Once I’d gotten far enough away, I turned face down and accelerated to reach my top speed. I got to the transporter in a few seconds, and it had no shot against me. Placing my hands on it gave me complete control. Immediately dropping one side down into the middle, I squished a good hundred guards. There were only monsters there, no players, and so I didn’t pay them too much attention. As soon as one poked its head up out of the wreckage, I took it off with a charge from my pistol.
I dug through the available equipment and finally found what I’d been looking for: a small area designated as storage. Another champion popped up, Valkyrie made its opinion known, and everything fell suddenly quiet. Raptor told me the giant vehicle was the only living thing within 120 meters.
That didn’t take long to change.
You took a selfie with a live larva-level creature in the background from less than three meters away. 60000 coins received.
***
You destroyed a transporter.
Valkyrie, Fang, Ulbaron, and Raptor levels increased by 1 (13).
Level +10 (330).
5 free attribute points received.
***
You took the first picture of a dead larva-level creature. 120000 coins received.
You took the first picture of 60 dead champions. 108000 coins received.
You took the first picture of 43 dead superior monsters. 1290 coins received.
Seven level four items from the transporter were at least some compensation for the time I’d spent. I hadn’t been able to grab anything from the orcs, and I wasn’t about to head back that way. Sending 1.2 million to my account and yelling at the system for taking 50%, I got to work tearing apart the beast with practiced speed. Everything standing between me and the storage was turned into dark dust. Now they won’t be able to print any more…
I froze, mouth hanging open, just a couple steps away from my goal. Of course! Suddenly, I realized why the soldiers didn’t take pictures of the monsters. Two plus two was four — the whole time I’d been making my way to the checkpoint back in my first day or two, the monsters had just laid there in the grass waiting for someone to take a picture of them. And after I’d done just that with my phone, they’d been turned back into nanoparticles. Okay, so the game doesn’t know when you get a kill; it only gets the info and dissolves the body when it’s added to the database. And keeping that from happening lowered the number of available nanoparticles. Fewer nanoparticles meant fewer monsters. The logic was simple, but I couldn’t have disagreed with it more — if we didn’t take pictures of the bodies, the owner’s players definitely would. It wasn’t a smart move. At least, I didn’t think so.
Convinced I was right, I took out the last obstacle and finally got to the valuable cargo. Now it makes sense why they needed all that protection. I was just surprised there hadn’t been more monsters and players assigned to it. Apparently, they’d let their guard down over the previous couple weeks.
I was holding six stones shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow and flashing bolts of lightning. Earth noa. Six units the game owner couldn’t leave our world without.
The penalties I was already dealing with were apparently the worst the game had to throw at me — nothing happened when I stole the game owner’s loot. A couple taps later, and Ulbaron had a special reinforced pocket that fit all the stones. Now it’s time to get out of here.
The game had a response, but it wasn’t the one I’d been expecting. And it definitely was time to get out of there.
Protection complete. You were able to attract the attention of the Tsarter group, meaning your fellow Earthlings are in the clear. They’ve been informed of your feat.
Level +1 (331).
Chapter 3
THE FOREST swept by below me, and red dots blinked to show me where monsters where, but I wasn’t about to stop. I needed to put as much distance between myself and the dead transporter as I could. And with that in mind, I headed due south, damn the consequences. Tsarter wasn’t a concern — I didn’t have enough time to hide or worry.
You arrived in a safe zone.
The message popped up so suddenly that I very nearly flew straight into a tree. The new location came with quite the surprise — a few, actually. For starters, the safe zone was an entire location, and not just the village Aspen had once been. And there were at least 100 humans there, at least judging by the ranking, though none of them were above level 20. Not only that, but the zone wasn’t ringed by monsters. There was something else, instead. I suddenly noticed a green dot running parallel to my course, standing out against the usual red. Banking hard to the right, I headed in that direction, but it flew off with unsettling synchronicity and speed to stay right at the edge of Raptor’s range. There were about 130 meters separating us, but I couldn’t see anything no matter how hard I stared. It was unnerving. Why is it green? Is that supposed to mean something?
I wasn’t able to figure it out, so I decided to accept it and move on. Flying past a few villages, I was shocked to see how calm and at ease the people there were. And they were people, not the game owner’s creatures. There were a lot of them, too. Quite a lot. Every building, every shack, every gatehouse was being used as housing. But even beyond them, there were rows and rows of tents that were also packed with people. There were children, adults, even older people. In fact, it was almost like the game had failed to touch the whole location. They saw and pointed at me, some of them hid, and none of them knew if I was a friend or an enemy. But I wasn’t about to come in for a landing, so I flew on to the next village, where I saw the same picture. The same overcrowding, the same tents, the same people looking up at me. There was a look of fear on all their faces.
