It was funny. Fifteen seconds sounded like nothing. But if it was the cooldown between two healing potions, it could last an eternity.
Kai cut through the neck of the last remaining lizard, watching its health bar drop to zero, then leaped to his fallen friend.
“I got you!” he said, summoning one of the crystals out of his inventory that were used to revive a fallen comrade.
As the crystal fired up and immobilized Kai during the process, he saw, from the corner of his eye, that the troll was about to land the final blow on the spider. With one last shriek, the arachnid fell to the ground and dissolved.
“Oh, fuck.”
Stuck in the reviving process, Kai saw the troll swing its club and ram it down on his head.
Everything turned gray as his health bar disappeared. Kai fell right next to his friend.
“That went well,” he said.
They were both shrouded in twilight and could hear the dreaded music that always accompanied death in this game. Why did all games have such a theme? It almost seemed as if the game developers were sneering, implementing a feature everyone hated.
“I don’t think it was that bad,” Stan said.
“We’re both dead and there’s no one to revive us, so I’d say it was bad,” Kai replied. “So, what now?”
“We revive at the spawn point and try again.”
Kai would have rolled his eyes, but he had none in his current state of death.
“And ride the entire way back here? That’ll take ten minutes. No way! Let’s do something else.”
“You owe me!”
“Ok, fine,” he sighed. “But only one time, ok?”
“Pinkie promise!”
***
Hours later, they were back at Kai’s estate and were both busy checking their inventory. Kai jokingly called this doing housework chores. Every RPG player knew that it could take up to an hour to go through one’s inventory, checking all new loot for usefulness. Both of them had gathered a massive amount of loot today after killing three world bosses.
Of course, Stan’s pinkie promise had been worth nothing, as always. They had died two more times before they’d finally been able to beat Biwak, the swamp troll. Every time, they had had to ride the ten-minute distance from the spawn point to the cave.
Just when Kai was about to get upset with his friend, they had finally beaten the monster. Now that he was going through the loot the boss had dropped in detail, Kai had to admit that it had been worth the effort. He’d got several high-value armor pieces, 5k gold and a weapon.
Biwak’s Club (Unique)
Two-handed/Blunt
LVL Requirement: 799
DPS: 25000
Bonus: A direct hit has a 35% chance of stunning the target.
That was pretty decent. Kai could use it for his Barbarian class character.
Besides, both had got the monster trophy, of course. Those unique collectibles dropped when beating a world boss or a dungeon boss. Like every high-level player, Kai had dozens of similar trophies on display in his house. He already had an idea for where to put Biwak’s head. There still was some space on the walls in the dining hall.
They both worked through their inventory in silence for a while. With routine, Kai categorized the loot into three different folders. One was for stuff he would keep for himself and maybe use someday. The second was for valuable stuff that was worth being brought to a vendor to make some coin, and the last one was for junk that he would break down for resources and crafting experience.
“So, what now?” Stan finally asked. “Want to go on a quest together, or would you prefer some PvP?”
“I think I’ll call it a day,” Kai said, still browsing through his inventory.
“You what?” Stan stared at Kai with his big elven eyes.
“I haven’t eaten anything today because I jumped into TSOTA first thing in the morning, and I bet my RL body is starving. Besides, I’m really tired. The job at Cyber Squad is exciting but also pretty challenging, and the four-hour commute every day is killing me.”
“Oh, ok,” Stan said, disappointed. “But you’ll be here next Saturday, won’t you?”
“Sure thing,” Kai replied. “Is there something particular going on next Saturday?”
“Hell yeah. The guild is going on a dragon hunt! There’s a new dragon dropping with the DLC next week and we want our guild to be one of the first to get the trophy. Apparently it will also drop platinum loot. You in?”
“Of course! When did I ever say no to a dragon hunt?”
“Awesome! We need you more than ever now that Red and Cloudgirl are gone.”
“Who’s leading the guild now?”
“LifeSupport took over.”
Kai raised his eyebrows in surprise. So far, he had found Life to be rather quiet. She had never given him the impression that she wanted to be in charge of anything. It had seemed as if she was content with healing and supporting others.
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t expect that either,” Stan shrugged. “But when she came forward, no one objected. And her first idea was to beat the new dragon, so, of course, everyone is excited.”
“I’ll be there,” Kai promised with a smile.
“I heard you say you’re hungry, my love,” a soft voice behind him said. “I cooked you a meal.”
He turned around and saw Freya, his NPC wife, standing behind him, a cheery smile on her face. Her flaxen hair moved in the slight summer breeze and her eyes sparkled with unquestionable devotion. She held a steaming bowl in her hands that contained venison stew, judging by its delicious smell.
Kai felt his stomach rumble and knew that it was his real stomach reacting to the alluring scent. In RL, he had never tasted venison and probably never would.
“Thank you,” he said, reaching out for the food. The instant he touched the bowl it vanished and was added to his inventory. Spouses’ home-cooked meals could be used as stamina buffs before going into combat.
The NPC gave him a saccharine smile. “I’ll be in the house if you need me.”
She turned around and slowly walked back to the house, her round hips moving in an alluring way.
