Into The Game- Dungeon Crawl Quest

by C A A Allen

  “Look.” I point into the swirl. “What the hell is going on in there?”

  “Trouble.” Mack steps in close. “Let’s get home before this thing closes up.”

  The third portal opens even wider and clearer than the other two. It reminds me of the difference between an old tube style TV, and a high definition, crystal clear 4K Ultra HD one. Inside, a narrow dirt path leads down a hill into a lushly forested valley.

  I step to the green valley portal and stare in. “Mack, this has got to be—”

  “—the DCQ expansion world,” says a deep voice behind me.

  I turn to see a scruffy-faced man wearing a robe and slumped cone hat. “That is The Kingdom of Broxington.”

  I step forward and look at him. “I recognize you from the back of my DCQ instruction manual. You’re the Dungeon Crawl Quest developer. Kurht. You’re not dead.”

  Bella hugs Kurht. “No, he’s not dead. Riff, this is my dad.”

  The man holds an open hand my way. “I’m Kurht Knaud, and you must be Riff ‘Jareth Goblinmasher’ Jenkins. Thank you all for getting me out of that cell.”

  I shake Kurht’s hand and turn to Bella. “Your dad is the DCQ developer? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Not everyone I meet appreciates him the way I do.” Bella looks up at her father and smiles. “Some hate him because they think he created a glitch-ridden game, others because they believe he is a sloppy programmer. There is so much bad blood surrounding DCQ in the gamer community that I just couldn’t take the chance. I was afraid you wouldn’t help me.”

  Mack winks at me and shakes Kurht’s hand. “I’m Riff’s brother, Mack. It is hard to believe how some gamers act. For me, it’s a pleasure to meet a fellow programmer. I’m the one who found your debug menu, by the way.”

  Slim limps our way with a sniffer on each shoulder. “Hey everybody, I want you to meet a business associate, and close family member of mine.” He scratches the sniffer on his right shoulder under its chin. It is identical to Skookum in color, but skinny, soiled, and without the spade tipped tail. “Meet Mustella, Skook’s half-sister. She’s hungry and needs a bath, but other than that, she’s all good.” A huge smile crosses his face. “Thank you team Goblinmasher.”

  “Thank you, Slim,” Bella says. “And you too, Skookum. Both of you fought well in the chamber back there.”

  “I remember you from the tavern back in Chittor.” Kurht shakes Slim’s hand and pets Mustella on the top of her head. “Your sniffer here was great company as a cell neighbor. She has some amazing stories of your quests. The one about how you killed the three-headed cockatrice kept me in good spirits for days. With a little more time, I’m sure we would have concocted a way out of here.”

  “She’s very clever,” Slim says. “And talkative. I’m glad to have her back.”

  “I have something for your injury.” Kurht wraps his hands around Slim’s leg. “Medicor summus seco.” The wounded area flashes and he removes his hands. “Thank you for fighting alongside my daughter.”

  Slim stretches his leg. “It’s always a pleasure to get healed by a great wizard.”

  The room rumbles, drops an inch, and shifts back and forth with a shake.

  “Time to make our move out of here,” Kurht says. “The expansion world portal is about to fuse with the chamber. Once it does, the new world will officially be open for all to play.”

  I shake Slim’s hand and pull him in for a hug. “Thanks for everything, player.” I rip my bag from my belt and put it in his hand. “There are a few silver pennies in here, and a gem that should get you off to a good start.”

  SUBTRACT: 18 silver pennies to Gregarious Slim. New silver penny balance: 0

  SUBTRACT: 1 Emerald Gemstone to Gregarious Slim.

  SUBTRACT: 1 Heavynessless Bag to Gregarious Slim.

  He struts to the expansion portal entrance. “Thank you, Riff. My sniffers and I are about to be the first questers in the new world. Just wait till they get a load of us.” He removes his hat and plops it down on my head. “Don’t stop playing that guitar.”

  ADD POSSESSION: Brim of Profound Musicianship

  Wearing this hat enhances the ability to play all musical instruments.

  Mack gives Slim a fist bump and pats the sniffers. “I hate to cut this goodbye short. But, uh,”— he points into The DCQ Den portal—“Anton told me this was going to happen.”

