Quest completed!
Congratulations!
You receive 7000 gold!
You have levelled up!
You can now access the map!
It happened to the others too. Rajahard let out a whistle, since he had apparently received a new gift.
“Yay!” he said, “I can now do certain spells without requiring a lot of mana!”
“I just got access to the map,” I said. I selected thenew map icon, and the map appeared in the bottom left of my vision. I could see for twenty-five kilometres in every direction. However one drawback that the map had was that it didn’t show the names of any places. I didn’t mind, as I was sure that the names of places would start appearing on the map from the next time I level up.
“You can probably see in a radius of twenty-five kilometres,” Rajahard said, “I can see for thirty. I wish if only I could see more.”
“I can heal faster now,” Ladyjane said.
“What about you?” I asked Lovebird. But her mind seemed to be somewhere else altogether.
“I think I should log out,” she said, “I have been in the game for way too long.”
“If you are worried for your brother, you should immediately log out,” I said to her.
“Okay, bye everyone,” she said, her face pale with worry. She disappeared.
“I wonder what’s wrong with her,” Ladyjane said. “She barely stays in the game world.”
“She’s got problems at home,” I said. “Big problems.”
“I thought that too,” Ladyjane said, “but she hasn’t told anything about her problems to me so far.”
I thought of telling Ladyjane that Lovebird was from a war-torn country. But I held back my tongue since I didn’t know if Lovebird would approve of that. At the same time I had a sudden thought what if Lovebird was a member of the Kartoshi gang like me, and was getting paid for playing? It would explain how she had access to the game capsule, despite it being expensive.
“Let’s get going before the mobs respawn,” Rajahard said. The three of us ran back the way to the river. It took the same amount of time as before, but the time flew by quickly as we ran through the forest. There was also not much talk this time.
Reaching the bank, Rajahard and Ladyjane too logged out. They could have logged out in the village itself but they wanted to give me company. I returned to my inn, and threw myself onmy bed. Today had been an adventurous day.
Rohan.
Class: Multi-tasker
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Level: 5
Strength: 350
Health: 677/650
Mana: 303
Intelligence:100
Karma: 0
Chapter 3
I was relatively surprised to find that Lovebird was online that night.
“I am sorry I had to log out suddenly today,” she messaged me.
“Not a problem,” I messaged back, “Is everything all right at home?”
“Yes, I was fretting too much.”
“Where are you? Near your birthstone tree?” I asked.
“No, I am with Ladyjanein the town. I’ll be hereonly for a few minutes though. We are just checking out some clothes.”
I looked at my own clothes. I had been wearing the same ones ever since I had landed in the game world.
“Cool,” I said.
“By the way there is a party tomorrow. Would you attend it?”
I had an abrupt vision of Death13 showing up in a party filled with happy people. It wasn’t a good vision at all.
“A party?” I asked. “Who’s throwing it?”
“One of the richer guys in the city,” she replied. “He’s good friends with Rajahard and has invited him and asked him to take his friends along.”
“I am not sure,” I said. “But I might go.”
“Please come,” she said, “we’ll have a good time together—if I am able to log into the game world tomorrow that is.”
Now with the promise of a good time together from a girl I was really interested in, it would be a sin to refuse.
“You have my word,” I said, “I’ll come. But you must give me your word that you will come at all cost.”
It was a moment before she replied. Perhaps she thought it was odd that I was askingher to promise.
“Well, I won’t say for sure. But I am buying new clothes and if all goes well I’ll log in tomorrow. Still, you never know when something goes up in smoke, lol.”
I thought it was a really lame joke on her part. Especially since I knew about her real life, and the hardships she faced in the real world.
“Nothing’s going up in smoke, you understand?” I messaged her back. “You and your family are going to be safe.”
“I hope the war ends,” she replied. “Sometimes I doubt I am doing the right thing by being here, enjoying this world.”
“There is nothing wrong in seeking an escape.”
“There isn’t… But there is when you don’t share it with someone. Ah, well, forgetit. Ladyjane is calling me. Have to go.”
“Okay, take care,” I told her.
I later on asked Grimguy if he would like to go to the party as well, but he had totally immersed himself into solving the puzzle. He seemed to have found the puzzle pieces that he lost the other day. Grimguy had so far pieced together half the face of a Rak with really huge canines and a great tongue that lolled out. The Rak’s face was surrounded by animals and boats and strange symbols.
“You sure that the reward is going to be big?” I asked him. I seriously doubted that there was any large reward associated with solving the puzzle. But Grimguy was putting so much energy into it that I hoped I was wrong.
“The reward is unknown,” Grimguy replied, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips, even as he frowned with immense concentration at the half-solved puzzle. “But I think it’s going to be big. I will probably get a cool spell. If I don’t I’ll surely lose my head and destroy the puzzle.”
“Um, there is this party tomorrow,” I began.
“I heard about it,” Grimguy said. “Hecameto the innwhen you were away. He told Nanda to tell everyone to go to his party.”
“He?” I asked. I reckoned Grimguy was probably referring to the person who was throwing the party.
“Have you ever seen a big guy with a Dinoman pet in our inn?”
“Wiseazz!” I said in instant recognition.
“Yup, that guy,” Grimguy said. “He’s a good guy and I would have liked to go but… I would lose the flow of the puzzle. You’re understanding, right? I would find it harder to get totally invested in solving this puzzle after taking a break, although I would have liked some recreation.”
“But why is Wiseazz throwing the party?” I asked. “There has to be a cause for the celebration, right?”
“He regularly keeps throwing the parties,” Grimguy replied. “Some suspect it has got to do with Karma points. You make people happy, you get positive Karma. You know, Wiseazz is rumoured to be one of the players with the highest Karma levels in the game world.”
“Really?’ I said, impressed. From what I had heard, Karma was something very difficult to gain. “I guess his Karma makes him powerful.”
“Yup,” Grimguy said with a quick nod, even as he picked up a puzzle piece and checked where it fit best, “It’s next to impossible to get a Dinoman pet unless you have lots of Karma. But Wiseazz has few friends. He only accepts friend requests from people whom he really trusts andwhoare unlikely to reveal his Karma levels and stats to others.”
“You think Wiseazz has more Karma than the guy we stole Danav and Danavma from?That guy charges Karma instead of money, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember that shopkeeper,” Grimguy said. He placed the puzzle piece into the picture of the Rak and it seemed to be part of the Rak’s thick brow. Grimguy then touched his nose, as though recalling the fake fight we had set up to steal Danav and Danavma, and in which I had mistakenly broken his
nose in a bid to make the fight look convincing.
“But that guy charges people Karma and doing so is not a good deed and he probably gets negative Karma for that, which would lower his positive Karma levels. But it’s a different case with Wiseazz. He throws parties, makes people happy and also does other good deeds all the time. I heard that he once stopped another player from killing a Rak child for entertainment, and got huge Karma for the deed. The AI frowns upon the killing of Rak children even though they are ugly and sometimes give trouble.”
After some time, I left Grimguy to his puzzle and went downstairs. There seemed to be more customers than usual. Some of them weretalking about Wiseazz’s party, and they seemedto lookforward to it. I got some food and settled down alone at a table. Once done, I was about to return to my room whenmy earscaught a talk.
“You know the other day I happened upon this unique quest,” one man with a goatee was saying enthusiastically, and for some reason his face looked familiar, “when I had gone to thwart the invasion of the Raks. This guy in a hood came and he began to kill the Raks and the players. None could defeat him however. Not even me. He attacked me, and then I found myself in this weird place of zeroes and ones. And then I woke up in my capsule in the real world. I am telling this to you because I have known you for long and you are trustable. Defeating this hooded guy might bethe nextbig quest out there. I am sure of that.”
Well, I for one was now sure that it wouldn’t be long before everyone came to know about Death13. And ultimately they would also realise that Death13 wasn’t any quest but a junk code that was deleting players and sucking Karma points. I returned to my room, brooding over the words of the man. I feared there would be quite a pandemonium once everyone came to know about the true identity of Death13. The thrill of trying to defeat Death13would be gone, replaced by sheer panic. And what if there arose a situation where nobody could log out? I gulped, catching a chill just thinking about it. Something like that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. With these comforting thoughts I lulled myself into a disturbing sleep.
***
The party was only at night, so the day was left for me to do other things. I decided it was best to help Grimguy since he was really putting his heart and soul into the puzzle. But it turned out that my help wasn’t exactly helping. We would start talking about other things and then he would forget to put the puzzle pieces in the correct places. So I left him and spent the rest of the day looking out at the bustling city through my window, observing players and NPCs.
As evening dawned, Lovebird became online. I was glad that she had been able to do so. Rajahard and Ladyjane also became online.
Soon, I recieved Lovebird’s message.
“Where are you?”
“At the inn.”
“Wait there,” she said, “we’re coming.”
I looked at the mirror and observed myself as I waited for the others to come. Should I have bought new clothes for the party? The clothes I was wearing looked more like something that one wore while going for a hunt. The only thing lacking was my sword, which I had kept inside my bag for now. But then, there were sure to be other people in the party much worse dressed than me. So it wasn’t really a problem. I hadn’t cared too much about my clothes and my appearance in the real world, so it was more or less stupid to lose my head getting concerned about my looksin the game world. I already looked much better. And then I had the nice crop of hair now, something Iwould havegiven up anything to possess in the real world. I ran a hand through my hair and declared that I was ready for the party.
Shortly afterwards, Lovebird, Rajahard and Ladyjane arrived at my room. All of them were wearing expensive looking clothes. Rajahard was wearing what looked like a kimono which didn’t really go well with him, but which at the same time declared that he had tried his best to look good for the party. Ladyjane wore a black dress while Lovebird wore a pink one. Lovebird’s had flower-like designs at the bottom.
“Doesn’t he look cute?” Ladyjane said, pointing at Rajahard, who didn’t seem quite comfortable in his new clothes. Rajahard tried hard to smile, but all he could manage was show his teeth.
“Yeah,” I said, uneasily.
Rajahard was not looking cute.
“You didn’t get any new clothes?” Ladyjane said, looking at me as though I was someone dressed in rags.
“We didn’t call him out to buy clothes yesterday night,” Lovebird said.
“He’s good as he is,” Rajahard cut in. “Let’s go to the party. Don’t want to be late.”
“Yeah,” I added.
The big inn where Wiseazz was throwing his party was located in the southern part of Kapilpura. I recalled seeing it on another occasion before— the same day I had seen Danav in the cage for the first time. I realised this was the same part of the city from where I had acquired my pets. I was glad now that Grimguy hadn’t come to the party. If the shopkeeper—the rightful owner of Danav and Danavma— by chance happened to see me and Grimguy together, he would know that the two of us had faked the fight and stolen the pets.
The inn had been magnificently decorated. There were people dressed in funny clothes handing out sweets for free. And inside the inn sweet music was being played. The ceiling had also been decorated with colourful ribbons. There were many people at the bar, drinking all the free wine they could. Food hadn’t been served yet, so most of the people were sitting or standing around, enjoying the environment. I had a sudden chill however when I thought what would happen if Death13 came to this place. There were quite a few perma players, to whom the maximum threat was. I just hoped such a thing never happened. I also couldn’t fathom, how Wiseazz, with his rumoured levels of Karmapoints, hadn’t been attacked by Death13 so far.
“Good place, eh?” Rajahard said.
“Sure is,” I said, as I accepted some sweets from a man in funny clothes. I put one in my mouth and gave the rest to the others. The sweet had an intersting strawberry flavour.
“I can’t remember the last time I went to a party,” Lovebird said, her eyes rather forlorn.
I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled at me.
“You never said how I look today,” she said, turning a shade of pink similar to her dress.
I felt myself flush. I hadn’t thought she would say that.
“Ah… you… you look stunning.”
It was true. She looked gorgeous.
“Thanks,” she said.
Just then, the big man appeared at the door of the inn, accompanied by his ever loyal Dinoman pet. Wiseazz looked like a kind of Santa Claus at best. He was wearing a red robe with white edges, and a red hat. Only his beard wasn’t white. Reptilio was also wearing a red hat. But you could never tell whether he was happy or sad, because of his reptilian face covered with scales. Reptiles really don’t know how to give expressions, do they? Except when they are angry. Then they just open their mouths as wide as possible, which was likely what Reptilio probably would do when he was angry.
Many cheers came from those who were sitting inside. I clapped and so did the other people. Some even whistled. Wiseazz himself clapped too, and Reptilio tried really hard to smile, but it just wasn’t possible with his face.
Wiseazz cleared his throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said merrily, “I am really glad that you have come here today. You can drink and eat as much as you want to and be assured that everything’s free. Yes, it would burn a hole in my pocket, but it doesn’t matter. Just celebrate tonight, permas and non-permas alike.”
“You didn’t say why you are throwing this party exactly,” one random man asked, “acquired a chest full of Karma, eh?”
The merriness faded from Wiseazz for just a moment, but he quickly came up with a good-natured laugh.
“I would say it’s more like a MOUNTAIN of Karma,” he said.
The crowd present laughed. Had that been a joke or did Wiseazz really had impossible levels of Karma? Thankfully, Wiseazz settled the confusion with his ne
xt words.
“Ah, not really, I was joking. It’s just that I might be going to Dinoland the next month and then I wouldn’t be able to throw any big parties for some time. Anyway, enjoy for now! Live the moment! Now come on, someone give me a bucket of beer.”
Someone literally handed him a medium sized bucket that was filled with beer. The crowd then watched in amazement as Wiseazz downed it all in a matter of seconds. He then gave an earth shattering burp that nobody minded.
“Now that’s what I am taking about!” Wiseazz yelled, his face turning pink.
He sat upon a great chair near the bar and many people gathered around him. Rajahard and Ladyjane went too, while Lovebird and I remained behind, since Wiseazz had enough company for now. He kept throwing jokes and every few moments many people would laugh together.
“Play the music,” Wiseazz said in a drunk, but controlled voice. “LOUDER! I want to dance.”
And he came to the centre of the inn that was best lit and began to dance. He wasn’t a bad dancer, considering his enormous weight. Wiseazz asked a hand to Ladyjane since she was the closest woman to him. With a nervous look at Rajahard who didn’t seem quite pleased, she gave her hand to Wiseazz, who kissed it. They began dancing. After a minute Ladyjane excused herself and went back to Rajahard.
“Let’s all dance!” Wiseazz cried to everyone.
“Want to dance?” Lovebird suddenly asked me.
“Really?” I found myself saying.
She nodded.
“I am not a good dancer,” I said. I couldn’t remember any instance when I had danced in my life.
“But neither am I,” Lovebird said with a smile, her eyes sparkling.
Well, who was I to resist the offer?
We held each others’ hands and began to dance. It was mostly an awkward set of movements and for the most part we were staring into each other’s eyes and moving round and round. The inn seemed to fade and for a moment only the two of us existed.
“Is there something going on between the two of us?” I asked Lovebird curiously. I really wanted to know what kind of an answer she would give to that.
Perma-Death Online: A LitRPG adventure: Book 2 Page 3