“Damn, what I would give for a woman like that in real life,” Stan said dreamily.
Kai laughed. “Really? Don’t you think the NPCs are a bit dull?”
Admittedly, until not long ago, he too had thought NPCs like Freya were hot. Now that he had come into contact with breathtaking women in real life, he noticed that NPCs were flavorless, soulless. Mere imitations, consisting of pixels and sophisticated code.
And there was one woman in particular he had met who was more magnificent than any NPC could ever be, no matter how realistic they appeared.
“Dull? Why? Freya is hot as fuck. What else do I need? Well,” he added, interrupting his own thoughts. “Of course, the prettiest girls are dull if you can’t fuck them, you’re right about that.”
Stan was referring to the sexless life in TSOTA, a fact he complained about on a regular basis.
“Not quite what I meant,” Kai said.
Bantering and having fun, the friends didn’t pay the NPC any more attention.
As soon as Freya was out of sight, her face changed. The dull bliss and devoted smile vanished and were replaced by a completely different expression.
Freya’s big eyes narrowed, and a cunning smirk appeared on her lips. All of a sudden, she didn’t appear like a soulless construct of pixels and code anymore. She appeared alive. And anything but friendly.
Chapter Seventeen
“Alright, gang, this is it,” Topher said. “Today is our day.”
The squad had gathered in their testing room, and everyone was visibly excited. It was Wednesday morning, shortly after 9 a.m. – the day of the tournament.
“I’m sorry if I pushed you hard over the last week, but you’ll thank me when you win today. And I know you can do it.”
“That would be sensational,” Lex threw in, sitting on her desk and ch
ewing bubble gum. Today she wore ripped black jeans and a black t-shirt with the logo of the game Steampunk 2020. The jeans were stuck into her obligatory Doc Martens boots, this pair in pink. “I can’t remember a Level One team ever winning the tournament.”
“Hey, we’re not all Level One,” Marco objected, straightening up like a rooster.
“Oh, I forgot. Some of you are even Level Two. Wow.” Lex said dryly, then let a bubble plop on her mouth.
“I’m almost Level Three,” Marco said, visibly miffed.
“Let’s focus on the task,” Topher said. “Lex is right. It won’t be easy for you. After all, you’ll be competing with Level Fours, some of whom are close to reaching Five. But your advantage is that you know the mechanics in your sleep and yesterday’s training was excellent. You can do this.”
A rush of excitement rose in Kai as Topher spoke. Even though he felt exhausted, he was also pumped. The last two days had been hardcore. All of them had had to show up at 7 a.m., which was an inconvenience for the team members living on the campus but a total nightmare for Kai, who had had to get up at 4 a.m. and catch the first train at 5. They trained PvP for two hours before their regular testing schedule began, and later they skipped their lunch break so they could finish early and train again.
For Topher, benevolence wasn’t the only reason why he wanted his team to succeed. Tournaments were also important for team leads. The better their team scored, the more progression points the leads gained.
Marco had told Kai that Topher had been stuck at Level Five forever and that he was close to reaching Six. A successful run in the tournament could catapult him there. Behind his back, Marco also explained that they needed to score well for Josh, who was close to being fired. He had overheard a conversation between Topher and Lex the other day, and both had seemed to be convinced that Josh was a hopeless case.
“I mean, sure, he’s not the brightest bulb around, but he’s part of the family,” Marco had explained. “We need to win this for him.”
Kai agreed. He liked Josh, although admittedly he was by far the weakest player in their team. And the worst tester. Most of the time, he was so withdrawn that he overlooked bugs even if they showed up right in front of his nose. Marco was convinced it was because of Josh’s drug abuse. Although it was absolutely forbidden for the testers to consume any kind of drugs, even legal ones such as weed, some, like Josh, had a drug history in the past.
Helltek’s no drug policy was so severe for a simple reason: anything that could influence the functionality of the brain could easily become very dangerous when plugged into VR, especially when connected to brand new software full of glitches. The employees were tested once a week, and anyone who broke the policy was fired on the spot.
Learning this, Kai wondered how many gamers out there risked brain damage every day because of drug use. Even though every game came with a warning to only connect to it when sober, nobody gave a damn about that. On the contrary, there were plenty of illegal substances people took to enhance their VR experience, especially when it came to sex.
There’s some scary shit out there.
Would people still connect their brains to VR if they were fully aware of how dangerous it really was?
The VR industry was the biggest in the world, not only for gaming but also for all other forms of its use. Communication, information… most students visited virtual classrooms nowadays. It was much cheaper and safer, and no one had to leave the house to attend school. Millions of former office jobs took place in VR.
The more Kai learned about the technology and its economic aspects, the more he was convinced that the vast majority of incidents were covered up. By the industry or maybe even governments.
He thought about his missing guildmates and what had happened to them. Most likely, none of them would ever be seen again.
“Alright, let’s move,” Topher said, waking Kai from his brooding. “It’s almost time for the general assembly.”
***
There was much more movement in the halls and corridors than usual. Black-clad figures seemed to come from everywhere, some wearing clothes over their suits, others not. Kai and his team had to wait at the elevators because so many people were going to the surface at the same time. There had to be a staircase somewhere, too, but Kai hadn’t discovered it yet, and obviously nobody bothered to use it anyway.
