Hack: A LitRPG Novel (Tower of Gates Book 1)

by Paul Bellow

  I smiled, almost regretful I hadn’t gone with them.

  “We heard about a half-orc,” Benji said.

  He sat up on the edge of his bed and frowned.

  “You did?” I rushed over. “What did you hear?”

  “It’s just a rumor,” Eric said. “From a known liar.”

  Benji nodded with his lips pursed together.

  “We’ll hear more if the rumor is true,” he said. “It’s too dangerous to look for him in the orc badlands.”

  “He’s right,” Eric said. “We’ll find him.”

  “I’m going downstairs to take care of my morning constitutional,” Benji said then slid his feet toward the door.

  “Too much information,” I groaned.

  Eric chuckled as Benji left the room.

  “I bet he’s mad we haven’t let him in our party,” I said.

  “Do you think we should let him join?” Eric asked. “The game screen told us to be careful about who we let into your group, and we just met him.”

  “I know, but he seems like a decent guy,” I said.

  Eric raised an eyebrow.

  “Maybe that’s what he wants us to think,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “You’re way too paranoid sometimes,” I said.

  I wanted to talk OOC, but the penalty wasn’t worth it.

  Benji burst back into the room, his face wet.

  “They charge for baths in the basement, but there’s a bowl of water in the hall that’s mostly fresh,” he said.

  “I’ll pass,” I said. “We should get breakfast.”

  “Great idea,” Benji said. “I could eat a horse.”

  Eric and I both turned to look at him.

  “It’s a figure of speech,” he said. “But I’ve eaten horse twice. Good meat. Doesn’t taste at all like chicken.”

  I shook my head. Another great NPC.

  “Let’s go,” I said as I walked toward the door.

  Benji and Eric followed me out. In the dining room downstairs, we sat at a table in the front corner. An old man sitting at the bar by himself was the only other patron.

  A woman with long, red hair braided together walked over.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “Bring us the special of the day,” I said. “Whatever’s included with the room we got for a week.”

  She snorted then turned and left.

  “What was that all about?” I asked.

  Eric shrugged and said, “I don’t know, but we need to equip ourselves today. We need some potions at least.”

  “There’s somewhere I need to go too,” I said. “To find a book for training. Do you know of a book seller outside of town, Benji?”

  “Maybe,” he said.

  The waitress returned with day-old bread and a pitcher of water.

  “Enjoy,” she said as she tossed the bread on the table.

  “Maybe we should buy some extra breakfast,” Benji said. “It’s gonna be a long day visiting all the shops and finding this book of yours.”

  “We can eat more after shopping,” I said. “Maybe we’ll get something nice for lunch or dinner.”

  “You guys want anything else?” the waitress asked.

  “No, thanks,” I said, not looking up at her.

  She wandered away. Benji broke off a piece of the bread.

  “It’s better than nothing,” he said. “There’s been times I’ve had nothing. Even horse meat is better than nothing.”

  As I ate the hard, crusty bread and washed it down with almost clear water, I thought about getting out of the game again. Strangely, my mind fought against the idea. I wanted to get back to the real world, but the desire lessened as time passed.

  “We should pool our gold,” Eric said. “To see what we can purchase.”

  “Best to do that back in the room,” I said. “We don’t want to be counting our gold out here in the open.”

  “Good idea.” Eric stood. “We can bring the bread and water with us.”

  “Do you smell that?” Benji asked.

  He pushed back his chair and sniffed the air.

  “Bacon,” he said. “Pig meat is the best meat.”

  I stood and waved to waitress.

  “Send some bacon to our room,” I said.

  “That doesn’t come with your room,” she said.

  I sighed and walked over, pulling out another gold coin.

  “Here,” I said, setting it on top of the bar. “Bring us all the bacon.”

  “You got it,” the waitress said, swiping up the coin. “Bacon coming right up.”

  “I don’t get change?” I asked.

  “No.” The waitress shook her head. “Bacon’s still in short supply after the Great Wars.”

  I turned to Benji, and he grinned sheepishly.

  “But it’s so good,” he said. “She’s getting it now. I can smell it.”

  I shook my head as he sniffed the air like a puppy under the table. The waitress returned with a plate stacked high with crispy, delicious bacon.

  Eric grabbed a thick piece off the top.

  “Wait until we get to our room,” I said, taking the plate.

  The other two followed close behind as I went back upstairs.

  In our room, we tore into the bacon like we hadn’t eaten in days.

  “So good,” Benji said while still chewing. “Hits the spot.”

  Eric dumped his gold coins onto one of the beds.

  “Add yours,” he said. “And I’ll count them up.”

  I added my coins to his on the bed.

  “Someone needs to count it,” I said, feeling lazy.

  “It’s two hundred and sixty five imperial gold coins,” Benji blurted out.

  Eric glanced at me before both of us turned to our hireling.

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Oh,” he said with a chuckle. “I have experience with gold coins.”

  “As a priest?” Eric asked.

