The Cheater's Return

by Brian McGoldrick

  As I start breathing again, I manage to maintain the strange web of energy in my vision, and I look around the village again. There are several amazingly thick strands of energy passing through the walls of three huts. I cannot believe that there are actually quest givers here, and the quests should be rather significant from the appearance of the QCP's web strands.

  This web, only, becomes visible in areas where there are active quest givers or currently active quest objectives. If the flags have not been met to trigger a quest giver or objective, the QCP's control threads remain dormant, and you can walk right past a quest giver or objective without ever knowing it is there.

  "I was certain that you could see the Shackles of the Domination." Raven Goddess' husky voice sounds no different than it did in the real world.

  I turn to the open door of the hut where the voice came from and feast my eyes on the beautiful raven-haired woman. She looks a slight bit different in the game than in reality, but the differences are so minor that there is no mistaking her identity. Even though she is not the most beautiful woman I have ever met, she is well beyond being simply pretty, and her lithe, toned body is a work of art.

  "What are the Shackles of the Domination?"

  Raven Goddess frowns. "You would call it the Quantum Control Program, but to this world, it is the shackles that dominate and imprison its destiny."

  "Oh. I see." I do not really see, but when Raven Goddess comes out with one of those odd statements, it is easiest to play along. She was always a bit strange. Even after sixty years as sometimes allies and sometimes enemies, I still have no clue what goes through that woman's mind.

  "How long have you been waiting?"

  For maybe twenty seconds, Raven Goddess stares at me without saying anything. "Nearly twenty hours. Why did you take so long creating a sheathe, and how did you take Half-Giant as your race. That race should not have been available."

  My frown reveals my bottled up resentment and irritation toward the character creation program. "It didn't feel that long. My name and race were locked. I had no other options. I could only select my archetype and adjust how fat I was."

  The anger in Raven's eyes is intense enough to put me on edge. "Someone in the Church is playing games. The sheathe creation process is one of the few areas that they can influence. It is actually in Earth's dimension and not the game's dimension. Their aim is probably to make you easily identifiable."

  Raven Goddess pauses, and tilting her head to one side, she stares at me and smiles. "No matter, you truly look good as a Half-Giant. The size and mass suit you. Half-Giant is the perfect race for you to be, but before we leave these islands for Toraigh, we will thwart their attempts to make you stand out. There are several very useful treasures that can be attained from these Dead Islands."

  "You already know where they are?" With one eyebrow raised, I speak in a clearly disbelieving tone.

  Raven Goddess laughs. "Of course."

  With a brilliant smile, Raven Goddess approaches me. "How high did the QCP set your Strength and Toughness?"

  "A base of forty for both."

  Once again, Raven Goddess' bell-like laughter fills the air. "They could manipulate the character creation, but they could not force the QCP to violate the standards of your racial body structure. That will make Leveling up much easier."

  Seeing that Raven Goddess' head does not quite reach my sternum, I open my character sheet and tap my name.

  Crom Cruach

  » Height: 286cm

  » Weight: 360kg

  Yeah. I am huge, but I do not feel at all massive. This body has a natural sense of balance, and my movements are smooth and fluid.

  Raven Goddess has sent you a friend invite.

  Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  Raven Goddess has invited you to join her party.

  Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  As I go to close my character sheet, two messages pop up over it. These types of message boxes can be muted, and I change the settings so that they will only be visible in my Social Window. The last thing I need is to have something like this pop up in the middle of combat. It can be a quick way to die.

  I tap on the Yes option for both requests and form a party with Raven Goddess.

  "Let us rouse the village head and acquire a quest."

  Turning back to the hut she exited, Raven Goddess glares at an old man. There is a thumb-thick strand of gold-tinged black energy connected to him. "Come out here, old man."

  While bowing and scraping with every step, the man, who must be the village head gingerly approaches us. "Lord and Lady, how can an old man like myself be of assistance to your noble selves?"

  Raven Goddess smiles. "I have seen that this island is crawling with the living dead. Does your village have any troubles that we can be of assistance to you with?

