by Rick Scar
PLAYER REACHED
THE TOP
BOOK IV
by Rick Scar
Text Copyright © 2020 Dmitry Mikhalek
All rights reserved.
No part of this book can be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
Introduced by Valeria Kornosenko.
Translated by Ingrid Wolf
Edited by Lucy Webster
Hello all!
My name is Rick Scar and you are reading my adventure LitRPG wuxia saga.
The whole story is planned out and will have 1000 chapters. Now the story in Russian has almost 400 chapters spanning 8 books. 4 books are translated!
The beginning of the story is here (click the link):
Player reached the top chapters 1-88
Chapter 196. A Global Danger
T he blue glow dispersed. Amatelia closed her eyes, came to, then opened them to stare at the rogue. After a few moments of silence, she spoke: “I’ve underestimated you. Who could’ve guessed that such an abomination roams this world?”
“You released her? Why?!” Ulfmar screamed.
“I did the right thing,” Raven replied before turning back to the witch. “I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t cornered me,” he shrugged. “I just wanted to keep the vampire alive.”
“Don’t lie to me, boy. No one’s completely selfless. Your goal is the same as ours — the Cup.” Amatelia’s voice now had less defiance in it than when she had believed she had everything under control.
“For me, the Cup is just a pleasant bonus. And my methods are different from yours.”
“Raven, is that true?” Ulfmar asked.
The rogue looked down at the sprawled-out vampire. “Partially.”
“Partially? What do you mean?”
“Tell me, would you give up the fragment in exchange for help killing your worst enemy? Not killing them instead of you, but enabling you to do it yourself?”
“Come on,” Ulfmar said, staring at him.
“That’s all there is to it. The other messengers and I would’ve run the bloody Ifrit down and—”
“WHAT?!” the supreme witches screamed in unison. Chamir and the rest gaped at them in bewilderment, not knowing what was so special about the Ifrit and why its mention was so disturbing to their seniors.
Raising his eyebrows, Raven slowly turned to them. “Looks like we’ve discovered a link. I know the vampire’s story, but what do you know about the Ifrit?”
“If your words hold at least some truth... I’ll tell you.” After putting her emotionless mask back on, Amatelia glanced at the vampire. “We know more about you than you think, bloodsucker. The tragedy that brought you here is, indeed, terrible, but by coming here, you’ve paved a way for that creature. You are its lead to this continent. So, you will be the reason the disaster that once destroyed your homeland strikes again.”
Ulfmar’s face twisted in horror; if it wasn’t for the fact that his body was paralyzed, he would probably be trembling all over.
“What are you talking about?” Raven asked. He remembered Ulfmar saying something about the third floor ceasing to exist. Could that Ifrit be a legendary monster?
“One of our sisters is an oracle. Her visions are uncontrollable and difficult to interpret, but unlike those seen by other oracles, they always come true. That’s how we knew about the death of our continent. Sarhey will plunge into chaos, and blood will run instead of water. Evil-In will dip this world into its own entrails.”
Once she had said this, Raven received a message:
Attention! A global event has been started by White Raven!
Evil-In, the Bloody Ifrit from Khau’Krash continent, is now free! His runic chains have been broken, and the bottom of the Hollow Pit can no longer contain his rage.
Hell and blood threaten to consume the entire continent of Sarhey.
The countdown has begun. If players do not come up with a way to stop Evil-In before time runs out, Floor 3 will be plunged into a bloody massacre, wiping out at least half of its population.
“Fucking hell.” After seeing his name in the message, Will cursed the system for sending it to all and sundry.
“We’re looking for the guard to find a way to leave this floor. We do not have the power to stop this monster.”
“Then why did you kidnap the vampire? And try to kill him?” Will needed an explanation for the witches’ weird behavior. “You could have just talked to him and worked out a solution.”
“As the cause of the looming disaster he held no value as an ally. We kidnapped him to find the monster’s mark on him and try to remove it.”
“No. You were going to kill him. I saw them,” Raven nodded towards Chamir the gambling addict and her fellow witches, “cast a very powerful spell. The Power of the Dark Moon, if I remember right.”
“Oh, I see. I don’t know how you saw it, but this spell just paralyzes the target’s will. The sisters, whose mission was to capture the vampire, made a mistake.” After saying this, Amatelia turned to Chamir, who seemed to instantly realize what mistake she was talking about.
During this conversation, one of the witches, who were still bound up and had long abandoned the idea of trying to break free, wept softly.
“Stop that, Lily.” The man-hating witch tried to calm her down, but her own trembling body betrayed her. She turned her face, which had fury written all over it, to her senior. “I don’t understand! Why are you even talking to him? He’s a man! Men can’t be trusted. Our sisters suffered at them for an age until we discovered this hollow. All our education is about learning never to trust any man!”
