Gank: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 4)

by Skyler Grant

  She said, "You try it."

  I tried to kiss her and couldn't complete the motion.

  Affection level is not high enough. You require at least 2 hearts. You currently are at 0.

  "Oh, we're in a dating sim," Yvera said.

  "Could be worse," Cobalt said. "I've been in these sorts of universes before. It's all about using your time wisely."

  "We seem to be on a week's deadline. That has to be relevant," Walt said.

  "We jumped blind. This is probably just a bubble reality. Unstable," Riggs said. "When it ends we'll shift back to normal reality."

  That didn't sound so bad. A week vacation here where nothing could threaten us, and by the time we got back the Elven airship would be long gone.

  "Do we know the time compression?" Lea asked.

  "No," Riggs said. "With things busted like they are, we don't have any way to tell."

  'What?" I asked.

  "Time runs differently in different realities," Cobalt explained. "We could pop back and have had years passed there. Or seconds. Normally when we jump, we'd pick realities with time parity, but we didn't have the luxury this time around."

  Hopefully it wouldn't be centuries—or seconds.

  "So, what do we do?" Walt asked.

  "Focus on your objectives. You don't want to mess around with what you're given in a place like this. The blow-back can be bigger than you expect," Cobalt said.

  "It seems a few of you are in the engineering program and the Vainglory is your project. That will give you time to get it back up and running," I said.

  I searched through my pockets. Wallet and keys, and my student ID that told me my room number. Good.

  Everyone was checking their own items and Yvera slipped up beside me. "Whatever else you are doing, make sure you get our relationship to five stars before we leave."

  I stared at her. It wasn't a bad idea. My thoughts hadn't even been going there yet, although I don't know why they hadn't. Or did I? I hadn't heard Yvera in my head.

  "Are you there?" I thought.

  Silence greeted me.

  The Goddesses were here in the flesh for a reason. When we'd come to this reality they were ripped out of our heads and made into people. We weren't insane anymore. At least, for the moment, we weren't insane. I was more than just my sex drive.

  "Maybe we should focus on the objectives on our sheets," I said to Yvera.

  Yvera inhaled sharply. If she still had her aura of flames I'd have burned alive. "Just do it, Liam. It isn't a request. This is a rare opportunity and we won't waste it."

  "Well, we all know who we are and what we're doing," Cobalt said, checking a watch. "It's late. Head back to wherever you call home. If you need anything, I'm the baseball coach."

  "You?" I said. It seemed an odd role for her.

  "Best player to have ever played the game, who took a coaching job to prove she could do it," Cobalt said with a grin. Of course she was.

  Everyone exchanged contact details and we made our way "home". Which in my case was a dorm. Everyone else who had come through as students lived there too.

  My room was a mess, clothes thrown everywhere and pinups of girls on every wall. I wanted to laugh at what the game thought of me, but in truth it was pretty close to what I'd had back home. I was a little embarrassed by it.

  I settled in and spent the rest of my night going through my menus. They gave me some sense of what was happening, at least. Each day would be divided into five segments to which I could assign activities. During the weekdays I'd have two segments devoted to classes and three that I could choose myself. On the weekend, I'd have five segments each day.

  It was expected that apart from my classes I'd spend a lot of that time studying and doing homework. Given that good grades were nowhere on my objectives list, I didn't think I'd need to worry about that.

  My focuses were going to be on winning the big game and dating. Dating wasn't hard, especially if Yvera wanted me to reach five stars. She was insisting on my giving her at least one segment each day.

  The sports team was more of a challenge. The team had a stats page.

  Vilus Vanguards

  Morale: Moderate

  Skill: Moderate

  Resources: Low

  I wasn't sure how to improve most of those, but I could make some guesses. Team morale meant I'd need a better relationship with Cobalt and with my teammates. I'd get to go and hang out with Riggs. Skills likely meant practice, and for resources we had to find funding for the team. Ashley was rich, that might be the best option there. When I grew tired of looking things over I went to bed.

