Countdown_LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  I kept up pursuit for seven minutes. We were going further and further up the hill. The forest was getting sparser all the time. There was less and less cover, but I didn’t stop tracking them. Suddenly, all three of them stopped. Either I had failed a Perception check, or their cloaks turned on, but all three of them instantly disappeared. I quickly placed a marker on the map where I had last seen them.

  What to do now? I didn’t want to keep going, because the forest was ending, and the enemies would probably notice me if I came too close. There just wasn’t enough cover. After waiting a few minutes for my scanning skill to reload, I activated the icon. But no, even with scanning, the enemies were undetectable. I had to go back to the sulfur lake.

  * * *

  I had gone almost all the way back down the stream to the lake when I was heard someone call my name. Immediately, several bulky figures in camouflage uniforms appeared from behind the nearest bushes and rocks. I nearly got scared but saw the Second Legion emblem and H3 code on their uniform, as well as the fact that they had green markers on the mini-map, meaning ally.

  The high-level soldiers immediately started telling me off:

  “Where'd you run off to, Gnat? Why weren’t you answering your radio?”

  I unclipped my radio from my belt and showed them:

  “If any of you can explain which of the two buttons on this thing change channel or turn on encoding, I’d be very grateful. I couldn’t figure it out.”

  “And where are the enemies? Or was that a joke about the Dark Faction? And why is your uniform so dirty?” An armored anthropomorphic robot ten feet in height appeared from invisibility three steps away. I looked through its darkened helmet visor with strain and saw the face of a dark-haired girl frowning in dismay.

  So, I hadn’t been wrong last night. It wasn’t just some hallucination. Gerd Tamara or her exoskeleton suit could become invisible. I wanted to make a sarcastic quip in reply to her foolish question, but I held back. I remembered the last time I'd spoken with the leader of the Second Legion. It didn’t last long and ended very tragically for me, so I decided not to repeat my error.

  “I took a ride on Zheltov’s starship, and didn’t have time to clean my uniform before I saw enemies. I had no way to get in touch, and they were walking away. So, I tracked them through the forest along the stream, then up a slope. There, they must have taken cover, because I lost them. I didn’t go any closer so I wouldn’t give myself up. Here are the coordinates where I saw them.”

  I rattled off the coordinates I'd marked on the map. Gerd Tamara gave an untrusting snort, but after a five second pause, pointed at four of her subjects — a level-70 Commando, a level-65 Scout and two Assassins above level 60. Seemingly, the commander had chosen everyone who could move in stealth.

  “Check this intel! If you do find enemies, do not engage. Wait for the rest of the group.”

  They were all wearing chameleon cloaks, while the Commando even had a scaled thermoregulating suit just like the Dark Faction players. They walked in the direction I indicated. After a minute, the towering Gerd Tamara disappeared without a sound but, based on the flattened grass made by her heavy steel feet, I determined that she had gone after the first group. The other soldiers of the Second Legion, and there were thirty of them, followed their commander.

  “What should I do?” I asked the soldiers as they moved out.

  They all ignored my question, as if I didn’t exist. Finally, the level-55 Shock Trooper bringing up the rear of the column with the strange name Rupor, turned to me and answered:

  “Well, you must have been doing something here, so just get back to that. I don’t advise you to follow us. A serious battle is no place for newbies. What's more, I cannot say for certain how you earned our commander’s distrust, but little Tamara will throw you under the bus if anything goes wrong.”

  Harsh, but fair. Thanks for that. I stood on the bank of the lake, catching my breath and deciding where to go next. The bubbles of hydrogen sulfide coming up from the bottom and the yellowish gray residue on the stones and plants drew my attention. It looked like a sulfur hot spring. I’d have to comb through the nearby hills with our Geologist in search of sulfide metals. It would also be interesting to study the chemical composition of this lake.

  But, no matter how I spun it, I was most interested in the stream. Somewhere up the slope, water was flowing out of a cliff. If I had a standard geologist's kit to study water composition, I could learn a lot about the local mineral deposits very quickly. But that was the only place I couldn’t go now...