“Calm down, Rako. He’s easy to hate, yes, but I’m afraid we’ll have to trust him while ever we have the common goal of staying alive. And he freed me when he didn’t actually have to.” Amatelia’s tranquil voice was gradually cooling Rako’s boiling fury, even if she was still scowling at Will.
“Do you know when he will arrive?” Will asked Amatelia as he peered at the upper corner of his screen, keeping his new guesses about why the witches had been oppressed to himself.
“No. But I think we have about two months.”
“You’re wrong.” Will shifted his gaze to the Conclave’s head and saw his words shatter her impassive mask. “He’ll be here in 21 days.”
“That…that can’t…What makes you think that?”
“I’m sorry, but it is true.” Will stared at the glowing, bright-red timer reminding him that no one would remain unscathed once it reached zero.
20 days: 23 hours: 58 minutes
“All messengers have just received the same info. If we can’t do it, then…”
“We see. Please tell me, is it true that you and the other messengers can kill him? It sounds too fantastic to believe.”
As soon as she had said this, Will spotted a great opportunity for his plan, which had almost been shattered by this global event. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought much of his real strength. But, from the info I’ve just received, that thing’s level is 150 at the very least.”
This event would be absolutely ridiculous if it were any lower.
“That’s why, here and now, I’m offering you a deal. Release.”
The crystal released its magic grip on the subdued witches. Shaking their heads, just like Amatelia had done before, they quickly regained their senses. Having heard the whole discussion, they needed no explanation of the incoming danger, so Raven was just left to explain his offer, which would give them a way to move to his floor once
the Bloody Ifrit had been destroyed. He needed the Alchemy Queens.
As a result of this negotiation, he received a series of system messages:
The Conclave’s approval up.
Current attitude status:
The Conclave of Twelve Sisters: 0/100 (neutral)
Attention! You have been offered an epic quest chain: The Bloody Harvest.
Description: The deadlock situation faced by the Conclave of Twelve Sisters has allowed you to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with them. Now help them get rid of Evil-In, the Bloody Ifrit.
Rewards:
+450,000 XP
The Conclave’s approval up to Friendly
+20 Alchemy Queens serving you on a treaty basis
+1 secret skill
Accept: Yes/No?
Despite only having a vague idea of what he was actually taking on, Will accepted the task. The offer was his; no reason to go back on it. Now take the fragment from the vamp…
“Hey! Have you forgotten about me?” The vampire’s angry voice came from behind the rogue’s back, perfectly timed to interrupt his thought. “Remove this curse. Now.”
“Um…It’s not that simple.” Completely understanding how any man would feel in this situation, Will was confused about how to explain the situation to him without hurting his feelings.
However, this problem resolved itself. Amatelia, who had no compassion for the vampire’s misfortune, mercilessly snapped, “You will stay like that forever. That’s the power of the moon curse.”
“You…you demon spawn! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! Don’t you dare tell me I’ll have to live my whole life as a woman!” For the first time in Will’s memory, the vampire screamed at the top of his voice. If he hadn’t been tied up, he would probably have gone much further than just yelling at the witches.
Still willing to help Ulfmar out, Raven asked, “Is there no way of lifting it at all?”
“There is,” one of the sisters replied. “One way is to use an item you have. The Box of Wishes. If the rumors about its power are even half true, that is… Another way is to drink dragon’s blood. But no one has seen a living dragon for thousands of years.”
“What box is she talking about?” Ulfmar asked, peering up at Will’s face.
“Please tell him,” Will said. “You know more than I do about the perils of using it.”
As the vampire heard about the many lives that had been lost to this box, his face turned so miserable it brought tears to Will’s eyes, and an exultant smile to Rako’s face.
Chapter 197. The Commotion
“H owdy, fans of the new world! The new world, that’s it. Ascension has shattered the industry’s all-time sales records in the first two weeks of its launch, and now, literally everyone knows about the game. I’m Sarah Whitehall from the Age of Ascension. Our guest for today is… drumroll please… a player from the Soul Crushers clan. His nickname, Light Terror, is known to many, and his real name is Pak Cheong. Today we’re going to be talking about the second-floor guard.”
“Hi guys.” A young man smiled at the camera and waved. It was not his first interview; he wasn’t camera shy at all. He was only somewhat shy of the girl sitting across him. The girl who had broken into their clan leader’s house and talked him into doing this interview. But even after agreeing to do it, the leader wasn’t actually prepared to come himself and had sent Pak to stand in for him.
The forums had long been buzzing with rumors about the Soul Crushers coming closer and closer to the second-floor guard. And literally two days ago, they had got that mirror. Not just a mirror, but a freaking nuclear bomb.
Pak smiled, remembering the item’s description. Not because of its stats (although those had totally stunned him at first), but because of the looks on his friends’ faces when they had seen the item’s rank and the required number of IPs. A heroic item. No one except for us had ever come across something like this.
