Glitch Boxset

by Victor Deckard

  After meeting Flynn, I resolved to enter all the alleyways I encountered and delve into thrash cans.

  It was getting darker. And colder. The rain continued to strike against the sidewalks with undiminished force. My body was trembling. The Freezing attribute increased up to fifty percent already and kept on raising. Eventually, I found dirty, tattered, worn-to-rags pants with scores of patches having mismatched colors.

  > Name: “Shabby pants”

  > Armor type: Outerwear

  > Rarity: Common (white)

  > The player’s required level: 0

  > State: 45/75

  > Physical resistance: 1

  > Fire resistance: 0

  > Frost resistance: 1

  > Corrosive resistance: 0

  > Electrocute resistance: 0

  Guessed it was better than nothing. I put it on. Other than the pants and piles of garbage, which, luckily for me, gave off no smell, the trash can held nothing useful.

  A sound of gunshot reached my ears, the bark echoed off the surrounding houses. That scared the heck out of me. Ducking behind the trash can, I even turned on the Shield. But I wasn’t being fired at. Gathering up enough nerve, started for the way out of the alleyway. I hunkered down and gingerly peeked around a corner.

  I sweep my gaze around the street. Nothing suspicious caught my eye. Neither players nor mobs were around. There was seemingly nothing out of the ordinary at first glance. But then I observed a splayed body across the street approximately one hundred meters away from where I was squatting. Around the corpse lay scattered scores of various items.

  It made me happy to begin with. I felt like bursting around the corner and dashing toward the pile of items before another player could beat me to it or the owner of the items could make it over there in time to retrieve his belongings. Yet I didn’t budge, for in the next moment another thought struck me out of the blue.

  Who had wasted the player? And where had the killer gotten to? What if he or she holed up in one of the surrounding buildings to keep tabs on the street in order to smoke another random player passing by and relieve him or her of their possessions?

  While I was contemplating my theory, a short player with a black bandana tied around his head appeared in the street. He has level 5. The gamer casually walked down the street, looking around nonchalantly, his assault rifle hanging from his shoulder at the ready. From his behavior, it was obvious that the guy wasn’t the killer. He didn’t have the slightest idea about the spread-out body nearby and the possible danger of being killed right around the corner. So I lingered in my hidden place to see how this was going to play out.

  The dead body was partly obscured by a big rusty bodywork of a car, so it wasn’t until the player drew almost level with it that he saw the corpse. The player instantly looked around vigilantly. Still, he failed to spot me. Concluding that he was all alone, the guy walked closer to the body and crouched down by it.

  In a second a thundering gunshot cracked across the street. The guy with the bandana was hurled backward and slammed against the sidewalk. He didn’t even get a chance to scream, the bullet killing him instantly. The sharpshooter must have been a high-leveled player armed with an extremely powerful rifle. Around the guy with the bandana appeared a few items dropped from him.

  Now right across the street beside the rusty vehicle was piled a quite big heap of useful items. I drooled over it. There were two assault rifles, some other weapon similar to a big revolver, two large backpacks, three of four white boxes looking like first aid kits, and quite a few various resources. And those were the items I could make out from where I was crouching. Aside from all that, there had to be a lot more items strewn behind the rusty vehicle.

  Despite me being eager to take all of these, I lingered on since I had the situation figured out. Some player with a powerful sniper rifle had gotten themselves a nice vantage point from which they could survey the entire street. It would be great to pick up the exact location where the mean PK was at. I examined the street once more. As far as I was concerned, the only place suitable for sniping purposes was a high-rise a few blocks away. Yet I could see only a small part of the edifice from my spot. To see the whole of the building I would’ve had to get out of cover. Yet I wasn’t intent on exposing myself to the sharpshooter.

  Minutes went by slowly and tediously. I was contemplating the problem from all imaginable sides. Sure I could head for the other end of the alleyway. I’d already been there and no sniper made attempt on my life so I could assume that the opposite street was out of the shooter’s sight. But there was a snag. Had I had clothes with somewhat adequate stats, some weapon, and a bag holding at least a minimal amount of ammunition I would’ve settled for it, taking heed of common sense. However, I was practically naked and unarmed while just a hundred meters away lay the pile of useful items, including armor and weapons. Where else could so many goodies be found? So I stayed on.

  The gunshots no longer sounded. I wondered if there was a particular reason for having killed the two players walking along this street. Maybe the PK had teamed up with other players. His or her associates might’ve hidden themselves nearby, waited for the sniper to kill a passerby, then gotten out, picked up the loot, and then hid themselves again to wait for another sucker to be killed. Could that scenario be possible? I saw no reason why it couldn’t.

  Supposing I got it right, why did nobody still get out to pick up the loot? I had no answer to the question. I decided to wait this out for a bit longer.

  After some time, the rain ceased and the blustering wind blew. It was getting darker. I looked at the crystal. The Freezing attribute raised past seventy percent already. I had to resolve on my course of action.

  Nobody appeared in the street. That seemed to prove my theory of a bunch of PKs carrying out robberies here to be wrong. But in that case, for what reason the sniper had been offing players? Just for the hell of it? Sure I’d encountered lots of PKs in multiplayer online role-playing games I’d played before, who’d taken great pleasure in mindless killing newbies. But I still reckoned this game, this enormous detailed virtual world, must’ve had pastimes much more interesting than just sitting in one building for a who-knows-how-long time and purposelessly taking out a bunch of newbies with a sniper rifle. Either I was wrong or there just was such a kind of people who liked to be mean on the Internet. They could be called cyberbullies.

  It was getting more and darker. The gunshots were long gone. The marksman might’ve walked away already. Or maybe he or she actually slew only those players who walked along this particular street, which was clearly visible from his or her angle.

  Gone or not, I had to decide what to do already. The Freezing attribute raised up to eighty percent by now. A little more and I would freeze to death.

  I engaged myself deep in thought and after some time made up a detailed plan of action. I’d switch on the Shield, race across the street, examine the loot quickly, snatch up the most important items, and leap inside the nearest building. I had to act swiftly so as to thwart the sniper’s aiming. What I’d do next– Well, I’d take it from there.

  It was pretty dark by now. That might help me as well. If I acted fast, the sniper wouldn’t be able to take careful aim at me. Besides, the sharpshooter might’ve been a high-leveled player armed with a powerful weapon but it didn’t necessarily mean that he or she could destroy my Shield with only one bullet. So yeah, chances were good that I’d grab some nice items and get away with it. And if there wasn’t a gunshot booming across the street at all, then I could conclude that the sniper had already gone and I wouldn’t have to hustle my bustle.

  With the scheme devised, I could begin to carry it out. Yet before starting, I took a couple of moments to get up enough nerve. Alright, time to get cracking!

  I drew in a long breath and turned on the Shield. Jumped up to my feet and took off. I could have weaved my way from side to side to impede the sniper’s aiming even further. Still,
I didn’t bother to do so, since I was sure the PK wouldn’t try to whack me while I was racing forward at maximum possible speed. No, he or she would surely wait for me to come to a stop so that they could certainly hit me.

  Finally, I get to the place. The bodies of the two players had already disappeared but the loot was still there, remaining untouched. Quickly I looked it over trying to notice all of the items lying around in one sweep of my gaze. I instantly spied the color the revolver was lit up in. It was blue. I didn’t waste time examining all the stats of the handgun. I took note only of two lines, which I was interested in.

  > Rarity: Rare (blue)

  > The player’s required level: 7

  As told in one tip, blue items could quite seldom be found. So I leaned over and grabbed the revolver up. Perhaps I wouldn’t be able to use this gun for the time being but at least I could deposit it in a Resurrection Pod and leave it there until I leveled up to 7.

  I should’ve run off after picking up the revolver. At least that was my scheme to begin with. I even turned toward the nearest building.

  But after taking a huge step toward it, I came to a stop. I still wasn’t being fired at. Maybe I could take something else. There were so many nice items within my reach! Clothes would definitely come in handy.

  The power dome vanished. I recreated it without flinching. Then gave the loot another look-over. There were two jackets, one of them lit up in green and the other lit by white illumination, two pants, both white, and two pairs of boots, both white as well.

  Not bothering to examine items’ stats, I snatched up the “green” jacket and the nearest pair of boots. I ignored both pants, for I had the Shabby pants on. This done, I turned abruptly toward the nearest building and made to make a run for it. At this exact moment barked an earsplitting gunshot. Contrary to my expectation, it took just one bullet squeezed off by the sniper to destroy the Shield. Suddenly I felt as if I were smitten by a mallet on my chest.

  The next moment all went dark before my eyes.

  Chapter six

  On reviving in a Resurrection Pod, I felt a wave of anger sweep over me. I wasn’t angry with the sniper but rather with myself. I had no one but myself to blame. My plan had been to grab one item, dip into the nearest building, wait a little to see if there the aftermath of my actions, and decide what to do next. But the greed had gotten the better of me. I’d changed my plan and instead of taking just the revolver, had decided to pick up some more items. That had turned out to be a bad idea. I had taken an enemy’s bullet to suffer the same terrible fate as those two unfortunate players’.

  A message popped up in the log.

  > Warning! The night will fall in 60 minutes!

  Only then did I remembered that many players had died during last night while I had been doing the quests in the Training location. Yet it had been morning when I eventually got out of the location and by that time, the notifications of players’ deaths had ceased to appear. Well, looked like I was going to pick up what so nasty happened at night in this game.

  I walked over to a window and looked out. It was still getting darker. Just a little more and it would be pitch-dark. I had to find some armor and weapon ASAP. As far as I was concerned, to lose all your items after death and revive in a Resurrection Pod with no armor and weapons whatsoever was a little bit of overkill. The developers should’ve let the player have a small dagger or at least a jackknife, something they could’ve protected themselves with. That way, instead of delving into trash cans, the player could’ve gotten to hack weak mobs to regain exp.

  It got me to wondering if there were any melee weapons in the game. Some daggers, bludgeons, or brass knuckles? I had found none thus far.

