Glitch Book Three

by Victor Deckard

  No player attacked me as I drove along the streets. It wouldn’t take long for night to fall, so all the players weren’t willing to waste their time fighting among themselves. They all were in the process of making the final preparations for the invasion of mutants.

  As I got to the vending machine and acquired a few more stimulators and vigors, a message popped up in the log.

  > Attention! The night will fall in 60 minutes!

  I hurried to retrace my steps. On arriving, I found my house completely intact. Nobody had tried to crash into the building while I’d been absent.

  After pulling in the garage and stepping out of the car, I noticed a computer at the far end of the room. It was a builder Cooper had told me about.

  I walked over to it and looked at the display.

  I was much obliged to Cooper for having taught me how to use a builder. Thanks to him, I already knew the ropes.

  I uploaded most of my resources to the builder, keeping only metal on me as this resource would be required for repairing windows and doors.

  I played with the builder for a spell, getting the feel of it. There were a lot of standard bodyworks, fenders, bumpers, rims, etc. to choose from. Some of them caught my eye. Perhaps I’d pick one of them when I got around to crafting a vehicle.

  Another message emerged in the log.

  > Attention! The night will fall in 10 minutes!

  I entered the house and marked the building on the map in case I’d get croaked tonight.

  Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t completely dark in the house. Moonlight seeped inside through the long openings in the armor plates on the windows. There was enough light to see by.

  The final message appeared in the log.

  > Attention! The night had just fallen!

  As usual, there was the calm before the storm. Then all hell broke loose. Enraged bellows came from the street. I leaped to one window and opened fire, wasting the mobs racing toward the house.

  The first three waves didn’t cause any problems. The mutants didn’t even manage to get inside. Without breaking a sweat, I sailed through the first three waves. In the time between each, I gathered the loot dropped from the mobs.

  The fourth wave was a bit harder to get through than the previous ones. The swarm of mutants pounded on the armored windows and eventually managed to crash through them.

  Still, no mutant wounded me. Being that I was playing all alone this time, they were pretty weak and died quickly. It took me one, or sometimes two, bullets to whack a mob. I didn’t even use any of my psi-powers yet.

  The wave five brought some trouble. I had to constantly move around the house, employing my skills now in order to stay alive. Some of the mutants were even able to get within biting range and snap at my legs, forcing me to heal my character with stimulators.

  Boomers showed up at the next wave. These clumsy, swelled-out mutants covered with pus-oozing sores staggered toward the building and exploded, splashing acid everywhere, which ate at the metal plates on the windows.

  Still, like all the other mutants, boomers were way weaker than they had been last night. Their acid ate through the armored windows rather slow. It wasn’t until halfway into the wave that mutants finally busted inside the building.

  I would gun down one mutant after another. Once one of the boomers got inside, I turned my full attention toward it. These ugly, bloated creatures regenerated its health, so to kill them I had to aim at the blisters––boomer’s vulnerable spots––that appeared on their bodies from time to time.

  One boomer got close to me and blew. Fortunately, I managed to activate Shield in time. Acid splattered over the power dome, damaging it but not destroying. The other mutants encircled the dome, beating, clawing, and snapping at it. Once they broke it down, I showed a few of them backward with Surge and got away from them.

  The wave ended. I finished the remaining mutants off, gathered up the loot, and repaired the windows and doors.

  A thundering roar came from the street, echoing off the surrounding buildings as soon as the next, seventh, wave began. It was a boss that had taken out all our team last night. However, I found out its vulnerable spot while observing Guard fighting the boss via a camera locked on the player in Spectator mode.

  I sincerely hoped that the gained knowledge would help me to deal with the boss.

  Booming footsteps pounded on the sidewalk as the boss approached the building. Finally, he crashed through the entrance door into the room.

  > Name: Fleshshredder

  > Level: 7

  > Health: 750/750

  The mutant looked as huge and dangerous as it had last night. It was big, obnoxious, and intimidating. It had two drills in place of its hands. Spikes were sticking out all over its body.

  On seeing me, the monster let go with threating roar and drove one of its drills into the floor, causing the entire building to shake.

  Others mutants began to get inside the house. I activated Shield, my gaze never leaving the boss. Some of its spikes retracted, leaving holes the size of a human fist behind. Inside the hole in its right shoulder was the thing I was looking for, namely a swelling emitting dim reddish light.

  I whipped up my pistols, sighted, and opened fire. One of the bullets tore into the swelling, bursting it apart. Blood and pus spurted from the hole. The boss shouted in rage, withdrew its drills, and strode in my direction.

  The mutants finally destroyed the power dome and charged at me from all directions. I cleared the way with Surge and dashed away from the boss, putting as much distance between us as possible.

  The fleshshredder moved way slower than it had last night. Taking advantage of it, I set about gunning down the weaker monsters.

  As the boss get closer, I watched it from the corner of my eye and noticed its right arm hang limply at its side. Looked like it was broken or something.

