Centus turned to where the shot had come from, only to see an armored figure speeding away from the walls and into the wasteland. The recruit, the same one that he had been kind enough to offer training and support to, had betrayed them in the worst way possible. He gathered the remaining soldiers and set out, leaving behind a broken husk of a fortress. Finding the new door was more important than chasing a lone betrayer, no matter his actions. He would be dealt with in time.
Joshua had heard about the siege on the Omnithaneum door from a few Demon soldiers while eavesdropping after waking up from his nap. He had followed them away from the city in the dead of night to the camps where they prepared for the assault. When the morning came, he watched the thousands of armored soldiers walk towards their death against a wall of fire.
Joshua had been almost certain the assault would fail, and all his time would be wasted, but the Demons persevered through countless deaths and injuries, and he was even able to watch the final battle between Centus and Jakobus in front of the door. That was when Joshua enacted his own plan.
Back when he had abandoned the Demons and accidentally joined the Renegade faction, the notification had mentioned something specific. It said that he would be given special rewards for destroying valuable objectives. Well, what could possibly be more valuable than the Omnithaneum door?
He formed a single massive Rail-Disk, equal in size to the ones he used against buildings and took the shot. The moment that the door broke, Joshua took off running as fast as he could. There was no telling how Centus might react, and he wanted to be nowhere close when that happened.
Joshua didn’t rest until he had reached the city once again, where the fighting had started once again. He could tell that the war was dying down by the numbers on both sides. Demons had started outnumbering the Saints in the city. It wouldn’t be long before he needed a new hunting ground, but before thinking about that, he needed to check the rewards.
You have destroyed the Omnithaneum Door right after the Demons Who Corrupt took control of it!
200M EXP will be split evenly among all party members
Blessing of Growth detected
Renegade faction detected
No other party members detected
Zandrius gains 2B EXP!
Holy shit that was a lot of EXP. Joshua was at a loss for words even as he spent all of the EXP at once, leveling from 31 all the way to level 70 in one swoop. For the first time since Grazurus, Joshua had to stop and readjust after receiving a power spike. Every movement seemed to take him farther than before, and he nearly ran face-first into a wall while trying to walk.
His HP had doubled, from 390,000 to 780,000. Before long, even that would be shortened by an M. The first thing that Joshua thought of wasn’t the improved ability control or extra striking power that came with the new levels, no, the first thing that came to mind was checking his new spot on the leaderboard.
970th Place: Zandrius
He had broken into the top 1000, all due to a stroke of luck and an arguably stupid idea. Of course, Joshua wasn’t content with just that reward. Gaining so many levels at once only seemed to highlight just how far he needed to go before reaching Foundation. It did manage to spark one more idea in his head, however. He couldn’t help but wonder, how much EXP would other important objectives would be worth?
Epilogue
Joshua logged out of Macrocosm a few hours later, thoroughly disappointed. Important objectives, as it turned out, defined pretty much any structure or weapon emplacement that one of the factions created. Those were so common that none of them were worth any significant reward.
The biggest bonus he had received came from destroying a generator powering a massive artillery gun. That had given a nice boost of 5M EXP, before his boosts. The artillery itself would likely have rewarded more, but it was too heavily guarded. Even sniping the generator had been a pretty big risk.
The EXP requirement to level up had simply grown too high. Even after the 10x boost he got from his Blessing and Renegade bonus, the generator still hadn’t been worth a single level. The Omnithaneum door was truly an outlier in its importance. Altogether he had only managed to reach level 72.
The sales from the various weapons he had been looting eventually came through, increasing his balance to just under 30,000 credits. That was still too low to feel comfortable, but he had spent a large amount on the railgun and skill books and planned to spend more in the future. Upgrades didn’t come easy, after all.
Joshua, for the first time since starting Macrocosm, splurged a bit. He spent ten credits on a drone-delivered pizza instead of a bland nutrient bar. The drone sent him a message through his neural implant less than five minutes later, telling him it was waiting outside.
This drone, a true marvel of engineering, had a built-in automated oven that let it cook pizza on the fly. The owner simply loaded the drone with the ingredient packets necessary, and the pizza was finished before the drone arrived.
While he ate, Joshua checked the news and browsed the forums. Macrocosm, as expected, continued to break every record before it. Even now, several days after launch, players were still discovering new systems and power-types. The number of classes available seemed to be truly endless, and only players who purposefully followed similar paths ended up with the same class. There was even a smattering of other Blight Lords, though none of them at his level. Just when he was going to check the news, Joshua’s implant received a call.
“Hey, man.” It was Smithen, one of Joshua’s old friends. They had never met in person, seeing as Joshua lived in a city on Earth and Smithen lived one of the orbital habitats around Jupiter, but they had been in a number of guilds together while playing previous games. “Have you checked the Macrocosm main website recently?”
“No,” Joshua said, confused. “I’ve been busy in-game. Why, what’s going on?”
“Oh boy, you’re in for a surprise. Just hurry up and check it out.”
Joshua brought up the website with his overlay, and his eyes widened. There, in big bold letters at the top of the page, were his dreams coming true.
Macrocosm will host the 187th World War!
Every world government has been given an official page on our website, check-in there if you wish to compete.
The World War. Near the end of the 21st century, as space exploration became commonplace and the entertainment economy started to form, the world governments gathered together to determine how to fight over resources in the future. There hadn’t been a true war for over 100 years at that point, only small proxy wars, but they needed a way to determine who would get what resources in the solar system.
