Gamer 1 - Skotopia: A Gamelit novel for science fiction action fans

by Rodzil LaBraun

  Gamer 1

  Skotopia

  A Lit-RPG series

  Rodzil LaBraun

  © 2021 Rodzil LaBraun

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names and locations are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. Any references to real people or locations are used fictitiously.

  More books by Rodzil LaBraun

  Science Fiction

  New Earth Trilogy

  Gamer Series

  Urban Fantasy

  (these are my early works)

  Swift of Spirit

  Silver Silhouette

  Harem Adventure

  (for adult readers only!)

  Dystopian Girls Series

  Dirty Girls Series

  Island Girls Trilogy

  I am on Goodreads, BookBub, and Facebook. Follow me on those for regular updates. Also, my website http://www.rodzillabraun.com is a great source of information. Sign up for the monthly newsletter while you are there. All my books are available on Amazon, so my author page there has everything that I have ever published. https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B013YWMRA6

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter One

  There were things that I should be doing. Instead, like the rookie that I was, I stood there staring a few seconds at hands and legs that were clearly not mine. Simulated features of my avatar. They were just so realistic that it took a moment to get over the shock of virtually living in someone else's body. Even knowing that it wasn't real, my brain struggled with it. The immersion factor was so much higher than the games that I played with my childhood friends.

  I took a step forward tentatively, half expecting to fall. My avatar's legs were much longer than my real ones, and my brain was naturally trying to compensate, like wearing oversized shoes. Of course, it didn't matter. They responded as if they were my own. The connections to my real muscles would power whatever I appeared as in the virtual world, as long as I was still bipedal. After three cautious steps I finally convinced myself that I no longer needed to look down.

  The purple grass with green specks was ankle high and crushed easily under my feet. It felt wrong like I was destroying someone else's property. The crunching sound, the slightest of pressure to specific places on the soles of my feet. But this was all a simulation. A very glorious one.

  I had never really walked through grass before. Or touched a tree, which was what I did next. Station born and raised, my world was simply built and extremely limited. Being dumped into a planetary environment in my very first major league game wasn't quite fair in my opinion. There were so many unique and new stimuli that it was challenging to process it all. Despite years of gaming experience at the casual level, my inaugural visit to Skotopia was taking my breath away.

  I was expected to die. I knew that much. Rookies didn't last long in their first few games. However, not at least trying to survive was totally unacceptable. I needed to get my head on straight to give the best performance that I could muster. People were watching this.

  The mission objective was very brief. Find an artifact that resembled a bird on fire. The object would be about the size of my head. We would be able to locate it in one of the two buildings in this game. Then return to the entry point for extraction. I couldn’t ask for anything simpler.

  I wasn't alone either. My team, like all Skotopian teams, was comprised of four members. However, since this was my very first game, I had not met them yet. The league administrators preferred to make this a sort of initiation. My existence here was more for humoring the viewers, not actually helping my team. They would essentially be shorthanded on this one.

  To go along with the whole theme of the joke being on me, I was deposited into the game one minute later than anyone else, and weaponless. My teammates were already gone from view in search of the artifact. Sure, it would have been nice if they waited for me, but that simply wasn’t how it was done. To minimize my embarrassment, it would be best if I tried to catch up with them.

  A variety of trees and shrubs blocked my forward view, but I knew that both buildings would have to be in that direction. That was the way I was facing when I was dropped into action. Unless, of course, that part was a joke as well. Maybe the whole playing area was actually behind me and they wanted to watch me run into wall instead. But I couldn't think like that. I had to appear like a legitimate competitor. I certainly looked like one.

  My arms and legs were bare, and muscle bound. My team uniform shorts clung tightly to my lower torso. Above it was a strong abdomen and belly exposed by a vest that did not fasten. It flapped in the mild breeze as I increased my speed through the amazing foliage.

  Small animals darted this way and that as I approached, making distinct noises for their species. That was scarier than it should have been. We certainly didn't have any animals running loose where I lived. Even though I knew they weren't real, I was startled by each and every one that I encountered.

  The sound of flowing water got louder as I approached a stream blocking my way. It was much too far to jump across, and I couldn't quite judge the depth of the fast-moving creek. It was important to me not to get taken out doing something stupid, so I searched for another way to cross.

  Several meters to my left I found a narrow pipe that extended over to other side. Up the gradual hill beyond it I could see a dirty stone wall. That must be the first building. The metal tube that wasn't any wider than my knee must be the way that I was supposed to go. Or perhaps there were many options if I took the time to search farther. Feeling like time was of the essence, I decided to give the pipe a try.

