Class-A Threat (Disgardium Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Dan Sugralinov

  Base damage: 4.

  Carrying capacity: 325 lbs.

  Accuracy: 70%.

  Spell power bonus: 8.4%.

  Dodge chance: +4%.

  Critical damage chance: +10%.

  Vendor discount: +2%.

  Chance of receiving a unique quest: +0.2%.

  Chance of receiving improved loot: +0.2%.

  Fame: 0.

  Skills:

  Unarmed Combat: 36.

  Bashing Weapons: 1.

  One-Handed Swords: 1.

  Night Vision: 5.

  Resilience: 36.

  Stealth: 4.

  Swimming: 1.

  Abilities and special attacks:

  Hammerfist: 36.

  Battering Ram: 1.

  Sneak Attack: 1.

  Stoneskin: 36.

  Trades and professions:

  Cooking: Journeyman (100/250).

  Special skills and abilities:

  Mark of the Destroying Plague: 5.

  Ghastly Howl: 2.

  Achievements:

  I'm on Fire!

  I'm on Fire – 2!

  I'm on Fire – 3!

  The Lich is Dead! Long Live the New Lich...

  First Kill: Crusher

  Hidden status: Emissary of the Destroying Plague.

  Hidden status: Class-W threat with L potential.

  The last two lines had appeared only after my letter from the corporation and they were flashing a foreboding shade of red. I closed my profile, about to get to my missions, but something stopped me.

  I opened the chest again and sat for a long time staring at it and not understanding what was bothering me. And the thought proved elusive. As I thought, I looked at each item in turn.

  There was the Skeleton Club. It was for level-fifteen minimum and maybe I wouldn’t need it, but I didn't see any reason to get rid of it yet. Logically, no matter how much I raised Unarmed Combat and Hammerfist, the base attack from the Bashing Weapons arsenal, Battering Ram, would do much more damage.

  That thought led me to another: I needed to go to a master of Unarmed Combat ASAP and learn some new attacks. From there a chain of associations led me to the idea of buying cheap weapons of various classes and leveling a few weapon skills in a dungeon.

  But when I thought about dungeons, I got a vague suspicion I had missed something and those several minutes of thinking bore fruit. It dawned on me how big a risk I was taking by sitting alone in an ins for hours on end. After all, if anyone walked up to a portal while I was in the dungeon, they’d see:

  The Tristad City Jail dungeon is being completed by another group of players.

  Current group progress: battle with Wimpy – 100%. Alive: 1/1 group members.

  I spent a long time in battle with the mad gnome inventor that time. And they might have questions both about the number of group members and the length of the boss battle. Either of those could be explained – a high level player might go in to farm gold solo, while some especially beefy tank or high-level healer might take a long time on a boss. But the seconds between my death and respawn would eventually show them:

  Current group progress: battle with Wimpy – 100%. Alive: 0/1 group members.

  And a brief sliver of time later, it would show the same but now with that group member alive once again. And that would look quite strange indeed! What was more, who could say which of the bosses were controlled by a person?

  Something in that system had me baffled. The devs thought the threats made their game unique. Dungeons controlled by people were clearly going to be their next big feature, and what was happening now was something of an alpha test. They would probably be using the results to decide whether to expand the function to the rest of Dis. And it was also worth remembering that common mobs could also be someone like Trixie.

  So how did that all come together? I was lucky Hank was a good guy. What if he wasn't? I opened the tech support window to immediately write a message asking these questions, but after typing the first line, I erased it all.

  Players weren't supposed to know any of the mobs were controlled by people. Hank hinted that vengeance could be fearsome for spreading that kind of information. I still didn't understand why he was revealing himself indirectly and with hints. After all, the fact was that he already knew that I knew Pherax's true nature.

  I again remembered Clayton's mysterious death right after he opened up to me. And I decided the risk to Hank would be too great if I asked Snowstorm the question I was planning to.

  But still I had to get this settled. I had finally figured out what had me so bothered all that time. So, pulling at that thread, realized what a spaz I was. Nether!

  I imagined myself as a noncitizen finding a huge pristine diamond on the street. But much to my dismay, I was already surrounded by a group of thugs and they were closing in. No, I’m not gonna play that game!

  Responding to my mental outburst, I opened my messages to write one to Snowstorm. I carefully thought over what to write and how. I realized I could protect Hank by only mentioning Dargo/Clayton. Hopefully that couldn't hurt him now. But beyond that there was a more relevant question!

  Where to start? Alright, I figured. I'd handle that as I went. I brought up the virtual keyboard and...

  "Dear developers!" No, no. Not like that. "Hey..." my fingers flittered in the air, tapping at the ghostly keys:

  Greetings, omnipotent gods of Disgardium!

