They lifted me up. I tried to speak, but all that came out was a muffled voice that even I didn’t understand.
“Why are you stopping him from speaking?” Wiseazz said.
“We are under orders,” one of the soldiers barked back at Wiseazz. “And if you talk too much, you’ll end up in the prison as well, so you better shut up.”
And the soldiers carried me out of the inn. Once out, they took me to a horse carriage. There was a big box towards the back of the carriage that had a single hole in it. The soldiers opened the box, threw me inside it and then closed the lid.
Claustrophobia seizedme. I had been to the prison before. But the soldiers had treated me much better, becauseI had given myself up to them. On top of that, why had these soldiers lied to Wiseazz? I had not killed any players. Wait, I had killed some player Raks before dying. But that was in a different land where the human soldiers didn’t exercise any powers. Besides, wasn’t it afact that humans and Raks were at war? And wasn’t it okay to kill them regardless of whether they were players or NPCs?
I could only look at the sky through the tiny hole. The wide blue sky was such a stark contrastto the box I was in. I had never felt this helpless in my life. Not even when I had stared Death13 in the eye.
The carriage came to a halt. I felt the box being lifted. The wide blue sky was replaced by the ceiling ofa place inside which the soldiers had brought me. This place was dark from what I could see through the small hole. And I was pretty sure this wasn’t the prison.
I felt like being rushed down some steps and after a short while, the lid of the box was opened. A burly soldier lifted me up and threw me onto an uncomfortable chair and then tied ropes around me, fastening me to the chair, as if it was not enough to just tie my hands and feet.
I was in a small room that was presently quite crowded with three burly soldiers. I wasn’t sure if they were soldiers in the first place, but they were wearing the soldier uniform. A single torch burnt onthe wall. And there wasa single door in the room, no windows of any kind. I reckoned this was an underground place.
The soldiers untied my mouth and I spat the ball of paper out. My mouth felt quite abused and it pained badly, my tongue especially.
“Why have you brought me here?” I managed to say, despite the pain. “This is not the prison.”
“A smart ass, are you?” one of the soldiers said. He had a goatee and no moustache. He was not the burliest one among the three, but he was well toned. He had short cropped hair. I focussed on him.
Killerman
Class: Sooooldier
Race: Human
Sex: Male
And those were the only details that I could see. Apparently he noticed that I was checking his details. Why were there four o’s in the class name? It didn’t make any sense at all. I focussed on the other two soldiers. One of them had five o’s and the other had three. Were they NPCs or were they players? I couldn’t understand at all.
Killerman let out a laugh.
“It’s called Mess-up Potion,” he said, “Once you drink it, you can mess up your details for a certain time limit. You can change your class to anything you want to, though there are always a few letters more. We went with 'soldier'. The potion added some extras o’s on its own. But the deed is done, and no one suspected us.”
“You are players, are you?” I asked. “And … Are you members of the Kartoshi gang?”
I shouldn’t have asked that.
Killerman placed a foot on my chest. It was highly intimidating as I realised that I was totally at the mercy of these people. If they were indeed members of the Kartoshi gang they could probably trace my location in the real world. I gulped.
“Of course, we are,” Killerman said, looking at me like I was some inferior being. The other two men stood by his sides, scowls pasted on their faces. “Looks like you have come to know a lot.”
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“It’s not a great idea to use magic on our members, you know,” Killerman said. “It makes it easy to find your position in the game world. Not in a long time, we will be able to find your location in the real world too. It makes me sad that after all the money you were given, you decided to put your nose into these silly matter. Why try to find what we are up to? Can’t you be happy with the money?”
“Please let me go,” I said.
Killerman laughed.
“You really expect us to let you go? Come on. Now tell us whatever you know about Death13. And tell me about the other players with you. Were they also members of the Kartoshi gang? Were they traitors like you? Trying to bite the very hand that is feeding them, eh?”
“Why are you destroying the perma players?” I asked, “Can’t you find other ways of making money?”
“Perma players are just digit codes. Like the NPCs. They are no different from them. No harm in deleting some digit code if that can make you a ton of money, am I correct?” Killerman said, and he looked quite relaxed.
I stared at him. How could anyone be so evil?
“Besides,” Killerman continued, “In the very near future something else is gonna happen too.” He grinned at me. He looked like he wanted to tell me that something much worse than deleting perma players was going to happen. “Now speak. I am asking you nicely. How did you come to know about Death13?”
“I met him,” I said. “He is on my friend list.”
“Well, we are in his friend list as well,” Killerman said. “But how did you come to know that he was going about deleting perma players?”
“I saw him attacking one. The birthstone of the perma player was destroyed.”
“Interesting,” Killerman said, “too bad, your sharp mind is going to get you into trouble.”
He suddenly leaned towards me, so that his face was just next to me and I could feel his breath on my cheeks. His breath stank of cheap wine.
“Now tell me about your friends. Be honest. I am talking about the people who were with you atop the pterodactyl, who know about Death13 and have the helmet of Ravana. Tell me their real world names.”
