Respawn: Nightmare Mode (Respawn LitRPG series Book 4)

by Arthur Stone

  Four more bots appeared, a little further back. They were very difficult to see, often covered by the smoking husk of the carrier Janitor had taken out. Cheater took out two of them with three shots, but it turned out they were the wrong ones to target.

  A survivor decided he was close enough. Pulling a disposable grenade launcher out, he cocked it and fired, collapsing immediately as a heavy caliber bullet punctured his skull.

  His deed was done, however. The projectile struck the APC’s rear. Smoke stopped pouring out from the vehicle’s gun and started pouring out from everywhere else. The overjoyed bots rushed the carrier from all sides. There were at least two dozen of them visible now. Cheater was amazed.

  Where had they all come from?

  He took out a couple more, but realized he could not possibly stop them all. Fatso began firing then, though sparingly. It was a waste of ammo, but only Clown had the lack of conscience to watch impassively as Janitor was assailed from all sides.

  Not that Clown’s machine gun would have been any better.

  “Janitor’s in trouble,” he remarked impassively, but he might have been wrong.

  The degree of damage the APC had taken was unknown, thanks to the shroud of smoke. Janitor had perhaps stopped shooting simply because he was out of ammunition. He was still alive, to be sure. The carrier started moving. He’s driving! It rushed down the hill towards the abyss.

  The crew of the vehicle the bots had left near the bridge began firing from their heavy machine gun. At the sound, Cheater sent six bullets in a row into the vehicle, scattering them to try to score hits on most if not all of the occupants. His target was only four hundred yards away, so even a low-Accuracy player could likely hit with a rifle like his.

  Direct hit.

  The APC did not do well under the fire from the machine gun. Somehow, though, it was still going. It speed down the hill, rocking from side to side, then emerged onto the road, accelerating noticeably. On the bridge, it nearly knocked over a bot leaping out, then dove into the abyss, a trail of smoke behind it.

  A black plume rose after a mighty crash announced the heavy vehicle was done for.

  Note: The player Janitor has left the Interfluvial Steppe region! Note: The player Janitor is now in the Seventeen Lakes region!

  Cheater pulled up the squad menu. The quasi’s icon was black.

  “Beautiful way to go,” Fatso nodded with approval.

  “Yes,” Clown admitted. “But I’ve seen more beautiful ways.”

  “Sure. You really know how to kill a mood, you know that? Alright, let’s get out of here. If Janitor managed to take out all of the other vehicles, we’ll reach the border.”

  “Why are you going for the border? Rainbow’s in this region, isn’t it?”

  “To hell with you, and to hell with Rainbow, too,” Fatso cursed. “I’m not about to miss a double border crossing.”

  “Ah, how quickly people abandon their dreams,” Clown sighed. “I’ve seen that many times, too. Cheat, are you just going to keep shooting? I’m going deaf from your rifle over here. Let’s go!”

  Cheater had used up another magazine trying to take out the wheels. “Alright. We should be able to make it on foot, now. The others have gotten far, I imagine. We’ll cross the border before the bots have a chance to recover.”

  “Then let them do whatever they want to us. As long as we get across.”

  Chapter 25

  Life Nine. Two Miles

  Cheater pressed his body into the earth, holding his rifle up at the steepest angle possible. The rock was just too small. He couldn’t get a shot at the circling helicopter.

  The bastards had climbed, far too high into the sky. Of course, that was a very risky move when you were flying over the Continent. Their bird was not a strong one. No armor and just a single machine gun sticking out of the side. It was weak, but there was no way he could hit it.

  The bots had concluded right after the take-down of the first bird that they needed to stay far away. This one had stayed over a half-mile away and had circled them from there, staying high in the air. The gunner burned one belt of ammo after another, showering the players with rounds. Aiming well from that distance was certainly possible, but not at high speed at a target the helicopter was zipping past. Mostly the bullets just tossed dust into the air and ricocheted off the rocks.

  Yet sometimes, they hit. There were too many bullets raining down for all of them to miss. Fatso had been wounded, and March had nearly been killed. He now sported a long, deep scratch along his cheek. Sometimes Cheater shot back, but the working conditions were terrible for a sniper. He could not get into a comfortable position, and the target kept moving. Now, he had emptied three magazines just trying to hit the copter at all, not even at a vulnerable point. Nothing. It had never jerked in protest, so he had likely never hit it.