  My name is Alex Sheppard, game nick Scyth, Tristad sandbox. A few days ago I was named a threat with potential class L. The explanatory message said that, after the threat in my person was eliminated, my character would die once and for all.

  Does that mean all my personal items, including those stored in the chest in my room in the tavern will be lost for good? I would like to know before any of the preventers identify and eliminate me. I have been fortunate enough to find some unique loot, a legendary spectral wolf. And at auction it might be worth in the millions of gold. I can’t activate it and summon the wolf though, because I do not meet the level requirements. Beyond that, when I lose my character – and that will happen sooner or later for reasons I will go into below – I’m afraid the mount will also be lost.

  I could sell it at auction, but I cannot withdraw money into the real world until I get into greater Disgardium, which means I stand to lose it all together with my character.

  Now I feel forced to play passively, sitting in my personal room where no one can touch me and waiting until I come of age. And that is because, among other things, one of the bosses I encountered in the dungeon Crypt of the Temple of Nergal the Radiant by the name Dargo was not a normal mob. He was pretty clearly controlled by a person. And the nature of my abilities as a threat are too obvious for someone not to notice.

  That means that I have nowhere to really progress in level. In the open world players might notice me, but in closed locations there are real people lurking inside bosses. In both cases, I could be found out. My potential is higher than average, and the reward for elimination is attractive enough to bring in even high-level players. I have already seen some preventers discussing the search for my character. Thanks for the global notification, by the way! Good thing they don't know my name!

  So, would you like to see me playing the game passively? As a teen, I am required to spend at least one hour in Dis every day. I will do that. But I will not stick my nose out of my room, and my apologies if that upsets any of your plans.

  In hopes of a speedy reply,

  Alex Sheppard, aka Scyth.

  Let them play their own game of threat and preventer. My future was in that chest, and I was in no mind to lose it. Too bad I'd be abandoning the Dementors tomorrow. But here, as my Uncle Nick said, “you gotta look out for number one.” If the whole wolf selling idea was going up in flames, I guess I’d have something material to give my classmates. But I was absolutely not going to sell it before I had the ability to withdraw money.

  Dad always taught me to be consisten
t in my decisions and actions. So, I sent out the letter and made sure I had finished my required hour of Disgardium then calmly left the game.

  Chapter Thirty-Two. Might Makes Right

  BEFORE BED, I watched some dumb new comedy, then easily drifted off. I didn't feel the least bit worried, just a quiet joy that my main problem was solved.

  Before that, I scrolled through an auction on my comm, setting a filter for "legendary," and "terrestrial" in the mounts category. The results disappointed me somewhat. I was not going to become a millionaire. Yes, my spectral wolf was unique and legendary, but it couldn’t fly. And that meant it was completely impractical, because terrestrial animals were all three or more times slower than flying ones.

  And that meant it could be of interest only to mount collectors, which was a totally different market. The spectral class was quite common and had a relatively low value. What was more, it was just some wolf, no dragon turtle or fighting lizard. A common gray wolf, even if it was a ghost.

  Such land mounts were worth no more than three hundred thousand gold. Even if I got all that for it, withdrawing money into the real world through the Snowstorm bank takes so much in conversion and transfer fees that only two hundred thousand phoenixes would reach my account. Plus, I'd need to find some money for the commission first. With Snowstorm, nothing was free.

  Nevertheless, if everything turned out, I could be sure my first few years of school were paid for. And two years would be enough time for me to think up a way to pay for the rest.

  I slept like a bump on a log and didn't dream at all. In the morning a call to my comm woke me up.

  "Hi!" Tissa was in a good mood, and her sonorous voice made me smile. "How did you sleep, Alex? Ready for adventures?"

  "Hi," my voice was groggy and crackling. "What adventures now?"

  "Big ones! Sorry for waking you up, but we're gonna meet you at the city gates in an hour. Alright, we're waiting! Don't be late!" she hung up, not giving me the chance to answer.

  I sat mute for a minute, trying to figure out what she was talking about, then facepalmed. Evil from the Depths! Aw, nether! I called her right back to say I wasn't coming, but she didn't answer. Seemingly, she was already in her capsule.

  I started getting undressed to enter Dis and write to her there, but then I noticed a blinking message on my comm. It was an answer from Snowstorm, and what followed was another message from an unknown number, some guy named Grant Acharria.

  First I opened the developers' answer. Under the recognizable company-logo header, I saw a message that was read aloud by a pleasant feminine voice:

  Dear Alex!

  Thank you for your very important questions. We truly appreciate when our players work with us to solve problems like this. It is prudent and allows us to avoid unforeseen consequences and potential conflicts.

