Everything happened quickly — as soon as my fingers found their way through the holes and the strap pulled the device tight against my palm, the alien technology chugged into gear. And while I didn’t see anything, I somehow knew it had turned on. As could have been expected, my device control didn’t work. I wiggled the fingers that were in the holes and just about cursed out loud when a narrow beam shot out of the device to form a hologram. The picture wasn’t in my head, either. It was right there in front of me, and my eyes danced across all the different choices available to me. I was looking at a whole catalog of alien tools. Some were clear enough, ones like a wrench and a hammer, though I had no idea what most of them were for. But as there was a border highlighting one of the choices, I was able to quickly pick up what was going on. My middle finger was the “cursor,” the finger on the right made selections, and the finger on the left cancelled the choice and went back to the previous menu. Pictures flipped by until I found something that looked like an enormous sledgehammer. I knew what to do with that thing — swing it around and crush whatever it hit. Clicking with my righthand finger, I zoomed in on the image before doing the same thing again and watching wide-eyed as the alien device completely modified itself. The square I had strapped to my palm didn’t change. Instead, the sledgehammer printed out on top of it. The monster was as heavy as the release owner’s soul.
It took an effort, but I was able to lift the arm holding the sledgehammer, swing it around, and send it crashing into the nearest tree.
Although, crashing... The sledgehammer slipped right through the trunk without noticing the least bit of resistance. Inertia sent me flying, and despite what I thought was incredible agility, I wasn’t able to maintain my footing. Down I toppled right after the sledgehammer. It dropped into the ground as if the latter were made of water, only stopping when the arm holding it hit the ground. Otherwise, I assumed it would have soon been a kilometer and a half deep underground.
But none of that distracted me from what was most important. Even lying on the ground, I couldn’t take my eyes off what had happened to the tree. The blow had been right on the money. And part of the trunk, the part the sledgehammer had hit, was gone. It looked absurd. There was a stump below, empty space above it, and the rest of the tree continuing up from there.
That went on for a while. I was able to use my left-hand finger to deactivate the hammer and sit up, giving myself a better vantage point. A floating tree... Nobody would have believed me.
Nature didn’t believe me, either. Ten seconds after the hit, the trunk flickered oddly and began dropping. There was a ponderous thud as it hit the stump, the trunk began to topple over, and the tree ended up crashing against its neighbors. The lower end had slipped right off the smooth cut and buried itself in the ground. Apparently, the game had been able to calculate and accept the blow, modeling what had happened.
So that's how...
From what I could tell, real items interacted with the game world on a delay. The game needed time to bring the new data into its algorithms, which explained why I hadn’t immediately started having problems when I came across the pipes. The program hadn’t known what was going on. Of course, the delay that time had been much longer than ten seconds.
I could use that! Even if the owner fried me with its fire, I was still going to have a few seconds to get close enough for my sacrificial offering. It was only going to be my soul, of course, as my body would have long since burned up, but my soul was material enough to get the job done. Ill have to remember that.
But I needed to get out of the location. There was no way I was going to get rid of the square — I’d taken a liking to it. The thing had so many devices to choose from that I knew Yd be able to find something useful. And while I couldn’t fly, there was something else I could do. With money to spare, I bought a flying machine from the store and crawled inside, a victorious smile on my face. The seat was comfortable. Everything made sense, too — I had the item, though I wasn’t flying. I was riding the thing that was flying.
How naive I was. As soon as I gave the machine the order to fly forward, my arm was jerked out, pulling me and the seat I was buckled to out along with it. The multitool, as I'd started thinking of the square as, hung in the air as if it had put down roots. And everything happened simultaneously. As soon as I was out of the machine, the device happily followed me through the rest of my summersault. I was the one
summersaulting, after all, and not the LTS.
In a fit of anger, I kicked and sold the useless machine. Walking it
is.
Healing didn’t go as quickly next to a real-world item, but it still worked. My arm crunched back into place, and I whimpered. The device definitely heightened my sense of pain. It was all the way up at a hundred percent, as vivid, sharp, and biting as it could go.
It was the pain that told me what an idiot I was being with the device, trying to carry it around with me. Ulbaron had nothing on it, which meant I had to find something that did. And I knew what that was going to be. All I had to do was level-up as an absorber and pick up the flight quality. I was sure there was one with that effect. That was going to solve all my problems, letting me cany real-world items around with me.
So be it! I pulled the thing off my hand and placed it on the ground. It started settling deeper without meeting any resistance, though it soon stopped halfway in. And while I didn’t know what had stopped it, I wasn’t about to find out. Instead, I covered it with some leaves, marked the spot with Raptor, and finally flew off into the sky, doing a couple flips as I went. Flying really was a dream. It wTas surprising how quickly I’d gotten out of the habit of walking, as soaring through the air was a necessary evil. You couldn’t cover much ground on your own two legs. The game wasn’t the kind wThere you could cross a location with just a couple hours spent at a dead sprint.
I knew exactly where I was going, so things were simpler. The general and its location could wait. Right then, I wanted to spend a couple days pushing my level as high as it would go, and the game had given me a perfect way to do just that. Drone had showed me an enormous crowd of players working in and around the owner’s son’s lair, so that was where I needed to go.
