The Citadel (Mirror World Book #2)

by Alexey Osadchuk

  "Thank you," I said cautiously. "I'll take it as a compliment."

  "Despite your lack of experience, you've braved almost a month's immersion."

  "This is the only clause on your list of requirements that really worried me," I admitted. "Should I have waited some more?"

  He pursed his lips and waved my question away. "That's not a problem. Two more days don't really count. But your skill level is impressive. Congratulations! This is a big fat plus in your favor."

  "In yours too," I said softly but he didn't seem to have heard it, busy peering at the screen.

  The tapping of the keyboard stopped. With one last click of the mouse, the worker looked up at me and produced some semblance of a smile.

  "Congratulations, Sir Olgerd! Our bank can offer you a loan of eighty thousand gold in in-game currency. Which corresponds to the same amount in dollars at the last rate. Sir? Are you all right? You're pale."

  "But," I whispered. My throat was dry. My temples felt as if being caught in a vice. A tell-tale sharp pain pierced my chest.

  "Are you okay? Would you like some water?" he asked sympathetically.

  "No thanks," I slowly shook my head. "I'm sorry to bring it up but actually I counted on a bigger sum."

  His bushy eyebrows shot up. "That's the biggest we can do! Please have mercy on us! You have neither security nor guarantors... If it were a mortgage, at least we'd keep the property."

  He was absolutely right. "Yes... sure... of course. I understand."

  "No bank in this country can make you a better offer."

  "You're right, of course. I'm sorry about this. I just need the money really badly. Can't you do something?"

  He glared at me, about to reply, when the phone rang softly. "If you'll excuse me, I'm obliged to take this..." he picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

  While he spoke into the phone, I lowered my head, staring thoughtlessly at the floor. Eighty thousand. Only eighty. Where could I get another hundred? As if I didn't know...

  "Yes. Absolutely. I won't be a moment," he replaced the receiver and turned back to me. "I'm afraid I must leave you now. My boss will be with you in a moment. Have a nice day."

  He rose from his desk with an agility remarkable for someone his age and strode out through a door in the far corner.

  No idea how long I remained alone but by the time the door opened again, I was all shaking.

  The door opened, letting in — or should I say, spewing out — a young woman about thirty years of age. She was tall with black hair, a chiseled face, slim waist and legs that seemed to go on forever. She looked more gorgeous than any amount of Alven girls here in Mirror World.

  Despite her stunning appearance, her clothes reminded me of what our business etiquette teacher used to call "standard-issue office fatigues": a gray pencil skirt ending just below the knee and a matching fitted jacket. A no-frills (literally) ivory blouse, nude tights and kitten heels completed the look.

  "Good morning, Mr. Ivanenko!" she beamed at me from the doorway. "Your capsule readings indicate your heart is about to jump out. I've come to put your mind at rest."

  She walked over to the desk and fell gracefully into the chair that Mr. Pavlov had occupied only minutes ago. Looking me in the eye, she went on,

  "I'm Vicky, the head of the Mellenville branch of Reflex Bank," she said with a disarming smile. "I'm sorry about this circus. Mr. Pavlov is quite capable of smothering anyone to death with his calculations. I'm going to tell you something, but first please promise you won't be angry with me."

  The smile lingered on her face.

  "If the truth were known," I said, "I'm past caring. I feel completely burned out. So no, I won't be angry with you. I promise."

  "Good," she smiled again. "All this time, we've been watching you, analyzing your progress."

  I waved her confession away. "That's pretty clear, isn't it? The fact that I can see no cameras here doesn't mean they're not there."

  She half-lowered her eyes and gave a light shake of her head. "You don't understand. I don't mean now."

  "Excuse me?"

  "We started following your progress as soon as you chose the Ennan race."

  I sighed. "I know. My brother told me. It's because of your ex-worker, isn't it? Andrew Petrov, a.k.a. Pierrot. It was him who channeled me into this race."

  "Not exactly. You don't know all of it."

  "Meaning?"

  "Pierrot doesn't exist. Andrew Petrov does, of course. But he has nothing to do with it."

  "Wait a sec..."

  "Do you really think that a company like ours would allow some programmer to wreak havoc on us?"

  "Well, in that case..."

  "That's right. It was us who channeled you toward Ennans. I'll tell you more: you're not alone."

  "But as far as I know, I'm the sole Ennan player. Do the Darkies have them too?"

  "We're not talking about Ennans."

  'Wait a sec! Does that mean that-"

  She nodded. "We have quite a few other such races in the game. We call them Unique, or First-Born."

  I frowned, rubbing my temples. "This is something I don't understand. My brother Dmitry..."

  She raised her hands in a soothing gesture. "You don't need to worry about him. He still thinks it was Petrov who caused the glitch."

  I sat back and interlaced my fingers. "I should probably listen to what you have to say."

  "Good decision," she flashed me an encouraging smile. "Let's start at the beginning, shall we? As you well know, we're about to release a new Mirror World project: Water World. Marine races and species, ships, pirates, lots of islands — tons of stuff. Only not everybody knows that the project has just been frozen for a few more months."

