Anyway, I wasn’t all that keen on ditching my awkward vehicle in the middle of the street. Just to be on the safe side I decided to hide it out. Spinning the wheel, I pulled into the garage.
I turned the key to shut down the engine and withdrew it. The motor silenced. I’d gotten so used to the sound of the growling engine I found the sudden silence unaccustomed. I stuffed the key in the bag, shoving it to the very bottom lest I lose it.
Stepping from the car, I split the garage. Came to a stop and looked around. The street was still gray, bleak, quiet, and deserted. Shivering in the cold, I started for the open entrance door of the shack.
It was such a mess inside the house. Pieces of debris and glass shards lay all over the floor. I took note of a set of stairs and two doors to adjacent rooms. Before taking the stairs, I decided to explore the first floor first. I entered one of the adjacent rooms but found nothing interesting in there. I made to move on but then heard an unpleasant buzzing sound from behind similar to that of a bee, multiplied a hundred times.
I looked back over my shoulder and saw a gigantic insect the size of a dog, flying through a gap in the ceiling down from the second floor. I stared at the mob and a piece of info popped up in my HUD.
> Name: “Weak mutant mosquito”
> Level: 3
> Health: 50/50
The mod charged my way amazingly fast. My right hand had barely reached for the pistol when I realized I wouldn’t be able to jerk the gun out before the mob reached me. So I employed the Blow psi-power.
The dark energy snatched up the mosquito and also a few nearby pieces of wrecked furniture one meter into the air. For all the insect’s aggressive buzzing and its wings vigorous flapping, the mod wouldn’t budge. On remembering that the Bash lasted only for ten seconds, I hastened to draw the handgun. I shouldn’t worried about that since ten seconds turned out to be more than enough time to slay the insect wallowing helplessly in the air. I opened up and killed it with only a few shots.
The carcass plopped down onto the floor in a shower of pieces of wrecked furniture. Once the body disappeared, a thing similar to a seashell’s took up its place. On hunching over, I touched the tips of my fingers to it. The thing disappeared and a message turned up before my eyes:
> You have received an ingredient: +10 pieces of chitin
I seemed to have picked up some ingredient. What it was used for I didn’t know yet but decided to deal with it later on. My gun drawn and at ready, I went on tossing the house. Another mutant mosquito attacked me on the second floor. I dealt with it without having any trouble at all. After it died, the mob dropped a piece of meat. I picked it up though I couldn’t cook it for now, since I didn’t learn the cooking mutant mosquitos skill.
There wasn’t anything else in the house so I got out into the street and headed for the next one.
The first floor had a few extra pistol ammo lying on the floor. The second floor held nothing useful. When I exited the building, I noticed the hatch that supposedly led down to the basement. I failed to notice it on my having approached the house earlier. Its set of doors wasn’t locked. I took the steps down to a dimly lit basement. Here I was encountered by another overgrown aggressive insect.
> Name: “Weak mutant fly”
> Level: 3
> Health: 45/45
This creature was nimbly circling me and letting off thorns, of which each one was the size of a matchstick. One of them dug into my arm and deprived me of 10 health points. After that, I activated the Shield and applied the Blow. But I missed. The fly was moving too fast. It was only when I employed the psi-power the third time that the dark energy lifted the fly up and arrested its movement. I took great pleasure in finishing the nasty creature off. It dropped nothing.
In the next, the third, shack I was assaulted by two overgrown mosquitos on the first floor and other two insects on the second floor. So I gathered up two more pieces of meat and twenty pieces of chitin.
Moreover, in the far corner of the room was some grayish threads. It might have originally been white but then dirt might have stained it. Either way, the clothes were slightly shinning which was why it had caught my attention to begin with. I walked over to it and a piece of info appeared before my eyes.
> Name: “Fabric gloves”
> Armor type: Outerwear
> Rarity: Uncommon (green)
> The player’s required level: 2
> State: 150/150
> Physical resistance: 10
> Fire resistance: 10
> Frost resistance: 5
> Corrosive resistance: 5
> Electrocute resistance: 5
It seemed that fortune finally smiled on me. It was a really useful item! Leaning over, I took a closer look at it. Although this article of clothing was dubbed “Fabric gloves”, it looked more like elastic boxing hand wraps. A line popped in my HUD.
> (Use the item: Yes/No)
Selected the “Yes” button. “Fabric gloves” disappeared from the floor and turned up on my hands, wrapped my forearms from the wrists to the elbows. I holstered my pistol and instantly withdrew it once more. The bandages didn’t slow down my movements a bit. Good. Besides, my arms were no longer getting cold. The bandages were of complete benefit to me, all right
A message popped up in the log.
> Take note, the supplies will be being dropped on Park of Despair in 15 minutes!
