by Arthur Stone
* * *
“Authorization system errors may lead to temporary issues with processing bank transfers by players from the North American and Eastern European sectors. We are doing everything we can to resolve them as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.”
Second World project administration’s announcement on the game’s official site.
“One of the servers used for backing up data on transactions involving several e-payment systems is down after a DDoS attack. A source from the company’s information security department claims that an unknown group of hackers has failed to gain access to the company’s and the clients’ accounts, after which time they repeatedly formatted the hard drives containing the users’ personal data to retaliate. They claim no confidential data leaks have occurred. However, even if the cybercriminals were to download the data in question, they would not have been able to use it, having no access to personal keys.
The data from one of the main servers are currently being restored. We are relying on backup data until then.”
From a news statement posted online.
Chapter 19
The mob’s head cracked, producing an unpleasant sound. One of the creature’s eyes became dislodged from its socket. The Black Moss Dweller gave a loud grunt and fell onto its back.
Tangh swung the mace, looking satisfied.
“Not that bad a weapon, as far as they go, but it doesn’t do enough damage. I wish I had a sword. My good old sword.”
“Was it that good?” Danger Babe asked.
“I should have gotten something better for my level by now, but I’d gotten used to it. I’ll have to think about what I could exchange it for. What a tank needs is good armor and decent magic resistances, but the ability to deal damage never goes amiss, either.”
Ros sat down upon a rock covered in moss that was amazingly dry.
“Let’s take a break, shall we? I’ll get down to enchanting in the meantime. Anyway, it’s a momentous day today.”
“Come again?” Danger Babe looked puzzled.
“I have exactly three hundred pieces of ore in my bag. One of us could go free right away. And if it’s me or you, two ninety will be enough—we have already given Agythric ten each.”
The girl shook her head.
“If we’re a team, we should leave together.”
“If anyone’s interested in my opinion, I agree with Danger Babe,” Tangh added.
“Actually, a friend of mine says Agythric might give some reward for exceeding the quota. And, judging by how hard the quest is, it should be significant.”
“Show me a piece of gold ore, Ros,” said the norder. “I’ve never seen it before. You never let us mine for it.”
“Me too! Show me!” Danger Babe jumped up.
Tangh took a good look at the piece of ore and said pensively:
“If I’m right, this rock contains around seven grams of pure gold. The alloy they use for coins here doesn’t contain that substantial an amount, so you could use this to make four imperial guineas. Therefore, a piece of ore should cost around five dollars. If we give away three hundred, we lose around a thousand and a half.”
“Say what?!” said a shocked Danger Babe. “In that case, I’ll give them nothing! All my stuff costs less! There’s no point in such an exchange! This Agythric is a fraud!”
“I doubt that you can sell your ore for fifteen hundred gold pieces,” Ros shook his head.
“Gold is a rare commodity in Second World,” said Tangh. “Ever noticed how everyone tries to pay in silver? The other lucre seems to be scarce, and the prices keep on growing, albeit in little increments. I’m not sure about fifteen hundred, but a thousand, or a little more, would be feasible.”
“A thousand is more than all my equipment is worth,” said Danger Babe, hanging her head.
“My dear girl, I am in no position to give any advice, but I recommend finishing this quest. The reward might surprise you—and save you time, too.”
“It’s a pity to waste all this money.”
“You’re a flighting, and your race’s Carrying Capacity leaves a lot to be desired. Would you be able to carry all this ore? That’s around three hundred kilos of weight.”
“How much?! Well, have you seen me? I wouldn’t even manage half of that!”
“There you go.”
“The farther away from the entrance we get, the more gold we find,” Ros noted. “Tantalum, too, which is rarer still. And I got my first piece of tungsten today. I’ve never even seen it before.”
“What are you suggesting? Shall we go in deeper?” Tangh asked him.
Ros decided to reveal something about himself.
“I have some experience in mining.”
“That much is clear—you didn’t level your Mining & Quarrying catching butterflies,” quipped Danger Babe.
“The usual rule for mines that have mobs is that the farther you get from the entrance, the more of them you find, and the stronger they are. There are also more resources, and a higher chance of getting something expensive. Although I’m not so sure about this mine. It’s just too odd. People build them following roughly the same template, whereas this is something different.”
“I would support going deeper. I wonder what we might find there. More ore, perhaps, or something really valuable.”
“But Ros just said that the mobs you meet deeper in will be stronger than those closer to the entrance.”
