Fist Full of Credits: A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless Book 1)

by Craig Hamilton

  The last item was the most expensive and cost as much as all of the previous information downloads combined. I purchased books to read for myself rather than direct downloads that would integrate into my mind because there was an even more staggering increase in cost to have the knowledge implanted in my mind as if it was something I had always known.

  Another search about locations on Earth where I could find Krym’parke returned a result that required an eight-digit Credit deposit. I blinked and counted the zeros on the window again. Whatever Class Skills protected the despised aliens clearly raised the cost required to find any information about them.

  I would have to do it the old-fashioned way, hunting for clues and tracking them down myself.

  Finally, I added a comprehensive database of common Dungeon World creatures as implanted knowledge.

  Bestiary I

  This compendium of commonly encountered creatures is a must-have for any Adventurer. Note: Paezo, Inc. is not responsible for any mutations of the creatures contained herein and cannot be held liable for deviations from Adventurer expectations.

  The knowledge within would give added context to the raw identification I currently received from Greater Observation. Beyond just having a name, now I would have an instinctive grasp for what the creatures might be capable of. However, the warning in the description made me wary of relying too much on the implanted knowledge as it could turn out to be inaccurate. It was better than nothing though, so I accepted the fees for knowledge transfer.

  While those purchases completed the initial list I had put together, I had one more need. Another quick search turned up the guide I wanted, and this time I splurged on the full download.

  Bounty Hunting for Dummies

  Galactic bounty hunting made easy!

  Here’s a plain-speaking reference guide to the profession, whether you’re a hardened veteran of law enforcement or an Adventurer looking to make a few Credits on the side.

  Bounty Hunting for Dummies, 23rd Edition, avoids all of the industry jargon to cut to the chase with clear, easy-to-understand explanations and step-by-step instructions for:

  - Obtaining Bounty Hunter Guild certification

  - Dealing with Guild paperwork

  - Accessing the Galactic Bounty Network

  - Understanding bounty classifications

  - Accepting posted bounties and claiming the reward

  The knowledge filled me when I completed the purchase, and I knew that the next thing I needed to obtain was a certification from the Bounty Hunter Guild. A few hundred Credits later, I had bought the license and earned myself a new title, Galactic Iron Bounty Hunter.

  Since iron wasn’t even close to being a precious metal, I was obviously at the starting tier with the lowest rank possible. However, the title meant I could access the Galactic Bounty Network to find work and was eligible for taking bounties with statuses of Limited and Reserved.

  While a Public bounty could be taken by anyone, a status of Limited meant that only registered Galactic Bounty Hunters could claim the reward. Reserved bounties were a step up from there, limited to specific individual hunters or requiring the hunter to be a certain rank in order to pursue.

  Now that I was registered, I could freely hunt down the contract breaker listed on the casino wall for the maximum Credit reward.

  At the initial rank, the title provided no other bonuses. Hopefully, if I ranked up to a higher tier, that would change.

  With my information needs met, I left the kiosk and obtained restocks for all of my various ammunition needs. With all the added storage I now had from Right Tool for the Job, I might have purchased a slightly excessive number of projectiles and other explosives.

  While I filled my inventory with ammo, I had a few more ideas on how to further my newfound professional goals and I returned to the terminal for spells and Class Skills. It only took a cursory search through the Shop’s spell interface menu to find the first of what I was looking for. I wanted a way to alter my appearance, and the Lesser Disguise spell would do nicely.

  Since I could use On the Hunt to alter my System status, the new spell would give me more flexibility when pursuing targets who might be on the lookout for me specifically. I had already encountered bounties who ran as soon as they spotted me, so anything that let me get closer before they bolted could only help.

  When I completed the purchase and the knowledge of how to cast my newest spell filled my head, I left the console and went hunting for some additional equipment to aid in my return to bounty hunting. There were all kinds of high-tech surveillance toys that I would have loved to have had before the Apocalypse, and now that I could afford them, I added them to my list.

  In addition to that gear, I picked up a variety of individual restraint systems that ranged from single-use zip ties, to handcuffs, to shackles. Just in case, I picked up some rope, a coil of nanosteel cable, and a few lengths of chain. You never knew when you might need some rope.

  I also added a solid supply of energy drinks, meal replacement bars, and a variety of potions to my order. No more gas station coffee on stakeouts for this investigator.

  Before I finalized my selections, I picked up spares for most of my armored attire, as well as nanotechnology patch kits that were designed to fix up armor at a cheaper cost than full replacement. Several of my fights had left my jumpsuit with slashes and holes, so it made sense for me to fix those whenever I could.

  The equipment, armor, and tech devices all fit comfortably in my expanded gear storage provided by my Right Tool for the Job Class Skill, which left plenty of room for the food and consumables in my normal Inventory space.

  Finally satisfied with my purchases, I stepped back from the terminal and nodded in satisfaction.