  Cheater had suggested that their three partymates had cleared half the distance or so. But they caught up to them in just over a half mile—and they were sitting, not moving.

  Button’s other leg had been hurt. That was no surprise, given that they had been dragging her over stones and potholes with a crippled leg. “Dragging” was no exaggeration. Thankfully she was light, but their movement speed was significantly reduced.

  Less than ten minutes later, a lone sniper starting shooting at them from a position behind them and to the left. It was probably one of the bots that had gone after Roach. He was a mediocre marksman. But he was no novice and had plenty of ammo. While Cheater, prone, was figuring out where to take his shot, the enemy had landed a beautiful hit right in Tat’s head, even though she had taken impressive cover in the rocks and was nearly fully hidden.

  Button had resurrected the girl. During that time, a machine gunner replaced the sniper Cheater had slain. Thankfully, that enemy had been easier to kill immediately.

  Then, when they started moving again, machine gun bullets assailed them from several sources all on the same side. Engaging them would have been a stupid idea. Cheater’s ammo was running low, and time was pressing. Dealing with these bots would just allow more to catch up.

  Assuming they were coming on foot, and not in new vehicles.

  A vehicle appeared then. Seven hundred yards away it stopped and began happily lobbing grenades at them from its launcher. Shrapnel showered all around. They had to drop to the earth, using miserably small rocks for cover, and hit back with whatever they could. Meaning exclusively with Cheater’s rifle. All of the party’s other weapons could do next to nothing to damage vehicles.

  Cheater took the car out in seven rounds. None of the party died in the attack, but everyone but Button took some shrapnel to the body. Her body armor, helmet, and the protection of her companions kept her from suffering the same.

  Then that damn helicopter showed up.

  If Cheater had a box of ammo, he could have cleaned up. The area seemed perfect for snipers. As long as they didn’t come at the party with heavy trucks or launch mortars from afar, he could take them down.

  Instead, he had to count every shot, limp on his shredded leg, and mentally curse the restless bird above.

  March was nervous, too. “How long are you planning to lie there? Despite appearances, this isn’t a beach, you know. Bring it down already!”

  Cheater rose and shouldered his rifle. “I can’t get it until it comes closer.”

  “What about your accuracy? Is it on vacation too?”

  “You can see how that thing is flying. It’s half a mile away and traveling a hundred miles an hour. And all the way up there. God himself couldn’t hit it. By the way, I’m close to empty on ammo. I’ll save the rest. Maybe a better target will show up.”

  Fatso turned and grimaced. “Way to jinx us, Cheater.”

  He turned to see another vehicle climbing up to the area where Fatso and Clown had watched Janitor go down in flames.

  Cheater spat. “The hell did that come from?”

  The rifle was too uncomfortable to work with. By the time
he got it all set up...

  The bots opened fire first. A heavy-caliber machine gun, throwing up fountains of pebbles and dirt left and right. The shooter spared no ammunition. If he had been launching water instead of shells, Cheater had no doubt plants would spring up by evening. But it seemed like he hadn’t actually seen them. He was just guessing their location, based on the helicopter.

  Cheater tried to keep calm in the midst of the shelling and took aim just above the windshield. There, he could see a part of the shooter’s face over the top of the machine gun. His shot rang out.

  The bullet did not need to penetrate armor. It flew right into the slot and took the man’s head and helmet to pieces.

  Aiming lower, Cheater shot into the glass in front of the driver, then at the passenger. He would love to plant a dozen more rounds into the car, but he had to conserve.

  He rose to one knee. “We have to go before anyone else shows up.”

  Turning, he saw the others stepping away from Button.

  He approached the girl, looked her over, and pursed his lips.

  They had gotten her.

  A huge bullet had struck her left side, below her breast. The bulletproof vest was unable to stop such a mighty round, and it punched through entirely. Her armor became a liability, then, as the impact pushed its plates hard into her, flattening the organs beneath.

  Button was dead. Her icon had not yet turned black. Perhaps her heart was still beating, but she was done for.

