Drake's LitRPG Megabundle (7 Books)

by Adam Drake

  His manager shrugged. “Do your best, but get it done.” He plucked the last stale donut from a box on the counter which Rob had been hoping to eat. “Just remember that employee reviews are next week and we wouldn't want this showing up on your record.”

  Biting into the donut he walked away, leaving Rob alone with his rage.

  Rob tossed the scrub brush into the bucket of soapy water by his side with a splash. Double rounds. He'd never attempted that before, but now he had to or else he could be reprimanded and possibly fired.

  He wiped a hand over his receding hairline and glared up at the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. This job was not meant to be stressful. It was a large part of the reason he took it in the first place. He'd hoped working as a night janitor would absolve him of the stress that other jobs were burdened with. He could zone out and clean, then return home, taking none of his job's problems back with him. Free of responsibility he could concentrate on his one true passion: Reading.

  He sighed. This wasn't what he signed up for, but he had no choice in the matter now. He needed the money desperately.

  With a sigh he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Ten thirty. Less than eight hours to do the work of two people.

  As he returned the phone to his pocket, it trilled the arrival of a message.

  Can I call you later? Need to talk.

  It was from Anika, his daughter.

  He was always happy to hear from her, but to get a message at this time of night worried him. Need to talk? Was she in trouble?

  Fighting the impulse to call her back he sent an OK, then slipped the phone into his pocket and returned to his work. His mind roiled with new worries.

  Finished with the kitchen he trumped down the stairs to the eighth floor. He could have taken the elevator, but this was the only exercise he got. At fifty two years of age, he needed to watch his health. Sitting behind a desk might have been appealing for someone of his age, but staying fit was a top priority. Another reason he'd picked this job.

  As he opened the men's room door the acrid smell of vomit hit him. He paused, giving himself a moment to build up the resolve to go inside.

  He was not meant to be here at this point in his life. His wife, Rita, had always joked they'd be together on a beach somewhere in the tropics drinking obscenely overpriced drinks when they were both over fifty.

  They started a business together, selling old furniture of all things. Not quite antiques, but interesting enough to catch the eye of a would-be collector or someone looking for a bargain. The business had done well. For six years they worked at building it up, even at the sacrifice of their own creature comforts.

  That beach was calling to them. Early retirement.

  Then Rita was diagnosed with melanoma and died nine months later.

  Devastated, Rob sold the business at a loss, and walked away from his old life. He wanted something that wouldn't require all that much thinking or responsibility.

  Only their daughter, Anika, helped him keep his sanity during those dark times. And although the pain of their loss had faded to a dull ache, it would never truly go away. But at least they had each other.

  Of course, now here he was, working up the courage to clean up puke. No early retirement. No beach. No expensive drinks.

  No Rita.

  Rob entered the bathroom to do Scott's job, lost within his thoughts of what could have been.

  It wasn't until three in the morning before he reached the ninth floor. He'd jumped to the first and worked his way up to the eighth again, speeding along as fast as he could. Now he could start on his part of the building.

  He was tired and cranky as he entered the main room of an accounting firm. Rows of desks with computers filled the space with the night sky darkening the windows which lined one wall.

  As he hurriedly cleaned, he heard a sound coming from one of the side offices, the ones used by managers. He poked his head inside.

  A security guard sat at one of the computers, staring wide eyed at its monitor. He moved a mouse around with furtive movements, clicking at its buttons and mashing fingers against the keyboard.

  “What's up, Todd?” Rob said, moving into the office to get a better look at the monitor.

  “Oh, hey, Rob,” Todd said without looking away.

  On the screen a little digital wizard was blasting fireballs at a horde of digital skeletons.

  “Leveling?” Rob asked. Todd was always playing games while on the job. It wasn't like he had anything else to do. At times Rob wished he'd applied for a security guard position, but the boredom would kill him. He needed to be actually doing something.

  “Yup, almost hit fifty with this character. Thought I'd branch out and try for necromancer or something.”

  “Huh,” Rob said. He'd played games before, but not quite like the ones Todd was addicted to. For Rob, the little matching games on his phone was as complex as it got and he was fine with that.

  “Thought you'd be done with this floor by now,” Todd said, his eyes never leaving the screen. “You're behind.”

  “Yeah, well, I'm working on that.”

  “Scott's sick, huh?”

  “Yup.”

  “Figures.” More skeletons exploded in a storm of fireballs. “Actually, want to know a secret?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Scott went to take his final exams today. Should be getting his degree.”

  “I didn't even know Scott was in school. What's he taking?”

