‘I’m planning to get to Level 13 today.’
‘Good. Contact me as soon as you get it.’
Chapter Seven
THINGS SEEMED brighter in the light of the fire.
Without waiting for sunrise, I dispatched two centipedes, then annoyed some rats from a distance, led them through the fumes as had become my habit and finished off the ones that had survived.
…
You have reached a new level.
…
Finally!
Once I spent the available points on my characteristics, the interface revealed the long-awaited bars for adaptive leveling up. The trick was this: the game penalized me for dying by slashing my highest characteristic, which was Strength. The game didn’t touch the precious Adaptability so I quickly increased it to the required number.
It was time to check what advantage it gave me.
The nest closest to the respawn circle had been wiped out, the fire was glowing a cherry red and a hunchbacked figure could be seen beside it. Jeb, who had dared to approach the source of light and warmth, immediately became wary when he heard my footsteps.
I waved at him from afar.
Unfortunately, Sasha was right. Jeber_Arium responded completely the wrong way to my friendly gesture. He raised his spear and rushed at me.
It would be terrible if I got killed. I would have wasted the monotonous work of several days.
I felt genuinely sorry for the ‘drowned’ player. “Jeb, let’s talk!”
His response was an energetic thrust.
I rolled away, anticipating the spinning strike that was going to follow. Yeah, his range of moves wasn’t very big. I quickly learned how to recognize his few decoy moves.
“Jeb, can you tell me about yourself? How did you get here?”
The questions confused him. He sniffed and slowed down but continued to watch me darkly, waiting for a chance to stab me with the rusty spearpoint.
“Where is your VR capsule?”
That made him angry again for some reason and he attacked me. I got a couple of scratches and managed to smack him with the hilt of my sword. When I realized that things were taking a bad turn, I retreated into the toxic cloud.
Jeber_Arium didn’t follow me. He was afraid of the toxins, otherwise, things could have ended badly since there wasn’t much room to turn in the narrow dead end, among all the glowing moss. Jeb could have stabbed me to death with his spear, with no chance of avoiding his attacks.
All right. I’d keep trying and maybe he’d talk to me one day.
In the meantime, I opened the character panel and glanced through the results of the short skirmish.
The adaptive leveling was working! The bar next to Dexterity had increased by a couple of percent! Awesome result! All I need was to find a book to read to pass the time between rat respawns and to raise my Intellect.
I ran through the fumes again, expecting an attack, but Jeb had disappeared. On my way to the respawn circle, I managed to find and pull out of the garbage a tree branch that had been carried there by the rainwater.
I sat by the fire. I was tired and incredibly sleepy but it was dangerous to leave my character here unattended.
Should I try to doze here without leaving the VR capsule?
The fire illuminated a small area. I noted a movement in the gloom and grew tense.
No, I wasn’t imagining it. Jeb was back. He approached very slowly and cautiously. I took a good look at him. He was no zombie. He was just terribly skinny and dressed in rags.
“Come to the fire.”
He understood my speech yet was afraid and sat down timidly by the flames. A minute passed, then another one, and his features slowly relaxed. Jeb put the spear aside and stretched his hands out to the fire. The flames were reflected in his pupils.
Suddenly, a weak, emerald glimmer appeared around the respawn point.
I looked more carefully and a hint appeared,
Safe zone.
…
Jeb no longer felt hostile towards me! He sat and stared at the fire, the closest rat nest had been destroyed, the centipedes had all been killed and the location, as Sasha would have put it, had been ‘saved’.
I could use the opportunity to get back to reality! My character would simply disappear after a couple of minutes.
That’s what I did.
* * *
An unpleasant surprise was waiting for me in the real world.
The wings of the VR capsules opened and the firm bed shifted up.
I felt dirty and exhausted. I was desperate to have a shower, wash away the remaining sensory gel and collapse into bed but it was not to be. An unfamiliar man with a gloomy expression sat in the armchair.
“Hell, that’s a bit presumptuous!” I wrapped a towel around my waist.
“Sorry, don’t crack it. There’s a matter that needs to be resolved quickly.”
“Where’s Max?”
“In the capsule. Our castle is currently under siege.”
“Fine. What’s the problem?”
“My name’s Igor,” the mysterious visitor finally introduced himself. “I’m responsible for finding and studying artifacts in the Clan. We have a business proposition for you.”
“Go on,” I put on a dressing gown and sat down in another chair.
“You’re not going to make it through the dungeon,” Igor began.