  And then my radio started buzzing:

  “Come in, Gnat. This is Rupor. You done good, kid! It was all confirmed. The radio won’t pick up from over the hill, so call two transports to that green lake from the central base. And, if you’d like to see it all with your own eyes, get up to the spot you pointed us to. It’s really worth a look.”

  “But Gerd Tamara,” I started but fumbled, not knowing how to formulate my thought that the leader of the Second Legion was not too fond of me and would not want me there.

  “You have my permission!”

  Fame increased to 5.

  I couldn’t believe my ears. The voice, beyond all doubt, belonged to Gerd Tamara! The harsh Second Legion commander had an unexpectedly sweet tone. Before she changed her mind, I called the base and, giving my coordinates, gave an order to send two transports to the lake in the hills. Then, jumping on stones, I raced up the stream and scrambled up the steep slope.

  Wow!!! From this stony platform, I had an excellent view of the whole node, even though the Capital itself was blocked by a higher neighboring hill. I could see all the main roads and distant buildings in the Yellow Mountains, Jungles, even the Eastern Swamp.

  Cartography skill increased to level twenty-seven!

  Cartography skill increased to level twenty-eight!

  Cartography skill increased to level twenty-nine!

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-two!

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-three!

  You have reached level sixteen!

  You have received three skill points!

  All those messages made me stumble, then I came to a very important conclusion. Leveling Cartography and Eagle Eye could be done not only from fast vehicles, but also by climbing up to good vantage points. A nice place for some spies. There was nothing surprising in the fact that the Dark Faction had taken advantage of it.

  There was a small tent for three or four people, sheltered from view by thick bushes and boulders. Before it was a pot on a gas burner. Nearby they had a powerful radio station with a tall antenna, hidden in the thick foliage of a tree. A tripod stood next to it with a huge telescope practically six feet in length, which also had a laser distance measurer and another couple modifications.

  The spies were lying next to their camp on the grass with their faces down. Their naked bodies were spread-eagled with their arms and legs tied to stakes in the earth. The Dark Faction players were only wearing dark impenetrable blindfolds, and thick rubber ball gags, held firmly by a strap around their head.

  Right next to them on a flat stone, there were some things the Second Legion had confiscated: chameleon cloaks, dark scaled suits, boots, helmets, strange-looking firearms and clips, radios, grenades, coils of rope and wire, a first-aid kit, thermal underwear and plenty of personal items.

  Gerd Tamara was standing next to the sophisticated telescope and carefully studying it. After that, she crouched down in her exoskeleton armor, twisted a few settings and turned the optical device to the northwest.

  “Holy crap! What a powerful telescope! I can see First Legion at Border Post Four playing cards instead of keeping watch. By the way, Roman Pavlovich, write down their names, so we can punish them: Headquarters Pen_Pusher, Shoot_To_Kill, Nelly Svistunova and... crap, I can't see the fourth, there’s a slab of reinforced concrete in the way.”

  “The fourth is most likely Gurbin, the group sniper,” answered a ta
ll muscular level-72 Grenadier by the name Roman Pavlovich.

  “Most likely it is Gurbin, but I can’t see him for certain. And as I am not one-hundred-percent sure, do not put Gurbin on the list. Hey, get away from her!!!”

  The cry of rage tore itself from Gerd Tamara after she peeled herself from the telescope. It was directed at a group of soldiers at the feet of the naked Minn-O La-Fin, who were discussing the amusing spectacle. The soldiers obeyed unquestioningly. The leader of the Second Legion then stood up, searched for me and called me closer with a gesture:

  “Gnat, I’ll admit I do not know how you did that. And when I do not understand something, I get mad and untrusting. I do not know these two,” the paladin nodded her massive helmet carelessly at two of the captive soldiers, “but as for Minn-O La-Fin, this is not our first encounter. She has excellent intuition, with her Perception far beyond twenty and a well leveled Danger Sense skill. Usually, you cannot even raise a weapon at Minn-O La-Fin before she’s out of firing range or behind cover. How did she not detect you?!”