  The gold-tinged black thread pulses and the old man smiles enthusiastically. "Yes, Lady. With the walking dead swarming below the plateau we cannot lower our ladders and plant. If you and Lord could clear out the walking dead, we would eternally in your debt."

  Quest: Save the Village from the Walking Dead has been offered.

  Do you wish to accept? (Yes/No)

  The quest offering pops up right in front of my face. There are a lot of things that piss me off about the game interface for Primacy Online . Possibly, the biggest one is that you cannot turn off the quest notification message display. No matter what you do, every time a quest is offered, you will always have a dialog pop up in your face. The most you can do about it is to reduce the size of the text in the message, so that it is as nonintrusive as possible.

  "The Lord and I will be happy to help."

  Ding!

  I check my status log.

  Raven Goddess has accepted Save the Village from the Walking Dead on behalf of your group.

  With a grunt, I open my quest journal and examine the quest.

  Save the Village from the Walking Dead.

  » Kill 50 undead. (0/50)

  » Reward: ??

  Just like when I started in Primacy Online V , I have an inventory. It is a pocket dimension that is divided into twenty storage spaces or slots. Each space is about 1m3 . The actual shape of the slots are flexible and can hold as many of a single type of item as can be crammed into that 1m3 . When I look inside, I find food, water, and two Half-Giant sized weapons. My dagger would pass for a short sword in a human's hands, and my quarterstaff is 3.2m in length and 8cm in diameter. Taking out the quarterstaff, I examine it.

  Oversize Quarterstaff

  » (Starter)

  » 5-10 Blunt Damage

  If it were not for it being an indestructible Starter item, the quarterstaff is nothing but common trash with a high base damage due to its size. Because it is indestructible, I can use and abuse it as I please with no fear of it breaking.

  Taking out the Half-Giant sized dagger, I hold it up. "Do you want this?"

  Raven Goddess smiles. "I will take it with pleasure."

  After comparing my dagger with her quarterstaff, Raven Goddess puts her quarterstaff away and equips my dagger along with her own dagger. She has one scabbarded weapon hanging on each of her hips.

  We head away from the extremely steep mountain slope rising at the back of the village, and after travelling 500m, we reach the edge of the plateau. There is not even an 8m drop to the flat land below, but it is more than enough to keep the swarm of zombies and skeletons from climbing up and attacking the village.

  "We won't have any trouble finding enough of them to kill, but it might be a bit annoying avoiding being overrun."

  The only Ability I currently have is Identify Monster. In Primacy Online V , everyone received it at Level 1, and it should be the same for Primacy Online VI .

  Identify Monster: Rank 0

  » Identify Monster will only work on living and undead creatures classified as Monsters.

  » Identify Monster allows the user to see the name and HP of the monster.

  » Cooldo
wn: None

  » Minimum Level: None

  » Range: 200 meters + 1 meter / Level

  Identify Monster. I make a pointing motion in the direction of a zombie and a translucent information window pops up. After a little practice, I will be able to activate abilities with just visual focus or intent, but for now, I am a bit rusty. Physically gesturing at my target makes things easier for the moment.

  Common Zombie (Fighter) Level 1

  » HP 120/120

  "What the hell? It's an x6 with only 120 hit points. I have that many hit points."

  Raven Goddess laughs. "You were made into a Half-Giant. You are overpowered."

  "You could just say OP like everyone else."

  Raven Goddess frowns. "I do not speak in acronyms like an ignorant fool."

  "You haven't changed."

  "Of course not. Are you going to go down and kill them? Even though they are monsters, they are still slow and clumsy."

  "The pack is thinner toward the left and there are trees we can tie a rope ladder to." Untying one of the village's rope ladders from the stakes securing it, I head toward the other end of the plateau.

  Below, the zombies and skeletons do not seem to have noticed us and keep milling around mindlessly. When I throw the ladder over the cliff, they do nothing but stare at it.

  "Are you going to jump?"

  I shrug. "Why not?"

  "You can feel pain, now."