“Wait, why not?”
“We analyzed the latest logs. No matter where you go, you’ll run into Abyss-altered beings that you can’t handle. You’ll waste the character and we’re desperate to get our hands on the items in your inventory. Especially the Soul Crystal and the Thread of Time Amulet. We managed to find several mentions of the latter. It’s a very powerful invocation artifact.”
“It’d be better if you had a strong word with that trio of assholes and opened the portal,” I interrupted. “I wouldn’t mind some help.”
“We’ve done that already,” Igor replied coolly. “We found them in the real world and had a heart-to-heart but didn’t get anywhere. Nobody has figured out the secret of the Abyss portals.”
“They’re lying.”
“No, they’re not. Believe me, we really needed that information. We had to apply pressure.”
“But Wang opened the portal in front of me!”
“Wang has no idea how he did it. The ritual is known, officially, but nothing normally happens. Wang didn’t want to argue with Savage because he’s afraid of him.”
“Oh, so it was an accident, huh?”
“We checked. In the same place. The portal didn’t open. We found another mark of the Abyss invasion with the same result. Wang gave us the video recording of the event and we followed his moves to the letter.”
“So, what’s the conclusion?”
“There’s only one logical explanation. There’s an item in your inventory that is the missing component, a sort of key to open any portal.”
“The Soul Crystal?” I guessed.
“I can’t say for sure. Either that or the Guardian’s Amulet.”
“Can’t you find similar ones?”
“This item does not exist,” Igor quoted the results of the search systems.
“Bullshit!”
“We think so too. Perhaps there are plenty of such items in the Dark Frontier, but this is the first time that they’ve been found by a player. Or people possessing similar artifacts are concealing information about them.”
“That’s logical. I have a personal quest and the item is personal too.”
“Andrey, try to understand, you’re in cyberspace by accident. You don’t have the motivation or the gaming experience, and your health’s not the best. The portal key and the related quest are a unique find.”
“There are options?”
“Yes. One.”
“Let’s hear it then.”
“You don’t log into the Edge of the Abyss through that account again. We’ll create a new character for you. You’ll become
a rich man and be able to enjoy life on our lands, under the protection of the Clan.”
“Wait,” I was shocked, “What about my Dan?”
“You’ll leave him in the dungeons. Ideally, in the tunnel with the carnivorous moss.”
“What happens then?”
“It’s a dangerous place so the character won’t disappear. He’ll die, and considering the circumstances, his remains will become part of the level since you’ll never log in as Dan again. We’ll eventually make our way to the dungeon once we figure out which corner of the map it’s in and collect the artifacts.”
“Off my dead body?”
“Yes. This solves all our problems. The personal quest will be transferred to a player especially prepared for the mission when they obtain the quest items.”
“And for that I’ll get a comfortable life in a safe area? I’ll be able to wander through the forest, pick mushrooms and catch fish?”
“That’s right,” he perked up.
“Igor, what will happen to Jeb?”
He simply shrugged. “I won’t lie to you. I doubt that he’ll get out of there. It’s bad to mess around with realism levels. He’s lost his mind and doesn’t leave the VR capsule. He was probably a successful player but couldn’t handle the Dark Frontier. Even if he has a fancy VR capsule, he might last another month, no more.”
“And then he’ll die?”
“If nobody interferes in the real world and doesn’t get him out, then yes, he’ll die.”
“This is also the price of my artifacts?”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m not. Since when have virtual items that you can’t even touch become more valuable than a human life?”
Igor looked at me coldly and dispassionately. “It is your decision, Andrey Dmitrievich,” he switched to an overly formal tone. “Don’t rush, think it through. Complete safety, the opportunity to live in a perfect virtual world and have everything at your fingertips. This is our offer.”
“Why can’t I get out of there by myself?”
“We don’t want to count on luck and I doubt it’ll be on your side, anyway. You’re in a godforsaken place. An attempt to clamber out on your own will likely land Dan in a hole that even the most well-prepared team won’t be able to reach to collect the artifacts. We’re being realistic. You should agree while you can still leave the character in a low-level location. You won’t get a better offer.”
I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. “Here is my counteroffer. I’m going to rest and then explore the remaining two tunnels. Let’s speak again after that.”
He agreed surprisingly easily. “Good luck.”
* * *
I didn’t get the rest that I needed. I had barely fallen asleep when a beep sounded at the door.
“Open,” I grumbled.
Two technicians entered the room. “Sorry, we have to take an urgent look at the VR capsule.”