  I look into the portal and watch the man wearing the black sport coat grab Anton by the collar and toss him to the server room floor. “Who is that?” I blurt.

  “That’s a Blizivision Studio exec,” Mack says. “We need to get in there before he shuts the server down, and we die.”

  “What?” Kurht steps to the portal. “I’ll kill that greedy Blizivision bastard.”

  “Clearly nasty Compass-Keeper business.” Slim shakes his head. “You all handle that. I’ll see you in the new world.” He steps into The Kingdom of Broxington portal.

  As he disappears, I can’t help but be jealous. I really wanted to be the first one in there. Warm it up for me Slim, I will be joining you as soon as I can.

  The room seems to drop out from under us, shaking and rumbling.

  “Let’s go.” Kurht grabs Bella’s hand. “We all need to step through at the same time.”

  I take the spot alongside Bella and ready my feet. Mack stands next to me and nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Kurht looks down the line. “On the count of three.” He stares into the portal. “One, two, three.”

  LEAVING THE WORLD OF DUNGEON CRAWL QUEST.

  Saving character and game progress. Please wait…

  CHAPTER 19

  00:03:51 hours until DCQ server shut down.

  I step into the portal and am enveloped in complete darkness. This better work.

  BAM! A door blasts open in front of me. The DCQ Players Den. I look down and pat my chest. I have my normal clothes back. We’re home.

  Kurht charges ahead into the dimly lit room “Not today!” He throws a right cross into the jaw of the man wearing the black sport coat.

  The man falls back into the server rack, shaking his head. “What the hell, man?”

  Anton slowly gets up from the floor. “Kurht, you’re alive!”

  “And kicking.” Kurht raises both fists, ready to pound the sport coat guy again, if need be. “I want everyone to meet my back-stabbing, ex-program and design partner, Asheron Paragon.”

  “Kurht.” The man’s eyes grow wide. “I—you—so glad to see you again, old friend.”

  “Old friend?” Rage flashes across Kurht’s face. “No.” He shakes his head. “A friend doesn’t trick someone into signing a horrible contract and force them to release a game before it is done. That’s why I had to create Setan. To ensure only the best gamer would be able to enter the unfinished area called The Kingdom of Broxington.”

  Asheron is only half-listening. He keeps glancing at his watch. Maybe he’s hoping to escape, but if I can defeat Setan, I’m certainly not letting him past me.

  “An old friend,” Kurht goes on, “wouldn’t have reprogrammed Setan to imprison me while I was on my final beta-test run inside the game, so he could let the game fail and the contract terminate.” Kurht turns to the rest of us. “With no contract, and me dead, this sniveling trogg was going to take all the credit and riches for my full-immersion technology.”

  Asheron glances down at his watch. “No was about it.” His lip curls. “You’re too late, Kurht. Blizivision will be shutting down your servers at midnight. The contract is iron clad, and the shutdown is automatic if subscription numbers are not above a quarter million. Can you say Warhammer Online? You’re nothing but a failed MMO ho. All things DCQ default to me in three minutes.”

  “Maybe not.” Bella holds out her Grimoire to Kurht. “Daddy, look. Opening the expansion has boosted subscriptions numbers. They’re rising fast. We’re already over two-hundred-thousand.”

  What is she looking at? I don’t remember seeing data li
ke that on any of my screens. I pop open my Grimoire.

  GRIMOIRE BETA - SERIAL NUMBER 05

  (NEW) IN-GAME MODERATOR {MOD} SERIAL NUMBER 04

  (NEW) CURRENT DCQ SUBSCRIBERS: 248,902

  SYNC INTO A DCQ PLAYERS DEN COMPUTER TO START

  TOUCH HERE TO BEGIN

  ●

  New stuff, including a subscriber count. DCQ is in the midst of a massive comeback. Subscription numbers climb by the second.

  “No.” Asheron reaches into his suit jacket, pulls out a Grimoire, and flips it open. “These can’t be legitimate numbers. They can’t be.”

