“Break it?”
Sitting in a vampire bar, glancing around to be sure no one heard me, I caught Jake’s question and worried that I said too much. That was careless. I’ve known this kid all of twenty minutes; had I dropped my discretion off with the papers? I faced him, slouching there on the lacquer barstool.
The System would resist being broken. Would there be players—abductees from our world and possibly others—who wanted to stay in it?
Jake’s bony eyebrows fought to raise. His expression of doubt turned into a wicked smile. “I’m in.”
I exhaled in relief. If he hadn’t been up for it, would I have been able to walk away, or would I have had to smash him over the head with my beer mug? Five times. To be sure he stayed dead. Shit. Dodged that bullet.
“I’m classed as a fighter. I haven’t seen much about training in these tutorials, but I should get some if I want to pursue my class.” I glanced around at the people aimlessly staring at the dance floor. Some had predatory expressions while others just looked bored. Typical club vibe.
“I’m going to be a healer,” Jake announced, slapping the table.
He probably already noticed my staggering clumsiness. However, classes were assigned due to real-life tendencies and psychological aspects. The choice wasn’t because of me, but I couldn’t argue it.
“A demon healer, huh?” I liked the sound of it. “That’s crazy. Let’s go check out some shops and see what prices are like. We’ll need weapons and armor and whatever healers in this game use.”
We had to go back to the Colosseum to find what we were looking for. On the way, we spotted a couple of historical recreations of different locales from Earth. The rest were anything but human.
The park drew my eye as we wandered the area. Enormous trees rose from behind a vine-like fence. Had it been there for ages, or was it built from human dreams, or was it from another world entirely? I had so many questions.
No. No deviations. My urge to quickly attain enough skills to leave Convergent City and travel to the Gateway turned me away from exploration. A few green markers within Heartland Park meant we'd get there eventually. I figured we might find someone near the start zone who could provide some information on progression, local lore, and hopefully something about the path to the Gateway.
The Colosseum loomed over alcoves in the limestone, hewn and jointed with laser precision. I hadn’t noticed before; too focused on following the marker on my minimap to Bauring Dath. Awareness for the win. Go me.
I stopped at the first snack shop I smelled. “They have fried dough, Jake. Fried dough!”
The tall demon paused, wavering in the street. “But—”
“Food, before I get hangry,” I growled louder than my stomach to drown it out.
Jake flung up his hands and turned around, coming back. I owed him for the beer. I looked right into the face of the humanoid lizard manning the stall and held up two fingers.
“Sir, would you mind telling us if there are class trainers?” Jake asked as the dragonkin—lizardman I didn’t know which—sprinkled powdered sugar on my order.
“Gap,” the fried dough vendor replied.
“Right,” I said, not knowing what the hell he meant. I hadn’t pulled out money, but upon accepting the two steaming paper-wrapped doughs, my quartz count ticked down.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
After the first bite, I felt a little better. A little more focused, as if I could tap into my energy again. I devoured my fried dough, brushing at the powder that dusted my chest. Was food a trigger, or was it fuel itself? What was I running on, really? Could I manipulate the gauge? My HUD didn’t track time, except for the sensitive quest. Something monitored when I should be hungry, and kept track of what resources I burned to get there. An unseen program must make those calculations.
Jake’s black vest looked snowy, and powdered sugar ringed his mouth. I snatched napkins from the dispenser and offered him one. Turning my critical eye from my companion, I took in the area around the Colosseum. A few obvious newcomers still lingered in the arena, begging to be sent back home.
Outside, in the bazaar, I spotted an enormous aspect screen far above, listing off bounties. I poked Jake and pointed at it. Courtesy of the Convergent City Sheriff’s Department, it read at the top.
“There is law around here,” I muttered, frowning. Did the System appoint officials, or were they selected?
“Cool, jobs. We can check those out later,” Jake said, already trotting off toward a sword shop. It was another alcove like the one we’d just visited. An elderly man in a hanbok leaned on the stone counter, chewing on a piece of straw. Above his messy topknot, a sword flickered like an image from the aspect screen.
If anyone knew how to find a tutorial on the fighter class, it would be a guy who sells swords. I beat my long-legged new friend to the vendor. I gave Mr. Kim a toothy smile and asked, “What have you got for sale?”
