Cyber Squad - Level 1: A Gamelit/LitRPG Lite Cyberpunk Adventure

by A. K. Mocikat

  Everyone who had been invited to join in today was a seasoned high-level player wearing only the finest equipment that dropped in the most challenging dungeons and arenas.

  No wonder, as what the group intended to accomplish was serious business. The Dark Lair was the newest trial, only released the previous week. Trials were basically nothing else but more advanced and challenging dungeons designed for teams of twelve players instead of the classic formation of four that went into group dungeons together: two damage dealers, one healer, one tank.

  To be effective, a trial needed two tanks, two healers and eight damage dealers. The Dark Lair was challenging for experienced players on normal difficulty and hardcore on veteran difficulty.

  And that was exactly what the group was attempting to beat today. It would be extremely tough, but the best loot in the game dropped at exactly such instances.

  Shortly after they arrived, a message flashed up in Kai’s field of view.

  Redrum666 has sent you a group invite. Do you want to accept?

  He accepted, and a second later the right corner of his HUD showed the gamer tags of all twelve players in the party, as well as their character class, level and life stats. The red health bar was at full capacity for all players, but that would no doubt change soon.

  Finishing his last preparations before the game started in less than five minutes, Kai felt excited. Maybe Stan was right after all, and a challenging distraction like this was exactly what he had needed.

  “Have you ever heard of Cyber Squad?” he asked his friend to pass the time until the gates to the dungeon opened.

  Stan spun around and looked at him. “Sure have. Those guys are badass! Why?”

  “I saw an ad on the train the other day. Apparently they’re recruiting.”

  “Oh wow. Was it personalized at you?”

  “It was. Addressed me directly by name.”

  Stan whistled, then drew his huge sword and began swinging it, practicing different forms of attacks and blocks. “Then you caught their attention. Are you gonna apply?”

  Kai shrugged. “I never thought about it. But I had very specific plans with my life until two days ago. Not anymore–”

  His friend stopped his practice and grabbed Kai’s shoulder instead. “Don’t even think about it, ok?”

  “Why?”

  “Have you been living under a rock, mate? It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The easiest way to get killed or turn into a drooling vegetable.”

  “It also pays well…”

  “That’s true. But is money really worth the risk? I mean, we all should be grateful for what those guys are doing. But becoming part of it? No chance in hell–”

  “Ok, team, let’s do this,” a familiar voice interrupted. Red and a few others were already standing at the gate, where a holographic timer was counting down the last minute. “Check your equipment one last time and go to the vendor if you need health, stam or mag pods.[11] This is gonna be tough but we can do it!”

  Some people mumbled their agreement, but otherwise everyone was deeply focused. For most of the players gathered there, it would be the first time that they entered a new trial on veteran mode. Everyone was excited.

  When the countdown went down all the way to zero, the heavy iron gate opened with a rattle and the players stared down a dimly lit tunnel leading directly into a dark cave. Cold wind smelling of death and decay hit their faces as they marched through the gate, and the neutral music of the lobby turned into a dark tune of suspense.

  Chapter Six

  The path descending into the darkness was narrow and only allowed the players to walk in single file. Silence filled the cavern, the only noise coming from the water dripping from the massive stalactites, some of them 30 feet or more. The wind whistling through the rock formations had something menacing about it and, at times, sounded like whispers in the dark.

  Somewhere deep below, the sound of fast running water indicated an underground creek or maybe even a river. From time to time, a quick scurrying noise reached Kai’s ears and made his skin crawl. It was his first time in this dungeon, but he had read everything about it when it was released. Even if he had not, the sound was a very well-known one to every RPG player and experienced dungeon explorer. Spiders. Huge ones. And lots of them.

  It took the party a couple of minutes to descend to the bottom of the cave. Red used the time for a lecture.

  “Ok, let’s talk about mechanics,” he said in that smug tone typical of him. “Who of you have done this trial before?”

