Defending Earth

by Peter Zhgulyov

In the System

Book 3

Published by Magic Dome Books

in collaboration with

1C-Publishing

In the System

Book #3: Defending Earth

Copyright © Peter Zhgulyov 2021

English translation copyright © Sofia Gutkin 2021

Cover Art © Vladimir Manyukhin 2021

Published by Magic Dome Books in collaboration with 1C Publishing, 2021

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-80-7619-317-8

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the shop and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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Table of Contents:

Chapter 1. The Lull

Chapter 2. Family Matters

Chapter 3. The Third Mission

Chapter 4. The Bonus Card

Chapter 5. The Contract

Chapter 6. The Address

Chapter 7. The Team

Appendix No. 1. Personnel List

Interlude. A New Wave

Chapter 8. The Healer

Chapter 9. The Fifth Mission (Part 1)

Chapter 10. The Fifth Mission (Part 2)

Chapter 11. The Fifth Mission (Part 3)

Chapter 12. Sharing the Loot

Chapter 13. A New Threat

Appendix No. 2. Timing of the Past Day

Appendix No. 3. Table of the Hero’s Stats and Achievements

Chapter 14. The Pressure

Chapter 15. The Japanese Monster

Chapter 16. Foreboding

Chapter 17. The Road

Chapter 18. The Station

Chapter 19. The Battle

Interlude. Isida.

Chapter 20. The Trap

Interlude. The Evacuation

Chapter 21. The End of the Mission (1/2)

Chapter 22. The End of the Mission (2/2)

Epilogue. The Cicada

About Petr Zhgulyov

Chapter 1. The Lull

Attention! You are in a safe zone. Murdering the locals is forbidden and you will not receive a reward. If you insist on irking the gods, you will be punished.

THIS WAS THE FIRST MESSAGE I’d seen on my return a week ago. Scrolling further back through the logs had been useless, with no clues to be found there. Taking a deep breath, I finally opened my eyes. It was nine o’clock in the morning. The interface made the wall clock practically useless, yet I didn’t take it down.

Time until next mission: unknown.

“You bastards,” I muttered lazily to the... new gods, I suppose? I hate gods. And the undead. And goblins. And... The list was endless, but I couldn’t be bothered. “I’d rather they killed Kenny.”

The timer had initially displayed forty days, but the numbers kept increasing day by day. Two months, then three months. I was happy at first, but then the timer simply disappeared, leaving behind only uncertainty. Had the deadline been pushed back too far? Would there be no new missions in the near future? I wanted to believe that, but such optimism could end badly when it came to matters of life and death. There was a sword hanging over all the players’ heads that could come down at any moment. How long before the transfer would the timer switch on? Would we get any time to prepare?

The gods could theoretically have the answers, but they stayed silent for now. I remained on edge for a couple of days, then just gave up. After all, I had a set of spare gear here, and if I was transported at the wrong time, then that was fate. What was I supposed to do, take a shower in full combat gear? Everything had its limit.

That included laziness. I didn’t want to do anything, but I couldn’t laze around in bed forever. The body craved movement, the stomach demanded food, and the brain required new information. I sat up, untied the bag from my leg and laid it on the table, then pressed my hand to my side.

Activate the Great Healing?

Yes/No

Sure thing. The flow of energy concentrated over the chosen point, then spread slowly through my body. As my experiments had shown, the more accurately I defined the problem area, the better the result. For example, by healing a wound on my arm, I’d increased my life expectancy by 0.20 of a year, but doing a ‘heart health check’ had earned me two extra years. A second session had given me another six months, but the third one had almost no effect. Nevertheless, I felt better and better with each passing day. Funnily enough, I hadn’t even noticed that something was wrong with my body before.

Attention! Your Vitality parameter has increased by one!

“Holy shit, it worked,” I muttered. If it wasn’t for the empty mana bar, I’d have reacted more enthusiastically, instead I got up and went to the bathroom. Truth be told, I’d expected such an effect. Let’s see...

Forecast (intuition). Expected life expectancy based on the current state of the body is 84.2 years.

This was cool, of course, but I’d had to use Healing fifteen times to reach this level. As far as I understood it, the skill didn’t increase the lifespan, but simply treated old diseases and pathologies. My Vitality was currently 7, which promised me over 84 years of life. Using math, it appeared that nature provided people with about 120 years. Unlike the average person, a player could well live to reach this age. If they weren’t killed, of course, which was a likely turn of events. However, considering the possibility of further leveling up, we were talking about conditional immortality.

“I think I’m beginning to understand the elves.” I ran the razor down my neck, removing the stubble. This had been a very dangerous procedure in the goblin world. There were razors in the fortress, but few people had dared to use them. One wrong move and… “Son of a bitch!”

A raven’s head poked out of the mirror. Lucky I used a safety razor, otherwise, this joke could have been the last one… For both of us.

“Remember!” Legion croaked. “Remember!”

“Crystals?” I asked, cocking my head questioningly.

“Where?” The ghost perked up. “No, don’t interrupt me! Crystals are important but I’m talking about my physical body right now! You promised to find me a suitable one.”

“Yes, yes,” I said, grimacing. “Wait in the room. We’ll search for a suitable captive as soon as I’ve finished shaving.”

* * *

A System mission was a pretty stressful event. In a classic story, I’d have gone on a bender for several days, especially since the Great Healing could neutralize the consequences, but I couldn’t afford such an indulgence. The same, albeit to a lesser extent, applied to the second tried and tested method, sex. Ladies of easy virtue did not entice me, and I had neither the desire nor, most importantly, the time to find new acquaintances or reconnect with old flames. It was simply irrational. Too many things demanded my attention, and every hour of delay meant missed opportunities.

Nor did I feel a particular need to go all out. The idea that no one here would leap out from around the corner and try to kill me was a comfort in itself. In addition, the Calculating Mind was good for calming the nervous system. So good that it was a little addictive — being in a state where all problems could be solved with the help of logic was quite tempting. System gifts often had a catch. If not for the need to save mana for the Great Healing, which repeatedly led me to conclude that prolonged relaxation sessions were irrational, I wouldn’t have realized this threat. The other players were clearly having a harder time with the disappearance of the timer. Fear and time to brood could lead to stupidity at times.

By the way, my Wisdom parameter had reached 6 points, plus the Heresy meant that I now had 700 mana units. Or was that “only” 700? It took me four hours to fully restore my mana, and I seemed to draw power from three places at once: my magical ability, the source of Heresy, and finally, the outside world. Heresy, despite its minimal value, turned out to be the most powerful and deepest source, giving the initially blue mana strip a slightly golden hue. The second most powerful source was magical ability, while I got only crumbs from the outside world. Mana collection required a well-developed skill, and my success was rather modest here, despite the looted books.

Mana flows on Earth were much weaker than in the goblin world, but it was amazing that they existed at all. The world was changing, and we could soon see manifestations of what had previously been considered fairy tales. For example, magical abilities in ordinary people and not just players. Speaking of something more mundane, the presence of free mana meant that my ghosts wouldn’t starve to death. It was both a positive, since I had to spend less energy to sustain them, and a negative, since “food” was an additional leash to ensure they didn’t escape. For the raven, I also had the crystals. I very much doubted that Legion would abandon them.

* * *

After finishing my morning routine and having a bite to eat, I returned to my room. The raven appeared on top of the closet, reminding me of his existence, but I ignored the vile hint. Work came first.

I sat down at my laptop. The PC was powerful and convenient, but I preferred to do all sorts of questionable things from something more... mobile. Something clean that held no personal information. The use of specific programs didn’t guarantee absolute security.

I even considered temporarily changing my place of residence, but then decided that it wouldn’t be necessary. I had initially thought it would be a long time before the players became known to their respective governments, but the situation was developing rapidly and recruitment had already begun. Many, it seemed, had chosen to cooperate.

Considering the commitments I’d made, I couldn’t hide forever. I needed a weapon and, legally, I could only buy a shotgun. Even that wasn’t easy or quick to do. Considering illegal methods only brought to mind cleaning out a military warehouse, which wouldn’t be the brightest idea. I immediately discarded any thoughts of military hot spots and links to organized crime.

It was obvious that I’d have to cooperate with the authorities in one way or another, and if the state found me first… Well, good luck to them. What mattered most was to be found by my own people, and for recruitment, not elimination.

“Doctor, I am well, I assure you. You don’t work for the lizard people, do you?”

I first checked my main inbox. As a matter of fact, when I tried to register this email address immediately upon my return, I found that it was already taken. Considering that I was supposed to have returned six days ago, this wasn’t surprising, for the others may have assumed I was dead. The first players had come back much earlier, so someone had beaten me to it. The question was who?

We’d assumed that the search for players would be at the state level, so our security measures were a little excessive. There was a backup email address, which only eight of us knew, and a set of code words. Once I wrote to the main email, I quickly gained access.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Saud, who’d created the inbox, had not only read all the emails that had arrived during the week, but had also set up a redirect, “forgetting” to tell me about it. Well, at least he hadn’t linked it to a virtual phone, so it didn’t take me long to remove the bookmarks and change the password.

At present, only Sulu was missing from our group of eight, but the Saudi had already sent people to look for him. If the African man had survived, he would be found sooner or later. The Brahmin had also turned up, and my testimony of his resurrection had been very useful, although it revealed my exploration of the goblin world. That was the official version anyway, right? They didn’t need to know about the beacon just yet.

My delay also provided a small benefit since most of the Alliance’s documents already existed in electronic form, so I didn’t have to scan my copies. Among the received files was a report on what had taken place in the fortress. The decision to conduct the final slaughter seemed rather questionable, but I was no saint myself, and criticism would do nothing but damage the relationship. Fine. I was left with digitizing the goblin books and other unique materials. I eyed the brand-new scanner I’d bought specifically for this purpose. Later, later.

I glanced through a couple of emails and forwarded them to other mailboxes. There was nothing important, just players indicating their presence or asking for money. In broken English or an even worse transliteration of the System language. I could do little to help them with money, since I had left most of the ‘treasury’ in the fortress, and what I had taken with me still needed to be converted into hard cash somehow. I could do with more funds myself, so I didn’t hesitate to ask Qing Long for the same.

Ever since the first cryptocurrency had appeared on Earth fifteen years ago, anonymous transfers were no longer a problem. At first, the market grew at an insane pace, but after the first currency came the second, third, and eventually, the hundredth. Since cryptocurrency existed only thanks to a constant influx of funds, it wasn’t surprising that the main pyramid collapsed under its own weight one day, pulling the entire market down with it. This didn’t happen immediately, like the homegrown economists had predicted, but after many years, and the fall wasn’t complete, but rather the first in a series of similar ones… Nor did it end in complete ruination.

The world had time to appreciate the advantages of phantom currency, so the market gradually stabilized. Growth almost stopped, the exchange rate was unstable, but cryptocurrency continued to fulfill its role as a way of transferring money instantly and without a trace across the world. I suppose that if governments could do so, they would have banned this money, but the temptation to make “money out of thin air” always won out. According to rumors, countries were the ones behind some of the largest currency pyramids. Even so, anonymity reigned in this market — or so it was claimed, no one had proven it to be otherwise.

Approving the transfer didn’t take long, and a day later, I was fabulously rich. If I could say that about 100,000 Euros in three different types of cryptocurrency. After waiting a little, I converted that into 200,000 rubles. A larger amount would raise questions from both the bank and the tax authorities.

Of course, even this was a trail that could be used to find me, but... everything had its limits. The only way to withdraw money completely anonymously was through the black market, including paying a considerable commission and running the risk of losing it all. Including my life, because the transfer of cash involved a personal meeting. Obtaining access keys and taking money that formally didn’t have an owner wasn’t the most difficult business plan. Such stories no longer surprised anyone and were widely used in advertising, calling for people to “pay the tax on crypto and sleep easy.”

* * *

I had been afraid that the Alliance would fall apart before the mission was completed or immediately upon our return, but so far, this hadn’t happened. Modern technology allowed most players to keep in touch. In addition to email, there were several chats in secure messengers where topical issues were discussed. The main one currently included 1,342 people or almost half of the players. It was also worth remembering that not all the returned players were in the Alliance, some had been injured, and some lived in places with limited internet access.

Certainly, news about the escape of a particularly dangerous prisoner somewhere in Australia, who was found in his cell three days later, spread all around the world. He was a player, no doubt about it. Prison management denied the rumors, of course, saying that there had been a bureaucratic error and the prisoner had been transferred to hospital without notifying the duty shift. It sounded ridiculous, but the media buzz quickly died down.

There was also Africa, where internet was via satellite and cost an insane amount of money. I think most players from those parts would soon change their citizenship in one way or another. All in all, people were still pulling up.

Of course, most chats were being actively monitored by various interested parties, and there were certainly stool pigeons among the players. Some of the player numbers definitely belonged to the deceased.

After skimming through the chats and finding nothing interesting, I checked my former website. My antivirus flashed a warning that someone had tried to send me yet another Trojan. I grimaced. It was a trap for idiots, and they’d only scare away visitors from my bulletin board with such tricks.

“Assholes,” I muttered, looking at my pet project with longing. In theory, I could try to regain control, but I wasn’t doing anything that stupid. I didn’t even try to go to the admin panel. I re-registered as an ordinary user instead, and immediately received a bunch of spam.

Hundreds of topics have already been created on the site, but nothing serious was being discussed. It was an open forum, so absolutely anyone could come here, not to mention the secret services. The forum owner had changed several times in recent days. I doubted this confrontation would be difficult to end, but so far, the state-sponsored hackers were just having fun. Perhaps they knew that crashing the resource wasn’t difficult and so played by the rules?

I went to the pinned topic ‘Invitation to cooperate’ at the top. It looked like the site was in American hands today, with players being invited to contact the already familiar email address or the nearest embassy, and promised a green card, all kinds of support, and an allowance, the size of which depended on the achieved success. The minimum was still the same, 100,000 dollars. Honestly, was there some kind of magic in this number?

Some of the losers created topics that were immediately taken down by the moderators, but if you kept refreshing the page, you could see the competing offers. They didn’t remain there for long, but the bots were very persistent. The posts usually contained contact details and a link to another website, where you could discuss cooperation in more detail. Nevertheless, most of the players had come here first.

Yesterday, the site had belonged to the Chinese Government. They had promised pretty much the same thing: an apartment in Beijing, a training base, equipment, and a substantial salary. Interestingly, the salary was in euro and not in yuan.

The FSB, however, wasn’t out to catch mice, so I didn’t see a topic from Russia. What were those notorious Russian hackers even thinking? Or was the situation so bad that the government wasn’t even aware of what was happening? Not many players were Russian and even fewer of them had returned. According to Google, Russians made up about 2% of the global population. Out of 3,000 survivors, that equated to about 60 potential informants, so the government had to know.

However, the problem was the same for all of us. Where should one write to attract attention, surely not to the Presidential Administration? A letter this insane would be immediately filtered out. Russia didn’t have a special department for all the supernatural stuff. Nevertheless, I had written several emails, hoping that at least one of them would attract attention, but I hadn’t received an answer yet.

* * *

“Enough of this nonsense!” The raven appeared from the wall. “It is time to inspect the captives!”

I had released the ghosts on the second day, after stipulating the conditions of their stay. While Bri hung obediently in front of the TV, distracted only by food and showing up on command, Legion was being quite annoying, flying around the neighborhood and appearing in the most unexpected places. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the neighbors checked themselves into a mental hospital soon. I’d warned him that if one of the apartment complex residents suddenly died, it would be his fault, regardless of the reason. I’d also forbidden him to fly out beyond the building.

If only because the ghost was very unlikely to find his way back. We had ventured outside a couple of times to look for murders of crows, but the ghost’s appearance sowed panic among the birds. Possession was far from instant and clearly quite unpleasant, so the potential victim kept immediately taking off. Alas, live birds flew much faster than dead ones. We needed to catch and secure the candidate. Importantly, we needed to pick one out first, since just any bird wouldn’t do, it had to be young and healthy. The choice fell on the “slave market”, represented by popular online trading platforms, websites and social networks.

“Okay, okay,” I gave up. There was nothing suspicious about wanting to buy a raven, so I decided to search for one openly. I shifted across to sit at the computer, the ghost already pacing in front of the monitor. Oddly enough, he didn’t sink through the tabletop.

“What do you think of this one?” I showed Legion a photo of the first candidate. “Looks healthy enough.”

“Can’t you see that it’s a female? Quite attractive, though...”

“Strange, the ad says male,” I mumbled. “For that much money, he should be able to lay golden eggs.”

“Eggs are important, too,” Legion nodded. “Once we’ve obtained a new body for me, we can buy her as a concubine. How much did you say she cost?”

“Twelve thousand,” I reported, casting a side glance at the raven. The last thing I needed was a harem.

“Crystals?” Legion grew agitated. “Then we must immediately fly there and kill the damned slaver! He must possess a lot of crystals, as well as females languishing in captivity!”

“Don’t worry, we don’t use crystals as currency. We’re talking about rubles.”

“Pfft, is that all? We need to find something more expensive for me. Don’t forget that you were the one who promised me a body, so you bear all the costs, including feed!”

“Of course,” I didn’t bother arguing. “What do you think about this handsome fellow?”

“See his feathers? He’s not black enough to be considered a raven! Perhaps his ancestors included the despicable phoenixes or even pigeons.”

“How is that even possible?” I said indignantly. “These species can’t interbreed. Why don’t you ask your younger souls for knowledge of basic biology?”

“It’s all about the strength of the bloodline! We three-legged crows can father offspring on anything that moves and has wings.”

“What, including planes?” I couldn’t help myself, and was rewarded with a disapproving look. Unconstrained by the limits of a physical body, the ghost turned his neck 180 degrees, and then spun it in a complete circle. Lovely.

“We shall add feathers to the conditions,” the raven clarified. “or fur. Some of us may stoop to scales, but I am a raven of strict moral principles.”

“Alright, I’m sorry,” I replied. “How about this one? Blacker than night itself, glossy feathers, and costs as much as a jumbo jet. Twenty-five thousand rubles! You’ve got to understand that the market is limited, and new candidates don’t appear very often.”

“We need to inspect the bird. Who knows what they’ve drawn here?”

“Okay, I’ll make an appointment,” I agreed. “By the way, can you tell me something interesting in the meantime? About the gods, for example?”

* * *

“...and that’s why they’re scum who can’t be trusted! That damned Y is the worst of them.” The raven finished his emotional and by no means uninteresting story. As I understood it, the ‘god of life and death’ had struck his flock personally, which the Legion considered terribly unfair. They had simply come to the dying world to feast on its remains.

“Interesting. What do you know about...”

Alas, in the few seconds during which I’d looked away, the ghost had gone invisible and apparently escaped. Typical. No matter how naive the raven was, he didn’t like sharing information for free, and it was difficult to get anything useful out of him. He had a rather strange set of priorities. L, his alter ego, was even more secretive and could talk for hours without actually saying anything. Plus, we didn’t see each other very often. Having obtained the desired freedom, the raven suppressed the elder souls and released them only at my persistent request. He suspected, and with good reason, that the goblin had slightly different priorities in choosing a body. Compared to Legion, Bri was a model of willingness to cooperate, but knew practically nothing and was clearly stupid. I couldn’t ask Bri about the System, could I?

“Bri, what do you know about the gods?”

“I don’t think they exist, master.” Wow, an atheist! “Although... I can tell you about our Lord Govinda.”

I glanced at the TV, where the state was currently struggling with a shortage of military personnel, and decided not to ask any more questions. Although the Protector of Cows also belonged to Hinduism, he was unlikely to tell me anything about Shiva.

I had pinned my hopes on the ancient ghost so I took my time, collecting crumbs of information and trying not to overdo it. Our partnership was voluntary and I wanted it to remain so, at least until I was given good reason to review the agreement. It was a little early to talk about mutual trust, but I believed we were moving in the right direction.

* * *

I held a machine gun in my hands as a wave of undead came at me, floundering under the hail of bullets, yet refusing to stop. I could see the spines of Bone Horrors rising behind the rows of rank-and-file skeletons. The ammunition belt ran out, and I threw away the useless weapon, taking a remote control with a red button out of my bag. Right, critters, since you don’t want to play nice, this will stop you for sure...

“Wake up! Wake up!” Wake up!”

I opened my eyes and was startled to find a goblin instead of the undead. What had I done to deserve this? It was a rhetorical question.

“Long time no see, L.” I yawned. “I hope you’ve got something important for me.”

“Some old woman is planning to die a couple of floors below us. I decided to warn you so there’d be no questions later.”

A couple of floors down meant a pretty distant neighbor in a high-rise building. I didn’t even know the people who lived on my landing very well, and had no idea what the people living above or below me looked like. It was like they were from another universe.

“Is she getting help?” I closed my eyes for a moment, glancing at the internal clock. It was 3:00 AM.

“No,” The goblin was quick to disappoint me. “She’s alone in the apartment and I don’t think she’ll last until morning.”

The ghost sent me an image of an elderly woman lying on the floor and it was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to call an ambulance for herself. Now what? Do I ring the ambulance? How would I explain it? Frankly, I felt nothing but a desire to sleep. I was about as worried about her as about starving children in Africa. Tragic, of course, but so very far away from me... who was I kidding?

I sighed and stood up, picking up my pants and T-shirt as I went. My conscience wouldn’t let me stand idly by if helping wouldn’t cost me anything. I didn’t need the fame. Okay, I’d consider this a training session and try to do everything quickly and quietly, and remain unnoticed.

I took the trash can from the kitchen and went out onto the landing. The walls in this building were paper thin, so leaving the apartment without notifying the neighbors was quite a challenge. “If anything, let them think I’m an idiot. It’s the most reliable alibi.”

Although I doubted that someone would wake up to investigate the noise, it didn’t hurt to have a proper excuse. I set the bucket down by the open trash chute and headed downstairs.

“Behind this door,” the ghost said, materializing again. “Do you know this woman?”

“Of course,” I lied, putting on my medical gloves and trying the handle to check that the door was really closed. “How could I not? We live in the same house. I also have a key... a universal one.”

The old lady’s door was the flimsy kind that developers really liked to install. I could have probably punched right through it with my fist, but that would have defeated the purpose of this activity. Explaining my motives to the police would be even more difficult than convincing the ambulance that they needed to break into the apartment.

The Sabotage skill had many applications. I twisted a wire around, inserted it in the lock and heard a click after a while. Was it luck? I went inside and closed the door quietly behind me. Although people often left their keys in the lock, they lay on the shelf in this apartment. As if the elderly woman knew her end was drawing near, and had wanted to make it easier for her family to get into the apartment. Or maybe my imagination was getting away from me.

I entered the room and could barely discern the woman lying face down in the dark. I’d read in a book once that only the dead lay face down, but she was still breathing. Hoarsely and with pauses... was it heart attack or stroke? I didn’t turn on the lights, so I couldn’t make out any details. “The former, I suppose.”

I put my hand on her back, over the heart, and activated the Great Healing. My entire supply of mana dropped as if into an abyss, but the woman’s condition stabilized. I hesitated but didn’t repeat the procedure. I still hadn’t learned how to charge mana crystals, and it would be stupid to wait four hours for it to recover naturally. Judging by the photos, the neighbor had a family who could take care of her.

“Find the phone!” I ordered.

The ghost, a raven once again, circled the room and landed on the table, its beak pointing to what I was looking for. As expected, it was the old brick phone, with traditional functions for the elderly. I hoped her family had set it up properly. I pressed the SOS button and placed the howling phone next to her body. In addition to the sound, it was supposed to call all the numbers stored in its memory and send out SMS messages asking for help.

“Keep an eye on her,” I told the raven as I turned a mana crystal round and round in my hand. My mana was at zero after the Great Healing, but I didn’t need a lot to get out of here without much risk. “If her condition worsens, or if no one shows up in the next hour, let me know.”

It was a simple precaution. Given the thickness of the walls, I wasn’t sure who would arrive first — the people from the phone list or the disturbed neighbors. My mana recovered slightly, so I put the crystal away and retreated into Invisibility, leaving the door ajar. I hoped that would be enough.

As I climbed the stairs, I thought about my own family. I should visit my folks and check their health, and the sooner the better. Human life is fleeting. You never know who is going to die and when. I wasn’t just talking about my family. The next mission could well be my last. This now-familiar thought did not arouse any feelings. I had made my peace with the danger.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I dreamed of the goblin city with a nuclear mushroom cloud blooming over it. That’s what I call a clear conscience…

* * *

“His name is Gosha,” The attractive young woman said as she counted the money. “He’s still very young, so please look after him.”

“Of course,” I smiled, watching out of the corner of my eye as the ghost circled the cage.

“His blood is very thin, but he is young and healthy,” Legion announced. “He is suitable. As his Ancestor, I’ll even permit him to become part of me. This is a great honor for him!”

Honor, huh? This was basically murder, but I was in no position to grieve over a random raven. More precisely, an elite raven worth 25,000 rubles. The only thing that distinguished him from the birds out in the yard was the absence of sores, excessive trustfulness, and the ability to caw on command. Nor could I count on the golden eggs, since it was a male bird.

“I want him!”

“Not right now.” I thought, hoping that Legion would hear me. Or that he’d at least stick to the arrangements and not try to possess the body right now. The owner seemed quite attached to the bird. It was possible that the relatively high price hadn’t been dictated by greed, but by the desire to scare off potential buyers.

“Would it be alright if I visited him sometimes? Occasionally, you know?”

“Certainly... not. I’m sorry, Elena, but I don’t think my girlfriend would approve of your visits. Apologies, I must get going. If you like, I can send you a photo once he’s settled in. Good bye.”

I picked up the cage, threw a cloth over it, and left the apartment. Considering what I’d done in the past, feeling sorry for this body donor would be stupid.

* * *

The possession proceeded without any complications. The raven flinched, clearly sensing that something bad was going on, but there was no way he could escape his fate. His wild relatives had reacted quite badly to attempts to possess them, so I made sure of everything in advance. The bird was drugged and secured in its cage.

I couldn’t see the details of what was happening. The ghost had become invisible, so I could only sense that the mana density around the cage had grown significantly. A few minutes later, the raven twitched and gave me a completely different, much more intelligent look.

“Release me! And bring the crystals! You haven’t used up my share, have you?”

* * *

“Please come. I’ll be so glad to see you…”

I closed my eyes, knowing this was inevitable. I had proven myself enough to interest a lot of people, and from Lisa’s point of view, my move seemed like the optimal solution. She’d only used hints because she wasn’t sure how private our correspondence was. Most people thought I was connected to the government.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not possible under current conditions.”

This was the end of our romance, I supposed. It wasn’t that kind of story at all.

Lisa’s proposal wasn’t the first or even the fifth. I was being offered much more than ordinary players. If someone asked me why I didn’t run into the open arms of MI9 or the CIA, I’d struggle to answer. Patriotism? To some extent. I loved my country, and I had no particular complaints about the government, for all its shortcomings. At least, I hoped that I’d be able to negotiate and obtain everything I needed from my own government. There were no guarantees, of course, for there were always people in a country’s leadership who believed that love for the motherland was more worth more than money . But it was, by and large, just a game. Fools didn’t usually reach the top, so there was always room for haggling. The question was whether I could skip the middle management, where idiots still existed. Probably in abundance.

In addition, defectors were always viewed with suspicion and had to perpetually prove their loyalty in word and deed. I had no intention of becoming a ‘loyal dog’ or a bargaining chip. Especially since defecting a second time was even more difficult… It didn’t count the first time, but it was all over for next time, no more trust. Funnily enough, many people in Russia considered the children of top officials studying overseas to be traitors. Meanwhile, they were viewed as foreign agents over there, promoting the interests of a distant homeland.

It takes several generations to be accepted. I could obtain money, training and weapons abroad, but I wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the powers that be, no matter how strong I became. Well, if one was to take a place on the board, better as the king than a pawn or even the queen. After all, there was only one piece in chess that couldn’t be sacrificed.

Deep in thought, I opened my website. No viruses popped up this time, but there was yet another notification on the main page with an invitation to cooperate. This time, it was repeated in Russian. Finally.

Chapter 2. Family Matters

Attention, attention! Dear passengers, S8 Airlines flight number 240514 is now boarding.

MY BAG PASSED THROUGH the scanner without any questions from security. Although I was worried about the procedure the first time around, Camouflage didn’t let me down. The contents of this Level 3 bag weighed almost nothing, and only its owner could get inside the special space. To everyone else, the bag looked completely ordinary. I could even carry things in it the traditional way, which allowed me to pass safely through the detectors. An empty bag weighing a couple of kilograms would have inevitably aroused suspicion.

“All done. Next!”

I picked my bag up from the belt and headed down the hall. I’d never liked flying. I wasn’t afraid of flying, I just didn’t enjoy it. However, due to the immense size of my homeland, I had to resort to this form of transport from time to time. I was still alive, so, even if luck somehow affected the chances of the plane crashing, it had to include not only my personal luck, but also all the passengers and crew members. Not to mention that if the equipment was working properly, it wouldn’t break just to spite me. Hopefully…

A week has passed since I received the government’s contacts, but I hadn’t yet taken the decisive step, preferring to deal with personal matters and take care of my family first. The woman I saved had reminded me that not only was I mortal, but so were my loved ones.

My grandparents on both sides were still alive, but all in their late seventies. If I tried to wait and gather my strength, I risked not only dying myself, but being too late to be of any use. When elderly people went to bed and closed their eyes, they often couldn’t be sure if they would wake up again. Falling asleep wasn’t easy either, with the chronic aches and pains making themselves felt. Familiar problems that were no less painful for that. Although my parents were younger, they had also reached an age when health starts to deteriorate. If I contacted the government, it would be a while before I could find the time to resolve personal matters. The choice was simple, and my homeland could wait for now.

The System was not only dangerous, it also gave people the chance to change their lives, gain power, restore their health and even their youth. There had been few older people in the first wave, and although they had all died, and the age limits had shifted in the second mission, perhaps I could give my loved ones a chance. If not now, then perhaps sometime in the future. For now, it would be enough if they simply lived to see it.

I handed my boarding pass to the stewardess, climbed the stairs to the plane, and took a seat by the window, lost in thought again. It was a six-hour flight from Irkutsk to Moscow, and I doubted that I’d be able to sleep the whole way.

* * *

I’d never returned to my home region after finishing my studies and serving in the army, preferring to settle ‘closer to civilization’. The choice naturally fell on St. Petersburg, where I had completed my studies, and where housing was much more affordable than in the capital. Thanks to my parents’ help, I was able to purchase an apartment with only a small mortgage, which I had paid off already. I had no complaints about my family.

I timed my visit to coincide with my grandfather Nikolay’s birthday — he was turning eighty, and almost the whole family had gathered in one place. I was ashamed to admit that if it hadn’t been for everything that was going on, I’d have limited myself to a birthday card and a quick phone call.

I decided to be open about the situation and demonstrate some of my abilities. I had no choice but to trust their common sense and their ability to keep a secret. Despite the ‘majesty’ of my spell, its effect was quite localized, so one session wasn’t going to be enough. If I didn’t resort to mana crystals, I could use the skill six times a day, and that was if I set an alarm clock. Should I use while they were asleep? Give them sleeping tablets? Make up some story? None of it would be rational.

The situation had changed. The last time I’d returned from a mission, I hadn’t really understood what was going on, and I’d wanted to shield my family from danger. I knew a lot more now. There was no point in burying my head in the sand and trying to hide the truth. The world was on the brink of change, and it was only a matter of time before the planet found out about the players. Not much time. Wouldn’t it be stupid if I died without telling them anything? The danger would still exist.

I had eight close family members. Grandpa Nikolay, whom my brother was named after, and Grandma Lyuda, his wife. My second grandfather Ivan and my grandmother Galia. My parents. My brother. I decided not to tell my daughter-in-law Anna and their five-year-old son, my nephew Igor. They had excellent health, while my time was limited. My brother wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t want the secret to go beyond the family. Not yet.

I’d already severely restricted the list of the ‘chosen few’ . My parents had brothers with children of their own, but these had spread out across the country, so I hardly knew them. We had enough friends who could use the help of a healer. They had their own families and close friends. If the rumors spread, there would soon be many more seekers of my services than people I could heal. Sad as it was, I simply couldn’t help everyone. Right now, I couldn’t even help everyone who needed it. All I could do was ask my brother to gather information about loved ones who would be doomed without my help.

Of course, I doubted that I could keep the whole thing a secret, and sooner or later, news of my healing abilities would spread among the players. The information would then go up the chain, and I wasn’t sure that was a bad thing. Perhaps it was worth advertising my own abilities? Of course, they would select important patients and use me to the maximum, but I wouldn’t be locked up in a dungeon. It was a powerful trump card in the upcoming negotiations, forcing my potential patrons to do everything in their power to ensure that I survived and was happy with our cooperation. I was quite certain that I was the strongest healer at present.

What I lacked were diagnostic tools, so I had to play it safe and ‘attack’ the heart, brain, stomach and liver, the four most vulnerable locations. The lungs and kidneys are paired organs, so there was less risk. Plus, cancer and other diseases that could appear anywhere. The skill also had a systemic effect, so six full healing spells should solve most of these problems. Joints, bowels, blood vessels… Anyhow, my patients could tell where and what was hurting, so I didn’t spend all my mana at every session, increasing their frequency and number instead.

After the first few sessions, I sent the others to private health clinics. This included my brother’s wife and son, who received a couple of ‘preventive’ sessions. Even if modern medicine couldn’t defeat many diseases, it had learned to diagnose them quite well, especially for a fee.

It was a busy week but I managed. Although my ‘patients’ didn’t become younger per se, they now looked like they did ten years ago, while the oldest family members looked twenty years younger. In addition, I left an inheritance for my brother in the form of access to one of the wallets, a set of cards and one of the bags. He couldn’t use the artifacts, since he wasn’t part of the System, but this was only a matter of time. I had to wait until it finally assimilated Earth or simply share my experience points with him. The latter was premature but I still gave him one of the arrows. I hoped he’d never have to use it, though.

Saying goodbye to my family was quite hard, for although I tried to downplay the danger, everyone understood that, perhaps, we were seeing each other for the last time. Just as they understood my need to leave. Towards the end of the week, I contacted the recruiters and received an invitation to come to the capital.

* * *

“I hate planes.” I said, adding another item to my list. Not least because inflight Wi-Fi was exorbitantly expensive. I preferred to watch downloaded videos on my tablet.

For example, a news story about a pack of apes terrorizing an American neighborhood. I would have called it a fake, but in addition to talk about the ‘bloodthirsty yeti’, there were numerous shots of them rushing through the city and killing citizens. I suspected that they were receiving experience points for this…

A guy in a ‘superhero suit’, as I ironically called our gear, appeared on the screen, but he didn’t pull out a sword or attack the monsters, leaving it to those with more substantial weapons. Fortunately, automatic weapons were allowed in that state. Gun bullets got stuck in the ape fur, but machine-gun bullets clearly hurt. Soon we could see how it ended. Although the monsters had killed plenty of people, they had paid for it with their lives.

