Hate: A LitRPG Novel (Tower of Gates Book 2)

by Paul Bellow

  “Me,” Bernard said. “I lied before.”

  “What were you in prison for?” Eric asked.

  “Nothing bad,” Evan said. “We were eco-warriors who protested.”

  “Yeah,” Ewen added. “So, when we became brownies in the forest, we stayed as NPCs, making the best of it. I don’t think we’re meant to get out.”

  “We both didn’t, until you came along,” Evan said. “We hadn’t seen a new player in so long, but you’ve given us hope.”

  Ewen nodded his head.

  “That’s why we’ve been following you,” he said. “Since we saw you in the forest. We thought you might know the way out.”

  “You two have been following me?” I asked.

  “Not in a bad way,” Evan said. “We needed to know you more.”

  “This is a lot to digest,” I said. “And we still have to finish this quest.”

  “Don’t worry,” Evan said. “Things will go great with us here now.”

  I smiled at his naïve enthusiasm.

  “About your appearance...” I said.

  “What about it?” Ewen asked.

  “I need to cast a spell to make you into goblins.”

  “Will it work on us?” Evan asked in an alarmed tone. “Is it permanent? Will it wear off eventually? How about the smell?”

  “Slow down,” I said, smiling. “One question at a time. This won’t be permanent, but it will allow us to travel more freely because we won’t stick out.”

  “Great idea,” Evan said.

  Then I remembered my low mana.

  “I only have enough mana to change one brownie,” I said.

  “We can pretend one of them is a prisoner,” Eric offered.

  I turned to the brownies.

  “Does that sound okay to you two?” I asked.

  “I’ll be the prisoner,” Evan said. “It’s just pretend, right? That way I don’t have to look and smell like a goblin.”

  “Sarah’s illusions are very potent,” Eric said then chuckled.

  Evan looked at me, eyes open wide.

  “You remember your real name?” he asked.

  I nodded then asked, “What’s your real name?”

  “I don’t remember,” Evan said.

  “Me neither,” Ewen added. “Such a long time in here.”

  “We’ll find a way out,” Eric said. “I’m sure of it.”

  He had more hope than me after so long in the game.

  “Let’s get walking,” I said. “We’ve got a lot of miles to cover.”

  The four of us continued east toward Tang Province.

  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we had to keep going.

  20

  His Armor Sure Looks Familiar

  Eric

  * * *

  After marching through the day and into the evening with the brownies constantly bickering with each other, we stopped.

  “We’ll camp here for the night,” I said. “Any volunteers for the first guard shift?”

  “I’ll do it,” Evan said excitedly. “Sarah can stay up with me.”

  “No, I need some sleep, little one,” she said.

  “Aw, man,” Evan said in a disappointed tone.

  “She doesn’t like our kind, bozo,” Ewen said.

  “It’s not that,” Sarah said. “We have other things to worry about now.”

  “Yeah,” Evan said. “She and I will have more time after this is all over.”

  I looked over at Sarah, happy to see a smile on her face. Having the brownies with us would make finishing the quest easier.

  “What are we doing for dinner?” I asked.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Evan said. “We’re good at foraging.”

  “Just make sure there’s no mushrooms that make us feel funny,” I said as he left our campsite.

  Evan laughed in a jolly manner as if he knew what I meant.

  “We’ve not found any of those in the game,” he said over his shoulder. “But we’ve got our ears and noses open for them.”

  Before Evan and Ewen left to find us food, I heard someone talking on the nearby road.

  What is it now?

  “Everyone hide,” I said. “We might have a fight on our hands.”

  “I’ll kill ‘em all,” Evan said, wildly brandishing his dagger.

  “Not until I give the word,” I said. “Understand?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Evan said.

  I hid behind a tree as the voice got louder.

  Why only one voice? Slurred speech? A drunk goblin out wandering alone?

  I gripped my goblin short sword as the figure approached in the darkness. The voice sounded familiar somehow.

  The small, armored figure stopped as I stepped into the road.

  “We don’t mean you any harm,” I said.

  A gnome warrior cocked her head to the side as she stared at me. Sarah walked out from behind a tree and toward the road.

  “Do we know you?” I asked, squinting my eyes.

  “Monde no want trouble,” a familiar voice said.

  I turned to Sarah—we both smiled.

  “Monde? Is that you?” I asked.

  “You not Monde.” The gnome drew a sword. “You no hurt Monde.”

  “We don’t want to hurt you,” Sarah said.

  I put away my sword and inched forward.

  “We can help each other,” I said. “Do you understand?”

  She looked from Sarah to me.

  “Monde know you?”

  “We met before, yes,” Sarah said in a soothing voice. “It’s okay.”

  “You no leave Monde again?”

  What’s with this person?

  An idea popped in my head.

  “Do you want to join our party, Monde?” I asked.

  She looked at me quizzically.

  “Monde not sure.”

  “We can help if you join our party,” Sarah said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

  “Monde join party,” she said.

  “It’s not working,” Sarah said.

  “Everyone in the party needs to agree,” Ewen said. “Game rules.”

  “Are you two okay with it?” I asked.