  Kurht smacks Asheron’s Grimoire out of his hand, wraps his fingers around his neck, and presses him against the server rack. “There are over five million DCQ accounts, you dirty son of a bitch. I had an automatic advertising blast set up to go live when the expansion launched. We’re coming back like Return of the Jedi.”

  For a minute, I’m afraid Kurht is going to kill his old partner in front of our eyes, but then I realize he’s not squeezing—just holding the guy there until midnight hits and it’s all over, either way.

  Mack sits down at a game station and inserts his Grimoire. “Two minutes to go. I’m about to re-up my damn self.”

  Bella sits at a station next to Mack and holds her Grimoire up next to his monitor. “It’s going to be close. If the game is still playable after midnight, we did it.”

  Kurht is still staring down Asheron. “Keep me updated.”

  I pick up Asheron’s fallen Grimoire and check the back.

  Unit 2 of 6

  I glare at Asheron. “You know there’s still a real player inside the game. If this thing goes dark, his blood is on your hands.”

  “Sixty seconds till midnight,” Mack says. “Less than a hundred subscriptions to go.”

  I clutch my Grimoire and watch the numbers tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

  So close.

  “Thirty seconds,” Mack says, tension now in his voice.

  With every click of the seconds I picture gamers everywhere getting a notification about the new DCQ expansion. I picture them crawling out of bed, turning on their monitors, and giving DCQ another chance—the chance it deserves.

  “Five…four…three…two…”

  The subscriber number rolls past 250,001 just before midnight strikes. I lean over Mack’s chair and check his screen. “The game is still live.” I release a gust of air. “I haven’t seen this many users logged on since the North Cave expansion launched.”

  Bella jumps up and gives a whoop so loud it echoes in my skull. “We did it. We saved the game.”

  And Hans. And Kurht.

  “Yes sir.” Anton steps to the wall near The DCQ Den door and pounds a fist on its upper corner. The door pops open letting in the boisterous sound of music and lively bar chatter. “Time for him to go.” He gestures to Asheron.

  Kurht releases his nemesis, spins him toward the door, and kicks him in the butt. “If I see you again, you’re dead.”

  Asheron shoots out of the door with a hand on his rear.

  “I’ll make sure this trash gets to the street.” Anton follows Asheron into the bar and closes the door behind him.

  Kurht views his Grimoire with a smile. “Very nice. We are at an all-time subscription high, thanks to you questers.” He drops the Grimoire in a trouser pocket and looks the server rack up and down.

  I wave Mack over and stand alongside Kurht. Somehow, I was just inside this thing. “So, what’s the secret? How do you pull off the full immersion? It’s incredible.”

  “You gotta have vision.” He hooks his thumbs in his pockets, beaming. “Others utilize senses and fool the brain into believing that the ‘virtual’ is the ‘actual’. Not in my system. I take you in there for real. No clumsy goggles strapped to your head or brain-machine interface helmets needed. My link between man and machine is comfortable and totally non-invasive. I have found a seamless way to interact with computers using the Grimoire.”

  He looks at Mack and me, then taps the side of his head. “Get your brain right. I’m going to go deep on you. The Grimoire combines the end user’s character with their real DNA. That’s what happens when you touch the red dot. After that, syncing the Grimoire into one of my game stations transports the player into the game world.”

  He takes in a deep breath and hold up two fingers. “Two things. First, is the phenomenon of human consciousness and dreams. Second, there are forces of nature going on here that even I can’t fully explain.”

  Bella gently lays her palm on the server’s glass box containing the green glowing stone. “You can explain a little, Daddy.”

  Kurht puts his palm on the glass next to Bella’s and kisses her on the forehead. “This is one of several fragments from a meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere and exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Anton acquired it from his mother who was somehow able to hide it away from the Russian Council of Ministers. This hunk of rock is actually an artifact with some really powerful elements. A small sliver of it resides in each Grimoire.”

  Kurht rubs his chin. “I am afraid to think of what those Russian hackers could do if they were able to make the fragment-to-computer connection the way I have.”

  Mack moves closer to the glass box. “They might find a way to hack into election mainframes or something.”

  Kurht shakes his head. “Enough about science and ancient alien artifacts. If I tell you any more, I will have to kill you.”

