by John L. Monk
Next, I cast Greater Gate using Rita’s heart, which was still in my bag.
“When you get out,” I said, “tell Everlife what happened. Come back and we’ll make it work. If you find another game, I promise I’ll understand. Either way, I’ll always love you.”
Melody pulled away and stared at the gateway in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
In a tone of command I hadn’t used since discovering she was my minion, I said, “Melody Crane, go through the gateway and exit the game.”
As the last word left my lips, my wife of thirty-five years let go of me, walked to the gateway, and stepped through.
I never saw her again.
Epilogue
Rita and I built a house on the shore of that volcanic lake in Ward 2, about thirty miles south of Mount Rage. In the rich soil, we grew our own food. We fished in the lake, and sometimes went on adventures.
For 150,000 karma points, I reversed Rita’s Hard Mode setting back to normal, popping her lives to 1000, the maximum allowed in Ward 2.
In the beginning, it seemed like I learned something new about my god powers every day. One of my discoveries was a way to diminish myself into an avatar. Doing so allowed me to fight alongside Rita without spending karma or ruining the challenge for her. Once killed, I’d revert to my original form, where I’d be forced to stay for a month. This gave us both plenty of downtime to visit Jaddow and other friends we’d made, as well as pursue various hobbies.
I took up painting and farming. Rita teleported back and forth every month to the Swaze Pit to kill any heroes who tried attacking the goblins. Under her protection, The Goblin Tide grew insanely powerful—so much so that they began attacking non-sanctuary hero settlements and burning them down. All in name of the goblin chief, “Lord Usurper.”
Rita eventually convinced Kradich, the woggim, to imprison the ridiculous goblin chief and take over. After that, the heroes and goblins enjoyed a nervous truce.
I didn’t spend all my days painting and farming. A few years after Cipher’s death, word got out that I was a god. After that, people traveled from thousands of miles away to petition for quests.
While in my god form, I could search through the game’s almost infinite number of “Quest Opportunities” and instantiate them on demand. Upon completion, players would receive experience points, gold, and magical equipment. Whereas I’d regenerate karma.
Pretty slowly, it turned out. A mere 1000 points a quest. Which was fine. Having done what I could for Melody and Rita, I really didn’t need that much. Also, giving people quests broke up the monotony. Rita and I had many a fine dinner with the people who braved the frozen north to see us, and we made a lot of interesting friends.
For us, life by the lake was as close to paradise as Mythian would allow. And it stayed that way until the rise of Howard, the Necromancer, who nearly destroyed the world in his rise to power.
But that, as they say, is another story.
Afterword
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About John L. Monk
John L. Monk lives in Virginia, USA, with his wife, Dorothy. A writer with a degree in cultural anthropology, he boldly does the dishes, roots out evil wherever it lurks, and writes his own stunts.
Connect with John:
Website
Newsletter
About Mountaindale Press
Dakota and Danielle Krout, a husband and wife team, strive to create as well as publish excellent fantasy and science fiction novels. Self-publishing The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born in 2016 transformed their careers from Dakota’s military and programming background and Danielle’s Ph.D. in pharmacology to President and CEO, respectively, of a small press. Their goal is to share their success with other authors and provide captivating fiction to readers with the purpose of solidifying Mountaindale Press as the place ‘Where Fantasy Transforms Reality.’
Connect with Mountaindale Press:
MountaindalePress.com
Facebook.com/MountaindalePress
Twitter.com/_Mountaindale
Instagram.com/MountaindalePress
Mountaindale Press Titles
GameLit and LitRPG
The Completionist Chronicles and
The Divine Dungeon by Dakota Krout
A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce
Red Mage by Xander Boyce
Space Seasons by Dawn Chapman
Ether Collapse by Ryan DeBruyn
Bloodgames by Christian J. Gilliland
Wolfman Warlock by James Hunter and Dakota Krout
Axe Druid and
Mephisto’s Magic Online by Christopher Johns
Skeleton in Space by Andries Louws
Chronicles of Ethan by John L. Monk
Pixel Dust by David Petrie
Artorian’s Archives by Dennis Vanderkerken and Dakota Krout
Appendix
Angrimmar Mountains – Northeastern mountains in Ward 2.
