Alexandro Lavrius gave an approving nod and a thumbs up to say he liked my plan. He told me everything I wanted was completely doable, and the preparations would be completed by tonight.
“And that’s not all,” I stopped the delighted man short. “Now let’s talk about my compensation.”
Alexandro Lavrius frowned. Seemingly my former boss naively thought that I would be willing to do this dangerous job for nothing but a thank you. But my former director quickly got himself in hand and asked how much I wanted in compensation.
“No, my reward won’t be monetary, I want to be able to hurt my enemies as much as possible. I need you to increase the equipment drop chance as high as possible at the trap site. I know it can be done. In the underground city of the dwarves Dotur-Khawe, the leader of the Goons clan lost all his armor once because the drop chance was nearly one hundred percent. I want that same thing again! I want the most dangerous of my enemies to die and respawn with nothing but a loincloth, losing their unique weapons and armor for good. They spent so much time to get that stuff, and they’re so proud of it. It would be amazing to see them lose it! Then, when the forums learn the most powerful clan of the Southern Continent is in a jam, all other players will think thrice before making war against the Dark Sovereign!”
“Well Timothy, you’re quite the dangerous and cunning opponent,” Alexandro Lavrius said with approval and even admiration. “You have a sick imagination and never forgive those who wronged you. Those are the exact qualities we want in a Dark Sovereign! Alright, we’ll do it just as you wanted. Anyway Timothy, I’ve gotta run. I’m going to go give this assignment to the programmers so they’ll have everything ready by tonight.”
I walked the former director to the door and even shook his hand. But after the door closed, I allowed the happy smile to crawl out onto my face. Great! Let my employer work on the trap. I was going to try and escape this whole thing without me or Taisha losing even one item. I was certainly not going to lose my NPC wife’s legendary emerald dragon-skin armor for good. I felt the same way about leading Taisha into a special server and putting my unique companion at risk.
* * *
LOADING... T he abundance of game messages took me aback. I had leveled up... And twice... A Fame boost... I got some packages by magic messenger... My Player Killer achievement had gone up, and many times at that. I’d reached level one hundred, and could choose many new skills. Then, right at my feet, nearly crushing my toes, a heavy metal-bound chest plopped down with a thundering boom. The Steward bowed deeply to me and wanted to tell me something. And the Storekeeper. And the Keymaster. And next to my ghastly servants stood... a few unfamiliar bearded NPC dwarves, a group of living players with the clan tag Amazons , and a pair of warg children from my past. It was Darius and Darina, who I had allowed to leave the Gray Pack.
What was going on?
At the same time, I had a few chat windows flickering. There were messages from support_013, support_088, support_101 and support_104. But that didn’t come as a huge surprise: corporate leadership must have been generous in handing out butt-kickings. Now tech support and the other departments had a fire lit under their asses and were striving to show their zeal and usefulness. The Keeper even came into the room. The glowing icy-white winged angel was hovering under the ceiling of the Throne Room, looking at the crowd gathered below and trying to find a place to land.
But all that instantly lost all meaning when my cell phone rang! Cell phone? Here in the game? My cell phone had been confiscated in the real world! But the game clearly still had my number, and the functionality of Boundless Realm allowed a player to make calls, though it was a bit pricy. I opened the game menu and, not believing my eyes, stared at the number and realized it was Kira.
“Hello. Hi!” I had no idea what to say or how to act, because for two weeks my girlfriend had been steadfastly ignoring me and she had suddenly decided to call.
“Timothy, just one question. And answer honestly, like you’re at confession. In your video you said you were forbidden from leaving your room for ten days. Is that true? Or was that just some cute little story you thought up to raise a bit of hell?”
No, “hello,” no “sorry I haven’t called.” Kira’s voice was severe and tense, like a prosecutor or a judge. I confirmed that everything I said in the video clip was true from the first to the last word.