  About half of the party answered with a ‘yes’, the rest kept quiet. Usually, Kai and Stan agreed that the guild leader’s sermons about mechanics were annoying as fuck, but in this case Kai was all ears. He had heard that some of the bosses in this dungeon were extremely tough, and every experienced player knew that learning the mechanics of each boss was crucial for beating the more challenging dungeons and trials. Like most others who played this game regularly, he knew the boss mechanics of all important dungeons by heart, which was why he usually hated Red’s lectures.

  “The first boss is pretty standard, a little warm-up, so to speak. The main tank, aka me, will draw his attention while the off-tank focuses on the adds. Cloud, Serene and Eldritch will eliminate the adds as they keep coming while the rest of you go straight for the big, fat son of a bitch. All clear?”

  “Yes, sir!” Stan said with exaggerated enthusiasm.

  Kai chuckled. Sooner or later, his friend would be thrown out of the guild if he continued mocking Red like that. Stan had been trying to convince Kai to form their own guild for months, but Kai was hesitant. It would be a lot of work, and he would rather spend his time slaying monsters and enemy players instead of organizing shit.

  Just before they reached the bottom, Kai noticed a glitch. The rock formations they passed to their left flickered for a second then changed their shape. That was nothing unusual, though, and players were more than used to such occurrences. Some games were glitchier than others, but TSOTA usually ran relatively stable. However, it was especially after new content or updates were released that glitches could sometimes occur. Environmental flickers such as the one Kai had just witnessed were harmless and common, as were occasional clipping bugs. Kai just hoped they wouldn’t encounter more severe issues. There was hardly anything more frustrating than not being able to finish an instance because of a showstopper bug.

  Following the others, Kai jumped from a ledge into the arena-like bottom of the cave. The ledge was just high enough that it didn’t cause more than 10% damage when jumping down, but it was impossible to climb back up. On one side the arena was confined by rocks and on the other by a cliff. A typical point of no return in a game. From here on, there were only two ways to leave the dungeon: as a victor or as a corpse. There was also a third option: abandon the instance and logging off. But that was out of the question for a serious player with honor in their bones. After all, everyone hated quitters.

  The music changed from a slow tune of suspense to a faster and more dramatic score. It indicated that they were approaching a dungeon boss. And they didn’t have to wait long.

  The tapping noise grew louder, followed by a bone-chilling shriek. Then eight oversized legs, each one as tall as a tree, appeared behind a rock formation.

  “Get ready!” Red commanded.

  Everyone in the team drew their weapons; swords, bows, fireballs. Illumination spread through the cave and made it appear even more impressive, having been hidden mostly in darkness.

  The shriek grew louder and a spider of the size of a mammoth appeared from behind the rocks, rising to its full height. Its multiple eyes glowed red and its gigantic maw showed oversized fangs and drooled.

  The sight gave Kai the creeps. He hated spiders. Yet, for some reason, game devs loved throwing them at players as often as they could. There was hardly a creature more common in RPGs than the giant spider. And this one was a particularly frightening specimen.

  A t
ag appeared above the spider’s head.

  The Guardian

  Dungeon Boss/Arachnid

  2500000/2500000

  Even for high-class damage dealers with a DPS rate of more than 20k, it would take a while to bring this beast down.

  “Careful, he’s gonna pounce! Roll dodge!” Red warned.

  The hairy spider legs tensed, then the monstrous arachnid leaped into the air and jumped right onto the group. Kai performed a roll dodge evasive maneuver and dove into safety as one of the legs crashed onto the spot where he had been standing just a second ago. Only now he noticed that all eight legs ended in razor-sharp, black claws. Most likely a one-hit death strike if a damage dealer got hit by it directly.

  But the team was well-versed and no one had got hurt. So far, so good.

  Kai felt his heart pounding as a wave of pleasant adrenaline rushed through his body. Red drew his sword and performed a class-specific attack to taunt the monster. Immediately, the Guardian turned his attention to the tank and began slashing at him furiously, using its four front legs. The tank took a blocking stance, covering his body with his shield.

