by Adam Horne
Kelath closed the document window and asked, “What’s this about having to pay money to the guild?”
“Ah, yes,” said the woman with a nervous giggle. “The guild needs cash in order to do good deeds for the fine folk of Genesis. Once new members rise above the rank of Page, the fee is waived.”
“Yes, but it says that won’t happen until they’ve paid a sum of 200 gold into the guild treasury. At 10% of the amount you find on monsters, you’d have to earn over 2,000 gold before that happened. It could take years!”
Kelath’s loudness attracted the attention of the other new players around him, many of whom asked the guild recruiters what he was talking about. The female officer whispered something to an elf standing nearby who ran off. He returned shortly after with the man wearing full plate armor who had spoken to the crowd earlier.
“Is there a problem?”
“No problem,” said the woman before addressing Kelath again. “If you wouldn’t mind stepping aside so I can help the next person, General Brill can answer your questions.”
The man she’d called General Brill put an armored hand over Kelath’s shoulder before steering him away from the registration table. “How can I help?”
Kelath held the contract up and said, “There’s a clause in here stating that new members have to pay a fee out of money they find. With the amount they’re expected to tithe, it would take forever to reach the second rank in the guild. That much gold would be worth around $200 in real money if you transferred it out.”
“We have a noble mission from our founder to provide aid to others. Because new members aren’t sufficiently powerful enough to help those in need, we ask that they donate a small amount of their earnings to the guild. We in turn use it for worthy causes. In the end, it’s only a tenth of what the character makes. That is a small burden to bear.”
“You’re talking about a large sum of money when it’s added up though.” Kelath wasn’t sure if the man was trying to be deceptive or if he really believed it was good for new members to work so hard to advance. “What could you possibly be doing that requires your members to give up that much?”
“Perhaps I’m not explaining our goals correctly. I admire your inquisitiveness, so I shall grant you a boon.” He steered them towards the main tent. “King Itrix asked me to bring any talented prospects we find to meet him personally. This is a great honor.”
Kelath followed hesitantly. Two men with halberds stood at the entrance to the tent. They snapped to attention at General Brill’s approach and lifted the flaps so he could enter. Fur rugs covered the ground inside the tent. A wide canopy bed stood on the far side, covered in pillows. Itrix sat in a chair behind a mahogany desk. He looked up as they entered, and Brill knelt on one knee with his head bowed. The tent flap closed behind them so the interior was illuminated by a lantern hung from the center of the ceiling and several candles laid out on the desk.
“Sorry to disturb you, sire. This elf caught my attention amongst the petitioners outside, and I thought you might want to meet him.”
“Thank you, general. You may rise.”
“Thank you, sire.” General Brill stood then took a half step back.
“What is your name, commoner?”
Kelath frowned. “I’m not a commoner, any more than you’re a king. My name is Kelath.”
“Yes, I can see why Brill brought you here. You have confidence. I admire that. Tell me, general, what did he do that caught your attention?”
“Sire, he asked questions about the tithe collected from new members.”
“Ah, very perceptive of you,” said Itrix with a wink. “What was your question?”
“That’s a lot of money, several thousand gold if you take two hundred from each of the people out there who signed up. What will you do with all that gold?”
“We need money to expand the guild over all of Genesis. There are good deeds we can do for our members. We can only accomplish them by accumulating the capital to run businesses. Most new members can’t give much in the way of support, so we ask a token sum of money to further our goals. What’s good for the guild is good for all our members.”
Kelath didn’t like the way they kept referring to good deeds without going into more detail. “Your words sound great, but if that’s what you want, why not ask them to donate the money instead of hiding a clause at the end of the contract?”
Itrix stood up and peered down his nose at Kelath, a posture that mostly came off as preposterous since as an elf, Kelath was easily six inches taller than Itrix’s human frame. “You’re very perceptive, Kelath, and I figure you could be a shrewd businessman. I need people like you to oversee my craftsmen and guild shops. If you join my guild, I’ll immediately raise you to the rank of Knight and find a position that suits your talents. How does that sound?”
Kelath sneered. “You’re still taking a bunch of money from all the other people out there. It’s a Ponzi scheme. Am I supposed to feel better because you’re not taking it from me, too?”
“There would be other perks, an assistant perhaps. If you ran one of my businesses, you would be entitled to a percentage of the profit.”
He had to admit he felt tempted for a second, but the whole deal made him feel a little sleazy. “I think I’ll pass.”
Itrix stared, an incredulous look on his face. “This is a very good deal you’re throwing away, and I’ll only offer it once. Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”
“I’m fine on my own.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Itrix shook his head before nodding at Brill. “General, please show him out.”
Brill pulled his great sword from the sheath on his back and slammed the pommel into the base of Kelath’s skull before he could react.
Strength check to resist. You have been stunned for 5 seconds.
Brill laughed as he slashed down with the giant sword, removing over half Kelath’s health. The second cut sent him sprawling to the ground. The stun timer wasn’t even halfway finished when everything went black.
