by Arthur Stone
Then—
Then it was time for the most important part of all. Without that part, the best part of this mission would be a waste. March had insisted they hurry.
Cheater rose, wiping the ample tears from his sizzled cornea, and proceeded to the proper area of the carcass. Raising his hatchet, he froze.
What had March said?
He had said quite a lot of useful things, both out loud and in personal chat. As long as Cheater remembered it all.
Entering the party menu, Cheater kicked Tat, checked the status of Button, Fatso, and Clown, and sent an invitation to Janitor. The quasi had crossed the border, so he should have respawned in this region and should receive the invitation.
Only after he sent the invitation did Cheater realize his stupidity. The pain had muddled his head. The quasi would have respawned in another region. He had not managed to cross the second border, just the first. Invitations were useless.
Then, Cheater struck the stubborn rubber flesh of the Unnamed.
Again. And again. His skin tore from the palm of his hand, like the fabric flaking off a torn glove. The exposed meat bled, making the hilt slippery. But Cheater kept his focus.
He was on spec, after all. He felt great. Almost.
Soon, his happy condition would end, and he would have to pay for it in full.
Note: Party victory! A mighty monster whose name players fear to mention has fallen. That was a superb victory. Congratulations!
Note: The players Kitty, March, Button, Clown, and Fatso are too far from the rest of the party. This victory counts as theirs, but their rewards will be penalized. The players Kitty, March, Button, Clown, Cheater, and Fatso will also be congratulated in the global achievement feed, and all players will be notified in the special event chat.
Congratulations to you and your party members. You succeeded despite insurmountable obstacles. You receive +40000 universal progress points which can be distributed to base or to auxiliary stats, +89 distributable meter points, max refills of all meters, +7100 Humanity, +0.09 to your multipliers for all base and auxiliary stats, 1 free multiplier increase of +0.26 to any stat you choose (or divided among several stats), +8 to your Life counter, +8 cells to your primary inventory capacity, +110 grams to your primary inventory weight limit, +570 grams to your primary inventory special cell (which can hold any number of unbound items, except for items collected from monsters), +3400 grams to your personal cache, and +900 grams to your personal cache special cell. You get a special perk: Black and White Night Vision! Turn the most impenetrable darkness into nothing more than deep twilight. A list of twenty-six random abilities has been added to the Your Notes section. You can select two of these at any time, and they will be added to your character abilities. Your current skills gain additional properties.
Note: This is your second global achievement! You get a bonus perk: when modifying an item, you can now pick three properties you desire. The chance of the modification affecting one of these properties will be increased by 48%.
That was an incredible battle. You, a weak novice, defeated a powerful villain while demonstrating your qualities as a Class II Hero. New opportunities unlocked! Please select two rewards. You have ten attempts to make a selection. Note: While rewards for Class II Heroes are less limited than for Class I Heroes, remember that a hero must always exhibit modesty.
Cheater was only able to consciously ready the lines about the party members. He was not surprised that they received some of the rewards. But even Kitty received some, though she was in an entirely different region. That was something else.
It really had been a significant victory. And an easy one.
Besides what Tat had arranged.
But that was between players, not between players and monsters.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Cheater smiled.
Kitty would be surprised at the rewards.
That was not what made him happy, though. The girl’s icon was filled with color again.
She was alive. That meant everything was OK, and he could push forward.
Cheater pulled up the chat, intending to send Tat a nasty message. She wouldn’t be able to read it now, but later, she would. Her body was here, lying in a puddle, but the chat system would save the message.
As he went to type the first letter, he stopped himself.
There was no time for the airing of petty grievances. To hell with her. She had been punished, anyway. No rewards for her. Her campaign ended with the rewards that she had collected at the border crossings.
She had missed the best part. Of her own free will. Why should he berate her when she had brought this upon herself and suffered for it?
He did blacklist her, though.
He did not want to see or hear her again.
Nor receive her messages.
Clown, Fatso, and Button could be excluded from the party now, as well. He didn’t want them seeing what Cheater had earned in the party logs.
They had already received their shares.
Cheater swung his hatchet again, widening the hole to a size that allowed him to stick his fist inside. It was time to collect the loot from this nameless beast and leave the area.
He was done here.
Many thanks to my readers!
I would be very grateful, if you leave your review about the book read
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081L3978C
I would like to heartily recommend the books Play to Live by D. Rus, my good friend and one of the founders of the LitRPG genre. The Play to Live series is one of the finest works in the genre, and a must-read for any fan.
I want to recommend my friend G. Akella's Realm of Arkon series. For the past few years it's been one of the top series in both LitRPG and epic fantasy genres, and deservedly so.
