Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series

by Michael Atamanov

  I didn’t even have time to respond, much less read the stats of the unique creature I’d summoned before the screen went black. On the dark backdrop, some red text ran by:

  Damage taken: 55777 HP (Divine magic)

  You have died.

  1430000 Exp. lost

  One level lost!

  Current level: one hundred twenty-nine

  You will respawn in 59 minutes, 52 seconds at the last respawn point you set

  Now that was something... I simply didn’t have the words to describe my state. Sure, I had read tales of genies who spent thousands of years cooped up in a lamp. It was highly recommended not to let them out because the long years of imprisonment in a cramped cell had almost certainly wreaked havoc on the mind of the all-powerful being. Seemingly, something similar had happened with Eris. The goddess of strife had never been known for her appeasing ways, but now she wouldn’t even let me say one word. All I could do now was hope the goddess hadn’t spent all the anger she’d pent up over those three thousand years on little old me and the enemies players would also take a hit.

  I was not planning to wait a whole hour in the darkness of the virtual reality capsule, so I opened the lid, climbing out. I quickly got dressed, had a yogurt from the fridge and a hastily made sandwich, after which I took a seat at the computer and opened the Boundless Realm forum. I was extremely interested in what was happening in Lars after my forced disappearance.

  Woah! There was a thread about that very topic, and messages were piling in faster than I could read them. There was a real ass-kicking underway. The players weren’t sharing the loot from the Dark Sovereign. That meant the legendary Amulet of the King of Lars had probably dropped along with a whole mountain of silver coins, probably just under three hundred thousand. The fight over my loot had now grown into a pitched inter-clan battle that threatened to spill over into a full-scale war. The dead already numbered in the hundreds, and that was seemingly just the beginning. No one had written a word about the goddess Eris, though. It was as if she wasn’t even there. But there was already enough resentment between allies to fill a small pool.

  The generals that commanded the players in Lars had refused to handle the loot issue as they had a personal stake. But they were looking high and low for who had caused the allies to fight amongst themselves at such an importune moment, allowing the Dark Sovereign’s army to retreat from the old part of the city unpunished. I read some who thought it was bribery and betrayal. Accusations were piling up left and right. Former allies were looking at one another like wolves, not trusting anyone.

  Information on Titanium Joker was extremely scant. Yes, a few players had seen the half-naked monk darting through the narrow alleys of Lars, or at least his red hostile marker. I even found a message that the runaway was killed eventually. But did Titanium Joker reach the respawn stone, which is where he was headed in our plan? I still didn’t know. Although a lack of concrete information was probably a positive sign. It meant that my truly serious opponents still perceived one of the Amazons betraying the clan with extreme gravity and were trying not to spread that information.

  Alright then, although I was not planning for my character to die, and wanted to just about catch the runaway, then use a portal scroll to run from the huge number of enemies nearby, everything else went according to plan. Titanium Joker had taken his portal scroll leading “right to the Dark Sovereign’s fortress” and brought it to my enemies, while my army managed to leave the old city with all the loot and prisoners. Now it all depended on the acting and negotiating skills of that “poor young artist’s model.” Hopefully he could convince my enemies the scroll was the real deal, and they’d attempt to attack the Dark Sovereign’s castle.

  Iron Jeanette privately advised that he demand not game money, but real money to make it more plausible and to negotiate his way up to one hundred thousand before agreeing. To that the Russian oligarch answered with a smirk that, when it came to negotiations and business, he knew more than one way to skin a cat. He would ascertain how to treat the buyers and when to stop negotiating to make everything look completely natural. Well, I had a lot of hope in Vladimir Toropov’s professionalism and acting abilities.

  If I considered it, the death of the Dark Sovereign was actually to our benefit here, making it more believable, which would allow Titanium Joker to ask for more money. There were also other minor details that lent the story credence. I waited to see a topic about it on the Boundless Realm forum and eventually it did come up! The players started discussing a message they’d all seen that the forbidden spell had been used once again, but in the lands of the Dark Sovereign. This time the Astral Explosion dome covered the Sovereign’s castle itself and some nearby lands. It might have seemed minor, but the buyers of the portal scroll would be sure to notice it. If the Dark Sovereign feared invasion and was taking measures against it, he must have known he’d lost a portal scroll leading to his castle.

