by R. A. Mejia
“Oh, I guess that means it’s super, super, super rare then.”
“You have no idea. With the right preparation, that ability of yours gives you an edge over every other User in the System.”
“What do you mean, ‘an advantage over other Users’?”
“The description of your ability says that you can absorb the essence of any ‘defeated foe’ not just a dungeon monster. That means you could absorb skills from other Users. And that’s just at its current level. I can only imagine what it can do if you level it up.”
There’s an almost predatory light in Lillian’s eyes that I just don’t understand. “Why would I want to absorb some other User’s abilities? Aren’t we all trying to help the world by clearing dungeons?”
Lillian shakes her head sadly at me. “No. I wish that’s how the world worked, but it isn’t. I told you some people only use the System and the dungeons to make themselves rich and powerful. Well, those kinds of people don’t like to share that power. Some of those people even go out of their way to hurt and kill other Users so that there’s less competition for the resources of the dungeons. Some people even do it just for fun and to test their skills out against other Users.”
“But even if they are killed, they can’t die, right? I mean they’ll just respawn at their home base.”
Lillian nods at my statement. “Sure, at least until they run out of levels. If a User is killed when he’s at level zero, he dies permanently, just like anyone else.”
Wait, Users kill other Users? I thought I was gaining some safety by becoming powerful, but now Lillian is telling me that I may become a target for some asshole player killer?
“That’s why you have to join my team. We can offer you all training you need and help protect you until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”
My mind is still reeling from the revelation that I may be a target that I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind on her offer. “No! You keep making these offers to help me, but I know something's not right. No one offers to help someone else without wanting something in return. What are you hiding from me?”
Lillian’s expression becomes guarded, and she takes a step back from me. “I’m not hiding anything. Everything I’ve told you is true. I’ve been nothing but kind and welcoming to you.”
I know I'm cruel, that it’s true Lillian’s been kind and helped me more than I ever thought some stranger would, but I press on anyway. If someone is going to hurt me, I need to know who’s offering to protect me.
I take a step towards her and look straight into her eyes, “NO! You’ve been hiding something from me. You could have left me alone after you dropped me off at the college hospital. Instead, you tracked me down and told me all about the System, neglecting to mention the danger it posed. You told me about the treasures offered, hoping to tempt me into joining your company with the promise of wealth and power. Even now, you’ve only told me about the danger from other Users to try and scare me into joining you. But why? Why me? Why are you pushing so hard? Why, with all your money and power, do you need a guy like me? It’s not because of my rare ability. You just found out about it. So why?”
Only now that I’m done do I realize that I’d been yelling. I can’t take it back though, and I can’t apologize. My plans and how I can take care of my family depend on knowing what’s happening here.
Lillian looks like she’s on the verge of tears and turns away from me. She’s hasn’t answered me. She may not be able to give up her secrets so easily. So I use my last card.
“Fine. You don’t want to tell me. That’s your right. But I can’t work with someone I can’t trust. Either you tell me what you’re hiding, or you can forget about me ever joining you. I’ll figure out the rest of this System stuff on my own.”
The words almost burn my throat as they come out. Lillian’s been good to me, and even though I’ve only known her a short time, I like her. But she has to understand how serious I am. My Mom told me a long time ago that my dad left because he had too many secrets and it destroyed our family. I won’t let something like that happen again.
Lillian turns towards me, tears glistening on her cheeks, but anger in her eyes too. “You want to know what I’m hiding? Fine! I need you because I can’t get anyone else to join my company. The other groups have blacklisted us. They’ve either hired or threatened every independent User I’ve approached to join my team. They’re determined to run me out of business because I’m a threat to their power and wealth.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You said you had a whole team that would help train me. What about John? He works for you.”
Lillian shakes her head and laughs bitterly. “I lied. I’ve spent nearly every credit of my family fortune in that office and the upgrades. I have enough money to staff a team, but that’s it. Within a year, I’ll be broke. John is an old friend of my father that’s a genius with tech. He doesn’t care about money as long as he has a lab to work on his crafting. I promised him that lab and delivered.”
“No one else would work with you?”
“You don’t understand the kind of power some of these System Companies have. They have credits to burn and are more than willing to use their wealth to bribe Users. However, there was one other friend of my father’s, Daniel Edenberg, that was prepared to go against the other companies. He was a swordsman and the damage dealer on the team. But Daniel disappeared three months ago. The companies are spreading the rumor that he was deleted permanently as a warning to others that may think of joining my company.”
Lillian sits on the stone floor, her armor clanking loudly. She looked up at me and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, which looked weird covered in metal. “You’re right, Anthony. You should stay away from me. While the offer of training and equipment is real, you’ll only be putting a target on your back if you join me. The truth is that I need you more than you need me.” She gestures to where King Kanon’s body was a few minutes ago. “Hell, with your rare ability, you could join any of the big companies and write your ticket.”