Bernard – Innkeeper/Bartender of The Slaughtered Noob in Heroes’ Landing, and the Mediocre Marauder in Ward 1 and Ward 2.
Binding Stone – A wide, flat stone used for binding. They exist all around Mythian.
Binding – The act of resetting your resurrection point to a binding stone.
Bingo – Ethan’s trusty steed in the novel, Hard Mode.
Bite – Greater fiend beneath the Festering Swamp who offers the Curse of Knowledge and the Curse of Power, along with 4 other classes called “gifts.”
Brenda – Miner/guard in Eureka.
Brighton – Coastal city on the eastern side of Ward 1.
Chuck – Miner.
Cipher – The man responsible for bringing Ethan’s wife, Melody, online in the game Heroes’ of Mythian.
Crimson Sigil Stronghold – Home and capital of the Crimson Sigil guild.
Crimson Sigil – Powerful guild operating primarily in Ward 1.
Crunk – The grumpy dwarf who runs Crunk’s Junk.
Crunk’s Junk – Junk shop run by Crunk, Heroes’ Landing, and Grunk (his brother) in Heroes’ Reach.
David – Noob, married to Marcy.
Deep Watch – Adventurers’ town in Ward 1.
Dory – Diviner. Currently on loan from the guild Eye Aternum to the Crimson Sigil.
Ellen – Friendly tavern keeper in Heroes’ Landing.
Ellen’s Tavern – Player-owned tavern in Heroes’ Landing, run by Ellen.
Ethan Crane – Former historian, married to Melody Crane, and the hero of the story.
Eureka – Mining town in Ward 2.
Everlife – The corporation hired by the world government to run the retirement worlds.
Eye Aternum – A guild.
Festering Swamp – Zone in Ward 1 with an important quest called the Trial of Pain.
First Mythian Bank – The bank. It’s in Mythian. First one, too…
Flitter / Flitter System – Something like a flying drone in form, but big enough to carry a human. Completely automated, they have completely replaced human-piloted ground vehicles.
Frank – Priest class, and former robotics engineer.
Geas – An obligation or prohibition magically imposed on a person.
George – Ethan’s friendly waiter at the restaurant he used to frequent.
Give up / Giving up – Willing one’s self to quit all game progress and start over at level 0. However, if you are a Hard Mode player, you are deleted from the game.
Greenie Red – Assassin. Currently in the service of the Crimson Sigil.
Grief / Griefing – When you kill someon
e over and over again for experience points to ruin their fun, gain easy experience points, or for whatever reason floats your boat.
Grind / Grinding – The slow, monotonous process of leveling up by killing monsters over and over again, often of the same type.
Grunk – Crunk’s brother, who runs the Crunk’s Junk branch of Heroes’ Reach.
Hall of Heroes – A zone in the Angrimmar Mountains.
Hard Mode – A hidden feature of the game where you renounce your immortality in Ward 1 in exchange for 100 lives, a faster leveling experience, and several other benefits.
Harry – Owner of The Grind.
Harvonious Click – Resident of the Hall of Heroes.
Henry Wilkins – Resident of the Hall of Heroes.
Hero – Another name for “player.”
Heroes of Mythian – One of the few game worlds players can permanently die, and the only one offering a “skin frame” prize.
Heroes’ Approach – Western road to Heroes’ Landing where players start at level 0.
Heroes’ Landing – Main city in Ward 1, offering sanctuary and various game services to players.
Heroes’ Reach – Main city in Ward 2, offering sanctuary and various game services to players.
Hruuk Magi – Insectile mages known for their power, cruelty, and relentlessness.
Ilsha – Leader of the Crimson Sigil.
Jaddow – Cipher’s associate.
Jim – Noob.
Kradich – Leader of the Woggims.
Larry – One of Lord Beast’s raid leaders.
Legendaria – High-end adventurer outfitting shop in Heroes’ Landing.
Loot whore – Someone who tries to get more loot than they deserve.
Lord Beast – Powerful raid leader in Ward 2.
Lord Snoot – Bank manager of the First Mythian Bank…
Lord Usurper – The goblin chief.