Local missions had appeared five days ago. The episode with the apes was the first and most famous one, but three had been discussed in our chat, with varying levels of danger. The players had been lucky in this instance, for the work had been done for them. One of the groups, however, had ended up in the Arctic, where they didn’t all freeze to death only because the monster had arrived slightly earlier and offered little resistance. They didn’t manage to finish it off since it threw itself into the sea and drowned instead. In the third case, the volunteers spent an hour in the jungle and returned without finding anyone. However, not everyone had returned, so perhaps some were more ‘successful’ in their search that others.

The plane jolted abruptly, triggering a few startled screams from the passengers, then leveled out again. The pilot apologized over the speaker system for the air turbulence and reassured us that everything was fine. He might have been all right, but I wasn’t.

Attention! Registering multiple ingressions into your world!

Local mission No. 7

Type: Protection of the home location.

Description:

Creatures from other locations are entering your world. They include harmless creatures, but most have come here for the experience. Stop them before it’s too late!

Difficulty: rank F.

Opponent: Unknown.

Mission duration: 3 hours.

Conditions:

Banish, negotiate with or destroy the aliens who have entered your world.

Reward: access to the Server, improved relationship with the gods of your location.

Penalty for failure: none.

Would you like to accept an optional F-ranked local mission to protect your home location? (0/10)

Yes/No

Not everyone received local missions, and this was the first time I’d seen one. Plus, I knew of only three, but this one’s number meant there had been six. Either some of them were happening right now or the monsters had won in half of the cases. The first seemed much more likely, for other potential volunteers wouldn’t have missed the mission number either…

“Goodbye, my fifty bucks.” Not that it really mattered, but the internet was clearly overpriced. It wasn’t even unlimited, I had only been allocated 150 megabytes. It’s like we were living in the twentieth century.

Sighing, I connected to the Wi-Fi and logged into the team chat. Everyone had access to it, but few were allowed to write, and it was here that key information was gathered. Judging by the stream of notifications, there were a lot of missions this time. The most recent one was numbered forty-four. Shit...

Naturally, I wasn’t going to accept the mission. Putting aside the risk, what would I do once I finished? How high up were we right now? Despite my paranoia, I hadn’t thought to buy a parachute. It I had one, it would be possible to put it on in my personal room, then shift to my home world. It worked with non-System items from the goblin world.

Spots taken: (3/10)

Unfortunately, my opinion didn’t matter much here. I leaned back in my chair, watching the spots fill up. Slowly, too slowly... Few people were willing to take the risk, meaning that over half of the places would remain vacant and ‘volunteers’ would be appointed forcibly. If I was unlucky, I’d disappear right out of the plane, leaving behind a pile of clothes and personal belongings.

“Excuse me, I need to use the toilet.” I got out of my seat and went to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I didn’t undress, only put my tablet back in the bag. Now, even if I disappeared, at least it wouldn’t be in front of everyone and thus less dramatic. Although, if I believed that the presence of witnesses could somehow affect my chances of being chosen, I wouldn’t have hidden.

Time remaining: 0 minutes and 9 seconds…

The timer reached its end, the sign flickered, changed to 10/10, and disappeared. Along went the fear and attempts to figure out how to avoid the mission if I was forcefully sucked into it.

“Damn, I hate planes.” I muttered into empty space. There was a lot more emotion in my statement this time. I was pretty sure I’d just acquired a new phobia.

The airplane shook again, and I suddenly thought how terribly ironic it would be if we didn’t make it. I had to be lucky sometime, right? I’d have to choose some kind of levitation skill next time. Or invulnerability. Like Marcus, who could immediately put himself together by winding back time, even if he shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

Despite my pessimism, the remainder of the flight passed without incident, and a couple of hours later, the plane landed safely at Domodedovo Airport. The lack of luggage and a domestic flight allowed me to proceed directly to the exit. I had plenty of time. Although the flight had taken a little over 6 hours and left at 07:15, I arrived in Moscow only a short time later, at 08:25. Time zones worked wonders, while also messing about with people’s internal clocks.

Activate Second Wind?

Yes/No

A warm wave swept through my body. It wasn’t necessary but I could now easily hold out until the evening, and not yawn and dream about coffee all afternoon.

I took a deep breath of the cool air. November 23rd. The temperature was a little below zero, and a light snow was falling from the sky. Winter was nearly here. It was drawing closer in the goblin world, too. Although it was much milder in the drop-off region, there was occasional snow, while the set of clothes supplied by the System was clearly meant for summer, or, at best, autumn. I had counted the card slots and there were exactly 82 on the jacket. There was a theory that if you filled them all up, something good would happen. I was getting close.

I stopped and inspected the neat row of taxis. It would have been cheaper to travel by train but I felt too lazy to bother with transfers. Moreover, the time of dodgy cab drivers, who inflated the price and threatened their competitors, was long gone. They had been replaced by aggregators, who had quite officially ousted illegal immigrants, then raised the prices. After all, they had to pay a portion to the airport.

The competition provided by other forms of public transport didn’t let them get too carried away, however, and the process became very orderly. Pressing a couple of buttons on an old smartphone, I received a message with the parking spot number of my car. Although there were plenty of available cars standing nearby, I was directed to the far end of the parking lot.

The map on my screen identified my location and drew a route that even an idiot could follow. The app developers were logically targeting not the brightest members of humanity.

“Turn right and walk ten meters.” Announced the voice in my earpiece. Cursing, I unlocked my smartphone and turned off voice navigation. There were more than enough arrows on the walls. Five minutes later, I reached the designated car, brushed off the snow, and got in the back seat. The driver started the car without asking any questions. I didn’t say anything either, and tried to guess where we were going.

“So, Ivan Vladimirovich,” the silence did not last long. “seeing as you have arrived in Moscow, does this mean that you have finally settled your affairs and are ready to cooperate?”

I wasn’t too surprised. I’d left enough tracks in the last few days to give them time to prepare. I’d be disappointed if they hadn’t found me by now.

“Of course, Captain.” Something snagged in my mind. Had I made a mistake? Hard to tell from the back of a man’s head, but the driver was in his thirties, and rank was closely related to seniority and availability of a suitable position. He was a bit old for a senior lieutenant, yet too young to be a major. “Where are we headed, if it’s not a secret? Not to Lubyanka, I hope?”

I noticed that two more cars had pulled up behind us. Security, I suppose. Funny, I’d been waiting for this moment for so long, yet I didn’t feel overly nervous.

“Wherever you want,” the man shrugged. “We can go to the hotel for now, or to a serviced apartment. We can go straight to the base. There’s no coercion, Vasily. I’m a major, by the way. Vladimir Ilyin, FSB.”

So, I had been wrong. The officer flashed his ID at me over his shoulder, but I only focused on the rank. I wouldn’t have been able to identify a fake anyway.

Attention! The first defense crew has failed!

Attention! Local mission No. 7 has been updated. Difficulty level has increased!

Would you like to accept the optional E-ranked mission to protect your home location? (0/100)

Yes/No

Mission duration: 3 hours.

Time remaining: 1 hour 59 minutes and 55 seconds

“Nice to meet you,” I murmured, reading the message. “Let’s not waste any time, Major. Have you noticed anything strange yet?”

“Do you mean the local missions?” The driver asked as he listened to something. “Yes, I’ve been informed. At least eleven ingress points have been registered across Russia and the CIS, but, as you know, getting a location is difficult. We don’t have many players, and they are transported butt naked, pardon my French. Not always to inhabited locations, where they can quickly contact us and request support. Your presence here could help a lot.”

“Sure thing,” I said. “You know about my bag, right? One of the missions has failed, so it’s highly likely that I’ll be whisked away to God-knows-where in two hours’ time. I’d like to get some modern weapons before then, as a sign of our future cooperation.”

“Which mission has failed?”

“The seventh one.”

The FSB officer swore, said something into the radio about a helicopter, and the car turned sharply back toward the airport. It looked like I’d be flying again.

* * *

Sometimes, when it’s truly necessary, the wheels of bureaucracy can turn very quickly. The helicopter was waiting by the time we arrived. The flight itself took about half an hour, then I was quickly unloaded and brought to a room where everything had already been prepared. There wasn’t much time left, so we had to hurry.

There was a flurry of activity at the base, which was located somewhere outside the city. The major introduced me to Senior Sergeant Bykov, Head of the Armory, and ran off somewhere. In the literal sense of the word.

“Sorry, but I’m not going to offer you the Ratnik gear.” The manager sighed. “It’s very high-tech, needs to be adjusted to fit you, and you need time to get used to it, otherwise it’ll do more harm than good. Since there’s no time to train, it’s better if you take something classic and familiar: a bulletproof vest, a helmet, and so on.” Bykov pointed to an obviously pre-prepared set of clothing and gear. Slightly outdated, but still very high quality, and much lighter than the Ratnik. I hadn’t seen one myself, but I’d heard that the Ratnik weighed over twenty kilograms. I suspected that they didn’t even have it onsite.

“I’ll have the classic set, it’ll come in handy.” I put the stuff in the bag, catching the manager’s slightly surprised look. It seemed he’d only heard of this kind of magic.

Administrative positions like Head of the Armory were usually occupied by warrant officers, so a sergeant in this position seemed a little strange. But the locals knew better. Bykov looked to be about twenty-five years old and was very confident, so I assumed that he did his job well.

“Walkie-talkies?”

“Basic ones will do,” I agreed. “Ten, preferably already configured. And everything else on the list: first aid kit, shovel, flares and such.”

The sergeant nodded to one of the aides, who hurried away.

“What about weapons?” I asked, getting straight to the point. This wasn’t a store, so most of the goods were in boxes, yet there were plenty of interesting things lying around.

“Here’s an AK-12,” he said, laying a machine gun on the table. “I know where you served, so you should be able to figure out how to use it. Or would you prefer an AK-74M? We won’t be able to give you any of the real classics, sorry.”

Something big appeared to be going on, if they were willing to give me a weapon before we’d signed anything. A civilian with no papers, signatures, permits, and so on. Just because a major had said so... even if he was the Deputy Head of the department. This willingness was wonderful but also stressed me out. Let’s see how far they were willing to go.

“No need, I’d prefer a Val,” I announced. “I’ll figure out how it works, too, and it’s much quieter. Five magazines to start with, the weight isn’t an issue for me.”

“There you go,” The sergeant took what I’d asked for from one of the drawers. “Will you take the PSS pistol?”

“Yes,” I replied. I didn’t really need it, but I saw no reason to refuse a freebie. A store is no sore, and I had a feeling that most of the weapons would be written off by the end of the battle. I certainly wasn’t going to drag everything back to base. “Some grenades, too, a dozen F-1s and the same number RGNs.”

“You want a ‘Cranberry’ as well, then?” the sergeant snorted. Very funny.

“Of course,” I said without batting an eyelid. “Two. A store is no sore, plus, who knows what I’ll meet over there. Can you also throw in a dozen mines, explosives and detonators?”

“Do you even know how to use this stuff? The major will have my head if you blow yourself up.”

“The major said that I was to be given whatever I asked for. Don’t worry, I have the necessary skill. More than one, so I’ll take a sniper rifle, too. Vintorez, if you have it.”

“We have everything,” the ‘weapons fairy’ said grimly. “Even tanks, but we’re definitely not giving you one. It won’t fit in the bag. Any other requests? A machine gun, perhaps?”

“Thank you, a machine gun will be very useful. A light one, please.”

The sergeant muttered something under his breath that sounded like “effing Rambo”, but he brought me the machine gun. It was a Kord, even though I’d expected something more ancient, like the RPK-74. His assistants had already brought the anti-tank grenade launchers. Damn, this was getting serious.

“I’m guessing you have more requests?” Looking at his sullen face, I hesitated to ask about the flamethrowers.

“That’s right,” I nodded. “It’s a group mission, so I’ll need another ten submachine guns and the same number of handguns. Something simple. Five cases for each. Not just ordinary bullets, but armor-piercing and incendiary ones as well. And..”

“Yes?” The sergeant kept his expression carefully blank this time.

“I have a bad feeling about this mission. Do you have any winter clothing? And a parachute, please.” I didn’t stop at that, of course, adding all sorts of other trifles. Fitting everything into the bag was a challenge, but I managed. Despite the fifty-fold weight decrease, the bag weighed quite a lot in the end. It also turned out that the sergeant didn’t have a parachute. Lies, lies everywhere...

“Do I need to sign for it?”

“No,” The sergeant snorted, gesturing toward the cameras. “Everything is being recorded, and you don’t have the authority to sign out such things. The commanding officers will do that.”

The major returned fifteen minutes before the start, delivering the sad news that I wouldn’t have any partners. Most of the government-sponsored players had already left on missions, with three volunteers going on the seventh mission. Some had returned, but they couldn’t help for several reasons. Fine, I didn’t need their help anyway.

“Here you go. This is a satellite phone, it should get a signal everywhere.” He then handed me a notebook. “Here are our contacts, who to call and so on. This is a beacon that will help us to locate you if the phone doesn’t work. Rapid response teams have been set up all over the country, ready to fly to the site of the breach in ten minutes. But... you know. We’re still testing the system.”

I understood. While I could count on help in a densely-populated area, in other situations, the battle would be over by the time the cavalry arrived. It was more of a clean-up crew than backup. The threat hadn’t yet reached the level for them to weave a tight net. No one was going to use military aircraft without a really good reason.

“Thank you, Major,” I said, listening to the rest of the instructions with half an ear.

I pulled up the interface and looked thoughtfully at the numbers floating before me.

Time remaining: 10 minutes and 21 seconds

Spots occupied: (0/100)

No volunteers at all this time, and I couldn’t blame them. Ten veterans had already perished. Taking out my smartphone, I left a short message in the team chat, then confirmed my participation in the mission. To hell with this lottery. I wasn’t going to sit and wait for my fate.

“What machine gun? What anti-tank grenade launchers? Have you lost your mind, Sergeant?”

* * *

Silence fell a moment later, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in the personal room. Damn. Had I really done it?

Time remaining: 14 minutes 34 seconds

The decision to leave ahead of time had bought me a few extra minutes. Now, I had not five but almost fifteen minutes to prepare for the fight and reach the menacingly glowing scarlet portal.

Chapter 3. The Third Mission

THE EXTRA TIME came in useful. I hadn’t changed ahead of time, only put what I didn’t want to lose in my bag. All my clothes remained at the military base, so I was transported to my private room practically naked. It just went to show that even though the mission would take place on our planet, this didn’t affect the usual restrictions.

According to Alliance recommendations, most players had to leave the main set of clothes in the private room, precisely to avoid incidents such as this. Weapons were more difficult — not everyone had a spare, but it was easy to keep a card on you at all times. Of course, the System warned us about an approaching mission, but what if you were asleep, for example? What if you were drunk? Unconscious? Under arrest? During the first local mission, one of the participants had found herself in the middle of a busy street with her bare... hands. Not just hands, mind you. She hadn’t been arrested for indecent behavior only because the ‘yeti’ invasion had distracted the police, but... it was a horror movie, not an erotic one. Unlike the goblins, the yeti didn’t take any prisoners.

“Let her mistake be an example to us all,” I muttered.

Alright, it was no time for waxing lyrical. I pulled my new clothes out of the bag and began to dress as quickly as possible, like back in my army days. I preferred the products of Earth’s clothing industry this time. The multilayered winter uniform issued at the base looked more optimal. Even if I was dropped somewhere near the equator, I wouldn’t fry in a few minutes, but I could freeze to death somewhere out on the ice. As the saying goes, better to be covered in sweat seven times than in frost once!

After a moment’s thought, I went with my old, tried and tested boots. Bulletproof vest, helmet… I also kept the System jacket, pulling it on over the vest thanks to its size. Tests had shown that the cards, despite their flexibility, were surprisingly tough and could stop an automatic bullet at point-blank range. I hadn’t had a chance to conduct such experiments myself, but communication allowed me to shift a lot of things to my allies. I put a tactical vest over the top, containing spare magazines, grenades and other ‘trifles’.

Then came the weapons: machine gun over one shoulder, spear card up my sleeve, and a pistol at my belt as a last-ditch weapon. I felt a bit like a Christmas tree. I jumped up and down a few times, checking that I wouldn’t give myself away at every step. I didn’t feel as light as I used to, now that I was fully equipped.

After making sure that I still had time, I unloaded some of the supplies that wouldn’t be useful in the upcoming adventure, such as food, clothes, a sleeping bag, and so on. Unlike last time, I wasn’t too nervous, considering my chances of returning to be quite high. If most of the groups had managed while armed with only bladed weapons, I shouldn’t have any problems. On the other hand, I was heading to a place where the last team had failed.

Time remaining: 6 minutes and 32 seconds.

Rummaging in the bag again, I pulled out an airtight container and opened it, removing a hefty statue of a raven from inside. I set it on the floor, flicked the lighter, and ran the flame over the surface. Nothing happened for twenty or thirty seconds, then the stone cracked, letting the flames inside, and the whole shell shattered into pieces, releasing the prisoner.

The raven took a quick glance around, and after making sure that nothing dangerous was happening, rolled over onto his back, tucked in his claws and spread out his wings, playing dead. What a faker.

Attention! Ingression registered in the private room!

Transport the creature to a random location in your world?

Yes/No

I simply closed the window. Apparently, paranoia was becoming an integral part of my character. It wouldn’t do to forget that my phylactery was quite near, and the raven could make a mistake with his passion for crystals. I went into the cult settings and looked at his specifications again.

Legion

Status: System creature, Chaos creature, monster.

Type: Silver.

Creature Rank: D.

Level: 1.

Danger: medium.

Specifications:

Strength: 3.

Agility: 2.

Intelligence: 6.

Vitality: 5.

Stamina: 9.

Stability: 57.

Perception: 16.

Luck: 20.

Additional Parameters:

Main souls: 4.

Number of soul fragments: 118.

Merge: 60%.

Control: 44%.

Wisdom: 11.

Features:

— Three-legged Crow Blood — this creature is distantly related to a mythical being.

— Affinity with Fire — the creature possesses powerful fire magic.

— Development Potential — the creature’s body will develop over time.

— Nascent Soul — the creature has reached the stage where the physical body has become unnecessary for continued existence.

Hidden Properties:

— Servant of Order — the creature is part of the System.

—Spawn of Chaos — the creature possesses powers originating from another source.

— Heretic — the gods dislike this creature.

Not bad. Even with a body, Legion was still able to leave his mortal shell, although he was now called a ‘nascent soul’ instead of a ‘ghost’. However, the System gave both translation options roughly the same weight. The term seemed to have come from Chinese, and the ghost had clearly absorbed someone who had read a lot of the local novels…

The downside was that the raven now needed not only mana, but ordinary food, air and water. Having absorbed the soul of the old owner, he couldn’t leave the physical shell for long, otherwise it would starve to death. Of course, Legion claimed that the body changed quickly under the influence of magic, but so far, this had severely restricted the ways in which he could be transported. Technically, my bag’s level didn’t allow me to transport living creatures since it was cold, dark, and there was no air. However, the plants I’d brought back the first time had partially sprouted, so the restriction could be overcome.

It was difficult to transport the raven as a pet in a cage. I’d have had to collect quite a lot of certificates, and I wouldn’t have been able to sneak him through on a mission. We’d discussed the issue and worked out a solution before I allowed him to be resurrected. The raven could go into ‘suspended animation’, which allowed him to remain in the bag, but for a very limited time. We didn’t know for how long exactly, but Legion claimed it was about a day. After that, he’d have to either go into an even deeper sleep, or die and return to a disembodied state. He had been very reluctant to climb into his ‘coffin’ and only did so after I put his share of the crystals at the bottom.

“Get up, you faker,” I said. “We don’t have much time.”

Without paying him any more attention, I put the box back in my bag and continued to prepare for the upcoming fight. Ignoring him did the trick, and the raven raised his head.

“I almost suffocated to death! You should give me a crystal as compensation.”

“You spent less than twelve hours in the bag. Besides, I don’t have any extra crystals,” I responded wearily. It seemed amusing at first, but the raven made continuous attempts to take some of my strategic resource. Moreover, having received his share of the stones, he didn’t even think to spend them on his own development, but lay them around his ‘nest’ and admired the sparkle.

“The crystals… I can feel them nearby.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I interrupted. “See the portal? I can’t be completely sure, but there should be crystals on the other side. So, stop playing dead and let’s head over there, before someone else kills all the invaders and removes the crystals from their bodies.

“The crystals!”

The raven flipped over, leaped up, spread his wings, and dove like an arrow into the portal. His enthusiasm was contagious, so I activated Invisibility and followed. Even if I had a couple of minutes left, they weren’t enough to make a difference.

* * *

Forest. I didn’t normally do much hiking at this time of the year. Although the encroaching winter had little effect in the cities, no one plowed the snow here, and it melted much more slowly. As a result, the ground was covered in white, and I landed ankle-deep in a snowdrift. It didn’t really interfere with movement, but the tracks I left behind significantly reduced the effectiveness of my main advantage, Invisibility.

“I hate the woods,” I muttered as I inspected my environment. The raven appeared overhead and made a wide circle. “Legion, keep an eye on our surroundings. Warn me if you see any enemies... or anything else worthwhile.”

The raven’s Perception hadn’t dulled when he’d acquired the body, quite the opposite. In fact, his powers of observation were far superior to those of a human, so with a scout like him, there was little danger of an enemy sneaking up on me.

“Bri, your job is to stay close,” I said, releasing the second ghost from my bag. “Make sure no one attacks us from behind.”

I thought about my allies, first and foremost. There were enough fools in this world, and someone could well decide that my bag would serve them better. And I was planning to give them machine guns... I doubted the System would react to a murder committed with firearms as a violation of the rules. There wouldn’t be any experience points, after all.

“Yes, boss,” Bri confirmed, hovering over my shoulder for a moment and then disappearing. Even if the ghost was a little dim-witted, I’d had no problems with him. The perfect servant.

I could see no tracks in the snow so far, which meant I still had time. The first thing I did was activate the beacon. The device thought about it for a little while, then issued a message about a connection being established with the satellite and showed me the coordinates. Latitude... longitude... I hadn’t paid much attention in Geography at school, so I couldn’t determine the exact spot on the globe, but it seemed to be somewhere in Russia... It was enough for now, so I didn’t take out my phone to contact ‘command’ and call for reinforcements. Unless a miracle happened, the cavalry would arrive too late. Record the outcome, explore the territory, collect any corpses and weapons, and get their hands on any loot.

“Human!” the raven announced.

Turning my head, I saw a player kneeling in the snow. A dark-haired man in his thirties. Judging by the untouched snow all around him, he’d just stepped through the portal. In the last few seconds, it seemed.

“Hey, over here!” The player flinched, turned to me with his sword raised, and froze. He looked frightened at first, but then relaxed a little. Even if my equipment looked unexpected, the System indicated allies, and he could see my nickname. Just like I could see his. Level 1.

“I’m Vasily,” I introduced myself anyway. “You know who I am, right?”

“Of course. You’re one of the Alliance leaders.” he nodded. “I’m Warlock from the second squad. So, what’s the plan?”

Well, at least he wasn’t going to challenge my seniority. Smart. Although the fact that he was from the American squad meant I couldn’t trust him completely.

“Carry out the mission. First, we need to gather as many of our people as possible, and divide the weapons. Have you served in the army? Do you know how to use a submachine gun?”

“I haven’t, but I know how to use it. I’ve prepared for this, studied the theory and even went to a shooting range a couple of times.”

That made life easier. At least he didn’t talk about his extensive experience in Counter-Strike. Taking the submachine gun, he confidently flicked the safety off.

“Here’s a walkie-talkie. You’ve already got a number, 4,024, if I’m not mistaken?”

Of course, I meant his position within the Alliance — people with a System number below 7,000 were Level 2 at least.

“T-that’s right,” he stammered. “You remember me?”

“It’s not that hard, Bogdan. Especially if one pumps one’s Intelligence up to ten.”

The most surprising thing was that I remembered this number simply because I’d carefully studied the Alliance lists and the received abilities. Not everyone had obeyed and provided the necessary information, but he’d been one of the loyal ones. The poor guy hadn’t been lucky, though, and had ended up with the almost useless Improved Sense of Smell. Or, on the contrary, something so interesting that he’d decided to lie. Judging by his twitching red nose, I didn’t think so…

A terrible scream came from somewhere in the distance, and I automatically checked the participant counter for this ‘soiree’.

Remaining players: 97/100.

Three had already died. A stark reminder that we need to hurry up before the alien monsters devoured us one by one.

* * *

The landing area was quite large, but we quickly found three more players thanks to Legion. Khan, a Buryat, was armed with a spear and could Control Emotions. Level 2. Aitvaras had a sword and the special ability of Strong Bones. He was also Level 2. And finally, Eva, armed with a naginata. Level 1. She’d been luckier with her special skill, for the System had given her Magic Eyes, which she ironically called Sharingan. Judging by her red eyes, covered in a network of burst capillaries, the name was quite apt.

It wasn’t difficult to notice that even random abilities were most often given according to the user’s specifications. People who had neither Wisdom nor Faith rarely possessed really strong skills. Simple abilities were inferior to their magical counterparts, while purely System abilities were rare and much less flexible. The desire to obtain mana in the absence of access to the skill market was another argument in favor of the gods.

Out of the three, only Khan had served in the army and knew how to handle a submachine gun, while the others only ‘knew the theory’. In other words, they had followed the Alliance recommendations. The missions served as a kind of natural selection, so fools had been eliminated first.

My idea to bring warm clothes also turned out to be correct. We probably wouldn’t have frozen to death in three hours, but even a light frost was distracting. Plus, the fur hats looked quite charming.

“I can smell blood,” Warlock announced. “Over there...” The squad turned in the direction he’d indicated and soon reached the site of the battle. Murder, more accurately. All that was left of the player was a pool of blood and scraps of clothing. No body, weapons or artifacts. It was, however, highly unlikely that they’d left here on their own two feet. The numerous animal tracks clearly showed that the corpse had been dragged away by... wolves? A large pack, for there were a lot of tracks.

“These aren’t wolves,” Khan said. “The tracks are too big.”

“All right, listen up!” I said. “Our priority is to quickly assemble a strike group. We can waste a lot of time wandering around and searching for single fighters, so we should set up a perimeter defense and try to attract the attention of potential allies. Using all available means.”

No one asked stupid questions about how we would do this. Just like clarifying whether other players would be drawn to the sounds of the battle, rather than heading in the opposite direction. It wouldn’t be difficult to guess that our own people were firing, plus, I had written in the team chat about my arrival. If someone was monitoring it, they should be aware of the situation.

“What if the enemy arrives first?” Eva asked, clutching her submachine gun. As a member of one of the last waves, she had landed safely in the fortress, gained experience using the undead, so, hadn’t participated in any battles. Nevertheless, she had completed the mission, which meant that she had gained a rank E skill and was officially considered a veteran.

“We have firearms,” Aitvaras said. “We can easily drive them away. Do you think it’ll be better if the pack attacks someone else?”

I took a quick walk to set up several mines along the most likely approach. The snowdrifts made concealment difficult, but the situation was made easier by the fact that our opponents were beasts. Even if they were intelligent, I doubted that they would have had time to familiarize themselves with our modern weapons. After some hesitation, I gave each player a couple of grenades, with the instruction that they were to be used only as a last resort. If one was being eaten alive, for example.

“Stand by!” Among the equipment I’d wrangled out of the sergeant before I left was a flare gun. I found a gap in the trees and fired into the sky. The flare took off and exploded in a shower of green, drawing everyone’s attention. Both friends and enemies.

“If someone needs any training, now’s the time. We have plenty of ammunition, so you can spend a magazine on shooting one of those trees. One at a time, reloading. You especially, Eva.”

The sound of gunfire added to the general noise, making it easier to find us. I took out my machine gun and prepared to wait, while also scanning the surroundings. Perhaps my actions seemed overconfident, but I concurred with Aitvaras. If we couldn’t handle the monsters, then the others wouldn’t stand a chance. We had picked a good place to fight — the snow had been trampled down, so I had every chance of hiding in Invisibility if something went wrong. Of course, abandoning my allies was dishonorable, but dying was even dumber.

* * *

My fears were not unfounded, for none of the other fighters managed to reach us. Only a few shouts sounded somewhere nearby, and the player counter decreased by another three.

The raven flew over us, transmitting an image of the approaching enemies. I shuddered slightly. They did look a bit like wolves, except that they were much larger, with six eyes and spikes protruding from their fur. They were also extremely fast, and there were about two dozen of them — my scout hadn’t bothered to count more precisely. Hell, maybe we should have climbed the trees? It was too late now...

“Stand by! The demons are coming!”

The name, caliber, range or speed of the bullet, none of it mattered. I took the safety off, pointed the machine gun in the right direction and pulled the trigger just as the first enemy appeared among the trees. That’s how it goes.

The ‘doggie’ dropped like a brick, and I stopped firing as soon as I realized that I couldn’t see anyone else. My allies needed a couple of seconds to follow my example. Warlock had clearly run out of bullets, while Eva hadn’t even fired. The trees had taken the brunt, but the demon had also received plenty of bullets.

“Reload!” I commanded. “Eva, for fuck’s sake, take the safety off your submachine gun! This is only the start.”

I noticed that the wolf corpse had suddenly melted into a puddle of unappetizing slime. What the hell? There was no time to figure out what had happened, for I had spoken truly and two more monsters leaped out from behind the trees. They were hit by bursts of fire and collapsed about five meters away from us. This didn’t stop the others, and the entire pack appeared as soon as the gunfire subsided. The creatures attacked all at once, from different directions.

“Bloody hell,” I summed up, pressing the detonator button and activating Overclocking.

The world around me paused, and I could see at least three of the creatures wiped out by the explosions. In any case, it gained our squad a bit of time. The demons were fast, but I managed to take down a couple more with the machine gun. The other players didn’t waste time either. Khan, looking as calm as ever, fired short bursts. Warlock was clearly stressed out and shouting something… Ait was swearing in... Polish, apparently? The sounds merged into a single, vaguely discernible cacophony. Eva’s eyes were completely red, but she was an excellent shot, much better than a rookie with a submachine gun should be. Much better than at the recent training.

Unfortunately, none of this was enough. The trees obstructed our view of the enemy, which was too fast and too numerous. I had hoped that the demons would flee after suffering heavy losses, but this clearly wasn’t the case…

Another beast stumbled, turning into a puddle. The machine gun went silent, and I threw it aside without hesitation, retreating into Invisibility and grabbing my submachine gun. Three of the creatures reached us at once. My companions had also discarded their submachine guns and switched to System weapons, but now we were unevenly matched.

A leap, and Warlock’s arm was torn off at the elbow. A kick of the hind legs, and Ait was thrown back a dozen meters. A push with the shoulder, and Eva went rolling along the ground, losing her naginata. Khan proved himself again, managing to stab his spear into one of the monsters, but it only slid across the armor without causing much damage. However, the demon stopped for a second, and this allowed me to fire a short burst almost at point-blank range. Done.

Khan was thrown to the side, but was already trying to get up. The remaining wolves spun on the spot, looking for the threat, but even if the tracks gave me away, the creatures couldn’t immediately spot them. The raven swooped down from above, screeching, and one of the demons was engulfed in flames. Emptying the rest of the magazine into the last fit opponent, I discarded the submachine gun and drew my spear, then struck the burning creature. I stabbed into the joint between the armor plates, simultaneously activating the Split Stone skill, which I’d decided to call Split for short. The spear pierced the flesh with difficulty, despite its rank E, but then the mana traveled along the shaft, causing the creature to sort of explode. The slime was scattered for several meters around, and the fire sizzled in the snow.

Attention! You have gained 22 SP! (30/160)

Damn it... no card. It happened occasionally, although it was a shame. I still couldn’t identify the creatures, but it was about what I’d get for a first-level rank D creature.

Overclocking ended, so I didn’t have much time to think, and half the team was already injured. I changed the magazine, cocked the bolt, and looked back toward the trees. Easy to do, since they grew all around us. It was the nerves. Invisibility allowed me to hope that they’d target one of the wounded, but no other demons appeared. Was it over?

Well, ‘over’ was a relative term. Considering that the mission wasn’t over, some of the monsters were still alive. I doubted it was the slime pools around us. It would be one thing if a couple of the wounded beasts had escaped, but what if there was more than one pack? Or if it had an owner? I couldn’t see why the beasts would take a dead person’s bag... or had someone come here before us and I was just winding myself up?

“Keep an eye out for anyone approaching!” I said as I cast off Invisibility. Khan was almost unharmed and had managed to reload his submachine gun, ready to meet any new enemies. He happened to be a member of my eighth squad, so I was pleased with his behavior. “I’ll check how the others are doing… Oh, and don’t touch the raven, he’s with us!”

I ran up to Warlock, who was growling and trying to wrap a belt around his stump, without much success. I shoved my hand in my bag and instantly found a tourniquet, which I applied just above the wound. I then took out a syringe with pethidine and jabbed it into his other forearm. There was now a good chance that the fighter wouldn’t die of shock any time soon. Unfortunately, there was no way to reattach the arm that had been torn off, so only magic could bring him back into service.

I glanced to the side... Eva was standing on all fours, and although she didn’t look great, she probably wasn’t going to die. Her hat had been knocked off, exposing her red hair, while her crimson eyes, leaking bloody tears, looked quite frightening. Activating her ability must be quite painful. And I thought I was unlucky.

“Eva, how are you?” I shouted, spotting the grenade in her hands. My God. A grenade like that should be thrown strictly from cover, and if she detonated it now, we’d all be done for.

“I can barely see anything,” the girl said hoarsely. “But my vision will be back soon. Have we fought them off?”

“Yes, we did,” I confirmed, replenishing my mana from a crystal as I went. “So, no rash moves. Just sit here while I check the others, then I’ll sort you out.”

I broke into a run. Ait had been unlucky and although there were no lacerations on his body, he was dead by the time I reached him. There was no pulse, no breathing, and, judging by the unnatural angle of his neck, modern medicine was powerless here, despite his Strong Bones. However, the System still recognized him, so, after assessing the situation, I forcefully twisted the neck back into position and applied Healing.

“Holy shit,” I muttered. “It worked.” Second shot of painkiller… The patient came back to life and started breathing, but didn’t regain consciousness. Was it worth it? One lot of healing clearly wasn’t enough here. On the other hand, he couldn’t leave on his own, which meant that he’d have to wait for the cleanup team, and I’d have a chance to finish the job.

I took out a mana crystal and went back to the girl, taking away the grenade and fixing her eyes. Then, I approached the demon corpses. More precisely, the pools of slime. It was time to finish off the wounded and collect the loot.

* * *

“What was that?” I squatted down beside a pool of spreading goo and poked it with a stick. It felt like it wasn’t even real.