I walk over to Lillian and sat beside her. I put an arm around her, and she unconsciously leans her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Lillian. I didn’t mean to bring up so many issues; I just can’t trust someone that can’t be honest with me. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
She looks up at me; her eyes are a bit puffy. “I also think you're kind of cute and like that your mom thinks I’m your girlfriend.”
I laugh. “Ok. Then I formally accept your offer to join your company. We can talk terms when we get back to your office.”
The pure joy and happiness I see in Lillian’s face as she smiles at me let me know that I’ve made the right decision.
Chapter 20
After a round of hugs from Lillian and many promises from her that I won’t regret joining her, she realizes that the dungeon hasn’t disappeared yet. I tell her that we have to free the princess first. Lillian looks around for the key, and I realize that when I absorbed the boss, I must have given up all the loot he was going to drop including the quest item. I’ll have to watch out for that in the future. I’d hate to mess up a quest because I lost the last important piece.
Still, in this instance we’re okay. I still have the key from the first time I beat King Kanon and use it to open Princess Plum’s cage. The princess steps out of the cage, hugs Lillian, and thanks her for rescuing her from the grasp of the evil King Kanon. The princess turns to me and faster than I can blink, slaps me on the cheek. I see a red five float away from me but am too stunned to respond. I guess the princess is mad that I didn’t free her sooner.
As Princess Plum walks regally away, the world around us starts to shimmer and fade. There’s a burst of pixelated light, and when I blink away the stars in my vision, I find myself back in the mall outside the formerly red door, facing an empty shop. A blue window pops up.
Congratulations on clearing the dungeon.
You’
ve completed the quest - Save Princess Plum from the evil overlord King Kanon.
You receive 1000 XP and 1000 credits.
I’m enveloped in bright light, and I get another System message.
Congratulations. You’ve reached level 6.
My fists shoot up and punch the air as I jump in excitement. Checking my character sheet, I see not only did finishing that quest get me to level 6, but it gets me a good way to level 7.
Experience Points needed for level 7: 2335
My joy at leveling is cut short by a sharp voice. “Freeze you two!”
Instinctively I stop moving, obeying the commanding tone, which leaves me looking like I’m poking the air since I’d just closed my character sheet. Slowly turning my head to the left I see a short wrinkly man with thick coke bottle glasses, wearing a brown uniform with black lapels, and a thick belt with a flashlight and a can of mace.
Lillian laughs softly as we realize it’s a mall security guard and we unfreeze. I smile and wave at the old security guard. “Everything ok?”
The guards wrinkly right hand drops to the pepper spray on his belt, “What are you two doing over here dressed up like that? It ain’t Halloween for a couple more weeks.”
I realize that we’re still wearing all the armor and weapons we were using in the dungeon. I don’t have a very good explanation, but Lillian seems prepared with an answer. She gives the guard a dazzling smile and takes my arm in hers. “Oh, officer. We were just on our way to a cosplay party and thought we’d stop by the mall for a quick bite to eat.”
The older man wrinkles his nose and looks confused, but takes his hand off the pepper spray. “A cos-what party? Is that like a Halloween party?”
“A little, we’re just dressing up as our favorite anime characters. I’m Saber from Fate/Stay Night, and my date is Ranta from Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.”
“Anime?” He asks, his brow wrinkled in concentration. He snaps his fingers and points at Lillian. “Oh, now I remember. Those are those cartoons from China, right? My granddaughter watches that stuff.”
My inner nerd aches to scream out corrections to the guard. That anime is not just cartoons from China. I mentally prepare a list of corrections, examples of great anime programming, and its influence on modern animation.
Lillian must sense my agitation because she quickly agrees with the guard. “Yes, that’s right. We’re dressed up as our favorite cartoon characters on our way to a party. There’s nothing wrong with that is there?”
Cartoon characters? Did she just reduce the detailed art form of anime production to cartoon characters?
The guard smiles at being told he’s correct. “No, miss. Nothing wrong with that. I just thought it was odd to see two people over here dressed funny.” He lowers his voice a little as if parting some bit of gossip, “You see, lots of shady people been hanging around here lately. So I have to keep a particular eye out for troublemakers.”
Lillian nods vigorously, “Oh. Thank you for that, officer. I feel safer knowing you’re around.”
My eyes widen in surprise as I see the old guard blush and his thick glasses get a little steamy. He tips his hat at Lillian and says, “No problem, miss. You two have a good day.” He then turns around and walks away with a little bounce in his step.
Watching the receding figure of the guard, Lillian whispers to me, “Quick, let’s get back to your home base.”
Nodding in agreement, I quickly take out my home base key and put it into the glass door of the empty shop in front of us, the door transforms into a green door to my home base, and the two of us walk through it.