  Without a moment’s pause, Cheater said, “I have an egg.”

  “What? You planning to cook?” March muttered.

  “A golden egg. Regeneration. It can save you from anything.”

  March shook his head. “You’re a noob, Cheater. Some things, a golden egg cannot heal. Button’s insides are shattered. Nothing can help her now.”

  Cheater nodded. “I understand. That’s too bad. We would never have made it this far without her. But now, at least, we can run faster. What are we standing around for?”

  “Until her body crumbles to dust, she is formally an active squad member,” Clown said.

  “Are you saying we should carry her?” Fatso said tiredly, rubbing his bloody shoulder.

  Tat pulled a short, wide sword from its sheath. Bending over the dying girl, she touched it to her neck, preparing to strike.

  “What are you doing?” Cheater asked.

  “If we push it, we can reach the border in five minutes. The brain takes about that long to die without oxygen.” She swung the blade.

  The crunching sound was nauseating. To Clown, however, it was interesting. “Now this is something I’ve never seen done before.”

  * * *

  The grenade struck the ground, bounced, and soared a few meters into the air, where its short fuse triggered, showering everything below with shrapnel. A lot of shrapnel.

  Much of it flew towards Cheater.

  The deadly metal punched into his scalp. Reflexively grabbing the top of his head, Cheater felt a gummy substance.

  Clown kept running, not even stumbling at the explosion. “You should wear a helmet, young man.”

  “I don’t see where he’s shooting from,” Cheater complained, breathing like a workhorse about to keel over.

  “And he doesn’t want you to see, of course. He’s up on that hill somewhere, among the cacti, lobbing things at us. It’s a great distance away, and we’re moving, so he doesn’t have much of a shot.”

  Cheater envied Clown’s stamina. He looked twice the newcomer’s age, but after running a half mile more across rough terrain carrying a full load while under fire, he still had not run out of breath. Age on the Continent was different. It was unusual to encounter an old person, even an old NPC. Only newcomers were ever old. And they did not remain old for long. Usually the maximum age was forty or so. Level was much more important.

  Since Clown’s level was much greater than Cheater’s, he could run as if there was no trouble at all.

  Another round of grenades struck fifty yards back. Some of the shards clanged off rocks treacherously close, but that was no concern. Only if the explosion was close would the shrapnel harm you seriously.

  Clown trotted along, as easily as if he were just starting a jog through Central Park. “Come on, Cheater, push! Only a short distance left.”

  The weaker player swept bloody sweat from his brow and looked ahead of him with greed in his eyes. Only three hundred yards away, a perfectly straight line cut across the desert. On the other side, everything looked the same. Cursedly small rocks, mocking cacti, stunted bushes here and there. But it was a new cluster. One step over that line, and their mission was done.

  They would be in the next region.

  Thirteen players started the quest, and five were now at the finish line.

  Plus the blooded head of Button, which Tat was carrying by the hair.

  The bots were coming in furiously now, as if they knew that all the players wanted was to cross. Five or six grenades poured in. The helicopter began descending and narrowing its circles. He could try taking it out now. But how would breath as ragged as a locomotive’s and hands as shaky as a blender affect his Accuracy?

  Bullets and debris flew all around. Most only served to scare them, but others hit their bulletproof vests, or unprotected areas. Cheater had lost count of his wounds. Five? Six? Maybe seven? He was lucky that nothing vital had been hurt, but a normal person would have been killed, or at least maimed.

  Cheater, however, was a player. A participant in this damned game on this damned Continent.

  So he kept running, thirty-pound rifle on his shoulder.

  The next volley of grenades came when there were no more than fifty steps to the border. Cheater fell to the earth reflexively at the sound of the first explosion, and that saved his life. The next one blew up so close that it would have sprayed metal shards into his whole body, head to toe. He rose and shook his head.

  It didn’t help his hearing much, but he still heard Fatso cry out. The man was leaning against a rock. His leg was in bad shape, soaked in blood and torn up in several places, shreds of muscle visible through the rips in his pants.

  Cheater jumped over to him and grabbed his arm.

  “Come on!” he yelled. “Just a few steps left! Come on, I can’t pull you with one hand.”

