Andrei Soloviev relaxed noticeably — the lady clearly changed her rage to sweetness. The security head instantly got his bearings and hurried to change the topic:
"Yes, the ideas are correct. Now is the time to think about why these simple, obvious truths are being spoken by a simple tester, while the corporate employees of higher rank hadn't noticed them earlier or taken measures."
The gray-haired lady looked at her assistant and laughed magnanimously.
"Andrei, let’s cool it with the repressions. Enough heads have rolled over this great hunt as it is. The director of player outreach was fired. The marketing director was fined and received an official notice that he did not fully meet the qualifications of his profession. The director of special projects admitted that he didn't have the situation under control and was not aware of events in his own department, and asked to be transferred back to his post as test-group leader. I'm inclined to approve that resolution for a transfer, as well. Mark Tobius is a valuable employee. We should keep him for our corporation. But he just doesn't seem to have grown to director level yet..."
As I was listening, my head was sinking lower and lower. Just imagine of all the thunder and lightning today! I mean, directors were sacked! And it was all because of my arrogance and a few careless phrases said into a microphone... I was afraid that, after today, I had earned myself some enemies in the corporation. And also, I couldn't understand what the lady had decided about me. How was this story all going to end?
As if reading my thoughts, she continued:
"After weighing all the plusses and minuses, I give my approval to your additions. Exactly as you described them. Also, the decision was made that players who have bought the token will be marked gold on the map to attract attention and encourage other players to get the tokens as well. There was one real change, though. After meeting with accounting, it was decided that the price of a token should be increased to five credits and that it should only be allowed to be paid with real money. Over the first day, sales of the 'token of the wyvern hunter' have provided our corporation with twenty-eight million credits, and that's just the beginning. Of course, on a wider corporate scale, that's just a drop in the bucket, but as unplanned income, it is quite respectable. I suppose I'll give an order that ten percent should be set aside as a daily prize to go to the wyvern owner. That's good money, and you’ve earned it honestly, Timothy. Congratulations!"
The head of in-game security shook my hand and also congratulated me. But my head was spinning in agitation and worry. Meanwhile, the woman continued:
"Timothy, in that a new director of special projects hasn't yet been appointed, for some time, you will have no immediate boss. For a day or two, you'll have to act on your own without oversight, and without getting every little action approved in advance. Whether that's good or bad, we'll see. What's important now is that the event continues as actively and fervently as it began. The clans are active, top players are in motion. The inevitable skirmishes are underway. Lots of items and money is sure to change hands. Your mission, Timothy, is to continue to serve as a bothersome lure, hopping before their very noses, tempting the players to want to catch you. If you manage, you'll be promoted to senior tester and will receive a monthly salary of two thousand credits on top of the payouts you already get. If, though, you have any other questions, or actions that need someone’s permission, send them through the director's assistant... What's her name? She's quite young and wears lots of makeup..."
"Jane?" I suggested.
"That's her! For now, solve all the complicated issues through her. And another thing..." Here, the gray-haired lady suddenly started smiling somewhat ashamedly, "this is a personal request. You see, Timothy, I've lived quite a long life. I even remember news stands on the street and stores selling paperback books..."
Paperbacks?! Those hadn’t been published for thirty years, if not forty! A long time ago, everything changed to electronic and audio-books. So, she must have been a real dinosaur! My estimation of the lady's birth year quickly moved back into the previous century. She might not have been from prehistoric times, but she was quite old. And meanwhile, the lady continued with a note of nostalgia for her bygone era:
"Yes, young man. It was once normal to read paperback books, and keep the most interesting of them in a special cabinet at home. In my childhood, I had whole shelves of nothing but books. And also, as a teenage girl, I was most drawn not to tear-jerking melodramas, but to adventures on the high seas and pirate romances. Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood. Arthur Conan-Doyle's Captain Sharkey. Flint, Silver, Blackbeard, Francis Drake... Right before this conversation, I was watching your game sessions from the last few days, and I was flooded with memories from distant childhood. The smell of the salty sea, tar and powder. The creaking of rigging, the flapping of sails in the wind..."