The green dot stayed invisible even in open space. Raptor’s probably just glitching. Getting my bearings, I headed toward the central village in the location. It was hard not to notice, the same kind of garden city as Aspen. The only difference was that it was even more beautiful. There were more ornaments, the waterfalls were bigger, and lakes were wider, and the bushes had been molded into statues and other figures. It felt like I was in Versailles or Peterhof, and definitely not in a location overrun by refugees and surrounded by monsters.
Mark Derwin, you’re directed to land. If you don’t, you will be fired upon.
The message popped up half a kilometer before the entrance to the village. Raptor highlighted a few defensive towers, so I decided to follow the game’s instructions. Settling onto the ground, I went the rest of the way on foot. But that’s when the green dot made its move. Accelerating, it flew into the village and headed toward me, stopping a few meters away. Finally, I could see what it was: a gray-haired old man who looked like a mage from some fantasy movie. What made it stand out was the shimmering invisibility field — there was a cloak tossed over its outfit that served as camouflage. I’d never seen anything that advanced. Making a mental note to figure out what it was and where I could get one, I noticed the function — it was definitely a function — look me over and nod with satisfaction.
“Yes, that’s about how I imagined you, Mark Derwin,” the old man said. “I’m Verloven, the head of this safe zone. Please, be my guest.”
The perception I’d been so proud of was powerless against Verloven. I couldn’t see its name, its level, its attributes, nothing. For me, it was like looking at a piece of furniture that could for some reason walk and talk. Only Raptor showed me there was the still-green point in front of me.
“I don’t have much time, and there are people following me, too,” I said in an attempt to decline. Verloven just smiled.
“Tsarter can’t enter this location. Neither the monsters, nor the players the owner inserted into the game can. And I won’t keep you long — I know where you’re going in such a hurry. Believe me, a chat would benefit us both.”
Arguing with a creature that can go invisible isn’t the best idea, so I let it walk me over to a small gazebo. Servants brought food over. To my surprise, they were people, too
.
“Of course,” Verloven said, noticing where my glance was lingering. “There isn’t a single changed in this location. My function is to protect humans — I’m a defender.”
“Something like the people Olsen mentioned? The power balancers?”
“It’s a joy to hear how informed you are, but no, I don’t destroy monsters. I protect people. Those are two completely different functions.”
“You chased all the monsters out of the location without killing them?”
“Exactly. Although, I have a problem: the resources in each location are limited. It’s so crowded here, and we don’t have enough food or water. I need help, Mark Derwin.”
“Let me take a wild guess — you need another location? To make sure you can bring in more people to keep safe?”
“Your sarcasm is understandable if mistaken. No, I don’t need more lands, at least not in this release. But for me to do a good job, I need to get rid of some traces of the game. There are two caches and one dungeon in this location. And I want you to help me destroy them.”
“If it were that simple, any of your players could take care of it,” I replied dubiously. “What’s the catch?”
“Anyone can beat a dungeon or collect a reward from a cache. But not everyone can destroy them. The game takes care of its own, protects them. You’ll have to deal with an opponent, though I know who it will be. He’ll be at the same level as you, be just as strong as you, have the same attributes as you. Basically, it will be a reflection of you, only looking different. A distorted mirror.”
“But whoever I go up against will know how to use their levels,” I said, setting the bait. It really is a good idea to listen to your opponents every once in a while instead of killing them immediately. The orcs deserved my thanks. I decided I would start killing them quickly, without making them suffer.
“No, and that’s your opportunity. You haven’t gone through the trials, and so your reflection will be just as weak. But do this, and I’ll tell you how to leverage your levels.”
“That’s not enough. I need information about the game, how to finish it.”
“Nobody but the game owner knows that.” The old man threw up its arms. “All I know is that noa has nothing to do with it — that’s payment for the game. But what the game itself needs? My function doesn’t know.”
“Wait a second. What do you mean, the game owner doesn’t need noa? Why are they sucking it out of the planet then?”
The rest of the conversation turned my perception of the game on its head. There was a creator who had designed and given life to the game. Powerful beings like the owner could purchase the game and roll it out on unattended planets — it was less than pleasant to find out that our planet was considered unattended in the cosmic hierarchy. Anyway, the creator received noa as payment for the game installation. Nobody knew what the owner needed from the planet, however, though I had a guess. There was a reason there was a digger in every hexagon. They explored Earth’s core in search of anything valuable the owner could use, and that was the main objective. Looting on a planetary scale. And that was why they couldn’t just sneak onto Earth and take what they needed, instead kicking off the full game for cover.
