by Jason Cheek
NECK-DEEP IN IT
BOOK EIGHT
OF
THE WORLD
Copyright 2021 Jason Cheek
Published by Jason Cheek on Amazon
Cover Art by Leonardo Black
ISBN-13:
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Amazon.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Preface
Map of the World
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Appendices
Character Sheet
Startum Ironwolf’s Gear
Character List
About Jason Cheek
Connect with Jason Cheek
Post Credit Scene
Preface
(A note from the Author)
Just a quick explanation for why this last book took so long for me to get out. I unfortunately had a massive heart attack and almost died in August of 2020 with a 99% blocked artery. Luckily, I was able to get a stint in place before I died. Though, it took a solid five to six months for me to get back on track with my health and writing. Hopefully, that won’t be an issue going forward since I’m watching my health closely along with my wife and daughter.
Additionally, I hope you enjoy the story and apologize in advance for the grammar and proofreading mistakes that are sure to be a part of this work. Being an ‘Indie Author’ typically means that you do not have the extra money to pay for a professional editor or proofreader and end up doing all of the work yourself. While I do the best that I can to find mistakes, I know well my lack of ability in the proofreading, spell-checking, and editing arena. At the same time, I have done my best with the tools available to clean up the story for publishing to the best of my ability.
I would like to give a shout out to a number of fans and friends that have put a huge amount of effort into getting this story into as good of shape as it is in. Eric (Toten Sie), a friend who offers his expertise for editing my books and gets them cleaned up for release. Steven (Zeven) is another friend that helps with the ideas and concepts that makes the series so great. Both of them were joined by Jeff and Steven, both ex-military and DoD along with a local physicist named Josef. I also had the assistance of Katie and Bilal. Two new fans who volunteered to help beta read the series. I’ve been slowly opening up the beta reading option after having a few difficult issues pop up in the past.
Lastly, I would like to thank those fans who support me on Patreon at tier level 3 and higher: Mike, Travis, CUI13, S, Tucker, David, Bryan, Justin, Daniel, Rob, Rylon, Kore, Bilal, and Carl. When I was struggling with the buzzing in my head from the heart attack, the need to make sure I had Sneak Peeks out kept me going in a number of ways. Not only that, their feedback helped me to regain my confidence with writing after dealing with such a massive system shock.
Also, all of them helped to beta read the story to make sure everything sounded right, besides listening to me when I have those bad days that a writer gets, especially when you have a group of authors ganging up against you to do their best to block your work on Amazon, Goodreads, and Audible.
The This issue was something I was ignorant about as a reader of the genre. Now though, the more I learn about how a number of established authors try to block new authors from entering the genre, or learn about the groups of authors ganging up on new authors and choose to say nothing against it. It’s depressing, to say the least. Truly, this book would have never been written if not for the fans who enjoy the series. Your continued support truly makes a difference and you have my heartfelt thanks.
As you enjoy this story, I ask that if something does stand out grammatically that you let me know at [email protected] so that I can make the necessary corrections needed to make this book as enjoyable to read as possible. Also, if you enjoy the story, please make sure you post a positive rating on Amazon. Even with book five, it makes a difference. Only in this way does this let us ‘Indy Authors’ know that our stories are appreciated and helps to motivate us to write more. It also enables new readers to find our works and helps to stop these established authors who would stop ‘Indy Authors’ from breaking into the writing field.
Like book 7, book 8 also covers a single day. I hope this will change after book 9 and I’ll be able to get a few more days in if not a week. Like book 7, book 8 covers a lot more different perspectives so you get a better idea of what’s happening around The World. I hope you like the addition. Besides, it breaks up the fight scenes nicely too. Also, this is another book that covers a twenty-four-hour time period. I have no wish to rush the telling of the story. My goal is to have a hundred or more books that draw you into the various adventures that Star and his friends face.
Also, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me the freedom to explore a number of different adventures and topics in these stories. Whether it’s Star’s romantic misadventures with Fylreh, the disturbing Meer Lizards, the real-time strategy aspect of the story, self-aware NPCs, dealing with his abusive ex-girlfriend, or the new types of monster empires I’m introducing. Many of the ideas and adventures cover concepts I’ve never read in other stories within the genre. I want to explore every exciting dream I’ve ever had of gaming. Like a Captain Kirk of a fantasy MMO universe. As long as everyone finds the stories interesting, I will keep on writing about Star’s exploration of The World.
I’d like to thank any other fans who made comments that allowed me to tweak the story or go back and correct the more notable mistakes that needed to be corrected. For those who can’t see the updates, please delete the book from your device’s local cache and re-download it or Amazon has an area in your account where you can force the updates onto your device. My books always tend to be works-in-progress for the editing side.
Lastly, I’d like to address a few points that came up in reviews: (This won’t be an issue for the next several books, but I think it’s important to list part of this again.)
There are some people who think that Startum Ironwolf disrespects women and thinks they are inferior to men. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The one great thing about video games is that there are no differences between the sexes, ages, or races. Men and women are absolutely equal on all levels. It is your choice of starts, your choice of class, how y
ou distribute your stats and how you treat others in the game that is important.
In most online games, the golden rule is you have no idea who is really on the other side of that computer screen. Women play men, men play women, and players play themselves. There is no prejudice except for what you bring with you into the game world. On the field of battle, you slaughter your enemies, period. There is no consideration of sex, race, religion or age. Over many years of gaming, I’ve had so many online friends from all around the world that it is truly amazing at times when I think about it.
Please understand, Startum is a guy in his early twenties. He likes women, he finds them beautiful and he enjoys seeing that beauty. There is nothing wrong with finding someone desirable, pretty, or sexy. In my experience, women do this the same as men. Enjoying beauty is not judging the worth of a person or their capability. How you treat those people though is important. In Startum’s case, you have a first-row seat to his every private thought. Also, as the game progresses, Star’s thought processes change along with his exploration of The World, especially after experiencing the horrors in books four and five, not to mention the need to prepare for the coming war that he sees looming on the horizon. Also, in many ways, he’s growing up as a person throughout the series.
Also, for pictures of the concept art for many of the characters, the in-real-life LAN parties, and the friends that are the concept personalities for many of the characters in the story, you can find that here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007596607095
One final point, if you like the story, please leave a good review on Amazon and Goodreads for the books. Not just mine, but any Indie Author you like, especially if you want to see new stories coming out that are not the cookie-cutter-copies that seem to be so rampant in the genre. The only way you will encourage this to happen is by leaving reviews for the authors you like. It lets everyone know that they’re telling a good story, besides being the only way to protect them from the established authors in the genre that try to block new stories from coming out.
I have personally experienced this type of harassment and trolling since releasing The World series. Every book, whether audible or eBook has been repeatedly attacked. Not just book one, but every proceeding book in the series. Even now, they continuously check my blog to know when my newest book is going to be released to leave bad reviews. Truly, it’s like battling an in real-life Syndicate guild. Your support has been all that has stopped their bullying from blocking my stories.
Map of the World
Chapter One
(Friday, May 9th / Day 19 of The World.)
(Jason waking up at home.)
“Gggrrraaawwwlll!”
Sharp pangs shooting through my abdomen brought me out of a dead sleep as I doubled over clutching at my gut in the dark room. The angry gurgling growl seemed to go on forever as I pressed my face into the bedspread and writhed in pain. With each passing second, the pain seemed to worsen as I gasped for breath doing my best to ride it out.
I swear, this was worse than waking up with a charley horse. It felt like my stomach was trying to eat itself from the inside out. As the growling noise finally came to an end, my entire body went limp as I laid on the bed feeling like a wrung-out rag. Panting with my body covered in a sheen of grimy sweat, I pawed for my smartphone on the nightstand to check the time.
Fucking five o’clock in the morning, I mentally groaned in disbelief, you’ve gotta be kidding me! Dropping my arm, I laid there debating whether or not to get up while I did my best to ignore the gnawing hunger pangs eating away at my stomach. As I mentally debated the theoretical possibility of getting another two hours of sleep before I had to get up and log back into the game, I quickly became aware of the foul smell that was all around me.
How I’d missed it when I’d first awoken was a wonder in and of itself, because, once I became aware of the stench, it was impossible to ignore. I immediately knew what it was. If there had been any doubts, the layer of slimy funk covering my clammy skin would’ve removed all doubt that it was coming from me. While this wasn’t the first time I’d crawled into bed without a shower, it was the first time I’d done so after wearing my new fancy bodysuit and boy could I smell the difference. If that wasn’t bad enough, add that to wrapping myself up in the bedspread and sweating throughout the night and the results were an eye watering potpourri of stink.
The longer I laid in bed the more it seemed like the odor had literally saturated into everything within the bedroom. I swear that the air had a palpable thickness to it. If that wasn’t enough motivation to get out of bed, my stomach momentarily cramped up again as if warning me of what was to come if I didn’t get the fuck up and feed myself. Giving up any hope of falling back to sleep, I tossed the smartphone back onto the nightstand and headed for the kitchen.