“We’re no pushovers, though. We’d managed it here unarmed, just the two of us. And now we have staves, rings, and you’re wearing armor. An excellent party, in fact. A flighting buffer, a mage DPS, and a tank. The way we fight now, there’s no risk at all, so there’s nothing to worry about, even if they are stronger down there.”
“I could do with better armor. This one might as well be made of paper. And the two of you have no protection at all. We don’t have any elixirs. The level of our DPS is altogether ridiculous. We’re not a party. I’m not sure what we are…”
“Forget about having been an old man IRL,” Danger Babe kept egging him on. “It’s different here. Let’s go and have ourselves an adventure!”
“My dear girl, I have noticed a strange tendency. A great number of adventurers manage to get their rear ends rather sore in the process.”
“So, Ros, are we going?!” Danger Babe looked hyped.
“I’m all for it, but not today.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll have to log off in three or four hours, and it would be hard for us down there without you.”
“How about tomorrow, then? Early in the morning?”
“I’m in. What about you, Tangh?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Well… no one’s gonna drag you down there for sure.”
Tangh smiled and nodded.
“It would be unbearably hard to respond in the negative, so I will participate. You might want to consider making a few bracelets and rings for us, though. Necklaces wouldn’t come amiss, either. After all, we have no idea what we might encounter down there.”
“We could take off mine,” Danger Babe suggested. “It’s kind of embarrassing—I have virtually everything, and you two might as well be naked.”
Tangh slapped his cuirass.
“I’m nowhere near naked, while you are clad in useless rags.”
“I’m talking about rings. I already have eight. A full set.”
“One has to take care of tanks and healers first and foremost, which I why agree with Ros. He distributes everything wisely. But his staff isn’t good for much, and that won’t do for a DPS character.”
“I’ll jury-rig something during the night.” Ros waved dismissively. “That’s it, then. I’m going back, and we split for the time being. Evening’s coming, and I need a lot of metal. Hey! Danger Babe! That concerns you, too.”
The norder waved his hand in front of the immobile girl, and shook his head.
“She’s logged off.”
> “Once again, without giving any warning. Might she have connection problems?”
“She might. But I think her problems aren’t connection-related.”
“What could they be, then?”
“Probably something IRL. Someone must have interrupted her.”
“You mean, her parents object to her spending so much time here?”
“Wouldn’t you object if you had a daughter like that?”
“I haven’t even considered kids yet, but I don’t think I would. She’s smart for her age, pretty, and good-natured.”
“That much is true. But have you ever considered the darker side of the game? Take a look at this,” Tang pointed at his face. “You eventually get bags under your eyes. Spend a few months like this, and you’ll need two inches of makeup to cover them. The face goes pale, the eyes bloodshot.”
“Does that happen because of the game?”
“It sure does. There’s the lack of sleep, too. She spends too much time with us. Latest-generation capsules make virtually every action have some kind of effect on your real body. When you run in the game, your breathing becomes shallow, and you exercise the corresponding muscles. That allows you to play for days without any ill effects. If you’re active in the game and don’t just spend your time sitting around some market square, it can even be good for you. But her capsule is clearly less advanced. Most likely, just a helmet and bracelets. That’s the cheaper option that a lot of players opt for. She might also have a belt and sensors on her legs and feet. Danger Babe’s movements sometimes get blurred, and that hardly ever happens with a proper capsule. The immersion is near-complete, but not quite.”
“You seem to know a lot about immersion methods.”
“That’s because I researched it quite a bit. It was a long time ago, and the methods were far less advanced, but I still have an interest in these things. Danger Babe keeps standing still, so what are we going to do?”
“It would be dangerous to go mining without her. If we run into a mob, we won’t fight it off.”
“Are you sure?” Tangh asked him in a slightly odd tone of voice.
“My healing is weaker than hers. It’s dangerous, and I don’t want to take that risk.”
“But you did go down into the mine after she’d logged off the first time.”
“If you die on your own, it’s less scary, and I don’t really mind the XP loss.”
“Should we just sit here quietly and hope nobody finds us?”
“Why should we? Let’s go back up.”
“What about the girl?”
“We’ll take her with us. She gave me permission to transport her body.” Ros touched Danger Babe’s shoulder gingerly. “No electric charges, it appears.”
“I have gotten me some meat from that last mob. Can you roast it? There’s not much left—just enough for today, and tomorrow there’ll be nothing.”