The woman started smiling and even closed her eyes for a few seconds, under the spell of the pleasant memories.
"So then, Timothy. I would really like you to show this side of the game in the best light in your future video clips. In Boundless Realm, we have a lot of seas and oceans, thousands of unknown lands and islands with treasures awaiting the brave, but the players are quite lazy and haven’t yet done much exploring of the seas. It's expensive and dangerous. You've already gotten a good idea how pricy it can be to outfit a ship and buy everything necessary for a crew. But in Boundless Realm, there are rich clans and players capable of emptying their wallets to equip marine expeditions. I'd like that to become more popular! I'd like there to be virtual equivalents to Magellan and Columbus, giving their lives to the spirit of adventure, exploring new lands and returning with hitherto unseen trophies! Can you do that for me, Timothy?"
Of course, I promised to do it. The woman thanked me and told Andrei Soloviev that she had no questions left and our meeting was over. I stood, bowed to the woman and headed for the exit. Once near the elevator, I took a risk and asked the security head who I was talking with back there. Andrei found my complete ignorance hilarious.
"Timothy, you've just had the chance to speak with Inessa Tyle herself. She's a legend in our corporation. Five years ago, she was the first person who, after hearing out a team of unknown developers, agreed to take a risk and invest her personal funds into buying servers and hiring employees. Now, Inessa Tyle is the vice president of the Boundless Realm Corporation, second in the hierarchy and one of the richest women on the planet. She owns one third of the shares of the Boundless Realm Corporation. She's God and King here. Her word is law for all employees. Timothy, you have no idea what kind of support you'll receive if you can fulfill the whims of this influential lady and create a magnificent pirate romance."
I nodded in silence, dumbfounded at the head of in-game security's admissions and the new perspectives revealed. It seemed very much that the leadership's opinion of me was directly dependent on how eloquently and convincingly I could depict the charms of a pirate life in my upcoming video reports. Now, I would have to go balls to the wall to provide the material she was after!
Return to the Bireme
IT DIDN'T TAKE me long to edit the video. The material, in large part, had been ready for some time — the raft voyage down the river, then the dock near the undersea village of Ookaa, loading our animals onto Tipsy Gannet, then the attempt to flee the pirates and the log driven into the sea floor, stopping the bireme. Sure, I had to cut down the scenes of my walking along the bottom of the sea, and my other underwater tasks, as I had no desire to show the viewers that big-eared Amra had been given invincibility. That would just be another headache. Also, I was trying very hard to get around all the moments connected with White Shark and immediately went to the Island of the Wanton Widow. Thankfully, there was plenty of material on our night out. Although my character didn't remember nearly everything that had happened, Valerianna Quickfoot had provided footage of the most interesting moments, and Max Sochnier had helped as well.
I paid particular attention to the Tipsy Gannet c
oming under my team’s control, as well as Taisha freeing all the slave oarsmen. The half-hour video finished with some shots taken from shore of the sea blockade and the battles in the harsh storm between the various crews of undying. I mocked the Goons in the harshest terms, showing how they'd wrecked their ship with their own idiocy on the seaside cliffs and drowned their entire crew.
I didn't forget to say the key word "steel" either, given that aid from the Legion of Steel would now come in very handy. From all the logic of the clip, it followed that my big-eared goblin was still on the Island of the Wanton Widow surrounded by the many ships of his pursuers. Let the viewers think just that!
After uploading the video report, I set about going through my huge backlog of messages, which turned out to be a huge waste of time. Of the two hundred messages there, I didn't find a single one useful — just more of the same: requests to allow myself to be killed in Boundless Realm, or offers to meet in real life. Alright then, enough! I had already encountered a group of strangers today, and it was very much not to my liking.
