The Crimson Quest: A LitRPG Adventure

by J. B. Smith

  Have you haunted him? How was this possible? I nibbled on my cookie before asking him to clarify. "Do you mean Samson?" How did he haunt you?

  Johnny's two hands went together. “He was there. His spirit. It came to me in my dreams.

  "Come on man. It was just a dream," I replied with a blow in the air. " There's no way it's really his mind."

  "I'm telling you, it was weird."

  "Oh yes? Well, what did his mind say?

  “He told me to get out of bed, and said he was a lost soul now because of us. He also said we were going to pay to kill him . Then he kept saying he would come back to life and kill me. He wasn't happy that I was sleeping in his bed either. He told me to go, but I was too sleepy to go.

  I stopped eating my cookie. Wait. Was it possible that a lost soul could actually communicate with a character? "Did he say anything else?"

  “He told me not to touch any of his paintings. He said he could never reproduce such art again.

  Shit. Was it just a weird dream that Johnny was having? I did not know. The last thing we needed was him and Dante following us. This elf was really starting to become a little pest. In fact, I almost regretted having met him in the first place. I continued to eat my cookie. “Do you think it was a dream?”

  “I mean, it's possible. Dreams can seem real. But it just seemed different.

  I finished eating my cookie and stood up. “We should really throw out these paints. They scare me.

  “Maybe,” Johnny replied.

  “Not now though. We don't have a lot of time to waste.

  "Now what? What are we going to do today?"

  "Let's get out of here and see what's going on in the village."

  Johnny followed me out of the house and into the village. "It's good here, isn't it?"

  Johnny flexed his rather small muscles. "I look good in the blazing sun," he mumbled.

  I rolled my eyes. Then I looked at my arms. Damn, they were really skinny. Well, it wasn't the end of the world. I started to walk towards a large water fountain in the center of the village. Several characters were busy swimming in the water and it seemed a lot busier than usual.

  I looked around at the various stores and guilds around us. "Oh, there is a guild of fighters!" I screamed in excitement.

  "There is also a mage guild," Johnny replied.

  There was literally too much to do. I wanted to try a guild, but I also wanted to level up. Not only that, I wanted to start our army. Oh, and then there was Todd. I needed to send Todd a new message. I opened my messages and started typing a new one :

  “Hi Todd. Are you OK? Please convo me when you receive this. Let me know how we can locate your soul.

  Walker."

  Within minutes, I had an answer.

  "It's a little complicated. My soul has been sent to this horrible place called UnderDead. If you come to my soul, we can work together to find my body. It's easier with the help of live players. I'll explain all the details later. I do, however, need a special potion called "Astral Dust". Without it, I can't even go back to my body. Astral Dust, however, can be difficult to find. I see if I can find someone else on my friends list to give it to me. Once I get the hang of it, things will be a lot easier. You will have to come to UnderDead to get my soul back. Also, I will give you 78 gold coins! I will send you soo n directions . Just let me write them down first. Thank you!!!

  Todd. "

  78 gold coins? That would be great. I could go on and set aside 35 coins for monthly dues. Then I had 43 gold coins left as pure profit. I looked for Johnny and realized he had run in front of me. "Johnny," I yelled. "I got a message from Todd."

  Johnny came back to me. "Okay. What did he say?"

  “He said he still wanted us to help him find his body. He also said he would give us 78 gold coins.

  A greedy look appeared on Johnny's face. "Can we ask him more?"

  I rolled my eyes. “Come on , come on . The guy saved my life. Did you forget this? Yes, you probably did because you were too busy doing nothing.

  "Alright," Johnny replied. "If you really want to save him, I guess we will."

  “We will save him. But first, we have to level up. Maybe earn some stat points. Then we can start building our army.

  We started to walk. Suddenly, a figure in bright yellow bumped into Johnny. "Get out of the way, stupid," he yelled.

  "You were the one who ran into me," Johnny replied.

  " Shut up," the character yelled before running away.

  Johnny straightened up. "This guy was boring."

  In the far left corner of my view, I noticed some sort of tall building. As I approached, I realized it looked like a colosseum. "Wow! Dude, this is awesome," I shouted .

  Johnny smiles. Then he ran closer to the Colosseum. In front of the Colosseum was an older man in a white robe. He looked like an NPC. "Do you want to place a bet today?" He asked.

  "Can we bet on the fights?" I asked.

  "Indeed you can," replied the NPC.

  It sounded like a lot of fun, but I knew we had to level up. It was more important. “Not at the moment,” I replied.

  “I always know who is going to win wrestling fights,” Johnny replied.

  "It's because they're wrong," I replied as we walked away from the Colosseum.

  "Where are the rats?" We have to kill rats and level up, ”Johnny replied.

  I looked around. Where was the large group of players snacking? I hadn't seen that yet. But I knew there was an area for it. A few players were gathered not far from us. "I'm going to ask these guys," I said as I walked over to them.

