by Arthur Stone
As far as their final score went, the skeleton had triumphed over him by two orders of magnitude.
Dark had to keep digging for more information. There had to be something that would point him in the direction of ordinary people and allow him to get there without a billion deaths along the way. After all, the experience he had just undergone was not much different from what Spider had done to him. Had Dark failed to escape that Sisyphean respawn loop, he would have gone mad even without the help of a torturer intending that result. Even though the pain in this location was less severe and ended nearly instantly in each case, eventually he would have been exhausted out of his own mind.
He had to figure out a way to get onto the Internet. His synth was connected to the World Wide Web, after all. He just had to find some loophole that let him access it.
As so often happens, this loophole was right in front of him. “Official Game Forum.” Of course, Dark’s limited experience with such forums had taught him that they were best avoided.
They were a waste of time for decent players. Boring drones whose TLDRs needed TLDRs of their own, harebrained conspiracy theories, and ban-happy moderators. Closed communities were the best—places where information was private, limited to just a few. But sometimes there were pearls to be found in the public sphere, as well.
Wait. Is that a way out?
As he ran his eyes over the translucent page before his eyes, Dark jabbed at the first banner that appeared, an advertisement for a modded synth clinic. He hoped it would take him to the wider web.
Access denied. This is locked in your account settings. To access the Internet, change your account settings.
What the...
Other links brought up the same message. Trying to mess with the address bar and send links to himself in chat didn’t work, either.
After a minute of contemplating some nearby lazy rivulets, Dark sighed silently and went to a place no decent player had any business being.
The game forum.
He found an interesting topic right away: “Beginners Guide.” Forum guides were inconvenient regurgitations of text. There were a dozen links attached to other alternative sources, but of course none of them successfully took him to the web.
So he immersed himself in the study guide.
Five minutes later, he begrudgingly admitted that he had given the official forums a bad rap. A priceless store of information had already entered his brain. This store, in combination with the system message logs he had perused, answered most of the questions that had accumulated in his head.
First, he learned that what had screwed him was actually his elite account. Misuse of an elite account would do that to you. Royally. Under the influence of drugs, Dark had handed over the key to his synth to his kidnappers, allowing the kidnappers to alter his settings in the real world. They locked him out of everything they could. The official game forum was the only place he could go. Nor could he use the in-game mail system. Nor any other form of communication.
These restrictions were generally easy to remove. All he had to do was check the appropriate boxes. But, elite accounts had the convenience and immersion factor of being manageable while offline, and only while offline, unless the account’s settings were modified to allow online access.
Dark’s settings had not been so modified.
How could he go offline, then? Easy: by pressing the Exit button.
Of course, he didn’t have one of those.
Dark’s synth code had been replaced. And if Dark magically managed to somehow regain full control and disconnect completely, he would probably end up in just the state Kim was hoping for.
He had spent too much time in the game. His brain was so deeply connected to the game now that a cleanse would be nothing of the sort, but a permanent severing of neural connections.
Unless he found a workaround, he’d have to find some players and somehow get them to help him solve his problem.
This was where the second royal screwing of Dark came into play. In the forum section Geography, he found a lot more bright map spots, filled with information. But the list of known locations did not include the Central Wastes of Ethria. Nor any part of Ethria. Nor did his race exist.
He checked the discussion threads. 90% were apparently written by mentally challenged schoolchildren just starting to learn their letters. Most of the remaining 10% were nonsensical, but a few were decent. Dark learned that, according to lore, the world of X once suffered a string of magical and physical catastrophes, plus global wars between races, clashes with demons from beneath, and more. Its history was an unceasing apocalypse. A significant percentage of the world’s territory was unsuitable for life, or at least unsuitable for any extended period of time. The inhabited areas were surrounded with geography that was impassable, or nearly so, and most people had no idea what lay beyond these areas. There was a complex system of teleporters, but it didn’t cover everywhere, and teleporting to a location no one had ever been to before was just asking for problems.
Dark was in a location just like that. A race location for a race that had been removed from the game. This place had died before the alpha was even out. All that was left of the Ethrians, in fact, was the territory where players who selected them had been meant to start out. But Dark was still alive, so this location couldn’t be that bad. Attempting to leave this location, however, would take him out to the wilderness between locations, a place where even experienced players decked out with the best gear got fried like packs of matches tossed into an open furnace.
He had to develop himself as a player as he continued to search for loopholes.
One option, of course, was to torture himself. Perhaps his extensive suffering would bring Emergency Bot 25 back. Perhaps. But the next teleport could hurl Dark into some location that made this wasteland seem heavenly.