And so, the World Wars were born, starting with the 3rd World War in 2095. Every year, the heads of state for every major world power gather together in the World Summit, later renamed to the Solar Summit as interplanetary colonies were created, to decide which game the war would be fought in. The result of this decision was that most governments had at least a few hundred trained “soldiers” in every major game, waiting and preparing in case they are called on for the next war.
In addition to the soldiers, the danger-free nature of the virtual wars meant that governments didn’t hesitate to recruit thousands of civilians. The stronger they were in-game, the more money that the government would offer to make them join. The strongest players could even market their services around to the highest bidder for millions of credits.
Joshua sat in stunned silence for several seconds as he considered the implications of this. If the war was being held in Macrocosm, a game so recently released, then no one would have a standing army in-game yet. Every power in the solar system would be hiring civilians en-masse and offering a large number of credits.
“So, are you going to be joining?” Smithen continued after giving Joshua time to think.
“Of course, I am!”
Tune in later this year for Macrocosm Book 3: The World War!
Character Sheet
Name
: Joshua
Rank: 970th place
Character Name: Zandrius
Race: Wight
Class: Scourge Blackguard
Tier: 5
Level: 72 EXP: 0/73M
HP: 800,000/800,000 +10,000/level Regen: 25,000/min while Pestilence capped
Pestilence: 1M/1M Regen: 100,000/min
Stored Pestilence: 1.5M/1.5M
Blessing:
-Blessing of Growth, 5x EXP and Pestilence multiplier
Skills:
Plague Eye
-infection variant: 4P+
-explosive variant: 30P+
Pestilence Sacrifice: HP Regen, 4P/1HP
Virulent Aura: -damages anything nearby, 25P+/min
Journeyman Item Synthesis: Pestilence – makes items cheaper to create, adds extra stuff
Plague Dimension (Inventory skill): 2x2x2 meters (Skill book inside)
Pestilence Manipulation - allows manipulation of Pestilence in any form
Airborne Pandemic – Allows the user to move through the environment freely
Cellular Regeneration – allows the user’s Pestilence to escape and reform if they die. Current cost: 25,000
Beginner Pestilence Mastery: Weapons – decreases cost to create floating swords/shields by one third
A Sickly Spider’s Web (Unique) – creates a sensor web in the ground
Afflicted Steed – undead horse, no upgrades
Intimidating Aura – lowers enemy damage, raises allied morale
Adornment – stores one set of armor in a pocket dimension. All of the armor’s attributes are still applied as if equipped.
Equipment List:
Pestilence Knife
Soul-Bound Weapon
Damage Potential: 100 Blunt/500 Sharp
Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/1000
Endemic Magnum
Soul-Bound Weapon
Damage Potential: 200 Blunt/5000 Piercing/1500 Infection (DOT) 100P/shot
Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000
Plague-Ridden Obsidian Longsword
Soul-Bound Weapon
Damage Potential: 10,000 Blunt/100,000 Sharp/50,000 Infection
Plague-Ridden Obsidian Greatshield
Soul-Bound Shield
Damage Potential: 25,000 Blunt
Mitigation Potential: 50,000
Special Ability: Envelope
The obsidian making up this shield has absorbed the Pestilence that once surrounded it. Tendrils of Pestilence lash out, digging into the flesh of attackers and holding them in place.
Blight Lord’s Bulwark
Soul-Bound Class Set
Mitigation Potential: 15,000
Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000,000
Stored Pestilence: 0/1,000,000
Set Bonus: Pestilence Vision, Instant Equip, Empowered Weapons, Plague Battery
The Blight Lord set is made from the very essence of its wielder. As such, the wielder can sense the environment through it.
The Blight Lord set is made from the very essence of its wielder. As such, it can be instantly conjured and dispelled, and automatically summons itself if its wielder is ambushed.
The Blight Lord set is not only composed of armor, but sword and shield as well. The sword and shield are automatically upgraded to the same level as the armor for free.
A Blight Lord’s true power is derived from the Pestilence he controls. The Blight Lord class set can store Pestilence, which the Blight Lord can call upon later. Stored Pestilence does not count towards the next upgrade. Stored Pestilence may not be re-stored and is lost upon use.
Gem-Encrusted Blight Mage’s Robes (Adornment)
Soul-Bound Armor Set
Mitigation Potential: 2500
Barrier Strength: 100,000
Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 10,000,000
Stored Pestilence: 0/500,000
Set Bonus: Instant Equip, Plague Battery, Gem-Adorned
This set is made from the very essence of its wielder. As such, the wielder can sense the environment through it.
The large number of Pestilence-made gems that make up a large part of these robes have given them special powers. The gems are capable of storing Pestilence, which the user can call upon at will to substitute his own. Stored Pestilence cannot be re-stored upon use.
The large number of Pestilence-made gems that make up a large part of these robes have given them special powers. All Pestilence abilities are empowered based on the amount of Pestilence stored in the gems, increasing their effectiveness by up to 50% when maxed out. This bonus applies to all Pestilence abilities, including aura, minions, and Pestilence-made weapons and armor.
Infested Rail-Disk
Semi-Automatic Light Railgun (Modified)
Damage Potential: 1000 Blunt/120,000 Piercing/30,000 Rotational/50,000 Infection 3000P/shot
Special Abilities: Adaptation (Pestilence), Overcharge
This Rail-Disk has been engraved with energy-absorbing runes that allow it to turn the user’s own power into ammunition. Cost varies based on energy used, ammunition may gain special effects and extra damage based on the type of energy. Damage to the weapon may also be repaired with the same energy. Current adaptation (Pestilence) gives each shot an infection DOT.
The runes powering this weapon can be overcharged, creating a single powerful shot. Overcharging will damage the weapon, with the damage increasing based on the amount of energy used.
The Omnithaneum Page 18