“That was a small hunting pack,” quoth the raven, throwing a... dead rat at my feet. No, more like a very small dog. A six-eyed dog. “If you dig around inside the pile, you’ll find a rat just like this one. The huge body is simply a combat form, while the pool of slime is a sort of artificial flesh that protects the host inside.”

I looked at him doubtfully. The words were too complex for a stupid and naive raven. It sounded more like the goblin speaking. Had the inner voice found its way out?

“So, they could still be alive?” I asked, focusing on the main thing.

“While you were wasting your time over there, a couple almost got away. Each one has crystals inside! Fortunately, this Old One cannot be tricked! Look!”

The raven struck the rat’s body with its beak, and pulled out a bloody stone. Despite its modest size, it gleamed much more brightly. Identification.

Medium mana crystal: 4012 units

Holy crap... A treasure like this was hidden in every one of these puddles of slime? My disgust receded into the background.

“You only saw a couple? Judging by their original size, many should have survived.”

“The shell is quite unstable and is connected to the real body. Its destruction is very painful, and it is difficult for the creatures to clamber out on their own. Many are slowly dying inside these pools of slime as we speak.”

“Drowning inside their own bodies? Seems a bit stupid, don’t you think?”

“Not everything in this world is perfect, otherwise, you would have feathers and phoenixes wouldn’t exist,” croaked the raven, then got to the point. “The pack is one. If they had won, the survivors would have rescued the others. What is stupid is that you are wasting time when you should be digging! Tell me you brought a shovel?”

I didn’t ask why I had to carry such a thing on me in the first place, and fished out a folding shovel from my bag. Another legacy of my greed. We had to hurry, for although the crystals weren’t going anywhere, we would lose experience and loot. Perhaps capturing a few of the beasts would be a good idea? I’m sure the scientists would appreciate it.

* * *

“Come here. Good boy.”

The girl picked up the last of her hounds and stroked it, glaring viciously in the direction of where she thought the killers were. A simple reconnaissance mission in one of the new worlds had resulted in an almost complete loss of the precious pack.

Was the meager loot, consisting of miserly experience points and junk artifacts worth it? They hadn’t even captured any prisoners, only corpses. Plus, the results of interrogations. Not that she hadn’t learned anything useful, but torture was less effective in the field. Of considerable interest were the local weapons, which had killed her pets.

The pack mistress sensed that some of the hounds were still alive, but attempting to rescue them would be too risky. As well as engaging in combat in general. She was a scout, not a fighter, and she had completed her mission, albeit less successfully than planned. Her master would be satisfied. Hopefully… One could never be sure when it came to the gods.

It was time to go.

It may not happen quickly, but eventually, nine out of ten new worlds would fall under the onslaught of monster hordes or become the hunting ground for older races. She would have time to snatch her piece of the pie and get her revenge. The huntress did not care about who was to blame for their conflict.

* * *

My idea had worked, though belatedly, and several dozen players showed up at once, including several familiar faces. Fortunately, my authority and the machine gun were enough to hold back those wanting to help, and direct their actions to something more useful than trying to steal my prey. Like building fires, clearing a space for the helicopter, helping to cut up the ‘bodies’...

I took the opportunity to exchange a few copies of my Army Training for empties. It wasn’t a very good deal, but it served to strengthen the Alliance overall. Then came the sudden message about the end of the mission, and people began to leave by the dozen. This was especially true for those who’d never made it to our camp. It was cold, so most people preferred to leave the snowy forest at the first opportunity.

Hellhound (63%)

Status: monster.

Creature Rank: D.

Level: 1.

Danger: low.

Specifications:

Strength: 1.

Agility: 1.

Intelligence: 2.

Resilience: 1.

Vitality: 5.

Stamina: 1.

Wisdom: 20.

Perception: 5.

Instinct: 10.

Features:

— Servant of Order — the creature belongs to the System.

— Pack Member — the creature is a part of the pack. Their abilities are cumulative and increase in strength.

— Experience Transfer — the creature can transfer experience directly to its master.

— Combat Form — can assume a combat form, increasing its specifications manyfold.

Master: hidden.

The ‘monster’ shivered in the cold air despite being wrapped up in a sweatshirt. It whined piteously and tried to lick my fingers, but I pulled my hand away just in time. There was nothing in the creature’s description about poisonous saliva, but who knew what it contained? In addition, its behavior was quite strange, considering the presence of a master. Most of its companions had tried to bite me, but this one didn’t seem antagonistic. Scared, more than anything...

“They’re so cute,” Eve whispered, inspecting the growling monsters.

“Yes, total darlings,” I agreed, pulling my finger away from the snapping jaws. I clearly remembered what these ludicrous creatures, which slightly resembled Chihuahuas, had done to those who had stood in the path of the pack. “As soon as their mana is restored, they’ll start growing again.”

We had recovered only five prisoners from the twenty-four pools of slime. The rest were dead: some had been struck by a bullet, some had died from shock when their shell had been destroyed, some had drowned, two had been pecked to death by the raven, and four more were later found in snowdrifts. Even if they had successfully climbed out of the slime, the Hellhounds couldn’t tolerate the cold and simply froze to death. We hadn’t found the last creature, however. Most likely, it had been killed by one of our own in the commotion. In any case, we had 18 corpses and the same number of medium mana crystals, plus the prisoners.

“There were five of us, so one of the mutts is yours.” I handed Eva a dagger. “It’s a D-ranked creature. You’ll be able to reach the second level, not to mention the possibility of getting a powerful card.”

Eve hesitated to take the dagger. I’d suspected that this was how it would go. I wasn’t worried about the dagger, for its value had dropped considerably since I’d obtained the spear. One would have to be mad with greed to steal it. One had to pick it up, for a start.

“I get a share, too?” Khan interjected. I silently moved my arm, handing the dagger to him. A minute later, one of the prisoners was dead, and the Buryat man had reached Level 3. He also gained a card and a crystal, which the raven eyed jealously. Never mind, he’d get his share as well. Having finished off two mutts, Legion was close to getting the second level (36/45). He hadn’t gotten any cards though.

Eva suddenly came to a decision, and another one of the ‘darlings’ was soon stabbed to death. Khan clapped and grunted his approval, and Eva blushed before vanishing into thin air. I grimaced when a pile of equipment fell to the ground. The restrictions remained in place, and the level of her bag didn’t allow her to take the weapons with her. She’d left the dagger, so I couldn’t complain about that. She could have been neater about it all, though.

“The crystal!” The raven reminded me.

Eva had been in such a hurry that she hadn’t taken the last part of the loot. I didn’t remove the stone, and placed the entire carcass in the bag. I was sure that the scientists would be more interested in the whole corpse.

Despite the severity of his injury, Warlock didn’t refuse his share, and my dagger was again stained with blood. The ‘American spy’ didn’t disappear, having decided to surrender to our authorities instead, and hoping that I would help to restore his arm. The two remaining ‘monsters’ whimpered in fright, huddling together and trying to hide in the sweatshirt.

“I have to go,” Khan said. “I suppose we’ll meet again.”

He clearly didn’t have any experience points left after going up a level, but I still gave him a couple of copies of my skills. The mission was over and most people had already left, returning to wherever the System had pulled them from. But not everyone. There were no penalties for remaining, so some thought that this was a good opportunity to make contact with the authorities. I think my presence played a significant role in this.

I spent the remainder of the time tending to the wounded, regularly draining my mana to heal them. The loot meant I didn’t have to scrimp too much. An hour later, the radio uttered a hiss and military helicopters flew overhead, searching for a landing site. The cavalry had finally arrived, significantly late, as I had expected.

Chapter 4. The Bonus Card

TO BE HONEST, we’d been incredibly lucky that the mission hadn’t lasted longer. It had been 11 a.m. in Moscow, but we had been transported to Siberia, which immediately added another 5 hours. So, we had started at 4 p.m. Given the approaching winter, the sun had begun to set after only 10-15 minutes, and it had dropped below the horizon by 6 p.m. If the mission had lasted the full three hours, we would have spent half of it in total darkness. In a snowy forest, surrounded by a pack of monsters and, if things had been a little different, with no firearms. A classic setup for a horror movie. If I hadn’t arrived, this so-called easy mission might have ended very, very differently.

What the hell were the gods thinking when they sent us here? Did they not consider the details? Did they know about me and had counted on the weapons? Were they trying to get rid of followers they didn’t like? Or was the truth much simpler and they couldn’t fully control the missions? Alas, I could only guess; the gods were not very forthcoming about their abilities. Even with their own priests…

I didn’t see the point in dragging back or saving the ammo, so I allowed the remaining players to get acquainted with the weapons, shoot a few practice rounds and even detonate a few grenades, all under supervision. Away from the battlefield, of course. People needed the experience, and I wasn’t going to regret spending the ammunition. Plus, it allowed me to ‘write off’ a little more than what I’d actually spent.

The second purpose of the training was to check that there was no divine bounty on my head. The fact that I’d claimed to be a follower of the Aztec god during the last mission was hardly lost on Inti. He had surely wondered about the reason and why I’d decided to pull this off. He had no reason to suspect me of murdering his priest, much less of heresy, so he’d probably blamed what had happened on the machinations of his competitors. The question was what he did next. Did he ignore it as something insignificant? Did he notify his supporters of the deception? Or had he decided to wait and see what my hypothetical patron was up to? Well, it was hard to unravel evil plans that didn’t exist. Therefore, I hadn’t ruled out simple assassination and had sent Bri to watch the players. None of them had tried to do anything suspicious, though.

By agreement with ‘management’, I didn’t return to my private room, but remained to look after the other candidates, the wounded and, most importantly, the alien creatures. As expected, there was a lot of interest in the captives.

It was completely dark by the time the helicopters appeared overhead, and the area cleared for landing had to be additionally illuminated with bonfires. I had a tent, and we even put it up, placing the wounded inside, but I had no desire to spend the night here. The temptation to leave was great…

“I hope they give me a medal for this,” I muttered. “Plus, a house on the shore of the Barents Sea and a gorgeous babe with three tits...”

* * *

The clean-up crew turned out to be quite small, only two helicopters. The first was a modified Mi-8 with about twenty fighters onboard. And an attack Mi-24, probably as cover.

As I watched the soldiers leave the helicopter and take up defensive positions, I tried to guess who they were. Some kind of army special forces? Hell if I know. In any case, it was obviously a combat team. They certainly didn’t fit the bill for a research expedition to “study the place of contact with an alien race”. After making sure that no one was planning to shoot the few unarmed spectators, I deactivated Invisibility and headed towards the arrivals.

“Captain Sayanov,” the officer introduced himself. “Are you, uh, Agent Vasily?”

The term ‘agent’ sounded strange, but it was due to the uncertainty surrounding my status. Nevertheless, it was better than being addressed as ‘private’, which would have sounded to me like being enrolling into the armed forces in absentia. I wasn’t too worried about this option, but it would have put a stop to any kind of normal cooperation.

“That’s right,” I nodded. “I understand that you are aware of the current situation, Captain?”

“In general terms,” he grimaced. “A group of either terrorists or aliens were detected, weapons and numbers unknown. By now, the threat has probably been eliminated. I need evacuate the combat group, conduct video recording, and sweep the area…”

It was my turn to grimace. If the commander was that clueless, what could I expect from his subordinates? I’d expected something like this, though. Information about current events remained a secret, and these rapid response teams had probably been assembled locally. It was surprising that anyone had even bothered with this, since the breaches had started only recently and were isolated.

“Almost but not quite,” I sighed. “You’re right, in broad terms. The wounded are in the tent, your medic can examine them. One has a severed arm, the other has multiple fractures, but their condition is stable.”

The captain waved his arm, gave a command, and several men with stretchers rushed towards the tent. “Two hundred?” Sayanov queried. “I heard there were casualties?”

He seemed a little puzzled by the appearance of most ‘agents’. We clearly didn’t look like a combat group. The strange clothes, plus, most of the weapons had gone back in the bag.

“That’s right,” I sighed. “Seventeen people are missing, but no bodies have been found. It’s too dark. It is likely that they were torn to pieces by the pack of... aliens. At least, I only saw pools of blood. I don’t envy you guys.”

“Torn to pieces?”

“Well, it’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. Come on.” I led him to the two Hellhounds huddling around the fire. Unlike the corpses I’d put in my bag, the prisoners had to be kept under constant guard. Hence, a sentry stood watch beside them, while Legion hid somewhere in the branches and watched the player in turn. In case the sentry decided that gaining a level and a couple of cards would be more profitable than just completing the assigned task. Wolf, goat and cabbage... new version. Fortunately, according to the raven, the ‘doggies’ couldn’t instantly grow in size, they need not only mana but also building material to create a shell. Meat, for example. However, slime worked best, so it was vital that we didn’t let them anywhere near the destroyed shells.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“That’s right,” I nodded. “These are the aliens our group encountered. They don’t look very threatening, but you saw the puddle of slime on the way here, right? It served as an external shell, turning these little dogs into extremely dangerous monsters. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take photos in the heat of battle...”

“Are they intelligent?” the captain asked cautiously. Apparently, the sight of the six-eyed mutants had impressed him.

“To some extent. The scientists will be able to tell us more when we deliver them.”

“I saw shell casings along the way, but I didn’t see any weapons on you or your people.”

“It’s the bag,” I sighed again, half-pulling the machine gun out of it and putting it back. “If I use science fiction terms, it’s a spatial artifact. By the way, you should read this, then burn it.”

Reaching into my bag again, I pulled out one of the pamphlets the Alliance had prepared for any civilians who needed to be briefed. It contained less information than the standard pamphlet for players, but it provided answers to all the main questions. I doubted the shroud of mystery would remain for long, so there was no harm in it. I hadn’t signed any agreements yet, while the captain would soon have to, in any case. Like all the other members of the cleanup crew.

* * *

We didn’t really have anything left to do in this cold forest, so we left the captain to settle in and boarded the second helicopter. In addition to the crew, the MI-24 could carry 10-12 people, so there was room inside for the wounded, me, a couple of attendants, and our potential recruits. Or maybe they didn’t want to go back to where they had come from, and took advantage of the ride?

I studied the faces of my companions in search of ‘traces of vice’, but none of the men looked like hardened criminals. Well, physiognomy was considered a pseudoscience, so I quickly abandoned the idea.

It was warm inside the helicopter, and the hounds didn’t look quite so pathetic. The captain had asked the right questions. Despite the extremely low parameters, they possessed Intelligence, which meant they were intelligent beings and not just monsters. Ah, the tribunal would have our heads for the murder of prisoners. The International Criminal Tribunal. Well, if one considered everything I’d done from the perspective of global justice, I’d have been shot a long time ago, just like most of the players. On the other hand, the main feature of tribunals was that they tried for war crimes not people who were the worst, but people who had lost. Real life was far removed from abstract justice…

Legion was in the bag and happily sleeping inside his ‘coffin’, surrounded by a pile of mana stones. I hadn’t put Bri away yet, preferring to remain cautious. The ghost was immaterial but could interact with living things, so it simply clung to me, wrapping itself around my shoulders and neck. This way, it could travel in the helicopter without being smeared on its back wall or thrown out altogether.

The closest point from which we could evacuate was Krasnoyarsk. We weren’t exactly near places of habitation. The range of our helicopter was about 400 kilometers, the speed reached 225 kilometers per hour, and our flight would take about 1.5 hours. So, a journey of 300 kilometers.

At first, I felt at ease flying due to the barely visible transfer icon, but then…

Attention! Mission time is up!

Attention! You are leaving the mission area!

Statistics

Task (E): completed.

Players: 100.

Completed: 93.

Died: 7.

Failed: 0.

Reward: not received.

Attention! Reward has been changed automatically!

Attention! You receive a bonus card!

A human cannot react to such a thing fast enough. I threw out my hand before I’d even understood what was happening. The card began to rapidly recede as soon as it appeared. Shit! Somehow, I managed to touch it with a fingertip, causing it to materialize before the helicopter had left the starting point. If I had hesitated for even a fraction of a second, it would have been too late.

My card fell to the floor, and the other players only twitched as they realized what was happening.

Attention! Overclocking cannot be activated!

Recovery time: 21 hours 3 minutes

In the first few moments, I’d tried to use the skill out of habit, forgetting that I’d already used it in the recent battle. Yet I’d somehow managed to do it anyway. It even felt like had time slowed down a little... not like when the skill was active, but still. As I bent down to pick up the card, I felt blood drip from my nose.

“Crap.” I placed my fingers over it and activated Healing.

There was a lot of angry cursing around me, even a suggestion to go back and look, but the pilots didn’t take it very well. They were short on fuel, and they were even less aware of what was going on than the captain. Plus, the chance of stopping in the right point in space and allowing the others to get their reward was very slim. It was annoying. After a few hours, these cards would simply fade away and return to where they had come from.

Some of the passengers had been facing the front, and the cards had passed through them without materializing. I guessed they hadn’t had time to figure out what was happening, and it took a conscious effort to manifest the reward. Or maybe the card simply couldn’t materialize inside their bodies? Otherwise, it would have been an extremely stupid death.

Wiping away the blood, I glanced at my card and struggled to keep my composure.

Minor Return card

Rank: E.

Type: can be activated.

Features:

— Transports you to your private room.

— Activation during a mission means mission failure. Penalties do not apply.

Saturation:

100/100

“Well, what is it?” one of the recruits asked. Beer... or Bear? However, the source of his nickname was of little interest to me. Just like the stares of the other three.

“It’s an empty,” I lied, calmly putting the prize in my bag.

I didn’t think they believed me, but so what? You can’t pin suspicions on a case. Better if the others didn’t know exactly what I’d received. Even if the card could only be used once, it was like having a spare life.

This thought allowed me to come to terms with the fact that I was once again in the air and again without a parachute. Was this becoming another obsession?

* * *

Upon arrival, the wounded were immediately taken away and sent to a military hospital. Their condition had already stabilized, so I didn’t interfere. I think the medics were in for a big surprise, considering how much mana I’d spent on the wounded. Nevertheless, extra medical care wouldn’t hurt.

This was followed by a video session with ‘management’, where I briefly described the situation, and I was finally left alone. The four recruits and I spent the night with the unit, and in the morning, we boarded a military plane and headed back to Moscow. The ‘doggies’ were housed in separate, custom-built cages with spikes pointing inwards, in case they suddenly decided to get bigger. To ensure they didn’t escape through the bars, each one was fitted with a collar and numerous steel chains. Considering the creatures’ size and specs, it was mildly amusing. The weight of the chains made it almost impossible for them to move.

Two of our escorts also went with us because they “had seen too much”. I was adamant this time, and had procured a parachute before stepping on board. Together with the return card, it significantly reduced the flight risk. Unless we suddenly crashed during takeoff... or landing… As most often happened. I only smiled at the thought, but, nevertheless, added a new item to the list.

“I hate flying,” I mumbled. There were too many different things in the world to only focus on goblins. If I ever got an official motto, it would be three words... I hate it!

“I agree,” Beer grumbled approvingly. “If Odin wanted people to fly, he would have given me wings, not Control Over Plants.”

The flight lasted about seven hours, and again, thanks to the wonder of time zones, we arrived at the capital a little earlier than we left. It was eight in the morning. If our planet was flat and stood on the back of three elephants, we wouldn’t have this nonsense.

“Congratulations on your return.” the major said. I wasn’t the only one suffering. It must have taken him a lot of work to get here in the morning and to organize all this. And not just him…

“Thank you,” I said, handing him the notebook.

I had written a brief mission report while aboard the plane. The containers with the Hellhounds were moved to the truck, while the bodies and samples of slime I took out of the bag were placed in a refrigerated van.

I also handed over most of the weapons I’d received earlier, as per the inventory. However, I slightly exaggerated what had been spent, writing off a little more ammunition, a couple of extra grenades and some explosives. It was penny-pinching, really, but it was dangerous to try anything more — even a lost hand pistol wouldn’t have been believed. Perhaps I would be ‘forgiven’, but why take such a stupid risk? Especially when my status was still uncertain. However, I insisted on being allowed to keep my personal equipment, including a submachine gun, due to the possibility of another local mission.

Contrary to my expectations, we didn’t head to base this time, but to one of the medical centers…

* * *

I assume most people don’t like medical examinations. Especially if they aren’t being done as a mere formality, for the sake of stamping a piece of paper, but with all proper care.

“Well, congratulations, my dear fellow,” said the chief physician gloomily. Arkady Borisovich Ivanov, according to the sign on the door. “Judging by the initial tests, you are completely healthy. Or perhaps sick with something extremely deadly that modern medicine cannot yet identify. Something that even now lurks in your body, just waiting to break out and destroy all of humanity.” The doctor uttered this in a dull voice, while writing something on a piece of paper. He had not disgraced his profession, for I could hardly recognize individual letters, let alone words.

“Thanks, doc. If I was a bit more of a hypochondriac, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“I certainly wouldn’t be able to sleep if I were you,” the old man replied. “You do realize that you’ve been in contact with alien life forms? Who knows what they might have infected you with?” Infected. The doctor’s tone gave the impression that we hadn’t fought them, but rather engaged in something more intimate. “Then again, that’s nothing compared to the fact that you’ve been to another world, yet have been walking around the city as if nothing had happened. It’s a miracle we haven’t had an outbreak yet.”

“According to my information, the System blocks epidemics.”

“I’ve studied the documents and spoken to the other players. You can’t know for sure, it’s just your theory. A bit flimsy, don’t you think, when we’re talking about the fate of humanity?”

I agreed with the physician, since his words echoed many of my old fears, but I didn’t see a way out of the current situation. All I could do was hope for the best. “We have an interface that allows us to track our well-being. If I get infected with something deadly, I’ll be the first to know.”

Of course, if I remembered to check my condition in time. Opening the Body tab, I made sure that I wasn’t going to die in the next few years.

“The System... interface... if I hadn’t seen your abilities with my own eyes, I would have sent you straight to the psych ward.”

“All right, doc,” I sighed. “What was I supposed to do? Shoot myself?”

“Give yourself up, as soon as you came back to Earth. Undergo a full examination!”

“Go to the authorities?” I snorted. “Who would have believed me? Should I have not returned at all? Died out there in the goblin world? It would have been pointless since there were thousands of us out there. And this is only the beginning. If I die, someone else will take my place.”

“You’re right. I understand that very well, too. Right now, it seems to me that the main threat to the world is not the monsters, but the contact between different biological species.”

“So, what do you suggest? Place us in quarantine?”

“It’s too late for quarantine. You’re right, there are too many of you. We can only pray that you are not mistaken. Because even discounting you, all these monsters are potential incubators for hundreds of alien microorganisms.”

“Glad to hear it, doc. Can I go now?”

“What’s the rush? Spend a day with us, relax, and tomorrow you can go about your business with renewed vigor. Whatever that entails.”

Chapter 5. The Contract

ALTHOUGH THE OTHER RECRUITS were in the same medical center, we were placed in different rooms and forbidden from seeing each other. They claimed it was all for quarantine purposes. I didn’t complain too much about this, since we’d meet again sooner or later.

Despite all the secrecy, no one had taken away my phone or internet access. Plus, I had a laptop in the bag, which made surfing easier. The hospital had Wi-Fi, the password to which I was given as soon as I asked. The person who’d set the password certainly lacked imagination.

“ Seriously? qwerty123?” I muttered, entering the last digits. I wondered whether it was carelessness or a devious plan to lull the patients into a fall sense of security while their traffic was intercepted by special services. Well, I have nothing to hide…

Bri, the only other occupant in the room, said nothing as he hovered somewhere near the ceiling lights. The wall-mounted plasma TV was showing the football, which allowed me to turn the sound right down without affecting the ‘plot’ and provide the ghost with some entertainment.

I glanced at the screen, where figures in red were driving back figures in green, and returned to my laptop. Mild panic reigned in the Alliance chat rooms. There had been two more extended missions like mine, and while Qing Long had taken part in one and had also supplied the participants with weapons, in Africa, the players were forced to rely solely on their abilities and bladed weapons. Their opponents had been human — at least at first glance — but their level clearly exceeded ours. As a result, the mission ended in complete failure, with only 16 of the 100 participants returning home. The defeat was followed by a massacre in a small village, information about which I eventually found in the news. The incident was mentioned in passing and attributed to internal conflicts. “Africa”, “savages”, “endless shooting ever since white people left”... The article transmitted the indifference and arrogance of its author.

It was ironic that the biggest defeat of the players had gone almost unnoticed, while a bunch of scuffles in more ‘civilized’ places had caused a lot of fuss. Especially the dozen goblins who had appeared in Paris and were killed by a local team of ‘superheroes’ in front of the cameras. It was difficult to say whether those players had been lucky or not. On the one hand, they’d suffered no losses, but on the other hand, they were now world famous. I zoomed in on one of the faces... Dmitry. He was certainly far from home. And Diva next to him, I presume?

The goblins were pathetic, wearing loincloths and carrying primitive weapons. How did such weaklings get into our world? Most of the creatures the players had encountered were ‘trash’, hardly able to open the gates between worlds. Otherwise, this was the work of the System, like a law of nature, or someone’s will was behind the attacks. It didn’t even have to be a single being, for a new world could attract many.

Even though I was a heretic and didn’t belong to the gods, it would have been wrong to call us enemies. They were the protectors of our world, and their deaths would not please me one bit. Even if the gods took issue with Cain, it was primarily because he was ‘nobody’s man’ and beyond anyone’s control. My primary identity, as one of the Alliance leaders, could hardly be associated with Heresy, so Inti was the only god with something to complain about. Even then it would be purely formal… Until I came to visit him, he could only act through his followers and with extreme caution. If only for fear of conflict with my ‘true patron’, whom he still needed to identify. I sincerely doubted that the gods would ever all gather around to find out whom I serve. Even if that happened and everyone claimed not to be my patron, they’d just assume that my ‘master’ was playing a game and being particularly secretive. Hence, I wasn’t in danger of being exposed anytime soon.

For now. Over time, the number of first players will shrink, the list of suspects will narrow, and my status as a heretic will be in danger of being revealed. At the very least, I will be faced with questions that I’ll struggle to answer. So, before that happened, I’d have to become a piece that couldn’t be easily swept off the board…

* * *

“How is your health?”

“Thank you, Major, I’m not complaining.” I chuckled when I discovered my visitor holding a bag of oranges. “You’re not wearing a protective suit? What about the quarantine?”

“What kind of quarantine is this, anyway?” he wrinkled his nose. “A formality to make the doctors feel better. You just need to wait for the test results. I’ll be honest, we did consider a global quarantine, but it was considered impractical. At least, until there’s a reason.”

But then it would be too late... I guess everyone understood that. Damn… Looking at it that way, the situation became even more ‘fun’.

“The goblins have been playing the Game for centuries, but they’ve never heard of epidemics. The gods also claim that the danger is minimal… Anyhow, what brings you here? Is it time for a serious conversation?”

“We’ll talk tomorrow, when you’re released. I’ve just brought the papers you’ll need to read, a form to fill out, and some questions our analysts have compiled.”

“I’ve already submitted a report, haven’t I?”

“For the mission. However, we are interested in events that have occurred since your initiation. Information about other players, gods, skills, the System, anything and everything. Yes, you’ve submitted a report, but our analysts believe that you... avoided certain topics.”

“Your analysts are undoubtedly right.”

“That’s why I decided to visit you in person, instead of sending this via the post. Here, have a read.”

“What is it?” I asked automatically.

“An amnesty decree signed by the President himself. This is a certified copy, and I can’t leave it with you since it’s a secret document.”

This wasn’t a license agreement that no one ever reads, therefore, I couldn’t rely on a verbal description. I ran my eyes over the page, focusing on the key points. As befits a legal document, it was written in a way to ensure that the reader would get a headache after a couple of minutes, but I understood the gist after reading it once. To put it simply, any crimes the players might have committed before yesterday were forgiven in advance and no longer mattered. Theoretically… Secret decrees were secret for this very reason, so that they could be conveniently ‘forgotten’. Furthermore, my homeland wasn’t the only country who could accuse me of crimes. Nevertheless, it was certainly a relief.

“A very interesting document,” I said. “I suppose it will allow me to make some changes to my testimony.”

On a whim, I ordered Bri to cling to my visitor and remember everything that happened as it moved around with him. It was a bit risky, but the ghost had proven to be a disciplined fellow, and I was certain that I’d see the major again soon. I had to hope that my vassal wouldn’t get lost anywhere. I’d experienced how clingy its tentacles were myself.

“Okay, then I’ll say goodbye. You have the Internet, and I can see that you have a laptop, too. When you’re done, please send the reports to this email address.”

“Sure thing.” I flexed my fingers, ready to compose a new version of the truth. I’d always wanted to be a writer, but my Literature teachers consistently gave me a pretty low grade. Well then.

* * *

The armchair was comfortable, but too soft, in my opinion. Difficult to leap up from in case of danger. For example, if the major decided to take a gun out of the drawer and shoot me in the head… I snorted and looked around. The office was well-furnished, almost luxurious, and, I suspected, chock-full of spy equipment. Even so, I didn’t spot any. Just like they hadn’t found my, um, equipment. My Mana Sense told me that Bri was hanging right behind the major, which meant that my spy had done its job. I hoped the ghost had remembered enough…

A portrait of the current president hung on the wall. Unlike the United States, where good old traditions meant that old man Clinton had been in power for nearly 30 years, our presidents had changed one after another: Yeltsin, Putin, Medvedev, and now, Ivanov. The media claimed that this was very bad, leading to instability, inability to conduct a balanced international policy, and so on and so forth. Journalists are always dissatisfied with something.

I shifted my gaze a little lower, focusing on the major sitting behind the massive desk. He appeared tired today.

“Well, we’ve studied your reports, and I must admit they’re quite impressive. Especially the Healing. Of course, additional tests are required, but... we are interested in cooperation, and since you are here, I assume the interest is mutual?”

“That’s right,” I said. “The only question is, what kind of cooperation.”

Although I’d compromise on a lot if needed, it didn’t mean that I’d agree to any terms without haggling. On the contrary, such willingness would look highly suspicious. If you don’t bargain in such situations, you’re either an idiot or you’re planning to ditch your partners.

“The president is currently preparing to address the nation. It has been decided that trying to hide the existence of ‘superheroes’ and the invading monsters will be counterproductive. Other countries will likely also make this information public soon, the only question is how soon and what form will it take?”

“A sensible move, considering the circumstances.”

“Your new report is much better, but you still left out several things. In particular, which god are you a follower of? Perhaps you don’t have a patron?”

Despite the convenience of the latter option, it would be foolish to use it now. Many people knew that I had the Faith parameter, which was inextricably linked to the gods. On the other hand, naming one of the seven gods would be stupid. The lie would be exposed sooner or later, and could have unpleasant consequences.

“Unfortunately, my patron forbade me to mention the name. I will die if I break my word. I also suspect that anyone who force me to speak won’t live long either.”

“So, it’s not Inti after all?”

I smiled and shook my head, indicating that I wasn’t prepared to answer such questions.

“Most players don’t hide which faction they belong to. Perhaps you are one of the priests?”

Well then, simple words weren’t enough. Obeying my order, Bri sunk its tentacles into the major and began to slowly draw out his life energy. It was another minor detail that I hadn’t mentioned in the reports. I couldn’t hide the raven, but having another ghost up my sleeve was useful.

“I’ve already said that I can’t answer that question,” I began, and stopped in mid-sentence. “Are you feeling alright?”

The major leaned on the table, breathing heavily as he tried to push himself back up. He didn’t possess any mana, so the process was going much faster and was, apparently, more painful. I ordered the ghost to stop, but it only obeyed when I commanded it a second time. Bri released the victim, came back and wrapped itself around my shoulders. Leaning across the table, I put my hand on the major’s shoulder and activated Healing. He looked visibly better.

“My heart… Damn… I had it checked out less than six months ago.”

There was the sound of running footsteps in the corridor, which stopped abruptly, and the door remained closed. Apparently, the observers realized that their help wasn’t required and had paused the response group.

“Don’t kid yourself, it’s not your heart. It was a warning. The answers to some questions are better not known.”

The major heaved a sigh a few minutes later. “Was that your Healing ability in action? Very effective stuff… I must admit, the people upstairs were particularly interested in this skill. By the way, you’re not afraid of going against your master’s wishes by saving me?”

“I think some sort of automatic defense was triggered. If one of the gods really wanted you dead, my intervention wouldn’t have changed anything. I simply removed the negative effects.”

I could see that the major had many more questions, but he was in no hurry to ask them. My demonstration was meant to show that the gods could influence the environment through the players. However, if this was the case, such interventions were very rare. Otherwise, how would I have killed Jack?

* * *

“Shall we resume our negotiations?”

“Certainly… The strategy regarding the players is currently being worked out, but the general principles have already been developed. To begin with, each ‘super’ must be registered and fill out a form, like the one you completed in hospital. After that, the player is placed under secret surveillance, but isn’t restricted in their actions, as long as they stay within the law.

“You’ll let someone possessing supernatural powers go so easily?”

“Of course, certain proposals will be made to them, but this is a free country. What’s the point of forcing people you can’t control to cooperate? Plus, no one has yet refused. Your missions are dangerous, so the state’s help wouldn’t hurt. Even if the others don’t have high-level bags like yours, we have something to offer them.”

“Like what?”

“Protection from the law. Training grounds. Instructors. Psychological help. The ability to legally sell any loot, risk-free. Money, finally! Although the budget of the new department is still being decided, funding won’t be a problem. Money has been allocated from the reserve fund, by personal order of the President.”

“What’s the status of the players who have agreed to cooperate?”

“Most have signed a contract for military service. One can also be employed as a civilian specialist. In your case, however, this is not desirable, since there will be a number of restrictions on weapon transportation...”

I closed my eyes for a second, calculating my options one last time. I had already made my decision — if I was going to cooperate with the government, it made no sense to limit myself to half measures. The whole world had split into ‘us’ and ‘them’. In this case, best to demonstrate that I had clearly chosen a side. The lack of shoulder straps would be only an illusion of freedom. After all, I could defend my interests in any status, and if something went wrong, what would keep me from running?

People who dig in their heels in such a situation, demonstrating their pride and independence, are just greedy, self-satisfied idiots. Lone wolves are the first to be killed. But they’re useful, for compared to them, loyalty and a willingness to cooperate look more convincing.

By setting my sights on the altar, I had set myself a goal that made these minor limitations miniscule in comparison. I’ll have to obey orders? Doesn’t matter, as long as I’m not being sent to my death. I’ll get less money when selling my bounty? My life is worth more. I’ll be used by the government? Two can play that game, and I certainly know what I want…

The current situation was extremely simple and the goals were obvious. I needed access to modern weapons. I needed to keep my position in the Alliance. I needed to survive a bunch of small missions and return to the goblin city. Finally, I had to find a way to reach the temple first, passing through the hordes of undead…

It sounded like suicide, but if I succeeded, I hoped to gain real freedom while retaining all the advantages of a player. True, I risked the wrath of the gods, but fearing death made no sense in my position.

Cynicism aside, the global objectives of the state, which sought to protect its territories and citizens, did not contradict mine. I couldn’t avoid fighting all kinds of monsters, no matter where I went, so having the support of the authorities meant a lot.

“What do you say?” the major broke the silence.

“It’s a difficult question. As you know, I’m one of the Alliance leaders and one of the strongest players at the moment. I don’t mind joining the armed services, but I couldn’t obey other players with my status and experience. Plus, the rank of private... would be inappropriate.”

“Very true. We have considered this matter and, having studied your list of skills, are prepared, in this instance, to award you the rank of lieutenant in the FSB and appoint you commander of a special group.” The major picked up a folder from his desk and took out several sheets of paper. “Shall we start from the start? You may have forgotten, but for outstanding personal qualities shown during military service, on the recommendation of your direct commander, you were awarded the rank of corporal. Congratulations.”

“Corporal?” I chuckled and took the proffered piece of paper. The order looked genuine, it was stamped, signed and dated… Almost three years ago, but they hadn’t gone so far as to artificially age it. Or hadn’t gone yet? Their approach seemed very thorough.

“This is just the beginning.” The major waved the folder at me. “Next order. Due to your position as an army medic, you were awarded the rank of junior sergeant. Congratulations.”

“I serve Russia!” I proclaimed automatically, accepting the new piece of paper. According to the documents, I’d only been a corporal for a month. What a fast-paced career. “I suppose that’s not all?”

“Yes, you have a good memory. In honor of Victory Day, for your impeccable service and outstanding personal qualities, you were promoted to sergeant.”

I skimmed through the third order. This was getting interesting. “How did I become a staff sergeant?”

“You didn’t. For your meritorious service, you were sent for further training at the Federal Security Service and, based on your study results, received a new officer rank. Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

I was developing a taste for this, but, alas, it was the last order in the folder. It looked like I wasn’t going to be made captain today. “Just wondering, what if I had chosen the other option?”

“You would have remained a private. In any case, your personal file is classified and all the documents have been removed from storage. But if someone persists, they will find traces.”

“I see. All that’s left now is to negotiate and sign the contract?”

* * *

Despite my apprehension, I had negotiated quite good conditions. After a long bout of haggling, I joined the service as commander of the First Special Group. A captain, no less. This was all backdated, since a significant portion of the players believed that I’d long been working for the government, and I had no desire to dissuade them.

A decent salary, flexible work hours, a high degree of freedom, a benefits package, the promise of future awards, an early pension, and an allowance for my family in the event of my death. A dream job… In addition, the state paid 10,000 rubles for the head of each monster killed in the last mission. Not for the corpses, but for the elimination of a dangerous monster. It wasn’t much, but every bit helped. Considering the size of the pack compared to our group, my portion equaled 48,000 rubles.

The trickiest part was the loot. Much had changed since the Middle Ages, and it would have been strange if the government didn’t try to get its hands on the ‘spoils of war’. The state didn’t make a grab for the System items and experience, not directly, at least, but I was told that I could sell the loot. A million rubles was promised for any F-ranked card. At an exchange rate of around 50 rubles to a dollar, that was only 20,000 dollars — 5 times less than the Americans were promising to pay. Seven and a half times less than what the Chinese government would pay. However, a promise wasn’t set in stone, and prices would inevitably go down as the number of players grew. Plus, money didn’t matter as much after a certain point.

Nevertheless, the situation was different with the captives, for the state couldn’t allow its citizens to enslave intelligent beings. My pet raven was no longer a secret, and I was even promised a special permit for him.

“A toast to mark the occasion?” Asked the representative of the ‘dark forces’, taking out a bottle of cognac, a lemon and a couple of glasses.

I had finally finished reading the newly printed document and signed it, feeling like I’d just sold my soul to the devil. Well, it wasn’t the worst deal of my life. “Sure.”

Chapter 6. The Address

NOW THAT THE CONTRACT was signed, I had to move to Moscow. Although the department was still being set up, it already had a housing fund that provided free apartments for the new recruits. Moreover, we were promised that this housing would become our private property after a year. For those of us who survived, I guess... It wasn’t overly generous, but I didn’t feel cheated. The dead have no need of riches, and I had no intention of dying.

“We’re here,” the driver nodded. “See those high-rise buildings? We won’t go inside, okay? I assume you can figure things out on your own?”

“Yes, thank you.”

I was taken to the right address and I was meant to sort out the rest. Commendable courtesy. I was a ‘big boy’ so I could find the way myself, but the lack of direct control indicated that someone smart had thought out this behavior strategy. After all, it wasn’t enough for you to be aware of the situation, you wanted the other side to appreciate it as well. People tended to distrust the state, and while I believed that there was no way to keep me by force, I subconsciously kept expecting some typical scenarios. For example, being sent to some closed city instead of getting an apartment in the capital, and having my freedom restricted in general.

Perhaps I was being watched even now. I could potentially turn around and go anywhere I wanted. To the Embassy of Japan, for example. Or to the nearest supermarket. I chose the latter option and went to purchase some foodstuffs. I didn’t get too carried away, nor did I sneak the groceries into my player bag, mindful of becoming an unwitting star of popular video hosting sites.

Okay, where to from here? My navigation app obediently supplied the route. The courtyard was guarded and fenced off, but all I needed was a key to enter. Or a pass. I had both, and they were obviously expecting my arrival, so there were no problems with getting inside.

* * *

“Home, sweet home,” I murmured. “My fortress.”

The door was impressive, with a couple of high-quality locks that took me about a minute to open. Of course, if one had a duplicate key and the desire, one could get in faster, but I also found a deadbolt on the inside, which allayed my paranoia. Nevertheless, I had to keep in mind that the special services could easily get inside in my absence...

I walked through the rooms, looking around. I had been given a decent one-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor, in a reasonable part of the city. The building was well-designed, with high ceilings, thick walls and a large enclosed balcony. The apartment was already furnished and had appliances and everything else necessary for living. This opulence was accompanied by an underground parking spot and even a company car. I had checked the parking lot on my way back, to see the acquisition with my own eyes, and was quite satisfied. A recent change in the law prohibited the use of foreign cars by civil servants, so my Mercedes had been assembled somewhere in the Moscow Region last year. It was lucky that I had a driver’s license, because I doubted that I’d been assigned a personal driver otherwise. As far as I knew, there was a service bus that stopped here in the mornings.

“Motherland, can you hear me?” Even the neighbors could hear me in a typical apartment complex, but the soundproofing here was excellent. There was no answer, of course.

While I examined my acquisition, the raven, whom I’d released from the sarcophagus, circled the room and chose a place to nest on top of the cabinet. He ruffled his feathers, then left the shell to join Bri in checking the apartment for any bugs. I was promised there wouldn’t be any, but who knew? The ghosts had to check the apartment and explore the surrounding area.

As I waited for them to return, I put the groceries in the fridge, set a pot on the stove, turned on the kettle, and began pulling my personal belongings out of the bag. When I’d left St. Petersburg, I’d had a suspicion that I wouldn’t be returning home for a while, so I’d taken the most valuable things with me. Since I wasn’t going back there anytime soon, I had given the apartment keys to my superiors, along with a list of things I wanted to see in the new place. The main goal was to hand over the plant samples I’d collected during the missions. Some of them had survived and now had considerable research value. Maybe. I recognized many of the plants thanks to my goblin skills, but most were different sorts of nameless weed. There were a few useful plants that could be thrown into the cauldron. A couple as condiments and a couple to poison the enemies. As long as it wasn’t the same cauldron.

Anyway, I’d let the nerds figure it out, but I’d basically imported a bunch of different alien weeds from my first mission. Russian science was going to thank me forever.

“Maybe they’ll even name one of the weeds after me,” I said thoughtfully. “I have a lot of names and they’re all good ones.”

The ‘plantation’ needed to be sorted out in any case, for although I’d paid a neighbor to do the watering and had given her a set of keys, leaving alien flora under someone else’s supervision was clearly not a good idea. The seeds I’d obtained in the goblin fortress were more interesting, since they were useful plants that could be cultivated. I had kept some for myself, and gave the rest to the research department. I hadn’t even asked for money. Not because I couldn’t, but because I’d already been given a lot, and it would be hard to build trust if I demanded payment for every little thing. I viewed it as an investment. Few things are as expensive as freebies, and I was going to take full advantage of my country. To our mutual benefit, of course…

I speared a sausage with my fork and bit into it. By the time I’d finished supper, the raven had flown into the kitchen and was devouring his own portion of meat, while also reporting what he’d found. There were no beacons, cameras or magic crystals found inside the apartment. Of course, this didn’t guarantee that the apartment wasn’t being monitored, since there were all kinds of remote methods, but I wasn’t too worried about that. I wasn’t shy, I mostly communicated with my vassals in my head, and I hadn’t yet reached the stage where my mumbling would give away any secrets.

However, cameras hung openly in the corridors and the stairwells, transmitting to the security post on the ground floor and, according to the ghosts, into one of the apartments. While the ground-floor post was staffed by a typical security guard, the reserve post contained three men in bulletproof vests and with machine guns. They weren’t only guarding me, for there were plenty of bigwigs and other players living in the building.

* * *

It was almost ten o’clock, so I found the remote control on the table, turned on the TV, made some nastoyka-fortified tea, and collapsed into an armchair. Friday... the best day to announce the coming apocalypse. From what I’d understood, several governments were going to address their nations tonight, and were it not for the need to agree on the content, the announcement could have been made much earlier.

“Attention! The President’s emergency address is about to begin! Please listen to the information and pass it on to others.” A video showing the Kremlin started playing. It was live, as far as I could tell. A flag fluttered above the tower, indicating that the head of state was in residence. The clock in the corner reached 10:00 pm, and President Ivanov appeared on the screen. Not a very interesting figure, really. He was about fifty years old, had taken office less than a year ago and hadn’t done anything exceptional in that time. Furthermore, he’d only won the election in the second round, after an intense struggle. He was the protégé of his predecessor, and that was all one could say about him.

“Dear citizens of Russia,” the address began with the classical phrase passed on from one president to another. “I urge you to take everything said here seriously, no matter how implausible the facts may sound. Many of you have noticed a series of news reports about attacks on people around the world by unknown creatures in recent months.”

Several news clips were shown in the corner of the screen, one after another. Yeti... goblins... some other strange creatures… The raven perked up and flew from his ‘nest’ on top of the cabinet to perch on the back of my armchair. He didn’t even comment on the images on the screen.

“Unfortunately, the videos we are showing you have not been altered, these creatures are real. They are aliens from other dimensions. It is not known exactly how they are coming here. They lack spacecraft or high technologies, but they are transported over vast distances, and many possess inexplicable abilities that modern science cannot explain.”

One of my six-eyed dogs appeared on the screen. It was released into a huge cage containing a pile of slime. The hound rushed into it without hesitation and morphed into an enormous monster a minute later, which then launched itself straight at the bars, through which the scene was being filmed. It looked very impressive. The video ended, and the President returned to the screen.

“Unfortunately, most of the aliens are extremely hostile. Many simply lack intelligence and are simply aggressive beasts, but the intelligent ones are no better…”

We were again showed footage of the invasions, although the corpses were modestly pixelated so as not to shock the public.

“Therefore, if you encounter any unfamiliar creatures, you should immediately leave the area of contact. Then call the police or one of the phone numbers displayed on the screen. Do not forget that, in addition to the physical threat, monsters can also be carriers of unknown diseases. Anyone who has met one should avoid contact with other people and get tested as soon as possible. A special coordination center has been set up to deal with this issue, operating around the clock. Rapid response teams are being created in each residential area to ensure the safety of our citizens. This applies not only to cities, but also to villages.”

The corner of the screen showed armed soldiers in combat suits, tanks, helicopters, and so on, and so on. Anything to demonstrate the country’s might and calm people down somewhat…

“We do not recommend venturing into the countryside unless absolutely necessary, since aliens can remain undetected for a long time in an unpopulated area. Do not panic, for most aliens are relatively weak and are armed only with bladed weapons. In addition, our world is different to what they know, which weakens their defenses and, with some luck, an ordinary adult man can overpower some of them. If you are left with no choice, you can defend yourself beyond the limits of self-defense.”

The figure of a man and a goblin appeared on the screen. The goblin looked much more pitiful and weak, like a child... Then the picture of a yeti appeared, and now the human figure looked like a child.

“In addition to the monsters, some people have developed various... psychic abilities. If this happens to you, please call the registration center on the second number displayed on the screen. A law will soon be introduced making registration mandatory, and evasion will be considered an administrative offense.”

I noted that information about the System and missions, as well as how some people became players, had been omitted. I suspected that the registration center would soon be inundated with calls from various weirdos. On the other hand, it would be easy to filter them out.

“This is what a person with superpowers might look like.”

The screen showed a dummy wearing the basic player outfit. No explanation was given as to why superheroes would walk around wearing this kind of cosplay. There was no mention of the gods. Apparently, they’d decided to hold this information back for now since it would sound too improbable. I doubted this was the case only in my country.

“Nevertheless, there is no reason to panic. The threat is considered low at present, these invasions are infrequent, and the government is working hard to ensure your safety. The terrorism threat level in the country will be raised to blue from tomorrow. A curfew is being imposed on all populated areas so it will be strictly forbidden to be outdoors after midnight. The process for acquiring a firearms license will be simplified. If the situation worsens, these measures may be strengthened. However, I believe that we can get through this together! Be careful and look after yourself.”

The image changed to a middle-aged presenter who nodded wearily at the camera, “That was an address by Vladimir Ivanov, the President of Russia. I would like to remind you that you can contact the coordination center by calling… More detailed information can be found on the website… In addition, a special program will be shown in ten minutes, which will explain the situation in more detail. Please view it in full, the safety of you and your loved ones may depend on it.”

* * *

I watched the program, but didn’t really learn anything new. Apart from the same video clips and calls for caution, several players appeared in this program. They demonstrated their abilities, summoning their weapon being the most popular. But a young woman froze a small puddle, while an older man lifted several steel balls into the air. All the players wore masks, of course.

The website duplicated the information, but was otherwise practically empty. The only noteworthy thing was a more extended call for superheroes to come forward. There was a promise of state aid, money, protection and support, but nothing specific was mentioned. They also didn’t announce a punishment for evasion, probably to avoid scaring off potential volunteers. Plus, the law hadn’t yet been adopted, from my understanding.

Out of curiosity, I watched the address of the American President. Clinton looked old and tired compared to the Russian President. He could have used a healer, but he spoke convincingly, saying essentially the same thing. The only difference was that he had a different term for the players. I supposed we’d have superheroes and supervillains soon, and then we’d be only one step away from the Justice League. Quite a strange concept, in my opinion, which had been firmly embedded in Western culture.

Leaders of other countries said things along similar lines, but I didn’t watch their speeches in full, especially since only the automatic subtitles were available. I doubted their speeches were much different. In any case, the world had officially changed from this day forth, and although the word ‘magic’ hadn’t been mentioned, it would soon cease to be seen as something unbelievable…

Forums and media websites were in chaos. If I was to extrapolate what I was reading, there had to be hundreds of thousands of players in the world, whom I’d never even heard of. Elite ones with abilities that made mine look miniscule. Trolls... I snorted and wrote that I could become invisible, then watched the comment rapidly drown under dislikes and skeptical sneers. Many people considered everything that was happening to be nothing but a joke.

I didn’t bother proving that I was speaking the truth, but snorted again and closed the laptop. Although tomorrow was technically the weekend, it wasn’t like players had to worry about complying with labor laws. A mission could arise at any time, and we had to be ready.

I lay down on the couch and activated the Calculating Mind. Today had not been an easy day, and it would be rational to calm down a little before going to bed. So far, everything seemed to be going well.

The trick worked. I fell asleep quickly and didn’t dream of goblins. I was flying in my dream… until my plane was attacked by a Bone Dragon. Even if the fighter jets were running a little late, this time, I had a parachute. I floated gently downwards, while bone shards rained down from the sky. There was a disturbing number of fragments, while the ground below was littered with them all the way to the horizon.

* * *

Rest only in our dreams. In my case, however, not even in dreams. It was three o’clock in the morning, and I should have been enjoying my nightmare for another four hours, when suddenly:

Attention! Ingress registered!

Protection of home location

Difficulty: F-.

Opponent: Unknown.

Mission duration: 1 hour.

Conditions:

Banish, negotiate with or destroy the alien who has entered your world.

Reward: access to the Server.

Penalty for failure: none.

Would you like to accept an optional local mission (F-) to protect your home location? (0/1)

Yes/No

Time remaining: 2 hours 59 minutes and 34 seconds.

How was one supposed to sleep like this? I suspected that I wasn’t the only one who had received this message. Now I’d have to wait three hours until the die was cast automatically or someone volunteered.

I looked at my phone, wondering if I should report the situation, then gave up, draped an arm over my bag, and rolled onto my other side. Let someone else deal with it.

“Damn.” I wanted to think that, but I couldn’t. Only I had a sufficiently high-level bag and, consequently, a firearm. Even though they’d take the machine gun off me, a submachine gun would be enough to deal with all sort of rabble. overall, I was much stronger than most other veterans. We were already developing new terminology, and people like me were being called the ‘elite’.

I wasn’t afraid of the mission… I had a weapon, an escape card, two servants, and a very impressive skill set. Judging by the single slot and the F- rank, something quite small and not overly dangerous had arrived this time, at least for the players. After all, even a goblin appearing in a public place and ready to kill could cause a lot of trouble. An alien could potentially pop up anywhere on the planet, say, inside an apartment... It was an unpleasant thought, and even if the probability of that happening was close to zero, someone would get unlucky sooner or later. It was a good reason to get a dog.

“Legion! Into the container!”

I packed up the servant, looked at my phone again but decided not to call. Rank F-. An easy mission, I’d seen them mentioned in the chat, and there usually weren’t any problems. What could possibly go wrong? There and back again, and no one would be the wiser. It would also be a chance to check if the apartment under surveillance or not. If I was being watched, I’d definitely get into trouble for this heroic feat. Scribbling a note wouldn’t do any harm.

I left the note on the table before disappearing. My anger faded as I wrote, replaced by the knowledge that if the message was found, it meant that I was dead. It was a stupid but frightening thought. Memento mori, remember death. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t forget it.

* * *

I spent the next hour in a grove, trying to disperse the darkness with my torch, clutching a submachine gun, and waiting to be attached by a creature unknown to science. There was a highway nearby, so people lived in the area. The raven circled overhead, trying to spot the intruder, while Bri covered my back, but even with their help, all we could find were strange, bird-like footprints.

It looked like the monster was small and able to fly, so I didn’t set up an ambush or wait for the ‘death squad’ to arrive, preferring to escape instead. Nothing happened in the allotted hour, so the mission was declared a failure, and I returned to my starting location, tired, sleep-deprived, angry and empty-handed.

I could only hope that the unknown creature would soon be dragged back to its world or freeze to death in the snow. If not now, then later. If the weather forecasters were telling the truth, the coming winter was going to be a cold one.

Chapter 7. The Team

THE DECISION TO GO on a solo mission without prior approval from management turned out to be a mistake. It showed my irresponsibility and unwillingness to work in a team, to follow instructions, and so on and so forth. The fact that I wasn’t formally on duty at the time didn’t make a difference. The sheath of documents I’d signed had probably contained instructions for a situation like this. If the mission had been a success, I could have kept it quiet, but failure meant I that had to report it.

Once it became obvious that the alien had escaped, I had to determine my location. The beacon I’d received in the last mission had been taken away from me, so I had to use my phone. The internet here was patchy but geolocation was set by the satellites so I didn’t have any trouble. I had been teleported to the Moscow Region, although I’d never heard of the nearby town of Ruza.

It would be... wrong to go back to bed when a monster thirsting for human blood was flying around in the area. Despite all the pragmatism and the dozens of lives I’d taken, I still held on to such principles. As soon as I returned home, I contacted the major through one of the encrypted messengers and reported what had happened. I didn’t make up an excuse to explain the situation, but simply admitted my mistake and briefly described the reasons that had prompted me to take this risk. Then I went back to bed.

Major Ilyin, it seemed, had spent the rest of the night on his feet. He certainly looked like it. “We’ll say that I personally authorized this operation.” The major sighed heavily and dropped the report I’d written this morning into the shredder. Its destruction drew my eye. “However, I hope such a thing won’t happen again, Lieutenant. You need to get used to the idea that you are now an officer and such tricks discredit the entire department!”

Although the major ran the base, he was only a deputy, while the leadership team sat in Moscow. The head of the department had the rank of general, as was usual.

“Yes, sir,” I agreed.

“Okay,” his tone changed. “I can see that you get it. Sit down, take a pen and rewrite the report. The way it really was, but this time, do it right…”

I sat down at the table and started my new essay. I mostly needed to change the very beginning, highlighting the major’s determination, wisdom and leadership role. It hadn’t been that long since my university days, but it felt odd to be writing by hand. Well, let’s consider it a punishment of sorts.

“Now, regarding your little jaunt.” The major leaned back in his chair. “An alert has been issued across the Ruza Region, additional police forces have been dispatched, the local radio is playing a warning for the local population to remain vigilant. That’s all we can do for now. This isn’t the first such case, and your alien is relatively small and likely not dangerous.”

The Hellhounds were also small in their base form, but I didn’t speak that thought aloud. The criteria by which missions were ranked raised some questions, but the bird probably only had the lowest level.

“I don’t suppose you need me for the hunt?” I asked, holding out the new version of the report.

“What would you do there, anyway?” The major grumbled as he started reading. “Leap through snowdrifts clutching a machine gun? You’ve noted the tracks and the terrain, plus, we have the photos. It might be worth sending you there as a lesson, but, well, you wrote a good report this time. Here, have a look at the personal files of the department’s players.”

...The search for the bird monster turned out to be fruitless. It had disappeared without a trace. Not the worst possible outcome.

* * *

There were currently eighteen players in the ranks. One had Level 3, nine had Level 2 players and eight had Level 1. Seven women and eleven men. There used to be more, but the recent missions had resulted in casualties and five had never returned. Three of them had perished in that Seventh Local Mission. Not even their bodies were found.

However, all the victims were veterans and had divine patrons, so there was a small chance that they would be resurrected. Alas, only the gods knew for sure, and we still hadn’t established a clear communication channel with them. Even the priests had unstable access, while for the rest, the only way was through the temples. I doubted this was due to passivity or modesty, rather, the gods had some restrictions that didn’t allow them free reign in our world. The gods clearly weren’t going to voice them, so all this was my theory.

I went through the deities. Most of the players had chosen Odin, Hera and, thanks to my notoriety, even Inti. Although, I’d made it known that I didn’t belong to his supporters before I’d left the fortress. The other gods were also on the list, except for the Great Seth. Apparently, the transformation had affected him more than the others, resulting in a god who was slightly unhinged and hence unpopular. Among the European players, at least.

The horror story about souls for sale had worked poorly, with only three players deciding to remain independent. They could change their mind at any time. Establishing contact with the gods was a clear priority goal for the government, so perhaps someone would have to take the vacant place of a follower of the desert god. Nevertheless, I singled out this trio in my head. After my failure in the night mission, I had been given the minimum amount of time in the personal room, and the god gates had all remained closed. I wouldn’t have been able to communicate with one of the Seven even if I’d wanted to.

Honestly, our adversarial relationship didn’t please me in the slightest. It had crossed my mind more than once that perhaps my desire to remain independent had been a mistake. After all, the goblins had lived like this for thousands of years and hadn’t suffered from it, moreover, they longed for the old days. How much easier would it have been if I hadn’t been unconscious for so long after the first mission? It was a piece of bad luck that had put me on this path.

To hell with it… In any case, I’d placed my bets and it was too late to back down. Better to view what happened as an opportunity and act accordingly.

Setting aside thoughts about the gods, I returned to studying the players’ personal files. Eighteen people, with four having magical abilities. It was quite a lot, considering the circumstances. First, only one out of seven was even offered Magical Ability at the start. Second, mages had little chance of surviving their first mission, and most would have been killed if not for the captured fortress. Third, it was harder for mages to level up, and even if they passed the first mission, they didn’t necessarily receive a combat spell.

We had Eugene aka Spider, a third-level magician with Telekinesis, and three Level 1 witches, whose abilities were Freezing, Biolocation and Mana Stone Creation. I was particularly interested in the latter, even if the speed of crystal creation was low and limited by the witch’s reserve. Two hundred mana units. The owner of this valuable skill, Ksenia aka Diamond, wouldn’t normally stand a chance, for her combat abilities were close to zero. Even her Level 1 Spear Fighting ability had appeared very recently, and only because the other team members had ‘chipped in’ with their experience points. The same applied to the sensor Natalia (Nata), even though her ability could be extremely useful in a team.

Four mages… Five, counting me. Actually, all followers of a god possessed mana, but they couldn’t be considered full-fledged magicians since they lacked the appropriate skills. As practice had shown, the System didn’t offer a player skills that they couldn’t use, and Faith was awarded after the distribution.

I looked through the names and brief descriptions of the skills: Walking on Water, Hair Armor, Familiar, Blood Control, Critical Points, Empathy, Pink Shroud, Leap, Thermal Vision, Partial Shapeshifting, Passive Increase in Stamina, Increased Life Expectancy, Acceleration and, finally, Instant Death.

While the skills weren’t equally useful, a certain balance could be seen between their requirements, strength, distance, activation speed, control, rollback, duration and who knows what else. And yet half of these superpowers had no benefit to the state or to the players themselves. Some were actually dangerous to their owners. Considering how risky the missions were, it wasn’t surprising that all these people had quickly decided to cooperate with the government.

* * *

The department was in its early days, and many people, even entire divisions, were being reassigned to it from other organizations. This affected its centralization. Perhaps they should have gathered everything in one place, a military town like Krasnoznamensk, for example, but while this was possible with people, it couldn’t be done quickly with buildings and infrastructure. Plus, was it truly necessary?

From what I’d read, this unnamed base formed only a small part of the new structure. It contained combat units, equipment, warehouses, training grounds, classrooms, and so on. Leadership, administration, the coordination and management center, as well as the call center, were housed in a Moscow skyscraper. There was a separate medical center, which I’d already visited, and a research and development institute, which I’d only heard about. Finally, branches and rapid response teams were going to be scattered throughout the country. Something similar existed now, but the units had been assembled from whoever was available and answered predominantly to their own senior personnel.

“I think you all know Vasily,” the major introduced me by my nickname. Confidentiality was stipulated in the contract, so I was listed as ‘Vasily Vladimirovich Ivanov’ on all the internal forms. “From now on, he will be the commander of your unit. Please make him feel welcome.”

“Thank you,” I nodded and stepped forward. “We’re all undergoing training at this point in time, so we can do without the unnecessary formalities. For starters, how about a little training session?”

* * *

The easiest way to gain respect in a team is to demonstrate your superiority in ‘specialized disciplines’. Although I’d earned myself quite the reputation, this was mostly before I’d come to the fortress, so even members of the second wave hadn’t seen me in action. Certainly not the people from later waves. For them, I was simply one of the Alliance leaders, someone they’d heard a lot about, which wasn’t enough now.

They had gained the ability to bring firearms to a mission with my arrival, before that, training had involved bladed weapons. There was a whole set of high-quality replicas laid out along the walls of the training hall. I scanned a row of spears and chose a suitable one.

“Who wants to go first?” I smiled amiably, inspecting my new... comrades? Allies? Subordinates?

“I will!” The first wasn’t Evgeny the Spider, as I had expected, but Ahmed ‘Grozny’. He was a young Chechen man, about twenty years old, who possessed the Acceleration skill. He was one of the three atheists. Unlike the others, he wasn’t here because he’d offered himself up, but because he’d been caught and forced to cooperate. For a number of reasons. The fact that he had a very powerful skill could create certain problems in our hierarchy. Although Ahmed could maintain acceleration for only three seconds, and then dropped out of the fight, it was enough to deal with anyone. He was also a pretty decent Level 2 swordsman, whereas most people here only had the first level.

“Fight!” proclaimed the instructor, who was acting as our referee.

As soon as he waved his hand, I activated Overclocking. My intuition didn’t disappoint. Although I’d learned that the Chechen guy didn’t usually use Acceleration immediately, preferring to minimize the duration of the skill, he’d heard enough about me to not want to take any chances.

Ahmed accelerated in the first second and was now running towards me at almost normal speed. Our skills cancelled each other out in terms of Perception, but he was still much faster physically. I started moving too... slowly, feigning surprise and trying to raise my spear, as if I couldn’t do anything more. Then, with one abrupt movement, I swept his saber aside and stepped out of the way, allowing him to race past me.

That was the end of it, for Ahmed stumbled, lost his balance and fell, losing his wooden sword and almost crashing into the wall. It looked painful. I didn’t think he was seriously injured, but he couldn’t get up again.

I switch off Overclocking, regretting a little the waste of a System skill. Recharging would take a day, and by using Overclocking for such a trifle, I was reducing my chances of survival, even if only by a tiny bit.

“I declare the lieutenant the winner! Medics!” Paramedics rushed to Ahmed as he lay on the floor and, signaling that he was going to be OK, helped him to the bench. “Next!”

* * *

The subsequent duels were held in a ‘warm and friendly atmosphere’, allowing me to fully demonstrate how a Spear Master surpassed someone with a simple Spear Fighting skill. It also helped me to see it myself, since the undead weren’t the best opponents for this. Although these were practice fights, the blows were real and I let some of them connect because I wanted to evaluate the response to pain. In a sense, the training could be regarded both as a reward and as a punishment. Even though I held back and took their advantages into consideration, it was a beating.

“Please be gentle with me. My bones aren’t as strong as they used to be when I was younger.” Evgeny the Spider, who possessed Telekinesis, was the tenth person to spar with me. He was in his fifties, his hair receding. Although he wasn’t wearing a mask today, it was him that I’d seen on the site yesterday.

“This is just a training session.”

Admittedly, he was good, even if he wasn’t good enough to beat me. In addition to the sword in his hands, he could also control two daggers. Even if he lacked the fine motor control, and his range was about three meters, the daggers made the task before me significantly harder. Of course, I could have gone invisible and finished the fight very quickly, but I decided not to rush and let him reveal his abilities in practice. He had Level 3, the highest in the group. Given his abilities, it wasn’t difficult to guess how a mage was able to advance so far.

“There are rumors that you don’t serve Inti,” Spider broke the silence. “This raven of yours... it’s a sign that you follow Odin, right?”

I hadn’t hidden my pet in the bag today, letting him fly around the base and spy to his heart’s content. Most people didn’t realize that the bird was intelligent. Even now, he sat on a bench and tried to suck up to one of the women. The short, plump one with dark hair. The one who could create mana stones. Legion had a sixth sense when it came to crystals.

“I made a vow to keep it a secret,” I snorted. “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Hah,” he snorted in response. “Then I guess I don’t want to know. Incoming!”

I stepped aside, avoiding the first dagger, deflected the sword blow with my spear, spun on the spot and blocked the second dagger with my hand when my opponent tried to bring it around from my blind spot. The telekinetic failed to hold it, and the wooden dagger flew off in the direction of the audience. Okay, it was time to finish this. He wanted gentle, right?

“Stop!” the instructor shouted. My spear tip froze next to my opponent’s neck. The last dagger hung in the air, the stab in the back abandoned.

“Thank you for the duel. My master has no grievances against you. Whatever the reason for your words and actions, they caused him no damage. If you ever want to switch patrons, he will be waiting.” We broke up with a nod to each other. He was a decent fellow, and it was a pity that he’d chosen Inti. Despite the spoken indulgence, we may have to face other in a real battle one day. Perhaps the Sun God had forgiven Vasily, but he was unlikely to forget Cain.

“Next!”

The rest had nothing outstanding to offer. They lacked strong combat skills, and their weapon proficiency didn’t get above the second level. Although the attempt by Veronica aka Medusa to get me with her hair would have done credit to any horror movie. She had the right hair, too, reaching down to her waist. This again confirmed my theory that skills weren’t randomly distributed. A bald man wouldn’t have received such a skill.

The eighteenth team member was Rodyakha, owner of the Pink Shroud skill, who wielded an axe. He reminded me of a maniac. A beginner maniac. According to the reports, his ability significantly distorted perception, erasing any negatives, but also caused psychological dependence. It also slowly affected the underlying personality. When my spear stopped right in front of his eye, the guy just guffawed and tried to bite it. Unsuccessfully, since I reacted in time and pulled the weapon away. Rodyakha didn’t continue and raised his hands in submission.

“I declare the lieutenant the winner!”

The audience applauded. That’s it, I was now the absolute champion. Fortunately, it really was the end as there were no more participants. Although I was stronger than any of them, eighteen fights in a row had tired me out. Next came the lectures.

* * *

A relatively small lecture theater, a lectern, a projector screen and a group of assembled ‘students’. They are all different ages, but that happens. One can pursue higher education even at seventy. As long as one has the desire, health and, most importantly, money…

“Right, you all know about the third-level bag. The ability to transport things from our world during a mission, despite all the restrictions, significantly increases the combat group’s potential. Therefore, each of you must learn how to use modern weapons, in addition to the System weapons.” The picture on the screen changed and a pointer appeared in the lecturer’s hand.

“This is the Ratnik 2M, the latest system of protection, communication, surveillance and targeting, weapons and ammunition. In your case, it has been updated for the necessary conditions. For example, numerous pockets have been added to accommodate the System cards, and many elements, such as the backpack, have been removed. You won’t need it since you’ll have the bag and because most missions are quite brief. I’d like to remind you that this is only the first update, further work will be carried out based on the test results and taking into consideration the wishes of all users.” The diagram changed again, showing what looked like an open sarcophagus and a number of advertising signs. Buoyant, durable, ultralight... “This lighter kit packs down into a special container that can easily fit in your bag. The total weight of the container, including the outfit, will not exceed fifteen kilograms. This excludes the weapons and ammunition, which will be placed in a separate container. This will enable you to quickly pull it out of the bag, even single-handedly.”

The screen flashed again, showing parts of the outfit. “I will list everything included in the kit: 7B47 bulletproof helmet, 7B45 bulletproof vest, (BZK) 7B49 body armor, 7B50 protective goggles, 7B51 knee and elbow protector kit, 7SH117 modular transport vest, a day-night sighting complex, Luchnik battle management system,” The lecturer paused for breath. “A communication system adapted for combat conditions away from the main forces, a knife, a first aid kit, a GLONASS beacon and a life support system. Weapons are selected individually, depending on the fighter’s specialization. Now, we’ll go through the equipment in more detail, then put it on and try it all out.” The lecturer nodded at a row of plastic sarcophagi, which lay waiting for their new owners. It was a clear sign that the project hadn’t been launched yesterday, but back when they had learned what a high-level System bag could do.

* * *

We spent the next two hours studying the system’s capabilities and putting on the gear. Since I was the only one who could bring the containers, the others would have to put the outfits on during the mission.