  Fortunately, your question has a very easy answer. In the world of Disgardium, private property is always retained as long as it does not violate the rules of the game for others (for example, a player that defeats you in battle has the right to take items and money that drop).

  In your situation, everything you own at the precise moment the threat is eliminated (including bank accounts, personal chests, and whatever does not drop with your death both on your person or in a bag, and the bag itself if of a higher class than basic) is stored and transferred to your new character.

  As you see, there is absolutely no cause for alarm in that regard.

  As for gameplay style, of course we cannot make you do anything in Disgardium. After all, complete freedom of action is our guiding principle!

  At the same time, we do not see any reason for your character to remain inactive. You have nothing to lose! what's more, by increasing your threat class, you increase the size of the reward you stand to receive after elimination.

  In our turn, we would like to remind you that you are required to spend no less than eight hours in Disgardium per twenty-four-hour period. Yesterday, your game session consisted of less than two hours, so please try to make that up.

  Thank you for getting in touch with us! May the skies of Disgardium always be blue over your head!

  Most sincerely,

  Marianna Da Silva, Customer service department,

  Snowstorm Incorporated.

  Was that all? I scanned down, reading my quoted email, but there wasn't a word about Dargo or human-controlled mobs. It was all redacted so smoothly that I doubted if I even mentioned it at all. Was it all in my head?

  In a flurry, I opened the second email. It had a built in "Burn after Reading" feature, evidenced by a fire icon next to the subject line "To Scyth from Grant." A mechanical voice read out the letter:

  Alex, hey!

  First of all, let me inform you that all information provided in this email is of an informal nature and cannot be construed as an official statement by or position of Snowstorm Incorporated, or any related corporate entity, including but not limited to...

  What followed was a long list of registered trademarks and corporate entities I just skimmed. Following that was a list of restrictions on disclosure or dissemination, after which I noticed the address the email came from. It was registered to a domain that provided single-use email accounts.

  I snorted and kept reading:

  So then, now that the formalities are out of the way (just copypasta, haha) let me get to business.

  Marianna answered your other questions. As for the one about mobs and the human factor, that is out of her depth, so I will be answering. I will not give my name, and it does not matter.

  Just between us, the theory of probability really screwed us. The chance that Tristad, which we chose to test our new function, would get a threat as obvious as yours (you know what I'm talking about) was close to zero.

  But even one one-millionth of a percent, as our Skynet (the joking name for our super AI) calculated, in your case is greater than zero. And that means it was possible. Still, Skynet has run the tests and nothing in your situation could really go beyond the pale. All participants in the test, such as the person in the Crypt of the Temple of Nergal the Radiant have signed a non-disclosure agreement. In the scenarios Skynet ran, those people kept mum every time.

  So none of us gave any significance to yet another threat arising in Tristad, even if the potential was higher than average. You're not the first or last player with threat status in that sandbox, let me tell you. In the last year and a half alone, you are the fourth (and honestly the last still standing, haha).

  But you are right. After people discover a threat, they will try to use that information to their advantage. We cannot allow that. There is a conflict of interest there. To us, our new project is equally important as threats progressing.

  And thus, we have made some minor adjustments. Now, if you enter a dungeon with mobs controlled by people, the system will kick them out of Disgardium, replacing them with AI.

  Beyond that, you missed a minor issue, but we already fixed it, taking your gameplay style into account. Portals into dungeons show the status of the group inside, but in your case they will always show that the location is temporarily closed for maintenance. That is not unusual in Disgardium, so no one will raise an eyebrow.

  Good luck increasing your threat class, Alex! And, to paraphrase a classic, put more destroying fire under your enemies’ feet!

  Grant (not actually).

  I read to the end and the email disappeared, leaving me with an empty screen. I was brought right back to the incoming mail folder, and there was nothing there from Grant anymore.

  I looked at the time. I was cutting it close, but there was enough time to quickly wash up and eat breakfast. I no longer saw any reason to break my promise to the Dementors and leave them in the dust.

  * * *

  Sunday morning in Tristad. Everything was almost like normal, just three times as many people. Wearing the gear Tissa gifted me, I almost felt like one of them as we walked through the concentration of people. And I had twe
nty-two gold clinking around in my virtual wallet, which I got for selling the Pherax loot at auction. Inspired by my first successful gear sale, I put the green knife from the Jail with plusses to Thief and Break-in up for auction as well.

  And from there I ran to the tavern to leave my money in the chest. I didn't want to lose it, after all I didn't have any more. I finished that and got back to running, only this time to the place I was going to meet the Dementors.

  In that time, I got a few messages from them, and their tone changed from cordial and happy to baffled. They didn't understand why I was late or where I even was until I realized I had activated the privacy setting to not show others whether I was playing Dis. I answered shortly: "omw."