  The fleshshredder came to a stop and dug its left drill into the floor. My assumption that the boss could no longer use his right drill turned out to be correct.

  Spikes on its chest drew in. In one of the resultant holes was a reddish swelling. I sighted and opened up with my pistols. Once one slug perforated the swelling, it burst apart, torn flesh and pus gushing out of the hole.

  The boss roared and strode forward toward me. Although the huge monster wasn’t moving all that fast, I failed to get away from the fleshshredder in time due to the swarm of weaker mutants impeding my movements.

  It swung its drill, the blow connecting on my left side. I was lifted off of my feet and thrown across the room, smashing into the far wall and collapsing to the floor in a mangled heap.

  As I heaved myself up to my feet, I shot a glance at my HUD to learn that my HP had been reduced by nearly fifteen percent.

  The boss headed for me, blood gushing from the wounds on its right shoulder and chest. One more critical hit and the fleshshredder would be dealt with. But I had to be real careful, otherwise it’d be the other way around.

  I utilized Stasis. The fleshshredder got detained by a bluish dome. The boss’ movement speed decreased somewhat. I activated Shield, used a stimulator and vigor, and set about gunning down the weaker mutants while the boss was harmless.

  When the fleshshredder got out of the Stasis field, I whirled around and took off, firing at the nearby mutants as I ran. The boss was relentlessly following me but failed to catch up.

  The building shook again. I skidded to a stop and turned around. The boss had its good drill into the floor. I looked the monster’s body over but didn’t notice a red swelling this time. Then it occurred to me that its vulnerable spot must have appeared somewhere on its back.

  The house was still quaking, so I had to grab at the walls to prevent myself from losing my balance and toppling over. When I walked around the boss, the building ceased to tremble.

  The fleshshredder withdrew its drill from the wall, turned around, drew its drill back, and then swung it at m
e. This time I was ready and managed to dodge the blow, having activated Acceleration and leaped to the side.

  The mobs weren’t spawning any longer, which meant that the seventh wave finally ended. I had to finish the boss off before the next wave began. I was going to be in trouble otherwise.

  The fleshshredder was on my heels. I gunned down the remaining weaker mutants as I was running away from the boss. Finally, the huge monster thrust its drill into the ground. I found the vulnerable spot on its back and shoot at it. The swelling exploded.

  The boss bellowed for the last time and collapsed, causing the building to shake briefly. As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. So true.

  I wasted no time gathering the loot and repairing the windows and doors. I managed to fix only half of them when the next wave began.

  Although the boss didn’t spawn this time, I had a hard time getting through this wave. That I hadn’t repaired all the windows in time might’ve been the reason for it. Anyway, to stay alive I had to employ my psi-powers much, shoving, kicking, and slowing down the mutants.

  After the wave ended, I gathered up the ammo and stimulators dropped from the mobs and reinforced all the windows.

  I had to get through only two more waves. That was good. Yet I grew tired. Not physically of course but rather mentally. It was getting harder for me to stay alert. That was bad.

  The ninth wave started. I dashed from one window to another, gunning down the monsters bearing down on the building, trying to keep them at bay for as long as possible. Sure enough, the mutants soon busted through the armored windows into the house.

  It was just hell on earth. I was constantly running around the house as the swarm of mutants relentlessly tried to circle me in. To make things worse the boss respawned. The huge monster crashed its way inside the house and let go with an intimidating roar.

  I barely made it through this wave. A few times, I was on the line. With the all the mutants swarming the house and the fleshshredder constantly on my heels, it was a wonder I avoided getting killed. I spared no effort in straining to get through the wave.

  Like the last time, I finished the boss off after the wave ended. I had barely reinforced the building and gathered up the loot when the tenth, final, wave began. I hadn’t even gotten mentally prepared for it.

  An aggressive bellow reached my ears from the street. And then another one reverberated through the air. What the heck? Not one but two bosses this time? Just great!

  It wasn’t long before the fleshshredders got into the building. The good thing was that there were much less weaker mutants at this wave. So I could focus almost entirely on dealing with the bosses without having to distract my attention from them to slay the weaker mobs.

  When one of the bosses shoved its drills into the floor, causing the building to shake hard, the other headed my way, brandishing the drills of its own. I slowed the boss down with Stasis, showed the nearest weaker mobs aside with Surge, and hurried over to the first boss. I noticed a vulnerable spot on its shoulder and opened fire.

  Its shoulder exploded, torn flesh, blood, and pus splattered everywhere. The boss withdrew its drills and headed my way, its wounded arm dangling limply.

  It was the second fleshshredder’s turn to quake the house. The vulnerable spot appeared somewhere on its back. To get around the boss was too risky, what with the first boss lingering around. I decided to let it go this time and just gunned down the weaker mobs while the bosses didn’t pose an immediate threat to me.

  The two fleshshredders took turns driving their drills into the floor to cause the building to shake. I would employ Surge and Blow to keep the weaker mobs at bay, activate Stasis to slow down the bosses, and use Biokinesis to patch my character up since all the simulators were long gone.