  “Game design,” Todd said. His wizard was suddenly over run by a group of other players. After a frantic amount of keyboard bashing and cursing, Todd's little wizard died. “Those bastards!” he said.

  “Ganked, again, huh?” Rob was familiar with some of the terminology and even of the gaming mechanics from watching Todd. Being ganged up on by a group of malicious players was considered particularly insulting.

  Todd stepped away from the computer, agitated. “Now I've lost all my xp from that session. And maybe more. Won't make level tonight.”

  “That sucks,” Rob said as he removed the trash from the little bin by the desk. “Maybe you need to choose another class.”

  Todd shook his head and watched Rob wipe down the desk and chairs. “When are you going to level?”

  The strange question caused Rob to raise an eyebrow. “Huh? I don't play those kinds of games. Sucks up too much of my time and money, of which I have little of both.”

  Todd shook his head. “No, that's not what I meant. What about you? Upgrading yourself in a matter of speaking. Like Scott.”

  “You mean going to school?”

  “Yeah, going to school, getting a degree, and getting the hell out of that dead end job.”

  For reasons Rob couldn't understand, the question bothered him. He shrugged and said, “Too late for that. I'm too old and set in my ways.” He smiled, trying to make it sound like a joke. But it was the truth.

  “You can't be content with this, Rob. You want to be cleaning for the rest of your days? That's not a life, that's an existence.”

  Rob's anger returned, and he had to bite down a savage retort. Todd was just trying to be helpful, but Rob didn't want to hear any of this. “I'm fine with the way things are. Really. Don't worry about me.” He wanted this conversation to end. Old wounds did not need to be reopened.

  “Okay,” Todd said, sensing he stepped where he shouldn't have. He moved to the door and turned to say, “But did you ever consider that maybe you were meant for better things?”

  I had a better thing, Rob thought, and she died. He frowned at Todd.

  Taking the hint, the security guard shrugged. “Sorry, man. I'm just worried about you is all.” Then he left, much to Rob's relief.

  Having his existence questioned had really raised Rob's hackles, and he finished cleaning the room in anger. Meant for better things? What kind of question was that? This was his lot in life. He'd chosen it. Didn't he? Or did it choose him?

  The monitor's screen winked off and
on drawing Rob's attention. Scott had forgotten to turn the stupid thing off. When he moved over to kill the monitor, an image coalesced on the screen.

  It was of a black dragon.

  Rob blinked at it, amazed at its beauty. Was this a loading screen? He hadn't seen it before, but there was a lot about this game he hadn't.

  As he reached for the monitor's power button, his phone rang. Anika.

  Rob quickly answered. “Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”

  “I'm good, dad. Did I call at a bad time? Are you busy?”

  The thought of many more floors to clean vanished from Rob's mind at the sound of his daughter's voice. She was the only person he had left in the world. “No, not busy at all. You needed to talk about something. Is everything okay?”

  “Well, I have some bad news,” Anika said, her tone shifting to the one she used when trying to avoid making trouble.

  Parental fear paralyzed Rob. “What? What is it?” Don't say cancer, don't say cancer, don't say cancer.

  “I can't come out for Christmas next month, I have to work right up until Christmas eve, and then come back on Boxing Day. It sucks. I'm sorry.”

  Rob was hit with a strange mix of relief and disappointment. “But, sweetheart, you booked that time off. You even bought the plane ticket!” Rob had helped her, dipping into his shallow emergency funds to make the purchase.

  “I know,” she said. “But the new boss is a real ball-breaker. He's got everyone in for a final audit. I'm sorry to disappoint you.”

  Rob sighed. Even office managers like Anika couldn't catch a break. She'd only just started the job six months ago, but was having trouble dealing with the cut-throat office politics. She was too much of a gentle soul, just like her mother.

  “Maybe I could talk with him,” Rob said, knowing that wouldn't work. But he had to say something to make her feel better.

  The monitor flickered again. The dragon on the screen had changed. Instead of facing off to the side like before, it was now staring straight ahead. It appeared to be looking right at Rob.

  An odd sense of unease made him walk over to the monitor and hit the power button. Nothing happened. The screen didn't turn off.

  “Are you there, dad?” Anika said.

  “Yeah, I'm here,” he said. He pressed the button again, but still nothing happened. Suddenly the lights in the office winked on and off. Even the ones out on the floor began to flicker, too. Incoming power outage?

  Anika continued, “I know how important Christmas is to you dad. And it's important to me, too. You know that. But I don't have a choice in the matter.” Christmas had been Rita's favorite time of year, which made it all the more special to their family. But now that Rob wouldn't be seeing his daughter...

