" He asked. "Didn't you have time to prepare resistance spells?"

  Then he lowered his body to the ground. "I can explain," Sams yelled . “These two are responsible for this. They took me hostage and made me do this. You must believe me.

  “It's a lie,” I shouted. “You know it is.

  "Why didn't you run?" Dante asked. "If they took you hostage, why didn't you run away?"

  Samson struggled to find an answer. “Because they took me hostage. With rope, just like old westerns. They tied me to a post.

  Dante laughs. "Do you really expect me to believe these two noobs have taken you hostage?"

  “He's the cousin of truth!

  "Oh shut up. Stop talking. You are so pathetic. Did you know?

  “Am I pathetic? Oh that's funny,” Samson laughed. “I'm not the one who lives in a cave with an overgrown rat. Am I?”

  The troll hissed away as Dante held his hands up . "You are too stupid for your own good."

  "Wait? What are you doing?" Samson asked.

  Dante flicked his hand and sent a fireball flying straight at Samson. "That'll teach you," he cried.

  There has been a boom. The fireball had hit Samson and he was not moving. Smoke billowed from his body as everyone was calm. "Samson?" Dante asked.

  I blinked. Then I did it again. "Samson?" I asked.

  "Are you dead?" Johnny asked.

  There was no response. I moved closer to him. Then another. Oh shit. I couldn't believe what I saw. His horrible little bat face was gone. Was that why he spent so much time painting her face? Did he subconsciously know that was how he was going to die ? Was he painting his face in the hope that someone would remember? I clear my throat. "I think something's wrong with Samson," I yelled.

  "Is he breathing? Dante asked as if he didn't want to check for himself.

  Breathing? He was dead. "Uh, it's debatable ," I replied.

  "What do you mean?" Dante asked.

  "Are we going to have a funeral?" Johnny asked.

  "A funeral? Why do you say that?" Dante asked, taking a few steps closer. Suddenly, Dante collapsed on the floor.

  I looked at Johnny and he approved of me. "Should we go?"

  “Don't go,” Dante replied. "Please do not leave me.

  "Master," the troll yelled from his cage. "Would this be a good time to cuddle?" Do you remember when your pet dragon died? Do you remember how we got to cuddle?

  My eyes opened. It was getting too weird for me. I wanted to leave, but I didn't know how.

  Dante watched Samson's body disappear and left a gold coin behind. "I don't want his gold," he cried at the top of his lungs.

  "Can I have it ?" Johnny asked with impatient eyes.

  Dante hit the ground and started to get angry. “I can't go to UnderDead and find his soul. I don't want to leave my cave. Samson had been right from the start, and I just couldn't admit it.

  Dante let out a loud roar. "If the two of you had never been born, this would never have happened."

  His head was face down on the ground. But I knew it wouldn't be for long. "Let's get out of here," I whispered to Johnny. "Walk slowly backwards."

  Johnny and I slowly backed away as Dante continued to cry for his cousin. "I just wanted to teach him a lesson," he mumbled.

  He was still on the ground and we were almost out of the cave. My heartbeat turned into a constant flicker as we turned and ran. "Master," the troll yelled from afar. "They're escaping."

  There was a boom that came from the cave as we were running as fast as we could. My eyes were on the village lights. "Hurry up," I shouted. “The village is a safe area!”

  We went as quickly as possible. But then Johnny started to huff and huff. Then it hit me too. “Oh no,” Johnny yelled. "He's coming. See! Look behind us!

  I turned my head and saw Dante running towards us. The fire was in his hand. “We have to go,” I said. "We can't rest any longer ."

  We started running again, but it didn't take long for my stamina to drop. “Damn. Our stamina sucks. It sucks.

  Dante moved closer. But the village was not far. Once again we started to run. Suddenly the ground beneath us shook . A huge piece of land flew through the air. "I'll kill you both," Dante cried from behind us.

  "We're going to die," I yelled at Johnny.