  He maybe was a pompous asshole, but Kai had to give Red credit for being an excellent tank. Yellow numbers appeared above the shield, indicating the damage the boss did with every hit: 7k, 15k, even 25k. A squishy DPS would be instant toast.

  Now that the arachnid was occupied, Kai and the other damage dealers launched their assault.

  His sword outstretched, Kai performed a combo of three consecutive attacks, aiming at one of the spider’s back legs.

  5000, 3700, 8000, Critical! 16500 appeared in red above the monster as he hit it.

  Not bad!

  More numbers flashed all around the massive boss as the other damage dealers hit it with all they had.

  “Watch out for the adds!” Red called out. “Use AoEs[12] on them!”

  Not stopping his attack, Kai turned his head and saw at least two dozen spiderlings approach. About the size of a Great Dane, some of the ‘little’ arachnids came running from the dark corners of the cave, their feet making that uncanny noise on the stone floor that every RPG player hated. Others came down the stalactites or descended on silk threads from the ceiling.

  As instructed, the three dedicated damage dealers and the off-tank turned their attention to the spiderlings. The Sorceress cast a powerful ice AoE attack that slowed the swarm down while the other two began slashing through the arachnids that looked almost as disgusting as their big-ass counterpart.

  Convinced his teammates would do their job just fine, Kai turned his attention back to the boss.

  After taking heavy damage for a minute, the Guardian stopped attacking the tank, stood up on its back legs and let out a bone-shaking shriek.

  “Careful, the fucker’s gonna spit!” Red warned.

  Too late. The Guardian had already opened its horrible mouth and released a massive cloud of green and clearly venomous ichor.

  Just before the spider’s nasty DoT[13] attack could hit Kai and the fighters closest to him, a luminous shield appeared around them. A ranged attack, the venom bounced off the shield and disappeared.

  “Thanks, Life!” Kai called. He didn’t even have to look to know it had been her who had cast the protective spell. Life was by far the best healer he had ever encountered.

  “You’re welcome,” she answered, with that calm attitude typical of her, while simultaneously casting a healing spell over the players engaging the adds who were taking a fair amount of damage.

  The Guardian tensed its legs again, then pounced into the group attacking it. Kai roll-dodged into safety easily, but Renegade1617 wasn’t so lucky. He was still a relatively new player who had been playing TSOTA for a couple of months and only got into the guild because he was buddy-buddy with Red. One of the oversized spider legs hit him straight in the chest and the razor-sharp claw impaled him.

  Renegade shrieked, then his body turned limp and gray. On his HUD, Kai saw that the guy’s health bar had dropped to zero. To make his insta-death appear even more frightening, the Guardian lifted the impaled body up and smashed it against the wall.

  “Whoa,” Stan said. “That’s a bloody badass move!”

  “Haha,” the now disembodied voice of the fallen warrior said dryly. “Can someone please revive me?”

  “On it,” the off-healer said, already on the move to his fallen comrade.

  “Don’t–” Red tried to warn his teammate, but it was too late.

  As soon as the healer came close enough to revive the dead Renegade, the Guardian lashed out and impaled him as well.

  “The fuck!” the healer shouted angrily. “You wanted to share that mechanic with the rest of us when exactly, Red?”

  “Shut up! I didn’t expect any of us would fall. This boss is supposed to be a warm-up, not a wipe!”

  “We’re far from a wipe,” Life chimed in calmly. “Focus, everyone!”

  She was right. The giant spider was down to almost 50%. The DPS was doing a solid job.

  Performing his roll-dodges had drained Kai’s stamina to 35%, so he accessed his quickslots and used a stam pod. Back to 100%, he performed another attack combo, landing a critical hit of 21000.

  A second wave of spiderlings appeared as the boss fell below 50% health. Kai saw them crawling at frightening speeds from all directions. But suddenly they froze. They were set back a couple of meters, unfroze, then kept running toward the party.

  Kai furrowed his virtual brow. That was the second glitch within less than ten minutes. And it was never a good sign if NPCs glitched.