He came back at me with a string of Korean. I recognized the sound, knew a couple of words thanks to my K-drama obsession, and when he finished it with aigoo, I figured he didn’t want to talk to me. Damn my low INT. Not deterred yet, I asked him in Orcish, and he waved his hand to the side dismissively.
I glanced at Jake and shrugged.
Jake, that motherfucker, proceeded to speak Korean. I watched them talk for a while, trying to pick out words. I would not let my INT score stop me from learning how to talk to the people I needed to speak with. Sadly, I only picked up two words out of the whole conversation.
I nudged Jake’s wing. “What'd he say?”
“He said we were too poor to afford weapons. Mr. Kim can train you, but it will cost,” Jake translated, nodding at Mr. Kim.
I sighed, “How much?”
“Well, I don’t understand all the currency exchanges yet, but he said he would do it for a diamond,” Jake shrugged, flexing his wings.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and grunted. That meant more menial fetch-and-deliver quests. By that time the blue star sat high in the sky. I guessed it was around noon. It didn’t feel like that much time had passed, but who knew? The System probably ran on a different planet’s rotation or tracked time in a way we didn’t on Earth.
“Okay, let’s do this. Tomorrow, when the blue star is at its peak, like now, we meet here again. Meanwhile, let’s split up and do the green marker tasks in our areas.” I proposed.
Jake twiddled his spidery fingers and considered, then sighed and bobbed his head agreeably. “Seems like a good idea. You’re not going to— you’re gonna show up, right?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna show up,” I said, giving his skinny arm a friendly thump. “We’re in this together.”
“Okay, I’m holding you to that,” he pointed at me, then grinned nervously.
I felt something sink in my stomach and wondered if I’d made the right choice. Maybe I wasn’t the best gamer, but I had no idea how he was. Did he choke? Was he a total scrub? Oh, well. I’d made my choice. Hell, from what I’d experienced already, this virtual reality outstripped any VRMMO I’d ever seen, so there’d be a learning curve.
We’d figure out how to make him a healer tomorrow. No doubt the price was just as much—if not more—to learn how to put bandages on. Earth time, minimum seven years. Here? No clue. Guess we’d find out.
A canvass of bazaar vendors revealed that no one knew how to get outside the city, or what level unlocked it, or even what was outside it. No one that knew English or Orcish, anyways. I gave up on that and decided to return to the orc encampment and Bauring Dath.
I checked my minimap and wandered the strange streets. Why not see more of the city? My final destination was Bauring Tok Kraup Patarshan, my current home district. Or, as it translated, Home Soil of the Salt Spears.
A shadow swept over me.
I don’t know why I flinched back so hard, but it probably saved my life.
The rustle of massive feathers made my stomach clench. Wind slammed down as the giant hawk’s talons slashed through the air where I’d have been. I flashed past and up, and I saw its enormous HP. The angry red enemy stat bar locked to my HUD. I was a mouse to that thing, and it was after me.
“Kizzacht!” An insectoid screeched, flailing its pincers at the hawk as it beat against the sky, rising again.
The street wasn’t crowded—just a sandlot on one side, backing a grouping of pale mud houses. On the other side, papery hives loomed. I was walking on the sandlot side, because, nope. Not ready to fraternize with monster insects, yet. Maybe never.
The behemoth predator was shooting straight up, no doubt to circle back for another strike. Across the hard-packed dirt street, the locals vanished into their hives with a nerve-wracking buzz of wings. In seconds I was alone.
I bolted for the next block.
I’d considered making a break for the tenement, but the sandlot didn’t look friendly. Running on loose sand could slow me, and even though the distance was shorter, it looked unstable. All the while, my anger rose, hot and sharp.
No weapon, no chance to fight. Me as prey? Hell no. The irritation bubbled past my instinct to run, but I was smart enough to know I couldn’t stand my ground. Not yet. Dammit.
The hawk screamed, sending another thrill of terror through my blood. A tiny part of me wanted to freeze. My HUD flashed: FEAR AURA.
Bullshit. I resolved not to be bird food on my first day in this stupid place.
-ARCHIVE-
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