  There was still some time left before respawn, so I sat down and started making the next daily video about the adventures of my big-eared goblin. No, I wouldn’t have been able to make the whole video in thirty minutes, but I was planning to at least cut the many hours of gaming down into the parts that my viewers would enjoy. The Amazons , our visit to Lars, freeing the prisoners, the death of the King... There was more than enough interesting material. I was doing that editing when Tina silently slipped into my office.

  “Hello, Timothy! It’s hard to catch you in the real world, you’re always in the game.”

  And again Tina looked different. Her hair was no longer purple but bright red. Instead of a form-fitting dress with a very deep neckline, she was now wearing a little top so short and nearly see-through that I was baffled as to how it even stayed on over her ample breasts. And add to that the jean shorts, which were very tiny and gave great emphasis to the length and fitness of the legs of “Miss Boundless Realm.”

  I answered her greeting, meanwhile unwittingly staring at the wall clock. It was six thirty. I remembered the note she left yesterday where she scheduled a meeting for eight. But then why come an hour and a half early? Was she watching my character in the game, saw me die and was expecting me to come into the real world? A seemingly logical explanation, but I had never seen any Boundless Realm streams on her monitor before. As far as I remembered, it was just social networks, pictures of cats, fashionable clothing, music and other stuff you might expect to see on the screen of a bored secretary. I also dismissed the theory that she might have been tracking my character with system commands. Tina wouldn’t have had the technical knowledge for something like that, and she didn’t have the access privileges. So then what explained her early arrival?

  “The cameras in your room have been turned off.” How could I believe that! It was the most obvious explanation. The people watching me had seen me leave the virtual reality capsule and given her a hand-wave, summoning the pretty girl before their elusive employee went back into the game. Or even... what was it Leon said today...? Tina told him she had no idea where my office was, and had never come here. An interesting fact that needed to be thought over. And the pretty lady’s clothing... I found it extremely hard to imagine the assistant of the austere Special Projects Department director looking like that at work. Would she have had time to change? And then she walked through the whole building at peak time in such provocative attire? For some reason I had a very hard time believing that. At the end of the day, this was a serious organization with a dress code, not some red-light district. I felt I’d nearly guessed what was happening. I just needed one tiny detail, one little clue to make the pieces of the puzzle come together.

  “So, you wanted to tell me something?” I asked, politely inviting my guest to sit on the sofa as I opened the mini-bar in search of something light that she might enjoy.

  Maybe the still-unopened bottle of champagne from yesterday? I remembered putting it in the cabinet last night, because it wouldn’t fit in the fridge. The wine was of course
now spoiling without an ice bucket, but it was better than some brutish can of beer from the fridge. Still, I offered both.

  “You know, I think I’ll have a beer,” my guest made an unexpected choice. “And let’s leave the serious talk for later. No, I’ll open it myself! Whoops... That’s what I get for being so clumsy... This is pretty awkward...”

  Her already revealing light top was soaked through and totally transparent. I was still closing the refrigerator, so I couldn’t say whether it was truly an accident or not. It was most likely on purpose, although I didn’t have any evidence. But what nice tits... And between them on a very thin chain there dangled a pendant with an electronic key, most likely to my outside door.

  Tina followed my gaze and gave a chuckle:

  “Yes, they’re my pride and joy. All-natural D’s with no surgery or implants. Would you be opposed to me just taking off my wet top? It isn’t hiding anything now, just clinging to my skin. It feels so gross.”

