Table of Contents
Title Page
VEIL Online
Copyrights
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Please Leave a Review
Join the Adventure
LitRPG
More LitRPG
Acknowledgements
About the Author
VEIL Online
VEIL ONLINE
Book 3
An Epic LitRPG Series
Written by John Cressman
Copyright © 2020 John Elijah Cressman
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, subject “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
ISBN: 978-1-7351302-1-7 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-7351302-2-4 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-7351302-0-0 (Amazon Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-7351302-3-1(Audiobook)
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s twisted imagination.
Front cover image by Karen Dimmick from ArcaneCovers.com.
Book design by Rebecka Yaeger of Becka’s Best Author Services.
Printed by Maverick-Gage Publishing in conjunction with IngramSpark, in the United States of America.
First printing edition 2020.
Maverick-Gage Publishing
Allentown, PA
[email protected]
www.maverick-gage.com
John Elijah Cressman
www.johnecressman.com
This book is dedicated to grandmother and grandfather on my mother's side, Alice Elizabth and Cliffard Francis Murrary, and my grandmother and grandfather on my dad's side, Miriam Ruth and Carl Franklin Cressman, who never got to see me published.
And to my cat Luna, who continues to allow me to be her servant and take care of all of her needs.
Prologue
Jace, or Jynx as he was now calling himself, climbed onto the deck and stretched. They’d been on the ship for three days now and Jace was restless. The ship wasn’t exactly small, but the cabins were tiny. And apparently, being a Baronet meant nothing on the ship. Other than the captain who got her own quarters, and the crew who slept in a large open room below, all the passenger cabins were the same size.
This was one of the few times he missed his old apartment, back in the real world. Though now, it was something he could never see again. He’d found out that he wasn’t the real Jace Burton. Rather, he was a copy of the mind of the real Jace Burton, uploaded into the most sophisticated virtual reality world ever created, VEIL Online.
The real Jace Burton was in a coma after a car accident in which the paramedics had pronounced him dead. Even though the real Jace had later been revived, the paramedics had inadvertently triggered Jace’s last will and testament that specified that his last “brain backup” was uploaded into the system.
But things didn’t go as planned. Instead of waking up in his VEIL Online character, a level 95 vampyre assassin named Mordred, he had been inserted into a monster body. Every time he had died, he had jumped into a different monster body, unable to communicate with other players.
Before being inserted into the game, Jace had worked as a computer programmer for WorldCog and had managed to “hack” his way into a player body. He’d made his way to the capital of the land he’d spawned, a city called Whitecliff.
In Whitecliff, he’d located an artifact called the Help Desk. The Help Desk was left over from the beginning of the game when VEIL Online support was handled solely in-game. The company soon realized this was impractical and had moved support to their website. But the Help Desk had remained, if you knew where to look for it.
In reaching the Help Desk, Jace had discovered that his old co-worker, Damian, had been the one who had created a bug that was causing people to appear in monster bodies. The bug also relieved them of any money they willed into the game.
Jace had told support about Damian and about the bug which turned out to be less of a bug and more like malicious code created by the senior programmer for his own good. But, Damian had discovered what he was doing and moved the Help Desk before he’d finished his conversation with support.
Worse, Jace knew that a player controlled an epic, raid-level dragon. Whatever player now controlled the dragon, he or she was systematically destroying cities. It had been heading for Whitecliff, forcing Jace and his friends to leave right after talking to the Help Desk.
It was Midweek. That was three days ago. The dragon would have reached the city two days ago, which was Monday, or Moonsday in the game. Since they’d been at sea the entire time, heading north to the gnome homeland, they’d heard no news of whether Whitecliff had survived.
Jace hoped it had. He had earned himself the in-game title of Baronet, which came with a manor and some vineyards to the south. It would be nice if they still existed. Noble titles were purchasable in the game - for the right price. In Jace’s case, it was probably a million gold, or the real world equivalent of 100,000 US dollars. If it were gone, it would take him a long time to earn back that money in the game.
Looking around the deck of the ship, he spotted Mika and Diana at the bow of the ship. Both women were players he’d found trapped in monster bodies and had freed. Somehow the ability to talk with monsters had stayed with him through his “hack” to human player form.
He’d helped others as well but hadn’t run into them yet. It was no surprise since VEIL Online was an enormous world. He’d once heard that the virtual planet that made up VEIL Online was almost twice as large as the real Earth.
