In the System
by Petr Zhgulyov
Book 1: City of Goblins
Release - October 7, 2020
Pre-order on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087XYM1GJ
Prologue
Everything once
created will die someday. Our world is no exception. The heat death of the
universe... For most, this fact is too far in the future and too doubtful to
worry over. Having accepted one's death, it is much easier to accept the
destruction of all and sundry. There were god-like beings, however, who could
last until this moment and had no desire to obediently await the inevitable. It
seemed that one of them had found a solution. If the problem was that energy
gradually disperses in space, would it not be better to gather it all himself?
A desire of madness, even for a deity.
The Devourer began
a war, consuming star system after star system, waging battles against his own
kind and taking their power... Slowly, too slowly. The universe is enormous and
most of its inhabitants had no desire to be consumed, and so it came about that
everyone took up arms against him. There came a moment when the Devourer
realized that he was bound to lose, but he did not admit defeat. Instead, he
destroyed himself and created the System. The Great Game, which drew in
countless worlds and continued to constantly spread. A Game in which his
enemies continued what he had started.
A System that would
allow the universe to come to its end, and then, using the energy absorbed over
billions of years, create the world anew.
***
Attention! The System
has granted you the status of one of the seven First Gods of Order. Please
select your incarnation from the regional list.
Europe. France. A
young woman, casting a regretful glance at Aphrodite, picks the one slightly
higher on the list.
Attention! The
Greek Pantheon has been generated. Hera has come into this world!
Eastern Asia. PRC.
An elderly Chinese man makes his choice.
Attention! The
Asian Pantheon has been generated. Guan Yu has come into this world!
Africa. Nigeria. A
youth barely out of childhood...
Attention! The
African Pantheon has been generated. Great Set has come into this world!
North America. USA.
An office clerk grimaces, picking uncertainly among the local gods. Maybe he's
heard of this one before?
Attention! The North American Pantheon has
been generated. Quetzalcoatl has come into this world!
South America.
Brazil. A tourist lounging on the bed...
Attention! The South American Pantheon has
been generated. Inti has come into this world!
Southern Asia.
India. A monk in one of the numerous temples in this land...
Attention! The Indian Pantheon has been
generated. Shiva has come into this world!
Europe again,
northern this time. Denmark. A minor official...
Attention! The Scandinavian Pantheon has been
generated! Odin has come into this world!
Chapter 1. Activation
There are plenty
of good things in life, and one of them, undoubtedly, is sleep. There is a
reason that people say you should ‘sleep on it’. If you're sad, afraid or
lonely, go to sleep and it will all pass. At least, until you wake up again.
This method had always worked for me before, cutting off my problems better
than alcohol or drugs. Besides, I never had much interest in the latter, and
it's not like I had money to splurge after being recently fired. Hmm...
This dream was
different from the thousands I'd had before, not least because I clearly
remembered everything that came before and knew that I’d definitely gone to
bed. I knew this a bit too clearly for a dream. A standard menu appeared before
my eyes,
Start Spiel?
Ja/No (Die)
[0] — I have
read and agree with the Terms of the Contract.
Why the mix of
languages? Bad localization? Man, my mother did say that nothing good would
come of these games... Ten or fifteen years ago. Who would have thought that it
wouldn't happen immediately, but many years later?
This thought
didn't stop me from agreeing to the terms of the contract without reading the
text, by moving the cursor left and choosing the first option. Yes.
***
In the very same
minute, thousands of people around the world saw a similar menu, although it
varied slightly for each person. Different languages, slightly different
phrases and fonts...
Start Game?
Yes/No?
A man who was
president of a large company didn't like to rush important decisions and his
intuition told him that this decision was important. And urgent. However,
experience told him never to agree to the terms without checking everything first.
It took him only a minute to skim through the Agreement but when he finally,
prodded by a vague anxiety, reached for the left button, he found that it had
already disappeared. The remaining option glowed and shifted into the center,
transforming from the brief 'No' into the frightening 'Death'. What?
Trial failed.
The Player's position has been taken.
This message was
the last thing that he, and three other candidates, saw before they turned into
clusters of energy and information. The creation of a player was an
energy-intensive process and the System preferred to save its internal
resources, concurrently adding new information about this world to its
database. Only one person passed in a pool of 5-6 candidates – the one who
first accepted the offered terms. Perhaps it was unfair, but the mechanism
couldn't care less if it didn't get in the way of reaching the Goal.
The man died in
his sleep, from severe exhaustion, the doctors later said. Around five thousand
such deaths took place that night. A drop in the ocean of humanity, and so
nobody noticed the loss. A drop from which the first one thousand players were
born.
***
Attention! You have passed the preliminary trial!
The System (75%) is active. Connecting to the Server
(50%)… Status obtained: Player!
Creating database for the new world… Scanning character. Checking parameters. Please wait.
I floated in
emptiness with no awareness of my body and no idea about what was happening.
About a minute later, when I was getting seriously worried about being stuck
here forever, a table popped up.
Ivan V. Susanin
General ID: unknown.
Local ID: Z-8.
True name: Ivan V. Susanin.
Age: 24 years (8954 days).
Race: human (97%).
Gender: male.
Level: 1 (0/20 System Points).
Available: 0 System Points (SP).
Parameters*:
Strength: 6/10.
Agility: 7/10.
Intellect: 7/10.
Vitality: 6/10.
Endurance: 6/10.
Perception: 7/10.
Luck: 2/10.
Race parameter:
Intuition: 9/10.
*For the human race, 10 is the
maximum possible natural value. First Barrier.