Given the binding, the equipment needed to be always at hand, so I received a set for ten people before leaving the base. My bag reduced the weight fiftyfold, so the containers weighed only three kilograms. Six kilos, if one added the customizations and weapons. It was annoying, but tolerable, some people had to carry more than in extra body weight.

Then I spent half an hour signing all the forms. Still, gun control is vital, so it would have been stupid to complain.

I flexed my fingers and sighed. It had been a rather tiring day, and I still had to stop by the medical center.

Appendix No. 1. Personnel List

1) Tatyana Shkiryak. Nickname: Tatra.

Level: 1; God: Hera; Weapon: Sword (1), Magical Ability (1).

Freeze — enables a player to freeze another with a touch. Can be used to kill.

2) Natalia Chikunova. Nickname: Nata.

Level: 1; God: Hera; Weapon: Saber (1), Magical Ability (1).

Biolocation — enables a player to sense all living creatures within a radius of 100 meters.

3) Ksenia Kedrova. Nickname: Diamond.

Level: 1; God: Hera; Weapon: Spear (1), Magical Ability (1)

Mana Stone Creation — enables a player to create mana stones using their own mana reserve. Magical Ability — Level 1. Faith — 1. A total of 200 units or a maximum of 4 stones per day.

4) Veronika Sitnikova. Nickname: Medusa.

Level: 2; God: Inti; Weapon: Sword/Rapier (2).

Hair Armor — increases the strength of hair and allows the player to control it.

5) Varvara Chistyakova. Nickname: Alice.

Level: 1; God: Hera; Weapon: Sword (1).

Empathy — the ability to sense emotions. Cannot be disabled at Level 1.

6) Ekaterina Ivakina. Nickname: Bella.

Level: 1; God: Hera; Weapon: Sword (1).

Blood Control — the ability to control blood. Limited to one’s own blood at Level 1. Theoretically, the skill allows a player to survive the most serious injuries by sealing the wound, but in practice, there is significant risk of killing oneself or failing due to shock.

7) Nina Rubina. Nickname: Kitsune.

Level: 2; God: Guan Yu; Weapon: Sword (1).

Partial Shapeshifting — the ability to transform hands into paws. Slow, painful and mostly useless. However, paws are clearly stronger than hands, while the claws are System-based and very strong. Corresponds to an F-ranked weapon.

8) Evgeny Konev. Nickname: Spider.

Level: 3; God: Inti; Weapon: Sword (1) + throwing daggers. Magical Ability (2).

Telekinesis — enables a player to lift and control objects within a radius of three meters. No more than 2 items, as splitting one’s attention makes the items difficult to control.

9) Konstantin Laptev. Nickname: Blacksmith.

Level: 1; God: Odin; Weapon: Sword (1).

Leap — a physical transformation of the legs. A player is able to perform impressive jumps for up to ten meters. Can deliver deadly kicks. There are no System restrictions, but the ability must be used with extreme caution and consumes a lot of energy.

10) Leonid Veliky. Nickname: Spartacus.

Level: 2; God: Hera; Weapon: Spear (2).

Passive Increase in Stamina. Adds +3 to the parameter, allowing a player to increase it to the maximum. Once the maximum is reached, the player receives the Marathon Runner ability, which delays fatigue.

11) Igor Lisitsyn. Nickname: Zorro.

Level: 1; God: Guan Yu; Weapon: Sword/Heavy Rapier (1).

Familiar — the ability to take any animal as a pet and form a mental connection with it. However, the death of a familiar is extremely painful to the owner, so a familiar should be chosen very carefully.

12) Rodion Rybakov. Nickname: Rodyakha.

Level: 2; God: none; Weapon: Axe (2).

Pink Shroud — a mental ability that allows a player to perceive the world in a very peculiar way. It is as if everything around the player is censored, making things appear in an overly positive light. Blood, guts and death only make the user smile. The ‘high’ causes dependence and permanent brain changes.

13) Grigory Lukin. Nickname: Eagle Owl.

Level: 2; God: Shiva; Weapon: Spear (1).

Thermal Vision — enables a player to act as a thermal imager. Can be activated, but duplicates the actual device.

14) Anton Paykov. Nickname: Highlander.

Level: 1; God: Odin; Weapon: Sword (1).

Increased Life Expectancy. Provides twice as many years of life for each point of Vitality. Not very helpful considering the level of risk in a player’s life, but also slows down aging. The owner is nearly fifty years old, the ability hasn’t made him look any younger.

15) Alexey Durov. Nick: Kenny.

Level: 2; God: Odin; Weapon: Sword (2).

Instant Death. Enables a player to die voluntarily, without waiting to be used for experience points. Increases the chance of returning to the soul stone by 30% and of resurrecting oneself by 15%. All free experience points are lost.

16) Timur Salnikov. Nickname: Scout.

Level: 2; God: Odin; Weapon: Spear (2).

Critical Points — another System skill that allows a player to see vulnerable points on an opponent’s body and the overall outcome of a duel.

17) Sergey Sudakov. Nickname: Saint.

Level: 2; God: none; Weapon: Warhammer (2).

Walking on Water — a player can travel for up to an hour per day in this way, and this length of time can be broken up into fragments. The skill resets at midnight, which indicates its artificial nature and the System as its source.

18) Ahmed Aliyev. Nickname: Grozny.

Level: 2; God: none; Weapon: Sword/Saber (2).

Acceleration. Allows a player to accelerate dramatically for up to ten seconds, becoming almost invincible in close combat, but the payback is terrible. The human body is not designed for such loads, and the damage increases exponentially after the first three seconds. Any mistake can lead to serious injury. The player cannot continue fighting once the ability ends. Moreover, the injuries appear to accumulate and without a regeneration skill or a constant increase in parameters, the player will end up permanently disabled. A skill for a kamikaze, despite its power.

Potentially:

19) Natasha. Nick: Eva.

Level: 2; God: Hera; Weapon: Naginata (2).

Magic Eyes — allows a player to perceive everything around them more clearly, and accelerates perception. Prolonged use is harmful to the eyes.

20) Bogdan. Nickname: Warlock.

Level: 2; God: Quetzalcoatl; Weapon: Sword (1).

Improved Sense of Smell — enables a player to sense smells as well as a dog. Disadvantage — the skill cannot be disabled, so the player has to wear filters.

21) Darkhan. Nickname: Khan.

Level: 3; God: none; Weapon: Spear (2).

Emotion Control — allows a player to control their emotions. They are not completely disabled, but the ability does not have any negative consequences.

22) Jan. Nickname: Aitvaras.

Level: 2; God: Odin; Weapon: Sword (2).

Strong Bones — the player’s bones are much stronger than those of an ordinary person.

Interlude. A New Wave

Attention! You have arrived at the location Outer Battleground (Earth).

Trial One

Monsters are invading our world. Kill one of them in a duel and prove that you are ready to become the chosen defender of humanity!

Task: kill the enemy.

Penalty: death.

Duration: none.

Reward: temporary access to the Server, a random E-ranked skill, an altar fragment.

Additional reward: Odin’s favor.

A naked man with only a bag over his shoulder looked around in bewilderment. He was in a gray wasteland, its edges becoming lost in fog only a dozen meters away. He didn’t have any weapons to fight the monsters. He’d checked the bag and it was empty. Fortunately, there weren’t any monsters to be seen. Not yet, at least.

9…8…7…

“Hello? Is anyone out there? I am not worthy of being a defender of humanity! Please send me back home! I don’t want to die...”

6…5…4…

“At least give me a stick! Do you hear me?”

Private message (unknown). The weapons and equipment are in the bag.

3…2…1…

Round One! Fight!

The air shimmered a dozen steps away, and another human appeared. Perhaps not quite a human. Had he seen a creature like that on TV? Holy Virgin Mary… This wasn’t a dream? As soon as he looked more closely, a red sign appeared above the alien’s head.

Goblin (monster). Level 1

The stranger looked like a savage, wearing in a loincloth, a necklace of teeth and a dagger at his belt. The goblin spotted the player and shrank back in fright, but then seemed to realize that the human was completely unarmed, and bared his teeth, pulling the dagger out of its sheath.

“Wait, we can talk! Don’t come any closer!”

Although the goblin was a head shorter, he was certain of his actions. Screeching, the savage ducked and ran forward, almost moving on all fours, then leapt at the player, who stood frozen in place. The man tried to cover himself with the bag at the last possible moment, but in vain. The goblin twisted and, clinging to the man like a monkey, drove the dagger into his neck. The player threw him off, but it no longer mattered. The goblin released the weapon, leapt away from his victim and rolled along the ground to put some distance between them. Crouching on the ground and uttering the occasional squeal, he watched his enemy die…

Odin, who was watching the unfolding scene, shook his head in disappointment. If Valhalla had existed in this reality, the player would have been barred from entry. Nor would he had been welcome in Fólkvangr, for this was not an honorable death. To die weaponless, so shamefully, practically begging for mercy and without offering the least resistance? While his mind knew that one could hardly expect more from a peaceful citizen, the god felt nothing but contempt. The man ought to be sent straight to Hel.

The candidate not only turned out to be a coward, but had also been extremely stupid. He couldn’t even figure out how the bag works. Such problems sometimes occurred with weapon cards, but he hadn’t even pulled out any clothes… How was that possible? Had he simply opened the bag and looked inside? He hadn’t even thought to stick his hand inside? Had he ignored all the hints? Could he not read? Alas, even the gods couldn’t see inside the personal rooms, so it was impossible to say exactly what had the deceased been doing in the allotted time…

It didn’t really matter. It was just one more dual. Another failure due to the poor quality of the source material. Unfortunately, the gods could not leave their domain at this stage, to descend to the inhabited worlds and meddle in the selection process. They could act through the priests, but the price was unreasonable high and did not guarantee a result. The process was like the lottery, and even if your candidate was added to the list, only one in five became a player. The rest simply died and could not tell Odin why…

Another ‘comet’ flew by in the distance, near the border with Seth. A strong enemy... Rank C according to the System classification. Unfortunately, the defensive belt was riddled with holes and it was impossible to intercept everyone on approach. There were all sorts of... restrictions preventing the direct murder of aliens. They could be circumvented, but everything had a price, and sometimes, paying it didn’t make sense. Now was such a time. Clutching a spear in his hand, Odin remained seated, mentally tracking the ‘monster’ that had broken through the network. While almost omnipotent within their own domain, the gods were simply powerful beyond its borders. More importantly, they became vulnerable. The time hadn’t yet come...

The player’s body slowly disappeared after a few minutes, returning to the real world. Unlike the System, which had no interest in corpses, most gods didn’t find it difficult to return the fallen to their relatives. However, they didn’t bother with the monsters, extracting everything valuable from them and sending the remains into the great void. Hundreds of butchered alien corpses currently floated somewhere at the edge of the Solar System. In a sense, real loot really did drop on this ‘battlefield’.

In this case, it was only a bag that the goblin had already snatched up. However, he couldn’t take the loot with him when he disappeared. According to the quest, the captive had to kill three candidates, to gain his freedom and the right to return home. So far, no one had managed this feat. The goblin’s dagger was an ordinary piece of iron, for why would you want to level up your enemies? Although, if one of the monsters managed to complete their quest, they would have to be rewarded. Plus, some of them could absorb the experience directly.

A moment later, the ‘winner’ appeared in another place, on a stone platform suspended in space, beside a dozen similar ones. Low-ranking monsters stood frozen in stasis on some of the platforms. There was no way to escape from the divine domain without completing a quest, plus, one didn’t need to worry about feeding with this approach. A couple of seconds later, the goblin also froze, awaiting the next candidate. He didn’t have long to wait. Some of the monsters stirred, waking up from their sleep and preparing for a new duel.

Meat… Unlike distant relatives on a world where the altar was located, the recent goblin belonged to a much lower-level civilization. So much so that he was sometimes labeled as a ‘monster’ by the System. Perhaps if the humans were defeated, Earth would become a place for farming, its people hunted or slaves of more advanced civilizations. The ones who survived, that is.

Thrusting his hand into the mini-portal that had appeared in mid-air, Odin picked up the bag and casually threw it behind him, onto a pile of identical bags. Earth needed new players as thousands of new pawns. However, even making the first mission as easy as possible and selecting the weakest monsters didn’t guarantee a result. Nevertheless, the situation was unfolding much better than if they had let things happen ‘naturally’. The god put the deceased out of his mind and focused on other battles and new missions. To some extent, this resembled the strategy game that his son had liked to play. The last son out of the hundreds he ‘remembered’, and the only one still alive. If the other descendants had really existed at all, and weren’t simply another illusion generated by the System. Just like Odin himself, although it was becoming increasingly difficult to remember this.

The candidate selection process went on...

Chapter 8. The Healer

NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE thought of the government, it certainly had a very comprehensive approach to the problem. It was currently conducting all sort of experiments, testing and documenting ideas, then everything was re-examined and rechecked, this time by the analysts. Some individuals were monitoring the internet and Alliance chats, officially, in some instances. Not only officials from my country were involved. This didn’t exactly help people to communicate openly, but the exchange of information continued in one way or another.

The players received reports and certain recommendations, based on the conducted research. These included individual recommendations, based on their abilities, physical characteristics and chosen weapon.

I entered the auditorium and, after greeting the others, took an empty seat. Every morning began with a briefing, where we were told about current news and events, the analysts’ conclusions and other information.

“Yesterday, we became aware of a skirmish with a new type of monster,” the major said. A puddle of slime appeared on the screen behind him. “The preliminary name is Slimes, or Slugs, if you prefer.”

“I think I’ve seen something like this in a game?” A ‘student’ raised his hand, one of the people who’d joined the squad after the third mission.

The lecturer didn’t mind the interruption. “You’re not the only one who thinks so. There is a hypothesis that these creatures are artificial, since they vaguely resemble the undead. To destroy them, one needs to pierce their magic core, located in the center of the body. The core is not very large and, judging by the preliminary data, can shift around. Although, formally, the Slimes only have rank F, it is difficult to kill them with bladed weapons since the flesh is quite dense and absorbs the blow, while the individuals can be quite large, almost the size of a human. Our weapons get stuck, while wounds close up are almost immediately, so the creature receives almost no damage.”

This didn’t offset the fact that a System weapon slowly absorbed mana. But for that, it needed to remain inside the body.

“The Slimes attacked the outskirts of Misaki, Japan. It was a F-ranked group mission. We learned about it mainly because one of the Far Eastern players who works with us was dragged into it.”

Japan, huh… I’d recently fulfilled one of my promises by visiting the Japanese Embassy as part of a small delegation and solemnly handing over the diary, blood and hair samples of the deceased sorceress. Naturally, all the notes had been copied and studied first, to check for any secret information. I even spent 10 SP on learning Japanese and personally looked through the materials. One important finding was her number, for Matsuda Haruko was the Eleventh. This had little value since she was dead, so we left this information. The rest of the diary contained a sequence of events, a description of the undead and the encountered players, the death of most of them, and the discovery of the shelter. Then time had run out, the mission was declared a failure, conflicts began to break out among the players, and most had decided to make a break out of the city filled with undead. She had stayed. Hunger, fear, thoughts of approaching death, regrets. Despite all the measures taken, she clearly didn’t believe that the diary would make it back to Earth, so she wrote very frankly. Reading her diary sent shivers down my spine sometimes.

My promise turned out to be very useful, as part of strengthening international cooperation and negotiations about players. The System didn’t care about state borders, and Japanese citizens were often drawn into our country. Not only to the Far East, but even further, into Siberia. This wasn’t necessarily a good thing, for monsters were not only a threat, but also a resource. There had already been several squabbles over the spoils.

Most of our players were in cities close to Europe, which served as a kind of mutual protection. The more players around you, the lower the chance that you’d be sucked into a ‘voluntary’ mission. Work was currently underway to determine these summoning zones, and while some progress had been made, statistical data was lacking, and some believed that the borders shifted around anyway.

“To forestall your questions, most of these creatures were eliminated not by the players, but by the military with firepower. They managed to capture at least a couple of individuals alive. According to preliminary data, fire, some types of magic, traps and explosives are effective against Slimes. The danger is low because they move only slightly faster than walking pace and there is usually an opportunity to escape. Any questions?”

“Do they have any useful parts?”

“That’s a good question. Our Japanese colleagues did not provide us with any samples. So far, Slime bodies present only scientific interest. However, some think that they can reproduce by division, so if you discover such a creature during a mission, try to capture it alive. You’ve all heard about the Farm project, and if this information is confirmed, then the Slimes will be a strategic resource that will enable you all to rapidly become stronger and without unnecessary risk. In addition, the government has promised a one-million-ruble bonus and priority access to the project results.”

Interesting… If this information was confirmed, it meant that the Japanese had obtained a very strong trump card in this race. On the other hand, if rumors were spreading already, they were unlikely to keep a monopoly for very long.

“Let’s move on to the next item. Another kind of monster has appeared in Congo, Africa. They’ve been named the Golden Monkeys...”

* * *

After the briefing came the training sessions, lectures, and combat classes. In some ways, it vaguely reminded me of college. Somewhere overseas. For example, each ‘student’ had an individual timetable, which was quite flexible.

I’d gained enough experience during the third mission to improve one of my skills, so I chose Level 2 of Army Training (0/160). The very fact that I possessed such a skill allowed me to optimize my timetable so that I could devote time to more important things. Perfecting my skills and abilities and, considering my position, officer training courses. I’d been given the title in advance and now they were trying to make sure that I was worthy of it and wouldn’t lead my group to certain death in the first fight. In addition, I was kept busy by copying my skills onto empty cards. Even if most players didn’t have enough experience points to study them right now, it was only a matter of time…

“Attention everyone!” I raised my hand, taking the lecturer’s place. “Over the past few days, I have created copies of my existing skills. Army Training — nine cards; Sniper Craft and Mine Disposal — two cards each; Sabotage, Small Unit Tactics, Camouflage, Earth Medicine, Tracker, Goblin Language and Skald — one card each. Twenty cards in total. Once you’ve acquired 10 SP, any of you can approach management and learn one of these skills!”

This wasn’t only my idea, but had been strongly requested by management. Such a wide range of cards was, let’s be honest, insurance in case of my death. Fortunately or unfortunately, I couldn’t copy the more complex skills due to the exponential level of difficulty. If accuracy didn’t reach a certain level, the card simply turned black and stopped responding, or crumbled in my hands. It seemed that some abilities couldn’t be copied at all. This was especially true for purely System skills.

“I’m assuming this isn’t free?” Diamond asked. The raven was fussing around her, begging for handouts in what had quickly become a habit. These consisted of small crystals worth a few dozen mana units, which she created as part of her training. Crystals could be handed over at a price of one hundred rubles per unit of mana, so the sorceress certainly wasn’t short of money. Although her reserve was only two hundred mana units, Ksenia could easily create three crystals of maximum size per day, thus earning herself sixty thousand rubles daily.

“No,” I replied. “The cards will be sold at the state price of 300,000 rubles, or you can exchange it for an empty.”

“Permission to speak, sir!” Leonid aka Spartacus stood up. He was a young guy who had just returned from the army to join this group. “What if I don’t have that kind of money?”

“I’ll answer that question,” the major stepped forward. “In this case, an interest-free loan will be issued instead of a salary.”

“What if I get killed later on? Will the debt be passed on my family?”

“If someone dies in the line of duty, their debt is written off. Their family will be provided with assistance and they will receive a pension. Any other questions?”

There were none, but I noticed that several players looked dissatisfied. It was nothing new, people rarely appreciated what they were used to getting for free. Honestly, this was an act of charity on my part. The cards were worth at least 50,000 dollars on the black market. The price could exceed $100,000 for interesting skills. To hell with it... money was only a means, so there was no point in being greedy. We would be going into battle in the near future, and the stronger my allies were, the higher our overall chances of survival. Although, I must admit, they’d been taught to shoot well without any System skills. They certainly didn’t scrimp on ammunition here. I’d fired something like ten thousand shots myself. It was easy to forget that we served in a military organization while sitting in a lecture hall, but things got serious during weapon training.

* * *

I sniffed the air, smelling blood, pain and fear. What else would a slaughterhouse smell like? It mingled with the stench of manure and some kind of chemical. Slaughtering livestock was a tried and tested process, but our group was here for slightly different purposes. These were quite diverse: checking combat skills, practicing strikes, preparedness to kill, reaction to blood and guts, and, if we wanted to, learning how to butcher carcasses. I looked at the trembling cow, and then turned to my audience.

“Use your Spear Fighting skill,” one of them suggested. “Or perhaps you’d prefer a carcass?”

A trick question. As far as I knew, not all players could kill an ‘innocent animal’, although most had no qualms about gobbling down meat at the base canteen. Considering where we were, the only difference between a live animal and a dead one was an hour’s time.

“I thought the whole point of this experiment was to record how the skill affects living beings?”

The cow raised its head and gave me a mournful look. Unlike the goblins, she hadn’t done anything to me. Should I have felt ashamed of myself?

“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered. “I recommend you take a few steps back!”

Only a few people listened to my advice. Well, I did warn them. Raising my spear, I stepped forward and struck the cow, simultaneously activating Split Stone. Mana flowed down my arm and along the shaft, triggering an explosion. Bam! Blood and chunks of meat flew in a ten-meter arc all around me, splattering the walls, floor and ceiling. Only the animal’s rear end remained. Moreover, the rain of gore and bone fragments barely touched me, but my observers hadn’t been so lucky.

“Son of a...!”

I ignored the indignation of the audience, and listened instead to the elusive sensations. At the moment of the animal’s death, I had clearly felt a thin stream of energy passing through me to dissolve into emptiness. Something similar had happened in the goblin world, when I’d killed the horse. As I’d expected. There had been a lot of interest in experience points and plenty of experiments conducted. Killing Earth’s animals using System weapons had no effect. Some countries had gone even further by experimenting on criminals sentenced to death. In those instances, the effect was negative. The player received a warning after the first killing, then a red status for one week after the second killing. I suspected that experience points would have been given for killing the rule violator, and it might have triggered a mission to form, but no one had gone that far in their experiments. This didn’t actually mean that players couldn’t kill, they just couldn’t extract experience from it, which meant not using System weapons or relevant skills.

The prisoners were another matter. Alien guests were a source of very generous XP, but, more importantly, they could obtain experience from Earth’s living creatures. There were some restrictions, so various critters didn’t count. The advice was to take weak monsters alive, and then level them up in special ‘farms’. The experience losses under this scheme were huge, but it allowed us to bypass the restrictions and minimize the risk.

“Why the hell didn’t you say that you were going to blow this beast up?”

“I did warn you,” I shrugged. “Is the strength of this skill clear? You got it all on film? Then let’s move on to leveling up my familiar. I think we better do it somewhere else, it’s a bit messy here…”

Legion didn’t belong to our world, so, in theory, the restrictions didn’t extend to him. From the point of view of the System, he was a monster, just like the ones who came here to hunt.

* * *

I didn’t explode the next cow, who had clearly been drugged, and simply plunged a spear into it. It actually wasn’t so simple, for I had to strike hard enough to pierce the skin, and precisely enough to cause serious injury. Yet in a way that wouldn’t immediately kill the animal, otherwise the experience would be wasted. I released the spear and stepped back, and the raven immediately landed on the shaft, wrapping his claws around it. Ten seconds passed, and, having absorbed the energy, he flew aside to let me pull the spear from the corpse.

“That was quite tedious…”

“Crystals?” raven stared pointedly at the hefty carcass, which several employees had picked up with a loader and were dragging somewhere deeper into the complex. As far as I knew, the ‘drained’ corpses were examined for edibility, and then sent for disposal or recycling. I certainly hoped that this meat wouldn’t find its way to the supermarket shelves.

“Sorry to disappoint you, friend, but there are no crystals inside them,” I said, throwing the spear over my shoulder. “Bring out the next one.”

Unfortunately, cows provided very little experience — just one point, and that was thanks to my spear’s rank (E). They were on the very edge of being useful, and the result was even lower for basic weapons (F), with some cows providing no points at all. The System rounded down, so if an animal was worth less than one point, you’d get nothing. I think it was a kind of global protection from mass genocide. For this reason, small creatures like chickens, sheep or even pigs weren’t suitable for leveling up.

I looked at my new victim, which trembled slightly, as if anticipating its end. The body of its predecessor had been removed and the blood had been washed away with a hose, but the smell lingered. It was sad, yet I couldn’t stop halfway. I had a whole herd to kill today.

“If someone cares and spoils her, it shall be the same one as who’ll eventually kill her…”

The work progressed slowly since we had to follow numerous rules, but Legion wasn’t that far off from the level limit. After a few hours, the raven reached Level 2 (0/90), and Bri actually reached Level 3 (0/15). F-ranked creatures needed much less energy, so we managed to do this unnoticed. I just slightly overestimated the number of experience points required for Legion. I hadn’t told the authorities about the ghost, since it was too tempting to keep this card up my sleeve. When it came to the raven, the authorities knew he was intelligent, although they seriously underestimated how much so.

The difference between ranks was clear when they leveled up. Not only in the upper limit, but also in the number of points given per level. An F-ranked creature got one, while a D-ranked creature got three. Furthermore, the raven immediately distributed his points, while Bri waited for my orders. I was tempted to increase the ghost’s Intelligence, but his current obedience and lack of initiative suited me quite well. Hence, I ordered him to spend both points on Wisdom, thus increasing his autonomy.

“We’ll stop here for now.”

My allies’ names, green initially, had gradually faded and had even acquired a reddish tint by the end of the procedure. My eyes weren’t deceiving me — after gaining a level, the raven admitted that he had received a warning from the System. If the genocide of the ‘local fauna’ had continued, his status would have changed from ‘legal guest’ to ‘hostile’. With all the ensuing consequences, starting from no penalty for his murder to a separate mission to destroy this dangerous alien.

I wasn’t exactly upset to find that the easy way was no longer available. Even if the government could supply me with thousands of cows, since I could pay, I didn’t enjoy my role of executioner. It was also very tiring, both mentally and physically. It was difficult to automate the slaughter process and at the current rate, even if I worked for twelve hours per day, I could only provide my pets with a couple of hundred experience points. Now it was impossible. Theoretically, their status should rewind to the previous position, but for now, we had to wait. A month, perhaps? An eternity in our situation.

However, this meant that the Farms themselves were a mistake, since monsters had red status from the start, so it didn’t matter if it got worse. Unless we had to increase security and hang signs on the cages to stop poaching, in case one of the players was drawn to the prisoners by a mission…

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed in relatively calm. There were plenty of single missions, but I was barred from participating. Not because I was more valuable than the other players, but because I had the only third-level bag. If a major incursion occurred in my absence, the combat group would suffer much greater losses without the modern weapons. The risk of losing a key artifact due to my death wasn’t worth it.

Dmitry could have changed the situation, but my former deputy didn’t seem to be planning to return to Russia anytime soon, taking it easy somewhere in Europe. He was extremely vague about his plans. I didn’t pressure him, since only an idiot would give orders without a way to enforce them. It would only strain our friendship.

The other veterans went on the single missions. They usually returned victorious, but we had two failures. First, Sergey the Saint simply disappeared, and we heard nothing about the incursion. Ahmed aka Grozny was the second, and his decapitated body was found beside a federal highway. The head lay nearby, and judging by the nature of the wound, the enemy had wielded a sword.

Ahmed and I had disliked each other, but I felt no joy as I studied the reports. It was ironic that every time I’d expected trouble from one of my allies, my expectations hadn’t been met. There was no funeral since the body was sent to his relatives, but his memorial photo took its place on the board of honor. Together with the decree to posthumously award him the Order of Courage. It was the sixth photo on the board, not counting the Saint, who was still listed as missing.

Despite these losses, our numbers kept growing. This was due to veterans who had finally decided to cooperate with the government. Eva was the first of my acquaintances to join the unit, then came Khan. Warlock quickly recovered and was discharged from hospital, not without my help. Ait was also on the mend, but he chose to return home and join the emerging squads of the European Union. It’s funny but although we’d shared only one fight, they felt like old acquaintances.

In addition, the System was creating new players. While there were more and more of them, their level of training could not be compared with the previous waves. We were recently joined by three so-called veterans who’d only needed to kill a low-level goblin in a duel. This wasn’t so easy for an unprepared person, but it was incomparable to what we had gone through on the goblin world. Nevertheless, they had received their E-ranked skill, and discounting them would be a mistake. They’d simply been a little luckier.

The other issue was that the newcomers weren’t part of the Alliance, which potentially weakened our positions. It was difficult to estimate the size of the new wave, but we were clearly talking about thousands of new players. I needed to win them over to our side, not push them away. I wasn’t the only one working on this, since the Alliance was officially registered in Hong Kong as an ‘international independent non-government organization’. Of course, it was stupid to hope that we’d be left alone with no one trying to take over, but if there were too many people trying to do so, we would always have room to maneuver. In any case, it could end up being something interesting. A kind of global guild, perhaps?

Only time would tell, to those who survived, that is. The black frames around the photos didn’t fill me with optimism.

* * *

A considerable part of the time was devoted to studying our ‘superpowers’, but in my case, the efforts focused on Healing. As expected, this ability had aroused more interest in the higher-ups than all my other skills combined. I had stipulated my limits back when I’d signed the contract. Two free sessions per day, and if there is an emergency and mana crystals are provided — six sessions per day…

However, before I was allowed anywhere near the ‘important’ patients, they had to test the Healing under various conditions. Considering the mana recovery time, I now visited the medical center twice a day, in the morning on the way to the base, and in the evening on the way back. Measures were taken to ensure that patients couldn’t identify me, so I had to wear a mask and baggy clothes… They even offered me a voice synthesizer, but I preferred to simply keep silent. Fortunately, the sessions were short and all I needed to do was to put my hand on a specified body part and activate the skill.

As expected, the results were impressive. For early-stage diseases, one session was sufficient. The skill didn’t seem to care what it was treating, whether it was the common cold or something deadly and untreatable by modern medicine, like an HIV infection. Those standing at death’s door were dragged back for months, if not years, giving them a new lease on life...

“How’s it going, Doc?” I leaned back in my chair, waiting for the results of my latest examination. These experiments were useful for me too, since they allowed me to test the boundaries of my own abilities.

“The tumor of the patient you treated the day before yesterday has shrunk to an operable size in one session. He underwent surgery yesterday, and it went well. It’s too early to say if he’ll achieve full recovery, but the prognosis is favorable. And we had considered him a hopeless case.”

“I’m glad to hear that. He won’t get second session, then?”

“Unfortunately, the program does not allow it. Two sessions a day… Have you ever thought that, with your powers, you could save more lives? An additional session won’t make much difference to you, but would be a lifesaver for many patients. Sometimes, in medicine, all it takes is a small push.”

It’s not like such thoughts hadn’t occurred to me. I could perform healing three times a day instead of twice. Even six times a day. I could arrange for patients to be brought to my house, for example. But this was a moral trap.

“Don’t think me heartless, Doctor,” I sighed. “I feel sorry for the patients, but I can’t help everyone. My powers are limited. Besides, I have plenty of other things to worry about. Not everyone understands this, but our world is on the brink of disaster. Gods, missions, players and monsters… It’s like a damn game, except that there’s no fun involved. Who knows what will happen a year from now? Ten years from now? Will Earth be overrun by monsters?”

“The end of the world may not happen.”

“For the whole planet? Perhaps I exaggerated a little, but what about me personally? Do you know the mortality rate among players? The weak die sooner or later. The only way to avoid death is to keep moving forward.”

“But…”

“The higher-ups agreed to my terms,” I interrupted. “If I give an inch, they’ll take a mile. I hope you get my meaning. By the way, has anyone tried to bribe you yet? I’m sure there’ll soon be those who want to skip the queue and get priority access to my services. Why, even the last few patients... they’re not random people, right?”

“You’re right.” The doctor picked up a folder. “This is my brother, for example. Even for him, I could only obtain one session and that’s after pulling all my strings.”

“Arkady Borisovich… Why the difficulty? If you personally need my help, you can contact me directly, and I will provide it. The restrictions were established for this kind of thing, actually.”

“I thought…” he faltered. “I can pay you.”

“I don’t need the money, Doctor. But one day, and perhaps this day will never come… I may ask you to return the favor. In the meantime, accept this as a token of our friendship.”

“That sounded like a phrase from an old mafia film.”

“Then we understand each other. And I won’t have to drop the head of your favorite horse into your bed. I’m joking! So, what happened to you?”

“I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Quite recently. I would like to get rid of it before it becomes common knowledge and they decide to replace me. According to my estimates, it will require two sessions.”

I was surprised that he had waited so long to ask me in this situation, without trying to take advantage of his official position. And he had put his brother ahead of himself.

“I will allocate you three sessions, and one more for your brother. We need to make sure that everything ends well.”

“Thank you. I should also inform you that the preliminary trials have been considered successful and no further testing is required. The first ‘official’ patient will be waiting for you tomorrow. If everything goes well, your services will become very, very popular.”

I nodded — so far, everything was going according to plan. Maybe someone else would have been outraged that he had to treat those in power, but I could see only advantages. Not only would these people owe me, but the queue would stretch out for many years. Even if gratitude was intangible, anyone who made an attempt on my life would suddenly face a horde of influential people. The authorities would have a vested interest in ensuring that I lived for as long as possible and didn’t perish during one of the missions. The best equipment, the best weapons, the best trainers. An increased budget for our organization and a search for players with similar abilities.

However, I didn’t want to be barred from all missions, but they couldn’t actually ban me directly. Not all missions were ‘voluntary’, so they couldn’t coddle me forever. More importantly, the stronger I became, the more powerful my Healing would get. The next skill rank required 200 SP, which I could theoretically obtain at Level 11. Based on the trend, it would require 220 points at Level 12.

The only thing that couldn’t be avoided were attempts to make me work harder. It’s not like I could say no to everyone all the time.

* * *

“So, this is your great healer, magician and sorcerer?”

I had little interested in politics, but now I easily fished the name and position of my visibly nervous patient from my memory. Igor B., Minister for Agriculture. He had serious heart problems, according to his medical file, and would soon need a heart transplant somewhere in Germany. Still, an implant was never as good as the original organ, the surgery was a tricky one, there was a risk of rejection, the need for immunosuppressive drugs, and a depressing outcome, for sooner or later, the donor heart would fail, and then he would die. Or, if he had the money, look for a new one… Despite advances in technology, an artificial heart was only a temporary solution.

“You don’t fully trust the abilities of our specialists?” the doctor chuckled. He had begun to treat me much better since I had healed him. “Don’t worry, unlike all the charlatans, the effect here is guaranteed and will be noticeable immediately. Take your shirt off and lie down. Here, let me help you…”

I approached the patient, put my palm on the mound of fat which hid the failing organ, and activated Healing. A second, and I was empty again. Under other conditions, the minister would have been sedated, but tests had shown that my skill dissipated the effect of medications. Wasting even a modicum of my skill on this would be foolish. The patient twitched, as if expecting the usual pain, and then relaxed. Healthy color began to return to his face.