Chapter 4
You have been slain. Resurrecting at the nearest graveyard in 5 seconds.
Kelath stood amongst a group of gravestones when he regained control. He checked himself and found that his health was full again. He still wore all the items he’d carried before, but his backpack felt lighter. He’d lost almost half the loot he’d collected fighting birds and rabbits in the beginners’ area. Surely Itrix hadn’t killed him to steal a handful of bird feathers. Itrix must have been afraid he would go outside and scare off new recruits by telling them about the cost of joining. Kelath gritted his teeth. Once he figured out where he was, he would prove that fear justified.
He spotted the river off in the distance. From his position in the graveyard, he couldn’t tell which side he was on or the location of the bridge. He opened the game map to get his bearings. A small circle revealed the area around where he now stood, but the rest was grayed out. Apparently he could only see locations he had already visited. The river ran through the zone visible to him, so he used it as a guide. Following the river to the south, he traversed a wide section without finding any landmarks he could see in detail. He centered the view back on his position and scrolled north instead. Before long, a bright section of the map came into view that was marked, “Beginners’ Area.” The bridge across the river was clearly visible. He fiddled with the controls and dropped a marker on the bridge, and a corresponding indicator appeared in the game world to show him the direction he should follow. He closed the map and took off at a run.
He hadn’t made it halfway back to the bridge when he came upon a wizard wearing the tabard of Noblesse Oblige. The mage studied him as he drew closer and started chanting the words of a spell. An ice bolt flew from his hand and struck Kelath, freezing his leg in place.
Intelligence check to resist. You have been slowed for 3 seconds.
“What the…why’d you do that?”
The attacker didn’t respond, instead chan
ting another spell. Kelath angled towards him but couldn’t run as quickly as normal with one leg immobilized. He was still several yards from the wizard when a fire bolt hit him in the chest.
Intelligence check to resist. You have been ignited and will burn for 3 seconds.
Flames danced over Kelath’s body. His health was now around 60% and dropping steadily due to the additional fire damage that ticked each second. The wizard turned and ran, gaining some space and casting the ice spell again.
Intelligence check to resist. You have been slowed for 2 seconds.
The wizard sprinted away again as Kelath drew near. Although the slowing effect grew weaker each time the ice bolt hit him, he couldn’t get close enough to attack. The wizard alternated between casting his spells and running away. By the time Kelath caught up, he only had about 15% of his health left. He stabbed at the wizard’s stomach repeatedly, dropping the enemy’s health by a quarter before he succumbed. He watched helplessly as the fire consumed the last bit of his HP and he collapsed on the ground.
You have been slain. Resurrecting at the nearest graveyard in 5 seconds.
The screen turned black, and five seconds later, he found himself back at the graveyard. He screamed in frustration and opened his backpack, assuming that more of his loot would be gone. He was surprised to see the same amount as the last time he’d checked, and that’s when he noticed an icon in the corner of the window. It explained why he hadn’t lost any items.
Resurrection Buff: For five minutes after being killed by another player, you will not yield experience or items to players if killed again.
He assumed it was an anti-exploit put into the game to discourage players from killing the same person over and over again. Apparently the timer hadn’t expired before he was ambushed by the wizard, so he hadn’t lost anything else. He walked around the perimeter of the graveyard, unsure of what to do next. He wanted to go back to the bridge to warn off other players from joining the guild out of spite, but with people watching for him, he knew he’d likely be killed again before he could get close. He could use his stealth skill, but if the guards they’d posted were higher level, they might spot him. Even worse, with the slower speed he moved while sneaking, the timer would run out on his buff and he would lose more items if they caught him. Before he could make up his mind, he received a tell from Througar.
“Hey,” said Througar, “I got my new sword and a shiny breastplate. This guild is awesome! I don’t see you on the map. Where did you go?”
“I’m in a graveyard to the south.”
“What are you doing in a graveyard?”
“It’s a long story. Come meet me and I’ll fill you in.”
“Okay, how do I find you?”
“Follow the river south. It’s not far.”
Kelath left the graveyard, heading towards the river. No mobs were around, probably so anyone who resurrected wouldn’t be immediately attacked afterwards. He waited a couple minutes before Througar trotted over a hill and joined him. Througar’s new breastplate shone brightly in the sun, much more impressive than the chainmail shirt he’d worn earlier, at least until Kelath remembered the price he would have to pay for it.
“How did you end up all the way down here?” asked Througar.
“I met Itrix.”
“That’s awesome!”
“No, it’s not! He had one of his lackeys kill me.”
Througar’s jaw dropped open. “Why would he do that?”
“Because I found a clause in the contract that forces new members to pay him 200 gold from the money they receive while killing mobs.”
“That’s outrageous!” Througar searched through his backpack and pulled out a piece of parchment.
“It’s close to the end. Look for numbers.”