  Evan nodded, but Ewen asked, “Is she...okay?”

  “She’s fine,” I said. “Odd, but she can fight.”

  “That would bring our party to six,” Ewen said. “I agree.”

  Monde the Gnome Fighter has joined your party.

  “Good to have you grouped with us,” Sarah said. “Do you know you’re in a game? What’s your real name?”

  “Monde,” the gnome answered in a serious tone.

  “Don’t overwhelm her,” I said. “Something’s not right.”

  “At least we know she’s a human player and not a computer-controlled NPC,” Sarah said. “Right?”

  I shrugged.

  “Do you know where you are right now?” Sarah asked.

  Monde shook her head.

  “Where is Monde?” she asked.

  “In a game,” Sarah said. “Do you remember before the game?”

  Monde nervously tugged her left ear a few times.

  “Do you have a name outside the game?” I asked.

  “Monde,” the gnome answered.

  “Were you in prison?” Ewen asked.

  “Monde,” she repeated.

  Sarah turned to me and frowned.

  “We’ll figure it out later,” I said. “We’ve got other things to worry about right now.”

  “Like getting through the night,” Ewen said. “If a simple-minded gnome can wander up on us, we’ve not got very good defenses.”

  “No one asked you,” Evan said. “Sarah’s doing great.”

  He looked up at her, his smile still going strong.

  “Wake me up for the last shift,” I said.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” Sarah asked.

  “I will in the morning,” I said. “Tired.”

  She nodded and said, “Okay.”

  As she and the bro
wnies talked, I found a spot on the ground to curl up. Sleep washed over me—a brief respite from the game.

  The next morning, I watched Sarah sleep as I sat on a log. Even in her game body—she reminded me of home—the real world.

  My shift on watch had gone without incident. Could I manage to get us all out of the game? I had to succeed for all of us.

  She opened her eyes and caught me staring.

  I stood and looked away, clearing my throat as I thought of something to say.

  “Good morning, creepy,” she said in a teasing voice.

  “You opened your eyes at the wrong time,” I said. “Time to get up. We should go. Do you have enough mana to cast the illusion on Evan and Monde?”

  She sat up and stretched.

  “I do,” she said. “And more. Why are you trying to change the subject?”

  “We need to go,” I said, clapping my hands. “Time to get up.”

  Both brownies stirred, mumbling for more sleep. Monde stood without a word and walked to a nearby bush to relieve herself.

  Sarah stood then came over to me.

  “Quite a group we’ve assembled,” I said as she stopped. “Can’t see how we’ll be powerful enough to stop Magi Inyontoo, though.”

  “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight,” she said. “It’s the size of the fight in the dog. Don’t you remember us saying that all the time?”

  “So many unnecessary PvP battles,” I said.

  “This is like that,” she said. “It’s difficult, but it’ll be worth it in the end. Trust me. After my dreams last night, I’m ready.”

  “We’ve got great disguises thanks to your magic,” I said. “We should be fine. This isn’t the hardest quest we’ve ever been on.”

  Monde walked over and rubbed her stomach.

  “Hungry,” she said, stopping in front of us.

  “We need to change you into a goblin first,” Sarah said.

  “No,” Monde screamed as she drew her sword defensively.

  “Everyone calm down,” I said, lifting my hands.

  “You can make her a prisoner too,” Evan said. “And save your magic energy. Please don’t make me an ugly goblin like Ewen.”

  I pursed my lips together and nodded, genuinely impressed.

  “Not a bad idea,” I said. “Sarah?”

  “Works for me,” she said.

  “No goblins,” Monde said, still holding up her sword.

  “It’s okay,” Sarah said. “You’re fine. No goblins.”

  What was she like in the real world? Had she been able to even give consent to be sent into the game?

  My thoughts frightened me.

  “Monde hungry,” the gnome said again, rubbing her tummy.

  “Do you have any rations left?” I asked.

  Sarah shook her head.

  “We can find roots and berries,” Evan said as he wandered over. “We’ll be back to save the day as usual—Brownie power style.”

  He walked away from our campsite without a disguise.

  “That’s probably not smart,” I said.

  “We’re out in the wilderness,” Sarah said. “He’s good at finding food.”

  “They’re kinda like Kender and Hobbit had a baby together,” I said.

  Sarah laughed. Monde joined us even if she didn’t understand. Bernard walked over and stopped, stretching his arms toward the sky.

  “Did I miss anything?” he asked.

  “Not much,” I said. “The brownies are getting breakfast.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” he said.

  I smiled despite our potentially dire circumstances. Sometimes you had to go with the flow of life around you.

  “Let’s get packed up,” I said. “We’ve got a lot of walking to do.”

  Bernard and Sarah helped hide any trace of our camp. The brownies returned with food as we finished up. As they put their haul of sweet potatoes and walnuts down on the ground, I sat down and crossed my legs.

  “You guys are doing great,” I said. “Glad you’re in our group.”

  “Finally,” Ewen muttered. “You’re the worst newbies ever.”

  “Leave him alone,” Evan said. “I like Sarah and him.”

  “Monde,” our simple-minded gnome warrior said.