  Kids were never permitted to watch the games, but I was given tons of advice by the adults as I grew up. We needed it since the game world featured environments and scenarios that we never face on the space station. I remembered my father telling me to get a head start when crossing something narrow. That way, even if I faltered, my momentum would still carry me across.

  I tried to line up with the thin beam, but there was a thick tree in the way on the near bank. I would need to adjust after I started running forward. Being my first time on uneven ground in my entire life, things did not go according to plan.

  I was certainly off-kilter by the time I reached the pipe and moving at only half the rate that I had hoped. My feet and ankles were slipping and twisting in ways I had never experienced before. The cylindrical shape also threw me off. My foot slid comp
letely off the side on just my second step, causing me to land hard with my crotch on the unforgiving surface.

  It wasn't my real privates, thankfully, but the pain was nearly as bad. I winced in agony with my eyes closed, barely feeling the sensation of falling to my right. The ice-cold water that I fell into took my mind off the pain quickly and pulled me downstream a bit before I could grab the root of a tree on the far bank. Strong as steel cord it allowed me to pull myself with upper body strength that I wished I had for real.

  Once out of the liquid, which was a shocking experience in itself, I laid down in the thick vegetation to catch my breath. Never in my life had I ever been submerged in water. Even my daily shower used so little of the precious liquid. We had no large basins of water on our space station, but I had seen photos and videos of such on the planetary surface. Athlios, the real planet that my home orbited. If I didn't get much better at this game that is where I would have to spend the rest of my life.

  A rustle in the tall grass caught my attention just before the spotted snout of a furry pig launched itself at my face. Quickly I pulled my arms up instinctively to protect myself. Flat teeth gnawed at the flesh of my arms causing me to flail in panic. That sent the surprisingly scary but simulated animal into the narrow river that I had just escaped. Then it disappeared. Whether completely submerged or removed from the game I didn't know. Or care. At least it was biting me anymore.

  I knew that when I died in this game I would vanish in the same way. Not if I died, but when I died. Rookies never made it far in their first Skotopian adventure, regardless of the mission. That was completely due to the lack of any training to prepare us for the experience. We would receive on the job training, as my father called it.

  Speaking of my dad, I was sure he wasn’t too proud of me at this moment. He and mom, as well as my few friends, were all watching this live stream. The team that I had been assigned to was representative our neighborhood on the station. Sector seventeen, or the Orange Dragon sector. That was the name of my squad. The logo that I had seen all my life was weaved into the fabric of my avatar’s vest.

  Though as a minor I didn't get to see the broadcast of the games, I at least knew a little about the players. Between images of them posted throughout the sector, and adults sharing their views on the action, I had learned all four players to a degree.

  Dashell was the only male on the squad. Apparently, he had a temper and tended to be angry with his teammates. He also had a reputation for disobeying the order of the team captain. Rebellious, but decently skilled. At age twenty he had only achieved level four out of ten so far.

  Rhese led the squad at twenty-one years old and level seven. She was reportedly bossy and demanding, contributing to Dashell's bad behavior. Otherwise, the sector was pleased with her overall performance. The Orange Dragons were one of the highest ranked teams in Skotopia.

  Zaya had a lot to do with the squad's good fortune as well. She was also level seven, but only twenty years old. She was the calm, cool and collected one. A team player in her own way. Though photos of her as a teenager could be found in the records, our community mostly knew her by her avatar. She was sleek and confident, and incredibly attractive. Posters and screensavers of her simulated form were abundant where I lived.

  Memphis was the youngest person on the Dragons. That was who I guessed that I was replacing. Only nineteen, but I heard she just leveled up to three. Most people declared her the weak link of the team, though she appeared to be the least selfish. Also, the least motivated, my father claimed. I would need to do a better job than her if I wanted a permanent position on the team for the next four years. Otherwise, I'd soon find myself in a manual labor job on the ground.

  I gathered my wits, the little bit that I had for this situation, and climbed back to my feet. The path to the first structure was clear of obstacles like the river, so I took a direct route toward it. Other than the occasional rodent, nothing interfered with my progress. I did my best to ignore the blooming flowers and strange flying insects. We had such things in the farming zones on the space station, but I rarely visited those sections.