  “I think I should talk to him for you,” Rob persisted. How could he make this better? “I'm sure he'd understand. They could ask for someone else to take over for you.”

  The light flickering continued. Confused, Rob stepped out of the office and looked down the aisle to the main entrance where the bank of light switches were. No one was there. Odd.

  Then he saw the other monitors on the desks around him. Each one had an image of the black dragon on them. And they all seemed to be staring at him.

  What the hell?

  “Please don't call him, dad. They can't bring anyone else in. Everyone will already be there,” Anika said with sadness in her voice. A sudden burst of static caused Rob to pull the phone from his ear.

  He went to the closest monitor and hit its power button. Nothing happened. Same as the first, it didn't turn off. Now the flickering of the lights was getting faster.

  Rob felt genuinely creeped out by this and hurried down the aisle to the exit. “Sorry, honey, something has come up. Can we talk later?” More static and squawking on the line.

  Anika was speaking, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

  To his alarm, Rob noticed that the dragons on the screens were turning their heads to watch him walk past. Chills raced up his spine. Was this a trick? Was Todd doing this?

  “Do you hate me-,” Anika said, and the line clicked off.

  Rob stopped in his tracks and looked at the phone. They'd lost connection. When he pressed at its buttons, an image appeared on its tiny screen.

  The black dragon.

  “What the hell?”

  Suddenly, the dragon on the phone's screen opened its mouth and roared. The noise blasting from the speakers was deafening and Rob dropped the phone in surprise.

  Then, all the other dragons began to roar in unison.

  Stunned, Rob covered his ears and ran to the exit. The flicking lights and the terrible sound confused him enough that he rammed his hip against the corner of a desk and he tumbled to the floor.

  The roaring continued, jamming into his head causing him to close his eyes and shout in pain.

  Then, it all stopped. Rob opened his eyes. Darkness enveloped him. Even the lights from the other buildings outside couldn't be seen.

  Rob tried to stand, but froze when he heard a strange noise. A deep resonate clicking noise. He felt a presence.

  Something was in here with him. Something huge.

  He crawled in the darkness using his hands to guide himself through the office. The exit was nearby. He only had to get his bearings.

  The lights suddenly turned on all at once.

  Relieved, Rob stood up. The exit was only a few desks over. But before he could move something made him turn around.

  He gasped in horror.

  A large black dragon stared down at him.

  Mortified, Rob couldn't move. The thing looked identical to the dragon image on the screens!

  The huge black creature floated above the office furniture, its coiled mass filling almost every inch of space. Wings, legs, tail. Its head was the size of a small car. Large glowing white eyes the shape of tear drops held him within their gaze.

  As Rob's mind fought to comprehend what he was seeing a part of him noticed something about this thing.

  It was pixelated. Just as he'd seen it on the monitors.

  Before he could even process this, the dragon opened its mouth and roared. Rob felt a blast of wind which knocked him to the floor.

  Terrified he tried to crawl away. He had to escape! But fear held him fast. He looked behind him.

  At that moment the dragon lunged forward, mouth open wide exposing rows of long white fangs.

  In a futile attempt to protect himself, Rob raised an arm and screamed.

  Then his world went dark.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Rob floated in a sea of blackness.

  He didn't feel a pull of gravity or the tug of a current. There was no up or down, left or right. He simply floated within a void.

  When he tried to call out, he found that he couldn't. Nor could he see or feel his arms and legs.

  Am I dreaming?

  A murky fog clouded his mind. What is this place?

  He tried to think about how he got here, but searching for that memory was like trying to catch a movement at the corner of your eye. First it was there, and then it was gone leaving you uncertain.

  He'd been afraid. That was a feeling he still carried with him into this empty space, like a cold stone held close to his heart.

  As he became more aware of the strange nothingness that surrounded him faint objects appeared in the distance. Denied anything as a frame of reference or anchor, he latched onto them as if his very life depended on it.

  They either grew closer or simply became more obvious, he couldn't tell which. There was at least seven of them, forming a line and evenly spaced.

  He stared at them in expectation until his mind deciphered exactly what he was seeing. Letters.

  LOADING...

  But the moment his brain figured out what the word was, it blinked out of existence. More empty blackness.

  That cold fear became more intense and threatened to consume him. What was happening? His thoughts had been defined by that one
word, but now it was gone. Just a continuous nothingness.

  Was he doomed to float forever in this place? A single mot of life cast adrift in a soulless infinity?

  As if in answer a dim spot appeared. He couldn't tell if it originated from where the letters had been, but he didn't care. Something was happening.

  The dim spot grew in size and brightness until Rob was certain that whatever it was would smash into him.