So self-torture was—surprise—a bad idea. Dark resigned himself not to hurry. Instead, he would work on his character, learn all of the ins and outs of this world, and try to devise a way to free his body from this trap.
After reading the Character Development part of the guide, he opened his own Stats and Skills screen.
He lost his restraint. “Goddammit!”
Chapter 14
Crippled
Total stat levels: 5
Character level: 0
Mastery level: 0
At first glance, X’s character development system seemed cumbersome. Thirty-six basic skills involving combat, defense, and general existence were broken unevenly into six groups. Each group made up one stat: Strength, Dexterity, Adaptability, Endurance, Intellect, and Magic. The level of each “stat” was equal to the lowest-level skill in its group. The character’s level, in turn, was the sum of all stat levels divided by six, but that only applied to novice players. And level 1 could only be obtained by having no stats at 0. Only by bumping up every single group, which meant bumping up every single skill, could he reach level 1.
Higher-level players actually had a simpler system.
Once a player reached level 10, he could choose a class, and each class was linked to two stats. Advancing the other stats would no longer be required in order to level up. Conversely, their growth was limited from that point forward. From level 10 on, the player’s level was the sum of the two class stats, divided by two.
The first example he considered was Strength. Its base skills included Athletics, Heavy Weapons, Heavy Armor, Shieldbearing, Hammers, and Physical Attack. Athletics grew whenever you expended considerable physical effort. Heavy Weapons, whenever you used heavy weapons to hit, and especially defeat, opponents. Heavy Armor was leveled up the more you wore said armor. Shieldbearing, when you used a shield in battle, whether for defense or attack. Interesting, Hammers was a skill that could be developed not only by fighting with hammers but also by wielding them for smithing and other crafts. 10 progress points to a skill leveled that skill up to level 1. Level 2 then required an additional 20 progress points, level 3 an addit
ional 30 (60 total), and so on. So if five skills reached level 4 by acquiring 100 progress points, but the sixth skill in the group remained at level 0 for some reason, the player’s total Strength stat would still be 0.
Some skills were easy to level up, others were harder, and a few were damn near impossible. How could anyone level up with those near-impossible skills in mind? That was simple enough: each time a player leveled up, he or she received twelve distributable skill levels. Not just progress points; full skill levels. This applied until level 10. After that, the free levels could only be applied to skills in the player’s two class groups. They could also be earned for various achievements—Dark had received some by killing the skeleton. Players could receive distributable progress points, as well, and there were a few other ways to grow these infeasible skills. Putting distributable assets into the weakest skills and stats was the most common course of action.
The very first distribution of these bonus skill levels occurred at the very start of a player’s game. Each newbie received one hundred of them. By distributing most of them evenly, you could reach level 2 and still have 24 to spare. That combined with the level-up bonuses could propel you to level 3, giving you the next dozen free levels. And by using those on the problematic skills and working a little on the easy ones, you could reach level 4 in barely any time at all.
But that wasn’t all. Five distributable stat levels were also awarded you at the start. Distributing them to five different stats and leveling up the sixth, whichever was easiest, by yourself would propel you to level 5.
Judging by the forum comments, it was an easy affair to reach level 5 within an hour or two. Level 6 could follow a day or two later. The game was filled with innumerable quests for beginners that could significantly reduce this time, and the time for subsequent levels. Thanks to this, you never met a player in X that was level 2 or lower. Keeping your character at low levels made no sense. The more you leveled up, the more of the game became available to you.
Killing monsters and performing tasks from the plethora available to players gave you distributable progress points, as well. These could be assigned to any skill, of the player’s choice. Here once again Dark was screwed: These points were only given to players with a starting skill.
And to get that, you had to get to level 1. If he ever reached that, it would not be soon.
He dropped his head further.
Dark’s character had been sabotaged, his prospects as a newcomer ruined by Kim’s minions. Regular players started at level 3 and pumped to level 10 quickly, then chose a class, which greatly helped their progress afterward. After all, there was no need to focus on all six stats after that.
The bastards had invested all 100 skill points into Stealth. A useful skill for avoiding being seen. And completely useless while strapped to the Spider’s torture table.
Of course, Kim’s people hadn’t stopped there. They had invested the 5 distributable stat points in Endurance. Another perfect choice for their ends.
Endurance determined, among other things, his hit points. And the more of those he had, the longer it took to kill him. The longer he could be tortured. Dark’s luck bringing the skeleton over the edge with him had earned him some progress points and some bonus skill levels.