The company claimed no one had seen it all, plus there was an entire world underneath the world and even creatures and monster civilizations that lived on the bottom of the ocean. It really was an enormous
game, run by the world’s most powerful supercomputers. And now, it was his permanent home.
He walked over Mika and Diana. Mika was a Japanese woman who had never come right out and told Jace her age, but he guessed she had been in her early twenties when she had died. She looked beautiful, but that’s how the game worked. The game put you in your genetically perfect body permanently set at age 25. But more than that, Mika had an enthusiasm and optimism that had helped keep his spirits up.
The woman next to him was equally stunning. Taller than Mika, Diana was a raven haired woman with a more voluptuous figure. Unlike Mika, Diana had lived a full life and was in her mid-90s when she had died and been inserted in the game. A former romance writer, she was now in the genetically perfect body of her 25-year-old self.
“There you are, dear one,” Diana said as she spotted him. “And Luna too, I see.”
Jace looked down to his familiar, an orange tabby cat he’d named Luna, after his dead sister. Luna was his familiar, but as he’d discovered quickly, his speak-with-monsters ability extended to her. She had become his companion and he couldn’t imagine not having her around.
“Any sight of land,” he asked.
“No land,” Mika replied and gave Jace a bright smile. “But the ocean is clear.”
Jace smiled weakly, remembering the first night, when they’d encountered a storm and Jace learned that he could get seasick in a virtual ship. It had not been pleasant.
“Four more days to Nynymmost,” he stated. “That’s depressing.”
“Well then,” Diana said. “We may have some pleasant news.”
“Oh?” Jace raised an eyebrow.
“We are stopping at a port tomorrow,” Mika grinned.
“Really?” Jace asked excitedly. He could really use a break from the ship at this point. Plus, they might get some news about Whitecliff and whether the city remained.
As if reading his mind, Mika reached out and took his hand. “Maybe Whitecliff killed the dragon.”
Jace gave her a smile but neither of them really believe it. In the hands of a player, a raid level monster like a dragon was nearly impossible to kill. Especially if that player knew the game mechanics. While a normal dragon AI might have the dragon land, making it vulnerable to attack, a player could rain down destruction from high above, never coming close enough for any weapons to touch it.
When he’d been at the Help Desk, he’d warned support that a player was controlling the dragon, but he wasn’t sure if they believed him or if they would wait until they did some investigation before they would act. And even though the person he’d talked with had said they would contact Jace in-game, he’d had no word from them.
“I just want a hot bath,” Diana said. “All this salty air and lack of hot water is making me feel all dirty.” The older woman gave him a wink. “And I don’t mean the good kind of dirty.”
The old Jace might have blushed at the woman’s blatant flirting but Jace had gotten used to it. He’d realized Diana was an incorrigible flirt, at least with Jace. That and knowing she was old enough to be his grandmother also helped him to ignore her advances.
“We have enough money,” Jace said. Along with the title of Baronet, Jace had inherited over half a million gold from the previous Baronet. He’d helped the royal guard to uncover a plot by Baronet Tiebaut to steal the princess’ tiara. The king had executed the former Baronet and given his lands and titles to Jace as a reward.
Unfortunately, they’d burned through much of the money so far getting to the Help Desk and then more money changing their name to hide them from Damian. They had split the remaining money between the three of them.
“True, dear one.” Diana smiled. “Hopefully we’re in port long enough that I can actually get a hot bath.”
“Do we know how big the city is? Is it a human city or gnomish city?” Jace asked.
Diana turned to Mika, who just shrugged. “She didn’t say.”
“I’ll go talk to her. If it’s a larger city, maybe we can get some news about Whitecliff,” he told them. “Plus, it might be possible to send a raven message to Charlena.”
“Raven message?” Diana asked.
“It’s a type of... Um… certified letter, for lack of a better analogy,” Jace explained. “It’s expensive but the raven will find whoever you send the message to and delivers the message. Then it flies back to you and tells you it was delivered.”
“That’s very modern,” Diana said.
“Except for the raven,” Jace offered. “It costs like a thousand gold to send a message to someone in the same faction and even more to the other factions. Plus, it’s not instant. The raven has to actually fly to the target, though it has a special tracking algorithm. As long as you give it the character name, it will find them.”
“Is that what Damian will use to try to find us?” Mika asked.