  “I simply didn’t think of pointing a weapon at her, because I understood the senselessness of fighting three high-level enemies at once. And I was close to her, and totally covered in wet mud when she looked over the area through that thing,” I said, pointing at the unusual monocle lying on a stone among the spoils.

  “That is an infrared lens, and a very good one at that. You got very lucky, Gnat, twice. But in any case, you were a great help to the faction. Plus, you helped the Second Legion and me personally. Minn-O La-Fin is a valuable prisoner, and the Dark Faction is sure to want to trade for her. I heard you had a dispute with Lozovsky and Tyulenev. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

  Chapter Eighteen. Lessons Learned

  I DIDN’T MANAGE to hit level seventeen before sunset, and it was all my fault. First off, I didn’t have the audacity to go use the powerful telescope right after Gerd Tamara was done. I could have seen a lot of territory that way. But, while I was speaking with the leader of the Second Legion, the telescope was taken off the tripod and folded up for transport to the Capital. The radio station was also packed up and prepared for transport, along with the tent and other camping supplies.

  After that, I wasted twenty minutes just talking to players and watching the Second Legion soldiers. I should have spent that time leveling! Sure, it wasn’t totally in vain, not at all. There were plusses as well: I met mechanics that could improve my weapons and clothes and found out something important about the game system.

  For example, if an enemy was stunned or tied up, one could fully remove all their equipment and weapons, and also clear out their inventory. But the same could not be done with a corpse. Worn items and weapons were generally preserved after respawn, and the whole inventory was kept other the few items that dropped.

  I also found out some extremely important information. Apparently, your character stayed in the game for a certain amount of time after exiting the game that bends reality. How long depended on the safety of the location. In any base of one’s own faction, or other territories classified as “green, safe,” the character remained for around thirty seconds after the player left their pod. But in those thirty seconds, your character was inactive and very vulnerable. It could easily be killed or robbed. Of course, players of one's own faction almost never harmed their allies. Nevertheless, such a thing was possible, and had to be kept in mind.

  So, if there was no way to get somewhere safer, and one had to log off in a “yellow, normal” zone, the delay increased to ten minutes. That was very risky, because predatory creatures were especially active at night. Also, enemies could easily kill your immobile and helpless character. And finally, in “red, dangerous” zones, for example with enemies nearby or in extreme conditions (lack of air, poisonous fumes, frost etc.), a character would not disappear after the player logged off and would just be left in a lethal scenario. In the majority of such cases, the character would die.

  While I talked with the experienced players of the Second Legion, Gerd Tamara handed out the thermoregulating scaled suits and chameleon cloaks at her discretion. The remaining valuable items were also immediately taken by the Second Legion soldiers and stuffed into duffel bags. There was even a small scuffle over the laser pistols. Anyhow, Grenadier Roman Pavlovich, Gerd Tamara’s right hand man, quickly established order.

  There was just the cartographer’s IR lens left. It had unusual skill and stat requirements and was no good to anyone. Many players turned it over it in their hands, looked at it with pity and set it back. When distributing the spoils of an operation, the Second Legion had a rule that an item had to be used and could not be taken “just because.”

  “Gnat, take a look and see if you’ll be able to use this item any time soon.” the leader of the Second Legion suggested. “The lens is worth a pretty penny. What's more it's rare and, as far as I can see, has bonuses. It was clearly made for people, although not by the Dark Faction.”

  I didn’t have to be persuaded and walked up to the IR lens lying in a plastic case with soft lining that looked very similar to felt.

  Infrared lens (helmet mod)

  Vision radius: 11500 feet. Target identification radius: 6000 feet. Perception +2

  Statistic requirements: Perception 20, Intelligence 17

  Skill requirements: Cartography 25, Eagle Eye 20, Electronics 8

  Attention! Your character’s electronics skill is insufficient to use this item.