  Eventually, I finished off the first fleshshredder. The monster dropped some item highlighted in purple. Yet I didn’t have time to make out either the item itself or its stats.

  With one fleshshredder whacked, it was somewhat easier to hold out. Finally, all the weaker mobs were dealt with and they were no longer respawning. Which meant that the wave had finished and I just had to finish the last boss off. With no one else around, it was no big deal.

  Finally, the fleshshredder tumbled down, dead. After that, silence fell. Although mobs no longer respawned, I still was on full alert, ready for anything. But nothing happened.

  I went out through the doorway and looked around. Aside from the wind whistling and the sound of muted gunfire in the distance, it was very quiet in the street. Seemed like there was someone else who had gotten through all the ten waves and was now finishing off the remaining mobs.

  As the muffled gunshots cracked across the streets, I looked up and saw the full moon in the sky. The X-shaped space station was clearly visible against the moon.

  I also spotted a shaft of purple light running up in the sky and tried to gauge the distance to the shaft. It wasn’t all that close to me. It shouldn’t take me long to get there in the car though. But first things first.

  I got back in the house and picked up all the ammo. The second fleshshredder had dropped some armor. I walked up to it and took a look at this. It was rare, “blue”, level 15 heavy armor. It had one special quality.

  > Special quality: The player’s HP gradually regenerates itself when he or she don’t receive damage and isn’t subjected to any debuff.

  Since I couldn’t put this on, I didn’t even bother to examine the others stats of the armor. Perhaps I could make good money if I put this up for auction. But then I recollected that Stan played as a Soldier. He sure could do with the armor. So I picked it up and went to examine the purple item, which had dropped from the first boss to croak.

  Fate smiled on me at last! There were two revolvers laying in a pool of blood. They both had identical stats. When I looked at one revolver, its stats appeared in my HUD. I examined them carefully.

  > Name: Ice volcano

  > Weapon type: Akimbo revolvers

  > Rarity: Unique (purple)

  > The player’s required level: 15

  > Damage: 250

  > Accuracy: 95

  > Fire rate: 750

  > Magazine size: 10

  > Special quality 1: Increases the critical damage by 50 percent.

  > Special quality 2: When using both the revolvers, you have your damage output increased by 25 percent.

  > Elemental damage: Cold

  > The stats of the elemental damage:

  > Description: This gun can place a debuff on a foe that decreases his or her movement speed over some time. While the debuff is active, the foe is getting hurt by cold damage.

  > The chance of placing the debuff on a foe is 30 percent

  > The duration of the debuff is 10 seconds

  > The damage that is dealt to a foe is 25 points per second

  Such an awesome weapon! Due to my having leveled up to 15 during the night, I could arm myself with the revolvers. After holstering the akimbo handguns and shoving my “green” pistol in the bag, I looked at the “blue” Mantis Slayer. What to do with that gun? Put it up for auction? Nah, I better just upload it to a Resurrection Pod.

  It was already light in the street. The sun rose much quicker in the game than it did in the real world, for sure. The shaft of purple light was nowhere in sight when I went outside.

  Well, if I crafted a bus, armed it with turret guns, and reinforced it with armor plates, then I wouldn’t have to hold out inside some building at night. Instead I would tool around the city, running over mutants. Nothing would prevent me from getting to the nearest shaft of purple light and checking it out.

  A message emerged in the log.

  > Congratulations! You’ve survived!

  The night was over.

  Chapter five

  Before hitting the road, I decided to reinforce the house once more. It was a good place for me to hold out in at night. If I didn’t craft an armor
ed bus before the next night fell, I’d return here.

  Most novices had died during the night, so the streets were devoid of players. Nobody attacked me as I drove through the city.

  Finally, I made it to the garbage dump. After pulling in an alleyway to hide the car and climbing out, I went and gathered up resources. The place was crammed with them, what with no one being around save me. I spent the morning collecting various resources.

  After some time, other players began to connect to the game. Some of them entered the garbage dump. Aside from me, there were at least five people wandering around this place now. Recourses became scarce. It was time to split the place. I’d gathered more than enough resources.

  My car was where I’d left it. Sure, it was actually Christine’s car, but I’d already gotten used to it and came to regard it as a car of my own.

  I saw rusty buggies driving around every now and then. Some of them engaged me but raced away as soon as they realized that they’d picked a fight with an opponent out of their league. I didn’t give chase, what with me having bigger fish to fry.

  I dropped by a Shell Gas Station and scoured it for fuel canisters. There were two of them leaning against one wall inside the office. I filled up the gasoline tank and put one extra fuel canister in the trunk. Then I continued with my journey.

  After some time, one building caught my eye. It was quite a big garage. I pulled in and looked around. It was big enough to accommodate a bus and probably my car as well.

  Suspended from the far wall was a builder. I got out of the car and stepped to the computer. The main menu was instantly brought up. It showed the list of all the resources I’d uploaded last night.