However, I still took a quick break to get myself in the mood. I needed to be an annihilator, not just some gamer out picking off enemies. Pulling out some noa, I started thinking about Squirrel, even about resurrecting her.
It didn’t take long to see what would happen. And the result was exactly what I’d been expecting. I'd been afraid of it, but I'd known it was what was most likely:
You’re trying to resurrect player Squirrel Derwin. Current
status: Dead.
Note! The last note in the database about this player: insane, unable to restore mind.
The release owner had kept its promise, doing everything it could to make sure Squirrel didn’t resurface in our world. For just a second, I imagined what my sister had gone through before she’d died, and I even wanted to put the noa back, but I froze. I’m riot really going to be effective going out player-killing! Drone was up above me, and it was storing an object that could reset the poor girl and wipe her memory of what had
happened over the previous two months. Torture included.
Tossing the noa back into my inventory, I flew off into the air, though I paused before heading toward Verloven. The mission timer told me as eloquently as it could that the defender wasn’t going to be happy to see me. Presumably, it wasn't even going to let me into its location. I had to assume it would set aside whatever else it was doing and head over personally to expel me. Anyway, I just needed to survive another twenty-four hours, and then I was going to be able to bring Squirrel back, leave her with Grust, and make sure my old partner and Milady took care of her.
Incidentally, I’d forgotten to give her 100 levels so she could get past level 15 for her skills. My stomach flipped. Milady, Little, and even Grust were well below level 100, which meant giving them a billion coins e
ach had been nothing more than a bad joke. It was useless money they didn’t have anything to spend it on. Is Milady really right about me being a bastard? I only thought about myself and my own problems, ignoring everything else going on around me. Apparently, I was going to have to do some leveling-up using the local players so I'd have enough levels to hand them. Not great.
That was an excellent reason to cull the herd of alien players. Much better, in fact, than what I’d had in my head: poor Squirrel. You’re all monsters, arid I’m going to take you out.
One sharp turn later, my speed kicked to the max. Drone was up ahead scanning the area; Raptor was helping out to make sure there weren't any especially advanced players within 400 meters. Hunter or
hunted? Well, let’s see.
I found the first batch almost at once. There were two vehicles earning ten players toward where the shuttle had exploded, and I didn't even stop to grab the loot. I’d set Raptor to scan accounts and let me know if they had more than ten million in them, otherwise I wasn’t going to take the time to stop and grab the phones. None of the aliens in the vehicles had that much on them, so I dropped one thermal mine into each and headed onward toward my southern location.
Hunter or hunted: o/io.
That just told everyone where I was. Drone showed me a few groups of red dots rushing toward where the vehicles had blown up — that set was able to fly. Picking the largest group, one made up of twenty-two players, I set my course to intercept them. A minute later, I could see my targets. The players were doing their best to get to the spot before anyone else, which meant they weren’t thinking about protection. After letting the flying vehicle passed, I began gunning them down mercilessly from the rear. Twenty-two shots took just ten seconds to dispatch, and the players didn’t have time to realize they were being killed, not to mention fight back. Only the last two were able to turn and even fire in my direction, though Ulbaron showed off what level 40 armor could do. Even with the general’s limit, I was capable of weathering 300 direct hits, with six restored every five minutes. Six actual hits counted after the hexagon penalty, not before it.
Hunter or hunted: 0/32.
Sadly, I had to stop. The owner of the LTS turned out to be fairly wealthy, with a bit less than 23 million coins in its account. They weren’t much use to me, but I wasn’t about to leave the money lying around for anyone to pick up. The same was true of the LTS — I needed to grab and sell it. Hacking in and selling everything took less than ten seconds, or much less than it took me to fly down to the spot where the flying vehicles had crashed. Drone told me the second group, which had been shadowing my victims, quickly figured out what was going on. They took off, only not in my direction, but in the opposite one. Presumably, their leader was capable of putting two and two together. They deserve to stay alive for that bit of prudence.
I kept going, my victim count rising with each passing minute. Really, I wouldn’t have imagined there were so many aliens in the world. They were everywhere, in every city, every town, and every landmark, no matter how insignificant. The monsters, with the exceptions of larvae, were frozen, however. All of them were down lying on the ground, skin stretched gauntly over their bones. Apparently, going without food was bad for the changed as well as the rest of us — if the game went on for another couple weeks, there wasn’t going to be anyone left to save. Monsters were people, too.
Hunter or hunted: 0/377.
A group of marauders working their way through the remains of one of the big cities happened across my scanner, and I couldn't let them go. There were lots of them, they were slaughtering monsters shamelessly, and they were even laughing at how helpless the latter were. That was enough for me — they had to die a shameful death. Valkyrie was too good an end. They needed to be sacrificed.
I crept up to the players noiselessly and shadow-like, turning them into little piles of black slime. The creator couldn’t have cared less. The downside was that the owner received word of where I was; the upside was that more and more victims kept showing up. In just an hour and a half spent in the city, I depleted the ranks of players available for future releases. All three hundred and fifty were removed from the game with no chance of appeal.