  Without saying a word, I opened my skill window and placed all three free points into Electronics, raising it to level 9. After that, I carefully removed it from the case and, using the attached clamp, clipped it to my helmet over my right eye.

  The twilight grew more contrasting. The soldiers of the Second Legion and the captives lying on the ground changed to bright white silhouettes. I even noticed a little fox hiding in the nearby bushes, sniffing around in alarm and studying the people here in the hills.

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-four!

  “Now that’s great! I sensed that this item should belong to you,” Gerd Tamara commented and, turning back to her subordinates, ordered: “Alright, transport is here. Let’s pack up!”

  The captives had their ankles tied together and their hands cuffed behind their backs, but their blindfolds and gags were left in place. Then, they were carried down to the sulfur lake as if they were fragile porcelain vases. But I didn’t follow the Second Legion. I was in no rush to return to the Capital.

  For a few minutes, I stayed on the high vantage point to try out my new IR lens, but the view didn’t change much. I should have figured. Even without this device, I could see more than two miles from up on the hill, so my map didn’t expand. My progress bar was rising, probably because of the animals I couldn’t see before, but the pace was positively comatose. That wasn’t good enough. I had to find somewhere else. There was still time, so I decided to go up a taller hill nearby. I could level fastest from there, because I’d be using both Eagle Eye and Cartography.

  But that was the wrong move. I might have reached level seventeen on my first day if I’d chosen differently. The swampy wooded thicket in the hollow between the hills took a lot longer to get through than I imagined, and I was caught off guard by a pack of level 30+ Forest Wolves. Fortunately, using the IR lens, I saw them before they saw me and managed to slip away quietly. I tried to take a wide arc around the dangerous predators, but that just led me into a patch of swamp muck so deep I had to turn back. It was all for nothing. The sun was setting, and I had to get back to the Capital while it was still light. The only good that came of all my wandering through the woods was that I leveled Medium Armor to twelve.

  A quarter mile from the Capital, there was a bridge over a river. I was surprised to see around forty crack First Legion troops just past it, blocking the road and seemingly waiting for something. I just kept walking toward them, though, until one of them called out to me, saying to get off the road. I was somewhat befuddle
d but obeyed, going to stand in the grass nearby.

  Then I saw an antigrav. It was nothing like Zheltov’s hovercraft, though. This was a long cigar-shaped object that cruised across the evening sky without a sound. The First Legion soldiers saw it as well and formed a large circle one hundred feet in diameter. The silver antigrav positioned itself over the very center of the circle and set down vertically until it nearly touched the ground.

  Its door slid noiselessly to the side, and a technician in an orange uniform jumped out. I looked on the mini-map, saw his marker was red, then scanned over his information and realized he belonged to the Dark Faction. The First Legion didn’t reach for their weapons, but I could read tension on their faces. They were ready for this to turn hot at any moment. What was going on??? I froze in place, not wanting to accidentally mess up something important.

  Meanwhile, the enemy technician quickly ran around the antigrav and extended three support legs, allowing the aircraft to stand stable. After that, the very same technician lowered a gangway and made a low respectful bow. A tall old man walked out slowly in a dignified manner. He had a long gray beard and was dressed in a black robe that went all the way to the ground. In his hands, he held a heavy carved staff capped with a human skull.

  Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. Human. Dark Faction. Level-108 Psionic Mage

  Level one hundred and eight! God damn!!! I never even imagined there were such high-level bruisers in this game yet. At least not humans. What was more, he had La-Fin in his name, just like the prisoner Minn-O La-Fin. And their facial features were similar, as if they were related. This must have been her father!

  And then... as if reading my thoughts, the enemy mage turned unerringly in my direction! Despite the eighty to one hundred feet between us, we locked eyes. It felt as if a gust of air blew over me as cold as outer space. The old man’s eyes glowed with an eldritch flame, his gaze boring deep into my psyche. His eyes went up just a hair. The already frigid stare turned even more glacial. Then a hypnotic voice rang out in my head: