Final Quest: Dungeons of Perdition - Book 5 (A LitRPG and GameLit Adventure)

by Abhisek Basu

  “So, you’re saying this other planet actually exists?”

  “Absolutely. It’s a simulation, but that doesn’t make it any less real. It has rules of its own, people of its own, and I’d like to think it’s more fair in its systems than most other planets I saw. What I didn’t realize are the costs of it. Everything has a balance, and once we disturb its balance- tilting one side of the scale a little further than the other, the other side tilts far more wildly before returning to stasis. I should ask for your forgiveness now, for inflicting this burden of responsibility on you, but you do know what you’re supposed to do, right?”

  “Yes. I need to stop Josh,” Natalie said.

  “Precisely. You know, I didn’t think he’d accomplish all that he has accomplished, but I never once had a doubt on his ambitions. You have had the chance to see how your powers fared up to his, right?”

  “I have. I tried throwing everything at him, but he manages to avoid everything. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast and react that fast,” Natalie said.

  “That is because every time you’re attacking him, he’s using the skill of power dodge,” he said.

  “I know. But how is he doing it so fast?” Natalie asked.

  “You went through the world training, and building up your attributes, fighting monsters and saving lives. Josh didn’t do any of that,” he said.

  “Then how did he win?” Natalie asked.

  “He realized that intelligence was the trait he would maximize. So he spent his time reading, writing and travelling the place reading more and more until he read all the books in the four libraries,” he said.

  “I’ve never seen a single library in Tholos,” Natalie said.

  “That is because you didn’t look hard enough. The world evolves and challenges you as you go through it. Much of it is random, but much of it is carefully constructed to challenge its players. That is why you and most others face what they fear and must eventually conquer. By the time he faced the war and apocalyptic scenarios, he had read enough to realize that he could trick the system by grinding and getting better at altering his stats, and using power dodge at all times. Thus, his battles were fairly easier. He killed Moloch in his first encounter with him, and with it he handled the rest,” he said.

  “Can I use the power dodge skill like that? With practice, it means even I could do that, right?” Natalie said.

  “Even if you did, it’d take you months of consistent practice to match his level of reflexes. But tell me one thing- why do you think Evan went behind your back and why does he want Josh to win?”

  “I don’t know. I know that I can’t let him win, though,” Natalie said.

  “He wants Josh to win because it’s the best possible scenario. Imagine going to war with China. You’d have to kill all their super-soldiers and millions of innocents just to make a statement. Would you do that?”

  “No. But-”

  “Josh will. He will kill millions more just because they dared to question his authority. Evan thinks for himself, but he is controlled by MindHaven itself. MindHaven wants Josh to win because it believes you having the power will do more harm than good to it. It wants cooperation because that’s the best possible option- him having the power and you being his wife is the best scenario- statistically and scientifically calculated by the most powerful AI on Earth. You can’t defeat him. You should surrender the key to him.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Natalie shouted.

  “I thought I was. As a young boy, when a meteor crashed in West California and I saw a crater around a pillar which taught me how to code and mine Quanti chipsets- I thought I was crazy. When I made MindHaven public and everyone started using Quanti Chipsets, naming the region Quanti Valley, I thought I was crazy. When it made decisions on its own that changed people’s lives and solved century-old problems, I thought I was crazy. But-” he said and coughed.

  “When I killed myself and uploaded this replicated me in the cryptographic cloud, away from MindHaven forever, I realized that I wasn’t. I’d like to believe that the pillar that wants you and him to cooperate and hand over the keys is a gift from God itself. It is there to help humanity, and it will always have its cost. The powers that you wield there are powers you’ll be able to wield all over Earth when this is successful. It’s not magic. It’s technology at its finest. Do what it says, Natalie. I know the itch for power, but I can tell you now- it’s not possible to defeat him. You need months of practice to even get close to using the power dodge skill like that.”

  “Even if I lose, in 5 years I will get a chance to succeed him and be powerful. I’ll stick to the fight,” Natalie said and got up from the chair. “Thanks for absolutely no help at all.”

  “You’re always welcome. If you ever need to see me, turn back a virtual PA to its legacy code and it’ll help you find me. Good luck. Do what you have to do,” he said.

  Natalie walked towards the ladder, but then she stopped. She realized something important when Nakamoto said, “Do what you have to do.”

  Those six words made all the difference.

  Chapter 19

  Natalie was finally content. What felt like a losing battle didn’t feel like a battle at all anymore. She slipped past the Feds near the hyperloop backdoor, got a CELIA member to transport her towards the arena, and when masked members of the Red Alliance tried to attack their van, they stopped when they saw that she was with them.

  Natalie knew it was because of Josh’s orders. No one could harm her or kill her. She walked back to the tunnel, her head held high, knowing she was about to save her uncle. That was what mattered. Josh was sitting down, legs crossed, deep in thought in front of the pillar.

  She entered the tunnel and stared at her uncle and then back at Dr. Jerry. The next round will decide their lives. And gambling on her uncle’s life was the last thing Natalie wanted.

  “You’re back. And on time,” Josh said, looking up at her. “Did you have a change of heart or do you still want to fight?”

  “I’m here to surrender. I won’t marry you, so you can forget about that part. But here-,” she said and pointed at the key hanging from her neck. “This is what you want, right?”

  Josh raised an eyebrow, surprised by her words.

  “You want this, right? Here you go,” Natalie said, and then she placed her hands behind her neck, unclasped the chain and threw the key towards Josh. Josh caught the key. He held it close to his own key, and both keys started glowing.

  “I knew that sooner or later, you’d realize it,” Josh said and smiled. He bowed down and got on one knee again. “I know you don’t want to marry me, but someday, I’ll convince you! I’ll win your heart like a man. Till then, I’ll protect you and make sure no harm comes your way. You have my word!”

  “Save it. I don’t need your protection,” Natalie said dismissively. “Release my uncle, now.”

  “I will. But first, I need to put these two babies where they belong!” Josh said as he unclasped his own chain and held his key in his hand. “In a few seconds, this world will be ours. Earth will be covered with the same magic that flows here in Quanti Valley right now, and I’ll be the sole ruler.”

  “Yeah. Now get on with it,” Natalie said.

  Josh smiled at her but said nothing. He walked towards the pillar, smiling and taking long strides.

  A stone moved apart, floating down the front of the pillar. A beam of white light shot out from a crack as it slowly expanded, breaking apart, revealing two key holes on its surface.

  Josh carefully placed both the keys and fitted them in the holes. The stone moved back in on the opening where the light was popping out of and closed itself.

  Three excruciating seconds passed as Josh waited for something to happen. Then the glow on the pillar disappeared. The pillar crumbled to dust instantly, and with it, the arena disappeared.

  “What is happening!” Josh shouted.

  The domes on top of her uncle and Dr. Jerry disappeared.

&
nbsp; “No, no, no, no!” Josh screamed, running towards the pillar. “This is not supposed to happen! What did you do?” he screamed, desperately running his fingers through the dust formed from the disintegrated pillar.

  “I did what I had to do, what I wanted to do, not what I was supposed to do,” Natalie said. “Did you watch my match with Hillary and Chang?”

  “Have you gone insane?” Josh shouted. He rolled his eyes. “My screen is gone. My powers, they don’t work anymore!! What have you done? What has your stupid wrestling match got to do with any of this?”

  “I had to team up with Hillary and beat Chang, but instead I fought both of them. I didn’t listen to what was asked of me. I chose what I had to do, and it made the difference. It took me a while, but I realized that I should’ve gone with what I truly wanted here too, instead of trying to win the quest.”

  “This quest wasn’t about winning. It was the reward!”

  “All this time, I used to think that I had to win by completing this quest. I thought that was the only way to defeat you, and that was my purpose. But now I know what purpose truly means.”

  “Yeah! What does it mean?” Josh shouted, as more pieces of the tower shattered and crumbled downwards.

  “I’ve realized that true purpose is the one you choose for yourself. It’s not given to you by a quest or an opponent. Like I fought Chang and Hillary instead of listening to my uncle and fighting one of them, I should have realized I had to go against both you and MindHaven, instead of mindlessly conforming to a quest. People have to die to keep this running, and there’s no need for that. I don’t want powers which are stained with blood.”

  “What do you mean you don’t want powers?! The arena is disappearing! My screen isn’t visible anymore. What have you done? We were supposed to be the rulers of Earth! That was our purpose!”

  “But that’s what you wanted to do since you came back. Me, I was given this purpose, and I thought I wanted it. I wanted to win, like I always had. Even in Tholos, I focused on winning, gaining power and strength, doing whatever was asked. I was naive to believe that was what I wanted in life, and even after coming back, I was naive enough to think that I had to win this final quest. I believed that was the purpose of all this, but if my time in Tholos and my time here has taught me anything, my purpose isn’t that,” Natalie said.

  “Then what is it?” Josh shouted and then waved his hands.

  “I realized that anyone’s true purpose is the one that they choose for themselves. And in choosing to win the quests that were given to me, I’ve lost countless times. This time, I’ve chosen to win by losing it all. I’m not playing by the rules anymore,” Natalie said, and her shape faded in and out, glitching in front of him.

  “No! You… You killed yourself!” Josh shouted. “That means I’ve just entered a dead key along with my key!” he whispered with terror-filled eyes.

  “You did, and that will break the system, destroying it. I’ve won. By choosing to die, I’ve saved the lives of everyone from your tyranny and I’ve rid the world of MindHaven forever,” Natalie shouted.

  “No!” Josh said, and he turned towards her uncle. He picked up a sharp piece of stone from the ground and ran towards her uncle. Natalie blinked and focused on the position in front of him.

  Intercepting him, she dodged the first punch that he threw, and then she dodged the second one. Josh almost fell over, unable to maintain his balance. Natalie delivered a punch to his throat and kneed him, making him stoop over. He saw his eyes flinch upwards as if he was still searching for the Power Dodge skill on instinct, looking for a screen that didn’t exist anymore.

  “Not so fast now without your powers, right?” she said as he looked up at her. He was about to throw a fist at her again, but Natalie jumped and elbowed him in his skull. That knocked him out.

  Her uncle, Dr. Jerry, Dr. Alice from outside, all came running towards her.

  “You shut down the system!” Dr. Jerry shouted.

  “She did, and you’re going to jail,” Dr. Alice snapped at him. Two policemen came behind him and took him away.

  Her uncle walked towards her and said, “So, it’s true. You killed yourself?”

  “Yes,” said Natalie and hugged him. “But I’m on the decentralised cloud. I’ll still be able to meet you from time to time.”

  She felt a solitary tear drop from her uncle’s eyes on her shoulder.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, kiddo. You saved the world, and this was a sacrifice that most won’t even think of. I’m proud of you,” he said.

  “And I’m proud of you too,” Dr. Alice shouted.

  Drones all over them started flying over the place while people cheered on the streets. The cheers reminded her of the times the people in Tholos cheered for her, like when they took down the Demon God, or when she killed Moloch. She thought of her friends, Travis and Ian, and how she lost them too and how little they were aware of the whole experience. Still, it was a worthwhile journey that taught her a lot, and hopefully, she would use the lessons that she gained in the life that she still had left.

  Natalie looked over at Nakamoto smiling at her from the corner of the park. To him she smiled and nodded, knowing that they still had work to do.

  Chapter 20

  Natalie and Nakamoto were questioned by the Feds, the US courts, and soon, the truth around MindHaven was made public. The AI which controlled MindHaven since Nakamoto’s death had disappeared after that night when the pillar crumbled to dust.

  In the US, scientists started working on ways to make sure the next alternative to Quanti chipsets weren’t going to try to take over humanity like the last ones did. They urged the world leaders to look into this, to make sure that AIs weren’t trying to take over, but the cost of giving up the convenience of virtual PAs were still being debated months after the incident at Quanti Valley.

  CELIA members weren’t arrested like Josh had expected. At a press conference, Nakamoto appeared, his first public appearance since the court hearings, and he told the world how Natalie did it and how Natalie was dead now, living as a virtual avatar of herself on the decentralized cloud just like him. He apologized for the disappearance of MindHaven PAs and AIs which started shrinking the economy, but he assured them that government scientists were working on something much safer now and he was there to assist them.

  At Quanti Valley, researchers carried away the dust from the pillar to inspect where and which planet the objects came from that allowed them to try to exert their dominance on Earth. Other nations were asked to inspect their AIs, its goals, and inspect the meteorite fragments- a request which was largely ignored.

  But for Natalie, the story wasn’t over. Before she had taken Nakamoto’s uploader and stabbed herself in the heart with it, Nakamoto had told her that with MindHaven’s collapse, the threat of someone emerging with powers wasn’t over. Natalie promised him that she would help him rectify his mistakes if he promises to go public with whatever happened and accept his faults.

  All the different international AI interfaces, most of which was based on Nakamoto’s technology, would inevitably release their own winners who would have their own powers. The only way to prevent that was to enter their own simulations- simulations in which Nakamoto could help Natalie enter, and prevent them from winning.

  Natalie had agreed. But first, there was something else they had to do, to make sure it wasn’t all for vain. From Marcus’ experience, it was obvious that Dungeons of Perdition had what it took to reform someone. It had the necessary means to stimulate a journey that makes one a better person. She still knew she could enter China’s Xianxia simulation alone, but she also knew what had to be done before that.

  A copied version of Dungeons of Perdition was created, where each variable was under Nakamoto’s control, where the skills tab was improved, and the power dodge couldn’t be used more than twice in an hour.

  Thus, when Josh opened his eyes later at an asylum unaware of where he was and what he did, with his memories
of Earth wiped from his mind, he received instructions to escape that asylum. Beside his cell was Marcus Adams, who hadn’t woken up yet. Josh walked towards the cell, reading the instructions from Aurora. He looked outside and saw a little girl standing there, asking him if he wanted to escape.

  “I’m Natalie,” the little girl said. “You’re in Heinlem Asylum. You need to get out of here.”

  THE END

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  Final Words from the author

  Thank you for reading!

  This was my first series of books. As a first-time independent author, I’ve made mistakes that I didn’t know I could make. Few of them were obvious, but many were not. But this attempt has made me realize that I love telling stories, and I’ll be trying to make this a career. I’ve learnt a lot about the craft, and I’m constantly seeking ways to improve my writing. That is one reason why I am not satisfied with the way this series turned out, because I know I could’ve done better. I could’ve done a lot better, specially with the knowledge and practice I have now, but I guess i wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t written anything in the first place.