  “I don't want to be a lost soul,” Johnny cried back.

  We weren't far. Less than a hundred meters. Again, Dante hurled another fireball. It blazed above our heads with a gust of wind. We both fell to the ground when we reached the village. “He can't do anything to us here,” I said.

  In a few moments, Dante arrived in the village. He stood above us. "Cowards," he cried. "You did this and you will pay."

  I huffed and huffed. "How is it our fault?"

  Dante looked frustrated. “It's simple logic. If you had never been born, it never would have happened. This is
how. "

  “Oh come on. It's stupid logic.

  "It is a fact. And a fact is a fact.

  “Well, you can't hurt us here,” I replied. "Then you might as well go.

  “At least you got out of your cave. You should be proud of yourself, ”Johnny said.

  Dante laughs. “Oh, I'll have you. Wait and see. It will happen when you least expect it. When you finally let your guard down, I'll be there. I have your names and that's all I really need.

  "Oh yes? Is that all you need? I asked.

  "Yes. I'll find a way to kill you both. It's really not that hard. Killing two noobs will be easy. You're lucky I missed you with my fireballs. Normally I not lacking. The stress of losing my cousin changed my magic.

  I resurrected. “Don't blame us for your family problems. Okay?"

  Dante got furious. But he didn't say anything. Instead, he gave us a creepy smile. Then he stepped back while keeping the smile in place. Finally, he disappeared far away. “What a psychopath,” I say.

  Johnny sat down next to me. "I'm so tired. Where are we going to sleep? Can we have a hotel or something?

  I shrug my shoulders. "We could probably afford a hostel."

  We both got up and watched a skinny little guy play the flute. Honestly, it was a pretty lame song. "I'm a hopeless romantic," he said with a sigh of air. “This song comes from my heart. Tips are accepted. "

  I rolled my eyes and left. Shit. I needed to answer Todd. I felt really bad about my late response. He was the only player we had met who actually looked like a cool guy. I got my messages back and started typing one:

  “Hi Todd. I am very sorry for the late reply. We had a crazy day today. It's a long story, but I can tell you later. I'm sure you're in big trouble considering yourself a "lost soul" now. BTW ... I have no idea how we can find your soul. Tell us how we can help you. Thank you

  Walker."

  I looked at Johnny. "I just sent Todd a message."

  "What did he say?"

  “I just sent it literally,” I replied.

  "Okay. Let's find a place to sleep.

  "I'm sure there's an inn somewhere around here," I replied. “I'm super tired too. Now that we have the gold, we need to get straight to business tomorrow. Let's do one or two quests , then bring gold to the peasants. Then we can start our search for Todd. We will develop our army on our journey. "

  We continued to walk. Many characters were zipped up by us but didn't say anything. I scanned the area for any signs of an inn. Then I saw something. It was Samson's house. "Wait," I said with one arm in the air. "We don't need a hostel."

  “Yes, we do,” Johnny replied. "I'm going to get some sleep."

  I laughed. “Samson is dead. Think about it. "

  A really excited look appeared on Johnny's face. "Oh yes," he cried. "So can we just sleep at his place?" Right?"

  “Probably,” I replied. "I don't see why we couldn't."

  "I'm sure if he was still alive he would want us to stay at his place," Johnny replied.

  I pointed to his shitty little house. "It's right there."

  We ran home. Once in front of the door, I looked around carefully to make sure no one was looking. I twisted the doorknob. "Damn, it's locked."

  "Why would he lock it? Johnny asked. "Do you think he's scared that someone will steal his weird paintings?"

  I walked around the house until I reached the back. There had to be a window. Then I saw him. There were two windows. One of them was closed, but the other was not completely closed. "Over here," I whispered.

  Johnny walked over. "What if someone is impatient?"

  Johnny was right. If anyone was watching, we could look like we were breaking into the house. What were the laws in this village? I did not know. But I knew that the artificial intelligence in this game was advanced. You had to be careful. “ I'm sure no one is watching,” I replied.

  We both looked around intently. There were a lot of players running around, but there were no guards really patrolling the village. The only guards I had seen were at the main entrance. So I carefully tried to wait until no character was near us. It took about thirty minutes, but eventually there was a big enough gap to give me the confidence I needed to open the window. With a quick push, I opened the window. "Hurry up," Johnny whispered.

  My body took the trouble to go through the small window in the first minute or two. But in the end, I manage to get out of it. I crashed to the ground and felt a wave of pain. The pain quickly left me as I jumped to my feet. After that, I ran to the front door and opened it. To mmy motioned to me. "Come in here," I whispered.

  Johnny walked in and we both sat down at the yellow table. “It's a little sad,” Johnny says.

  "Yes," I answered with both elbows on the table.

  "Look at his eyes," Johnny replied, pointing to one of the paintings on the wall. “I can see the pain in them. It is a deep pain. I never noticed it until now.

  I narrowed my eyes and tried to see what Johnny was talking about. Nope. All I saw was the same ugly little elf. "Do you think there's a trash can around here?"

  "Do you want to throw away his paintings?" But how will the world remember him? Johnny asked.

  I laughed. "Are you serious?"

  Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "Sort of. I feel a little bad moving into his house.

  “He did this for himself. Besides, he almost got us killed. He totally used us for his own selfish agenda.

  "I guess you're right," Johnny replied, his head on the table.

  “We need to get some sleep. Who will take the bed?

  Johnny didn't respond, so I pulled out a gold coin. "Okay, we'll turn around for that." Heads or tails? "

  "Heads," Johnny replied. "I mean tails," he said with a stutter.

  Which one? ” I asked, secretly wanting some cocks for myself.

  "Well, I think I want more heads actually."

  I tossed the coin in the air and watched it descend. He hit the ground with a ringing sound. "Damn. These are heads.

  "Yes! I'm taking the bed," Johnny replied.

  I clear my throat. I was irritated, but I didn't want to show it. I had lost fair and square. "I guess I'll sleep on the floor."

  I grabbed a hard cookie and started munching on it. After that, I lay on my back and stared at the white ceiling above me. Suddenly it hit me. What was I doing here? Am I going to sleep in the gaming world too? If they didn't fix the problem, would this be my new life? Wow. It was a strange feeling to consider this. How could this happen? The truth was, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back to the real world. Things were exciting here. But I still wanted to have the option of going back in case things got too crazy.

  I closed my eyes. All kinds of thoughts were drifting through my head. Then I got up. Why hadn't Todd answered me yet? Have I waited too long? Was he deaf ? I checked my posts just to make sure I didn't miss one. No, there was nothing new. I was about to send him another message, but I was too tired. Finally, I fell asleep without even realizing it.

  Chapter thirteen

  When my eyes opened, I didn't know where I was. Was it the real world or the game world? Then I remembered. I remembered everything that had happened. It was almost as if my gaming life merged into my real life. I sat and looked around me . Johnny was curled up in a ball on his bed. But, he didn't seem comfortable. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing," he mumbled.

  Something was wrong. But I knew how Johnny was doing. If something bothered him, he sometimes waited before talking about it . I jumped my neck. Fresh. It was just like in real life. "I guess we'll have cookies for breakfast."

  "Is that all this elf had?" Johnny asked.

  "I don't know. I can't see anything else, do I?

  Johnny looked around. "Not really."

  I grabbed two cookies and threw one at Johnny. "Once you get in, it's not too bad."

  Johnny carefully bit his cookie. "I still have to get my tooth fixed," he mumbled.

  "Did you sleep well?"

>   Johnny fell silent before finally answering. "Well," he replied slowly. "Something weird has happened."

  "Oh yes? Like what?"

  "I think the elf haunted me last night," he replied with a tremor.