  The building had thick square walls with only a few windows. That was common for structures on the surface, in the impoverished society on the planet Athlios. This game was simulating those conditions. Where I lived, inside a giant wheel in space, most walls were slightly curved and windowless. Again, much of what was appearing before me had some familiarity due to my limited exposure to how things worked in the world below us.

  There was no door, just a two-meter-wide entrance that I tentatively walked through as I glanced around. I noticed that there was just one floor in this building, and no rooms. Or should I say just the one big room. The walls were painted white but had not been washed in an awfully long time by the look of it. Of course, no one washed walls in a game. They were deliberately designed to look dirty. It added to the vibe. Not just for us, but also for the viewers.

  On the far side a small fire raged in a soot covered hearth. As I approached it, I could feel the warmth that it provided. On my simulated skin. Even in my eyeballs. It was absolutely amazing. No open flames were permitted where I lived, so fire had a way of mesmerizing me. I believed it did that to most people, especially children.

  Then I got shot.

  Chapter Two

  I felt the intense sting in my left bicep as I jerked backwards. Looking down at the injured arm I saw a hole with crimson fluid rolling slowly out of it like breakfast syrup. Then after three seconds, the bleeding stopped and left a black circle in its wake. I hadn't been cut open many times in my life, but I knew that the visual from my shot arm was less than realistic. Intentionally, I decided. And I was glad for it.

  Dodging behind a pillar, I tried to raise my afflicted arm to test the muscles, but it wouldn't budge. It had been disabled. At least the pain was fading quickly.

  I searched the area where the shot must have come from just in time to see a second pulse of yellow come my way. I barely dodged the thing before it could strike me in the face. Then I spotted the shooter. An unusually small man in a black robe with a large hood. Yellow eyes were visible, but nothing more of his face. His black hand, possibly gloved, held a shiny metal pistol that was pulsing up to fire again. I could see the yellow glow growing on the tip.

  I darted for the large section of stone wall beside the window. His shot missed me entirely that time. With my one good arm I instinctively searched around my belt line for a weapon. I had not been provided one, of course. They didn't want me to actually have a fighting chance. Not on my first effort. I was here to be laughed at, whether I liked it or not.

  I visually searched the rest of the large room for anything that I could use. In three separate locations I saw outlines of objects. Clean shapes where something had recently been removed. One like a sword. Another a club. The third was possibly a rifle. No doubt there were actual weapons in those places when the game began. My teammates had stripped the room long before I had arrived. Experienced players would have better weapons than a sword or a club when they entered the game. Modern guns based on what the little guy was shooting at me. They didn’t need these things. They took them just so I couldn't use them.

  Assholes.

  That was to be expected, though, I was told. No sense crying over it. I needed to make do the best that I could.

  I heard the little guy moving around out there, probably to get a better angle to shoot me again. I didn't feel like waiting around for that. There was a second door just beyond the fireplace. Going out there would put me closer to the second building, but farther from the extraction point. I was determined to find my teammates and not just sit in safety to wait for them. I took a deep breath and sprinted for it.

  More blasts of yellow struck the wall as I ran. Between the frequency and the multiple angles, I had to assume that the hooded guy had friends also intent on rubbing me out.

  I grabbed at the door frame with my working arm in desperation as I realize
d there was a sudden drop off outside the doorway. At least three meters. And my landing wouldn't be pleasant based on the look of those pointy rocks down there. However, directly in front of me was a tall tree that extended higher than the building. It looked like it could hold my weight easily. I just needed to jump for it. It wasn’t that easy to convince my body to do so.

  More gunfire behind me, getting closer to my position with every blast. The gap between me and the thick branch that could save my life was frightening. My real body might not be able to make it. But my avatar looked exceptionally buff and had already proven to be faster and stronger. I squatted down then quickly pushed off the ledge with my one good arm reaching forward. I had nearly forgotten that my left arm was disabled and useless in the stunt.

  I reached the tree easily but struggled to get a grip with just the one hand. My legs swung into the thick trunk to vibrate pain throughout my body, causing me to lose my tenuous hold on the thick branch.

  Fortunately, I sort of slid down the tree instead of bouncing off it. My thin leather boots scraping away at the bark to act as a brake to slow my fall. It was only marginally helpful.

  I hit the rough and uneven ground hard missing a deadly looking rock by less than a meter. Pain shot up my right leg. Looking where it hurt, I saw that a thin wooden stake with a sharp tip had jabbed completely through my right thigh. It was so nasty to see that I almost cried. Then, as the pain slowly faded, I remembered that this wasn't my real body. The only significant issue was that my right leg was now disabled like my left arm.