  "I'll let a couple zombies break my fall."

  Raven Goddess laughs. "I missed your straightforward violence and brutality."

  Picking a nice tight group of five zombies that are clawing and snapping at one another, I jump off the plateau.

  Splat! Splat! Splat!

  Pain flares through my legs, and the reeking odor of burst, rotting zombie entrails fills the night air. One of the zombies tries to struggle to its feet, but a quick stab with the tip of my quarterstaff shatters its skull.

  Whoosh! Splat!

  As the surviving zombie from the pack lunges toward me, I shatter its skull with a sweeping strike.

  Opening my combat log, I take a quick look.

  You take: -26 Untyped damage: Fall Impact

  Zombie: -112 Untyped damage: Fall Impact

  Zombie: -133 Untyped damage: Fall Impact

  Zombie: -151 Untyped damage: Fall Impact

  Zombie: -110 Untyped Damage: 101% Skill Expression (+110% Damage): Critical Hit (Head) (+200% Damage)

  Zombie: -154 Untyped Damage: 115% Skill Expression (+250% Damage): Critical Hit (Head) (+200% Damage)

  "Fuck." For a few seconds, I stare blankly at my log.

  When I played Primacy Online V , my Skill Expression rating never exceeded 100%, but I could sometimes manage to hit the 100% mark of Skill Expression with a Skill attack. Each time, it resulted in what was clearly double the damage of attacks with 90% or under Skill Expression. Even though it does not show in the combat log, an attack with 91% or higher Skill Expression, does an extra 10% for every 1% over the 90% mark up to 100% extra damage at 100% Skill Expression. Since there are thousands of websites from people that have tested it time and again, everyone knows about it. From 91% to 100% every 1% Skill Expression adds another 10% of bonus damage. It seems that the same increase applies when the Skill Expression goes over 100%, but why is it Untyped Damage instead of Blunt Damage?

  "Behind you!"

  As I spin around, I shatter the jaw of a zombie and with the opposite end of my staff, I tear off half its face. Without its skull being shattered, the thing may as well be uninjured, and it just keeps shambling toward me. It takes another strike to finish the thing off, and I glance at my combat log again.

  Zombie: -16 Blunt Damage (36 Damage Absorbed By Blunt Damage Resistance): 91% Skill Expression: Normal Hit (Head) (+100% Damage)

  Zombie: -22 Blunt Damage (36 Damage Absorbed By Blunt Damage Resistance): 88% Skill Expression: Normal Hit (Head) (+100% Damage)

  Zombie: -102 Untyped Damage: 101% Skill Expression (+110% Damage): Critical Hit (Head) (+200% Damage)

  I laugh out loud.

  The effects of going over 100% Skill Expression are not so well known as the effects of 91% to 100% Skill Expression. There are all kinds of rumors about what happens but no actual test results. If the information gets posted anywhere, it is probably suppressed by the Church of the Resurrection, as so many other things are, but now, I have the information, as plain as day, in my combat log.

  In Primacy Online , the location you hit with any attack matters. Most monsters and NPC have vulnerable locations. If you know what a monsters vulnerable locations are and hit them, you can do up to 100% more bonus damage. Looking at my combat log, it seems, when you go over 100% Skill Expression, a hit to a vulnerable location also doubles that hit location's bonus damage.

  Raven Goddess is cutting through the zombie swarm faster than I am. Whether it is her sword, which is my former dagger, or her dagger, every hit penetrates the skull of a zombie and kills it. She should have nowhere near my strength. Just how high is her Skill Expression on each hit?

  After we mow through the zombies between us and join up, Raven Goddess and I fight back to back, and the kill count for our quest quickly begins to fill.

  In Primacy Online , corpses do not turn into light particles like in a children's VRMMO, and the nauseating stench of rotting zombie carcasses and brains fills the air. We steadily build a wall of dead zombies around ourselves.

  "I love the reek of dead zombies in the night!" My elated shout echoes from the village's plateau.

  "Liar. Do not shout. This is an Extermination Zone. There is no telling what you might attract."