  “We’ll pull him together” Clown shouted.

  Judging by his voice, he was also stunned. Judging by his face, the shrapnel had gotten him, too. But although he was limping on both legs, he was still strong enough.

  Cheater grabbed the wounded man by one hand, and Clown grabbed him by the other, and Fatso grabbed his machine gun. So they dragged him, along the ground, his ammo belt ringing on the stones as they went.

  Tat reached the border ahead of them all. Button’s head was still in her right hand, but her machine gun had been lost somewhere along the way.

  She tripped on a rock and fell, a dozen steps away. Getting up on one knee, she awkwardly hurled the priestess’s head across the line.

  Note: The player Button has left the Seventeen Lakes region! Note: The player Button is now located in the Phantom Forest region!

  “Holy hell. She did it!” Clown gasped. “Her head fucking did it! Without her body! God in heaven!”

  For the first time on the whole journey, Cheater saw Clown genuinely surprised. But Clown’s emotions were the last thing he cared about now.

  Only a few steps left.

  Another round of grenades hit, but behind them this time. Either the shooter had not adjusted his aim, or he had simply missed, for some other reason.

  As the final explosion sounded, Cheater took the crucial step.

  Note: You have left the Seventeen Lakes region! Note: You have entered the Phantom Forest region! You have set automatic region binding in your settings. Your current region is now the Phantom Forest. You have crossed the border between Seventeen Lakes and Phantom Forest regions. Congratulations to you and your party members. You succeeded despite in
surmountable obstacles. Bonuses: +6000 distributable base stat progress points, +14000 distributable auxiliary stat progress points, +6 points to all meters, max refill of all meters, +250 Humanity, +3 to your Lives counter, +4 primary inventory cells, +40 grams to inventory weight limit, +900 grams to personal cache weight limit, +300 grams to personal cache special cell weight limit (you can keep an unlimited number of unbound items in this cell, except items from monsters).You receive a special perk: Immunity to Snake Venom! (Does not work against sea snakes.) All of your hidden stats get +1 level, regardless of their current progress.

  Your Monster Hunter stat is now level 3. Your chances of being detected by high-level monsters are reduced by 20%. +1500 Stealth progress points. Congratulations!

  Your Cartography stat has reached level 12. +400 Perception progress points. Congratulations!

  Note: This is your second border crossing between regions. Congratulations! Bonus +200 distributable base stat progress points. +5 distributable meter points.

  Note: The players Kitty, Janitor, and Roach are too far from the party. They will not receive credit for this discovery.

  Note: A new cluster has been discovered. Party discovery. This is the eleventh cluster you have discovered. Bonus +550 distributable auxiliary stat points; +5 distributable meter points. Note: You have leveled up the hidden Cartography stat! It is now level 13. Congratulations! Explore territories unknown to other players. The more you discover, the more your Cartography will grow. As it levels up, you will unlock more opportunities.

  Note: The players Kitty, Janitor, and Roach are too far from the party. They will not receive credit for this discovery.

  Note: Your squad has set a new Continental speed record for crossing two region borders consecutively. You crossed two borders in thirty-four minutes. The previous record was thirty-nine minutes. Note: The players Kitty, Janitor, and Roach are too far from the party. They will not receive credit for this discovery. The players March, Button, Cheater, Tat, Clown, and Fatso will be congratulated in the global achievements feed, notifying all other players via the special event chat. Congratulations to you and your party members. You succeeded despite insurmountable obstacles. Bonuses: +5000 distributable base stat progress points, +15000 distributable auxiliary stat progress points, +20 points to all meters, max refill of all meters, +1000 Humanity, +0.09 to your multipliers for all base and auxiliary stats, +7 to your Lives counter, +4 primary inventory cells, +60 grams to inventory weight limit, +2200 grams to personal cache weight limit, +450 grams to personal cache special cell weight limit (you can keep an unlimited number of unbound items in this cell, except items from monsters). You get a special perk! Detect Mines and Traps. This perk is active for all mines and traps within eight meters of you. A list of 5 random abilities has been added to the Your Notes section. You can choose one of these at any time, and it will be added to your character’s abilities.