Having looked at the crystal, I opened the map. The mist had vanished from the places I’d already visited. The map displayed the street names. I looked it over, yet I didn’t found Park of Despair. It might have been in the mist-covered area. Or in an altogether different location. It might have been possible. It was a shame. Although I didn’t know what manner of supplies would be soon dropped, it surely would contain lots of useful items.
I got out into the street. I made to head for the next house but suddenly heard a noise that caused me to prick up my ears. I turned my head toward the source of the sound and saw a distant car, which was very similar to my buggy. It was another player, for sure. And he or she was racing in great haste. Maybe, they were dashing toward Park of Despair where the supplies were going to be dropped at. I got my brain in gear.
If I dogged the player I might learn where Park of Despair was and, more to the point, could also inquire about the game, my having been inserted into it, and the error preventing me from quitting it. He or she might not know the answers to the last two questions but might still be able to clear up some other things.
All these thoughts had crossed my mind in a matter of half a second. Turning around, I burst into a run for the garage where I had left my buggy.
Chapter three
By the time I pulled onto the main road where I’d last seen the player, he or she had already vanished from view.
I had my right foot pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor, yet the needle on the speedometer wouldn’t move past sixty mph. The buggy seemed to not be able to accelerate above this speed. The engine roared deafeningly and the vehicle body vibrated hard and creaked loud. Looked like the buggy was teetering on the verge of falling to pieces.
Negotiating the intersections, I eased up on the throttle a trifle so as I could look around. Still, the player was nowhere to be seen. It was impossible for me to find them now. They had to be way far away from me by now, for the car had been racing at great speed when I’d first spotted it. The player must have spent a lot of resources to upgrade their car. So there was no point in trying to hunt the player down. They could be anywhere by now. Even if I had spotted the car somewhere far away, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up to it, due to my buggy being a useless heap.
Furthermore, another thought crossed my mind. Only then did I begin realizing how big the city was. I’d been tooling around the city for more than an hour already but was still discovering more and more new streets I hadn’t been in before. Having dropped my speed, I quickly lifted my
left hand to have a look at the Map. Most of it was still covered with the mist.
And this city was just one location, just a small part of this world. The desert was at least fifteen times the size of the city. Owning a car was incredibly important in this game. It would have simply been impossible to roam such vast areas without a vehicle.
I forced myself to cease mulling over that. It was time to decide what to do next. I immersed myself in thinking. Maybe I should retrace my steps to the street lined with those shacks to resume looking for useful items?
Out of the blue, a nasty monster dropped onto the hood from above. The mob seemed to have sprung out of one of the windows or jumped off the roof of the nearby building I was driving alongside. It had the short trunk and four legs with long curved claws. Its skin was glossy and black. The head had three pairs of yellowish eyes, of which the top ones were situated at the creature’s bald skull. The mob had four more thin limbs similar to that of a spider, extending from the creature’s back.
As I regarded this unattractive creature, its stats appeared in my HUD.
> Name: “Spider scout”
> Level: 3
> Health: 55/55
The monster opened its mouth full of nasty fangs and a gray glob erupted from within it. I had barely tilted my head to the side when the revolting lump hit the headrest. I concentrated my mind and cast the Surge. Dark energy shoved the creature off the hood to the ground. Buggy accelerated and ran the mob over.
> +15 exp!
Other spiders started jumping out of windows. There were a lot of them, yet they didn’t bother me much. The machine gun dealt with them quite efficiently. Still, one monster dropped onto the roof once, reached into the cab with its claws, and gave me a whipping blow. Sharp pain shot through my shoulder and my HP was reduced by thirty percent. I thrust the creature off the buggy by dark energy and shot it to death.
I thought that even though spiders gave only fifteen experience points each, there were quite a few spiders in this part of the city, so I could linger here for some time, driving around and wasting these mobs to level up two or three times with no trouble at all. I deemed that there ought to be enough ammo for that on me.
However, my plans didn’t come true. Long ears-piercing shrill came from somewhere above. The high-pitching sound was so menacing I even winced and cowered back in my seat. I lifted my head and looked around. A huge creature that was the size of a human and bore a resemblance to a big bat perched on the edge of the nearby building. The mob was looking down.
If my memory served me correctly, I’d already seen such a creature half an hour time prior. I’d been lucky enough to go unnoticed by the creature. This time, my luck was jinxed. The mod spied me. It spread its wings, let out with a bloodcurdling scream, and abruptly jumped down off the roof, folding its wings. When the creature reached just above the power lines, it stretched out its wings once again and rushed forward through the air. I caught a glimpse of the mob’s stats in my HUD before it barreled over the roof of my buggy.
> Name: “Mantis”
> Level: 15
> Health: 1500/1500
My skin became a field of goosebumps. I best leg it. My character’s level was only two, so I’d better avoid fighting such a powerful creature. Sure enough, I’d managed to take out sixteen-level underground warcid worker, but at that time, fortune had smiled on me. Still, if something like that happened once more, it wouldn’t necessarily mean I’d get lucky again.