Jace nodded. “Something similar. But since we changed our names, it shouldn’t work now. Theoretically. Honestly, that wasn’t a part of the game I really had a lot of exposure too. It was more of the support side where I was on the troubleshooting team.”
“Let’s hope he can’t find us,” Mika said and then she frowned. “What are you going to tell Charlena?”
Jace knew Mika didn’t care for Charlena and that Charlena’s affection for him was part of the reason. Mika seemed to care about him, and they’d shared a few kisses but he wasn’t about to start something serious with her when he might not be around.
He’d told support that he was Jace’s twin brother, something that would explain the same DNA. If they discovered the truth, that he was the consciousness of a live person who had been inserted accidentally, they’d be forced to delete him. He’d simply cease to exist.
Even knowing that the real Jace was out there, in the real world, didn’t make him feel any better. He felt real. In every aspect, he was the same as any other person who had been inserted into the game. With only one difference, his real self was still alive.
He realized Mika was still waiting for an answer. “I’m not sure. There’s only so much I can tell her. Even sending her the message is dangerous. If Damian is monitoring her, this could lead him back to us.”
“You can at least warn her about Damian,” Diana said. “That’s not something Damian can use against us. And let her know we contacted support.”
Jace nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I can’t mention the real Jace or the fact that I’m just a copy. I’m not sure what he would do with that information, but it wouldn’t be good.”
They lapsed into silence then as they considered Jace’s words. None of them knew exactly what Damian was capable of, and none of them wanted to find out either.
Chapter 1
They arrived in Lasthaven around 6am on Tavernday. Jace and the girls had watched from the bow as the ship approached the town. From what Jace could tell, it wasn’t even half the size of the capital. It was closer to the size of Crossroads, a town he’d visited on his way to Whitecliff.
“Do you think it will have a raven messenger?” Mika asked.
Jace held his hand above his eyes, shielding them from the glare of the morning sun. “I can’t tell. I’ll have to ask around.”
“As long as there’s an inn with a bath, I’ll be happy,” Diana stated.
“Be careful,” he told them. “And avoid using your name whenever possible.”
“Do you think Damian is looking for us too?” Mika asked.
“I don’t think so. But Damian’s smart,” he replied. “He could have questioned some of the people at the party and found out that I came with two women. He might even have checked with the patents office and found our name changes.”
“But I thought you framed him for theft of the princess’ necklace,” Diana cut in.
“Me too,” Jace admitted. “But I just don’t know what resources he might have. Who knows how much gold he has at this point?”
“Stolen gold!” Mika argued.
“Yes. Stol
en gold. But if he has tens of millions of gold at his disposal, he might just be able to buy a pardon. For that matter, he might be able to pay off another member of nobility to ask the questions for him,” Jace said.
“You aren’t exactly inspiring hope,” Diana told him.
Jace shrugged. “Sorry, but I don’t want any of us to let our guard down. Damian had me fooled. Had everyone on the team fooled - for years.”
“You assume the team members were fooled. Is it possible they were in on it?” Diana asked.
He thought about it for a moment before answering. “I don’t think so. Damian kept to himself and he wasn’t the trusting sort. I doubt he would have shared his plan, or the money, with anyone.”
“Do you think support is investigating him?” Mika asked.
“I hope so,” Jace told her. “But we won’t know for sure unless they contact us.”
“Couldn’t Damian just delete the evidence or what he did? The code or whatever it is he created?” Diana wondered. “Cover his tracks. That sort of thing.”
Jace frowned. He’d been thinking the same thing. Would Damian cut his losses and wipe out any trace of the code he created? Damian might be many things, but he wasn’t stupid. He probably had a contingency plan. Or maybe not.
Then again, maybe Damian was too arrogant to assume he’d ever get caught. After all, from what Jace knew from talking with the other players he’d rescued, some of them had been in monster bodies for over two years. That meant Damian had been stealing people’s money for years without getting caught.
“Let’s hope not,” he told Diana. “If he dumps the code, it might be years before they figure out what he did and are able to fix it.”
“Years?” Diana and Mika said at the same time.
“Hopefully that’s an exaggeration.” He smiled but then let it slip. “There are literally billions of lines of code that make this game work. Without knowing exactly what he did, they’ll need to reverse engineer it. That could potentially take months or years.”
Diana let out an exasperated breath and turned to stare Lasthaven.
Veil Online - Book 3: An Epic LitRPG Adventure Page 1