“It works. It’s not hurting. Damn, am I really better? Am I healthy again?”

“One session will likely be insufficient, but I am certain that you are no longer in danger of dying.” Arkady Borisovich smiled. “You will be examined again today to evaluate the results. If what has been done is not enough, the treatment will be repeated tomorrow. I suppose I don’t need to remind you that this must remain a secret? If a question comes up in the future, you underwent surgery at one of our clinics. Documents confirming this information will be provided to you.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Damn, it almost doesn’t hurt at all. Thank you… And thank you. Look, I’m sorry for my behavior earlier. It was the nerves, you know.” The official took his wallet from the table and, after rustling through it, handed me a business card, “Here you are. If you need anything, I will be happy to help.”

I took the card, immediately memorizing the numbers, and, after briefly thanking him, put it in my pocket. I didn’t believe in eternal gratitude, but I did believe in mutually beneficial cooperation. While I wasn’t planning to call him any time soon, the very possibility provided me with a certain freedom. Sooner or later, one of these contacts would come in handy.

Chapter 9. The Fifth Mission (Part 1)

Attention! Would you like to accept an optional F-ranked local mission to protect your home location? (0/10)

Yes/No

Mission duration: 3 hours.

Time remaining: 0 hours 59 minutes and 55 seconds

I WAS STARTLED, feeling a mixture of fear, excitement and relief. The weeks of waiting were over, and I could finally go into battle. I wanted this, didn’t I? Considering that my ability was in high demand with the authorities, I could have won the right not to go on any missions. But how would have the others taken it? Our whole approach was based on having my Level 3 bag with us. Such a thing would have not only destroyed my reputation, but also stopped any further development, significantly reducing my chances of survival in the long run. So, no thanks.

“Therefore, the most optimal solution in this situation would be...” The lecturer paused. “What’s all the noise about? Has something happened?”

Although the instructor wasn’t a player, he had sensed the sudden change in the room. The lecture was abandoned.

“We need to leave the class.” I stood up and picked up my bag. “It’s a battle alarm...”

My words were interrupted by the wailing of a siren and one of the spoken warnings. The soldier on duty finally pressed a few buttons and now had to report the situation to management.

Attention! Attention! Battle alert! Members of the First Tactical Unit to immediately take your places in the launch hall according to the combat schedule. Control time is 5 minutes. Medical group is on red alert. Second Combat Unit is on yellow alert.

There were currently thirty people in the squad, including the newcomers, but only ten left the lecture hall. The First Unit was assembled anew every morning, taking into account any absentees, so our equipment was complete and reserve personnel weren’t required... although they existed.

“Good luck, guys!” someone shouted in encouragement. Several people even clapped their hands. Idiots.

On my way out, I caught the Spider’s eye and nodded. As the second most powerful player, he commanded the Second Reserve Unit. It would be on duty while the main group was away. A formality, but it stopped us from taking only the best players with us. The reserve may be weaker, but it had to be combat-ready. Especially because they wouldn’t have any firearms if there was a second incursion.

Our number had grown not only thanks to new players. Experiences in China and USA had led to the decision to create combat units that included ordinary people. If you could call soldiers from Special Forces “ordinary”. They were being trained as rapid response teams and specialists for trips to the regions for now, but they were also viewed as ideal player candidates. The hope was that in the future, once we obtained a Level 4 bag, they could be used directly in missions. Even if elite soldiers couldn’t become players, they could always be turned into units. A couple already had. All they needed to do was kill a monster using a System weapon. They weren’t pulled into missions, but they received a basic interface and the opportunity to level up. I could make them Heroes by giving them a name, but I decided to keep that information to myself. This ability would have surely given away my title since, as I had discovered, ordinary players couldn’t do such a thing.

* * *

“Go, go, go!” I stopped and waved my hand, letting the others pass by me and urging them to hurry. “Five minutes!”

Although we technically had a whole hour, which was half as much as last time, the monsters were already in our world. Who knew what havoc they could wreak in the generously allotted time? There were known instances when the landing party had arrived too late. Plus, the risk of an outsider meddling in the mission increased by the minute. If the European Group took up all the slots that would be one thing, but a few random players would only complicate everything.

Tatra gave a scream, waved her arms and fell into a snowdrift by the path. Although she immediately got up and continued running, I could see an obvious limp.

“How are you?” I slowed down.

“It’s my ankle.” Tears appeared in the Snow Maiden’s eyes. “I think I twisted it.”

“I can fix it,” I lied.

“Don’t waste the mana when the doctors can check it over. But it might be better to get someone else, in case I can’t take part in this mission. Sorry.” She dropped her gaze. Good faking skills right there… Despite her strong fighting ability, Tatra was a bit of a coward. But forcing someone to go into battle against their will meant having a liability on our hands. Damn it, nobody had forced her to sign up to the elite group! Not directly, at least.

“Tatra twisted her ankle,” I said over the radio. “She may not be able to take part in the mission. We urgently need a reserve player.”

“I’m really sorry,” she struggled to her feet.

“Don’t,” I cut her off coldly. “If you weren’t ready, you should have just refused. You’re not coming with us this time, but think about what this behavior will mean in the long-term. Why do you think the first missions were mandatory, but now everything is voluntary?”

“Because the new missions are on Earth?”

“Perhaps. However, I suspect that the selection process is ongoing. The first mission selected those who were ready to fight, by giving them a rank E skill. Our numbers are now increasing, so people have a chance of sitting it out on the sidelines. What if this is simply the second stage of the cull?”

“This is...”

“The weak will die, sooner or later. You’ve been given a powerful skill, but if you’re not ready to progress now, then later, when there is no choice, your chances of survival will be much lower. Think about it.”

I noticed the snow under her palm slowly turning to ice, and stepped back. Did she have trouble controlling her powers, too?

“Wait, I don’t need a replacement!” Tatra stood up abruptly. “I... I can fight.”

Medusa ran past us with a contemptuous look. The replacement, apparently. Not the worst option, although I would have preferred a guy…

“Sorry, it’s too late,” I refused. “I can’t risk taking an unprepared person into battle. Visit the doctors and check what’s wrong with your ankle. You’ll get another chance next time.”

* * *

We didn’t have to gather in one place before being teleported, and if the incursion had happened at night, we would have gone into battle from different locations. But since we’d been ‘lucky’ enough to get called up during the day, we would act according to the instructions. It made it easier to provide care on our return. In addition, there was a theory that the closer the players were to each other at the start, the smaller the drop zone would be. We now had a chance to test it.

“Come to me!” I stopped on the building steps and looked up at the sky. “The crystals are waiting for us!”

“Crystals! We must kill them all!” The raven made a final circle over my head and landed on the ground. He didn’t seem the least bothered by any upcoming danger. Crystals! My ally completely lost his mind whenever he heard the word. I took a new sealed container out of the bag, ordered especially for my ‘pet’, and the raven obediently dived inside, becoming covered with a stone crust. Interestingly, experiments on moving other creatures in such containers invariably ended with their death. We had to abandon the plan to use such ‘astronauts’ early on.

The combat facilities consisted of a reinforced building with small cell-like rooms on the third floor, each designed for one player. Here, one could prepare for transportation, change clothes, leave extra things in a safe, relax and, most importantly, this was where you were supposed to return. The interior had been completed only recently and in a hurry, which made the place look a bit prison-like. The main thing was its functionality.

I closed the flimsy door and pressed a button on the wall to register my arrival.

“First in position. Ready.” I said into the intercom. I didn’t need to prepare, so I just lay down on the folding bed and stared at the cameras on the ceiling. There were three of them, for some reason.

Spots taken: 0/10

All the slots were free. Good. We didn’t need amateurs. Not that group missions were popular with independent players, since there was no way to guess whom you’d run into and who your allies would be. It’s a pity that logic didn’t always work in such situations.

I disliked waiting. I looked at the clothing screen again, but unlike the others, there was no point in changing. A player’s outfit was inferior to modern combat equipment, which I could only put on in my personal room. I could undress and carefully fold my clothes, but that would be verging on perversion.

A green light came on over the door, indicating that all players had taken their places and were ready for the transfer. The major’s voice came over the loudspeaker this time.

Attention! The transport location still hasn’t been identified. Ready to transfer in 10 seconds. Time spent in the personal room is 10 minutes. Please confirm that you accept the mission as prescribed. Good luck!

“First has accepted the mission,” I said, confirming my participation. I was still here, but now there was no turning back.

Spots taken: 1/10

The teleportation button became active, but I didn’t rush, listening to the others confirm their decision, and watching the number quickly increase. Second... fourth... sixth... slowly and inevitably, like death itself... tenth… The timer stopped, the world blinked, and I was back in my personal room. A treacherous chill ran down my spine. Here we go.

* * *

Mission No. 5

Type: Protection of home location.

Difficulty: F+.

Allies: Players (10/10).

Opponent: Unknown.

Mission duration: 3 hours.

Conditions:

— Eliminate the incursion using all available means.

— Survive.

Reward: access to the Server.

Penalty for failure: none.

* * *

This time, I appeared at the edge of a small grove, with a cracked asphalt road running towards a nearby village. Judging by the screams and columns of black smoke rising from the houses, our opponents were already there… Murdering.

“Damn.”

I felt angry but didn’t rush to the aid of the local population, acting according to instructions. I shifted my grip on the machine gun and looked around, checking for enemies and hastily assessing the situation. Instructions were helpful, of course, but there were a lot of them, so it was important to choose the right one from the start. Think, Vasily, think.

The first thing that caught my eye was the time. I was back in the past, which meant I’d been transported west. The second was the almost complete absence of snow and an air temperature of around zero. Even though it was late December. This meant I’d traveled south-west.

I couldn’t see my allies, but the terrain wasn’t very flat, so both they and the enemy could be nearby. After making sure an imminent attack wasn’t coming, I took the beacon out of the bag and activated it. The device blinked, confirming contact with the satellite, then gave me the coordinates: 43.515079, 26.203312. It even helpfully showed where, approximately, I was on the map.

“Now I can say that I’ve been abroad.”

We’d been sent quite a fair way, as I’d suspected. Western Europe. Bulgaria, to be precise. Not the best option… Negotiations over player status were still underway, so ten people with machine guns, who weren’t part of local law enforcement, could encounter some difficulties. As if it wasn’t enough that we had to deal with monsters, we’d potentially also have trouble with the police. It would be naive to hope that we could avoid them. Still, this wasn’t the taiga, so no helicopters were needed. How far to the nearest city? It couldn’t be more than a hundred kilometers away, so the police would arrive in an hour at most, or even earlier, since the locals would have called them already. Plus, if there were army or NATO bases nearby, we’d have military personnel joining in as well.

“Shit,” I summarized. Well, if they didn’t fire right away, we’d figure it out somehow. If they didn’t shoot us on the spot as terrorists, considered to be the main global threat until recently, everything else could be smoothed over at the diplomatic level. The beacon was active, the higher-ups knew where we’d been sent, so all we had to do now was stay alive.

“How’s it going?” I turned to the raven. “Can you see anyone?”

“It’s all clear!” Announced my scout as he circled overhead. I’d released Bri from the bag, and it was covering my back.

“Find our allies and bring them to me,” I ordered.

This was all part of the plan. I hadn’t hidden the fact that the raven was intelligent. The first scanner would have exposed my secret, but most didn’t know how smart Legion was and greatly underestimated him. Thanks to his “Crystals! Crystals!”, even I was beginning not to take him seriously. I had to remind myself that he wasn’t alone inside, and the raven himself wasn’t stupider than humans. His behavior was a mask, in many ways.

The ‘group launch’ theory hadn’t worked. None of my unit members were around, but everyone should have made the transfer by now. Having once again made sure that there were no enemies nearby, I set up a flare and, hiding in a small ravine nearby, pressed the button. The flare soared up and burst into a shower of green lights.

I placed the machine gun on the ground and took out my sniper rifle. The initial stage was the most dangerous. The landing area was quite large, and each of us was left to our own devices. I needed to quickly assemble the group without putting myself in danger. Everyone would have seen the flare, allies and enemies both. There was a good chance the enemy would arrive first.

This didn’t frighten me, though. The ground was frozen but without snow, I left almost no footprints. Ideal for Invisibility.

* * *

I focused on exploring the settlement outskirts, but all seemed to be quiet. The residents were either already dead, had successfully hidden or fled… I couldn’t spot any enemies. Scattered shots and distant shouts came several times from the village. A few cars came racing down the road at breakneck speed, but I couldn’t stop them unless I shot their tires. They all sped off in the same direction, so I guessed that the highway had been closed further down.

My team soon appeared, removing equipment and weapons from the containers, changing clothes and immediately taking up perimeter defense. Twenty minutes later, at the very end of the control period, our sensor Nata appeared from the direction of the village.

Players remaining 10/10

I surveyed my team, my eyes automatically lingering on the hurriedly changing woman. There was no time for modesty, and most were guarding the perimeter. Eva cleared her throat disapprovingly. My gaze shifted to her, lingered for a couple of seconds, and moved on…

It was a well-balanced team in terms of composition, levels and abilities. Seven men, including Khan (3), Warlock (2), Scout (2), Eagle Owl (2), Spartacus (2), Blacksmith (1) and I (8). Three women: the red-haired Eva (2), the blond Nata (1) and the raven-haired Medusa (3). All were quite young and cute, one could almost image them forming a girl group. I had no idea if they could sing but that’s what lip-syncing was for, wasn’t it? According to online gossip, it’s what all the pop stars did.

“Everyone’s here, let’s move on to the second step,” I sighed. “Has anyone seen the enemy?” The question was rhetorical since I’d already sent the raven to investigate, and we clearly needed drones.

“I only saw corpses on the outskirts.” Blacksmith said. He was large enough to really be a metal worker, but he’d built those muscles at the gym and had chosen the nickname due to his superpower. He could jump like a grasshopper and kick like a horse. “The wounds are ragged, so I don’t think it was a weapon. Teeth or claws, more likely.”

Monsters, then? Lucky, I guess. It was easier to deal with monsters in many ways.

“It’s the golden monkeys,” Nata responded, her voice trembling slightly. “I saw one in the village… and sensed it. There are dozens of them there. That’s why I was late, because I was afraid of running into one.”

Yeah... to be alone, surrounded by a horde of enemies. If it wasn’t for her ability to sense nearby living things, she might not have made it.

“Well done. Caution comes first. You did the right thing. Does everyone know who we’re dealing with? No explanations needed?”

‘She’s right!’ confirmed the raven, returning from his scouting mission. ‘They’re just golden monkeys! I’ve hunted them many times. Lucky us, there must be at least a hundred crystals there. We must kill them all!’

Golden monkeys, and more than a hundred of them. I didn’t share Legion’s excitement. They weren’t the strongest opponents, but they were far from the weakest. Rank F, high Instinct, low intelligence, high Dexterity, average Strength and Wisdom. What set them apart was their pack behavior, the fangs and claws as hard as steel, and, finally, a beautiful golden coat. It was soft, yet incredibly strong and able to harden, so that gun bullets couldn’t pierce this “bulletproof vest” even at close range. In other words, the locals had little chance of withstanding the pack, which meant we would find mostly corpses.

Even for an ordinary group of players armed only with cold steel, an attempt to hunt such a pack of monsters would likely end in disaster. Had we ‘scored’ a quest, the rank of which would soon increase? After the first group suffers a crushing defeat and was killed? Maybe the ones who had issued the mission had also considered the local forces? Ultimately, what stopped us from just turning around and leaving? Hiding out in the forest for three hours and going home?

While I thought about this, the other players had finished assembling the equipment. A pair of drones rose into the air, joining the raven overhead. It didn’t make sense not to use the advantages of human civilization. According to the analysts, if the first step was a success, then losses in such an operation should not exceed ten percent. I thought they’d just stated the minimum possible figure in a single operation. A typical mission included ten players, the only number below one was zero, and the general staff couldn’t guarantee completely no losses even during exercises.

“We’re moving out, following plan B. Split into twos, stay close and don’t wander too far. If possible, use silencers. Pay particular attention to roofs.”

Despite my ‘generosity’, only three team members had learned one of the skills I’d provided. The others could only count on what they’d memorized in recent weeks. Now we would find out in practice if it was enough.

Chapter 10. The Fifth Mission (Part 2)

I STOPPED AND LOOKED at the tablet, studying the interactive map. The internet here was pretty bad, but it worked, so we had access to such perks of technology. Although we couldn’t obtain real-time satellite data like they do in movies, we were sent a map once our coordinates were known.

We’d have to figure the rest out on the ground. The area was very hilly, making it hard to see. The enemies had places to hide, but I believed that the raven wouldn’t let them sneak up on us. Why would they come here, anyway? The village was a much more attractive target, and they wouldn’t leave until they’d killed everyone there.

“Right... Lublen,” Warlock read from his terminal. “Doesn’t quite look like a Polish town, so... it’s a village in Bulgaria. In the Tar... govishte Region, part of the Opaka Province. The population is... or rather, was five hundred and sixty-four people. That was ten years ago. They even have a kmet, kind of like the local mayor. Opaka, by the way, is a small town not too far away, but it only has 7,000 residents.”

“Not too far away?” I chuckled. “What are you, reading Wikipedia right now?”

“Hey, this information was sent by the command center. You don’t think the analysts would stoop to such a thing, do you? Right, the material has been copied from… You’re right, Commander. I guess this place has no strategic importance, so they’ve had to draw information from open sources.”

“Great.” I muttered.

According to the map, there was a fork just to the west, so that two roads entered the village. One went slightly further to the right and higher up, along the now empty fields, skirting the edge and then turning towards the center. The other one headed east, directly into the settlement.

The first road was safer, giving us a better view, but if the monsters were interested in experience, they’d be focusing on the center of the village. It was risky. We’d have to eliminate them either way, but the second route allowed us to practice on the outskirts, getting used to a new enemy. We wouldn’t need to search for long, for a house with its adjacent structures was on fire nearby. Fortunately, the rural nature meant the buildings were surrounded by large plots of land, so the fire wouldn’t spread to the neighbors even if left unchecked.

“We’ll take the lower road.” I made my decision. “I’d like to remind you to keep your distance and scan your surroundings. Pay particular attention to the roofs.”

* * *

A simple rectangular sign hanging at the village entrance confirmed that we were indeed in Lublen. The name was written in completely understandable Cyrillic, and duplicated below in English. Apparently, I shouldn’t have worried about a language barrier.

I’d somehow never gotten the chance to visit Europe. Flights from the eastern part of Russia weren’t that cheap. I’d visited Turkey once, which was relatively close, but, all in all, I had nothing to compare the current village to.

The outskirts didn’t give me the impression of European order, prosperity and abundance. Cracked asphalt with patches, one-story houses made of gray or red brick, low fences, clearly in need of repair in some places. I could easily imagine all this in Russia.

We saw relatively few bodies as the houses had been built far apart, and the locals would have had a good chance to escape. If they could slip by unnoticed, of course, since the monkeys weren’t limited in their range. As we approached the village, we had seen a slaughtered herd of cows, but the raven had made a circle over it and proclaimed that the killers had long since left, so I ordered the unit to move on.

“Stop!” I squatted down beside the body of a dark-haired man of about forty, a pitchfork lying beside him. It hadn’t helped him much. There was little one could do without firearms against half-armored creatures. He had a good number of wounds — he’d clearly resisted — but only a couple had been fatal. The golden monkeys were creatures of the System, and therefore not interested in flesh. Once they killed the victim and absorbed the experience, they immediately lost interest in the body. Although the soil was frozen, traces of monkey paws could be seen in places, leading to the nearest house.

“Nata?” I titled my head questioningly. Without much hope, to be honest. The window had been smashed and the door stood wide open, so there was little chance that the inhabitants had survived, but there could still be monkeys nearby.

“T... there’s no one alive in there,” the girl said, taking a few steps towards the building. “Except for the rats in the basement.”

“I see. Let’s keep moving.”

I reminded myself to study the Search for Life skill I’d received from the undead. It was an incredibly useful skill in situations like this, when we didn’t have enough time to check every house in the traditional way.

More and more bodies appeared as we kept moving, but Nata reported sensing survivors several times. As I’d hoped, the monkeys couldn’t kill everyone since many had managed to hide in the basements. These houses had solid walls and sturdy doors, but the windows were a problem. There were almost no window bars here, nor the traditional shutters common in Russian villages.

“Bastards,” Blacksmith swore quietly when he spotted a young woman’s corpse.

To their credit, no one reacted too intensely to the bodies. Visits to the morgue had been part of our training. The evidence of a massacre filled me with a desire for revenge, driving away fear and hesitation. As long as common sense still prevailed.

“Two on the left,” Nata’s voice came over the earpiece. The raven echoed the warning at the same time, but I was the only one to hear him. “Monkeys...”

“On the left!” I repeated. “First group. Ready... fire!”

Two golden, child-sized figures appeared on the roof of a one-story house about five meters away. They froze for a moment when they spotted us, and were immediately wiped out by the muffled bursts of gunfire. Drawing attention to us was dangerous, so it wasn’t yet time for the heavy weaponry. Even so, given the concentration of fire, the aliens didn’t stand a chance. One creature received a dozen hits and silently fell off the roof, the second managed to jump and scream before rolling down after it.

“Cease fire!” I hadn’t fired at all, monitoring the situation. I had also used Identification, but now wasn’t the time to study the results. “Nata, can you sense anyone else? No? Then we reload and go check these monkeys.”

Spartacus jumped over the low fence and opened the gate, letting the unit inside. The monsters were dead by the time we reached them. Nevertheless, Legion had managed to catch the second creature’s last breath. Fine… I couldn’t see any beak or claw marks, so they’d both died of natural causes — an overabundance of heavy metals in the body.

“So, bullets can kill them,” I stated as I examined the wounds. I hadn’t really had any doubts, but during the last skirmish, the players only had edged weapons. After bringing down one creature, they’d chosen to retreat. “Let’s take it easy next time. Don’t forget, we all need experience and loot, not just the pelts.”

“And crystals! Don’t forget the crystals!” The raven piped up, trying in vain to pierce the skin and reach the coveted prey.

“Keep an eye on our surroundings,” I reminded him. “Otherwise, we might find crystals being extracted from us.”

As far as I knew, crystals formed in all magical creatures at the time of their death. Including all the new Earth mages, which meant me.

“This Old One needs crystals. Lots of crystals!”

“Is one crystal enough?”

“No! Lots is more than one.”

I snorted. “You’ll receive two when the mission is over.”

Instead of objecting, the raven cawed happily and took off, leaving me slightly perplexed. Weird… He certainly knew how to count. Or was the raven happy that he had wrangled two whole crystals out of me? I’d have to find out.

* * *

Okay, what were the Identification results? I plunged into the list of messages, quickly finding the right one.

Golden Monkey (87%)

Status: monster.

Creature Rank: F+.

Level: 3.

Danger: medium.

Parameters:

Strength: 5

Agility: 8.

Vitality: 5.

Stamina: 5.

Wisdom: 5.

Perception: 7.

Instinct: 6.

Additional Parameters:

Pedigree: 1.

Intelligence: 1.

Faith: 1.

Features:

— Servant of Order — the creature belongs to the System.

— Pack Member — the creature is part of a pack.

— Elite Pedigree — although the creature belongs to the lowest rank, the blood of great ancestors flows through its veins. Its specs are higher than normal.

— Strong Hide — the skin of these monkeys is highly valued for its strength, but obtaining it won’t be easy.

— Defensive Aura — the creature can activate the aura, temporarily strengthening its defense abilities to a significant degree.

Oh dear. For an F-ranked creature, its stats were disproportionately high. It was especially interesting that Intelligence was an additional parameter. Despite having rudimentary intelligence, it really was more animal than sentient being. Faith meant that our enemy had a divine patron. The Pedigree, I thought, was the reason for such a difference in Strength compared to the goblins. I was particularly concerned about the Defensive Aura. The monkeys already had outstanding armor and if they could strengthen it further… Well, too early to worry about that yet.

Sighing, I went back to examining the bodies. The wounds were modest, considering that they’d been shot up close. I turned the corpses over to find that there were no exit wounds. If their skin had been a little tougher, we would have run into problems. We would have had to switch weapons. Well, the group did have weapons more powerful than submachine guns. The downside was that we couldn’t capture the monkeys alive. Even if tranquilizer darts worked on them, getting the dart to pierce the skin was another matter entirely. The creatures didn’t have many places that weren’t covered in fur. In any case, we wouldn’t be allowed to take the prisoners out of the EU. Perhaps it was for the best. As I looked around, I hated the monkeys as much as the goblins. And this was just the beginning.

“Their claws… They’re covered in blood,” Medusa said. I flinched a little. Because of the length and importance of her hair, her helmet had been custom made, allowing the hair to move around freely. Even now, it was moving out of sync with the wind, a creepy but fascinating sight.

“Both of them,” I nodded, pulling the monkey’s lip up to check the fangs. There was blood there, too, although it was hard to say whose blood was. “Looks like they’d managed to kill someone.”

Cutting the skin was very difficult, so I didn’t waste time on trying to extract the crystals. I trussed up the bodies and placed them in the bag. It wasn’t the best solution, given that each body weighed around fifty kilograms, thus adding two kilograms to the weight of my bag. If there really were hundreds of enemies here, I physically wouldn’t be able to carry them all. Even now, although I’d given some of the equipment to my colleagues, the bag was a noticeable weight on my shoulder. It was a heavy load to bear. Literally, in my case.

* * *

“There’s someone there,” Nata suddenly piped up. “A person. Or a very large monkey.”

Apparently, we were being watched, because as soon as she pointed at the house, we heard a noise and the garage door opened, a man in his thirties stepping out onto the street. He was holding a wrench but his arms were raised. The team reacted by each one pointing a gun at him.

“Don’t shoot!” he called out nervously. “I need help!”

“We’re not going to shoot. What happened?”

It was an odd question to ask in a settlement half of which had been slaughtered by monsters, but I had to start somewhere, didn’t I? I didn’t know Bulgarian, but his speech was peppered with familiar words, so it was relatively easy to guess what he wanted. The man thanked us for saving him, asked who we were, what was going on, and begged us for help. Helping the local population was a bit tricky. What were our options? Escort him out of the settlement? There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t stumble across a monkey out there. Bring him along? A civilian? All we could suggest was for him to return to wherever he’d been hiding, and hope that the monkeys wouldn’t find him in the next few hours…

“We are a special response group. The Defenders.” The world had gone mad, and each country wanted to show off by giving their ‘superheroes’ a different name. “Cleanup is underway. Please return to your shelter,” I suggested in English, having reached a decision. When I saw his blank face, I gave up and repeated the phrase in Russian. It’s not like we could pretend to be locals. If I could understand the gist of his words, then vice-versa had to be true.

The man nodded energetically, but his words and face indicated the opposite. He didn’t seem to want to go back to the garage, and seeing the deep scratches on the door, I couldn’t blame him. If we had arrived just five minutes later, he might have died a hero.

“Commander, I’ve looked it up,” Warlock intervened. “It seems that a nod means ‘no’ in Bulgarian.”

The man stopped making any movements with his head, and focused on speaking. Words tumbled out of him in a torrent, but it appeared that he was more worried for his family than for himself. A missing wife, kids, and... shit. It was all so complicated.

“Can you slow down?” Khan interjected.

“I think I understand him,” Warlock spoke up again. “His name is Joseph Kir... korov. His wife... took their son to school this morning. His wife works in a neighboring town, and he got through to her, but the son isn’t answering his mobile. He’s… asking us for help.”

“Help?” I queried again. “When did the monsters appear here?”

No translation was required this time. I closed my eyes. Two hours... it sounded like a sentence. The one place I certainly didn’t want to stick my head into was the school. Yet now that I knew about it, I had no choice. It didn’t really matter what was pushing me to take the risk, whether it was the opinion of my comrades, my conscience or the recording equipment in our gear. Plus, a local guide and interpreter would be useful. But where the hell were the police? Where was the army? The helicopters? We weren’t in the middle of the tundra and they should have arrived by now.

“All right. We have to hurry,” I agreed but decided not to give our guide a weapon. Greater firepower wasn’t worth the possible risk. “Joseph, try to stay in the center of the group.”

* * *

The school was fifteen minutes away on foot according to the Bulgarian man. But with dozens of monsters lurking around, we didn’t move too quickly. It was much easier for the raven, provided he didn’t get lost. Despite the absorbed souls, Legion had trouble reading and struggled to find his way around human settlements.

He flew off, but promised to return. Apart from the raven, we still had the drones and Nata, so we followed more slowly. The houses stood closer together here, and we sensed twenty or thirty more sources of life in the surrounding buildings, but didn’t check for survivors. Some clambered outside when they spotted us, but went back into hiding after a brief explanation. One civilian was enough for us.

As for the monkeys, we’d been lucky to come across only a few of them so far. The pack had probably split up, and was now searching for prey in small groups, patrolling the streets, breaking into houses and picking out those who gave themselves away. The bad news was that the streets were growing narrower, and this increased the danger. There were more gaps from where the enemy could appear, and less time in which to react. Monkey claws could cut through metal, and no matter how reliable our gear was, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t find a chink in our armor. It was very difficult to aim for their legs and try to capture one alive. Just like finishing them off. The dying monsters refused to lie still and accept the final blow, so out of the three monkeys we caught, we managed to gain experience points from only one.

“On the right! Five!” Nata announced. She narrowed down the general direction by pointing her machine gun towards the approaching danger.

Fortunately, the monkeys hadn’t gone as far as to split up and attack us from several directions, and appeared as a group. Our numerical advantage didn’t bother them in the slightest, since their previous experience with people had taught them not to be afraid of us.

“Fire! Everyone!”

It was too dangerous to play it safe this time, so our two machine gunners, Eagle Owl and Scout, joined in as well. However, despite heavy fire, the monkeys had appeared too close and were leaving the game too slowly. One, two, three…

“The gun’s useless!” Eva yelled. “The bullets don’t even pierce their skin!”

Was it the Defensive Aura that I’d read in the description? The situation was tense, but not enough to use Overclocking. Too early...

“Stop panicking!” I roared, emptying the last bullets from the submachine gun. The fourth creature screeched and tumbled head over heels. “Just shoot!”

In that moment, one of the monkeys reached the edge of the roof and jumped. Apparently, it had chosen me as the victim. Not the best decision of its life. I activated Invisibility and moved out of the way, the creature missing me and leaving claw marks on the asphalt. Having lost its target, the animal immediately focused on Eva, who didn’t dare to shoot, for fear of hitting me. Fortunately, I’d let go of the submachine gun hanging across my chest and pulled a shotgun out of my bag. It’s a terrible weapon at close range. The shot flung the monkey to the side, finally breaking through the Defensive Aura.

“Finish off the others, quickly!” I became visible again, cast the shotgun aside and removed my spear ‘out of thin air’. The monkey tried to get up, but I didn’t give it a chance, striking the one accessible vulnerable spot... its backside. Every living creature had critical points that were difficult to hide under armor, and the golden monkeys were no exception. There was a cry of resentment and pain, and…

Attention! You have gained 10 SP! (10/160)

Unlike the Hellhounds, the monkey clearly wasn’t Level 1. Level 4, perhaps? A card appeared above the corpse. Another empty... Whatever. I looked around, my hands trembling. Less than a minute had passed since the assault had begun, and it was already over. Because the monkeys had landed right at our feet, we managed to finish two more off by hand.

“Crystal!” The raven landed on one of the bodies with a flap of his wings. He’d come back. Unfortunately, there was no time to pull apart the carcasses after this gunfight. We had to keep moving.

* * *

The Vasil Levski Primary School, named after a national hero in Bulgaria whom I’d never heard of, was empty. It wasn’t littered with corpses and covered in blood, as I’d feared, simply empty. Only the broken windows and overturned desks indicated that the monkeys had been here – but they’d been too late. The reason why Joseph’s son hadn’t been answering his phone was simple – it had been left lying on the desk. Just like the personal belongings of many other students.

“Looks like the school was evacuated in a hurry,” I breathed out in relief. “Does the school have its own transport, by any chance?”

If they left on foot, they wouldn’t have gotten far. Joseph frowned thoughtfully for a few seconds, then beamed at me, “I don’t see the school bus!”

So, there was a bus here? Apparently, the man had been fearing the worst. Amazing what hope alone could do to a person. I hoped the children had been evacuated by bus, preferably far beyond the village.

“All right. Let’s hope that the children are OK,” I sighed. “Back to the matter of monsters. We can’t waste any more time wandering around, so we need to change our approach.”

* * *

Legion pointed out our next target. A large troop of thirty or so individuals had gathered in the central square. I had mistakenly assumed that this place was terribly depressing. There was life here, and even signs of prosperity closer to the center. The houses were newer and more expensive, and the square looked like a provincial town. Four solid two-story buildings! Two, judging by the flags of Bulgaria and the European Union, belonged to the village administration, while the other two were shopping malls. One supermarket even had a cute three-story tower, a dozen monkeys trotting around it. It was nothing special, but something a village ‘at the edge of the world’ could be proud of.

There were also a lot more bodies here than on the outskirts. The residents either worked here or were visiting the local cultural and leisure center when the monkeys had appeared, and it was a massacre. Humans tend to crowd together when in danger, which had only made it worse in this case. Despite one of the large buildings also housing the police station, it hadn’t changed anything. The police officers had suffered the same fate. If even submachine guns didn’t always pierce the monkey hide, there was no hope for those with a service weapon.

I cursed inwardly for the hundredth time. More than a hundred monkeys against ten players? Whoever classified these missions clearly had some issues with logical thinking. As well as math. Or did the calculation only consider our ranks? Without a firearm, even killing one monkey was a dilemma.

“I’m starting,” I said over the radio.

“Confirmed.”

Shooting out of a sniper rifle while invisible was a kind of perversion, so the camouflage field went in waves, spreading out ahead of me and allowing me to control the weapon. It was a trick I’d learned relatively recently.

We couldn’t attack that many enemies head-on, so we had to reduce the numbers a little. I aimed at a monkey sitting on the roof of a police car and enthusiastically picking its nose. Goodbye... recoil in the shoulder and the next one was already in my sights. A shot. Next… Next… I didn’t need to kill them, just put them out of action. Next. There was less of an effect this time, so the monkey had probably turned on its Defensive Shield, but the sniper rifle wasn’t like an automatic weapon. It had enough firepower to wound. Next...

Confused about what to do, the monkeys started to rush around, making it hard to aim. They were only animals, even if they had rudimentary intelligence. Or maybe I didn’t want to view these creatures as sentient… A dangerous habit. They should have enough brains to escape, which wasn’t what we wanted. Time to move on to the next part of the plan. The monkeys needed a target.

“Moving to the second stage. Fire!”