System Skills:
Player (F)
— Intuitive interface (F, 1/1).
— Help (F, 1/1).
— System Language (F, 1/1).
Achievements and titles:
Eighth (personal, unique) — sometimes ill-luck is so great,
that great fortune passes close by. Special skills are hidden.
It was like in a
game. The slowly growing panic retreated slightly. I glanced over the text and
fastened my gaze on the last line. I wasn't given time to study what was
written, however, as a new message appeared.
Attention! Do
you wish to change your tag?
Yes/No?
(60, 59, 58…)
A timer? I
confirmed my ‘wish’ immediately and mentally erased my surname and middle
initial. This didn't seem sufficient so I erased my first name, too. Right, now
my tag... Eighth? A chill ran down my spine. No, better not use my achievement
as a name. Or is it a title? OK, whatever...
(52, 51, 50…)
Despite my
decision, the timer remained and continued its countdown, so I had to hurry.
Just Ivan? No. Even ignoring the fact that half the villains in Hollywood
movies were called that, it was my real name. Should I pick a foreign one? That
felt fake. Something flashy like Superman or Night Shadow? I'm not a
twelve-year-old boy.
It will be... it
will be... Vasya. Well, why not? In that case, let it be Vasily. Confirm
System Name:
Vasily
Truly an ‘intuitive
interface’. The controls were straightforward, reminding of a standard OS.
The System
accepted my decision without even trying to add a couple of numbers to my tag.
Which wasn't that surprising, considering the number assigned to me. If I was indeed
the eight, it was unlikely that the others have already taken the most popular
nicknames. Of course, if there was even a restriction on originality. My real
name didn't disappear, it simply dropped one line down and was labelled ‘True’.
What was the point of that?
Attention! Do
you wish to hide your True Name?
Yes/No?
Of course. The
System thought for a moment and the word ‘hidden’ appeared in brackets next to
my name. I felt instantly calmer and finally returned to studying the table.
Well, was there a help menu?
There was. As
soon as I focused on one of the parameters, a brief description appeared.
Strength (6/10) — corresponds to physical fitness.
Helpful... They
might as well have written “strength corresponds to strength”. Although, if
this was a dream, I had nobody to blame but myself for the puny description.
But the more things unfolded, the less I was sure of my initial conclusion. The
question wasn't even if it was a lot or a little, but rather how much it
corresponded to reality?
If one assumes that
only a few people in the whole of humanity had a 10, then world athletes could
only get 8 or 9. Perhaps a couple of years ago, I would have scored a solid 7,
but I'd become less active since I'd returned from the army and started
working. I didn't have the time, nor, to be honest, the desire for regular
training. Still, you wouldn't call me a weakling...
Agility (7/10) — corresponds to overall mobility.
An equally
useless description, but the number was acceptable. I hadn't gained any extra
weight, after all, and remained quite, um, mobile. Plus, I'd done a lot of
stretching in my childhood.
Intellect (7/10) — corresponds to memory, processing speed and brain development.
Seven. Almost
too much. I'd finished university but couldn't boast of any high marks, and I'd
done plenty of stupid things during my life. Nevertheless, according to the
System, I was a long way from a genius.
Vitality (6/10) — corresponds to wound healing,
immunity and life expectancy.
Well, a 6 for vitality looked rather poor. If I took
120 years as the maximum, 1 point was equal to roughly 12 years. Hence, the
System predicted my death at around seventy years of age...
Bloody hell, why
was I taking these numbers seriously? Although... why wouldn't I? It was a
strange situation but right now, all I could do was keep calm and wait for
events to unfold. Why not take the situation seriously in that case? If this was
reality, I would be at an advantage, and if it wasn’t, I wouldn't lose anything
by it.
Endurance (6/10) — reduces the accumulation of fatigue, determines the time required for
proper rest and sleep.
There was
nothing surprising there, it was the obvious consequence of my past year of sedentary
work.
Perception (7/10) — responsible for the senses and attention to detail.
A 7 was quite
good, I'd never complained about my powers of observation. Perhaps it was due
to my little hobby? It's well known that as people get older, they become more
and more absorbed by their own thoughts and pay less attention to their
surroundings. Once I’d noticed this tendency in myself, I consciously forced
myself to note minor details. If you keep your eyes open, you'll always spot
something interesting. And it will be harder for a person to spring something
on you.
Luck (2/10) — corresponds to probability.
I only had a 2
here... Hmm... All my life, I preferred not to believe in luck, considering it
a kind of compilation of events that couldn't be predicted. All our problems are the results of our
actions, and blaming them on the powers that be or something similar is not a
good habit. Nevertheless, I was hard put not to admit that I was suspiciously
unlucky at times. For example, I would randomly pick the most difficult
question in an oral exam, and then pick the same question when I was retaking
the exam. Such things didn't always happen, but they happened often enough.
Still, I'd never slipped on a banana peel and had somehow survived almost a
quarter of a century. And two was more than zero.
Intuition — allows decisions to be made based on ambiguous facts. Maximum for the
human race — 10.
Unlike the
previous parameter, this one was close to maximum. Which was surprising,
considering the example with the exam questions. Perhaps I had drawn out the
unlucky piece of paper again not by chance, but because it had seemed vaguely
familiar? After being handled by students, the papers lost their anonymity. One
acquired a slight crease, another had a barely noticeable spot. Perhaps it
wasn't even bad luck? After all, even if it had been a difficult question, I
didn't give into the temptation of not studying it, and eventually passed the
exam. Hmm...