  He focused his attention back on the boss spider, which again stood up on its back legs, ready to spit another round of venom. The huge, drooling maw opened and green ichor appeared – then it suddenly froze in mid-air.

  As did the Guardian.

  The gigantic arachnid had frozen. Erect on his back legs with venom at his mouth, he made a disturbing sight.

  Moans and sighs of frustration could be heard from the team.

  “Ah, come on,” Stan called out. “That’s rubbish!”

  “What? What happened?” asked the dead healer, who was in the twilight zone and couldn’t see what was happening around his dead body.

  “The game froze,” Kai said, looking around.

  After a brief inspection of the cave, it was apparent that it wasn’t only the Guardian that had frozen. All the spiderlings were motionless in the middle of their attack mode, and even the sound had stopped. No running water could be heard. Only the dramatic combat music kept going, which made glitches like this even more annoying.

  For a moment, everyone remained in combat stance, waiting for the game to unfreeze and the spider to continue with its attack.

  When nothing happened, they slowly began standing at ease and sheathing their weapons.

  “So, what now?” someone asked.

  Red shrugged. “We wait for it to unfreeze.”

  “Pff, as if that ever happened before,” Stan said.

  The guild leader shot him an irritated glance but said nothing.

  “Can someone please revive me, for heaven’s sake?” the dead healer sighed.

  “Hang on,” LifeSupport said, approaching the two fallen players.

  “Sorry, not working,” she added after a moment. “The crystals won’t work.”

  “Ugh. Fuck my life,” the healer said.

  “Why?” Stan complained, stepping beside Kai. “Why does it always have to happen with freshly released content? Why can’t they drop a finished product for once?”

  Kai grinned. “You’ve been around for a while, dude. Can you remember it being any different?”

  “Nope. But–”

  Huge, red glowing 3D letters appeared in the air filling the cave.

  “Attention, players currently located in the Dark Lair,” a feminine AI voice read the writing aloud. It came from everywhere at once and was impossible to mute. Whatever the game system was attempting to communicate had to be
of the highest importance.

  Everyone jerked their heads. The ones who had begun chatting with each other fell silent. Glitches were common, but announcements like this one were not.

  “We are currently experiencing an unusual occurrence in this location,” the voice continued while the words flew through the cave. “We ask you to keep a distance from NPCs as much as possible. Remain calm and stay where you are. Please, do not log out of the instance or the game. I repeat, do not start the log-off process under any circumstances. Help is on the way. Please remain calm!”

  The party members stared at each other in disbelief. Stan’s broad face formed a surprised O.

  “What in the bloody fucking hell?”

  “I know,” Kai said. “Odd. Very odd.”

  An uneasy feeling crept up Kai’s spine. Standing in this huge, dark cave, surrounded by motionless spider NPCs that appeared as if they were waiting for the right moment to strike and finish everyone off when they least expected it, felt anything but comforting. The feeling became even stronger when he glanced at the frozen giant spider, hovering above them, its front legs outstretched, ready to impale anyone who was stupid enough to get close.

  Although TSOTA was a virtual world, driven by algorithms and a powerful game engine, it appeared as real as the world outside. If it weren’t for the HUDs, tags and the player’s ability to access their inventory or the game menu using their minds, it could have been real. The players could feel cold and warm and even a breeze on their virtual skin. They could see and hear everything that happened around as they would in their real body. And they even could smell the scents of wildflowers or exotic fruits and odors coming from monsters and wild animals.

  Players couldn’t feel pain, yet they felt an unpleasant sensation when taking damage or dying, and as far as their bodies outside of VR were concerned, everything was as real as it could be. Players’ bodies produced adrenaline when in battle, sweat when sprinting, endorphins when they got rewarded for a heroic quest, and arousal when they encountered mature content.

  But they could also experience stress, fear, panic, and even shock. Which was why Survival Horror games came with explicit warnings. It wasn’t uncommon for people to die of heart attacks or exhaustion while experiencing adventures in VR.