  “It makes sense,” I said. “Collection plates and everything.”

  “That’s it,” Benji said. “At the Order of Fish temple here in the city, it takes a lot of gold to help people. We get a lot of donations, and I’ve always been good at counting it up quick.”

  “More like the odor of fish,” Eric said.

  I couldn’t resist giggling. Benji played it off—not getting upset.

  We returned our gazes to the pile of gold coins on the bed.

  “I wish we had more for potions,” I said, staring at our stash. “Do you really need that armor? Maybe we can sell it.”

  “This is family armor,” Eric said. “It’s special, and I’m not selling it.”

  “If we have enough to buy the book I need, I don’t care,” I said.

  “The only people I know selling magic books are outside of the city,” Bernard said. “We should equip ourselves better before we go looking for it.”

  “I agree,” Eric said.

  “But we can’t spend all our money,” I added. “That book’s important.”

  “We should finish eating first,” Benji said. “That’s something I know a bit about.”

  He patted his pot belly while smiling and eating bacon with the other hand. I smiled, wondering if we should let him join our group.

  Better to be safe than sorry, I thought, as I took another bite of bacon. The gold coins had no value in the real world, so trading them for good food made sense—as much as could be expected in such a strange game.

  We ate the rest of the mountain of meat in silence.

  Did Benji have his own thoughts?

  He was the most real NPC I’d ever encountered in a game, and I’d played more than a few.

  After breakfast, we walked downstairs and out of the inn. Fishguard welcomed us in all her miserable glory. The stench of fish hung in the air, ripe and thick as smog. I stopped on the side of the street.

  Mostly humans walked back and forth, but I saw a few elves and a bald gnome dressed in golden
plate mail that glimmered in the morning sun. This game keeps getting stranger.

  When will it stop?

  “Right this way,” Benji said. “We’ll stop of Mystra’s Magical Motion Potions first. She has great deals.”

  Eric laughed.

  “What was that name again?” he asked.

  “Mystra’s Magical Motion Potions,” Benji said.

  “Try saying that three times fast,” I said.

  Benji walked away from the inn while Eric and I followed close behind.

  I marveled again at the vivid smells. They would win the game awards when it was released.

  Was the reality of the simulation sucking me in?

  Benji peered over his shoulder a few times as we walked. Had he been programmed specifically as an NPC or were his actions random?

  Three blocks from the inn, Benji stopped in front of a dilapidated shack barely standing. It looked like it might collapse at any moment.

  “How safe is this place?” I asked.

  Benji turned and smiled charismatically.

  “We’ll get more for our gold here,” he said. “The run down look is to keep the thieves away. I knew a guy…I mean, I helped a man with his sins once.”

  I nodded, fascinated by the bits of information leaking out of the NPC.

  We definitely needed to keep him around.

  Eric walked up to the door and opened it. The fragrant odor of incense wafted out, mixing with the stench of fish. Benji walked in as Eric held the door open.

  I followed, my eyes instantly adjusting to the dark interior.

  The three of us barely fit into the shop. We stood in front of a long, glass display case filled with various potions. Even more concoctions filled the shelves that covered the walls.

  I could sense magic all around me in the shop.

  A woman with wild, frizzy hair sat on a stool behind the counter. She stared down at us, locking her eyes onto Benji.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as a smile spread over her face.

  “Benji, it’s good to see you,” she said.

  “Good to see you, too,” Benji said. “My friends are on a budget, but they want protection for traveling outside the city walls. The basics.”

  “That’s what I do best,” the woman said.

  She cackled with laughter; her gray and white hair bouncing.

  “Pick out what you want,” she said. “I’ll give you the usual discount.”

  “You two know each other?” I asked.

  Benji nodded. “Yeah. I get a kickback for bringing new customers, but it’s not much. The prices are still the best in town.”

  “Thanks for being honest with us,” I said.

  “You sly, old dog,” Eric said, patting him on the back. “The sneakiest priest I’ve ever met.”

  I turned to the old woman.

  “Do you have healing potions?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she said, not getting down off her stool.

  “And something to cure poison,” Eric added.

  “I’ll get them,” Benji said then shuffled behind the counter.

  As he ducked down, I turned to the woman. She stared back, showing no emotions.

  “Here we go,” Benji said, popping up.

  He walked out and set five potions down.

  “This should be enough healing to get us the thirty miles outside of town to get your book,” he said. “We can’t afford much more.”

  “What about the cure poison?” Eric asked. “They’re important.”

  “Oops…” Benji walked behind the counter again. “Hold on.”

  After bending over, he came back with three more potions.

  “There we go,” he said, setting them next to the others.

  “All the bottles look different,” I said. “Are these safe?”

  The woman on the stool cackled again, her body shaking.

  “I’ve used them plenty of times,” Benji said.

  “We’ll take them,” I said. “How much?”

  “Three hundred gold for all eight,” the woman said.

  “No way,” Eric said. “That’s too much. By my estimation, they’re worth a hundred gold at the most. We’re not paying above that.”