Once back in my room, the first thing I ask Lillian is, “Do you believe that anime is just cartoons?”
Lillian narrows her eyes at me as she taps the air in front of her, and changes into the casual clothes in which she started the day. Lillian sits on the edge of my bed as she shakes her head. “No, of course not. But that old man wasn’t going to leave us alone if we started to argue with him. It was better just to agree so we could leave. I mean, what were you going to say dressed in your leather armor?”
Realizing I still haven’t changed, I open my inventory to replace my clothes. A brief flash of light later and I’m back in my jeans and t-shirt.
The two of us don’t hang out in my room long. I grab the weapons I’d been hoarding in my closet and the two of us port to Lillian’s office.
Chapter 21
Lillian and I only spend a few minutes at my home base. We grab the weapons I’ve been stashing in my closet, and we port over to Lillian’s office. Once at her office, she taps a few buttons on a System screen I can’t see, and the massive wooden desk that was there on my first visit replaces the couches in the center of the office
Sitting behind the desk, Lillian examines the weapons I place there.
“Ok, Anthony, I’ll give you 370 credits for all eighteen weapons. If you want to check out what you’d get from the System Store, I’ll let you use a terminal, but I can assure you that you’ll get less. The only reason I’m buying them at that price is that John can break them down into base metals for his projects.”
She could be lying to me, but I doubt it since a quick check of the System Store would tell me if she was. I accept the offer, and the credits in my inventory increase to 1594.
She also converts the credits to dollars for me at a market rate of 1:1.5 meaning that I get $2,391. Holding the money, I mentally ‘woo hoo.’ It’s not a lot compared to what other people make at a full-time job, but it’s a lot for me. It’s about what I make in two months working part-time at the Quickie Stop Mart. I earned this clearing that dungeon in my spare time.
God, that sounds like a script for a stay at home work ad. Want to earn extra cash but don’t want to work an actual job? Try dungeon clearing! I received over $2,000 just clearing dungeons in my spare time. You can too!
I shake my head to clear the image of me in a TV ad.
After handing me the money, Lillian pulls a sheaf of papers out of a desk drawer. “Ok, Anthony. Here is the contract to work for us.” She hands me the papers and continues on as if giving a rehearsed speech. “You’ll note that it’s a one-year contract with standard dungeon clearing clauses. We offer a 2,000-credit signing bonus. By working for Monsters Squashers Inc., you agree that the company gets 30% of all rewards you get for dungeon clearing, bounties, or other quests. You have first dibs on any item that you get in the dungeon or as a reward use. However, the company has first choice to buy anything you can’t use directly. The remaining items will be sold through the company with the User keeping 70% of the profits.”
I frown at the explanation of terms. “Most of that seems to benefit your company more than it does me.”
Lillian nods, as if expecting the statement. “That is true. However, there are lots of benefits for you. The System Store here at the office is already upgraded to get you a better price when you buy new gear. Not only that but John has his Trade skill which means he can get you even better deals at the bazaar, where Users sell items directly to one another. Plus, any gear the company buys or collects goes in the vault that newbs get to borrow or teams can use for special missions. Of course, the biggest benefit is the organizational structures we have in place to get you earning as many experience points and credits as possible.”
I hold up my hand to stop the sales pitch. “Ok, ok. I already told you that I’d sign on, you don’t have to keep going.”
She smiles at me, and I see her cheeks redden. “Sorry. I’ve practiced that speech so many times trying to get people to join the company that it just comes out on its own sometimes.”
I nod and ask for a pen to sign the contract. Even though it’s only a one-year deal, I’m already coming out ahead. Between the $2,391 in my pocket and the 2,000 credits coming, I’ll have enough to get myself a new phone and buy some new gear.
Lillian gladly gives me a pen, and a few squiggly lines later I’m an employee of Monsters Squashers Inc. A moment later,
I get a notification that 2,000 credits have added to my inventory.
Lillian stands up and leans across the desk, holding out her hand to me. As we shake, she smiles and the room seems to brighten.
I hear a polite cough and realize I’ve been shaking her hand for almost a minute now. Embarrassed, I quickly let her hand go, but part of me aches to hold her again. I may be imagining things, but I think there’s a hint of red in her cheeks too. Whether it's from embarrassment or interest, I can't tell.
She continues to smile at me and plops back down in her seat. “Ok. Now that that’s all done, we can start getting you trained. I know you’ve been trying some stuff out on your own, but we want to get you set up for success. So, what kind of User are you going to be? Frontline fighter? Tank? DPS? Support? Maybe you want to be a crafter like John?”
I look at her in confusion. I wasn’t expecting these kinds of questions. I’d expected to look through some gear and start killing monsters in some dungeon somewhere.