  Ding!

  I take a quick look at my quest journal.

  Save the Village from the Walking Dead.

  Kill 50 undead. (50/50)

  Status: Complete

  Reward: ??

  "The quest is complete. Do you want to open a path to the rope ladder or hold off the horde in the rear?"

  Raven laughs. "We have a sea of free experience, and you want to leave? Also, why are you letting all the loose experience go to waste?" Raven Goddess' tone of voice sounds puzzled, but with our backs to each other, I cannot see her expression.

  "I can't keep the QCP vision up. Without it, I can't suck up any extra XP."

  Raven Goddess laughs merrily. "You are out of practice."

  "It's been five years since I last cheated."

  Raven Goddess scoffs. "QCP Vision is a ridiculous Ability name, but after we finish, I will show a few tricks to use the QCP Vision, as you call it, at will."

  I gasp theatrically. "You just used an acronym."

  "I did not! I used your name for a Non-System Ability that has no proper name."

  Raven Goddess' indignant tone makes me laugh. We are surrounded by dead and soon to be dead zombies, and I am having the most fun I have had in years.

  "What do you mean by Non-System Ability?"

  Half a minute passes before Raven Goddess says anything. "The ability to see the energy web of the Quantum Control Program comes from you, not the system. Anyone that can see it is highly vulnerable to acquiring Thompson's Syndrome. The more that you use your QCP Vision, the faster your Thompson's Syndrome will progress."

  I do not ask any more questions, and Raven Goddess does not say anything else. It is not like I did not already know that I would die from playing Primacy Online , and at least, I will be in a cryo-capsule. It will all just hit me in one fell swoop when World War IX ends.

  We may have completed the quest, but there are still hundreds of zombies, with some skeletons mixed in, milling around us.

  A mottled grey form on the outside of the zombie swarm catches my eye.

  Common Ghoul (Fighter) Level 5

  » HP 1200/1200

  Ghouls are a lot stronger and tougher than zombies. Being Level 5, it is not terribly surprising that it has ten times the HP of a Level 1 zombie. It should be more dangerous than an equal Level Boss in a non-Ext
ermination zone. If we were normal players, this would be a nearly impossible fight.

  "We have company. A ghoul is sneaking around the edge of the zombies."

  "This is why I told you to be quieter."

  Raven Goddess' tone sounds slightly miffed, and I laugh.

  "You are still the most obnoxious man I have ever met. You are absolutely insufferable."

  I keep one eye on the ghoul and the other on the zombies. "If we try to climb the ladder, the undead bastards will be all over us before we reach the top."

  Ghouls are rather fast and good jumpers, to begin with, and I do not want to think about how much of a boost that thing is getting from the Difficulty Multiplier. They are not the kind of monster you want chasing you

  "It might not, but it is not worth taking the risk." Raven Goddess sounds pensive.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Do you understand how Difficulty Multipliers are calculated?" Something is off about the way Raven Goddess phrased that question.

  "What do you mean by calculated? I thought the Difficulty Multiplier was an across the board boost to a monster or NPCs stats."

  Raven Goddess laughs. "No, it is not in the least similar to a Grade, Level or Rank increase. A monster with a Difficulty Multiplier is exactly the Level, Grade, and Rank listed for it, but it has hidden Characteristics, Talents, and Abilities that give it the multiplier. Sometimes they can be very esoteric, and other times they are very straightforward. The Quantum Control Program calculates their Difficulty Multiplier based on how much they boost the monsters. The zombies have hidden Vitality, Enhanced Strength, Damage Resistance talents, and that ghoul is similar.

  "We will be better off if we keep killing the zombie swarm."

  With Raven Goddess and I working as a team, none of the zombies live long enough to be a threat. After destroying over 50 of the zombies myself, I have become comfortable enough with fighting in this body that only an attack here and there does not exceed 100% Skill Expression, and as long as I break the 100% mark, my attacks are almost guaranteed to be one hit kills.

  Even though we are surrounded by the zombie swarm, I make certain to not lose track of the ghoul.