  I turned to our priest. He nodded, lips pursed together.

  “We’ll give you eighty,” Eric said. “Our final offer.”

  “Ninety,” the woman said, not taking her eyes off him.

  “Seventy,” Eric countered.

  “We’ll pay you eighty gold,” I said, digging out the coins.

  I wanted to get it over with and move on.

  “No,” Eric insisted.

  I sighed and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

  “Let’s just pay it and go, okay?”

  “Bargaining to save ten gold might save us later in the game,” he said.

  “We’ll find more gold,” I said. “We are adventurers after all.”

  Benji stuck his head in between us and smiled.

  “A group of three if you let me join your party,” he said.

  When neither of us answered, he awkwardly stepped back.

  I continued staring at Eric, ignoring the pushy NPC.

  “Will you trust me for once?” I asked. “Please?”

  “There’s nobody else I’d rather be with right now,” he said. “And that’s the truth.”

  I turned back to the shopkeeper.

  “Thank you,” I said. “We’ll take them for eighty.”

  She smiled then said, “Leave the money. Come again.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Eric said, moving toward the door.

  I scooped up the potions then placed them in a larger satchel slung over my shoulder.

  Benji and Eric stood in the street outside.

  The limited healing potions would have to do until I leveled up and had a better idea of what we needed to survive in the game.

  “Where next?” Eric asked.

  “The cartographer,” Benji said.

  Eric and I both nodded.

  “We definitely need a map,” Eric said. “Lead the way.”

  Benji turned then walked down the side street back to the crowded main thoroughfare. People gave him a wide berth as he passed.

  I wasn’t sure if it was his stench or his reputation.

  Either way, I needed to keep an eye on him for a bit longer.

  A few blocks over toward the docks, Benji opened the door of a sturdy and clean brick building. Two large, painted maps were displayed in the front window. Eric waved for me to go inside first.

  “Thank you,” I said then walked in.

  Maps of all sizes covered all the walls. They ranged from full color affairs to black and white masterpieces. I glanced around in awe.

  A well-dressed man stepped forward, peering down his nose at us.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  He sighed then frowned as he saw Benji.

  “Oh, it’s you,” he said, words dripping with contempt.

  Does everyone know him? And is that a good or bad thing?

  “We need a map,” Benji said. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  “No one wants trouble,” the dandy shopkeeper said. “But it never has a problem finding you, does it?”

  “Do you two know each other too?” Eric asked.

  “Yes, we do,” the shopkeeper said. “But it’s none of your concern, I’m sure. The likes of you wandering into my establishment.”

  “No need to get nasty,” Eric said.

  “We want to buy a map,” I said. “How much for that one on the wall of the whole world?”

  The shopkeeper laughed at the very idea of us purchasing it.

  “You could never afford such a map,” he said. “It’s twenty five hundred gold pieces.”

  “What?” Eric exclaimed. “Are you insane?”

  “I assure you,” the man said. “I’m not insane.”

  “Do you have anything cheaper?” I asked.

  “We have free maps by a local
artist,” the shopkeeper said. “But the quality is questionable. Take as many of them if you want. I should probably pay you to take them all away.”

  “Are they accurate?” Eric asked.

  The man laughed again at the audacity of his question.

  “You’ll find them over there in a pile by the door,” he said. “Please take them all on your way out.”

  “Come on,” I said, grabbing Eric’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  I could sense his temper flaring up.

  “The free maps will be fine,” I reasoned. “We’ll save gold.”

  Eric shook his arm free but followed me to the door. We all grabbed a handful of maps drawn on cheap parchment by the door. Outside the shop, I took a few steps away the building.

  “I’m not sure about these maps,” Eric said as he examined one.

  “We’ll look at it more closely when we leave the city,” I said. “Do we need any more supplies? Maybe horses?”

  “You can’t afford horses,” Benji said.

  “Not with maps costing that much,” Eric said. “And all the gold we spent on bacon and drinks.”

  “Mmm, bacon,” Benji said, rubbing his stomach.

  “How did you know that guy?” I asked.

  Benji straightened his posture.

  “He’s not a friend,” he said. “The shop is known for overcharging because it’s a money laundering scheme for several politicians in the city.”

  “Wow,” I said. “Maybe we’ll invite you into our party soon.”

  “Really?” Benji asked, looking excited.

  “Soon,” Eric said. “We still don’t know how you handle yourself in a battle, and that’s likely to be important.”

  “I can kill ten rats easily,” Benji said.

  Eric reacted surprisingly well to the teasing.

  “Let’s go find this book,” I said.

  “Yeah.” Eric nodded his head as he stared at two of the maps. “Maybe we’ll run into something to kill or find some treasure.”

  “Or your missing companion,” Benji added.

  “That would be good,” I said, missing Josh.

  As I played longer in the virtual reality, I found it more difficult to remember the outside world.

  “We should get going,” Benji said.

  “Hold on a minute,” Eric said. “We’ve got a problem.”

  I sighed.

  What now?

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