“I have to admit, it’s hard to believe. Lots of it sounds like the ramblings of a madman. And the rest does not hold up to even rudimentary checking. If you hadn’t said you weren’t allowed to leave the room for ten days, I never would have believed it. It’s just that exact part...” Kira went silent midsentence, not explaining what exactly had caught her interest or put her on guard. “Tell me everything.”
I started with the assassination attempt and my desperate struggle with a technician named Arthur. I told her how I lost consciousness and woke up in a personal office on some high floor of the Boundless Realm skyscraper. I started telling her the president of the corporation had visited me personally when suddenly a familiar message ran before my eyes:
Poor signal quality
If connection problems persist, the Boundless Realm client will be forced to close
Someone was very displeased with this topic! But this time I didn’t keep mum and just told Kira about the warning message. Her reaction was as unexpected as it was unforgettable. Kira raised her voice, and her already severe tone grew shrill enough to make metal ring:
“I am Kirena Tyle, co-owner of the Boundless Realm Corporation! If Amra’s virtual reality capsule loses connection now, I swear that I will fire every employee responsible for signal quality from the lowest technician to the very highest director! I order all employees whose offices are located from floors minus sixteen to seven to stand up immediately, turn off their computers and go at least two steps back! If any of you do not obey, you will be immediately fired! Security service, make sure they comply!”
Woah! I guess my girlfriend was a co-owner of the Boundless Realm Corporation! And clearly not low-down on the totem pole, as she had the right to order directors around! I had to admit, I was in shock. And I had never seen Kira so worked-up before. She was like a mythical fury, but invested with total power and capable of doling out punishments or dispensing mercy. She was a real queen of the harpies! Just the impression made me shake! I turned my attention to the flickering chat windows, which all disappeared almost at once. The tech support workers didn’t dare disobey their highest boss’s order. And the worrying message about poor signal quality also disappeared. Alright then, it worked! An interesting way of solving a technical issue!
In just a few seconds, Kira was back to her normal voice and asking me to continue the story about President Thomas Heywood’s visit. I didn’t hide anything, telling her what we talked about, my new office, the scars on my chest and how the president and I shared a beer. When I was done, Kira asked pensively:
“Wait, Thomas drank beer? Woah! This is getting more and more interesting... I think I told you Timothy, but I know the president of the corporation well. Anyway, he’s a real health nut. He’s always working out and eating right. He’s a vegetarian, he eats nothing fried or smoked, he’s on a salt- and gluten-free diet, and his food intake is strictly measured down to the gram. And naturally he consumes no alcohol. Thomas Heywood downing a couple beers is about as hard to believe as a rabbi selling pork in a synagogue. Either you’re flagrantly lying, or the situation is much more serious than I thought.”
“Much more serious? Am I in danger?” I clarified, ignoring Kira’s jab that I might be lying.
“You?” she considered it briefly. “Definitely not until the next board of directors meeting. In fact, if I understand what’s happening, our employees will be pampering you and keeping you totally safe. It looks like there’s been an information leak, and we need to find out where it’s coming from. You see, Timothy, your name was mentioned in Inessa Tyle’s will. But it has lots of conditions and va
riables. Many important people now have an interest in making sure nothing bad happens to you. The whole Boundless Realm Corporation has only one person who is financially interested in your death.”
“And who might that be?” I asked, alarmed. “Kira, tell me! I have to know my enemy!”
Was it just me, or did my girlfriend give a soft giggle before answering?
“Timothy, just so you know, my grandmother was a big shit-stirrer... That person is me!”
Day Three. When the Sovereign is Angry
TO MY IMMENSE PITY, the conversation about Inessa Tyle’s inheritance and my place in it ended there. Kira clearly thought she had already said too much, so she tried to end the conversation quickly. My girlfriend just asked one final question: which direction did my office face, and what could I see from the window? I answered that I could see a city park, a lake with catamarans and boats, several intertwined high-speed roadways and a multi-level exit ramp. I even tried to help with the approximate positioning of the windows:
“The windows are clearly higher than the Special Projects Director’s office on floor forty-four and quite a bit to the right. You can also see the city park from his office, but it isn’t this clear. There are skyscrapers blocking part of it. But from my windows, you can see the park clear as day.”