  Suddenly sounds of gunfight echoed through the streets, bringing me out of my reverie back to the moment. On looking around, I saw bursts of gunshots flashing in some windows of a building across the street. After a few moments, a player with a machine gun leaped out of the building and raced my way. I ducked instantly so that he couldn’t notice me. When he drew level with the building, I saw his stats appear in my HUD.

  > Name: Argonaut

  > Level: 5

  After a couple of seconds, two more players burst out of the building and dashed after Argonaut. It was difficult for me to make out the chasers in the darkness, only their silhouettes visible. However, white skull drawings on their balaclavas gave the players away. It was them who had whacked Flynn in front of me and then murdered me as well in the shopping mall. Looked like they continued with their player killing practice. Argonaut was desperately trying to give the PKs the slip. He fired back on the chasers as he ran.

  One of the PKs popped off a high-explosive round that exploded right behind Argonaut. The shock wave raised Argonaut into the air. When he slumped onto the ground, he was barely alive. His machine gun leaped from his grasp and skidded across the blacktop. The poor soul was crawling on his stomach after the gun. One of the PKs finished him off with a quick burst. Some loot dropped from the killed player. The skulls started for it to see if there was anything of value.

  I quickly took a step away from the window to avoid being seen. Just stood there for a few seconds pricking up my ears. No sound reached me from the street. I wondered what was going down out there right now. Why couldn’t I pick up sounds of footfalls? What were PKs doing over there? Maybe they concluded Argonaut, a player with only level 5, couldn’t possess any useful items and just walked away? I fidgeted. Waiting was driving me crazy. Ultimately, I gave in and gingerly drew to the window and looked out.

  Both the skulls were noiselessly advancing toward the building, keeping their assault rifles aimed at the window I looked out of. They had spotted me! It must’ve happened when I abruptly jumped away from the window a couple of minutes before. The players opened up once they saw me appear at the window.

  Some of the bullets beat on the wall, splintering it; the others zipped through the window, narrowly missing me. I bounded backward and utilized the Shield. Quickly looked around. The building had only one way out, through which I had gotten inside. All the windows looked into the street, as well as the entrance door. If I used one of them to get out, I would find myself right in front of the two PKs. I wondered if I should try to get to the second floor. The middle part of the stairs had collapsed, yet I might jump across the gap.

  Still, before I could try it, a high-pitched scream reached me from the street. I remembered the scream instantly. It was the way the overgrown bats level 15, mantises, shouted before charging. The skulls ceased firing instantly. Or more specifically, they weren’t shooting in my direction any longer. They were aiming for something else now. That had me perked up a tad. I walked over to the window again and stared out. What I saw delighted me a great deal. A mantis hovered in the air, circling above the two PKs trying to haul ass. From time to time the players brought their assault rifles to bear on the creature and fired short salvos at the mob, bursts stitched lines of ragged bloody holes across the creature’s body, yet it seemed not to inflict any serious damage on the flying monster. All of them soon rounded a bend in the road and vanished from view.

  I wasted no time getting out of the building and barreling toward Argonaut’s splayed body. All his clothes were level 2 and all of them were lit up in white color. I didn’t waste time examining their stats. Directing my gaze toward a jacket, I looked at the very last line.

  > (Use the item: Yes/No)

  Chose the “Yes” button. The jacket was instantly put on me. In the same manner, I donned a pair of pants and shoes.

  Then snatched up Argonaut’s weapon. It was a small submachine gun with a sling. Green color. It was good. Yet it was bad that warlocks could wield only pistols and revolvers. I took the gun in my hands nevertheless. If I tried to discharge the weapon, it would surely do no good. Either the accuracy would be too low, the recoil would beat too hard, or bullets would inflict decreased damage on mobs and players. But I decided to keep the gun anyway,
what with having no other weapon at all.

  I then picked a bag off the blacktop and delved into it. Yet it was empty. I hung it across my shoulder and looked around. Argonaut had dropped nothing more.

  Sounds of gunshots continued barking somewhere far away. The skulls seemed to be still fighting the mantis. Whirling around, I quickly walked off in the opposite direction. I soon walked so far away the sounds of the gunshots were no longer audible.

  It was completely dark by now. The pitch-black darkness enveloped me from all directions. I literally couldn’t see farther than the end of my nose. That forced me to slacken my pace almost to a crawl. I felt like groping my way forward through that darkness.

  A message showed up in the log.

  > Warning! The night will fall in 30 minutes!

  I moved on slowly. I was a nervous wreck at the moment. After some time, suspicious noise reached me across the street, coming from a dark alleyway on my left. Startled, I quickly whirled the gun to the side and slid my index finger into the trigger guard.

  No shots fired. The trigger was stiff and wouldn’t go. Well, that stood to reason. I could pick up any weapon but any gun heavier than a sidearm wouldn’t work in my hands. I had hoped that if I’d used the submachine gun it would’ve worked with some of its stats reduced. Still, I was wrong. I couldn’t fire the gun at all. Slung the useless weapon across my shoulder. As for sounds that scared me so badly, they turned out to be nothing more than just a whistle of wind blowing.

  On the full alert, I continued moving along the sidewalk. My eyes gradually got adjusted to the darkness and could make out dark silhouettes of buildings and old wrecked vehicles appearing from time to time.