The warcid had thick armor but possessed pretty low hp. Besides, those underground creatures probably more often than not charged at the player in large packs. If I had been attacked by two or three warcids, I would’ve had no chance of survival. So I’d gotten lucky to have wasted the warcid before other ones dug out of the earth and joined up with him.
As for the mantic hovering in the air, I had absolutely nothing to defend myself against the threat from above. The machine gun mounted on the hood was useless against flying foes. Its aim was off and also it could shoot only in a straight line. So I couldn’t count on the machine gun now unless the winged creature was kind enough to fly directly in front of the buggy.
I floored it, having the vehicle roll as fast as possible. Due to the absent windshield, a cold wind blew in the cab and beat against my face like someone’s fist. Once again I marveled at the authenticity of the game. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see the mantis still tailing after me. The creature wasn’t gaining on me but it didn’t recede either maintaining a distance of thirty or so yards.
The monster snapped its jaws wide open and let out with a menacing scream. Then a fireball erupted from the creature’s gaping maw and darted forward down the road at lightning speed.
I spun the steering wheel hard, swerving the buggy to the left. The fiery glob slammed against the blacktop. The shock wave of a powerful gust and flying pieces of asphalt swept over the car. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t wounded by it, but the car’s motor took damage. It started to emit weird creaking noise. Quickly looking back over my shoulder, I saw thick gray smoke billowing from the engine.
I turned on the Shield before the creature could hurl another deadly fireball after me. A protective dome appeared over the car. After some time the mantis screamed again and ejected a fireball. It smacked against the power field and blew out. The shield withstood the explosion. But it took damage, all right. It lost most of its density and was nearly imperceptible now. One more such a blow to the Shield would surely destroy it completely.
True to form, this turned out to be the case. After another fireball crashed into the dome, it vanished. Fiery torrents, unhindered, splashed everywhere. It poured down not only on the engine but also on me. My clothes burst into flames at once. The pain was really excruciating. From the corner of my eye, I saw an icon of a de-buff appear in my HUD. The health bar was diminishing fast.
Yet the torture didn’t last too long. After two or three seconds, the fire dissipated completely and the pain was nonexistent as if I’d never been set on fire. My clothes had scorched marks here and there now. As soon as the pain vanished, I recollected the Shield psi-power. But it didn’t appear. I tried a few more times to reactivate it, but it wouldn’t switch on. Then a thought crossed my mind. I let my gaze fall to the rightmost bottom edge of my vision and looked at the Mana bar.
> 90/300
I remembered that maximally upgraded Shield consumed one hundred mana points. Dammit! I was totally vulnerable without the Shield and the mantis could easily deal with me now.
Still, having taken a look in the rearview mirror, I saw the giant bat was no longer following me. It wheeled around and flew away. Looked like game rules had mobs chase the player for a limited amount of time. Or the mantis might’ve spotted some other player and turned its attention to them. Anyway, I was only too glad to encounter such a lucky turn of events. Yet I best not slow down in case the winged creature pursued me again.
Although I had pushed the accelerator all the way down to the floor, the buggy couldn’t do even fifty mph now. The engine seemed to have taken damage when the fireball had exploded nearby. I wondered what I needed to do to repair the car. I would most likely have to find resources and unlock some skill.
Up ahead farther down the road, I clocked a dilapidated building with big letters on its roof. Some of them were missing, but due to the most letters being intact, it was easy for me to guess that the whole word would’ve read “Auto service”.
That brought a sardonic smile to my lips. There would surely be nothing useful in the building but I decided to stop by the auto service just in case. My heap desperately needed to be repaired so it’d be nice to find something I could patch the car up with.
The building sat in the open. Unfortunately, there was no place to hide the buggy so I pulled to the very entrance. Having withdrawn the key from the ignition, I stepped out of the car. Looked around before entering the building. Neither mobs nor other players were nearby.
Out of the blue, I felt cold. Raised my hand, directed my gaze toward the crystal, and looked at the Freezing line in the Character menu.
> Freezing: 67/100
Damn, I seemed to be getting cold. Had to find warm clothes or sit by a fire. Yet before I could lay a fire pit, I needed to unlock a particular skill. I looked at the UI again. The experience bar was nearly full. Nice.
I stepped into the door to enter a spacious room. A part of the roof had given in far back in the past. The sky entirely obscured by gray clouds was clearly visible through the wide gap in the roof. Looking around, I walked across the room toward the middle of it. Minute pieces of concrete and plaster, as well as glass shreds, covered the floor. They crushed under my soles with a crunch.
I clocked something sparkle and turned my head. Three wood planks lay nearby. They emitted faint but easily noticeable light. After I went over and touched the planks, they disappeared and a message popped up in my HUD.
Glitch Boxset Page 7