Finally, I finished my business, crawled into the virtual reality capsule and closed the lid. So then, how am I looking?
Name: Amra
Race: Goblin Vampire
Class: Herbalist
Experience,228172 of 240000
Character level, 31 (ATTENTION!!! Level-30 modifications not chosen)
Hit points, 276/276
Endurance points, 133/241
Statistics:
Strength (S)32 (32)
Agility (A) 34 (122.4)
Intelligence (I)5 (16.5)
Constitution (C)35 (45.5)
Perception (P)3 (43.3)
Charisma (Ch)64 (80)
Unused points0
Primary skills (6 of 6 chosen)
Herbalism (P A)15
Trading (Ch I)16
Alchemy (I A)15
Dodging (A P)20 (ATTENTION!!! Level-20 skill specialization not chosen)
Stealth (A C)21 (ATTENTION!!! Level-20 skill specialization not chosen)
Exotic Weapons (A P)12
Secondary skills (6 of 6 chosen)
Veil13
Acrobatics15
Athletics14
Foreman17
Riding8
Animal Control6
Simplest of all was managing the modifications — just as at character level twenty, at level thirty, I chose Invisibility: another minus 2% to detection radius for my goblin by any NPC or living player in Boundless Realm.
Now, the time had come to choose my first perk to the Dodge skill. The abundance of options made my eyes go in opposite directions:
+30% chance of dodging arrows and metal ammunition
+30% chance of avoiding AoE spells (area of effect spells that hit a large area)
+30% chance of dodging spells aimed at character
+30% chance of dodging close combat weapons
+30% chance of dodging the fangs/claws/mandibles/tentacles/tails etc. of NPC monsters
It was all useful. I wanted them all! I considered it for three minutes before deciding it would be best to avoid AoE spells. I was reminded that, once upon a time, I'd been caught by a frost spell from a magical grenade, which nearly led to my death. Also, the panic effect from the moose bellowing was very unpleasant. I wasn't at all sure that the perk would help me avoid panic. I'd have to look at detailed guides on the forum. But the fact that Amra's chance of surviving all kinds of fireballs, magic shrapnel, poison clouds and other such spells with an area of effect would be certainly increasing was very, very nice.
It took me much less time to choose a Stealth skill perk. Sure, increased movement speed while hidden, or improved chance of hiding in illuminated places were alluring abilities, but I decided to continue on my chosen path and took a Stealth perk that reduced my character's discovery radius by a further 20%.
So then, loading. My big-eared goblin appeared in the captain's bunk on the White Shark. Taisha was sleeping on my bed. What was more, she was in the very same position I'd left her in this morning. It was as if the whole long nerve-wracking day had never happened. I pulled a thin woolen blanket more snugly over the girl, and the beautiful NPC muttered something indistinguishable in gratitude, not opening her eyes.
In the meantime, there had been clear changes in the room — the huge empty chest that had once held the dryad was now gone. In its place, there was a shelf and bedside table made from the boards that had once constituted the chest. Elegant and I'd even say ornate, also having a little railing so the contents wouldn't fall out as the boat rocked. And what was most surprising was that the shelves weren't empty. In fact, they were densely packed with bottles of woman's perfume, powders and mascaras, some other cosmetics, and a folded semi-transparent shawl. Were these all Taisha's? I turned to my NPC companion and shook my head in doubt. It didn't much look like the goblin girl used cosmetics.
Well, whose things were these, then? The dryad's? But where had she managed to get them on the bireme at open sea? Or had my pirate ship visited a port of some kind during the day? But then, all the efforts undertaken by Max Sochnier and me to keep Amra's location a secret would be going down the drain! This fundamental question had to be answered immediately, and I headed for the exit from the bunk in order to find the first mate or any other member of the crew.
"What, you won't even hug your wife?" came a reproachful voice from behind me, and I turned around instantly.