“That’s easily enough information, I’ll find you. Expect me to come visit soon. I really hope my fears are misplaced and this isn’t as messed up as it seems.”
Kira signed off, and the frozen world around me came to life. Cripes, I only then noticed that all these minutes the players and even NPC’s were standing motionless, afraid to interrupt an important conversation with the co-owner of the Boundless Realm Corporation. And I had lots of people waiting on me: my servants, the Keeper, some dwarves, and the Digital Amazons . But first of all I walked up to my sister, who was modestly shuffling from foot to foot behind the other visitors. I gallantly kissed her hand and led the sorceress out in front, trying to demonstrate my unique relationship with Valerianna Quickfoot.
“Thank you, Tim! I love you too!” my sister whispered with just her lips, after which she said, now loud enough for everyone else: “The Dark Sovereign and I need to have a talk one on one. It won’t take long.” After that Valerianna Quickfoot asked the Steward to bring us to the balcony of her room in the castle’s central tower.
A moment later, we were standing on the balcony. It was damp, cold and windy. And so high up! Woah! Dark shaggy clouds coursed no more than one arm’s length above us, hiding the spires of their towers up in a dense mist. At that, only a short parapet divided me from a true chasm. We were six hundred feet up. And although the world around us was a virtual game, my heart froze in fear for a second. I looked down and noticed the new tents and pavilions on the square before the castle. What was more, there were many of these traveling tents. Very many, even. Noting my interest, the sorceress commented:
“The Dwarves have arrived to celebrate the marriage of Vanessa and Tondik. Two clans arrived today in full. Plus a bunch of supposed relatives, friends and friends of friends. But we can discuss that later. Now let’s talk about more important things. I’m disappointed in you, Tim. You decided to go to such a dangerous event last night without me, and without any magical support at all. What body part were you thinking with when you took that risk, big-ears?!”
I could read judgement and doubt in my mental capacity in Valerianna Quickfoot’s voice. I was always impressed by my little sister’s ability to make her older brother feel like an idiot like this with just a couple words and a sour look. As a rule, she had good reason to talk to me like that, and Val was simply a master of putting me to shame. But today’s lessons weren’t over yet.
“Amra, were you even thinking with that big-eared head when you sent Dark Riders out to secretly scout the player camps and open portals? Did you forget that the coming of your emissaries is always accompanied by waves of unbearable horror that make both people and NPC’s writhe on the ground? Dark Rider and ‘unnoticed’ are mutually exclusive concepts! But most of all, Timothy, I’m upset with how predictable you were. In one night you sent out Dark Riders to undying camps several times, then every time you followed up with an attack on the players. Why act surprised that you and your army were expected at the next one?”
Yes, my sister’s reproaches were justified and well-deserved. I understood that and lowered my head.
“Yes, that was stupid... But in the end I escaped the trap!”
Valerianna shook her head judgmentally:
“The fact that you managed to escape is just a wonder! But Yunna wasn’t so lucky...”
“Yunna? What are you talking about? What happened?”
I just had no idea. When I flew off on VIXEN, my goblin niece Yunna was still alive and fighting with the last soldiers covering my retreat. And after that, she was supposed to die and respawn. Had something gone wrong? Valerianna shook her head with pity once again:
“I can tell right away that you haven’t been on the forums today. Yunna was captured by players, brought to the city of Lars and harshly executed on the central square in front of a huge group of people. And the goblin girl had so many ghastly curses and death magic spells piled on her that she will never respawn again... Now the head of the niece of the Dark Sovereign is mounted on a pike for all to see next to the gallows on the central square of Lars. And it is right next to the head of the Dark Sovereign’s general, Vaash the troll.”