  Despite the fair amount of Credits I had just spent, for once I would actually be leaving the Shop with funds to spare. I bid goodbye to Ryk, who returned my farewell cheerfully since I had spent so many Credits. His earlier advice and investment in my survival clearly paid off. I then found myself transported back to the casino floor.

  I arrived in an open space off to the side of the Shop crystal, well clear from the lines that waited for both the Shop and the cashier window for the casino. I circled around the queues and returned to the bounty board on the wall.

  This time when I looked at the info sheet on the contract breaker, I received a prompt from the System.

  Would you like to accept this bounty? (Y/N)

  There are currently...0...registered bounty hunters in pursuit of this subject.

  I accepted the prompt and received a notification that the Quest panel in my status now listed the same details that were shown on the bounty sheet from the wall. I brought up that report and found that the information on the target only included the man’s name and the location of employment from which he had fled, breaking the terms of his indenture contract. It wasn’t much to go on, but at least the site was local, and it gave me a place to start my investigation.

  The bounty contained a waypoint for the employment location, so I activated it, and a ping lit up on my minimap.

  Now that I had a bounty to complete, I didn’t have any other reason to hang around the casino, so I headed straight across the gaming floor toward the front doors. I walked through the security checkpoint on my way out, still without drawing more than a cursory glance from the inattentive goblins who manned the checkpoint.

  I pushed open the front door and stepped past the guard who had let me inside initially. The goblin saw me and turned away to ignore me again, but only after making sure he wasn’t in my path.

  I worked my way through the crowded trading area to join the line of disgruntled hunters and gatherers who were lined up to leave through the main gate. None of them paid me any mind while we took our turns leaving the personnel gate one by one.

  I turned left outside of the gate and remained on foot once I was outside. I walked north in an attempt for my departure to blend in with the others leaving the casin
o and to avoid the same scrutiny prompted by my earlier arrival.

  At the intersection, I turned left again to head west along Reedsdale Street. I followed the road when it transitioned into Beaver Avenue and curved north. Within several blocks, the people leaving the casino had mostly dispersed, and I was left on my own.

  Off to my right, a tall, reinforced berm supported the highway above and blocked the view of the rest of the city. I could smell the Ohio River off to my left, only a block or two away. Between the street where I walked and the river was the Chateau industrial district. This section of town contained manufacturers and warehouses that ranged from marine supply and auto parts, to building material and appliance repair. Or it had before the System’s arrival.

  The streets here were strangely empty, with none of the disabled vehicles that had littered the streets and sidewalks throughout the rest of the city.

  I soon reached an area that stretched for several blocks and was walled with the same haphazard construction and towers as the casino. The location in the bounty for the subject’s employer, and holder of the indenture contract, was inside the walls.

  A five-minute walk along the perimeter later, I found a sealed gateway outside of a building that had a collapsed Mack truck sign just outside. I knocked on the closed panel with my fist, but the sound barely carried. I gave it a moment, in case one of the guards in the towers on either side of the gate were actually paying attention, but I didn’t hold much hope if the goblins here were as inattentive as the casino guards.

  Drawing my knife, I rapped the base of the hilt against the metal gate. This time, the clash of metal on metal echoed loudly, and I sheathed the knife before anyone could get the idea that I was trying to be threatening.

  “Oi,” shouted a shrill voice from the tower on my left. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m here about a bounty,” I replied, looking up at the guard tower.

  I couldn’t see inside the firing slit that ran around the tower, but I saw several weapon barrels now pointing out of the narrow gap and aimed down toward me. I opened my hands and spread my arms away from my waist to show that all of my weapons were holstered.

  “Wait there,” commanded the voice after a long pause.

  Several minutes later, one panel of the gate rolled back with a grinding squeal to provide an opening just large enough for me to walk through. An armed goblin waited just beyond, and I examined him with Greater Observation as I stepped through the gate.

  Kild Fastflare (Gunslinger Level 19)

  HP: 190/190

  MP: 110/110

  Like me, the goblin wore a pistol holstered on each hip, but that was where any similarity ended. The tiny green-skinned alien also wore bandoliers of ammunition that crossed his chest and a ridiculously wide-brimmed hat that made him look like a bandito out of an old western.

  “You here about a bounty?” Kild, the bandito goblin, asked as the gate closed behind me with a clang.

  I pulled up the System information window on the bounty I had accepted at the casino and flicked it toward the goblin so it could view the bounty for itself.

  While the goblin read the information, I looked around the area inside the walls. A half-constructed wrecker sat in the open bay of the former truck garage directly in front of me. A dozen or so goblins swarmed over the vehicle, assisted by a smaller number of humans, as they welded armor plates and affixed a claw to the end of a crane arm on the back of the contraption. This looked to be where the wrecker trucks I had seen at the casino were assembled. Several cars and trucks lay half disassembled around the wrecker, their frames being stripped for parts by the workers and added to the larger vehicle.

  “Ah, Archer Hayes,” said Kild, reading the bounty’s name from the info screen. “Why don’t you just buy his location from the Shop?”