I didn't know
what to make of that, I had to keep going. But where? Surely, I wasn't going to
remain here forever, in this emptiness? The System unfroze and reminded me
again of its existence.
Attention!
Select a primary skill (74%).
— Minor magical ability (F, 1/5).
— Sword fighting (F, 1/5).
— Dagger fighting (F, 1/5).
— Axe fighting (F, 1/5).
— Mace fighting (F, 1/5).
— Spear fighting (F, 1/5).
…
— Hand-to-hand combat (F, 1/5).
I skimmed
through the list. There were plenty of options, covering almost all bladed
weapons. It was hard to miss the fact that all the skills were combat ones.
There were no offers of teaching me to grow flowers or play chess with great
skill. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the game would focus on
fighting. Not the cheeriest conclusion to make.
The events seemed
less and less like a dream and more like virtual reality, in the way science
fiction authors liked to describe it.
Sadly, scientists had never managed to invent those ‘full-immersion
capsules’. Like any potential psychopath, I couldn't accept the possibility of
my own madness, just like other, even crazier theories. Let's not get carried
away. Let's assume that I really will have to fight, and I need to pick the
most useful skill right now. Of course, I would have preferred a firearm, but
there were no range weapons in the list. There was magic, however...
Minor magical ability
Rank: F.
Level: 1/5.
Type: Characteristic.
Description:
— Uncovers the Wisdom parameter (86%)
+1 point.
— Instills the basics of magical
ability, however, you will need to go a long way before you can gain some
benefit from it.
The first thing
I noticed that it was a characteristic
and not a skill. Basically, it was a
way to gain a ninth parameter. As the help
showed, the numbers in brackets that kept popping up were the ‘match value of
the term’. It seemed that wisdom was
responsible for magical abilities, while the term itself was taken from a game
and reflected the matter quite closely. For those 86%.
What idiot would
say no to magic? But something stopped me from acting rashly. Was it really the
best option? Could it be a trick? For example, there was no guarantee that
there would be combat spells available. Or if there were, that they would be
strong enough. Everyone had at least a vague idea of how to use a sword, but
what about magic? Not even magic but something similar to this term? It's quite
an ill-defined notion in Earth's culture. I started at the table, deep in
thought, looking for a hint.
Attention
(Intuition)! The existing combat skills are insufficient. The characteristic is
not recommended as the first choice.
Aha... Looked
like it was a bad idea. The hint actually gave me more than it seemed at first
glance. If magic was not recommended as the first
choice, did it mean that there would be opportunities to obtain it later? I
hoped so. I couldn't see any classes here, so I shouldn’t hurry and follow clichés.
Let's go over it all again...
Why is it here
at all, if it's not recommended? As a trick? Or is it simply an option for
those who are already masters of combat? Or professional soldiers at the least?
Whatever, what's next on the list?
Sword fighting
Rank: F.
Level: 1/5.
Type: skill.
Description:
— Teaches one how to use a sword.
— Slightly adjusts the body for the chosen
weapon type.
I scanned the
list of other skills. They were surprisingly repetitive, with the only
difference being the kind of weapon I'd learn to use. I had the same problem
here as with magic. I had to hope that I would be given a weapon later on,
otherwise I'd have to choose hand-to-hand combat. Since magic was not
recommended...
Attention
(Intuition)! The characteristic is not recommended as the first choice.
Or not. These
types of hints appeared with a delay, almost reluctantly. But nothing of the
sort appeared when I looked at the weapon skills. Therefore, it made sense to
assume that I’d be given a weapon. Let's stick with that. Otherwise, I could
end up being too clever for my own good.
Attention! If you do not make a selection in 5 minutes, the skill will
be chosen randomly.
(300…299…298…)
Yet another
timer forcing me to hurry. Grr... What was the point? Well, five minutes was
quite enough to review my options again. Especially since the timer seemed to
apply to choosing a skill and not as an overall limit.
The choice of
optimal weapon usually depended on the balance stipulated by game developers,
which could be completely different from real life. Since I had no other
options, I decided to base my decisions on reality. As much as I could, really,
considering that my knowledge of medieval weapons was mostly theoretical. It
was based on books, films, and games, of course...
Alright, let's start
again. The sword is the ‘king of weapons’ and seems like the obvious choice.
I'm sure that most players, who don't pick magic, will pick a sword. Whether
this is the right decision will largely depend on opponents. For example, what
am I going to do with a sword if I have to fight against wild animals? Such as
a bear? Plus, a sword is quite a broad term. It can be two-handed, one-handed
or even a mix of the two, a bastard sword. It could have a variety of sizes,
weights and shapes of the blade and cross guard. And this variety is not just
for fun, each option is designed for a particular situation and a particular
opponent. Still, it wasn't a bad option.
Magic. Let's go
over it again. I would have to be guided by common sense and guesses rather
than facts. I didn't need to mention how ‘strong’ it was in real life, but it
was endlessly popular in gaming. Mages are usually powerful in later stages of
the game, but have difficulty leveling up and are weaker than fighters at the
beginning. And there was no guarantee that I would be given combat spells.
Should I ignore the warning? No, if I was sure that I’d have access to magic
only at the start, I’d have done so, but... For some reason, this time I was
certain that I would get another chance.
Daggers? Not a
serious weapon. They're too short and are only good against an unarmed
opponent. It's more of an accessory weapon. To finish off a wounded enemy, to
slice some bread... I discarded the idea.
Axe... Not only
a weapon but also a useful tool. However, it's almost impossible to block
attacks with an axe and it requires a shield to go with it, or better yet, a
full suit of armor.