A single shot rang out, and the monkeys, finally realizing where the enemy was hiding, streamed in that direction. Shot… Miss… Shot... One down… Although we tried to make as little noise as possible, not wanting to attract new enemies, and used the machine guns only at the very end, none of the monkeys reached my people. We killed some members of the troop, while the others escaped after finally learning to fear us. Time to collect our bounty, although this was far from the end.

Chapter 11. The Fifth Mission (Part 3)

“WE FINISH THE MONKEYS off quickly but systematically. Everyone remembers their weak spots? We help each other out if there are any problems.”

We’d killed several more monsters on the way here, so everyone knew what to do and how to do it. I walked up to the nearest creature and, ignoring its screams, kicked its paw out of the way and slammed my spear down into the muzzle. The tip knocked out its teeth, pierced its tongue and plunged into its spinal column. Instant death. I felt a slight tingling in my palms and immediately released the shaft. The gloves slowed down the transfer of experience, allowing it to remain in the spear, but, like condoms, they weren’t 100% effective. It was better not to take any chances.

“Eva, you haven’t received your share yet, have you? This creature is yours. Touch the spear.”

The girl didn’t shy away and readily obeyed my order. Although she didn’t quite reach a new level, she did get ten points. Not that I didn’t need the experience, but excess greed was a sure path to death. Even though we were currently well armed, we were far from a commando squad. The unit consisted mostly of civilians, forced to fight for their lives and with only minimal training. The only way to rapidly improve the situation was to use skill cards.

“What did you get, an empty?” I asked.

The girl nodded.

“Let’s swap,” I handed her a Sniper Craft card. “Study it now, while you have a little time. And head straight to the roof, so you can cover us.”

I did not test my strength by pulling the spear out of the corpse, but simply returned it to the card and made it materialize again. Then I joined the others in this ignoble, bloody, but necessary work. The monkeys squealed, growled or tried to crawl away, but it was no use. The team slaughtered the wounded without pity or hesitation, which wasn’t to say that it was easy. We had to be careful. There were nine creatures in total, so the last one was mine again, bringing me 12 SP (22/160) and Tree Climbing Ability. The notes stated that the skill “does not fully match human physiology” and did not recommend studying it. A garbage card, in other words.

Bri probably felt best of all, mopping up the remaining dying monkeys and already at Level 7. The raven wasn’t snoozing either and was on the threshold of Level 3. I made sure they didn’t get too ahead of themselves and only took the creatures we obviously weren’t going to reach in time, so I had to pull my ‘vassals’ back a couple of times. Fortunately, telepathy allowed me to do this without attracting any attention.

The battlefield fell silent, announcing that the wounded had been all finished off. Only two people had reached the next level — Blacksmith and Eagle Owl. The monkeys didn’t deliver all that much experience, and the even distribution of points prevented one person to sharply increase in strength. Well... you couldn’t have everything at once.

* * *

We failed to perform a politically useful feat and save the kmet, the village mayor. The staff had tried to set up a defense in the administration building, but lacking any heavy weaponry, they hadn’t stood a chance. Some officials had barricaded themselves in their offices, but this had only delayed the inevitable. According to Nata, there were no living people left inside, but the monkey troop hadn’t had time to scatter.

Not to say that everything had been in vain. Fifteen or so people, who’d managed to hide, now descended from the supermarket tower. The small windows, narrow entrance and strong doors, plus easier prey nearby had allowed this miracle.

“Khan, take Joseph and get the locals involved. You know what to do.”

“Of course,” the Buryat man nodded. “Work is the best medicine against stress.”

There was nothing secret about my ‘brilliant plan’ as everything had been discussed in advance, on the way here. Even now, Eagle Owl appeared on the second story balcony with a machine gun, and two snipers were in position on the roof. One of them was Medusa.

“Well, let’s get started.” I muttered.

I decided to take care of the trees around the administration building. We couldn’t hold the fort here if the enemy could appear from any direction. I took out an axe and cut out some small depressions, in which I places explosives with a radio detonator.

There was nothing to configure as everything had been prepared in advance. It wouldn’t hurt to upgrade Mine Disposal up to the second level… later. I glanced at the timer.

Time remaining: 1 hour, 37 minutes and 12 seconds.

The others were barricading the building and dragging the monkey corpses inside. While my bag wasn’t big enough for all the bodies, they could be easily divided between the group members for the return trip. Monkeys were System creatures, which meant their corpses could be carried in a first-level bag. Even if we couldn’t carry them whole, it was worth cutting out the valuable parts: paws, heads and, of course, the crystals. As we’d discovered, System weapons could pierce their hide with some difficulty.

According to Legion, there were still plenty of monkeys in the village, but hunting each one down would take too long. The only way to complete the mission in time and reduce the number of civilian casualties was to lure the monsters to us. I had some doubts about this, of course. If there were too many enemies, our trap would turn into a mass grave. I wasn’t particularly afraid on my own account, since I could always escape using Invisibility. Plus, I had the return card… It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but if I had to choose between a glorious death and a shameful flight, I would choose the latter.

“You’re too pessimistic,” Legion interrupted when he overheard my thoughts. “They are only pathetic golden monkeys. We Fire Crows have been hunting them for millions of years.”

I ignored the number, considering it an obvious exaggeration. Legion had a propensity to exaggerate. Perhaps it was the Chinese souls inside him and their literary traditions? Small towns with several hundred million people, worlds ten times the size of the Sun, monsters the size of a planet…

“They don’t seem to like crows. Is that why they kept throwing stones at you?”

“They take it out on my weak kin. They don’t stand a chance against real crows! If they knew who stood before them, they would run away with their tails between their legs!”

I set another charge and took a step back. It looked like I was done here.

“A helicopter.” Medusa’s hoarse voice sounded in my ear. “Can you hear it?”

I listened and heard the familiar rumble. Had the cavalry finally arrived? The locals were shouting something enthusiastically, no doubt hoping to be evacuated. However, I’d always been a fan of healthy paranoia.

“Disperse,” I ordered the unit. “Remain on guard. We don’t know what they might do.”

The players stopped what they were doing and ran in different directions. We had anti-aircraft defense systems, so we could respond if someone fired at us, but these were extreme measures. We were operating on foreign territory. The local villagers didn’t share my fears, shouting in excitement. However, their delight subsided once the helicopter made a circle over the square. It was an ordinary civilian helicopter, and it wasn’t a sniper looking out of it, who could have easily reduced the number of monkeys, but a camera operator. It was the media.

“Warlock, you’re in charge of communication!” I reacted. “Grab Joseph and try to contact them. Find out what the hell the local military is up to and why we’re having to do their job. Oh, and make sure that they know who we are and what we’re doing here.”

* * *

The drone made a circle overhead, showing us the carnage. I’d been wrong about the local police. They had acted quickly, gathering all the available forces and sending them here. But they had run into a large troop of monkeys, about a hundred individuals, at the entrance to the village. The police couldn’t drive them away for the same reason — they lacked sufficiently powerful weapons. Or enough weaponry, although we did spot several monkey corpses. As a result, the troop had reached the security forces, peeled open the cars and slaughtered everyone inside them.

“How many of these bastards are there?” Warlock muttered as he guided the drone.

We could see nine destroyed blue-and-white cars with flashing lights and about twenty bodies of those who’d arrived in them. The drone made another circle and rose higher, showing us that some had tried to escape, but the monkeys didn’t give them a chance. According to the helicopter pilot, or whoever the person we were talking to was, only two cars had gotten away. Army units were on the way here, but nobody knew when they would arrive. The remaining police forces were blocking the roads.

The media helicopter then wished us good luck and flew away, without even landing to pick up some of the civilians. The fact that a foreign combat group was operating on their soil had apparently made them suspicious. It was the consequences of bureaucratic inertia — our headquarters knew where we were, and should have notified the local authorities, but it was unlikely that they had rushed to share what was happening. The mission would probably be over by the time information reached the local army units.

Well, we couldn’t postpone the inevitable, so it was time to start. I pressed the button, and the trees around our shelter collapsed. They even all fell in the right direction, although I’d prepared for failure.

* * *

“Attention! Attention! A rescue operation is underway! Anyone who can hear us, please take shelter in a safe place and wait until the end of the operation. Do not leave your shelter, it is too dangerous. The monkeys will be eliminated in the next three hours. We will announce the end of the operation! Please stay calm!”

Leaving the house was definitely a bad idea. The monkeys patrolled the roofs and other elevations, looking for prey. Thankfully, each one wanted the prey for itself, and didn’t hurry to notify their comrades about the victims they’d spotted. Now, thanks to the noise we’d created, the monsters scattered throughout the village would have to gather in one place to destroy us. I hoped that they wouldn’t have the strength and coordination to do so and that we would wipe them one by one.

“Good work,” I handed the loudspeaker to Joseph. “Stand here and repeat the message every couple of minutes.”

“For how long?”

“For how long?” I repeated. “Until the monkeys arrive. Then just pick up the gun and start shooting. You’ll be looked after, don’t worry.”

Joseph had been given a weapon after all. Our goal was to attract attention, so we didn’t need to worry about noise, and none of us remained outside. We’d handed out weapons to any local willing to take them and to shoot in the right direction. I rubbed my face. Damn… Although less than two hours had passed, I was dog-tired and desperate to return home. Not the best mood for a decisive battle.

Attention! Activate Second Wind?

* * *

The plan worked, although we’d also fired into the air and arranged a whole fireworks display using the flares. The noise didn’t go unnoticed, and more and more monkeys arrived near our building. Rank F. You’d think we had been given a chance to become stronger by being thrown relatively weak and numerous enemies, but everything had turned out to be much more complicated.

“Target spotted.” I said. “On the roof of the supermarket.”

I took aim and, holding my breath, pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the monkey’s leg, and it rolled down the roof with a cry of pain. It appeared that the animal hadn’t activated the Defense Aura, so its foot had been practically torn off and blood flowed freely. I doubted the others would lay a tourniquet.

“This one’s yours,” I told the ghost as I searched for a new target. I didn’t have to wait long, for one of the creatures darted to its wounded comrade’s side. I suppose the second monkey was planning to finish it off.

Fire… I got the second one in the head, and it was flung sideways. Even if the bullet hadn’t penetrated the natural armor, its spine was clearly broken. The monkey collapsed like a broken doll, rolled off the roof, and its status faded before the raven could reach it. Among other things, Legion was playing the role of bait. I was unsure of how much truth was in his words, but the monkeys did try to catch him several times.

Unfortunately, this was our last successful kill. The monkeys didn’t storm the building in small groups, as I’d secretly hoped. Even worse, the more of them gathered, the more sensible and cautious they became. The direct opposite of people. Everything had gone well at the start and the snipers had eliminated a dozen or so of the creatures, but now, I couldn’t see a single one in my sights. The troop’s behavior changed and the monkeys stopped appearing out in the open. Or had we simply eliminated the dumbest ones?

‘Looks like they do have a leader.” I licked my dry lips. The police had been killed not only because there were a lot of monkeys, but because someone was coordinating them. “Get ready…” Whether it my intuition or a lucky guess, but the monkeys all screamed at once and rushed to attack. Damn, where had so many of them come from? There were over a hundred, and although I trusted that they wouldn’t reach us, it looked terrifying.

“Fire!” I ordered, but the others had already started shooting. The Defense Aura was active this time and, it seemed, stronger than before. Even the monkeys we shot down often got up and continued to attack. “Use everything you have!”

I grimaced, continuing to send bullet after bullet. While my rifle was powerful compared to the large-caliber machine guns mounted on the roof, it was too slow. Still, if my targets didn’t die immediately, they preferred to hobble in the opposite direction.

An explosion went off in the pack, and several monkeys rolled along the asphalt, trying to beat down the flames. Second explosion... A grenade launcher was an awesome weapon, but with monsters streaming in from all directions and in loose formation, it wasn’t much use.

“They’re climbing the walls!” Someone shouted. I couldn’t identify the voice in the noise of the battle.

“Shoot them down!” I tore a grenade off my belt and dropped it. “Don’t let them reach the roof!”

Some of the monkeys were trying to scale the walls using their claws, but although the building didn’t have any protruding towers to make it easier to shoot, a few bursts along the walls were enough to cool the monsters’ ardor. Even if the Aura protected them, they still obeyed the law of gravity. The creatures plummeted down when they were hit. A few managed to reach the top, but were immediately taken out by the snipers.

“They’re hesitating!” Eagle Owl shouted. “Look, some of them are running away!”

Just when I thought it was all over, another monkey appeared on the roof of the mall and let out a terrible howl. It was roughly one and a half times larger than its companions, its figure emanating power and its fur shining like real gold. It was an impressive entrance.

“Looks like the boss has arrived.” I muttered. Identification.

Gu, King of the Golden Monkeys (54%)

Status: monster, hero.

Creature Rank: D.

Level: 12.

Danger: critical.

Parameters:

Strength: 15.

Agility: 20.

Vitality: 20.

Stamina: 14.

Wisdom: 12.

Perception: 12.

Instinct: 15.

Additional Parameters:

Pedigree: 3.

Intelligence: 4.

Faith: 3.

Features:

— Servant of Order — the creature belongs to the System.

— Troop Leader — this creature has outstanding might that allows it to control its fellow members.

— Elite Pedigree — although the creature is relatively weak, the blood of great ancestors flows through its veins. Stats are higher than what is typical for its rank.

— Strong Hide — the skin of these monkeys is highly valued for its strength. But obtaining it won’t be easy.

— Defense Aura 2 — the creature can activate this aura to significantly enhance its defenses.

— Magic Regeneration — the creature can recover from its injuries using mana.

— Camouflage Aura — the creature can hide its rank and level from observers.

* * *

I didn’t have time to read through his stats because I pulled the trigger as soon as I’d activated Identification. However, the bullet that was supposed to blow the creature’s brains out only bounced off his skull. I glanced through his Features. Unsurprisingly, the boss had a much stronger Defense Aura.

As if prodded awake, the System abruptly showered me with a stream of messages.

Attention! A Rank D enemy hero has been detected!

Attention! Mission No. 2435 and mission No. 2439 have merged.

Attention! The rank of the current mission has been upgraded to E. The terms have been changed and supplemented.

Quest No. 5

Primary Objective:

— Destroy the King of the Golden Monkeys.

Additional Objectives:

— Destroy his entourage.

Personal Objective (Heresy):

— An enemy priest is nearby. Absorb his Faith and convert the obtained energy into Heresy.

Reward:

— Much higher regard of the local gods.

Additional Reward:

— Variable.

Penalty:

— None.

Attention! The timer has been reset!

Time remaining: 2 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Son of a... surprises like these usually ended badly, such as in mission failure, death of the entire team and... damn, what was I thinking?

“All fire on the boss!” I ordered, coming to my senses. As I’d already noticed, the commander’s role often boiled down to stating the obvious.

The gorilla leaped, flying almost a dozen meters, but fell slightly short of the roof as he was struck by a hail of bullets. Slightly… I flinched when I saw the claws gripping the parapet, and immediately fired. I wasn’t shooting at the claws, since I doubted that a bullet could penetrate the defense field, but at the parapet that the boss was clinging to. It worked and the monster went tumbling down, and I automatically threw a grenade after him. Not that I had much hope it would kill him.

“Bri, take care of him!” I remembered my ‘secret weapon’.

I didn’t bother activating Invisibility again. My allies could easily forget about me in the heat of the battle and shoot me by accident as they tried to stop the monkeys climbing onto the roof. Or, on the contrary, hesitate at the wrong moment. I clambered onto the parapet and looked down, but there was no body below. It seemed that the king had decided to change his approach.

“The barricades have been destroyed,” Khan’s voice sounded in my ear. “They’re climbing inside the building.”

“Everyone, retreat to the roof.” I ordered. The ground floor was empty anyway, but there were several shooting posts on the first floor.

The monkeys had two ways of reaching us — either climb up the walls to the roof, under constant fire, or enter the building through the front entrance and go up the stairs. Unsurprisingly, when the first way turned out to be difficult, the enemy decided to use the second approach. It was easier as the doors had been knocked out during the first assault, and the barricade was flimsy at best. Then all roads led to Rome, in this case, the stairs to the upper floors. We’d even marked the way with blood…

“Warlock?” I ran up to our ‘technician’. “What’s the progress?”

“I can’t see anything yet. Oh, here they come!”

The monkeys rushed up the stairs but came up against the doors to the first floor, which had somehow remained whole. Plus, we’d piled everything we could up against them on the other side. The monkeys huddled together and got to work with their claws. I’d wanted to try gas grenades, but we weren’t sure that they’d work as we needed them to, or that they wouldn’t drive the troop out back onto the street. Nor were we taking any prisoners, so...

“Is the King there too?” I asked. “We need to get him together with the others.”

“I can’t see him. Wait... damn, they’re going to destroy my drone like that!”

He was right. The monkeys spotted the drone as soon as the it started moving. The picture on the screen jerked sharply, as if falling, then a monkey’s face appeared up close. A second later, we saw a wall rapidly approaching, then receding. This was repeated several times until the camera finally gave up.

“That’s it, the drone’s done for,” Warlock sighed in disappointment. “And to think I’d dreamed of having one since I was a child.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you a new one, even prettier than the last,” I quipped nervously. What mattered was the boss was there. “Is everyone in place? No one left downstairs? Then don’t stand in the center, position yourselves closer the walls! Get ready, there’s going to be a thump. Three, two…”

We’d mined the staircase, and I’d placed enough explosives to give our enemies a good rattle, but not so much that the building collapsed. Now we’d discover if my calculations had been correct.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“How can you doubt me? One!” I muttered, sending a warning to the ghost and pressing the detonator button. We felt a strong shake, I heard cursing and screaming, someone even fell… For a moment, I thought the roof would collapse, but the ceiling held up. “And you were worried! Hold your positions!”

All we had left to do was shoot the few remaining monsters in the back. The monkeys who’d survived the explosion were fleeing as fast as their legs would carry them, no longer keen to confront us. Had we won? I didn’t feel victorious. After a few moments, I realized what was worrying me. Although the boss had been in the epicenter of the explosion, I hadn’t seen a notification of his death. We hadn’t completed the quest. Was that bad? Fate was giving me another chance.

* * *

“Are you seriously going after the boss?” Khan asked. I thought he’d be indignant, but the Buryat man looked completely calm. “If something happens to you, the consequences will be serious. For all of us.”

The king hadn’t been among the wounded monkeys who’d miraculously survived the explosion. By the time we reached the stairs, this was no longer news to me.                            

“Come on, Khan. I know my skills are valuable, but the living are always more important than the dead. You won’t be punished if I suddenly die. Besides, I’m not going alone, Eva will cover me, and if I fail, she’ll bring the bag back.” I wasn’t planning to die, but I also wanted to take care of my allies. We were all mortal, and refusing to talk about it, so as not to jinx it, wouldn’t help.

“This is a bad idea,” Khan repeated. “We can just wait for the end of the mission.”

The raven above us cawed impatiently, urging me to hurry up if I wanted to catch up to the king.

“I know what I’m doing. Make sure you finish off the monkeys that are still moving, and collect their corpses. I’ll try to return before the end of the mission, but if I don’t, take as many bodies as you can, abandon the equipment and return to the base.”

“Fine,” Khan muttered, accepting my departure. “What about the local soldiers?”

Another pain in my ass. As they say, victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. No sooner had the monkeys disappeared than dozens of helicopters appeared in the sky. The military would soon be here, and I’d bet my bottom dollar that they’d try to arrest us and get their hands on the loot. I would, if I was them.

“Try to collect all the loot before they get their hands on it. Then just keep negotiating and stall for time. I doubt they’ll be looking for a direct confrontation but, in any case, don’t engage. If things take an ugly turn, just hand yourself over.”

* * *

Oddly enough, Eva readily agreed to accompany me. I wouldn’t have forced her too, it had to be done willingly. The monkeys, impressed by the carnage we’d caused, had scattered in all directions, so the streets were relatively safe. Still, the risk of running into one of the creatures remained, and that’s why I hesitated to bring someone else along.

“How are you going to track him down? It’s a big village.”

“My raven will lead us to the king,” I fibbed slightly. It was a half-truth, really, because it was more complicated than that.

“What’s our plan? That creature survived the explosion. You have a plan, right?”

“You watch my back and I kill him. For the rest, we’ll act according to circumstances.”

The raven overhead cawed thrice. That’s bad luck, that is.

“Wait.” I hugged the girl close to me and activated Invisibility, covering us both. This mode consumed way more energy but it still worked. Fortunately, the three monkeys weren’t looking at us. A helicopter passed by overhead, and we heard gunshots and animal screams. Snipers. Honestly, why couldn’t they have figured this out a couple of hours ago?

“Are you going to take advantage of the situation?” Eva whispered in my ear, not trying to pull away at all. Well, she did ask... I leaned down a little and kissed her on the lips. Why not, right? I didn’t sense much enthusiasm in response, then she took a step back.

“Don’t you already have a girlfriend? That British girl?”

“Lisa? I don’t think I can consider her my girlfriend. We have... unsolvable geographical differences. I’m here, she’s over there, so we’re not meant to be together.”

“What about staying faithful? Long-distance relationships?”

I didn’t answer such a stupid question and kissed her again. Eva responded this time, but still somewhat reluctantly. We didn’t have time for more than a kiss right now, so I soon pulled away. Now was not the time nor the place.

“We have to keep moving.”

* * *

The Church of St. Athanasius. How ironic that the main monster had decided to take refuge in here. It wasn’t the worst place for a fight, with its high ceilings and open space devoid of benches. If it had been a Catholic church, combat would have been a bit more difficult. Here it was — another argument in the age-old dispute about which branch of Christianity was “more correct”. Although with the arrival of the new gods, the current religions were living out the last of their days.

“I’m in position,” Eva announced. A shiver ran down my spine. It wasn’t pleasant to know that a sniper had you in their sights, even if the sniper was on your side. A slip of the finger, and neither my helmet nor my high level, nor all my skills... I was getting carried away. It was the nerves.

“All right,” I said. “If I don’t get in touch in fifteen minutes, let the others know. Act according to the circumstances but don’t venture into the church alone.”

I looked around, trying to spot the sniper, but unsuccessfully, so I threw my spear over one shoulder and withdrew into Invisibility. The church doors had been knocked off their hinges, so all I had to do was make as little noise as possible.

Inside was cool, light and smelled of blood. The blood was no longer fresh. I’d certainly learned to sense some interesting things.

I found the source of the smell almost immediately. Perhaps they’d been in the middle of a service or the faithful had tried to find shelter within these holy walls, but the result had been the same. Dozens of corpses. For this reason, I didn’t immediately notice a stone pyramid at the other end of the church, with numerous black birds stacked on top. Ravens. I hadn’t been to church for a while, but I certainly didn’t remember this being a feature of Christianity.

Attention! Mission rank has been upgraded to D!

Attention! Quest has been updated… Destroy the projection of the Altar of the Golden Monkey Ancestor before it is activated.

Time remaining: unknown.

I suppressed an immediate urge to swear and then to put on the mask. Contacting the gods right now was risky, but if I used the Mask of Cain, they’d be able to work out who I was in no time. My third urge was to turn around and leave, but I couldn’t do that either. Everything had its limits. This wasn’t just a raid, but a plan to launch a full-scale invasion into our world.

I ran my eyes around the hall, spotting six monkeys. Seven, although the head monster was too massive to be called a monkey. King Gu, whose head I’d come for, sat slumped against the wall and looked a bit worse for wear. He hadn’t escaped the explosion unscathed, with numerous wounds, his right eye missing, and his left hand torn off. Yet that wasn’t what was killing him. A ghost hovered above the gorilla’s head, slowly sucking out mana, endurance, and life itself.

Gu looked towards the entrance, and it took me a second to realize that it wasn’t me who drew his attention, but the raven. His retinue also perked up.

“Filthy thing!” Gu growled. He spoke in the System language. “Catch it and bring it to me. I will personally bite its head off!”

The monkeys screeched and rushed to obey the leader’s order, but the raven cawed mockingly, and the minions shrank back as if in terror.

“You want to eat this Old One? Little monkey, I used to kill creatures like you with my stare alone! I’ve pecked out thousands of eyes! For daring to look so boldly upon this Old One, you shall tear out your left eye and give it to me!”

“Three-legged brat!” the King growled and tried to stand up. “What are you afraid of? This raven is a pathetic spawn, with barely a drop of ancient blood left in it. Sacrifice it and the Ancestor will surely reward you!”

“Spawn?” The raven was enveloped in flames. “How dare you!”

This whole conversation was nothing more than an attempt to distract the monster’s attention. I headed towards my target. The boss was at his weakest right now, so it was time to strike and end all this. The fact that Gu was intelligent didn’t change anything.

“Stay out of it… Go away.” A voice sounded in my head. “I’m strong now. I will become even stronger! This is my prey!”

It took me a moment to realize that the usually timid and obedient Bri had rebelled. The sharp increase in power had gone to its head... or whatever ghosts had instead of a head.

“Don’t forget your place,” I responded. Had it invested some of its points in Intelligence? If so, it clearly wasn’t enough. “Your life is in my hands!”

“I’m sorry, Master,” the ghost changed its tone. “I only wanted to become stronger so that I could capture this shell and serve you better. This is your prey. Take it...”

You little bastard… It took me a second to realize that the blasted clump had stopped absorbing the monster’s life forces. The monkey king, who previously could do nothing more than slump against the wall and swear, suddenly twitched his nose and leapt in my direction. He knew... But I had also guessed.

Acceleration. The world around me came to almost a complete stop. I shifted sharply to the left, moving out of the line of attack, and struck his armpit while also activating Split Stone. The spear pierced the skin with difficulty, but the micro-explosion widened the wound, allowing me to drive the weapon deeper. The King simply had no mana left to activate the Defense Aura.

“Gu-u-u-u!” He screamed in pain and rage, slamming his other paw against the shaft in the hope of breaking it. He failed the first time, and then it was too late. “No, wait! You are not like the others. We can reach an agreement! If you help us, my lord will give you a drop of his blood…”

I wasn’t going to answer. Split! A second explosion, much more powerful than the first, cut off his words along with his life. The creature’s skin worked against him this time with the damage being directed inwards, destroying his internal organs. Blood gushed out of all orifices, but death wasn’t instant. I caught his gaze, the fading anger replaced by despair, expectation, and then indifference.

Attention! Fame has increased by 1 unit! (2)

My glove grew hot and tingly, and I realized that I’d receive a huge amount of experience points if I didn’t let go of the spear. Right here, right now. If I let go of it to deal with the remaining monkeys, I could be left with nothing.

Attention! You have received 360 SP (382/160)

Attention! You have reached Level 9! (222/180)

Attention! You have reached Level 10! (42/200)

Greed won. I screamed with pleasure and despair, feeling the wave of energy pass through me. A wave that washed away everything: Invisibility, Acceleration, all the active skills. I heard a voice in my earpiece, but I didn’t care…

Attention! You are the first player on Earth to reach the boundary level!

Attention! You receive the Basic Combat Form skill (E)!

Attention… Options unavailable. A stable connection with the Server is required.

Attention! You have received the Leader I achievement! Your Fame has increased! (3)

Experience, bonuses... they didn’t matter right now. I was surrounded by enemies. I tried to straighten up, knowing that if I didn’t get up now, I would die.

Attention! Your spear has been stained with Ancient Blood!

Attention (Heresy)! You have killed a priest and a descendant of an unknown god. Would you like to convert his Faith into Heresy?

Yes/No

Too many notifications at once. I waved away the new message, then realized its significance at the last possible moment and chose Yes.

Attention! You have received 2 units of Heresy!

Attention! The regard of the Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys has deteriorated significantly!

Attention! You have been labeled the Enemy of the Golden Monkeys! Any member of this race will attack you as soon as they see this label.

Attention! The regard of the Seven Earth Gods has improved significantly! They know and remember about your existence!

To hell with those assholes! I stood up, raising my spear, and found all six opponents rushing towards me at once. No, five — one of them was engulfed by fire and went rolling along the floor. Its wild screeching hurt my ears and showed no sign of stopping. The raven lacked the strength to kill the enemy outright, but even this was a lot. I tried to activate Invisibility, but the field around me burst with a slight pop.

Attention! You are magically depleted! Mana regeneration speed is reduced.

I felt nauseated. Difficult to say whether it was due to exhaustion or simple fear. My lips twisted in a smile. Damn, was I really going to die here? As always at such moments, my mind churned, trying to seek out any opportunity. Running was clearly not an option. The monsters would catch up and kill me. And the spear... the spear wouldn’t help me.

I took a step forward and threw it at one of the monkeys, not expecting it to wound the animal. I was just buying time to get the Sword of Heresy. A machine gun wouldn’t save me now, either. Even if they hadn’t activated their auras, I’d have enough time to kill two, maybe three of them. Then I’d be unarmed and torn to shreds. No, I chose the best option. The Defense Aura was much less effective against System weapons, so the main problem was the toughness of their hide. The divine blade has already proven itself against the undead. I swung my sword…

Attention! You have gained 12 SP! (54/200)

Attention! The Sword of Heresy has consumed 2 SP!

The effect was even better than anticipated. The blade sliced through the creature’s chest like through butter. I spun around, avoiding the attack. The claws of the next creature slid along my clothes, tearing out a chunk, and the monster flew past me as I turned to meet my third opponent.

Attention! You have gained 15 SP! (69/200)

Attention! The Sword of Heresy has consumed 3 SP!

The monkey’s head rolled towards the altar, and a fountain of blood rose in its place. A few warm drops fell on my face. It didn’t matter. I manage to impale the fourth creature on my blade after performing a desperate twist, and immediately realized it was a mistake.

Attention! You have gained 5 SP! (74/200)

Attention! The Sword of Heresy has consumed 1 SP!

There was no time to pull the blade out. It had gone too deep and I couldn’t reach the card either. I had to let go of the handle and turn to the fifth monster.

The creature leaped at me, obviously hoping to knock me down, but I remained on my feet. It shredded my clothes, trying to reach the flesh. For a split second, I thought I was finished, but my armor withstood the initial onslaught. I caught the monkey’s arms and pulled them apart. This creature had a relatively low level, and despite the claws, its strength was comparable to that of a teenager. A very flexible and dangerous teenager. As soon as the monkey found itself caught, it tried to twist and bite me, and when that didn’t work, it struck me with its hind legs. Strong legs with claws on them, so they made quite an impact. I spat blood from my bitten lip. At least, I hoped it was from my lip… Someone grabbed my pants from behind and sank its teeth into my leg. The claws dug in a little higher.

I cast my captive aside with a roar, hoping that it would break something on landing, and spun around, kicking the second monkey in the head. My foot went slightly numb, but the result was worth it, with the monkey was flung far away. However, it hadn’t let go of my leg, so blood now flowed generously down my pant leg.

“Hsssss,” The second monkey got up and bared its bloody teeth at me, then turned into a flaming torch. The raven had used his ability again. But even that didn’t stop the monster from launching itself at me. I kicked it away, groaning in pain. Quickly retreating, I smacked my pant leg a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t going to catch fire. Thankfully, we’d been given top-notch equipment, so the fabric was fire resistant, among other things.

“Thanks, Legion!” I gasped, looking around for the first time since the beginning of the fight. The bird had helped quite a lot, saved my life, in fact, but now I had to face the consequences. The first monkey had died slowly and painfully, and had caused a fire by rolling around on the floor. An unnaturally intense fire for such a short period of time.

Yanking the sword from one of the corpse, I turned to my last opponent. It seemed that being flung against the nearest wall had achieved a result, because the monkey stood up with some difficulty, and, although it continued to hiss, there was no longer fanaticism in its eyes. More than anything, it looked scared.

“Well, come on then.” I muttered, hoping that I wouldn’t pass out from blood loss. It didn’t seem to be flowing as freely as before.

A shot rang out, and the last of the monkeys dropped dead. Eva.

“What are you doing inside?” I cut myself off. “No, it doesn’t matter. We have to finish this and get out of here.” I bent down and tightened the strap on my leg to slow down the bleeding. I still thought it wasn’t serious, but unpleasant nevertheless. And my mana was at zero… Another shot rang out. It took me a second to realize that Eva had fired at the altar, but with no effect. A second shot. No effect. We needed something stronger, like a grenade launcher.

“It’s not working.” The girl took a step in my direction, but stopped in front of the wall of flames. There were still some gaps in the wall, but rushing through them would be a bad idea.

“Don’t come any closer, I’ll deal with the altar. Just wait for me outside.”

“Don’t you dare die in here!” Eva bit her lip, but obeyed the voice of reason and ran out of the church. Cute. I guess.

I hadn’t wasted any time during our conversation, but had picked up my weapon and all the loot the monkeys had dropped. Two empties, a Tail Use in Battle card and the E-ranked Golden Monkey Blood Essence (100/100) from the boss. Based on the description, this card allowed one to become a kind of hybrid between a person and this creature. Useless shit… Not that it stopped me from pocketing the card.

“Bri, into the bag! Right now!”

No time to deal with the rebellious ghost, so I decided to postpone it until later. Bri was clearly reluctant to obey, but the raven came to my aid. “I’m sure it did it on purpose! Let me eat this traitor!”

“Well?” I pushed. The ghost gave a startled sob and, to my relief, dived into the open bag. “Okay, what’s next?”

“The crystals...” the raven began as usual, but then corrected himself. “No, you have to destroy the altar first!” It clearly pained the raven to admit that there was something more important than crystals in this world. Nevertheless, he was right, for the stones were unlikely to burn. I nodded and approached the altar, which emanated a sense of dread. As soon as I came close enough to it, the sign floating above changed to something I could understand.

Projection of the Altar of the Golden Monkey Ancestor

There are 0 hours, 0 minutes and 54 seconds left to activation.

Are you effing kidding me? What was I supposed to do? Scatter the stones? Judging by what I saw, the monkeys hadn’t cared much about the building material, and had dragged rocks in from the street. I reached out to remove the brick on top.

“Stop!” Legion interrupted. “Do not touch the altar with your hands, unless you want its owner to be able to reach you. I would suggest urinating on it, but there is no time left for fun.”

I threw him an irritated look, but refrained from commenting. “What should I do?”

“Blow it up! You have explosives, don’t you?” Brilliant. Blow up a mound of stone while standing right next to it, since I wouldn’t have enough time to run away, and I’d have to run through a wall of fire. Instead of a mine, I pulled out a mana crystal, twirling it in my hand and rapidly absorbing the energy.

There are 0 hours, 0 minutes and 15 seconds left to activation.

I’d only get one chance. I raised my sword and plunged it into a gap between the rocks, sending a stream of energy along the blade. Split Stone was a very symbolic name. The skill was designed for a spear, but I could also use it with any other weapon if I was desperate enough.

Ha! Stones flew in all directions, striking me painfully several times, but the altar collapsed. I had just enough time to notice something translucent hidden behind the physical construction.

Attention! You have destroyed the Projection of the Altar. The gateway is closed.