  I didn’t answer the provocative question, but she took my silence as consent and, pulling her tight top over her head, raised both hands. And that was when I made up my mind. I don’t know what serious business Tina was planning to discuss with me, if it even existed or was just an excuse to come see me, but I figured I might never get a better chance to escape my imprisonment. So, sharply extending a hand, I grabbed fitfully for the key and gave a hard tug, breaking the thin gold chain. Tina shouted in fear and tried to lower her arms but she was too late to stop me. In two bounding leaps, I made it to the front door, raised the electronic key to the lock and...

  The world around me froze. I couldn’t even lift a finger! Tina also froze, her mouth open in a wordless scream, trying to reach me with her hands but tangled up in her little top. But that wasn’t the last of my surprises.

  “Bravo, Timothy. You made the right decision! Probably the best decision you’ve ever made!”

  The voice seemed to ring out from every direction at once. It was muted as if coming from underwater, and I couldn’t see what it’s source could be. And although the voice had a clearly female timbre, it definitely did not belong to Tina.

  “It’s gonna be dark for a little bit now,” the same voice warned. “And as soon as the light goes out, if you value your life, hold your breath as long as you can. We need two or two and a half minutes. And if you breathe in even once before we get you out, you’ll die instantly! Get ready, we’ll begin in a few seconds!”

  “No, I’m not ready yet!” I shouted in fear, but no answer followed so I took a few rapid breaths in and out to enrich my blood with oxygen.

  And then the world around me switched off. The sounds were gone and so was the light. Even tactile sensations were just missing. It was as if I was floating in total darkness. I took in a chest full of air and froze, trying to stay still and closed off from what was going on. After all, oxygen wasn’t only used by the muscles in times of physical strain. The human brain could also use lots of it and other nutrients by working actively. What was more, increased brain activity required increased heart activity, which put more strain on the circulatory system as a whole.

  Damn! I knew that instead of resigning myself and lying calmly, I was actively thinking and wasting invaluable oxygen. Meanwhile my air was already running out. Holding my breath just got harder and harder. How much did they say again? Two minutes, maybe two and a half... No, only trained divers could last that long. I was sure I could easily reach a minute and a half. I’d never tested it with a timer though... And seemingly this was my limit. Everything inside me was burning up. Another few seconds, and that would be it...

  Wait, was that some kind of sound? I perked up my ears, having decided to hold out no matter what it cost. Then an unbearably bright light blasted into my vision! I exhaled loudly, blinked my teary eyes and even tried to turn my head away or cover my eyes with my arms. My arms... what was happening? Why couldn’t I move them???

  Several dark figures loomed over me in gas masks. A respirator and some kind of straps were torn off my face. One of the figures leaned in lower, unceremoniously grabbing me by the chin, turning my head and shining a light directly into my eyes. Without a word, the figure straightened up and walked away. But I did see a metal tool in the hands of another approaching stranger. it wasn’t quite a bolt cutter or pliers, it almost looked like a huge pair of metal shears. A couple seconds later my wrists were released from a pair of metal cuffs. Then a pair of strong arms lifted me and helped me sit up. I took a look around.

  I didn’t recognize this room. The walls were metal, and the lighting was very bright. There were around ten people around me in rubberized jumpsuits, and all of them had on gas masks. Some were even armed. Where was I? And who were all these people?

  “Where should we bring him now?” the voice sounded vaguely familiar, and I turned toward it.

  “To the medical center, the attendant doctor on the second floor. The doctor must examine Timothy,” the tall man answered. His voice was distorted by the gas mask but also seemed familiar.

  “No! It’s too risky!” the shortest of all of them stepped forward. This new person had a feminine voice. Seemingly, this was the woman I’d been speaking with recently. “I’ll take him with me. He’s my responsibility.”