Lucid – Another name for “Artificial Intelligence.” Their realism is measured on the PQ scale.
Magda – Woman Ethan encounters on Heroes’ Approach.
Magical Matters – A store in Heroes’ Landing catering to magic-using classes, owned and operated by William.
Marcy – Noob, married to David.
Marty – A bard in the Crimson Sigil.
Mary – One of Lord Beast’s raid leaders.
Martyr’s Square – Central square in Heroes’ Landing, with a binding stone in the exact center.
Melody Crane – Professional gamer in the real world, brought online illegally into the game world Heroes’ of Mythian. Wife of Ethan Crane.
Mount Rage – Tallest mountain in Ward 2. Located in the Angrimmar Mountains.
Myrialla, the Dryad – Powerful lucid living in the Forest of Lost Souls.
Mythereum – The rarest type of gemstone in Mythian.
Mythian – The name of the world in the game world Heroes’ of Mythian.
Nocula – Lord Beast’s minion.
Noob – Generic term used for low-level or unskilled players.
OV – Official Vernacular. Another name for “politically correct,” yet enforced by law.
PQ – Personality quotient. A measure of how human a lucid seems as perceived by humans.
PVE/PVP – Player versus Environment, Player versus Player. Zones with these flags allow players to kill lucids and/or players alike, depending on which flag is active.
Paul – A wizard in the Crimson Sigil.
Personality – The totality of a person’s mind and experiences, which are downloaded and saved into an Everlife database.
Q4 – A massive quantum computer residing in North America. Most of the world’s computing runs on it and six others spaced on different continents.
Raul – Who can ever know the complex totality of he who is called Raul?!
Redheaded Stepson – Inn located in Deep Watch.
Retirement Worlds / Everlife Worlds / Game Worlds – Nearly synonymous names for virtual worlds humans can retire to by giving up their lives, usually at seventy years old.
Rhodakis – A Woggim.
Rita – A player.
Salamander Lair – Mini-zone in Under Town, populated by fire-breathing lizards.
Sammy – Ethan’s latest horse.
Sanctuary – A zone flag which, when applied to a zone, prevents players from being hurt, molested, robbed, or physically inconvenienced in any way.
Skin frame – A robot covered in living skin, making it indistinguishable from actual humans. Designed to house human personalities.
Smart lenses – Artificial lens implants for interacting with media.
Squinting – When you squint at someone to see their level and class ranks. Doesn’t work against Hard Mode players.
Steven Owens – Resident of the Hall of Heroes.
Subs – Short for “subscription services,” they stream news and entertainment to billions of smart lenses worldwide.
Swaze Pit – Home of The Goblin Tide to the west of the Forest of Lost Souls.
Taliathe – Ancient race of super beings that existed in Mythian long before the arrival of the Heroes. Game Lore.
The Domination – The guardian at the end of Ward 4. It blocks the exit rune from which players can leave Mythian into a skin frame prize.
The Forest of Lost Souls – A forest to the west of Heroes’ Landing.
The Goblin Tide – Name for the goblins living in the Swaze Pit.
The Grind – Adventurer-themed inn located in Heroes’ Reach.
The Mediocre Marauder – Upgrade to the Slaughtered Noob, established for players between levels 100 and 599.
The Mother Lode – An Inn located in Eureka.
The Slaughtered Noob – Inn established in Heroes’ Landing for noobs to eat, drink, sleep, and learn from Bernard, the innkeeper/bartender.
Time dilation – The difference between real time in the physical world (slow), and time in the game world (fast).
Trial of Pain – Quest found in the Festering Swamp.
Twink – Derogatory term used to describe players of certain classes as “overly powerful.”
Under Town – Starter zone beneath Heroes’ Landing.
Vale of Solace – A valley in Ward 2. New home for Myrialla, the Dryad.
Walk of Shame – Term used for running back to your corpse to loot any gear left on it after being killed.
Ward 1 – Infinite lives.
Ward 2 – 1000 lives.
Ward 3 – 100 lives.
Ward 4 – 10 lives.
William – Owner of Magical Matters in Heroes’ Landing.
Woggims – Powerful creatures in the Swaze Pit who serve as functionaries and strategists for Lord Usurper.
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