“Wait a minute, Mike,” I hear the announcer say in my ear. “We might want to hold off on engraving that trophy. Jargonaut is still battling away outside the manor house and it looks like … Let me just confirm from another camera angle. But, yes. It looks as though Lord Crimson himself has entered the fray.”
“No,” I say out loud, standing. Mayor Barnaby looks confused, but I can’t focus on him now.
“Wow, a chance to battle Lord Crimson himself? That’s lucky. As you know, Johnny, that NPC is level 29, so the XP awarded if Jargonaut is able to defeat him could be enough to give him back the lead.”
“No! What can I do?” I demand of the mayor. “There must be something you need. Some task I can do in the next few minutes.”
He looks thoughtful. “Few minutes? No, I don’t think so. I have a letter I need take to the mayor of Avebury, if you don’t mind doing that?”
“No, I need something now.” I’m starting to panic. I don’t mean to yell at the NPC but I’m desperate. “There must be some pest you need getting rid of. Rats? You must have some rats. Everyone has rats.”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure a lot of the barns on the outskirts of town have rats the owners would be happy to get rid of. But it will take you a few minutes to get out there.”
“No.”
I’m now only saying it to myself. As the play-by-play continues in my ear, I wander through the inn’s door, aimlessly into the town square, hoping for some … I don’t know. Divine intervention?
“Wow, look at Jargonaut fight. It’s one- on-one and he’s taking a few hits but I wouldn’t count him out yet.”
“Yes, there it is. Jargonaut has just wielded the crippling blow. Lord Crimson has collapsed. Jargonaut is walking around the NPC and he…”
“That’s it. He’s got the kill. Let’s see how the numbers play out.”
I stand in the town square, alone for a moment except for the chickens. It’s over. I let my guard down for just a second and Jargonaut got lucky. Or maybe he had some quest I didn’t know about. Or maybe the game just hates me and loves him.
I collapse in the dirt right where I am and rest my head in my hands.
“Well, look at that,” the announcer continues. “That XP levels him up and puts him in first place again.”
Attention: The Camlan Challenge is complete
You will be logged out in ten seconds.
Good. End it. I’m so done with this whole thing. I close my eyes and wait to reenter the real world.
Chapter 46
I slowly become aware of my body. I hesitate to open my eyes—the light that I can sense through my eyelids already seems bright. I slowly begin to move, my fingers, my ankles, my shoulders. Little by little I become accustomed to the real world again.
“That’s it. Slowly. That’s good,” a voice says over me.
I open my eyes. I’m still in the immersion pod, but the room is dimly lit with white noise playing softly. I feel like I’m in some kind of all natural birthing center. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s nice. This is a really non-jarring, relaxing way to exit forty-eight hours of total virtual reality immersion. It’s just a little weird.
Theresa stands over me, holding a white, fluffy bathrobe, ready for me to step into. Around the room I notice other Toterra Online staff doing the same for the other competitors.
No, not competitors anymore. That’s over. Other players.
“Take it slowly,” she says softly. “Whenever you’re ready. You didn’t bring a comfort object, right?”
I pull myself into a sitting position, shaking my head. No, I didn’t bring a blankie. The shock of returning to real life is so great, though, I almost wish I had. It’s tempting to look around the room, see how the other players are handling it, and remind myself what they all look like in real life. But I can’t I can’t deal with whatever I am going to see in their expressions. Pity or contempt or smugness. I can’t handle that.
I slowly stand and, holding on to the edge of the pod, step out. With one leg over I have to pause; I close my eyes as the wave of vertigo hits. Theresa is patient and wraps the robe around me and gently leads me out of the room. She must be able to sense I am not interested in conversation because she walks me down the hall to the elevator and then across the campus to my bedroom all without uttering a word.
“You have a few hours before lunch. Then we will hold a press conference. There’s clothes and a little snack. You might want to shower and relax a bit before all the chaos begins.”
I nod, thank her and close the door behind her.
I flop face-first onto the bed and let out a long groan. There’s an ache in the center of my chest; I feel like my body could collapse in on myself. So close. I came so close and I messed it up. I can’t believe I got so far and still failed. What am I going to do now? I have a week, maybe two, to find another job before my next bill is due. I just want to sleep away this disappointment, but maybe a hot shower will help first.
She’s not wrong about the chaos starting, but I’m not given a few hours. Only fifteen minutes after I get out of the shower, there’s a knock on my door and Theresa is back.
“Hey, Asher. I’m so sorry to bother you. I know you’re resting, but can we come in?”
I look over she shoulder and realize with a shock that Jeffery Talbot is standing behind her, along with a sullen Asian woman with a short black bob. What are they doing here? Do they need to come in person to remind me that I wasn’t good enough?
“Um. Sure?” I step aside to let them in. There’s only one chair, which Theresa offers to her boss, but the rest of us stand around awkwardly.
“Well, um.” Theresa begins, looking at the other two for some kind of direction. “You see, Asher. You, um. You might have noticed some irregularities when you played?”
I nod. Yeah, there were some weird glitches for sure, but I figure all games are like that at the beginning. “I’m not going to say anything to the press, if that’s what you’re worried about?”
“Oh, no. No. We, uh … The NDA protects us from that. But it’s more than just … Um.” She looks at the Asian woman, pleadingly.
“I’m Sung Cho,” she begins. “I’m the lead developer on this project. Tell me, did the player Toyotom1 behave oddly at all? Did any of the NPCs behave as though … Well, let’s call it rogue.”
I nod. “Yeah. There was some weirdness, for sure. That Toyotom1 guy seemed to think that the rule to rest was just a guideline, I guess. I don’t know what made him think that. Then there was the weirdness at Helena’s cottage, where it seemed like there should be a clue but instead was just empty space.”
“Right. Not everything during the Challenge went as planned. I apologize if any part of the game’s coding affected your playing.”
“It’s fine.” Nice of them to say that now that I’ve already lost. Whatever. “So. Okay. Why are you here?”
“We have decided we need more beta testing before we open Camlan up to the public. Since you came so close to winning, we’d like to hire you.”
“What?” I’m confused. I blink and look at the CEO.
At this, Talbot stands and crosses to me. He offers his hand to shake. “We need your help, son.”
I nod. It doesn’t even matter what they want me to do. I can’t wait to get back in the game, playing, leveling up and proving I’m the best Camlan player there is.
“When do I start?”
<<<<>>>>
The adventure continues in book two, Depths of Camlan
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Copyright
Quest for Camlan: A LitRPG Adventure is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2017 by A.T. Gilbert
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
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