“I’ve got loads more in my bag. I’ll roast you as much as I can—enough to last three days. How many of them eat it, anyway?”
“Around half. The rest just dropped their bodies here. Weird, that. How hard could it be to read a forum thread?”
“The thread might have dropped out of sight.”
“I post there every day to announce the distribution time. So, it keeps going up. And their friends could have seen it and told them.”
“I guess a lot of them just decided to take a month-long break from the game.”
“There’s a lot of outrage out there with people demanding their money back.”
“So, how do they fare? Are they getting it back?”
“No. They say it’s a regular in-game situation. It’s said to be their own fault since everybody had time to leave the province. The mobs did not get out of the rift all at once.”
Ros lifted Danger Babe in a fireman’s carry.
“She doesn’t weigh much.”
“Well, what did you expect? She’s a flighting.”
As they were coming out of the mine, the norder stopped and said in a quiet voice:
“I’ve just spotted the archer near the edge of the crater.”
“Reckon he’s trying to ambush us again?”
“How would I know? It’s a pity I have no shield. He wouldn’t have managed to deal me any damage at all. An archer trying to take down a tank is ridiculous.”
“I have no leather. And no proper wood.”
“Those sticks won’t do?”
“No. You have to make planks first, and these sticks are too thin.”
“Hey, Ros, this archer is writing all kinds of things about you on the forum.”
“Let him. Like I care.”
“He says you’re a top player who ended up in Rallia by accident.”
“Why would he say that? Didn’t he see my level?”
“If your Disguise is high, and his Perception is roughly at zero, he could have missed it. Or, perhaps, he did see it, but feels embarrassed to admit that he’d been wasted by a noob. Actually, he called yours truly a noob. According to him, the three of us, including Danger Babe, have formed a gang to extort money from the likes of him, and chase them all around the mine if they refuse.”
“Is he a total moron?”
“You got it in one. But his dad is a big shot in one of the top clans. That’s what he says, anyway. And that we’ll all be blacklisted for this. However, most of the responses are people laughing and calling him an idiot. Also, his father is reckoned to be far from any clan’s leadership, if not another noob, just like him. He must be an absolute idiot IRL, too, judging by how he’d raised his son.”
“I kind of feel bad for him, having a kid like that. So, are we going to just stand here, or shall we try to ascend?”
“Let’s get up there. I’ll keep you covered if he starts shooting. His pointed sticks won’t pierce the cuirass, and he’s lost quite a few levels, so he won’t deal much damage. If he’s dumb enough to try anything, we’ll keep him at the resurrection circle a while longer, make him lose a few more.”
Ros nodded. “I totally agree.”
They heard an ominous rumbling as they were halfway up.
“Ros! It’s a rockfall!” Tangh yelled.
Running with a girl in a fireman’s carry isn’t all that easy, even if she weighs little, but Ros managed it. Something did hit him on the back of the head, but it wasn’t a hard blow, and he didn’t lose much health. A smaller rock, most likely. He looked behind him once he got out of the danger zone, and watched the last of the rocks fall.
The norder took out his mace, and passed by Ros, saying gruffly:
“This little worm is trying to mess with us again. Doesn’t seem to want to calm down. I should go and pull his ears off for starters.”
“You won’t catch him.”
“I’ll chase him around until he collapses from exhaustion. Tanks have lots of Stamina. And I’ve got all the time in the world. He’ll have to log off at some point—he isn’t made of rock, after all. So, no, I’ll catch him sooner or later.”
“Don’t mind him. Just mark where he sleeps and give him hell during the night. He won’t so much as attempt to run away.”
“He always goes to sleep right by the wall. What if we attack him right there? With all the mobs watching?”
“No idea.”
“I don’t know, either. Perhaps it would be wrong to irritate them.”
“Why isn’t he famished by now?”
“He took a lot of meat back then.”
“It spoils quickly. Won’t last longer than three days—that’s the best I can cook. So, he’ll kick the bucket without anyone’s help eventually. Don’t waste your time. I’d just like you to stand guard over me and Danger Babe while I’m busy with the rings.”
“How about bracelets and necklaces?”
“If there’s time.”
“Are you really sure we need to go deeper into those caves?”
“Tangh, death is the worst thing that can happen to us. If you don’t like resurrectin
g, no one’s making you go.”
“I don’t mind it. I would just like more certainty. We seem to have developed a way of working together, but we might get into a whole new thing tomorrow. And new isn’t necessarily good.”