Yunna was dead once and for all? That simply could not be! I decided to use Direct Intervention Points to bring my dead niece back to life. My sister said before that NPC’s could be respawned at a cost of two points per level. Yunna was level seventy-two. So I had more than enough points to bring her back.
“Yunna shall be reborn!” I said with the absolute inner confidence I had used to rip through the magical nets or change my servants’ characteristics. However... nothing changed, and no points were expended. I tried again and again, but it was all in vain. Maybe I should sit on the throne first? Although inside I understood that was also no use. Then I tried to respawn Vaash, but the result was the same. Valerianna, silently watching my fruitless endeavors to break the rules, spoke up:
“Amra, accept it, Yunna cannot be brought back. She died a terrifying and torturous death. I saw a video of the execution of the niece of the Dark Sovereign on the Boundless Realm forum. Believe me, you’d better not watch it. Vaash the troll also met a long and torturous end. Turns out regeneration is not always a good thing. And there is another pike ready on the square. This evening, your First Mate Ziabash Hardy will be executed in Lars before a large crowd.”
I let out a ghastly cry, more like that of a wounded animal than a goblin. The scoundrels! Animals! No, they were worse than animals. They were taking advantage of a total lack of higher authority do as they pleased without fear of punishment. But they would pay for this! No matter what it cost, I would avenge the death of my NPC companions and try to save my first mate! Oh, it would be ghastly and bloody vengeance! The people of the Lars province would shake just at the sound of my name for many years to come! Ah, and for now...
“I am the Dark Sovereign! With the power vested in me, I curse all players and NPC’s present on the Lars central square during Yunna and Vaash’s execution! Let a criminal marker appear next to their names in perpetuity and let their shameful game handles be appended with an indelible crimson tag: ‘Child-killing scum!!!’ And let all traders in all Boundless Realm refuse to do business with them even for all the money in the world. Let not a single inn feed them, nor give them shelter. And let not a single coachman nor ship captain agree to transport them anywhere. Not a single healer shall heal them, nor a single prostitute comfort their bodies! And let not even dying many times or praying in temples help these bastards be rid of this mark of shame! That is my word, let it be so!”
You have used 300 Direct Intervention Points
You have 106 points remaining
A blinding brig
ht lightning bolt struck the spire of the tower over our heads, followed instantaneously by deafening thunder. The gods of Boundless Realm had heard my words! At the same time, the Keeper appeared on the balcony in midair. The glowing icy white figure spent two minutes hovering there, not at all worried about the huge altitude, and not even flapping his huge wings. He must have left the game and was consulting with colleagues on whether my use of Direct Intervention Points was lawful. After that, the Keeper gave a distinct nod and said he would wait in the Throne Room with my other visitors, then disappeared in a flash of light. The corporation confirmed that I acted within the rules and game mechanics. Great! But that wasn’t al l …
“Val, I need a ton of portal scrolls to Lars! And another rain or fog scroll... although you could just conjure up that weather with your water magic. But most importantly, I need one scroll with the forbidden spell Astral Explosion! No matter what it costs, you must get it!”
“A player who casts a forbidden spell in a city will be marked a criminal and sent to jail,” my sister reminded me. But almost right away she added with a smirk that, given our position as antagonists to all Boundless Realm , it didn’t matter. “What’s more, Amra, you cannot read the scroll. It takes a very high Intelligence. I’ll do it myself!”
I embraced my younger sister gratefully. She was so majestic and fearsome in her in her appearance as an all-powerful sorceress, but at that she was just as near, dear and reliable as ever. Valeria reacted decently at first and even hugged my short flap-eared goblin back, but eventually she grew embarrassed to show her feelings and backed away:
“Alright then, Tim. Enough sappy stuff! Let’s go back to the Throne Room. I’ll introduce you to our new allies from the Digital Amazons . They signed on to fight with us for the duration of the event for just three million credits no matter how the Dark Sovereign story ends.”
Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series Page 15