Mace... Worse
than an axe in many ways, although it has its pluses. It’s unlikely to get
stuck in an opponent's corpse. And there'd be less blood. In the Middle Ages,
warrior monks had used blunt weapons specifically to circumvent the religious
ban on spilling blood. Not that I had taken such vows, so I might as well look
for something else.
I glanced down
the list and stopped at the next item.
Spear fighting
Rank: F.
Level: 1/5.
Type: skill.
Characteristics:
— Teaches one how to use a spear.
— Slightly adjusts the body for the chosen
weapon type.
Not the most
obvious option but probably the most universal. I had no idea whom I'd have to
fight against, while a spear was suitable against both animals and humans. The
main advantage, and simultaneously, the disadvantage, was the weapon's length.
It limited its use indoors and at close range, but enabled one to keep an
opponent some distance away and, in most cases, to land the first blow. In a
bout between a swordsman and a spear fighter, with no armor and roughly equal
skill, I would probably place my bets on the latter.
In addition, if
I wasn’t issued a spear after all, I'd be able to make a primitive one myself.
If the location allowed me to find a stick, of course.
(23…22…21…)
Time was
slipping away and I couldn’t put my decision off any longer...
Attention! Do
you wish to study the skill 'Spear fighting'?
Yes/No?
Reconfiguring.
As soon as I
made my choice, the world seemed to explode and unfamiliar knowledge poured
into my brain. The foundations... Types of spears, stances, how to correctly
hold, thrust and slash, how to care for the weapon. Having obtained the basics,
I followed my intuition and focused my attention on one of the memories, in
which a young warrior skillfully used an infantry spear. It was two-meters long, with a wide blade
that allowed him to stab and slash. It wasn't created for fighting in
formation, it was a loner’s weapon. As soon as I concentrated on the image, the
flow of memories changed, focusing on this type of spear in particular. It was
as if I had gone through many months or even years of training in those short
moments.
The ‘teachers’
passed by in quick succession, but their opponents remained only blurred
silhouettes. Shadows. The picture gradually dulled and began to fade,
indicating that the course was coming to an end. I felt disappointment, as if
there was something missing. Something important for my... survival? I
needed... I needed more. If I would be forced to kill, I needed more than bare
theory.
Attention!
Checking access rights of (Eighth)... Approved. Censoring (51%) has been
removed!
What bloody
censorship? The picture grew brighter again and shimmered as scenes of battle
appeared. The opponents became flesh and blood, and new knowledge flooded into
me, albeit of a different kind. How it feels when a weapon plunges into flesh,
pleas for mercy and the splash of blood on the face. The shock of the first
kill, replaced by the indifference of a hardened professional. And corpses,
corpses, corpses. Mainly human, but there were other creatures whose names I
didn't know. One who wants to live needs
to be able to kill. It was not my thought but it felt so right.
***
"Damn."
I came to, lying
on the floor and struggling to catch my breath. I had a body again. I tried to
remember the last battle scenes, but the faces of those killed were blurry as
if decades had passed, and evoked no strong emotions. My cramped muscles were
gradually relaxing. The very same muscles that I needed for spear fighting, and
many of which I hadn't used since birth. The stone floor wasn't especially cold
but I knew that such sensations could be misleading and made myself get up. It
seemed that I had been lying here for quite some time...
I was right. No
matter what this was, it felt nothing like a dream. Such dreams didn’t exist – everything
was too realistic, my thoughts were too clear, everything was just... too much!
I wasn't wearing any clothes, which I could consider as indirect evidence that
I had landed here straight from my warm bed, since I normally slept naked. My
own body looked utterly familiar, including the moles, scars and even dental
fillings. I pinched myself, already knowing the result. It hurt.
"Looks like
I'm here in the flesh," I muttered just to hear my own voice. "The
question is, where is ‘here’?"
A chill ran down
my spine, intermingled with anticipatory fear. It looked like this would be interesting, at the least. Not the
cleverest and in many ways, artificial thought, but right now, it kept the
panic at bay. If life had taught me anything, it was to keep myself under
control in critical situations.
I was in a
strange room of around ten by ten meters, with a slightly glowing ceiling and a
single set of doors. Or perhaps they should have been called ‘gates’, for doors
seemed too trivial a name for them, stone-bound and decorated with an ornament,
even if they were a bit small. I hoped it was a real exit and not some sort of
fresco.
The temperature
was rather comfortable and I had enough air, although I couldn't see any source
of ventilation. There was nothing in my memories to tell me how I’d gotten
here. The last thing I remembered was coming home and crashing into bed. I
could have had a memory blackout, but it seemed unlikely...
“Fine,” I licked
my dry lips. If I couldn't get out of here, I didn't know what would kill me
first: a lack of air, thirst or fear.
I was forced to
console myself with the thought that if someone had cast me into this room, it
was unlikely so I could die in here needlessly. I had to keep going, especially
as the route was clear. And no, I didn't mean the gates. A semitransparent bag
hung in the air nearby. So, this was virtual reality, after all? My whole life
experience contradicted the facts, so I couldn't quite puzzle it out. It was
pointless to keep guessing, but if this wasn't a hint, then I knew nothing
about games. As soon as I touched the strap, the bag became solid and dropped
over my shoulder. It didn't feel too heavy but it certainly wasn't empty.
Bottomless bag
Class: F.
Status: System artifact.
Description:
— Bag for a beginner. Part of a basic
kit issued to all players.
Properties:
— Allows system items to be carried
between locations (83%). Items not belonging to the System will disappear on
transfer.
— Conceals the size.
— Reduces the weight of stored items
tenfold.
