by Arthur Stone
Dark activated the teleport scroll, and the world became as white and empty as his inventory.
Chapter 7
Bewilderment
Total stat levels: 5
Character level: 0
Mastery level: 0
You have used a Scroll of Random Teleport. You have left Agdei Ridge. You have entered the Central Wastes of Ethria. This is a forgotten land of suffering, where all things have long since turned to dust.
Dark collapsed, his body unable to maintain a sudden standing position after spending so long on the torture table. Face forward he went, snapping the branches of some ugly species of bush. The thorns scratched deep in several places.
2 damage taken.
Dark was surprised to see that message. The Spider had done him orders of magnitude more damage than these pointless thorns, but he had not received any messages. Perhaps his synth was functioning more fully now.
There was no way to find out.
He sat up with difficulty, crossed his legs, and looked around to get a feel for the area. There was nothing in the area, save more dried-up, unfriendly bushes. A few gnarled trees poked out from the bushes in the near distance, but they seemed devoid of leaves. A low veil of leaden clouds hung precariously from the sky, bathed in the ambiguous twilight of morning or evening. Only a gray loincloth served Dark as clothing. Goosebumps covered his flesh.
He shivered. Half from the cold, half from bewilderment.
What should he do now? His escape had been unplanned, and his tortured mind was still a mess, but he knew that he was free to do anything he wanted as long as it ended with some result other than the one he feared.
He could not return to the Spider.
Would Kim’s people be able to find Dark? He had no idea.
But he knew that these games had all kinds of dangers for the players. There was no information available on his location, other than its desolation. Perhaps it only seemed desolate, though, and the average player here succumbed to some terrible monster within minutes. What would happen if Dark were to die? He would end up back where Kim’s people had pumped him full of drugs and hacked his synth. Where they had established his respawn point.
He didn’t know what precise location that was.
But I bet it’s the Spider’s lair. He would wake up to the renewed smells of coal and burnt meat. And the flaming touch of an angry spider’s fangs.
Dark kneeled down, unsure what the procedure was for his other ability. He activated it.
Error: You cannot create a respawn point here.
Damn.
He looked at another bush and tried again.
Error: You cannot create a respawn point here.
Where could he create a respawn point? The game seemed to be playing with him at this point. Dark might have lost his temper at the bastards who developed this game, but upon the third attempt, the system realized that this stubborn idiot needed more information.
Error: You cannot create a respawn point here. You have made three failed attempts in one minute. Perhaps you should change your location first. You must select a site that stands out from the general appearance of the location. Ideal sites include rocks of unusual shape, ancient ruins, massive boulders left by glaciers, moss-covered tombs of long-forgotten heroes, gigantic tree stumps, and other objects visible from a distance.
At last he felt like he was getting somewhere. His respawn point could not be a secluded location like this one. All of these hideous bushes looked very much alike. Instead, he had to find something that stood out.
So, Dark, should you get up and get looking? All it would take was stumbling into any one monster here, and Dark would be back in the torturous maw of another.
He had to conduct his search as carefully as possible.
Rather than stand, he would crawl along through the bushes, freezing at any hint of sound.
He squinted at the horizon. It seemed like a stone was poking out of the ground not far from his position. Perhaps it would serve as a respawn point.
Chapter 8
Stonehenge
Total stat levels: 5
Character level: 0
Mastery level: 0
The stone was actually a huge, curved root. Sadly, it also did not work as a respawn point. Nor had he found any highly visible tree stumps, only a fallen tree which had likewise failed to meet the system’s criteria.
Twilight was slowly invading. Visibility did not improve, especially from Dark’s position. He had nearly resigned himself to the fact that he’d be crawling like this for hours when he spotted the flat top of a rock that rose above the thorns. Why was it here, when there was nothing else of stone in the whole area?
Perhaps this world looked and felt real, but he realized it probably still contained all sorts of logical inconsistencies.
As cautious as ever, he shifted towards the rock. He paused every few bushes to listen intently. Even though the rock was only a hundred paces away at most, it took him at least five minutes to reach it. The thickets thinned out into an open space about the size of a basketball court. Twelve roughly hewn stone blocks were arranged in six pairs around the area’s perimeter. A stone on its side bridged each pair. It was one of these top rocks that Dark had noticed from afar, mistaking it for the highest point of a natural rock.
This was the local analog of Stonehenge. Its dimensions were much smaller, but the stones were several tons each. Yet the area had been abandoned long ago and was now overgrown with shrubs and stained dirty green by the moss covering it. Would this work as an “ancient ruin”? That hint had even mentioned something about moss.
Hold your horses.
The trees beyond were a promising hiding spot for any adversaries, so Dark stayed put. Only after a few minutes of silence did he head for the nearest rock.