As soon as I saw the refrigerator, an urgency came over me as my stomach rumbled in anticipation. It was almost like I hadn’t eaten for days as I hurriedly ripped the door open looking for food. Ignoring the loud clanking sounds of the condiments smashing together, I began pawing through the empty drawers looking for anything leftover to eat. Unfortunately, except for a few bottles of Paulaner on the middle shelf, a large bottle of ketchup, and few lonely sticks of butter, the shelves were all but empty. There was nothing left … no eggs, milk, sandwich meats, or cheese, it had all been eaten over the last two weeks of straight gaming.
Slamming the door closed, I urgently yanked open the freezer as my stomach moaned in despair as if it had a mind of its own. The results were nearly the same. All of my sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits were gone. The stack of frozen dinners was all used up too. The only thing left, except for a few lonely plastic trays of ice, was a third of a loaf of frost-burnt bread. Without hesitation, I broke the loaf free of the ice that had formed around it and slammed the door closed in frustration.
I always kept my bread in the freezer, otherwise if I left it out on the countertop it would become a mold paradise since I didn't eat sandwiches nearly often enough to use it before its use by date expired. While the freezer trick worked to extend its life, trust me when I say dealing with frozen bread was a royal pain in the ass. I had to slam the sides against the edge of the sink to break away the first two frozen slices which promptly got thrown into the toaster. After that, the last three broke apart easily enough as I hurried to the cabinets and dug out the jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and my squeeze bottle of Orange Blossom Honey.
By now my stomach was starting to cramp up again at the smell of semi-heated toast as I hurriedly popped the bread out, a little too early, and stuck the next two slices in the machine. Too early meaning it was still slightly soggy in places and not fully toasted, not that any of that mattered. Slathering on a thick swath of peanut butter on each half and squeezing out an inordinate amount of honey, I began stuffing the dripping gooey mess into my mouth as quickly as possible. In truth, it was more inhaling than chewing as honey dribbled all over my hands and down my chest while my eyes watered in relief at the sustenance.
The next three slices went down in much the same way as the intense hunger pangs slowly began to fade away. While that was far from being enough food, it was sufficient to stop the shakes as I went to the cabinet and pulled out a box of Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, leaving sticky finger prints on everything I touched. Although I didn’t have any eggs or milk to add additional protein to the mix, the directions only called for water to get nice filling fluffy pancakes. That being said, I did add a bit of cinnamon and vanilla extract for some additional flavoring. Using one of my last three sticks of butter, I had the first pancake coming off the frying pan ten minutes later. An ungodly amount of maple syrup and it disappeared down the gullet while the next was being cooked up.
Though it wasn’t the heathiest breakfast I’d ever had, it was a great filler and gave me a bunch of extra calories that my body desperately needed. I laughed at that thought, who would’ve ever thought that I’d be at the point of needing extra calor
ies to stop myself from losing too much weight? Seriously, it was every gamer’s dream come true.
While pancakes out of the box might not sound that appetizing, trust me when I say that Aunt Jemima was the best. Each bite was like a mini orgasm in my mouth as I slopped up the pancake with copious amounts of natural maple syrup. Though it took about twenty minutes for me to cook up the rest of the mix, the feeding frenzy didn’t begin to slow down until I was frying up the last pancake. That’s when the signal from my stomach finally reached my brain to say that it was full. Leaning back against the countertop in my post-breakfast food coma bliss, I was finally able to look around at the mess I’d made.
Note to self, never go to bed without eating and showering, I thought in disgust. Add to that the radiating stench of B.O. the and layer of slime on my skin along with the additional mixture of syrup, pancake mix, honey, and peanut butter, I couldn’t help but feel completely embarrassed at my ridiculous condition. You know, besides the kitchen now being a complete disaster area. Thankful that no one else could see me like this, I pushed myself away from the countertop and got to work on cleaning up the mess that my bad decisions from the night before had led to.
First and foremost, I washed myself down from the waist up in the kitchen sink since a paper towel wasn’t going to cut it. Not that doing so helped much with the stink I was exuding, but it was a start and stopped me from leaving fingerprints on everything I touched. Flinging open the sliding glass doors in the kitchen and living room, I put the ceiling fans on high and got to work on first cleaning up the kitchen. Next, I did the same with the bedroom. Though, I swear that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d opened up my bedroom’s sliding glass doors or drapes to let the sun and fresh air in.
All of the blankets and sheets went into the wash. To be honest, this was a long time in coming. Maybe it was a guy thing. While I loved clean sheets, changing them out regularly wasn’t really my thing, especially when I was in the middle of a new game addiction. Still, it had to be done. Finishing up, I snagged my new gaming suit from the guest bathroom and headed to the shower to wash the stench off of me.