— Slightly slows down spoilage of
stored items.
— Scalability (1/7). Can be improved
by combining with identical items.
The help worked in the ‘real world’ too,
and the descriptions were quite helpful this time. I tipped the bag upside down
and spilt its contents onto the floor. Bingo! A pile of clothing, underwear,
boots, a flask of water. I screwed the cap back on. Judging by the smell, all
these goodies hadn't appeared out of thin air but had been lying in storage for
many years.
Remembering the
System's love of timers, I tried to get dressed as quickly as possible. As I
did, I tried to examine the items I'd been given, but the clothing was very
simple with a paramilitary style. Pants, shirt, a jacket with pockets for...
armor plates? It reminded me of a bulletproof vest. The clothing was free size
and was easily adjusted to fit me using archaic belts and ropes. The boots were
a little big but fitted fine with foot wrappings. I hopped on the spot, noting
that the outfit was surprisingly comfortable.
Although the
flask was silver, the water inside wasn't of great quality, stale but still
drinkable. I hoped so, at least. I rinsed out my month, put it back in the bag
and finally noticed a small steel plate with an image of a spear on it.
Execute initial
activation of the Weapon Card?
Yes/No?
Yes. Images of
different types of spears appeared in my head, as if inviting me to choose.
Long and short, throwing spears and cavalry spears, they zoomed through my mind
in endless succession. I focused, trying to imagine the right type, since I
doubted that I would be given a choice every time. A beam of light finally shot
out of the card, which formed into a spear.
"Damn
it," I muttered, grabbing the shaft. "Life didn't prepare me for
this."
The spear was around
two meters in length, and made from a type of hardwood. The wide, leaf-shaped
tip could be used to slash and stab. Yari? Bear spear? I had trouble with the
classification but it was the exact type of spear that I had focused on during
my skill training. It was exactly what I wanted to get. Apart from a machine
gun, of course.
System Spear
Rank: F.
Material: gun steel, unknown wood.
Length: 2 m.
Weight: 3 kg.
Description:
— System Weapon. Enables the owner to absorb 40% of the spiritual and life
force of the victim.
So, what could I
tell from all this? Firstly, there were no damage indicators typical of games.
Secondly, the weapon was of high quality, but I doubted that I was its first
owner. There were slight scuffs on the shaft, dark spots and fine scratches on
the blade... The spear had clearly been
used long and hard.
I looked at the card
again. It had changed after activation and was now showing the exact spear I held
in my hands and not some abstract one. The card itself now looked faded. I
immediately wondered if I could return the weapon. The answer was simple. As
soon as I touched the spear to the card and made a wish, it instantly turned
into a beam of light and disappeared inside, while the card regained its
colors. Here and now, alongside everything else, this seemed quite normal.
Also, I tried to guess the size of the ‘armor plate’ pockets in my jacket and
found to my surprise that they matched the dimensions of the card.
I recalled the
weapon and made a couple of practice moves. The spear felt perfect in my hand,
as if I had spent a long time mastering the craft. Or was it just a skill for
now? I tried a spin but it wasn't too impressive – my new-found mastery didn't
extend to such tricks. There weren't many moves but they were extremely
practical. The level of a soldier from the Middle Ages rather than a Shaolin
monk. Save one's strength, don’t leave oneself open and, whenever possible,
land the first blow. Not necessarily a mortal one, for even a superficial wound
sharply reduced an enemy's fighting ability. Pure pragmatism...
I suddenly felt
a mild alarm but didn't understand the reason at once. There wasn't a clear
warning this time, but somewhere at the edge of my consciousness, an invisible
timer was counting down the last few minutes given for preparation.
(2:34… 2:33…
2:31)
I wasn't going
to check what a delay would entail. I returned the weapon to the card, slid it
into a pocket on my chest, slung the bag over my shoulder and headed to the one
and only ‘door’. If this was a dream, I would believe it once I woke up. If this
was virtual reality, then, considering the lack of such technology on my home
planet, I would probably wake up in the tender tentacles of some aliens. Well,
if this was something else... At some point, the situation would become clear.
There was no point in torturing myself with doubts, I needed more facts.
As soon as I
pressed my palm to the gates, a new message appeared:
Attention!
Destination selection is impossible!
First trial!
Select
difficulty level:*
Minimum (F)/Easy
(E)/Normal (D)/Above normal (C)/High (B)/Very high (A)/Maximum (S)
*The higher the level, the higher
the reward.
Right, and the
higher the likelihood of defeat. I’d have to be an idiot to choose the maximum
difficulty without having any idea of what was going on. Especially since the
default level was F. But would that be too cowardly?
I paused and
then moved the cursor one step to the right. Strangely, this calmed me down. I
dropped my head to one shoulder, moved the cursor a bit further and felt a stab
of fear. Even further? I felt even worse. OK, let's stop at easy level.
Attention!
Decision has been recorded!
Task No. 1
Type: Defense.
Information:
The Celestial City of Sar, once belonging to a
race of... searching for counterpart... goblins
(83%). Their... searching for
counterpart... gods (57%) were
defeated and vanquished. However, for as long as not all altars are captured
and the city still stands, the battle continues and hope remains!
Number of players: 1000.
Global aim:
Difficulty level: A.
— Reach and defend the central
altar. Repel the assault on the city.
Reward:
— Varies.
Allies:
— City defenders.
— Allied Players.
Presumed enemies:
— System Creatures.
— Chaos Creatures.
Local aim:
Chosen difficulty level: E.
— Survive for a minimum of 24 hours.
— Obtain Level 2.
