by D Wolfin
[Empty]
Reserve Skills:
[Empty]
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Non-skill resistances and bonuses
Cutting resistance: 5%
Impact resistance: -5%
Poison resistance: 12%
Acid resistance: 6%
Flame resistance: 14%
Ice resistance 5%
~ +5% chance to completely resist all minor to intermediate poisons
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Skills
Sacred Art Cost
Triple Thrust 11 Stamina
CrossX 19 Stamina
Backstab 80 Stamina
Pincer 100 Stamina
Multi Mirage 175 Stamina
Partial Draconic Tran. (Racial)
Magic Cost
Minor Dire Flame 800 Mana
Dire Starburst 1500 Mana
Leaving early the next day, it takes us nearly three hours to return to Kano City. Gladox has become enthralled with my race and decides to accompany us for a while as he plays. Our party is short a few members and we have already learned to work with him in battle, so everyone is happy to have him follow along.
In Kano City we head back to the librarian’s assistant to turn in the quest. I stay back and watch on as Fen, the one who accepted the quest, goes to speak with the assistant. The difficulty of the quest was incredibly high compared to the standard, so I hope that the reward reflects that.
Your quest has been successfully completed.
A message appears in front of me, which I quickly dismiss before opening my inventory to check the loot. I received two items, a set of leg armor and a standard longsword with green etchings on it.
Both items have a level requirement of 200, which is where the majority of the game’s main players currently are. The leg armor itself is only of the ‘Ordinary’ rarity, but its defence is considerably high for its class. The longsword on the other hand leaves me speechless. It is of the ‘Epic’ rarity, only below that of the ‘Legendary’ grade. It only has one ability, but that single ability is incredibly valuable.
Severing Breeze
A longsword that is endowed with the techniques of an ancient wind deity. The power of wind circles around the blade and is unleashed when swung. The sword will only accept those who are capable of unleashing its full potential.
The blade is 102cm long.
Requirements:
- Level 200
- Agi 60
- Dex 60
Weapon Type: Longsword
Attack: 180 - 197
Durability: 60/60
Weight: 5.4 lbs
Abilities:
- Capable of using the Sacred Art ‘Greater Air Blade’.
Greater Air Blade:
An instant cast Sacred Art that causes the swing of the weapon to unleash a blade of wind. A small portion of the opponent’s armor is ignored in the attack.
Range: 10m
Damage: Attack X 1.2
Cost: 30 Stamina
I numbly reread the item information over and fail to notice my other party members trying to get my attention. I only realize when Sir Laurence shakes my shoulders and asks me, “What is it?”
“We need to go to the Auction House!” I hurriedly say, grabbing Fen’s arm and pulling her along as I rush out of the library.
I notice that the others are bewildered by my actions, but I don’t have time to worry about that. The excitement over the weapon makes my heart race and the only thing I can think about is how much will it sell for.
I push through the crowd in the streets and ignore all the angry shouts. I soon reach the Auction House and am about to enter it when I hear the sound of knocking on a door. The noise feels out of place, so I turn my head to locate the source. Unable to find it, I decide to ignore it… until it happens again. This time, I realize exactly what it is.
‘There’s someone at my front door?’
Hesitating in front of the Auction House, I quickly decide it would be best to answer it. I send the rest of the party a quick message saying that there is someone at my front door and I will be back shortly before logging out of the game.
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“Coming!” I call out from my bed as I remove the V-Link from my head.
While pulling myself into my wheelchair, my stomach growls in desperate need of food. I have noticed lately that I seem to have lost some weight from the lack of exercise and only eating a minimal amount. I unlock and open the front door while contemplating what to eat before logging back in.
Standing on my doorstep are two men in expensive suits. One is a balding middle-aged man while the other is extremely handsome and only in his late-twenties. My initial thought is that they are salesmen and I start to dismiss them, but what the younger man says makes me apologetic for my rudeness.
“Good afternoon. You must be Hollis Sylvester. I am Michael and this is Rood. We are employees for Virtue, the company that manufactured your Virtual Link.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“It’s not a problem. Normally we wouldn’t make a house call toward any of our customers, but there has been a situation.”
“A situation?” I begin to grow nervous.
“Yes, our company has an automatic monitor for all the V-Links in circulation. Due to the nature of the device, it is necessary for us to maintain the safety of our customers. If there are any anomalies, such as the one we detected with your device, we are required to come solve the issue.”
“Anomalies? Wait, what do you mean? There is nothing wrong with my device.”
“Most issues aren’t detectable by the user. Our failsafe tests will always pick up on any inconsistencies with the devices before any harm can come to the user, so we ask that you please do not think of our device as dangerous. However, you may have noticed some unusual symptoms like a lack of appetite, dizzy spells, or even mild headaches.”
I rub my temples gently while thinking about the headaches that have been coming and going since the last time I used the Sacred Art ‘Perceptual Sight’ in End Online. If it was a fault with the device that caused it, then it would be understandable. The headaches have been less frequent lately, so the only known cause of it is using that Sacred Art. As long as I don’t use it, there is no problems.
“There have been none of those symptoms,” I blatantly lie. “But would you be able to fix it now? I’m happy to wait if that’s what you need to do.”
“I apologize Mr. Sylvester, but such a fault cannot be reliably fixed, and given that there is a chance it could happen again the device will have to be scrapped. There is no need for you to worry, we will provide you with a new one free of charge and all your application and game data will be automatically downloaded onto the new device.”
“No! You can’t just take it!”
I wheel myself to block the doorway and prevent the businessmen from entering. Replacing a device is fine, but that device is the one that has Fen residing within. There is no way I can allow them to just take it.
“Mr. Sylvester,” the handsome man, Michael, continues to speak without showing any emotion on his face, “We are required by law to remove the faulty device. We have the replacement as per our quality control terms here with us. If we leave without the device, we will lose our jobs and the company will be in a lot of trouble as well.”
Michael reaches into his coat and bring out a slip of paper that is some form of legal document. He hands it over to me and explains its purpose.
“This is an order of law that we must remove it for the safety of the consumer. Please move aside so we can do our job.”
I resolutely block the door and prevent them from entering the house, but the two men just sigh before forcefully rolling me backwards and into the hallway. They then walk around me and quickly locate my room where the V-Link is currently sitting on my bed.
&nb
sp; As my anxiety becomes higher than it ever has been before. I arrive at the room to find them finishing unplugging everything and manually disconnecting it from the local internet. The middle-aged man, Rood, puts down a box with a new V-Link, the latest model. I desperately try to grab them and stop them from taking Fen away, but Michael and Rood easily step aside and dodge me.
Just as they go to leave, Michael steps in front of me before reaching into his jacket again and this time removing a thick envelope. He calmly places it down across my knees before saying.
“Our devices practically never have any issues associated with them. As you may understand, we would rather people don’t go talking about this to others. This envelope is our unofficial apology, and we hope that today’s matters can end with this.”
I open the envelope and to my shock, find a thick pile of bank notes. There should be about five thousand dollars in there if my initial judgement isn’t wrong. Perhaps it was due to the shock, but I have a sudden realization that the Virtue employee Michael seems familiar.
Unable to put my finger on why, I can’t help but ask, “Wait! Have we met before!?” to Michael as he is walking out the door.
I want to keep him back and wait for an opportunity to take back my old V-Link, but it is Rood who is holding onto it and he doesn’t take note of my shout.
Michael pauses for a moment, but he is facing the other direction so I can’t see his expression.
“No, we haven’t,” he calmly states before walking out the door and shutting it behind him.
My house is quickly filled by silence and the fading afternoon light. I sit there in a daze, my hands trembling. My mind is blank, and I don’t know what to do next. I absentmindedly sit there in the hallway, ignoring the hunger in my stomach. My phone rings after half an hour, most likely Markus or Verity wondering why I haven’t logged back in, but I also ignore that.
All I want, right now, is silence.
Chapter 41 – For Survival
– Mikhail –
I hope we never have to play the part of Michael and Rood again. I can feel the cold sweat dripping down my forehead as Ralph and I leave Hollis Sylvester’s home. This whole thing was a first for me, as I’m usually a straightforward person, not inclined to such dubious acts as pretending to be from a company I’m not.
Technically speaking, Virtue is an under-the-table affiliate company of ours created solely for the distribution of the Virtual Link, but that doesn’t make it any better. This was the plan Ralph and I came up with after discussing what to do. The only other viable option was to break into the house and steal it; security isn’t very strict in this outer region of the city anyway.
Regardless of the method, we achieved our goal. I even gave him some money prepared by the company to discourage him from following up on the event. We have influence over several sections of the judiciary system, so it wouldn’t matter, but this is easier for everyone. I only hope Hollis Sylvester realizes that.
I enter my car after Ralph and start the engine, still brooding over what he asked as we were leaving.
Have we met?
Indeed, we had met. I followed him around as Mikhail the Stalwart in End Online for some time, before his party killed mine and disappeared. I was wearing a helmet and my voice was muffled by it, so I didn’t think he would actually recognize me. Hollis Sylvester getting suspicious won’t impact my job, but it will prevent me chasing him down and following him around in the game like I’ve been planning to.
As I sigh to myself and clear my mind, I put the car in gear and start driving back to the office. I need to run diagnostics on the V-Link as soon as possible, even if it means working into the night.
“Is it really in here? The AI?” Ralph asks me in a gruff voice.
“It should be. When it left the server matrix, this is the only location it could have gone to.”
“I see… You know, my kid uses one of these. Is it really possible for it to malfunction and damage the user?”
“Of course, but you’re looking at a billion to one chance of that happening. Unless there is an outside influence, the chance of any deviation in the hardware is near impossible.”
“So all that…?”
“No need to worry Ralph. It was all made up. I threw out some theoretical possibilities, but nothing I said has actually happened to anyone before.”
“I understand. Sorry for worrying about it.”
Ralph only has a minor desk job at Idea Imagine and is a little out of touch with the latest technology, but he was the easiest to requisition for this job. If I had gone alone, the young man would have definitely doubted my cover.
An hour later, the sun has set and the street lamps illuminate the roads. The windscreen of my car also has an advanced display that brightens my view of the roads, allowing me to see even clearer. I arrive back at the Idea Imagine offices not long after. Ralph goes to his own car, leaving me alone in the building aside from the few sparse employees who are working late into the night.
I take the V-Link helmet containing the AI and go to a special room where there is an isolated terminal disconnected from both the internet and company server. With the faraday cage installed in the walls no wireless signals can enter or exit this room either. There is no chance of the AI fleeing the device when I turn it on.
I plug the helmet into the terminal and open up a diagnostic program. Every fragment of data is separated and read individually.
“Where are you?” I ask myself while studying the data in front of me to look for the program known in the game as Fen.
I sit in front of the massive pile of data for an hour, combing through it from one end to the other. No matter how I look at it, the AI isn’t there.
“There’s so much data I must have missed it,” I conclude.
Going back to the start of the data, I start going through it again. My second attempt also comes up with nothing. The third is the same. I try a different diagnostic tool and search for any and all programs or patterns in the data that are unnatural, but still nothing.
I refuse to believe that my programs can’t locate the AI in the device and keep searching well past midnight.
Nothing works. Nothing comes back with results. As a final desperate measure, I put the helmet on and enter the virtual space myself. Still nothing.
Logging out and slowly removing the helmet, my fatigue turns into rage and I hurl the device at the wall in the room while shouting curses at it.
The AI isn’t on the device. It either left it long ago, or fled before I had a chance to take it. The former is more likely, but if that is the case, then where is it?
I sit in the room against a wall fuming. It isn’t until my anger dissipates and my tiredness returns that I weakly close my eyes and fall asleep.
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– Hollis –
It isn’t until late at night when I finally shake myself from my stupor. No matter how much I replay the evening’s events in my head, I keep denying it. Telling myself that I’m wrong and that there is nothing to worry about, I go back to my room where the box with the new V-Link is sitting on my bed. The game chip for End Online is placed neatly beside it.
I hesitantly open the box and remove the new V-Link. The latest design is much more sleek than the one I had previously, and it has different padding on the inside that is likely an improvement.
I plug it in and insert the game chip before placing it on my head and lying down. When the device starts up my vision slowly fades and is clouded by fog. Once it clears, I find myself in a blank personal locker about half the size as my previous one. There is currently nothing inside of it, so I can immediately tell that Fen isn’t here.
‘I thought they said everything would return to how it is? My locker is even considerably smaller,’ I sigh dejectedly before opening up the console to edit my locker.
There are a lot more th
emes and options than what I used to have. It is most likely a feature of the latest model. The old themes exist too, so I choose the same ‘China3’ that I used previously. The space is much smaller so I only create a single room, placing a bed and a few pieces of furniture in it, the rest is default as set by the theme.
In the time it takes me to set up the room to something close to what I’m used to, the helmet already finished installing all necessary End Online data so I start the login process. I’m anxious, half expecting Fen to be there waiting for me, half knowing that it isn’t possible.
My vision clears as I return to Kano City outside of the auction house. I look left and right, scanning every area I can, but I can’t see Fen anywhere.
I lifelessly walk into the auction house and order a room to list my items for sale. The receptionist is the same noisy one as usual, and I shut out her voice without realizing it. There is also a message that I received a couple points of infamy which I instantly dismiss.
Inside the private room I operate the terminal, selecting the only item I plan on selling today: the ‘Severing Breeze’. All I do after that is click submit and the item is removed from my inventory and placed on the site for a seven day auction.
There’s nothing left to do here so I close the terminal and leave the room. As I walk out the door from the private room I run straight into someone standing there. I would normally apologize to the player but this time I become furious.
“For god’s sake, what the #@%# are you doing standing… Fen?”
My anger passes as quick as it came, and in its place is disbelief. I just walked into Fen while walking out of the private room. She must have been standing there waiting for me. No, how can she be here?
“Fen, is that you?” I ask her again.
“Yes,” she blandly replies.
“But, how?”
“I don’t understand your question.”
“Didn’t you reside in my V-Link? Didn’t the company take it away?”