“I’ll tell you about levels once you’re done with my job,” the old man said finally. A message popped up on my screen:
New mission: Clear the location completely. Description: The head of safe zone 2 in hexagon 8821 assigned you to destroy 2 caches and 1 dungeon generated by the game. You’ll be up against a defender equal to you in levels, attributes, and skills.
“You’ll need this to destroy the game pieces,” the old man said as he handed me three items reminiscent of billiard balls. “Just activate them in the heart of the location.”
As soon as I took the balls, the game reacted:
Defender activated.
Be careful! As soon as you leave the village, the hunt will begin.
“Do I have to fight alone, or can I bring people with me?” I should have asked that question right at the beginning.
“The game will create a copy of anyone you take with you. It’s up to you, but I’d advise against it.”
“Even if it’s personified noa?” I asked, and Verloven thought for a while.
“No, that would not count as a player,” he said slowly. “There wouldn’t be a copy. Why, do you have noa?”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re as in the loop as Olsen.” I tapped a few buttons on Raptor’s screen, and Ulbaron pulled a stone out of its secret pocket. Verloven’s eyes lit up. In fact, he very nearly jumped toward me, though he stopped himself in time.
“When you materialize noa, all the owner’s most powerful players will come running, attracted by the glow in the ether,” the function said without taking its eyes off the glowing rock. “But if you give it to me, I’ll pay you well. You need information on how to boost dungeon levels, right?”
“I need to know how to get the rainbow pearl. And the whole story with exact instructions.”
“Agreed! Destroy the game pieces, give me the noa, and you’ll have your plan of action.”
“And I won’t have to go looking for anyone else?” Olsen had taught me that functions were devious little characters. “For example, a digger. It’ll just be step-by-step instructions on how to find the pearl, right?”
The old man looked deflated.
“No, the main step in my plan was going to be finding the digger. That’s the only function that knows how to boost dungeon levels. Olsen wasn’t lying — that’s your only shot at finding the rainbow pearl.”
I was about to open my mouth when I stopped so suddenly I nearly bit my tongue. Who cares about the digger? I knew at least one other creature that might know where to find the pearl. Why didn’t I ask right away? Sometimes, I had to doubt my intelligence.
“So, you don’t have anything to offer,” I said. “Grust, time to wake up — I need you. Materialize.”
Verloven jumped forward in an attempt to stop me, but it was too late. The noa was gone. I almost felt bad looking at the old man, as his face suddenly looked drawn and haggard. Bags appeared under his eyes. It was like he’d lost his reason for living, and it had been just an arm’s length away.
“It’s a damn shame, Mark!” Grust showed up right on the table in the gazebo. Buried in it up to his waist, my ghostly partner looked like a ballerina wearing a tutu. A few seconds later, the table split in half, unable to stand up under the pressure of the player solidifying right in the middle of it. “Where are we?”
“Good to see you, too,” I said as I pulled Swallow out. It had been on my back the whole time. While it had bothered me in the beginning, I’d gotten used to it, and it even felt odd taking it off.
“Are you kidding me?” Grust took the weapon, checked his phone, cursed, and looked up at me in surprise. “Level thirteen? Have you seen the requirements?”
“Verloven, you want some noa?” I asked, turning to the old man without replying. The latter’s deadened eyes lit back up. “I see you do, and we need the attribute limit removed. Can you do that?”
“I can’t, but you can,” the function replied. “Grust isn’t just a player; he’s noa personified. You can give him your levels, and I’ll teach you how to do that if you give me a unit of noa.”
“Give me levels?” Grust asked. “That would remove the limitation?”
“Exactly. Mark Derwin hasn’t beaten a trial, so his levels aren’t locked in. He can give them to you to bypass your attribute limit. Once he does, you’ll be able to level-up and use your named item.”
The old man was turning on the charm. And judging by how bright my partner’s eyes were, the move had worked. I just had to make the decision on my end.
“What do you need noa for?” I asked.
“If I give it to the owner, I’ll get two locations in the next release instead of just one. That way, I’ll be able to save more creatures.”
“If I give him levels, will I lose seven
ty attribute points?”
“Yes, though you can just replace them with syringes. Just a hundred and forty thousand coins, and your partner will be a full-fledged player.”
“Mark? What do you say? I won’t be able to do much without Swallow.” Grust started pushing, and I gave in. It was going to be easier taking on monsters together, anyway.
“Fine, damn it.” Ulbaron dropped another stone out of its pocket, and I handed it to Verloven. “What do we do?”
You gave 70 levels to the materialized noa version of Grust Kilvan.
Pearl of the South (World of the Changed Book #2): LitRPG Series Page 4