Reward:
— First mission bonus: earned System
Points are doubled.
— The Player's rank increases.
— Shard coordinates.
— Soul Stone.
— Temporary access to the Server.
Penalty for failure:
— Unknown.
All I needed to
do was reach Level 2? It didn't sound that difficult. Probably...
The door opened
but all I saw beyond was a strange mist. I cautiously stuck out my card, and
once I had made sure that nothing happened to it, took a step forward. Time was
running out, and what other choice did I have, anyway?
Chapter 2. All You Need is to Kill.
I fell from a
decent height and rolled along the ground, my body painfully striking several
rocks. I kept silent despite the pain and immediately got back on my feet and
pulled the spear out of the card. Although I couldn't see any danger nearby, I
didn't bother putting away the weapon.
The world around me
looked... strange. Heavy clouds obscured the sky and hinted that it was going
to rain soon. I had expected to land in the midst of battle after such a
briefing, but if there had been a battle here, it was long over. The houses,
their style reminiscent of the European Middle Ages mixed with Ancient Rome,
were not quite in ruins but had fallen into disrepair, and had been abandoned
by their inhabitants quite a few years ago. Not centuries, though, since even
the wooden structures were still standing, to say nothing of the stone
ones. Could it be that the intelligence
obtained by the System was several decades out of date? As if it was reading my
mind, the System reacted,
Attention!
Correcting task!
Task No. 1
Type: Looting.
Information:
The Celestial City of Sar, once belonging to a
race of goblins (83%). Their gods (57%) were defeated and
vanquished. Although their enemies withdrew, a necromantic curse (65%) hangs over the capital. The city's central
districts are controlled by the undead
(93%), while the outskirts are being looted by the surviving defenders and
their descendants. Formerly allies, the living and the dead now fight each
other for access to the altar.
Global aim:
Difficulty level: A.
— Capture the altars(?) of the fallen gods and
dedicate them to a new owner.
Reward:
Varies depending on the choice.
Allies:
— Players (1000/1000).
Assumed enemies:
— System Creatures.
— The Undead.
— Goblinoids.
Local aim:
Chosen difficulty level: E.
— Obtain Level 2.
— Survive for 24 hours.
Reward:
— First mission bonus: earned System Points are doubled.
— The Player's rank increases.
— Soul Stone.
— Temporary access to the Server (50%).
— Shard coordinates.
Penalty for failure:
Unknown... Correcting...
— Player status reduced to Hero status (84%).
— Inability of system return to the home
location until the global aim is achieved.
I read the last
point and frowned. Change in status to Hero level? Following the game's logic,
this didn't sound promising. Inability to return to the ‘home location’? Did it
mean Earth? On one hand, this didn't sound good at all, but on the other hand,
it suggested that if I achieved the local aim, I would be able to return home.
It was better than the uncertainty before the information had corrected itself.
I automatically
licked a scratch on my arm and pulled a face. All the stats, tasks and
parameters indicated a game, but the taste of blood, dirt and saliva were real.
I kneeled, examining the grass growing between the pavement slabs, pulled out a
stalk and turned it around in my hands. A bird chirped overhead. Taste, touch,
hearing, smell and sight were all too realistic for me to believe that it could
be a mirage. Although my body felt unusually light, as if a weight had dropped
from my shoulders. I performed a little jump. Was it higher than normal? Either
I had suddenly gained a lot of strength or the gravity here was slightly lower.
Not a huge difference but certainly noticeable. How would it affect my
reflexes?
Deciding where to
go wasn't much of an issue. If you have neither map nor compass, all you can do
is wander blindly. First, it would be good to find some cover.
I strode towards
the closest building that looked like it hopefully wouldn't collapse in the
near future. It was immediately clear that I hadn't been the first. The house
had been completely cleared out. Even the furniture had been chopped up for firewood,
although the fireplace hadn't been lit in a long time. I remembered the second
briefing. It was hard to imagine that the looting had been done by the undead.
It seemed more logical to assume that I had landed somewhere near the outskirts
and had every chance of meeting some goblins. Or something similar, since the
match value was only 83%. They could look quite different to the ‘traditional
image’. It was something to keep in mind.
As I had rightly
worried, even a small difference in gravity had a substantial effect on the
accuracy of my movements. Familiar actions required a different amount of force
and my body needed time to adjust. I found a suitable area and spent about ten
minutes performing careful spins with the spear to get used to the changes,
trying not to make too much noise and not forgetting to glance around from time
to time. It wasn't enough, I really needed weeks of training but I didn't have
enough time. I had to keep moving since I was only given a day for everything.
Since I had nothing
better to do, I started collecting samples as I walked, throwing bunches of
unfamiliar grasses into my bag. I threw them in with the roots intact since
they didn't take up much space. If this was a different world, even the weeds
had enormous research value. Although, judging by the description of the bag,
I'd have difficulty bringing them home. But perhaps I could level it up to
Level 2?
I could see no
enemies nearby, nor allies. Which was odd, considering the declared numbers.
How were they doing, anyway?
Remaining players:
453/1000.
"Son of
a..."
The counter blinked
and the number changed to 451/1000. These
losses reminded me to be cautious and I gave up on my weed collection. My
allies were being massacred. Less than 30 minutes had passed and more than half
of them were already dead. And it didn't look like this game had a respawn
point. What would happen if I died here? I had no intention of finding out.
Until I saw a respawn with my own eyes, I would behave as if I had been given
only one life.