This is what his profile looked like:
Name: Dark. Short and dark-skinned, striking like a dagger from the shadows.
Race: Ethrian One of the ancient races forgotten by the gods, with undecided values, trapped between light and darkness.
Race Perk: +50% sensation. An Ethrian suffers like none other.
Special Power: Avalanche of Feeling. Active skill. Activating this skill increases sensation by 100%. Magic energy cost: 50. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.
Alignment: Neutral.
Strength: 0
Determines the damage you inflict with physical attacks, the weight you can carry, the speed you can perform some demanding craftsmanship, and the regeneration of your health points.
Base Physical Strength Skills:
Athletics: hard physical work, in or out of combat—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Heavy Weapons: use heavy weaponry—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Heavy Armor: wear heavy armor—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Shieldbearing: attack and defend with a shield in battle—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Hammers: use hammers or pickaxes as weapons or tools—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Physical Attack: defeat enemies with weapons that deal physical damage. The closer an enemy is to you, the faster this skill grows—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Dexterity: 0
Determines your chances of evading attacks of all types, the speed of your physical attacks and your evasion, the damage boost from precision attacks (both standard and critical), and the regeneration of Stamina.
Base Agility Skills:
Acrobatics: trick jumps, stunts, impressive falls, etc.—level 3 (+32 progress points)
Ranged Weapons: kills with bows, crossbows, darts, and other projectiles. The further the enemy, the faster this skill grows—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Light Weapons: defeat enemies with light weaponry—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Light Armor: wear light armor—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Physical Evasion: dodge enemy attacks—level 5 (+45 progress points)
Speed: move fast, learn to run—level 6 (+24 progress points)
Reaction: react quickly, without hesitation—level 4 (+46 progress points)
Accuracy: land physical attacks, without missing—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Critical Hit: hit weak spots to deal increased damage. Flank the enemy and strike from behind—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Adaptability: 0
Determines your chances at survival, both in the wilderness and among other intelligent beings. Also determines your total Stamina.
Base Adaptability Skills:
Perception: pay attention and notice everything—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Stealth: move and watch without being noticed—level 100 (+0 progress points)
Luck: emerge victorious from situations where luck played a role. Affects everything—level 12 (+37 progress points)
Simplicity: be able to live on bread and water, sleeping on the cold earth and making do with what you have—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Poisoncraft: avoid eating poisoned food and defeat others with poisoned arrows—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Hand-to-Hand: defeat enemies with your bare hands—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Charisma: make other beings acknowledge you, respect you, love you, obey you—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Endurance: 5
Determines your total health points, the amount of physical damage you received, and your resistance to debuffs, control effects, and elemental magic.
Base Endurance Skills:
Tolerance: be patient and endure burdens, difficulties, and deprivation, including harmful magic (debuffs)—level 7 (+24 bonus points)
Resistance to Heat and Cold: endure heat and cold and succeed despite weather or ice, even if these are due to magic and not nature—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Carrying Capacity: carry lots of items, lift weights, and you’ll be able to move faster and more easily while under load—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Tirelessness: exhaust your enemies in combat while still barely breaking a sweat yourself—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Unarmored Combat: your skin is a kind of armor!—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Physical Defense: block physical attacks, actively or with your armor, with minimal loss of health—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Intellect: 0
Determines your magical energy (mana), your chances of successfully hitting with ranged magic (including critical hits), your spell casting speed, and your chances of evading magic attacks and the amount of damage you take from them.
Base Intellect Skills:
Magic Accuracy: hit targets precisely with magic, preferably from a distance. The farther you hit targets from, the faster your skills will work and the higher your chances of dealing maximum damage—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Protection from Magic: reflect magical damage or take a minimal hit to your health—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Evade Magic: dodge magical attacks—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Magic Crit: hit weak spots to deal increased magic damage—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Magic: 0
Determines the speed at which your mana recharges and the power of your magic attacks.
Base Magic Skills:
Magical Robes: enchanted apparel not only accelerates spellcasting, it can also serve as armor to reduce physical damage taken from enemies—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Control Resist: prevent yourself from being slowed, put to sleep, paralyzed, or otherwise controlled. In some cases, using control effects yourself can boost this skill—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Debuff Resist: resist attempts to weaken you with magic. In some cases, using weakening effects yourself can boost this skill—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Staves and Rods: when a mage has no other alternative, he becomes a warrior—level 0 (+0 progress points)
Special Skills
Rock Climbing: conquer cliffs and mountains of all sorts, climb into the windows of tall buildings, and hold yourself over a precipice for extended periods of time: 1.