  After finishing a quick breakfast, we walked east toward Tang Province. On our map, the city was massive. I thought about the goblin slums and all the unbalanced craziness tied to various races in the game.

  Was Magi Inyontoo behind it all? Or was there something else I hadn’t noticed? Something sinister?

  I pushed the dark thoughts out of my mind as we marched east. A few miles down the road, I saw the towering walls of a city. They reached at least a hundred feet in the air and were more impressive than anything we’d seen in the game.

  “Hold on,” I said as I stopped next to the road. “We need to come up with a plan if anything goes wrong.”

  “You think something will go wrong?” Sarah asked.

  “No,” I said. “But having a backup plan is a good idea.”

  “If my illusion holds, we’ll be fine,” Sarah said.

  “Everyone just act natural,” I said. “Don’t freak out if someone talks to us. And let me do the talking, okay?”

  “Fine with me,” Sarah said.

  We continued down the road toward the city walls. I hoped we got through the gates without any problems.

  As we approached, I saw two hobgoblins in glistening plate-mail standing in front of the gate. They watched as we walked up.

  “State your business,” the hobgoblin on the left said.

  They both wore helmets that masked their faces.

  “We’re transporting slaves and carrying a message,” I said.

  “Do you have your papers?” the hobgoblin asked.

  Sarah waved her hands.

  “You don’t need our papers,” she said.

  “We don’t need your papers,” the hobgoblin said in a monotone voice. “You’re clear to enter the city. Enjoy your stay.”

  The gate slowly swung open.

  I smiled at Sarah before we walked through the heavily fortified gatehouse. My smile faded as a blue orb flashed when we passed.

  “What was that?” I asked as I kept walking.

  I turned, my eyes widening in horror.

  “Your illusion broke,” I said, pointing at her. “What about me?”

  She nodded, glancing around. The guards were looking outside the walls and hadn’t noticed us in the darkness of the gatehouse.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  “Don’t freak out,” I said. “We’ll figure this out. Can you cast the spell again?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But it’ll take mana.”

  “Do it,” I said. “Quickly.”

  She waved her hands and chanted. The blue orb flashed again.

  “I can’t cast,” she said.

  Monde walked past me and toward the courtyard.

  “Wait,” I said, jogging after her.

  The brownies and Sarah followed. When we reached the courtyard—the sun beating down on us—I saw a couple of dozen hobgoblin warriors.

  “Monde, stop,” I snapped, grabbing her shoulder.

  She pulled her sword in a menacing fashion.

  “What are we going to do?” Sarah asked.

  “I’ll protect you,” Evan said as he took out his dagger.

  “Don’t attack,” I said. “There’s too many of them.”

  Sarah glanced back.

  “The gate’s closed,” she said. “We’re trapped.”

  Ready to die fighting, I held up my pitiful goblin sword.

  The soldiers fanned out, keeping their distance. One of them stepped forward—his armor looked different than the others. Even stranger, it looked exactly like what I was wearing.

  “You’re brave for coming here,” the hobgoblin said.

  He hadn’t drawn his sword, so I lowered mine.

  “We don
’t want trouble,” I said. “We’re simple travelers.”

  The hobgoblin threw his head back and laughed heartily.

  “Simple travelers, huh?” He shook his head. “You look like players on an important quest to me.”

  I glanced at Sarah then back to the hobgoblin.

  “You’re a player?” I asked.

  He nodded and said, “Yes. My name is Prince Drekmao the Guardian. I’m here to offer you safe passage in the Forbidden Kingdom if the stories about you are true.”

  “What stories?” I asked.

  “That you’re trying to stop Magi Inyontoo,” Drekmao said. “Not everyone worships him anymore. His time is coming to an end.”

  “You can offer us safe passage?” Sarah asked.

  Drekmao nodded while stroking his black, well-manicured goatee.

  “You’ve got many questions,” he said. “We should talk. Come with me to the palace. We can eat and prepare for the final leg of your quest.”

  “Finally,” Evan said. “Things are going our way.”

  I smiled but kept my mouth shut.

  “This way,” Drekmao said.

  He turned and walked across the courtyard. The soldiers surrounding him kept their distance while keeping pace with the prince. I hoped we weren’t walking into another trap—but we didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

  21

  Think This Happens Every Day?

  Sarah

  * * *

  As Drekmao led us through the city, part of me couldn’t believe we’d run into a player willing to help us.

  Could we defeat Magi Inyontoo and get out of the stupid game finally?

  Eric walked next to me while Bernard, the brownies, and Monde followed behind. The other soldiers shadowed us until we reached a palace with a distinctively Asian flavor.

  Drekmao stopped and turned.

  “My uncle rules the entire Forbidden Kingdom,” he said. “I’ll take you to see him in the morning. Tonight, you can eat and rest with me.”

  “You live here?” Evan asked then whistled appreciatively.

  “This is where I work toward peace,” Drekmao said.

  “What about all the rumors of a war with the humans?” Bernard asked.

  Drekmao frowned.

  “That’s Magi Inyontoo,” he said. “It’s why you need to stop him.”