Sometime later, I
discovered that the number of allies had more or less stabilized and felt a
little calmer. I could only guess the reasons for such massive losses, but then
I remembered the task correction. It was possible that some of the players, who
had chosen the lowest difficulty level, had been dropped closer to ‘past
allies’ who were now the undead. While those who had selected the higher difficulty
levels had been sent to the front, where the goblins now wandered. There was a
reason why they had been removed from the list of allies, right? A mistake. If
I still believed that this was a game, it would have been easier to accept.
Something gave me the chills again. Damn.
Carefully checking
that the beams were still sturdy, I climbed up to the roof of a nearby
building. I couldn't make out very much from the third floor but the city took
up a huge area, sprawling below me in all directions.
Not far away, I spotted
a lazy drift of smoke, an obvious sign of human presence. Or, in our case,
goblins. I decided to head over there. Task, weapon, enemies. It wasn't hard to
figure out how to gain experience points here. Time was passing and there was a
chance that I wouldn't meet anybody if I kept wandering aimlessly. I didn't
know if I would have the strength to fight a goblin, but I definitely had no
desire to tackle the undead. Even if knew where to find them...
I laid aside the
fact that I was planning to kill sentient beings. If goblins were even slightly
like humans, they were bound to give me a cause for aggression. It was unlikely
that I would come across women and children in a city filled with the undead,
so I would probably find wandering warriors. The big question was which of us
would die... The answer lay ahead of me.
***
I always suspected
that modern people have problems with the sense of self-preservation. As soon
as something explodes or bursts into flame, they run towards the source as if
they're immortal. It looked like I was no exception.
A desperate,
pain-filled scream came from beyond the houses and was sharply cut off. Clearly, someone had just died and this was a
powerful argument for heading in the other direction. Nevertheless, I did the
opposite, carefully moving towards the potential danger.
What can I say... I
was right. There were three goblins, and despite some differences with the ‘classical
image’, they generally looked as I had expected. Black skin, around five feet tall,
with unusual facial features and pointed ears that stopped me from confusing
them with any human race. They didn't look like complete savages in the way
that goblins are usually portrayed. Their clothing appeared quite decent,
albeit slightly old-fashioned. Pants, kaftans and even some kind of armor. They
were also quite well-armed, with simple but obviously metal weapons: a bear
spear, an ax and a club.
By the time I
arrived, my ‘fellow sapiens’ were almost done stripping a player's corpse. His equipment
kit looked like mine, while this slightly overweight imbecile had picked a
sword as his weapon. Why imbecile? Because he had been killed with the very
same weapon, his neck half-severed. One of the goblins was admiring the trophy
and in his hands, the relatively short weapon looked like a bastard sword. I
narrowed my eyes, activating the help.
Goblin. Level 2
The same signs
appeared above the heads of his companions, glowing blood red to clearly signal
their enemy status. I felt a sense of dark satisfaction observing this scene.
The question of whether killing goblins was ethical had smoothly transformed
into a question of whether I would have enough strength for it.
"Ha-a!"
Even while
pillaging, the natives remained on guard, and my appearance was immediately
spotted. I considered my prospects, put on a fake smile and headed towards
them, casually holding my spear. How strong were they? How fast? Did I have any
chance of winning? I judged my chances of running away as even lower since the
modern world hadn't equipped me for endurance running and the goblins seemed
smallish but hardy. Despite my expectations, they didn't rush to greet me with
happy squeals, their faces instead showing something akin to fear. It appeared that
they had met humans before and were wary of them, to say the least.
"No. Player
mumble-mumble. Mumble-mumble strong!" growled the leader, leaning on the
sword and beating himself on the chest.
Although I couldn't understand most of the speech, a few words were
quite clear. It seemed that the goblin knew several System words but it clearly
wasn't enough for a proper conversation. There were other possibilities, of
course... One of which my predecessor had tried, judging by the drawings in the
dirt.
I didn't get a
chance to inspect the scratches. One of the goblins, seeing the direction of my
gaze, bashfully erased the evidence of past negotiations with his foot. The
second creature hurriedly hid the severed head behind his back. What a picture
— the player had tried diplomacy but was unsuccessful. They broke his legs,
took his sword, made him kneel and then tried to chop his head off with the
same sword, finishing the job using the axe. I didn't bother listening to them
but switched to a run.
"Ra-a-a!"
The goblins backed
away, their leader swung the sword but needn't have bothered, obviously lacking
the sword-fighting skills. I slowed down
and let the blade pass before me, then swung the spear and sliced through the
goblin's throat. For a moment, I felt something pass through the spear shaft
and into my body...
Attention! You have
gained 4 SP! (4/20).
I twitched from the
strange energy wave that swept through my body. Hmm, four System Points at
once, not bad. A light appeared around the fallen goblin and a card floated
away from his body and hung in the air. What the?
The brief
distraction almost cost me my life. I barely managed to deflect the second
goblin's spear, which he simply threw at me. Considering the lack of armor and
close distance, this could have been the end. The third goblin leapt forward
but his abilities didn't even reach Level 1 of the system skills. Easily
parrying the swing of his club, I stabbed the spear into his chest without any
pity. He had practically impaled himself on it. The goblin's eyes bulged, he
clutched at the shaft as blood ran from his mouth, jerked several times and
then died.
Attention! You have
gained 2 SP! (6/20).
It was only half of
what I had gotten last time, so it seemed that the number of System Points directly
correlated with the enemy level. Hell, this isn't the time...