When they finally reached the surface, the sky was cloudy and the humidity high. Kai could feel sweat building up on his skin, yet it was immediately absorbed by his high-tech suit.
They approached a low, round building that Kai hadn’t seen until now because it was located directly behind the main tower of Helltek HQ. Yet he would have found it easily. All he needed to do was follow the crowd of testers who were coming from everywhere and entering the building.
Inside, only diffuse light came from well-hidden lamps. Kai’s eyes needed a moment to adjust to the semi-darkness. They entered a huge hall decorated with oversized abstract art paintings. This place was not only used for the employees’ monthly general assembly but also for press events and other official occasions.
A small stage was located at the rear end. Brightly illuminated, it featured an oversized Helltek logo and, next to it, a holographic blue globe rotating around its axis. It was the CI of Orbis, Helltek’s mother company.
The air was filled with murmuring, excitement and a pleasant scent of rose and sandalwood coming from invisible air dispensers. Like all other architecture at Helltek, the assembly hall had Feng Shui written all over it.
While the place was slowly but surely filling up, Kai let his gaze wander over the crowd, studying the people who had come together. There were at least five hundred people there, maybe more. The hall was probably big enough to accommodate over a thousand. Everyone was young, in their twenties and thirties from the look of them. Most were in good or excellent shape and wore fashionable haircuts and clothes over their gimp suits.
It was interesting to study all those people, but if Kai was honest with himself, there was one particular girl he was hoping to see. Her tall figure and white hair should have been easy to spot even in a crowd of such a size, but she was nowhere to be seen. Kai couldn’t help but feel disappointed. The thought of her alone made his heart flutter.
Suddenly he could feel eyes resting on him.
Turning his head, he stared into Maeve’s gorgeous face. She and the other girls of her squad were standing not far away. Like the other day, they all were dressed up like anime Gothic Lolitas, and their make-up easily stood out in the crowd. A lascivious smile appeared on Maeve’s face and she winked at Kai, then she turned away and focused on the stage in the front.
Heat rushed to Kai’s cheeks, and he was grateful for the semi-darkness which covered it up. Besides, his co-testers were deep in conversation about the last tournament, which apparently had not gone well for them.
Then he felt an elbow hit his side, and Marco whispered: “There. The Twins from Hell in persona.”
Kai turned his attention to the stage. He had been so focused on his search for Alice among the crowd that he hadn’t even noticed that two figures had entered the stage. A man and a woman.
They both were blond and dressed in expensive-looking, almost identical business suits. The woman’s one had a slightly different, more feminine cut. But both were crafted of the same, black velvet-like material and both wore a shirt of white silk beneath it. It was apparent at first sight that those two people were siblings, most likely twins. Their faces had the same shape with a distinctive nose, bright blue, narrow eyes and thin lips. They seemed to be in their late thirties, but Kai couldn’t say for sure. Maybe they were older and had an excellent plastic surgeon.
But the fact was that Gregor and Marie-Louise Hell were impressive figures, if not intimidating.
“They must have an important announcement, otherwise they wouldn’t show up in person,” Marco said in Kai’s ear. “Usually they send one of their management lackeys to hold the
monthly assembly.”
“Good morning, Helltek family,” Gregor Hell began in a smooth voice with a slight German accent. “We are aware that you are all excited about this month’s tournament and the progression it will hopefully bring every one of you, which is why we will keep this short and sweet.”
He paused for a moment, letting his gaze wander over the hundreds of young people listening to him. A friendly smile played on his lips, which only revealed his smugness when studied closely.
“You are the backbone of this company. Helltek’s success is your success. My sister and I couldn’t be more proud of your achievements that have made this company number one. However, you all know our credo, don’t you?”
He lifted his palm to his ear and leaned forward.
“Disrespect the impossible!” some voices shouted.
“What was that?” Gregor asked. “I’m not sure I can hear you!”
Kai noticed Marie-Louise stepping from one foot to the other impatiently. Even though her face didn’t show any particular expression, her body language indicated that she would rather be anyplace else but here and wished her brother would get to the point instead of playing games.
“Disrespect the impossible!” more voices shouted, with greater enthusiasm.
A broad smile appeared on Gregor’s handsome face. Unlike his sister, he clearly enjoyed being the center of attention.
“Exactly! Disrespect the impossible! Because this is our credo, we are where we wanted to be. On top! We are number one in the VR testing industry. But that’s not all! My sister and I came here today to share some big news with you, before you hear it from the media. I am delighted to announce that Orbis, our mother company, has merged with Electronic Entertainment and has become the biggest entertainment conglomerate worldwide. But that’s not all. You all know that VR is the future. It’s not only entertainment like video games or movies, as it used to be. It’s so much more than that! It’s a lifestyle. There are massive changes coming up in the next few months and years. Innovations that will change human life – and death – forever. And it’s going to be our job – your job! – to make VR a safe environment for everyone at any time. You guys are heroes! I salute you! I applaud you!”
Cyber Squad - Level 1: A Gamelit/LitRPG Lite Cyberpunk Adventure Page 21