Judging by Drone’s report, there were at least thirty aliens left in the city, though I wasn’t about to go hunting them door to door. Instead, I took off and headed toward my southern location, and that was wrhen a mushroom cloud suddenly erupted behind me. The nuclear shock wave rocked me. Ulbaron quickly recovered, and my thoughts raced back to the army. How did I forget about you all? All I wTanted to do was fly off north and deal with the real monsters — General Maximov and his underlings had completely lost touch with reality. Of course, that made sense. Would anyone in the general staff not outside their mind have spent time playing games on their phone? The generals, colonels, and other officers actually capable of mounting a defense of Earth wouldn’t have dreamed of something like that.
As I calmed down, I realized I couldn’t stay in one place more than an hour without taking a warhead down my throat. Who even gave them access to weapons like that?
It was also a shame that the players still in the city hadn’t been credited to me. Apparently, the game was starting to get stingy. There were little groups here and there on the roads, but I didn’t want to get too distracted. I was making a beeline to the crater that marked where Li-Ho- Dun had once lived. Apparently, my subconscious was trying to hint at something given the pull I felt, and so I just zigzagged around to quickly finish off the players I crossed paths with. By the time my southern location appeared on the horizon, I’d racked up quite the score.
Hunter or hunted: 0/462.
That will be enough levels for everyone! Grust, Milady, Little, and even Squirrel. I just needed to get her mind back.
There was no way I was going to fly straight toward the dragon’s lair — the owner was no fool, and it presumably had figured out where I was headed. Banking off instead, I circled around the storehouse from the right and found that I’d made an excellent choice. There was an entire army waiting for me at the edge of the zone. Something shimmered above it, so I decided to avoid risking it and instead found a better approach. Once I was closer, I started checking out the weaponry.
Most importantly, I noticed three locators. The enormous devices were there to pull me out of invisibility, and there was a liquidator next to each one. They were packed with cannon and rockets, veritable death machines. And since they hadn’t shown up on Drone’s feed, I assumed they’d just arrived. As a bonus, there wTas the horde of illustrious players
headed by three demons.
It was quite the welcome.
“Villian said you need training.” The voice that started speaking nearby very nearly turned my hair gray on the spot. If I'd had any, I was pretty sure that was what would have happened. Turning, I saw the player. My perception quickly spat out its name: Lirkun Po. One of the last remaining representatives of the Tsarter mercenary group.
I was still invisible, even using my absorber invisibility, and so there was no way it could have seen me. That’s impossible! But he could. When I tried to fly around it, Lirkun turned to follow my path, staying face to face. Unbelievable!
The player continued, almost as though nothing unusual was happening.
“The leader was right — you really do have a lot to learn. My price got bumped up, however, so if s two purple explosions instead of the red ones now. I’ll be waiting for you near the entrance to the dungeon. Of course, you know what I’m talking about and how to get there, so find me when you’re ready to pay up. Just remember, I won’t let you inside until you’ve paid. And to make sure you understand the value I’m offering, here’s your first lesson free of charge: Ulbaron creates a shimmering field around itself, and you can track it if your perception is high enough. Your invisibility is impressive, but not absolute. That’s why Elhar Gee brought the locators over — it’s aware of that nuance, too. Locaters can track the slightest of ch
anges in the air. You're lucky you didn’t jump right in, or at least I was hoping you'd use your brain and show me that Villian was right about you. Remember that when you start your attack.”
“How did you know I'd show up here?” I asked. I wasn't expecting an answer, of course, though I did end up getting one.
“This was the most logical point. It doesn’t have the best view, though it’s enough to get a good idea of how the land lies. And it's sheltered from the sky. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir there. If you'd just barged right on in... Well, I would have lost interest. The key points are all covered. So, it wasn’t actually much of a choice, and I waited here until you showed up. Simple as pie.”
Simple? Does it really think I flew here because I calculated everything and made a strategic move? It had just been a random choice. I hadn’t even thought about how it was under cover.
“What’s in this for you? Why do you care? Wouldn’t it be simpler to turn me over to the release owner and pick up your reward?”
“That pittance? The creator will give us far more if we screw the dragon over. You have a shot, though you need to learn and beat the dungeon. Once you’re in there, you’ll find a weapon you can use to kill the release owner. I hope this was just our first meeting, Mark Derwin. Don’t forget about how your suit shimmers, and don’t even think about coming to find me without the two purple explosions. Good luck in the battle.”
Chapter 16
SCREW THAT!
The stroke of common sense hit me after ten minutes spent hypnotizing the army that had gathered to bring me down. The players moved around like a whirligig, unsure which side I’d be coming from. The machinery worked relentlessly to scan the area. And right in the center, Elhar Gee was hovering down in the middle of the crater, arms waving as it sent squads off in every direction. Everyone was packed tightly together and heavily armed. Even if each of them had hit me just once, Ulbaron wouldn’t have had a chance at standing up to the wall of fire.
World of the changed 3 Noa in the flesh Page 19