  "I see. I think I know why. Might it have something to do with the company's plans to sell the majority stake to the government?"

  "That's right," she said. "Apparently, the rumors have already leaked into the game. Or was it your brother who told you that? Actually, it doesn't matter."

  I shrugged. "Every player knows that." I couldn't allow Dmitry to have problems because of me.

  "We've invested a lot of money and effort into the new project," she said.

  "And now it'll be the government reaping all the dividends," I added knowingly.

  "As if! The government I wouldn't have minded so much. It'll be those in control of the project who'll do all the reaping. We might be looking at considerable losses. Losses! We're basically giving our baby away for free."

  "This sounds scary."

  "Don't worry. Very few know that we're having this conversation. That's why we've chosen this old backup server to meet you."

  "I still don't understand why you might need me."

  "You don't?" she arched a thin eyebrow.

  My back erupted in cold sweat. "Wait a second... is it the Ennans' map you want?"

  She nodded. "You're our Plan B. Others too, of course, but they haven't progressed a quarter of your route. Which is perfectly understandable."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean your motivation. You would move mountains if it helped your daughter to get better. So let's stop beating about the bush. Mr. Ivanenko, I have a proposal to make."

  "I'm all ears."

  "You're right, it is about the map. Or rather, the Ennans' Twilight Castle."

  "You want the clans to start a new war over it?"

  She shook her head. "Not exactly. The Twilight Castle isn't really a castle. It's a city. And not just any city: it's the capital of the Twilight Zone."

  For a while, I fell speechless. Cross-armed, Vicky seemed to be enjoying my reaction.

  Then I knew it. "You can't activate Water World quite yet, but you seem to have a backup scenario in No-Man's Lands. You want to launch the Twilight Zone."

  "That's right," she smiled. "We would like to ask you to activate the Gray Obelisk. By doing so you will trigger a war the kind of which this world hasn't seen yet."

  "But why me? I'm only a Gr
inder!"

  "If we strike a deal with any of the big clans, this will immediately become known to those who we'd like to remain in the dark for as long as possible. So you're actually the perfect solution. Whoever might try to look into you, will soon come across Pierrot's defection story and won't dig any deeper. The whole corporation knows about him. So you, in disregard of our warnings and propositions, insisted on sticking with this char. Yes, it brought you quite a few bonuses but you earned them yourself, without any help from the admins. And you only have the crazy programmer to thank for it."

  "All right," I lowered my eyelids. "Let's presume I agree to all this. How am I supposed to do it with my account type? And most importantly, why would I need to do it?"

  "Oh," she smiled. "Now we're talking. Firstly, we'll give you the loan to finance your daughter's surgery. Secondly, you'll have to upgrade your account. Yes, that'll cost you. You'll have to pay to keep all your current characteristics, professions, items and such but, as you might have already guessed, we just might offer you another loan to do that."

  Clever bastards. That way, they were still behind it all but none was the wiser. And once all hell broke loose, it would be too late to ask questions.

  So, Sir Olgerd? Out of the frying pan into the fire? Still, if I had to choose I'd rather go with the bank.

  Did I see a pattern here? My every step seemed to take me further away from quiet locations. Very well, then. Time to head to No-Man's Lands.

  End of Book Two

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  The Illustrious (The Sublime Electricity Book #1)

  In this world, there were no Dark Ages; they were called Bloody instead. In this world, the skies were once obscured by the wings of the fallen, striking fear into the hearts of mankind. In this world, science has freed society of its shackles, and the Second Empire, the empire of humanity, now stretches out from sea to sea. In this world, combat steamships furrow the waters, armored trains await their hour, and army dirigibles float through the heavens. And yet, the delicate balance this world has achieved hangs by a thread. The age of steam is on its way out, and the era of the Sublime Electricity is just beginning. In this time of dramatic transition, even the tiniest deviation in course could topple the world into a vortex of chaos.

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  About the Author

  Alexey Osadchuk was born in 1979 in the Ukraine. In the late 1990s his family moved to the south of Spain where they still live today.

  Alexey was an avid reader from an early age, devouring adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle.

  In 2010 he wrote his first fantasy novel which was immediately accepted by one of Russia's leading publishing houses Alpha Book.

  He also used to be a passionate online gamer which prompted him to write the story of a man who joins an MMORPG game hoping to raise money for his daughter's heart surgery. In 2013, the first book of Mirror World was published by EKSMO, Russia's largest publishing house. The original Russian series now counts three novels. The second book of Mirror World, The Citadel, is now being translated into English.

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  Thank you for reading The Citadel!

  If you like what you've read, check out other LitRPG books and series published by

  Magic Dome Books:

  The Way of the Shaman Books 1 and 2

  by Vasily Mahanenko

  Start the Game (Galactogon Book #1)

  by Vasily Mahanenko

  Phantom Server Books 1, 2 and 3

  by Andrei Livadny

  Perimeter Defense Books 1, 2 and 3

  by Michael Atamanov

  Mirror World Books 1 and 2

  by Alexey Osadchuk

  The Lag (The Game Master Book #1)

  by A. Bobl and A. Levitsky

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