The bracelet was covered with hypoallergenic plastic but the skin underneath still itched like hell. I pulled the tracking device away from my ankle as far as it would go so I could scratch it. The bracelet vibrated and buzzed in reply.
"Relax, Comrade Major," I quickly said. "All quiet on the western front!"
The tracking device that traced offenders under house arrest was full of various electronic modules such as GPS, GLONASS, Wi-Fi, GSM and even an altimeter, so I was in no doubt that they would have added a simple microphone to it. It did not matter what the actual rank of the controller assigned to me was—a little sympathy goes a long way. At least it was someone to talk to...
It was already my second month of being under house arrest and I already managed to really start missing normal human contact. I wasn't even a hardened criminal or a sociopath—I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I got a job at the wrong place, to be more exact.
It had all started so well! My salary wasn't bad, there was a great package of perks and excellent career prospects, but it all went down the drain when the bank's senior management ended up behind bars accused of money laundering! I was never made part of the illegal scheme, but most of the payments had gone through my department, so the most that my defense attorney could do for me was a concession to get me placed under house arrest. At least it was better than jail.
Ah, here comes my attorney...
I picked up my buzzing smartphone which could only accept incoming calls from a single number and put it to my ear.
"Good evening, Jan!" I was greeted with a clear baritone voice.
"Hello, Boris!"
"Jan, I have good news for you!"
"Are you serious?"
Life hadn't been treating me to good news lately. It was becoming increasingly similar to being repeatedly hit around the head with a hammer.
"Why would I be messing with you? There's been some sort of malfunction in the data center tonight and there is talk that they lost the records of a number of your most dubious transactions. It's unknown whether that's true or not, but the prosecution has finally decided to make a deal. Evidence against Kogan in exchange for becoming a witness instead of one of the accused and complete immunity to prosecution."
"I agree!" I replied without the smallest hesitation as I had no intention to cover for the bank's former chairman of the board.
"I had no doubt!" Boris laughed. "The deal is in our pocket but it's really important not to do anything stupid now. Relax. Listen to music, watch some TV, get into your gaming box..."
"I thought I was not allowed to use the Internet?" I asked with surprise, looking over at the virtual reality capsule.
"The way it works is completely different. I'm telling you as a lawyer—it won't be considered a breach of your conditions. Tomorrow won't be easy, so I would definitely recommend and even insist that you relax and rest. This is only the beginning of this nerve-wracking mess and we have to stay strong until the last."
The attorney disconnected, so I threw the smartphone on the sofa and approached the capsule, which I the bank had given me as a bonus for one of my deals. I chronically lacked the time to have a full virtual reality experience and only managed to walk around the starting location which experienced players contemptuously called the "Playpen". I still managed to get my rogue up to level 9 already. One more level and I could move into the open world.
So why not?
I would at least have a distraction and relax a bit...
The main menu of Towers of Power met me with the gloom and silence of a palace hall. My rogue appeared half a meter above the stone floor and skillfully landed on it in complete silence. It was me that stood up straight.
John Shadow, Rogue. Level 9
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 14
Toughness: 11
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 11
Life: 99
Stamina: 103
Energy: 94
Damage: 6-10
Stealth: +9
Critical damage when attacking in stealth mode, backstabbing or attacking a paralyzed target.
Some stats could have been increased at the expense of others during character formation, but I didn't go for that. Ten points were considered to be the baseline and lower stats would carry penalties. If you decreased Perception, you turned into a half-blind mole with minimal accuracy and no chance of getting a critical hit and if you decreased Intelligence you won't be able to open even the simplest of locks. The purpose of a rogue isn't just stealth attacks, it's a universal character. Just what someone needs that has no friends among the players and no clan.
A pentagram glowed red upon the floor. I stepped inside it and fell through the stones, appearing on the uneven paving of the square, with the graceful Tower of Power reaching to the skies in the middle.
It was late evening in the game. Old Gardens was a small town for newbie players and it sank into the dusk as the sky quickly darkened. However, this was good, as there was nothing better than the darkness for a rogue like myself who was focused on stealth.