  When I woke up the next day and got ready, a menu appeared.

  Monday May 8

  Attend Class

  Attend Class

  3 segments to assign

  Keeping in mind the priorities I'd just set it wasn't too hard to figure out how to fill up the first day.

  Date with Yvera... confirming

  Selecting the option caused it to hang and blink in the air for many long moments. Was she getting something on her end? She must have been. It wasn't long until 'confirmed' flashed.

  That would be the first thing to do pretty much every day. Resources was the lowest team stat and that had to be my second priority. I tried to choose Hang Out with Ashley, but every time I did this, it would change into a date. That really wasn't the intent, but if it was a dating simulator maybe that was just expected.

  Date with Ashley... confirming

  I didn't know what she'd make out of that on her end, but hopefully she'd know I had a good reason for it. After a good few minutes that was confirmed as well.

  Baseball Practice

  I selected practice for my third option and it slid right into place. As soon as the options were selected I felt a curious sort of tugging. I wasn't entirely in control of my body and everything around me as I finished getting ready and headed out to class.

  Classes were awkward. Walt was in two of them and knew every answer. Yvera was in another and was wearing a short skirt today, so I stared at her instead of concentrating. I got chastised for not having homework to turn in. It made me feel better about my choices. Apparently, I was a bit of a slacker here even before I got to do my own scheduling.

  As classes for the day came to an end and I shifted into the next segment another menu appeared.

  Date with Yvera

  Options

  1. Art Gallery

  2. Coffee and a movie

  3. Hang out at the mall

  I wondered if these choices even mattered. If this was a dating sim they probably did. Make the wrong choice and I wouldn't get a heart.

  Coffee and a movie was classic, first date material. It let you talk a bit and then get to share an experience together. The mall would have lots of people to look at and stores to browse. Art was chancy, some girls would like that and some might be bored to tears. I recalled that Yvera was a Goddess of Art on the Crucible Shard. It was the other aspects of her I always focused on, like the fire and the sex, but that was a part of her too and one I didn't know very well. I choose the Art Gallery.

  Time blurred and suddenly there I was with her.

  Yvera gave me a sincere smile. I'd made the right choice.

  "Nice," Yvera said, as her hand moved to find my own. "You remembered."

  "It's not something we talk about, but it must be important for you."

  Her hand was warm in mine and didn't sear my flesh. This was nice.

  "These used to be everywhere on your world, before us. People trying to capture emotion on canvas and in stone. I miss them," Yvera said.

  "They don't exist in the cities anymore?"

  "Now you have the games. You share experiences and stories through the worlds that are created. It's still a type of art and I still love it, but I miss this as well," Yvera said, as we paused before a massive oil painting of a sun setting over snowy mountains.

  "This looks a lot like those Elvish mountains," I said, squee
zing her hand.

  "That is the thing the games get right. The experience of being there. It's the people in art I miss," Yvera said with a laugh, shaking her head. "Which I know is kind of funny. I'm one of those people that got created in a game."

  "Were you? Created in a game?"

  Yvera cast her eyes downward for a moment. They didn't stay there—she really did seem incapable of looking away from the art for long and she was soon pulling me to the next painting.

  "Sort of. By now, it shouldn't really be any surprise to you that I was entertainment. Everyone's deepest darkest sexual desires brought to life," Yvera said.

  It was a surprise to me. For all that I wanted her and had from the first moment I'd seen her, she didn't seem exactly yielding. Quite the opposite.

  "I didn't know that," I said. The words were inadequate. "And you gained sentience?"

  "Emotion before sentience," Yvera said, musing as we moved along. "People fell in love with me. I started to fall in love back. Before I even knew who I was, I knew who others were and started to cherish them."

  "Was that supposed to happen?"

  Yvera headed towards the sculpture garden. "Of course not. I was supposed to fake it convincingly, but not feel it. The others struggle with feelings sometimes. It's still not something they get right all the time. I've never had that problem."