I kept quiet. There was no way I would tell the real names of my friends to Killerman. I had enough self-respect in me. That I did not know the real names of my friends helped.
“Find that out yourself,” I said, glaring hard into Killerman’s eye. He slapped me.
“Some guts you got,” he said. “Okay then, as you wish. I will find about your dear friends myself. Too bad they didn’t die with you, or they would have been sitting next to you here.”
Killerman took a step back from me.
“Mayester,” he said to the burliest man, “you can have a little fun with good Rohan, who has been so cooperative with us. Just don’t kill him, all right? Or you will be killed instead.”
Killerman and the other man went out of the room. They closed the door behind them, leaving Mayester alone with me. Mayester grinned at me. He looked like one of those kids that bully everyone at school. I was his next victim and he seemed intent on having a lot of fun with me.
Mayester didn’t waste any time. He hit my face hard. I felt my jaws break. Mayster’s fist was like a hammer.
My health dropped by fifty immediately.
Mayester than proceeded to grab my nose. He put his fingers into my nostrils as I struggled to breathe and then he pulled my nose hard. Intense pain shot up my face, and my eyes became watery. Another 25 health went just like that. Mayester kept laughing the entire while, taking pure bliss in torturing me.
“There is always a way out,” Mastermind’s voice echoed in my mind. At the same time I could see Mastermind’s fearful face. Mastermind had his flaws but he always tried to get over them. As Mayester landed another punch on my face, and tears rolled down my cheeks to mix with my blood, I couldn’t see any way out of this situation at all.
“In a few moments we’ll know in which capsule you are,” Mayester said, massaging his fist that had stains of my blood on it. “There is a reason why each of ou
r capsules are numbered.”
“I don’t like your face, man,” I found myself saying. I had suddenly realised what the way out was: Death.
I just needed to insult Mayester enough that he would kill me. Simple as that. And he looked the kind of guywho lost his head easily. Once dead, I would respawnbackat the inn.
“You don’t like my face?” he laughed. “You should look at yours.”
“Your face looks like it was shat out by a horse,” I said. That was one of the most disgusting things I had ever thought. But hey, I needed to get out of the situation right?“Imagine your head slowly emerging from a horse's ass—”
He hit me. This time with twice the force as before. I felt like my head would fly out of my neck. As the pain subsided, I saw that my health had fallen by a hundred.
I let out a laugh.
I needed to push Mayester further. I had only 256 health remaining so far. Three hard punches would be quite enough.
“Put your lips together,” Mayester warned me. His temple veins had popped out and his face was red with anger and he was fuming. “Or more pain shall befall you.”
“Just imagine,” I continued, “first your hair comes outof the horse’s ass. Then your forehead. Then your eyes. Just stop there. Your eyes try look at the new worldwith awe while your nose and your mouth are still buried in the horse’s ass!”
“You bastard!” Mayester said. He kicked my chest. One hundred health gone.
“No, no, no,” he said to himself, shaking his head, “I shouldn’t be hitting you so much. Killerman doesn’t want you dead. I should control myself.” Mayester squatted down. He was so angry that he was visibly shaking. He was certainly a hot headed guy, wasn’t he? Meanwhile, my chest was on fire.
I coughed out blood. I could barely speak, but I still managed to laugh.
“And slowly your nose emerges,” I said. “But when your mouth is about to emerge… well, you don’t want to come out of the horse’s ass and so you bite it. Just imagine that!”
“Just shut up!” Mayester yelled at me. “You are trying to trick me, aren’t you? Well, I am going away from here. I’ll see you in the real world.”
And he made towards the door. My heart leapt. With him gone, all my hopes would crumble.
I laughed out loud.
“Oh, I just had another vision!” I said. I didn’t look at him, instead preferring to look at the ceiling as though I was really enjoying imagining whatever I was imagining. I didn’t hear the door open. I had his attention. I began to laugh. I laughed hysterically. I laughed because my life depended on it. “I… I am not telling you though,” I said between my forced fits of laughter.
“Tell me,” Mayester said coldly, “I am listening.”
“God,” I laughed, “I- I can’t tell you! It’s hilarious!”
“Tell me, go on,” Mayester said, and he came towards me. There was murder in his eyes.
“I can’t… shit, your family—”
I wasn’t able to say beyond that word. Mayester began punching me like I was his biggest enemy. With the pain came the pleasure of seeing my health drop.
Soon I had only 10 health left. Mayester raised his hand a final time, his face contorted in utter fury.
“Die!” he yelled. He hit me. My health went to zero.
“Thanks,” I muttered, as everything blacked out.
After a while, I found myself back in the Ravana inn. I couldn’t believe that my plan had actually worked. Now, the foremost thing to do was to get out of here. I would have to go perma. It was the only way, because once the Kartoshi gang found out in which capsule I was in, I was sure that they would kill me in the real world. Before that happened, I had to permanently transfer my consciousnessto my virtual body. My heart ached forI would never be able to return to my apartment where I had all the photographs of my brother, and I would not be able to meet Dev ever. But I had no choice. I needed to exist in one form or the other, even though it meant that I could be deleted by Death13. But once all parts of the great artefact was found, perhaps it would be possible to destroy Death13 and I could live out a happy existence in the game world. Perhaps in the future Dev and his wife might also decide to come to the game world, once they see that it was possible to become immortal here.