  The players turned to me. There were three humans and an orc. The orc waddled closer to me. "What's up?" He asked.

  “Do you know where a good grinding area is? I am at level 2 and my friend is only at level 1. "

  The group of characters laughed. "You should go to the rat dungeon."

  "Rat dungeon?"

  “Yes, it's mostly a mix of rats and goblins. It's just outside the village. Turn right and go down towards the river. You will see it. It is not very far."

  "Oh okay," I said with a smile. "Thanks. "

  I turned around. Then one of the other players yelled at me. "Wait."

  "Yeah?" I asked, turning around.

  “Do you like the game so far? I'm just wondering from your new one and everything.

  This character was pretty cool. He had a black dragon tattoo running down the left side of his face. Her long black hair was tucked behind her ears and went well with her black dress. I itched my eyebrow. "More than I imagined," I replied. “It’s amazing. I almost want to live here.

  “Well, the problem could make your dreams come true,” he laughs. "But, why do you just 'almost' want to live here?"

  “I mean, I might want to. I'm just not sure yet.

  "Do it," the character replied.

  “Yes ,” another character shouted. “We all live here. Right here in this village. RockHead is a great village to live in. "

  RockHead? Was that the name of this village? I wrinkled my forehead. "Really? How common is this?"

  “More and more common. In fact , this game now has a conversion rate of fifty percent. Can you believe it? "

  “Wow. Over fifty percent of gamers live in the gaming world? I had no idea the stats were that high.

  "It is also increasing from week to week."

  I itchy nose. "It's cr azy," I replied with a smile. “Well, thanks again for the help. I'd better go.

  The player seemed not to want me to leave. "Are you going to the rat dungeon now?"

  I pointed to Johnny. "My friend and I are."

  The character in the black dress smiles. "Do you mind if I join you?"

  I looked at Johnny then him. “Yeah, that would be cool. I don't see why not. "

  Another character took a step forward. "Me too. I want to kill rats.

  I nodded. The second character looked like a strong barbarian guy. It was built like a chariot and wore heavy red arm
or. Her Mohawk style haircut also made her look pretty tough. “Sounds good,” I replied.

  Right after that, an alert message popped up in me:

  You have been invited to join a party! Accept refuse?

  Part Name: RatKillers

  I accepted the invitation and took the two new players to Johnny. “Yo, what's up,” one of the players shouted.

  Johnny looked at me and the new characters. "Hey? What's up?"

  "These guys want to join us in the rat dungeon," I replied, putting a hand on Johnny's shoulder.

  “Nice construction,” said the barbarian player. "We need to get you some armor."

  Johnny smirked. "Thanks. Yeah. But I hate covering up my muscular body . You have to admit, that's pretty impressive, isn't it?

  I rolled my eyes. He wasn't even that muscular. The two players looked at each other and laughed. "Whatever makes you happy man," said one of them.

  I looked at their names above their heads:

  Stan The Smasher - Level 13

  Human - Barbarian

  and

  Cosmo Dust - Level 16

  Human - Mage

  Johnny looked confused. "How do I accept this invitation?"

  “Just do it mentally. You will understand, ”I replied.

  "I do," Johnny replied.

  We walked alongside the characters as our stamina levels kept dropping. We had to stop and rest several times. While we were resting, both characters made lots of jokes about our low stamina. Then I got a pop-up alert:

  Congratulations!

  Your Stamina skill has increased by 2 points!

  Stamina level increased to 12/12

  “Hey,” I shouted. "I finally improved my endurance!"

  "And me?" Johnny asked. “I'm tired of huffing and huffing. It ruins my life a bit.

  Stan burst out laughing. “You look so pathetic when you start to wheeze. Your fat body gasping for air. It's hilarious."

  Cosmo also hurled insults at us. “You should just carry paper bags with you. You can barely walk without breaking down. "

  I laughed . It was true. Having the lowest stamina level really sucks. Even at level 2, I already felt a little more air circulating in my body. "Look at this!" I screamed as I ran at full speed.

  I continued to run for at least ten seconds longer than I could before. "It's nothing," Cosmo yelled behind me. “Wait until you're in the twenty-something range. You will feel so free. It's like a difference of day and night.

  I slowed down because I had pushed my endurance bar to the limit. Suddenly I got a pop-up alert. It was a new post from Todd and it sounded like a long:

  “Please inquire about UnderDead. I don't know if you know the location, but the front door is located just north of "Forest of the Mist". I don't know your location, but it shouldn't be too far from you. Everyone knows where UnderDead is. Once you've approached UnderDead, drop me a line.