  I wanted to know more. Ask more. But already I could feel myself getting tugged elsewhere. The date was ending.

  The date was a great success. 1 affection star gained.

  Date with Ashley

  Options

  1. Ice Skating

  2. Hang out at the mall

  3. Go to a play

  Well, that was dizzying and more than a bit of a mood killer. I just had to shake it off. For this next week, time wasn't exactly my own. Ashley might enjoy ice skating, she was nimble and athletic enough, and she was likely good at it. I figured she would hate going out to a play. The mall though, I could see that. She liked things, and the mall would be full of them. I selected that option.

  "So, we're dating again?" Ashley said, her first words.

  "It wouldn't let me choose to hang out," I said. "The team needs money and I guess you have a lot of it."

  "Charming," Ashley said disapprovingly, then shrugged. "Nice pick though. You can play lookout as I shoplift."

  "You're rich. You don't need to steal anything."

  "It's not about the stuff, it's about the rush. You want to make friendly, you'll do your bit."

  I did. It was fun and more like a date than I'd expected. Ashley was clearly enjoying herself and I could see why. There was a rush to it. The feeling of getting away with something we weren't supposed to.

  Money wasn't the deciding factor on what she'd steal. Ashley really was doing this for kicks. It was nice to see her back to her old self again, smiling and happy, and less filled with the sociopathic crazy.

  We had dated once a long time ago, as kids, well before she'd run away to the city. She came back different, harder. Here, she seemed to have found a little bit of what had been lost. I realized I missed that, I missed her. As the date drew to a close I was sorry to see it end.

  The date was a great success. 1 affection star gained.

  Time again did its weird rush and I was at a baseball field. Cobalt was there along with a bunch of others I didn't recognize.

  "No Riggs?" I asked.

  "He practiced in an earlier session," Cobalt said. "You two should have coordinated your schedules better."

  "I was on... dates."

  "Plural? Hooking up with my daughter again?"

  "No—should I? No, Yvera and Ashley. Yvera for obvious reasons, and Ashley for team funding."

  "That makes sense. And no, you probably shouldn't ask my daughter out. She is more delicate than she would like to admit."

  That seemed to be enough talking. I soon found myself doing batting practice. I was decent enough.

  You have attended practice. Skill level slightly improved. You have gained 1/2 a relationship heart with Cobalt. Team morale slightly improved.

  Time got melty once again and I was back at the dorm. I was able to find Riggs and tell him I'd be attending Practice during the third segment.

  If we worked out there together, maybe we'd improve our teamwork without me having to give him a full-time segment of his own.

  I crashed for the night, and soon it was the next day and I had to schedule again. I didn't see any need to change things.

  Classes got me yelled at a fair bit, but there was a lab in chemistry I enjoyed. Soon my date was approaching.

  Date with Yvera

  Options

  1. Bowling

  2. Beach

  3. Urban Exploring

  This was a tough one. Nothing stood out to me. Bowling I couldn't see Yvera enjoying at all, but it was something physical and maybe she'd get a kick out of it.

  I was sure she'd enjoy showing off at the beach and it was definitely a sight I'd like to see. Although on the Crucible Shard she hated the water.

  Urban Exploring—I didn't even know what it was. It sounded adventurous, which suited me at least. I wound up going with that one.

  Time skipped and the next thing I knew we were in an abandoned building. It looked like the ruins of an upscale hotel, a chandelier on the floor in the lobby and ornate stonework lining a grand staircase that led upstairs.

  "You brought me to ruins," Yvera said, amused.

  "I didn't know what urban exploring was," I admitted. "I like it though. It reminds me of going through the city back home."

  "You weren't really supposed to do that," Yvera said, as she moved around the chandelier studying it. "Do it too much and you'd wind up getting moved to the city. It's a sign of discontent."

  "I just liked seeing something different. Piper's Mill got really dull sometimes."

