by A. J. Markam
Jen drew the exact same conclusion and gasped.
The orc foot soldiers forced my friends down on their knees just a few feet away from us, then ripped off the burlap bags and immediately confirmed what I knew: they’d gotten Richard, Russell, and Slothfart.
But how?
Were they the only ones left alive after the attack on the bank?
What’s more, how had the orcs known to be waiting for me and Jen?
How had they known?
Richard looked terrified. Russell just looked pissed off.
“Well shit,” Slothfart said as he saw me and Jen. “I’d hoped you guys got away.”
“Silence!” the orc behind him yelled, and hit him on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword.
“OW, dude – cut that shit out!” Slothfart yelled as he winced.
Another blow to the head slammed him face-first onto the floor.
“Okay, okay – shutting up!” Slothfart whined. “Just leave my butthole alone!”
Out in the hallway echoed heavy, slow steps… and then the boss walked into the room.
Oktar looked even more terrifying than I had remembered him, with his deeply scarred face and hideous features.
He looked at me first, then Jen, then the three captives on their knees.
Without a word, he picked up the bag and upended it.
A flood of jewels spilled across the floor – diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires. Not to mention hundreds of gold bars.
Oktar looked at me. I was pretty damn sure this was the part where he cut my head off again.
Instead he turned to one of his henchmen. “How much is here?” he asked in Russian.
The orc made the same motions in the air that the elf bank manager had when he’d calculated the worth of my deposit.
“Over $98 million,” the orc answered in Russian.
Oktar looked back at me and made a face like Not bad.
“Almost hundred million in gold,” he said in his heavily accented English. “Very impressive, little thief. And I am not often impressed. You managed to successfully break into the Shadow Bank… and you have given me great gift without my even asking for it.”
He squatted down in front of me so I was face-to-face with his ugly mug.
“Hundred million gold with alibi – because we did not do it. We even helped the Shadow Bank repel your attack on the front gate. And when they find the tunnel, they will know it was you.” He chuckled menacingly. “Still, you broke in… and you would have gotten away with it if not for my men.”
He gave me a quizzical look.
“There is one thing I do not understand. You made your tunnel all the way at the end of the hallway… and yet, rather than go to closest rooms, you went to those directly across from ours. Why? Why did you choose those rooms? Were you trying to rob us, and you made mistake?”
“No,” I said. “I knew which rooms were yours.”
“How?”
“For three days I had somebody kill me over and over, and I would scout out the bank with my ghost.”
He chuckled. “Clever. But if you knew which rooms were ours, why did you not rob them?”
“To send you a message. That I could have – but I didn’t.”
“Hm. Too bad your message did not work as intended.” He chuckled again. “But… I know you are good thief now.”
He stood up and walked over to Jen, gripped her hair, and pulled her head back forcefully.
She looked up at him in hatred – and absolute powerlessness.
“Stop!” I cried out. “She didn’t know anything. None of them did.”
“You are lying to me,” Oktar said. “They knew everything.”
“No, they’d didn’t – please, let them go – you don’t want them, you want me.”
“I want ALL of you. You work together very well. You wanted job, little thief? Now you have job. You and your friends will rob banks for me. Not Shadow Bank – other banks. Will be even easier for you.”
“And if we say no?” Russell growled from where he knelt on the floor.
Oh shit.
“Russell,” I whispered harshly, shaking my head ‘no.’ “Shut up.”
Oktar released Jen’s head and strolled over to Russell. He stood there for a second, then looked up and nodded.
The orc behind Russell buried his battle ax in Russell’s back.
Russell screamed – as did the rest of us.
“Heal him,” Oktar said in Russian.
The Shaman who had teleported us waved his arms, and a blast of orange energy shot out of his hands and entered Russell’s body.
I could see my friend’s hit points go from 25% all the way back up to 100%.
Then Oktar nodded again.
The battle ax slammed into Russell’s back again, and he screamed in pain.
“Heal him,” Oktar said, and the Shaman sent another bolt of orange into Russell’s body.
“Please, stop!” I begged – until an orc put his hand over my mouth.
Oktar smiled malevolently. “It would be very unfortunate…”
The sequence started all over again:
The battle ax in Russell’s back, followed his screams and the healing burst of energy.
“…if you refuse…”
Battle ax.
Scream.
Healing energy.
“…my very generous offer.”
The orc was about to strike Russell again, but Oktar raised his hand slightly, and the orc lowered his weapon.
“Although it will not be just you who suffers,” Oktar continued. He looked at Richard, Russell, and Slothfart. “I do not know your identities yet, nor the woman’s… but I know yours, little thief.”
Oktar turned and smiled at me.
An icy chill went down my back.
“We will find out who your friends are… we will torture them if we must… but you, James Stanislavsky, of 1348 Rosewood Avenue in Los Angeles, California.…”
WHAT?!
How did he know my family’s address?!
Had the Shadow Bank told him? But I hadn’t given them that information!
Oktar continued to talk, and my horror only grew.
“You, and your mother Rebecca… your grandmother, Marina… your brother, Daniel… his wife Denise… your niece and nephew, Elizabeth and Becker… ”
I felt sick.
I knew that Arkova had taken them someplace safe – but if Oktar knew their names, what else did he know? How far could his reach extend?
How long did I have before he found them?
Or had he found them already?
The orc continued, “If you do not want them to die horrible, painful deaths, James Stanislavsky, then you will do as I say. Your friends will do as I say, and you will all rob banks for me here in game.”
Oktar crouched down in front of me again and gave another bone-chilling smile.
“You belong to me now, little thief.”
With a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I realized I’d pulled it off.
Mission accomplished.
I had infiltrated the orcs’ gang…
…just not the way I’d planned it.
Hi there! I hope you enjoyed DEAD MAN GAMING!
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I have another book out that's not LitRPG, but you might enjoy it. It's called OPERATION ZODIAC. Here's the blurb:
Operation Zodiac - where man becomes machine, and machine becomes man.
It's the year 2021, and the U.S. Military has created the ultimate weapon in Zodiac - an elite unit of soldiers using bleeding-edge tech, where mechanized armor and
experimental physics combine to create the biggest tactical advantage in warfare since the atom bomb.
However, a group of international mercenaries seems to know Zodiac's secrets - especially those of its leader, Col. Jeff Killian.
Killian and his teammates must race to discover who's behind the killers before they destroy Zodiac - and the United States along with it.
WARNING: This is for fans of THE TERMINATOR, THE MATRIX, and THE X-MEN movies (because it's the story of a kickass team, not because of mutants). This is a an action-adventure sci-fi romp. This is a Hollywood summer blockbuster extravaganza. This is a "shit blowed up real good" kind of book, with some snappy dialogue, martial arts, and wacked-out science thrown in. The team members are half civilian, half military. They don't speak in acronyms. They don't act like SEAL Team 6. This is not a hardcore military book. It's Hollywood, not a documentary. If that's not your cup of tea, no harm no foul - but you'll probaly want to skip this one. If, on the other hand, you like any of the following: over-the-top action, Japanese anime, comic books, military conspiracies, fun characters, and/or general sci-fi mayhem, give it a try.
Click here to get OPERATION ZODIAC on Kindle Unlimited.
DEAD MAN GAMING
Copyright 2018 A.J. Markam
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com (or another online retailer of ebooks) and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, used, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from A.J. Markam.
Edition: February 2018