If the system rejected this as a suitable respawn point, he’d have to look for something like the Great Pyramid.
He had only three steps left to go when the moss covering the ground left of the stones began to move. It broke in several places, and a crunching, clanging armored skeleton emerged. Green flames flickered in the nightmare’s eye sockets, and its hand clutched a long, rusty sword.
Dark’s breath did not catch, nor did he scream. Nor did he move the three paces to stand atop the mossy burial ground of armored skeletons. He ran the other direction at full speed. It was logical to assume that this terrible developer creation took a hit to its speed from all of that armor and its heavy-looking blade.
Sadly, logic was not the ruler of this world. Dark sprinted a few hundred yards, but the clanging and bone-knocking behind him did not cease. Instead, it grew closer. With the cursed bushes tearing at his feet and the rotten tree trunks forcing him to hurdle them, he could go no faster. They even brought him down head over heels a couple of times, but his pursuer experienced no such encumbrance. It must have had night vision.
A few minutes later, Dark was horrified to realized he would imminently fall flat from exhaustion. Perhaps the eleven days of torture had weakened him – or perhaps his real-world physical shape did not matter here, and he would tire quickly.
A wall of impassable bushes rose into the gloomy air ahead of him. Dark knew that the rusty sword was inches behind. In desperation, he charged through the bushes. Thorns ripped at his flesh.
1 damage taken.
But he was through!
And it seemed there were no similar obstacles ahead.
The next moment, the earth slipped out from under Dark’s feet as he went into an uncontrollable spin. He scrambled. This position was unlikely to help him avoid significant damage.
But he was too late: The blow came in strong and painful. His body landed on an uneven slope and slid a few meters before crashing sideways into something hard.
124 damage taken. Critical damage: broken leg. Critical damage: two broken ribs.
Goddammit! How would he get away now?
Holding back an explosive scream, Dark clenched his t
eeth, curled up, and froze, trying to breath as quietly as possible. What else could he do? He hoped the skeleton would lose sight of him and conclude he was defeated.
Up above, he heard the clang of metal and a sound like pebbles crunching. It was coming down after him.
Dark stopped breathing entirely. He strained his ears so he could deduce what actions the mighty corpse was taking. The skeleton wandered in circles, still giving its position away with sinister crunches and peals of bone and metal.
A few minutes later, though, Dark heard something new cut through the darkness. This sound, he did not recognize. It seemed someone was pounding one stone against another in imitation of a galloping horse. Then a light flared in the darkness and jerked sharply upwards. Dark could see the skeleton now, thirty yards away. Now, though, it held not only the rusted sword but also a huge torch that illuminated everything within a few steps around.
Great. A nimble, smart skeleton who knows how to make fire.
There was no sense for Dark to keep pretending he wasn’t there. He climbed up on his three good limbs, dragging his fourth behind him, and went directly for the creature of bones.
An observer might chalk this up to his limited sanity, but he knew his intentions. The torch had illuminated Dark’s only known hope in this situation.
A massive stone. It was one of many stones here, but it stood out both due to its size and due to its near-perfect shape. Rounded, as it a giant had jammed its bowling ball straight down into the earth. Perhaps a stoneworker’s tools had once touched this rock, and it would count as an ancient ruin. If not, well, he hoped its visibility would score enough points to make it qualify.
It stood out sharply from the surrounding landscape.
The skeleton must have heard him gnashing his teeth. It rushed at him like a bleached, upright cockroach scurrying away from the boot seeking to kill it.
Everything came down to who made it to the rock first. Dark was only a few paces away, but he was crippled, not to mention exhausted in body and mind both. The skeleton was alive and well—if such words could be used to describe an undead thing. In any case, it moved quickly and suffered no weariness.
Dark surged forward in a lame man’s jump, stretching out his arms and screaming as his broken leg struck something hard. But he reached his goal, laying his palm on the rounded rock.
Are you sure you want to set this as your respawn point? Attention: Your current respawn point will become unavailable thirty-three hours after selecting a new one. Continue (yes/no)?
“Yes!” Dark screamed, mentally entering the command at the same time.
What kind of sadists created this place? Throwing a delay like that in when his death was imminent?
The air above his head whooshed aside as the rusty blade sliced through it.
Chapter 9
A Prisoner Again
Total stat levels: 5
Character level: 0
Mastery level: 0
Attention: Last respawn point selected. You have entered the Central Wastes of Ethria. This is the edge of the world, a place watered with the tears of hopes long lost and dreams long dashed, a cemetery of races long forgotten, or which were never known in the first place.
10 seconds to resurrection. 9...
Dark stared at the numbers counting down like a frozen rabbit watching a boa constrictor slither towards it. He knew exactly what would happen next. And there was nothing he could do to change it.
Respawn!
Dammit.
Either the darkness was now as thick as ink, or his eyes were unable to see anything for the first few seconds after respawn. As soon as Dark realized he had regained his body, he heard the terrible noise of rusty steel slicing through the air. Afterwards his neck twitched, and the pain made his vision go even darker, impossible as that seemed.
Attention: Last respawn point selected. You have entered the Central Wastes of Ethria. This is the edge of the world, a place watered with the tears of hopes long lost and dreams long dashed, a cemetery of races long forgotten, or which were never known in the first place.
10 seconds to resurrection. 9...
Darkness. A brief moment of sensation that he was no longer a disembodied spirit. The same terrible whistling of the sword.
So it went, time after time, for hours and perhaps days. Nothing screwed up a man’s sense of time like being killed over and over.
The cursed skeleton, damn its bones, had taken up post and patrol near the rock Dark had selected as his respawn point. After all, that was probably more fun than lying still under a bunch of wet moss.
Not more fun for Dark, though.
The sword whistled. Pain sliced through him. He lost consciousness.
Attention: You have died 100 times over a short time period. Characters below level 10 do not lose progress or skill points when they die, but we still recommend you modify your style of play. You can exit the game now and return later when the situation at your last respawn point is more favorable. Or you can select your old respawn point. Attention: Your old respawn point will become inactive in a matter of hours. Once it does, you will be unable to use it.
Take some time to think about your decision.
30 seconds to resurrection. 29...
Half a minute counted as “time to think”? Yes, based on his experience so far, that was the maximum time any of these developers ever thought about anything.
Which choice should he make? The old respawn point? After all, he was starting to feel some regret about disappointing Kim and the Spider. Not.
Exit the game? He would if he could, but his synth was still apparently damaged, and so the Exit option was unavailable.
What else could he do, then? Keep dying over and over until the skeleton collapsed from exhaustion?
His mind would probably collapse before that point. The level of sensation at this location was unknown but was obviously less than the location where he had experienced such exquisite torture for so many days. But decapitating blow after decapitating blow in a situation where you hardly have the time to open your eyes—that can wear a man down.
He was not only weak and weaponless, he was blind. His vision wasn’t activating in time to see his death happen.
Wait... He had seen something before dying the very first time. Just at the edge of his vision. In the thick darkness, the torch’s reflection was only visible in one direction. The stones of the incline and piles of his own bones were there.
But there was nothing at all in the other direction that reflected the torch’s light. Either open space lay there, or continuation of the cliff—meaning this area with his respawn point was on a narrow ledge.
If he rolled off of that drop-off, he might survive and be able to escape the skeleton.
But he would have to do it blind.
* * *
Attention: Last respawn point selected. You have entered the Central Wastes of Ethria. This is the edge of the world, a place watered with the tears of hopes long lost and dreams long dashed, a cemetery of races long forgotten, or which were never known in the first place.
10 seconds to resurrection. 9...
Suddenly he felt his body. And without hesitation, he dove to the side. His legs were disoriented. That confusion, like blindness, had happened with each and every resurrection. Dark had already tried to run in various directions, a dozen times now. More often than not, he got tripped up in the stones, and the skeleton sliced him in two before as many seconds had passed.
He needed more than two seconds.
His knee crashed into a sharp stone ledge. Howling in pain, Dark somehow rolled over the obstacle, landing in a squatting and jumping forward like a cripple toad. The sword swung and happily struck the rock behind him with a clang.
That was the first time the skeleton had missed, hitting stone instead of severing head.
Capitalizing on this success, Dark pressed on, and the darkness in his vision began clearing. To the left, he saw a space with no heaps of sto
ne visible within it.
He surged that way and learned that he was correct: the cliff continued. He had leaped from the first ledge. Now, he would land on the next.
This was a leap of faith. His vision could make out a few steps ahead, but everything else melted into a mass of gray.
Dark lost the ground beneath his feet as he heard the whistle of rusted steel behind him. A sound like grinding teeth followed. Hopefully something nasty had happened to the skeleton.
But Dark kept flying downwards, until after a few seconds he realized that this fall would end in something worse than a few broken bones.
Chapter 10
Among the Stones
Total stat levels: 5
Character level: 0
Mastery level: 0
Attention: Last respawn point selected. You have entered the Central Wastes of Ethria. This is the edge of the world, a place watered with the tears of hopes long lost and dreams long dashed, a cemetery of races long forgotten, or which were never known in the first place.
10 seconds to resurrection. 9...
Dammit. His idea had worked as planned. But the cliff had been too high, and so the fall had killed him.
What could he do now? Tack on another death?
Respawn!
Dark reflexively rushed in a random direction, tripped over a stone, and fell flat with a painfully rocky blow to his chest. He cringed, fearing the whistling steel rapidly approaching his neck.