I took in a deep breath. This time I picked up not only my bag, but also my birthstone. I would take my birthstone with me. I was lucky that the gang members had not taken away my birthstone from the room. I didn’t want to take any more chances.
The door of the room was open, because I hadn’t closed it the last time. I ran downstairs. Wiseazz was still there. When he saw me his mouth fell open, and many of the other people present in the room reacted in a similar way.
“Why did they catch you for?” he asked, “And did you die?”
“No time to explain,” I said to him, panting, “I need to go perma. Where did you say the bank was?”
“It’s not far from the inn where I held my party.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said and without waiting for any kind of response from him I dashed out.
I ran. As fast as I could. I was sure that the gang members would come to the inn again, dressed as soldiers. And if anyone told them which way I had run, that would be additional trouble for me. So I had to make as much distance from the Ravana inn as possible.
It took me about fifteen minutes to reach the inn where Wiseazz had held his party. I asked at a shopabout the bank, and was given the directions. Very soon, the bank came into sight.
POB
Prithvi Online Bank, Kapilpura branch.
I sprinted towards the bank. Just then a random person came from nowhere and grabbed my collar.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I said. Was he a member of the Kartoshi gang?
No.
It was the shopkeeper. The guy I had stolen Danav and Danavma from. But that didn’t stop me from thinking that he might as well be a member of the gang, what with his habits of charging Karma points.
“Got you,” he said, flashing teeth. “That day you fought and quarrelled with a guy in front of my shop. It was the same day someone stole Danav and Danavma from me. Some days later I saw you walking around with the very guy you had fought with. You know, I can join the puzzle pieces.”
“Let me go. I made peace with that guy. I have no interest in your pets,” I said. I tried to wrench his hands away, but he was too strong for me.
“Don’t lie, my friend,” he said. Many people in the streets had taken to watching us. They wanted some free entertainment no doubt. “You think I am a fool, eh?”
“Didn’t you see my details before you caught me?” I yelled at him. “I don’t have any pets.”
“You died and fell to level one,” he said. “That’s why you lost the pets.”
“Look, even if I did steal them, I cannot return them to you now.”
One of the worst things about dying was that I could no longer summon Danav and Danavma. I would probably never meet them again in life because the game world of Prithvi was just too big.
The man punched my face.
“See? You just accepted your crime!” He spat at my face.
“Okay, I accept it. I was angry at you because you didn’t treat me well even after I offered you the gold.”
My heart was really sinking now. Why did the bank have to be in a place so close to the man’s shop?
He was no member of the Kartoshi gang, that was sure. But he was eating my time, and the real villains would come and catch me, and I will be done for.
The man slapped my face. I tried to block his hands with my own, but he removed my hands and slapped me still.
“Stop it,” I told him, even as he kept hitting me. How the hell was I going to get rid of this man?
“Stop it, eh?” he said, “Do you even know how hard it was for me to acquire the pets?”
“Okay, okay, fine,” I said. “I’ll give you your Karma points.”
He stopped slapping and let out a venomous
chuckle.
“You have zero Karma points,” he said.
“Yes, but I do know of a way one can get a lot of Karma points,” I said. I didn’t want to betray Wiseazz, but at the same time I really wanted to get rid of the man.
“And that would be?”
“Why are they running?”
“Why— what?” the man said.
Everyone in the streets were suddenly running in utter panic. What was happening? I noticed that the man had let go of my collar observing the many people running as though their lives depended on it. I took my chances and dashed towards the bank without sparing a single glance back.
I ran up the steps of the bank. The guards at the entrance were puzzled at the behaviour of the people in the streets, but they allowed me to enter the bank anyway.
The bank was big. I put my hands on my hip and took a few breaths to calm down. So how does one go perma?
There was a help desk, behind which a chubby young girl wearing spectacles was sitting. She was an NPC going by the name of Rosma.
I approached her. She smiled at me, revealing a gold incisor that actually was a plus point on her appearance.
“How may I help you?” she asked me.
“I want to go perma,” I said.
“As per the current regulations you will need to pay five thousand gold if you want to go perma.”
“So I don't need to be a higher level player?" I said, almost not believing Rosma. My heart wanted to dance at this point.
"Nope. That requirement was removed very recently."
"Cool! I have the gold." I could barely stop smiling.
“Sweet. Do you also have a bank account?” She obviously couldn’t see my details being an NPC, otherwise she would have known that I was in no position of holding an account being at level one.
“No.”
“Hmmm… then you will have to fill up this form. You also need to write the reason why you want to go perma.”
And she handed me a yellow form that had quite a few blank spaces which required my details. I began to fill the blank spaces one by one. My reason for going perma? I just stated that I was tired of the real world. Rosma then directed me to another counter. I went there and handed the form to the man sitting behind the counter. He was a fat man and he wore big glasses. He peered at my form.
Perma-Death Online: A LitRPG adventure: Book 2 Page 11