Ahennia’s Mirror of Lies
Rank: Heroic Item
Usage requirements: 1,500,000 influence points
Description: While imprisoned in the icy lake and craving revenge, Ahennia struggled to break free: the spells put on her by the fifty wizards were too powerful. She had a lot of time to reflect on the nature of human fear. Her magic, unstable as it was, could easily have gotten out of her control and destroyed everything in its path.
Bound up, Ahennia could do nothing but think. Over time, her space-piercing power accumulated around her body. Before long, she could activate her magic using just her mind. Eventually, she managed to open a portal and break free from the spells. This mirror is a polished piece of the ice that had been soaking up the Great Hero’s power during Ahennia’s long imprisonment. It is the only remaining piece as the rest were destroyed by the power of Space. This is how she became the Lady of Magic.
Characteristics:
+1,000 to all stats;
+2,000 Physical resistance;
+2,000 Magic resistance;
+7,000—10,000 Magic damage;
Space Energy: 0/2000 (click for more details)
Skill: Original World
Creates an invisible fissure and summons creatures from another world.
Space Energy required: 1,000
Cooldown: 6 months
Skill: Collapsing
Reduces the affected area to nothing.
Range: 1-1,500 yards
Space Energy required: 1,500
Cooldown: 12 months
Skill: Magic Is Me
Enables you to become the embodiment of magic for 5 minutes.
No mana is spent when you cast spells.
All magic of this world is available.
Space Energy required: 1,500
Cooldown: 24 months
Features: Cannot be stolen, lost or sold.
As Pak was recalling these memories, Sarah kicked the interview off. “Pak…May I call you that?” A pretty girl, she gave him a charming smile he couldn’t resist.
“Sure, Sarah,” he smirked, preparing to answer her questions. It was not his first interview, but the first one since joining Ascension. He had to make the most of this opportunity to showcase his clan.
Unfortunately, his plan was ruined by a sudden message popping up on the anchor’s watch.
“Oh, sorry. Just a moment. See the camera guy waving at me to open it? Let’s see what breaking news that is.” After running a finger across her watch and tapping several times, she sent the screenshot of the system message to the screen projected between her and the interviewee.
Pak smiled bitterly at reading it. He shook his head, holding his hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe he was a noob not so long ago.”
Sarah froze for a few seconds, pondering how to use this new information in the interview. Oh Will. So, it is you that’s behind it. I’d better pay you another visit.
Closing the message, she turned to the interviewee to continue the chat.
***
The third floor buzzed; the forums were bursting with an influx of messages. Everyone authorized to message Raven directly was showering him with PMs asking why he would do such a thing to all of them.
Almost every lone player was utterly bewildered, unsure what to do next. The big clans messaged RD and asked to meet the rogue immediately.
As she read through the messages from two hostile clans (Fortuna and Faceless Army), Mollie huffed, “this guy is a total disaster. He won’t bother answering my messages. Typical Raven.”
“Hey, we both know he has a plan for everything he does.” Katharine was by her side, as usual, also scrolling down the messages. “That must be another of his big-score games, the ones he can’t win alone, so, he will come to us. He always comes, as you’ve seen already.”
“He does,” Mollie agreed with a sweet smile. “Too often, I’d say. But once the trial in the east is over, we’ll be able to start our climb towards the top of one of the local states.”
“This trial is taking a really, really lon
g time.”
“It’s all right. It’s very similar to what it’s like in the real world. Let’s wait.”
“If you say so. Now, what should we say to our enemies? We’re all in a pretty big mess this time. It may be too bad even for us to go it alone.”
“Hm.” Skimming the two messages once again, Mollie reached the only logical conclusion. “Let this greedy brute decide.”
***
In the meantime, Raven had suddenly been assigned a companion.
“Rako, you will follow him.” Amatelia was commanding, not asking, her stare piercing the other girl, who stood up immediately.
“Me?! But, my lady… Why me?” Her reluctance to accompany a man was written all over her face.
“Because your distrust will help you remain vigilant while you watch him to make sure he doesn’t run away.”
“My distrust? Shouldn’t every witch be treating men with distrust?”
“Yes. But within reason, sis,” One of Rako’s friends hesitated briefly before continuing, “but all the witches in our class – and some others – know that your distrust has already mounted beyond that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You…you’re afraid of them.”
“That’s nonsense! I’m not afraid of men!” She stared at Raven fiercely in an attempt to prove her sisters were getting it totally wrong.
“Rako. The fear I mean… it’s different. Maybe someday you’ll understand what I’m talking about.”
During this talk, Will was sitting on the ground by the paralyzed lady’s side, peering at her grumpy face. “What do you think?”
“Trusting these… them is dangerous. I can’t even come up with the right words to express all the loathing I have for…” Staring into the night sky, Ulfmar pondered over what he had heard. “But looks like I’ll have to take the risk. All the achievements and skills I’ve developed for hundreds of years have been restored to their basic level in this body. Some of them are even unavailable for a female body!”