  I hadn’t realized that was an option. Still . . .

  “That would cost Credits,” I replied. “I would rather try to track him down the old-fashioned way first.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Kild said slowly. “How are you planning to do that?”

  “I thought I would start here,” I said. “Someone might know something since it’s where he was supposed to be working, right?”

  “We can check.” The goblin shrugged, beckoned me to follow, and turned away from the gate.

  I accompanied the tiny alien around the side of the industrial truck garage. We crossed an empty street then a parking lot before entering an office at the front of another long building. The brim of the goblin’s ridiculous hat brushed against both sides of the doorway as we stepped into the building. Once inside, the clamor of heavy machinery clanged and rattled from deeper in the structure, muted slightly by the office walls but still loud enough to be distracting.

  The office held three more goblins, none of whom paid much attention to our arrival. Two of the three were involved in a card game at a desk near the back of the room, and the third drooled with its head down on a desk of its own as it somehow managed to sleep despite the noisy machine shop on the other side of the wall.

  Kild walked over to the desk where the goblin lay sleeping and jumped up to slam its hand onto the desk. The smack of flesh onto the flat surface echoed through the small office, even over the background noise, and the two card-playing goblins in the back jerked their heads toward the sound. The sleeping goblin bolted upright and toppled backward out of the chair behind the desk.

  My escort howled in laughter as the fallen goblin tumbled across the floor and rolled to a stop against another desk. The two other goblins joined in with their own shrill laughs as the fallen goblin struggled to its feet and staggered unsteadily.

  Now that the goblin was no longer hidden behind the desk, I could get a better look at it and gave the creature a quick once-over.

  Gribbari Overseer (Level 17)

  HP: 150/150

  MP: 180/180

  Between the goblin’s class and the whip coiled at its hip, I started to get a clear picture of the type of operation the goblins were running here. Especially when combined with the fact that the bounty I had accepted was for a broken indenture contract.

  In addition to the whip, the goblin had a chromed pistol stuck into its belt. While the metal was brighter, the weapon still looked like the same model Yeet Cannon I had seen on most of the goblins so far.

  The overseer finally gained its feet and glared at Kild, who still heaved with laughter.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be on gate duty?” demanded the overseer.

  Kild jerked a thumb back over his shoulder in my direction. “Got a bounty hunter looking for one of your strays.”

  All three of the office goblins turned to examine me. I returned their looks, using the moment to scan the remaining pair and finding that their Classes were Foreman and Taskmaster.

  The overseer chuckled and looked at the other two goblins. “A human hunting humans. How fitting.” The goblin turned back to me. “Which bounty do you have?”

  “Archer Hayes,” I replied. “What can you tell me about him?”

  The overseer shrugged. “Sold himself into a fifty-year serf contract but then didn’t show up for work this morning. I activated the penalty clause of the contract, so he’s not going to be doing much. But he’s still alive, otherwise the contract would have dissolved.”

  “Penalty clause?” I asked.

  The goblin looked at me, looked at Kild, then back at the pair of goblins and snorted derisively. “Clueless.”

  The two other goblins snickered while staring at me.

  While shaking its head, the goblin said, “If ya break a properly written System contract, ya get hit with all kinds of nastiness like lowered attributes, lower experience gains, and increased Mana cost for spells and Skills.”

  “Thank you,” I said, ignoring the condescending tone. “Do you know any personal details or where he could be staying?”

  “If we knew where we could find him, we wouldn’t have posted a bounty.” The goblin
snorted.

  “Was he friends with any of the other workers?” I asked.

  The goblin frowned. “Don’t think so, he was pretty new. Only worked a day before he pulled a runner.”

  I sighed. Of course. “Did he have a vehicle?”

  After a moment in thought, the goblin finally replied. “I don’t think so.” Then the goblin chuckled darkly. “Most people who can afford a vehicle don’t sell themselves into serfdom.”

  “That makes sense.” I nodded in agreement.

  “I don’t think there’s anything else,” said the goblin. “We’re very busy, so you’ll have to let us get back to work.”

  “Of course,” I said. “Thank you for the information.”

  I turned and left the office, holding the door open for Kild, who followed. Before the door swung closed after the goblin, I saw that the overseer had already laid its head back down on the desk, and the other two goblins in the back of the office had returned to their card game.

  Kild walked me back to the front gate without further conversation, and I felt as though the trip inside had almost been a complete waste of time. Sure, I knew more about the goblin operation and that they were building machinery of some kind, but that got me no closer to finding the bounty.

  Or further toward my ultimate goal of figuring out what had happened to all of the kids from the school.

  Chapter 20

  The compound gate crashed closed behind me with a loud clang, and I sighed. My trip inside the operation had failed to provide any new information about my target.

  I started up the street, still headed north, as I let my thoughts wander. A block later, I had passed the end of the walls that circled the goblin industrial enclave. The roads here were empty too, stripped of disabled cars by the compound’s labor crews for the raw materials used to build the goblin’s walls and their kooky vehicles.