The spear head had
gone in too deep, so I discarded it and picked up the trophy one. Luckily, my opponent took this chance to
escape rather than attack. I took a run up and flung the spear with all my
might after him. It whistled through the air and pierced him in the back. There
was no message this time, so after collecting my own weapon, I cautiously
approached the fallen enemy. Was he pretending? No, the goblin was dead and
unlike the leader, he wasn't wearing any chain mail so the spear had gone right
through him. An impressive pool of blood had already gathered under the body.
The corpses looked quite realistic in this ‘game’ and I could have probably
used them to study goblin anatomy if I so wished. Hmm, coming back to
collecting samples, should I stick one of them in my bag? A goblin weighed
about 40 kilograms and even if my bag reduced the weight tenfold, it would
still be four extra kilos. Moreover, even though the corpse was still glowing,
there was no guarantee that I could take it with me. Fine, I'd leave that for
the future.
The triple murder
and the bodies lying on the ground triggered no special emotions in me, as if I
had done this dozens of times before. No feelings of disgust or a need to empty
my stomach. Even the smell of blood seemed vaguely familiar... for all that
today had been the first time I had killed an intelligent being, even if it wasn't
human. I doubted this was due to my
natural equanimity, more likely a consequence of the learnt skill. Although the
absence of guilt was likely unrelated to that. I really did think that the
goblins deserved to die. I am sure that given the chance, they would have
happily finished me off.
Speaking of which,
I hadn't gotten any points for the last kill. I even jabbed my spear into the
body a couple of times but to no avail. I concluded that I had to kill using
the System weapons, otherwise it didn't count. A total of 6 SP for the
skirmish, while I needed 20 to reach the next level. So, to complete the task,
I needed to kill another seven first-level goblins. A victim number that not
even many maniacs could boast of...
Nevertheless, these
thoughts didn't stop me from looting. I first approached the semi-transparent card
that still hung in the air against all laws of nature. Looks like the game has
loot? As soon as I grabbed it, the card solidified and turned into a blank steel
plate. Interesting.
Clean skill card
Rank: F.
Description:
— Allows one of the Player's skills to be recorded by paying for it in full.
Saturation:
0/10 SP
Why do I need it if
I can purchase any skill directly from the System? Or... Mentally, as if I had
done this hundreds of times before, I called up the menu and found the relevant
section.
Attention! Connection
with the Server is lost! Skill base is unavailable!
Great, just great.
I remembered the thousands of skills that I hadn't even looked through
properly, believing that there would be time in the future. If leveling up was
random here, this severely limited my choice of strategy. Plus, it was going to be harder to obtain
magic. There was some good news – I didn't need the connection to look through
skills I’d already acquired. I could even improve them. The second level of spear fighting cost 20 SP. Alright, now
wasn't the best time for digging around in the interface.
There was no other
System loot but there were the dead player's items.
System Sword
Rank: F.
Material: steel.
Length: 75 cm.
Weight: 1.3 kg.
Description:
— System Weapon. Enables the owner to absorb 40% of the spiritual and life
force of the victim.
I swung the blade a
few times but felt no enthusiasm. Without the appropriate skill, the sword was
more dangerous to me than to my opponent. It took some time to find the card,
which I eventually found on the main goblin. I inserted the sword back inside
it and stuck it into one of my many pockets.
Remembering about
the bottomless bag, I took the second
one, reread the description and, without thinking too much about it, tried to
put the new bag inside the old one. The bags resisted. It was like trying to
connect two magnets, but I eventually succeeded.
Do you wish to combine
items?
Yes/No?
As soon as
I picked ‘yes’, the bag made a hungry chomping sound and swallowed its twin.
That's it?
Bottomless bag (2/7)
That's it. The
bag's appearance didn't change at all and its characteristics remained at the
same level. To complete the transformation, I had to feed the cannibal bag
another five of its fellows. Where would I get them? A rhetorical question. I
doubted this was going to be the last time that I would meet some goblins.
Plus, sooner or later, I was going to come across other players.
Having finished my
pillaging, I placed the other player's equipment in my bag, as well as the few
goblin items that were worth keeping. The axe, a couple of silver ornaments, a
small pot, a handful of coins, several bags of grain, salt, a knife... I thought
about it and also took their water flasks. Although not much time had passed,
mine was already half empty, and I had no idea where to find water. The state of
the local microflora, bacteria and other such things also remained an
interesting and unanswered question. One that I wasn't going to worry about
right now, since I could do nothing about it. Easier to discard these unhelpful
thoughts than to try and find evidence of a strange alien disease in myself.
Interestingly, the player kits, although similar, also had minor differences.
Another small detail to add to my collection of facts.
I threw the extra
weapons into some underbrush. I didn't touch the bodies since I had no way of
hiding the evidence of the slaughter. I simply covered the fallen human with
the goblin's cloak, which wasn't long enough and left his head and feet
sticking out from underneath.
The easy
victory did not go to my head as I was aware of how closely I had skirted
death. If everything had gone a bit differently, if there had been more
goblins, it would have been my body lying on the ground. My next step was clear
— find other players. Of whom 402 still remained, including me. The drop in our
numbers had slowed down but hadn't stopped. I needed allies. Only an idiot
would try to fight alone when there was an opportunity to join with others like
him. The humans were bound to start gathering in bands, and if I didn't find
companions now, I was likely to have problems with more than goblins in the
future. I was certain that sooner or later, someone would have the bright idea
of checking how many points were awarded for killing a human. Not now, but
closer to the System deadline. It was a big city and it took time to find
goblins... Humans too, but I doubted that the System had dispersed us too far.
Or perhaps my view of things was overly gloomy?
Release - October 7, 2020
Pre-order on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087XYM1GJ
No comments :
Post a Comment