  Kira?! The voice was extremely distorted by the gas mask, but still recognizable. I couldn’t see her face, but the powerful tone and body dimensions also gave away my girlfriend’s identity. Seemingly, that suggestion was not to the liking of the “tall one.” He was either cursing bombastically or shouting an emotional phrase in a language I didn’t know. Behind him were two bulky guys holding snub-nosed machine guns as backup. Woah! It looked like there were at least two distinct groups here, and their interests and plans for me didn’t exactly coincide. The “short one” (probably a woman, who I suspected was Kira) wasn’t the least bit afraid to see her opponent’s companions brandish their weapons and remained stubborn:

  “Think for yourself, we still don’t know who did the kidnapping, or who they might be working with. It’s too risky to leave Timothy in the corporation building, or to allow anyone to perform medical procedures on him. I can provide the proper care, and a full examination. You know that I have the capabilities to do that. Please, at least now don’t argue!”

  I finally became convinced the lady was none other than Kira. Her harsh tone, and voice were too characteristic even despite the muffling. But who was her opponent? For a few seconds the two arguers looked right into one another’s eyes, as if playing the staring game right in their gas masks. But the tall one relented:

  “Alright. Take him. He’ll be your responsibility. But tomorrow at exactly nine AM I expect you both at the meeting...” here he stumbled midsentence, tossed a quick gaze over me and slightly adjusted. “No, there’s no reason for Timothy to attend a shareholder’s meeting yet. That would cause idle chitchat and complications. Then I expect him in my office for a private conversation at ten thirty.”

  Half the people immediately left, leaving me with five. The largest of them picked up the metal shears again and freed my legs, which were held down with a steel wire so thick I couldn’t even draw in my knees and cover my nakedness. Yes, I had already seen that, other than the wire-enmeshed sensor suit, I had no other clothing on. I was helped out, freed from the mesh and I turned around, finally able to see my prison from a different angle.

  Beyond all doubt, this was a virtual reality capsule. But along with the usual set of wires coming out of it, there were also hoses leading to gas tanks and big semi-transparent tanks on the outside. One was full of water, the second with some kind of whitish porridge-like nutrient slurry. And there was no more than a third left in the food and water tank. What was more, from what I could see, the device was not made to take a second set of tanks. I felt a sense of doom after realizing what would have happened in a few days.

  “Thank you Kira for finding me and getting me out of here.”

  Hearing my words and noting my interest in
the clever device, the group leader walked up closer and commented:

  “Yeah, Timothy, this isn’t the first time I’ve saved your ass. But I couldn’t have done it without your hints. Who could have thought a virtual reality capsule with a player inside could be brought into the sealed server floor, which is filled with toxic gas?! But let’s save the talking for later. Right now we need to get you to a doctor. But before that we need to get you washed up.”

  She was right, too. Both about the doctor and the shower. I discovered with great surprise and dismay that there was an inflamed bright-red jagged scar on my chest. I couldn’t even touch it because that made a sharp pulsating pain wash over my whole rib cage. And I definitely understood why I needed to get hosed down right away. In fact I could even smell the ghastly stench coming off my body. Although most modern virtual reality capsules had a UV cleaning function, which sanitized the device between gaming sessions, even the most advanced models had no functionality for prolonged stays, and no way of eliminating human waste.

  * * *

  KIRA WAS STANDING at a huge panorama window with a mug of hot coffee in her hands, staring down from sixteen hundred feet at the glimmering metropolis below. In a light track suit, I was sitting in a chair in silence, afraid to interrupt her thinking. Was she even still my girlfriend? The wall of alienation between us was now unmistakable. In all the time since she found me earlier today, Kira hadn’t given single word, gesture or even tiny hint about the state of our relationship. What was more, the red-headed pretty lady was clearly ashamed and avoiding me.

  But I could understand that. We hadn’t seen one another for two whole weeks. That was easily enough time to sober up from a fleeting crush. Maybe all her warm feelings for me were gone. It had been long enough to unravel her naïve illusions and take a rational look at things. She was of course the co-owner of the largest corporation on the planet, one of the richest women on Earth, and still young and insanely beautiful. She may have been the most envied and desirable woman on the planet. And who was I? Maybe I was no longer “nobody.” I was after all a fairly famous Boundless Realm player, who had made a name for himself in some high-profile events and who had earned a decent amount of money. But even with all my achievements in the game, the chasm in our social status was practically insurmountable.