Througar’s hands moved lower down on the parchment as he continued to read, the top of it curling over backwards from the weight. Kelath would have found the effect cool at any other time, but at this moment he couldn’t care less about the game’s attention to detail. Througar jerked the document closer to his face and stomped his foot twice.
“How can they do that?” he asked, his voice an octave higher than before.
“I’ve been thinking about that. I guess the AI lets players make their own contracts then enforces whatever clauses are in them.”
“Screw this! The sword and breastplate were probably only worth a gold apiece. I’m not paying a hundred times that much.” Througar grasped the contract with both hands on one side. He pulled his hands apart, and the parchment twisted but didn’t tear. He grunted and strained to no avail. “I can’t destroy it.”
“What if you throw it away?”
Througar opened his fingers and let the parchment drop to the ground. It disappeared, but he grabbed at his backpack before Kelath could say anything. He reached in and pulled out the same document. Througar’s signature was written at the bottom.
“I don’t believe this,” said Througar. “The game showed me a system message saying the item couldn’t be dropped due to it being involved in a quest or obligation to another player. This sucks!”
“I tried to tell you to read the contract first,” said Kelath.
“Seriously? You’re going to say, ‘I told you so,’ right now? How was I to know they could put something like that into the contract?”
Kelath shrugged. “Read it first?”
Througar growled. “Very funny. I would’ve warned you about something like that if I had known.”
Kelath decided it was better not to say Througar had scribbled his name down so quickly he hadn’t had time to pick up the paper, let alone read the text. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to delete this character and make another, that’s what.” Througar unbuckled his belt and slid the scabbard off, handing it to Kelath. “Hold onto some things so you can give them back to my new character.”
Througar jerked at the straps that held his breastplate in place and dropped it on the ground at Kelath’s feet. He removed a clump of feathers and several of the rabbit’s foot necklaces that he’d collected while leveling from his backpack and stuffed them into Kelath’s.
“I’ll send you a tell when I log back in. It should only take a minute to recreate the character.” Througar waved and faded out of existence.
Kelath sat down on the ground and examined the breastplate while he waited. Despite how shiny the armor had looked at first, up close it was totally utilitarian. The color was brown, meaning the material was some type of bronze. The front was smooth, no patterns etched into the metal or adornments other than the leather straps that held it on the torso when worn. This piece was likely the sort of item crafters made dozens of times to level their skill.
He jumped up when a character materialized right in front of him. It took him a moment to realize the avatar was his friend logging back into the game. After a couple seconds of staring off into space, Througar began to move around.
“Why are you back?” asked Kelath.
“I couldn’t delete my character. The system kept saying the character was under an obligation and couldn’t be removed until that obligation was met.”
“Didn’t it use the word ‘obligation’ before?”
“Yeah, that’s what the message said when I tried to leave the guild.”
“That’s really weird. Maybe the conspiracy theorists were right and the story about the AI learning integrity is true.”
“In that case, it’s taking the concept way too far.” Througar shook his head. “You know what I think? Itrix is the AI.”
“Don’t be stupid. The AI was supposed to be learning from interacting with people. It couldn’t learn if it set itself up to be king and control all the players. Anyway, can’t you choose to play a different character instead?”
“No, the developers set a limit of one character per account. They said with the sheer volume of accounts being registered, the server couldn’t handle the load if each player had multiple char
acters.”
“So…you’re stuck with that character?”
Througar retrieved his sword and picked up the breastplate from the ground. “Yeah, seems that way. I’m going to talk to one of the guild members. They should let me quit if I return their equipment. Can I have all the other stuff I gave you?”
“You might want to leave everything with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I tried to run back to the pavilion earlier, and one of their wizards killed me before I could get close.”
Througar shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I guess I’m not the first person who tried to return and warn others not to join.”
“I’m still going to give it a shot.”
“It’s your funeral. I’ll be here with your stuff when you get back.”
Througar nodded and took off up the hill in the direction of the guild camp. While he waited, Kelath wandered along the bank of the river. There were no monsters nearby to fight, so he checked out the area instead. Moonlight played across the water, as bright as the sun despite the fact it was nighttime. It dazzled his eyes and made it hard to see what was underneath. He caught glimpses of fish darting between rocks at the bottom. Most games like this allowed characters to catch fish, but he didn’t have a pole or bait of any kind to use.
Kelath waded into the water, and they all darted away. He knelt down and put his hands in the river, surprised to find the haptic glove pushing back against his palm when he made contact. There was only a slight pressure that went away as long as he didn’t move but returned as he pulled his hand out of the water. He wondered if people who had a neural interface would feel the water as wet or cold. He’d likely be a while paying off the VR headset he already had, so there wasn’t much point in considering an implant, which cost ten times more.
He was walking back up the riverbank when he received a tell from Througar.
“The wizard didn’t try to stop me. He just waved as I went by.”
“That’s strange,” replied Kelath. “Why didn’t he attack you too?”