  I'll give you my exact location. You need my exact location because you will need to "reveal" my soul. Bad news though, no one on my friends list has the Astral Dust potion. I need you to take it from me. It's expensive, but people have it. I have a lot of gold and I can give it to you after you bring my soul to my body. I am desperate here. So, I'm going to give you more than the 78 gold coins I previously offered. Okay? You will get 150 gold, and I will also give you back anything you spent to get the Astral Dust. So you will make a full profit of 150 gold coins. Does that ring true?

  Please ask around and find the potion for me. Only a living character can provide it to me. Also, Astral Dust is not worth anything unless you know exactly where my soul is. Once I drink this it will reveal my soul and store it in the empty potion bottle. W hen we locate my body, you will need to direct my soul towards it. I can explain everything later. I know that's a lot of information for a new player. Sorry about that.

  You just don't know how frustrating it is to be a lost soul. The worst part is that I can't even log out now because of this stupid problem. I will never allow myself to be in this situation again! I will be sure to plan ahead next time. No one can see you and you cannot talk to any living player. You can only talk to characters on your Friends List and other Lost Souls. If I don't get to my body soon, that will be very bad news. Help me please! I only have a few days left before my soul is found by the wrong people. I'll give you gold or whatever you need. If you help me , I will owe you my life. Thanks and keep me posted!

  Todd. "

  Shit. It seemed pretty serious. What would happen to Todd if he didn't reach his body? And how was I going to find that "Astral Dust" thing he was talking about? Part of me just wanted to say "Screw that guy from Todd" because that sounded like too much work. But, another part of me felt bad for him. I didn't know him well, but he saved my life. He had craned his neck to help me, and I had to do the same for him. I almost hated being a good guy. But I just couldn't ignore his desperate cry for help. Knowing this, I walked towards Cosmo. “I don't think I have time for the dungeon anymore. Something important has happened.

  "Are you serious?" Cosmo asked. “We'll be there literally in thirty seconds. Look, it's right there.

  Not far from us was a large field of earth. In the center of the field was a wooden door. But, the door was flat on the floor. The players opened the door and climbed into what looked like a hole. I wanted to come in, but I didn't have time. I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I have a friend who needs my help. Do you know where UnderDead is?"

  “Of course,” Cosmo replied. “It's only a 30-minute walk from here. I can pick you up there. But, only if you come to the dungeon with us. Come on, just fifteen minutes of fun. That's all I ask.

  Going to the dungeon was a waste of time, but getting lost was an even bigger waste of time. So I decided that it would be wise to accept it. " Alright," I replied. “But we have to hurry. My friend's soul is lost and he needs my help.

  Cosmo's face tightened. "His soul is lost?" How are you going to save him? You don't have astral dust, do you?

  "No. But I'll find some.

  Stan and Cosmo both laughed. “It's expensive,” Cosmo replied. “You're going to need a lot of gold to get your hands on it. Every player potentially needs this potion, so they don't easily drop it. They usually hide it, or they give it to a very loyal friend . Only a living player can give it to you. Also, you cannot use it on yourself. "

  "Okay, how can I find him?"

  Cosmo approached me. "You have to ask around and let other players know that you have a lot of gold."

  "How much gold are we talking about?"

  “Some players want hundreds of coins. Others want thousands. It is not easy to obtain. "

  Hundreds? Thousands? What the shit? How could I have found so much gold? I started to feel frustrated. I entered this game with the goal of making money for the real world. Now I had to spend gold just to save a guy I barely knew? It was true, but I couldn't be so short-sighted. Of course, it would cost gold to save Todd, but in the end, I would actually earn 150 gold. But what if he did n't pay me? Damn, I guess it didn't matter. Going back to the real world didn't even seem like an option anymore. I opened my menu just to check and see if the exit button had returned. No, he was still gone.

  After considering all of my options, I finally made my decision. I was going to save Todd. I trusted he would pay me. Besides, it was going to be an adventure. Maybe there was something in me that wanted to do something big? Or maybe I just wanted to go on an adventure? I didn't know, but I knew I was going to save Todd. I looked up and smiled. "So how can I get a lot of gold in a short period of time?"

  Cosmo fell silent. I could tell he was doing his best to find an answer. A few moments passed before he shrugged. “You must attack a village of bandits. It's the only thing I can think of. If you want a lot of gold fast, this is the best way. "

  "Alright," I replied. "And they're bad guys, aren't they?" Guys who deserved to be attacked?

  "Yes," Stan replied from behind us. “The bandits suck. These are players
who live to steal from other players. This is how they got all their gold.

  “Awesome,” I replied. “I will take pleasure in looting their village. Then it's final. We are going to attack a village bandit and get the gold. Then we'll go save my friend.

  Cosmo and Stan laughed. "Us? What do you mean by us?

  I nodded. "I would be grateful for help. In other words, if you want to help."

  Stan looked uncomfortable. “I can't,” he replied. “I don't want to get involved in something so heavy. Not at the moment at least.