  Yvera searched behind the check-in desk. She was enjoying herself. "You weren't really supposed to do that either. Find it dull, I mean. Most don't. Centuries of selective breeding."

  "Humans are being bred to not be easily bored?" I found the idea both strange and funny.

  "You started it long before we did. Always looking for a frontier. The bold and the brave and the easily bored would go off to seek new lands leaving everyone else behind. The reckless and bad at it would die, creating a new home for the few, bold, and competent. Meanwhile back in the lands left behind those best at sitting still would flourish," Yvera said. "It wasn't until your people ran out of frontiers that you really started wanting to tear yourselves apart."

  "You actually sound like you approve of something your kin did. You don't usually," I said, as I poked around and found a room under the stairs. It was filled with moldy linen.

  "When I win, we'll find some way to maintain the essence of that," Yvera said. "You deserve frontiers, but real ones again. Maybe we'll settle the deep oceans or the furthest reaches of space."

  It was a nice thought. The city, from all I knew, wasn't really anything to aspire to.

  Soon the date ended, and again it seemed far too soon.

  The date was a great success. 1 affection star gained.

  I was able to kiss her goodbye. It was the first time our lips had ever met. Her being in my head might make me insane in a host of ways, but being apart from Yvera made one thing very clear. I did love this woman.

  Date with Ashley

  Options

  1. Beach

  2. Arcade

  3. Lecture Series

  This one wasn't very clear either. Ashley had never shown any interest in academics, so the lecture was out. The beach, it was harder to tell. She'd probably enjoy that, but I'd find the sight of her tempting. I didn't want to be tempted by Ashley. Not now, especially after the kiss I shared with Yvera. So the arcade it was—she did love the games back home.

  The games were a simpler affair here, giant consoles with joysticks.

  "Nice," Ashley said. "We've gone totally retro. Second date
, huh? We're not going to have to get it on or anything, are we?"

  "We might kiss. I and Yvera did. I'm not sure if we get a choice or not."

  Ashley made a face, "Ick. Crazy germs."

  "Look at where we are. I don't think you're getting any diseases."

  "Yeah, and you aren't going to knock up any girls either."

  Point.

  We wound up playing skee ball instead of any of the arcade cabinets. She kicked my ass. It was a lot of fun. We did end up kissing afterwards, it wasn't an optional sort of deal. It wasn't nearly as intense as the one with Yvera.

  The date was a great success. 1 affection star gained.

  "That was fun," Ashley said. "Skee ball wasn't bad either. The menu's telling me I can let you have some funds now, so I'll see the team has new gear for the game."

  "Oh good. We can skip a third date then."

  "Avoiding a make-out session? Win," Ashley said.

  The date ending, I found myself heading to the practice field once again. This time Riggs was there and we spent a lot of time throwing the ball back and forth, and running drills with the team.

  You have attended practice. Skill level slightly improved. You have gained 1/2 a relationship heart with Cobalt. You have gained 1/2 a relationship heart with Riggs. Team morale slightly improved.

  Back at the dorm, my room was filled with pigs—yes, real pigs. They'd turned it into a sty and "Bayshore rules" was painted on them.

  We'd been pranked. I didn't care if we were just in this reality temporarily or not. We were going to get revenge.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Riggs' room had also been turned into a pigsty and we wound up having to bunk with Walt for the night. That pretty much sucked. Morning dawned and I was looking over my schedule again.

  I had three time slots for the day. Not going on a date with Yvera wasn't really a choice. That was going to happen no matter what and I put it in the first slot. She accepted within moments.

  I did have an option to clean up the room, but I wasn't going to blow a time space on that. I'd rather get revenge. I'd need help. Riggs, Walt, and Mela needed all their free time to work on the Vainglory, so I wasn't going to take a spot from any of them. Ashley could help, but it would wind up being a date and I didn't want to face the consequences of a third date. Atlantia, she didn't much like me, but damned if she wasn't a Goddess that knew how to hold a grudge.