I gestured for them to go for it, took a glass of juice and sat at the table.
One of the technicians opened the front of the capsule, the other one touched the access panel and checked something. Then he glanced at the video camera mounted just below the ceiling, roughly placed his instrument case on the table and took out an electronic device while surreptitiously dropping a folded scrap of paper and shooting me a meaningful look.
They left five minutes later.
I calmly finished my juice, threw the disposable cup into the recycler and went into the hygiene module. The paper contained the access chip to my account. Max had hurriedly written a couple of lines on the scrap of paper.
Don’t approach the VR capsule. Don’t log in from here. Go to the rec zone, you’ll understand everything there. Then head to the address: Shebnev 10, Apartment 502. The access code is the number of our unit. Don’t delay. Max
I understood that we were up the creek. It seemed that the artifacts in my possession were indeed more important to the clan than human life, for how else could one explain the technicians’ visit, the note and the chip? I didn’t put on my coat, just headed straight to the bar and ordered a drink. I sat at the bar for a little while until people started gathering around me. From their conversations, I understood that a combat shift had finished. The castle was indeed under siege but the Mongooses were doing fine.
Sasha sat down beside me and jostled me slightly, indicating a fire escape door with his eyes.
“The video cameras and security systems along the way have been switched off. You’ve only got a couple of minutes,” he whispered.
It was drizzling outside and the gloomy autumn clouds hung low overhead. Two flights along the fire escape brought me to the backyard of the entertainment center, next to the ramps where cars bringing consumables for the VR capsules were unloaded. I crossed it quickly, turned onto the avenue, waved over a passing taxi and told the driver the first address I could think of.
About twenty minutes later, I paid and got out, went down to the metro, traveled for several stops, went back up to the surface and caught another taxi. “Shebnev 10.”
* * *
The access code worked.
I found myself in a standard apartment with ‘transformable space’ and a VR capsule in the center. A comms device lay on top of the control panel. I snorted and touched the activation sensor.
‘You have one unread message’.
I touched the envelope symbol. As I expected, the message was from Max.
Andrey, I’m sorry, I didn’t think that it would turn out this way. A war has begun among the clans and they’re ready to kill for artifacts, and I mean that literally. While you have a trial account, we can fake your social media and replace you, like you replaced Denis. Nobody knows about this place. The communicator is clean and the apartment is secure. This is my back-up place, just in case. You decide what to do next. I can’t get away right now or I’ll arouse suspicion and implicate Sasha.
I sank into an armchair, deep in thought.
No. I wouldn’t abandon Jeb. I’d keep leveling up. I certainly had plenty of stubbornness and patience.
I didn’t feel sleepy any longer and the fatigue was gone.
I’d have to set up the VR capsule again and go through the metabolic correction process, so there was no point in delaying.
The Edge of Abyss welcomed me with the dimness of its dungeon. The fire was almost out. I couldn’t see Jeb anywhere. A little daylight seeped through the crack overhead.
After quickly dispatching the nearby centipedes, I returned to the resurrection circle, opened the character panel and found to the tariff plan tab, clicking on the ‘Change account status’ link.
I had some savings so I wouldn’t starve. Payment could be made only from a statcard, to link the account to a person’s biometrics. This meant that Dan_23214 was now my character.
…
Congratulations.
You have set up a permanent account. Activate auto-payment?
…
Gee, they were quick. I’d think about it. I had a whole month.
* * *
Over the next day, I farmed the rats with the persistence of a maniac, getting my character to Level 21. I continued to invest all available points into Adaptability, which gave me a noticeable increase in resistance to various kinds of negative effects. This was important if I ever wanted to escape the underground.
The Edge of the Abyss was drawing me in more and more, my mind seeming to dissolve in cyberspace and become a part of it. I was unwittingly starting to believe that everything around me was real.
Alarm bells were ringing but I couldn’t go back to my old life. I understood that clearly.
In between farming, as I waited for the mobs to respawn, I explored the central sewer hall again. There was nothing new or worthy of my attention. The underground was populated by insects and rats.
I tried to establish contact with Jeber_Arium. The guy’s mind was severely affected. He continued to shy away from me so I had to be cautious. Th
e only thing that drew him was the fire. I regularly started one but he wouldn’t approach for some reason, staring at it from a distance. Eventually, I thought to walk away, pretending that I was looking for wood among the piles of garbage.
Edge of the Abyss (Respawn Trials Book #1) LitRPG Series Page 11