Taisha wasn't asleep and, the blanket thrown back, was staring at me. Her eyes were sparkling in joy.
"How’d I get stuck with a man like you?! Disappears to gods-know-where all day, only comes back at night and leaves as soon as he shows up. And I, meanwhile, missed you so, Amra!"
I approached the beautiful NPC, plopped down next to her on the bed and, my mind suddenly made up, stretched out to Taisha and kissed her right on the lips. My modest and well-mannered NPC companion was taken aback by the unheard-of impudence for a few seconds, only beginning to try and wriggle free after that.
Successful Strength check
Experience received: 25 Exp.
Successful Strength check
Experience received: 40 Exp.
Successful Strength check
Experience received: 80 Exp.
With every second, Taisha was squirming all the stronger, trying to get free, but I embraced my NPC bride tightly and didn't let go. The girl's resistance suddenly gave out and she started hugging me back, then giving me a smooch. We kissed for a long time and hugged one another, then my hand very slowly slipped under the thief-girl's clothing.
Check for Taisha's opinion of you failed
-15 to Taisha's opinion of you
"Hey now, none of that!" she said with a sudden frown, escaping my embrace with ease.
So much ease, in fact, that I didn't even have a shadow of a doubt that Taisha could have escaped my embrace at any second. She simply didn't want to and allowed herself to be kissed. The thief girl understood that I had realized it, and decided to explain her behavior:
"I won't hide it, you've become much more attractive and strong, Amra. You're no longer the clumsy unknown ragamuffin I once knew. Even the most terrifying orc cutthroats respect you and obey you unquestioningly. And I'm also prepared to go through fire and water for you as a leader. But your reputation as a terrifying pirate is not enough for me to give myself to you entirely without restraint. I must know that you deserve me beyond all shadow of a doubt. I need to know you're stronger, more capable and more agile than I am. And finally, it's important for me to know that you truly love and appreciate me. Convince me that you need me! Take me with you into the world of the undying!"
So, I'd been given the brush-off... I looked at my present +85 relationship with Taisha and realized that my companion wouldn't even allow herself to be kissed now. The thief, though, not waiting for any reply from me, stood up decisively from the bed, shook her luxurious red hair, adjusted her clothes and headed for the d
oor.
"I'm going to sleep in the nook by the kitchen, with Irek, Yunna, Darius and Darina. It will be a lesson for you in the future about wandering hands!"
-10 to Taisha's opinion of you
With some kind of sixth sense, I realized that trying to persuade her in this situation was absolutely useless and would only make things worse. Evidently, Taisha was attracted to decisiveness, confidence and strength. My big-eared Amra would have only fallen further in the girl's eyes if he'd tried to beg her to stay. However, the quite abrupt reaction of my NPC companion was still quite uncharacteristic. I had allowed my mischievous hands to wander somewhat in the past. If Taisha didn't like it, she immediately gave me a smack with her finger, but it had never risen to this point. I suspected that the outsized reaction today had a reason, and I supposed I knew what it was. So, I didn’t try to talk the thief girl out of it:
"You're free as a bird. Don't let me hold you. But before you go to the servants, I've got a few things to tell you."
The green-skinned beauty had already opened the door into the hall, but stopped in the doorway and turned involuntarily.
"I don't even recognize you today, Taisha! You were always proud and confident, considering yourself prettier and more beautiful than all others, and not without good reason. You announced your right to sleep in the captain's bunk yourself, the most prestigious place. All the orc pirates see you as the captain's companion and think of you as their master. But after meeting with the liberated and licentious dryad, you put your tail between your legs like a coward and decided to run into the tiny servant's room, even though with this act, you're immediately lowering yourself in the eyes of the pirates to that of a common servant, who doesn't deserve ceremony. Why'd you give up without a fight? Just ceding your place next to the leader to a prettier female? Taisha, you can't seriously consider yourself worse than the dryad in any way, right?"
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