I adjusted my weapon belt, which was weighed down by a shortsword and dagger and strode away from the square down one of the narrow side streets. The starting location was not particularly big—the only things interesting for newbies were the city park with its pair of dungeons, the swampy riverside and the catacombs under the monastery. You could get some tasks from the characters populating the town, but they held no interest for me right now. I just wanted to relax.
After pulling a bright green leaf from a tree, I rubbed it between my fingers as I walked. When I smelled it, my nose was filled with a sophisticated and pleasant aroma. Everything in the game seemed to be completely real, but it did not particularly surprise me—I was used to it. Unlike the equipment of their competitors like Swords and Fire or Distant Space, the patented technology of Towers of Power allowed the player to get information about the virtual world and fill in some of the small details themselves. What this basically meant was that the brain became a dedicated server which increased the processing power of the gaming hardware.
So was this smell programmed by the creators of the game or did I think of it myself?
Who knows?
Anyway, it doesn't matter...
The square in front of the monastery was unusually full of people and a monk with a scrap of parchment stepped out of a back alley.
"Could the noble sir clear the city park of the undead?" he asked me, offering me a map.
Do you want to accept the Malicious Corpse quest?
[Yes/No]
I agreed, took the map and carefully looked through the objectives. They turned out to be as easy as they could be—I just had to kill the slow-moving walking corpse that I already got to hack into pieces a couple of times without being on any quests.
A green dot appeared on the map to mark the cave that I needed and I went off towards the park. The monk did not ask other players for help but returned to the alleyway, to my great relief.
A personal quest? That was absolutely great!
I only had to earn a little more XP to reach level 10. Kill the zombie and immediately get out of the city, where I'll get to relax.
The park was large and neglected. It was surrounded by a decrepit fence that had magical crystals shining with yellow light upon it. Apart from the cave with the lonely walker, there was a descent into a much larger dungeon somewhere among the trees, but the Skeleton Lord that lived on its bottom level could only be defeated by a large group of players. I never went there and I was satisfied with hunting foxes, wolves and random undead.
After I crossed a stone bridge over the quiet little river and its swampy banks I activated stealth mode and dissolved into the shadows. My energy bar immediately started to crawl downwards and I was happy that I didn't reduce Intelligence and Perception which would have affected this stat.
I never had to wander around through the darkened avenues as the mark on the minimap led me directly to my destination. I only turned from my path once, when I noticed a rabbit under a tree.
Stealth allowed me to get right up to the creature. My sword cut through its spine and I killed the animal with my first attack.
Critical hit! Damage: 20
The Rabbit has been killed!
Experience: +5 [1658/1730]
It was a shame that it was far from every time that this worked with wolves—the predators often had a sense of smell and hearing that was too acute and they noticed me in advance.
I waited a little and then entered the shadows again and moved on straight towards the cave through the bushes that grew thick down the hillside. I carefully stepped into the empty mouth of the dungeon and set off on my search for the corpse in the faint glow of the mold that covered the walls.
It smelled... quite bad there. I could sense the smell of dead flesh and decomposition.
I felt an unpleasant feeling in my throat but I easily dealt with the nausea and continued to carefully step over the human bones that were strewn here and there. I couldn't make any noise.
The walking corpse was found in a far corner of the dungeon. Fat and swollen, it stood by a sealed chest, its dead rags unable to hide its pustule ridden skin.
A wave of the foul smell came over me again. I held my breath and circled around the back of the corpse with bared blades in both hands. The shining slime on the walls did not give enough light, but my senses were sharp enough to make out the whiteness of the bones in the darkness and avoid stepping on them.
The corpse did not notice my approach and I attacked it in the back. I slashed it with my sword and immediately followed up with my dagger.
The Walking Corpse has been killed!
The Malicious Corpse quest is complete!
Experience: +350 [2008/2070]
You have gained a level!
I decided against making up anything new and raised my Dexterity as well as improving my Stealth skill. Then I opened the wooden lid and the shadows of the dungeon suddenly laced together into steel snares.
Shadow Snares: you are paralyzed!
Damage taken: 37 [73/110]
I tried to jerk away but my body refused to obey me.
"Greetings from Kogan!" someone whispered from behind.
Damage taken: 37 [36/110]
"You should have kept your mouth shut!"
Damage taken: 37 [0/110]
You have died!