  “Really, Dad.” Bella sighs.

  “This has to be one of the most amazing feats in engineering history,” I say.

  “I’ve just scratched the surface.” Kurht pounds on the wall opening the door. “And I’d say it’s high time for a celebratory drink. You two helped save my life in more ways than one.” He puts one hand on Mack’s shoulder and one on mine. “And don’t worry about a designated driver. A ride home with Uber Black is on me.”

  “Right on,” I say, but as nice as that sounded, a small part of me couldn’t help but think walking through a beast-infested forest while in mismatched boots sounded even better. I already missed living the game.

  “But our dorm is all the way in San Diego,” Mack says. “And what about my car?”

  “Don’t worry.” Kurht bounces into the hallway. “I have unlimited gold business status with Uber, Mack. And I’ll have one of my people bring your car down to you tomorrow, washed and waxed. Nothing is going to stop tonight’s celebration. Plus, I want to hear all about how you found the debug menu. You know I only baked that portal in so I can test later parts of the game without playing through the whole story. You’re good, Mack.”

  Kurht goes behind the bar while Bella, Mack, and I plop down on stools in front of him. The room is packed with people from front to back, and all the gaming stations are filled. The DCQ one has a crowd six deep behind it. They raise hands, cheer, and point at the screen.

  My stomach twists. The entire world is exploring The Kingdom of Broxington without me, and I made it accessible to them. But my time will come. They may have their screens on, but I had been in the real DCQ world.

  Anton returns and holds a ringing cell phone out to Kurht. “It’s for you.”

  Kurht takes the phone and looks at the front. “I missed having this.” He scratches the back of his head.

  Bella rolls her eyes. “The passcode is one, two, six, four, Dad.”

  “Thank you, baby.” He taps his screen four times, looks down at it and smirks. “I got to take this call. Give me a minute, guys.” He walks to the far end of the bar with the phone to his ear.

  “One, two, six, four are the pommel numbers.” I say low.

  “He always forgets his passcode,” Bella smiles. “Someone started a rumor that the numbers had something to do with a lottery win. Can you believe some fools thought that was true?”

  “Hardly.” I blow out a breath and look over at Bella. She is wearing a striped tank top, red skirt, heels, and she looks great. No skimpy leather needed. “So, now I
get to meet the real you.” I smile at her. “You’re even prettier in real life.”

  She smiles back. “I’m glad to be out of that leather armor and studded tassel thing.”

  A waitress sets a tray down next to us and leans over the bar. “I need the order for table sixteen, Sid. The tips are good tonight.”

  A young bartender loads several drinks onto the tray. “You’re set.”

  She weaves into the crowd and points to waving hands. “I got you next. And then you all.” The entire interaction feels a bit like one I’d find in a DCQ tavern. Perhaps that is Kurht’s intent—to bring a bit of the game world to ours as much as he can.

  The young bartender looks at Anton and puts several drinking glasses into a small sink. “We need more staff, Mr. Turishanov. This place is crazy tonight. Did you know we have a line outside?”

  “Excuse me my, dude,” says a voice behind me. “Aren’t you Jareth Goblinmasher?”

  Bella looks over her shoulder, then spins on her stool to face the new arrival. “I know you.” She tucks hair behind her ear. “You’re Ant-bot, the YouTuber.”

  Mack and I turn around. “Hey, I heard you played here. And yes, I’m Jareth.”

  He adjusts the clunky, purple-tinted goggles on his forehead. “I’ve been live streaming commentary on your play through, and my views are off the chart. This has gotta be the best way to launch an expansion I’ve ever seen. Look around. We’ve turned this whole midnight promotion thing you’re doing into a DCQ expansion launch party.”

  “You’ve been live streaming us this whole time?” I ask. “For the last two days?”

  “Huh?” Ant-bot looks puzzled.

  Anton taps my shoulder from behind the bar. “Time moves slower in the game, Riff.”

  Oh yeah. It was only midnight here on the same night I’d arrived.

  A smooth faced guy with a half-filled mug of beer pulls on Ant-bot’s sleeve. “Check it out.” He points to the DCQ game station. “You gotta see this new dungeon.”