Attention! The regard of the Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys has turned to hatred!

Personal Message from the Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys: “You are ded meat, mortol! My sirvants will ter off yur hed and mek a pis-pot out of it!”

I wrinkled my nose. The divine status of my enemy was offset by his difficulty with spelling. I hadn’t even wanted to get involved. Another notification arrived a second later.

Attention! You have accomplished a feat! The regard of the Seven Earth Gods towards you has improved significantly!

Oh, goody... I turned around and looked for the exit. It wasn’t there. Only flames and a cloud of smoke spreading rapidly in my direction. The raven hovered in front of the wall of fire, holding it back somehow, but he was clearly losing this battle. The flames crept around him, spreading along the walls and ceiling. Incredible that the fire had managed to spread so quickly in such a short amount of time.

I dropped down to one knee, trying to slow down my breathing. It no longer just smelled of smoke but also roasted meat.

“How far has the fire spread? Do you think I have a chance of breaking through?”

“This is the Sacred Fire! You will be burned alive unless you are a phoenix. You are not a phoenix, are you?”

“You’re making jokes, now? Can you put out the flames? Or at least clear a path for me?”

“If I was still full of energy, nothing would have been easier. Right now, I am in danger of being consumed alongside you. There is nothing more shameful than to die by your own Sacred Fire! Hurry up and break down the wall! You should have those exploding things!”

I glanced around skeptically, trying to estimate what an explosion would do in this confined space. I didn’t like my chances. I could try to use Split Stone to break down the wall. No, to hell with all this.

“I have a return card! Get into the bag, we have to leave!”

The raven landed on the floor, folded its wings and began to turn to stone right before my eyes. I threw him inside the bag, hoping that he hadn’t lied too much and could survive for some time without a sarcophagus.

There are 2 hours, 05 minutes and 23 seconds remaining until the end of the mission.

I wouldn’t last that long in here. Where was the message about the end of the mission? As if waiting for this question, an icon flashed in the corner of my eye. I mentally tapped on it and got my coveted ticket out of here. It looked like I’d be able to save the card.

Attention! Main quest has been completed!

Additional quest: not completed (24 opponents left)

Do you wish to leave the location before the end of the mission?

Yes/No

“Hey, are you alright in there? I never have any luck with guys,” a voice sounded in my earpiece. “Don’t tell me you’re going to burn to death. I chose you specifically for your increased Vitality.” Despite the words, the girl’s voice sounded upset, almost plaintive.

“Don’t worry, Eva, I’m fine.” I coughed. “Well, almost fine. The mission is over, but the exit is cut off, so I’m going back to base. Tell the others, but don’t stay here too long. The local soldiers can take of the rest. Got it?”

“Yes, got it.” Her voice sounded almost calm this time. “I’m glad you’re not dead. See you soon.”

“Over and out.” I replied. It was becoming harder to breathe, and I could barely see anything. I wanted to escape the inferno immediately, but I spent a few precious seconds putting every piece of equipment I could into the bag. It was a pity that I couldn’t stuff the monkeys into a bag as easily. Talk about oversized luggage! But this didn’t mean that I was abandoning the main loot.

Limping, I reached the body of the Golden Monkey King and grabbed a leg, hoping it would work. In that instance, I was enveloped by black smoke, so I held my breath and pressed Yes. Mission completed.

Chapter 12. Sharing the Loot

Attention! The mission is not yet over. General statistics are not available.

Individual Statistics

Main Quest (D, individual):

Destroy the Altar of the Golden Monkey Ancestor

— Completed.

Reward:

— The regard of the local gods has improved significantly!

— Player Rank has increased to D.

— Rank D skill (stable connection with the Server is required).

— Access to the Server (1 hour).

Consequences:

— The Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys will remember you!

Additional Quest No. 1 (F+):

Destroy, expel or capture all the golden monkeys.

— Failed.

Penalty:

— None.

Additional Quest No. 2 (E, group):

Destroy Gu, King of the Golden Monkeys.

— Completed.

Reward:

— The regard of the local gods has improved significantly!

— +1 Fame (received).

Consequences:

— The regard of the Ancestor of the Golden Monkeys has worsened significantly.

— A divine label ‘Enemy of the Golden Monkeys’.

Additional Quest No. 3 (E+, personal, unique, hidden):

Absorb the Faith of the Golden Monkey King and transform it into Heresy.

— Completed.

Reward:

— +2 Heresy.

I noticed that the label and the worsened attitude were for the second quest, and not the third. Did that mean that the monkey ancestor hadn’t understood where and how a piece of his power had gone? If so, great.

I didn’t have time to ponder this, for the statistics window disappeared, and I was bombarded by a stream of messages.

Attention! Stable access to the Server has been established (1 hour).

Attention! Player Rank upgraded to D! Related skills have been upgraded!

Attention! You are the first mortal to reach the current rank in your world! Fame has increased!

Attention! Synchronization level has been increased!

Attention! You have reached Level 10. Would you like to choose a Basic Combat Form yourself?

Yes/No

I took my time and decided to check the state of my body first. While I floated in the void, my body was lying in my personal room and slowly bleeding out. Although I’d applied a tourniquet, it had been left behind in the burning church, like all my non-System clothing. I was unlikely to die from the scratches I’d received, but a forecast wouldn’t hurt.

I collapsed the query, went into the menu and quickly found my Health tab. It was curious that the diagram now looked much more detailed, with numerous explanations. Was it the result of the increased synchronization, whatever that meant? I remembered receiving a similar message previously.

The figure showed a lot of yellow damage, but the crimson spot on my leg immediately drew my attention. I had a reason to be worried, it seemed.

Forecast (intuition). With the current level of Vitality, if no additional measures are taken, the probability of recovery is 0%. Probability of a fatal outcome within two hours is 100%.

Wow. This information wasn’t fun, but I didn’t panic nor immediately interrupt the session with the Server. I just needed to send a few more inquiries to find out how much time I had.

Forecast (intuition). Probability of a fatal outcome within one hours is 73%.

Forecast (intuition). Probability of a fatal outcome within 30 minutes is 0.1%.

Forecast (intuition). Probability of a fatal outcome within 45 minutes is 9%.

This was slightly reassuring. I had some time, but not much. The sharp drop in probabilities suggested two things — either the monkey was venomous, or I was going to die from blood loss, unless I took measures to stop it, of course. With the increase in my player rank, the interface had also improved, including this section. Let’s see...

Forecast (intuition). If these measures are undertaken, the probability of a fatal outcome is 0%. Probability of recovery is 100%. Timeframe not specified.

As I’d thought, the Great Healing would fix it. Well, what if I simply treated the wound? It was more difficult to set the task this time, but I finally succeeded.

Forecast (intuition). If these measures are undertaken, the probability of a fatal outcome is 25%. Probability of recovery is 75% within a month.

In other words, something between poisoning and bleeding. The wound wasn’t the only problem since it wasn’t that serious. Rather, the monkey saliva contained something nasty that stopped the blood from clotting. It wasn’t terribly potent, because even applying a tourniquet and treating the wound greatly increased my chances.

Time remaining: 58 minutes and 32 seconds.

Interestingly, the notification looked slightly different than last time. Had the word ‘time’ been there last time? The other changes had been much more significant, so I didn’t know the reason for this.

Time remaining: 58 minutes and 30 seconds.

Two seconds wasted… I didn’t have much time left, only twenty-eight and a half minutes. Ironically, if I had used up the entire allotted hour, I might have died without regaining consciousness… With a probability of 73%. Another reminder to always stay on my toes.

Attention! If a selection is not made within five minutes, the default option will be activated.

I wanted to swear, but I could no longer consider such a notification as hostile.

Would you like to choose a Basic Combat Form yourself?

No/Yes

Oh, come on! This had never happened before, yet here it was. I’d noticed the System playing such nasty tricks before, and what’s worse, it was inconsistent. Was it the Ancestor having a go at me? If he was a god, did he have some control over the interface? I didn’t like this idea, so I rejected it as being unprovable. No need to feed into my paranoia. Under my mental gaze, the options wavered and changed places.

Yes/No

Yes, I do. This probably wasn’t the only choice that I needed to make in the remaining 30 minutes, so I had to pick up my pace. People could turn into all kind of monsters, but the Basic Combat Form was the default. It added (+1) to all the main parameters, except Luck, while also allowing me to remain human-like. Judging by the description, the body would be covered by a thin layer of protective pseudo-flesh. No claws, animal muzzles, wings, tails or gills. Perhaps it wasn’t the best choice in the short term and compared to the others, however, this form could be freely adjusted and pushed all the upper limits to twenty. Most importantly, it allowed me to choose five bonus features, including one default one. Becoming a so-called werewolf provided impressive bonuses to the physical stats, claws, fangs and a thick hide, but the upper limits varied and only Dexterity slightly exceeded twenty. Plus, it only had four slots. In short, it was the familiar choice between getting more right now or, potentially, scoring big in the future.

I scoured the list again, but didn’t find anything better than the basic option. Was it that simple? No tricks? The best option would be provided to all the players by default?

However, there were hundreds, if not thousands, variations of the Basic Combat Form. For example, the simplest version didn’t require mana, but had limits on how often and for how long it could be activated. One could morph once a day, for up to 6 hours, but then had to wait for 24 hours before being able to use it again. It wasn’t the best option, so I chose the one requiring mana and with higher start-up costs, but which required almost no energy to maintain. In other words, although it would drain my reserve at the start, I could then use it with almost no restrictions. Even if my reserve was completely empty, the natural recovery rate would be enough to maintain this form.

Attention! Universal Combat Form No. 417 (mana) selected!

Would you like to choose the first feature yourself?

Yes/No

The list of features was even longer, starting from physical upgrades like claws, fur, scales or horns, and continuing onto proper abilities. After digging through the list for a few minutes, I chose Scan Protection, which allowed me to hide all System information when it was active. This included my nickname, stats and levels. It was like my mask but without its disadvantages... or its advantages.

Time remaining: 45 minutes and 12 seconds.

I sighed mentally and tapped the next flashing notification.

Attention! You can obtain a Rank D reward. Would you like to select a skill?

Yes/No

I thought about it. A Rank D skill, and only fifteen minutes left. Was it worth rushing such a choice? Wouldn’t it be better to postpone it until the next session with the Server? This decision could have been a mistake, but I didn’t rush and received a warning a second later.

Attention (Intuition, Rank D)! If you decline, the skill will be selected automatically, based on your parameters and preferences.

The interface seemed to be nicer than it had ever been. Or the message had popped up so that I, God forbid, didn’t escape. Perhaps the System wanted me to die of greed? I preferred to think that the System didn’t want anything. Nevertheless, it was another choice. Take a pig in a poke and finally wake up, or immerse myself in an endless list of skills, and risk wasting too much time. It would be stupid to die like that, right? But regretting a missed opportunity also wasn’t the best option.

I could, however, just exit, ignoring the warning and not choosing any of the options. What would the consequences be? Hell, I should have enough time, if I wasn’t too greedy.

Yes. Well, I’d seen this menu before, since players had access to a list of skills that were one rank higher than their current one. Rank D skills, to some extent, shifted from the specific to the general. For example, if Rank E was Fire Arrow, the equivalent Rank D was Pyrokinesis or Fire Magic. General could be very different, too. There were plenty of stronger and more flexible skills as well. Like Fire Hurricane, which was much more powerful than its predecessor, Flame Weaving, but also significantly more voracious. Or System skills that didn’t require anything, but which had a bunch of artificial restrictions.

The fact that I’d seen this list before didn’t change much, since it was endless. I didn’t know where to start. Life Magic… Illusion Magic… Pet Summoning… Voluntary Memory Erasure… Adding an Item to the System… Naming… Clan… Kinetic Shield… Elven Immortality…

It was like being in a treasure trove and knowing that I could only take one thing. But there was no main treasure here, like the magic lamp in a story.

Apparently, the interface changes were more extensive than I’d thought, because the search was activated automatically, showing me several hundred ‘relevant’ options.

Would you like a Magic Lamp card (52%)?

Yes/No

I couldn’t resist looking at the description, but it was nothing interesting. There really was a ‘genie’ inside it, a D-ranked fire spirit, like my raven, only tied to the card. The only wishes he could fulfill were of the “go and burn it down” variety.

A D-ranked skill cost 300 SP, so I could only purchase one once I reached Level 16. An opportunity like this wasn’t going to come around for quite a while.

I was tempted to take some form of magic initially, but this meant going wide, instead of going deep. Judging by the description, first-level magic provided a foundation, which was useful, of course, but wouldn’t deliver a sharp increase in power. One needed to either spend years on training, or a huge pile of experience points on improving the skill rank. Unfortunately, the decisive argument was how long the skills would take to learn, which was included in the description:

— Fire Magic (57 minutes).

— Life Magic (72 minutes).

— Healing Magic (68 minutes).

Attention! The session can be extended if there is insufficient time!

Even more time than I had left. Perhaps I’d been unfair to the System and it was trying to save me, not kill me. Otherwise, it could have let me choose some skill that would take me several hours to learn... There were such skills here…

Time remaining: 40 minutes and 12 seconds.

I needed a skill that would take no more than ten minutes to load and that would be useful to me. Right now, I had to figure out what I lacked and choose what I could afford. First and foremost, based on how much time I had. Clan? Of course, I could try to disguise my cult by creating a parallel structure, but it was better not to draw attention to myself at all. And I didn’t like the idea of duplicating existing skills.

The authorities, of course, would have wanted me to select Healing Magic, but my own interests had to come first. Even if my ‘divine patron’ gave me a choice, it didn’t mean that he didn’t have his own thoughts on this matter. So, I could always blame my choice on his will, or on random selection.

I quickly returned to one of the options spotted earlier.

Kinetic Shield

Rank: D (1/5).

Description:

— Creates a passive defense field around the user that deflects fast-flying projectiles.

— Field dimensions and settings can be configured.

— Requires a small amount of mana to maintain. Exact amount depends on the settings.

— Automatically activates in case of an attack. Energy consumption depends on the speed, strength and other features of the projectile.

Database loading:

—12 minutes.

It was a bit long, but I doubted that a few extra minutes would significantly increase my chances of not waking up. The temptation was great, as it would solve some of my biggest weaknesses right now. I’d never had a particularly high opinion of humanity, and our skills had much less value since firearms had been introduced into the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if the players were hunted down sooner or later. If this shield could withstand at least a couple of shots, it would give me enough time to withdraw into Invisibility. And, potentially, its strength would continue to grow if I had enough mana.

I could have certainly chosen something better, but I could feel my mind grow more sluggish, and it was becoming harder and harder to think. Time to make a choice and finally deal with my wounds. Otherwise, I could be too weak to move when I finally awoke, or pass out and then die. No, I’d made my choice.

* * *

Attention! Duration of stay in the personal room is 3 hours.

Time remaining: 2 hours, 27 minutes and 12 seconds.

I opened my eyes and sat up with difficulty, my back against something not very soft, and quite smelly. I turned my head listlessly and saw the corpse of the monkey king, which I’d managed to bring back with me. It worked. Great… although the floor under me was sticky with blood. How much had I lost? It looked like a liter at least, and humans didn’t have all that much to begin with. Five or six liters, and a person couldn’t lose more than three.

I hissed and, wincing, stared at the leg. I’d left my pants behind in far-off Bulgaria, so nothing prevented me from carefully examining the wound. I could see claw and teeth marks, and a chunk of flesh had been torn out. What a bastard that monkey had been.

Mana: 245/923

I was still suffering from magical exhaustion, but my mana bar had partially recovered. Judging by the unusually golden strip of mana, it was mainly due to Heresy. My source of divine energy had tripled today. I was now at the level of an ordinary priest, judging by the deceased monkey king. I would have been happy, if I wasn’t feeling so poorly.

“Healing,” I muttered weakly, placing my hand over the wound. The mana immediately dropped back to zero, and the blood slowed down to a trickle. Yet I kept bleeding...

Forecast (intuition). With the current level of Vitality, if no additional measures are taken, the probability of recovery is 13%. Probability of a fatal outcome within one hour is 87%.

Wow, so I could now survive even without a bandage? The thought didn’t cheer me up, because I desperately wanted to sleep and eat. The urge to sleep was stronger. To close my eyes for just a second... with an 87% chance of never opening them again. I bit my lip until it bled, further reducing the chances, and pulled a handful of mana crystals from the bag. Some of them fell onto the bloody floor, but I didn’t care. The mana bar crept rapidly higher. One hundred units…Two hundred… Three hundred…

“Healing.” The magical exhaustion felt almost pleasant this time, because I knew that it significantly increased my chances of survival.

Forecast (intuition). At the current level of Vitality and if no additional measures are taken, the probability of recovery is 53%. Probability of a fatal outcome within three hours is 47%.

I felt a glimmer of excitement. Fifty-fifty. Even better. If I closed my eyes now, I’d sooner wake up than not. A pleasant thought that didn’t stop me from continuing to replenish my energy. Now I wanted to eat more than sleep.

“Healing.” This time, I waited until the mana bar was at 500 units. The bleeding finally stopped.

Forecast (intuition). At the current level of Vitality, the probability of recovery within one month is 99.9%. Probability of death is 0.1%.

I was now ravenously hungry. I emptied a couple of flasks with some cocktails in them and gobbled down several energy bars. They tasted like crap, of course, but they were full of calories… Isn’t that why chocolate was recommended for blood loss? And wine, but I’d resort to that medicine once I was back home, in the evening and in moderation. I doubted my superiors would appreciate me returning from a mission drunk. Unless I subconsciously wanted to give up my position? Even in that case, there was no need for sabotage. Nor did I feel such a desire — while I’d been forced into a position of authority at the start, this power was no longer a burden. I was changing, even if the changes weren’t very noticeable. Was this personal growth? I had no idea.

* * *

Once I’d recovered a little, I gathered up the bloodstained crystals and put them in my pocket, then looked around. The god portals shone with a soft green light and emanated a sense of security and benevolence, as if inviting me to visit. I didn’t think it was the right time, though. After all, the gods weren’t not faceless NPCs. I was sure that all these ‘special effects’ could be easily configured in the depths of their divine interface, and their ‘regard’ was just a set of numbers with no relation to the real state of things. However, given my legend and the instructions to try and establish contact with the gods, I also couldn’t return too early. I had to visit my patron, right? How much time did I have left?

Time remaining: 2 hours, 05 minutes and 23 seconds.

“Crap, the raven!” Food had apparently restored my ability to think, so I finally pulled the stone figurine from my bag. It was cold. Although Legion swore that he could remain in subspace for hours even without the container, I doubted it was good for him. Now he just needed a little fire. I fished a lighter out of my bag, then dropped it next to the statue. Not because I couldn’t hold onto it, but because I’d changed my mind about defrosting Legion. I didn’t want him to see my weakness, so I needed to deal with other matters first.

Distributing character points was a rather ‘intimate’ affair, so it was better to do it in a safe place with no one to interrupt me, like my personal room. I’d gone up two levels during the last mission, which gave me four free points. So, what did I have at the moment?

Parameters:

Strength: 7/10.

Agility: 0/10.

Intelligence: 10/10.

Vitality: 8/10.

Stamina: 10/10.

Perception: 7/10.

Luck: 2/10.

Race Parameter:

Intuition: 10/10.

Additional Parameters:

Wisdom: 6/10.

Faith: 0.

Heresy: 3 (Cult of Cain).

Fame: 3.

System Skills:

— Player (D, 1/1).

Linked System Skills (depending on the player’s rank):

— Intuitive Interface (D, 1/1) — convenience, features and adaptability of the interface.

— Help (D, 1/1) — allows one to evaluate System objects.

Rank E Skills:

— Universal Combat Form No. 417 (E) — defense against scanning.

Achievements and Titles:

Leader I (personal, scalable) — you are the first to reach Level 10 among the people of your world. This is a significant achievement — Fame has been increased. Other effects are hidden.

Typical, the achievement didn’t actually explain anything. The only thing it clearly said was that my Fame had increased, but I knew that already. Oddly, this increase hadn’t brought the total number to four, so the increase must have been less than one unit. In all other aspects, the title was just as vague as all the others. Even though Help had gone up in rank, it hadn’t changed anything.

Next… Only my Player skill had increased to D, the race parameter hadn’t changed. So, it didn’t affect the amount of experience points required to level up. I’d have to be reborn to increase it, which was much more difficult. Perhaps the Blood Essence could help, but I’d discuss it with the raven first. I would have preferred L, but the old goblin appeared less and less in recent months. The ghosts had merged into a single entity long ago, and I couldn’t interfere in their struggle for dominance. Not that I minded.

I glanced through the list of parameters, lingering on Vitality, which I had raised to 8 just a week ago. Leveling up got more difficult the further I went, but my life span continued to increase, so I could estimate my progress. I should get the parameter to 9 in about six months, but reaching 10 would take years. But I wasn’t in much of a hurry, was I?

Next… Most of my parameters were close to the limit, but Agility had already reached 9, so I increased it first. Quickly, like jumping into cold water, due to the discomfort from the procedure. It was so unpleasant that I’d even heard about players who planned their progress in a way to exclude Strength, Agility and Stamina, all to avoid the pain. I could understand them right now.

Congratulations! Your Agility parameter has reached the limit for your race. Connecting to the Server… Select a bonus skill from the list:

— Improved Agility (passive, default). Your ligaments and tendons are much stronger and more flexible than normal.

— Voice Control (active, random). Improves the vocal cords, allowing one to control the vocal timbre.

I snorted. Although voice control sounded interesting, I chose the thing that would help me in battle, improved Agility.

Attention! Body reconstruction will begin in 3…2…1…

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I muttered, glancing at the raven figurine.

My concern had been fully justified. I thrashed around on the floor for several minutes, discovering that, although I hadn’t chosen the active skill, my vocal cords had indeed become stronger and more flexible. Otherwise, I would have surely become hoarse.

The pain left as abruptly as it came, leaving behind a feeling of pleasure from my body’s increased capabilities. Only my injuries, which hadn’t fully healed, spoiled the picture. Some of them even began to bleed again.

“This would be perfect for a masochist, “ I muttered as I activated Healing again. Why hadn’t I chosen the Controlled Block of the Twelve Senses? I’d seen such a skill.

Okay, it should be easier from now on. I wasn’t going to increase Strength. I briefly considered increasing Luck, but pushed the thought away. If I understood the idea correctly, a low value of this parameter was, in some ways, better than the average. After all, if I hadn’t constantly found myself in all sorts of trouble, would I have reached my current level?

The idea wasn’t that crazy after all. I couldn’t really say what Luck was, but I could judge by the results. If a hunter met a bear in the forest, we would say he was lucky or not depending on the outcome of the fight. If Luck influenced such things, I would have been dead long ago. No. Figuratively speaking, my low Luck lured hungry bears to me, but whether they devoured me or ended up as a rug by the fireplace was up to me.

The important thing was not to stop. One more level, and I could bring my E-ranked skills up to the second rank. Level 12 required 220 SP, which was 20 units more than what I needed to improve Invisibility.

In the meantime, I invested 3 whole points into Wisdom, thus raising it to 9. The sensation wasn’t painful as much as it was irritating. I only had one point left before the cap, which I received by raising Minor Magical Ability to Level 4 (14/200).

Congratulations! Your Wisdom parameter has reached the second limit. Connecting to the Server… Select a bonus skill from the list:

— True Gaze (active, default). Allows one to see the flow of magical energy.

— Accelerated Mana Regeneration (passive, random). Mana regenerates slightly faster.

I selected the default option for the second time in a row. Faster regeneration would not go amiss, but it could be replaced with crystals, while I couldn’t miss the opportunity to be able to see various spirits. Mana Sense was good but too vague.

This time, the tickling turned into pain, as if a stream of fire ran from my heart to my eyes, and then the world changed. For about five seconds, until I switched off the skill to save mana. Not enough time had passed since the last time I’d used Healing. Plus, my head had started to ache from unaccustomed use…

* * *

Time remaining: 1 hour, 15 minutes and 34 seconds

“Moon Prism, give me strength,” I muttered. I think this transformation was called henshin in Japanese. I just needed to get that wand out and strike a dramatic pose, which I wasn’t going to do, of course.

Would you like to activate your combat form?

Yes/No

Yes. The activation took several seconds, after which my body became slightly bigger, my skin grew pale, and my vulnerable spots became covered with armor. The pain from my wounds faded into the background, as if left behind in the old body. I could even venture outside in this form without any clothes, since my ‘bits’ were covered with Bone Armor. I touched the membrane that protected my eyes. Not bad.

Although the difference in size wasn’t that big, the activation tore clothing to shreds, which was something I’d need to remember in the future. Overall, I became a little taller, stronger, faster, smarter, more agile… and so on.

I even exceeded human limits in some parameters. However, the main advantage of this combat form was that I could distribute points directly to it in the future, without affecting the main body. The reverse process, with redistribution of the spent parameters to the main body, was also possible, but, alas, irreversible.

Why was this necessary? Well, it allowed you to bypass the first barrier, although the restrictions were there for a reason. Take Strength, for example. If even 10 would make me a Terminator, what would I get at 20? At 30? Human cities were not designed for three-meter-tall giants. Forget yourself for only a moment and everyday things would turn into disasters: door handles ripped from doors, spoons curling in your fingers, and a night with your lover ending up with an admission to hospital. Intelligence? Was constantly being two to three times smarter than everyone else that interesting? If Perception was too high, you’d think that people around you were moving in slow motion. Not to mention the fact that once these changes went far enough, you’d never be able to disappear into the crowd again. Was it worth it? Everyone could decide for themselves, but I was relieved that I could separate my main body from the combat form. At least until I found a different way of solving this problem.

As for the first feature, defense against scanning… Considering the features of my new body, I would be impossible to identify if I also put on the mask. Of course, Level 10 players would need to become commonplace first. Otherwise, when the combat form became widespread in the future, figuring out who’d been the first one would be a joke. Hmm, perhaps I’d been a little hasty with my decision?

Well, it was too late to change my mind. I stood up and pulled out my spear, performing a few lunges and spins to get a better feel for my new body. Amazing. Although the bonus to each parameter was small, the result was a very impressive increase.

I stared at the spear, noting the changes it had undergone. The shaft had remained the same, but the tip had acquired a subtle reddish tinge, as if the blood of the Monkey King had soaked into the metal. Let’s see...

System Spear. Cannot be identified.

Oh, come on! This was something knew, but I persisted. Identification…

The Spear of the Monkey King Killer

Rank: E+.

Material: unknown metal, ancient blood, unknown wood.

Length: 2.2 m.

Weight: 1.51 kg.

Description:

— System Weapon. Enables the owner to absorb 50% of the victim’s spirit and life force.

— Increased strength II.

— Instills subconscious fear in golden monkeys of lower rank.

What a pity that the spear hadn’t reached Rank D, so the amount of experience remained at the same level. I didn’t really care that the other monkeys would be afraid of it. Increased strength was good, but did the changes include the shaft or only the spearhead? Okay, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

I picked up the lighter and ran the flame over the statue, allowing the raven to free himself. If this actually made a difference and wasn’t all an act.

Attention! Ingression registered in the personal room!

“I’m finally free!” the raven exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, automatically closing the window and deleting the warning. The raven’s stats had grown, his Intelligence had reached 8, yet he still acted like... a child. Or an old man in his dotage. Maybe he just liked to play the idiot?

“Who are you? Where? You can’t fool this Old One! I recognized you! This is just a combat form!” Apparently identifying me in this shape was quite difficult, since it had taken the raven several seconds, and that was with the defense against scanning disabled.

“You’re right on time. Since I have freed you from your stone prison, you owe me three wishes. To begin with, can you tell me where the crystal is inside this monkey?”

The raven ignored my joke and flew to the monkey’s chest, pecking at the flesh to indicate the required spot, then immediately flew aside without waiting for my command. Smart bird. I struck the specified place, and managed to break through the skin without using a combat skill. It looked like the spear had become noticeably stronger and sharper, even though it couldn’t quite match the Sword of Heresy. However, the corpse would be handed over to the research department for dissection, so I didn’t change weapons. After ten minutes of struggling, I was successful.

Medium Mana Crystal: 7409 units.

“Crystal!” the raven cawed enthusiastically. “You promised me two, remember?”

I put the trophy in my bag and pulled out two other crystals, much smaller than the first. He hadn’t stipulated the size, right? But I didn’t offer him the really puny ones. There was no need to breed resentment.

“My word is stronger than stone. Here you go.”

“Received. You don’t think I’m going to carry them around in my beak, do you? As much as I would like to, they can get lost that way.”

I snorted and took out the container, allowing the raven to drop his loot into it and settle on top. There were dozens of crystals in the container already. Although I held them in my hands, I wasn’t tempted. I knew that if I ever succumbed to the temptation and removed even one stone, I’d make a deadly enemy.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 52 minutes and 27 seconds.

“Let’s move on to my second wish. What can you tell me about this card? Golden Monkey Blood Essence?”

“Blood essence is a substance that can be extracted from some magical creatures. If used successfully, it allows you to awaken an ancient bloodline. Cards are simply magic, bringing forth things that can exist perfectly well without them.

“In other words, I can become a golden monkey?” I clarified. It sounded like anti-scientific garbage, to put it mildly, but so many things were possible in the world of magic.

“More like obtain some features of this race. The golden monkey bloodline is one of the weakest, but you can significantly strengthen your combat form with this card. I wouldn’t recommend it, though.”

“Go on.”

“The monkeys are extremely vindictive creatures. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ancestor had a paw in you receiving such a card. What was the bloodline of this king? A four? Or maybe even a three?”

“A three,” I recalled.

“So, King Gu is eighth generation. How much of his divine ancestor’s blood flows through his veins, do you think? The probability of a heritage card appearing in this instance is ridiculous. Unless you have a 10 in Luck, of course, or if someone has stuck their mangy tail in it. If you get my drift...”

“You mean that this card is a trap?”

Legion uttered a cawing laugh. “Not necessarily. As you humans say – there is always room for a miracle. Especially an evil miracle. Perhaps the Ancestor has nothing to do with it. Perhaps the card fell out not because you were very lucky, but because you were unlucky.”

“In any case, you don’t recommend using it.”

“There is a very strong hierarchy among monkeys. The Ancestor has considerable power over his blood kin. You don’t want to become his slave, do you? Even if you have the will to resist, he will always haunt you. You can always sell it. You have enemies, right? Give the card to one of them, and sooner or later, the monkeys will come for them.”

“Right. Then my enemy will kill them and become even stronger.”

“Perhaps. But the golden monkeys will come again, and again, and again. The only way to stop the hunt is to match the Ancestor’s strength, otherwise, the monkeys will get this person, eventually.”

“What about me? I’ve already provoked his anger.”

“Listen to this Old One, and everything will be fine! The universe is huge, and Earth is not his world. If you do not absorb this blood essence, he is unlikely to find you. Plus, who are you to him? Just a nestling who has killed his distant descendant. The label is more than enough. No, the only thing to fear is meeting the other descendants. Not only descendants of this little god, whatever his name is, but all his brethren. The golden monkeys are a rather weak, but very prolific race. You will get a chance to finish off these creatures, sooner or later.”

“I see,” I sighed. “I’ll just leave the card for the future. For when I acquire some enemies.”

“Well, do not rush. There is another option… You can give the card to this Old One. I do not have to consume this blood. I can burn it and use it as fuel to awaken the bloodline of the Fire Crow in my new body.”

“You want this card, in other words? Is that what you were steering the conversation towards?” The raven was getting smarter, as I’d suspected, although his tricks remained rather primitive. “What if I offer to sell it to you? For two mana crystals?”

The raven’s manner changed as soon as I mentioned the crystals. There was no trace of grandeur or calm left, and even the feathers on his body seemed to stand on end. “You... you are a monster. You cannot force me to make such a choice! I saved your life! I warned you of danger! How can you be so ungrateful? If I were you, I would give me, your Teacher, not just this miserable card, but also ten… hundred... no, a million million crystals!” The raven’s eyes glittered in excitement, as if he could already see this sparkling mountain of stones. A bird that clearly needed to learn some self-control.

“Well?” I didn’t much care, but I wanted to make sure. “Two crystals or the card?”

“I have principles! I choose crystals!” The raven exploded. “I don’t need this pathetic card! Go on, use it, and I hope your grow a two-meter-long tail! And fur on your palms!”

I chuckled, imagining this. Judging by the comparisons, the bird’s assimilation had gone further than I thought.

“We’re talking about only two crystals. Are you sure?”

“I cannot give up the crystals! It goes against my nature! If I give them to you, then no matter how many new crystals I collect, I will always remember that I could have had two more! This thought will torment me for all of eternity. How can you be so cruel?”

Interesting reasoning. I also found it bizarre that such a highly-developed creature was so obsessed with crystals. He didn’t even really need them.

“Alright, I apologize and I’m prepared to give you this card if you can tell me why you don’t like phoenixes.”

“You can’t buy me! I have my pride! I don’t want this card anymore!”

“I’ll add another crystal!”

“You...”

“Two crystals.”

“Fine, you have won. I...” he stopped abruptly. “I can’t really remember. But... two crystals. I... know. Phoenixes are evil. They probably stole my crystals? Surely… All phoenixes must perish in the Yellow River! How many did I have before? Millions?”

Accepting that I wasn’t going to get anything more from him, I put down couple of small crystals and the card. Legion chirped with delight, forgetting about his hurt feelings and, as soon as he’d placed the new stones in the ‘nest’, landed on the card and touched it with his claw. The card shone, and a golden drop of... liquid appeared. It didn’t look much like blood, but the raven swallowed it without hesitation. Well, bon appétit.

* * *

Time remaining: 0 hours, 32 minutes and 49 seconds.

My time was almost over, but there was one last thing left to do, and that was to deal with the ‘traitor’. There was no better place to do this. I doubted that Bri could escape from my personal room, and I couldn’t keep him in the bag forever, so there was no point in delaying. I smacked the bag, expelling the ghost. My vassal appeared before me at once in all its glory, drooping tentacles and downcast eyes.

“Oh, the traitor! Let me bite off his tentacles!” Legion was clearly in a rotten mood even after consuming the blood, and had decided to play the bad cop. Except that he wasn’t playing, and would have carried out his threat if I’d given him permission.

“Wait. First, let’s see how bad things are.”

Identification. In addition to Level 7, the ghost now had fewer soul fragments, but several parameters had increased. Four, the same as the number of levels he’d gained during the mission.

Parameters:

Intelligence: 2.

Instincts: 4 (+2).

Stability: 5.

Perception: 5.

Luck: 4.

Additional Parameters:

Main souls: 1.

Number of soul fragments: 25.

Merge: 70%.

Wisdom: 6 (323/604) (+ 2).

Well, it could have been worse. Bri hadn’t disobeyed my direct order not to increase Intelligence, and had instead spent the points on Wisdom and Instincts, for some reason.

“Why did you distribute your points without my permission?”

“Sorry, boss,” Bri responded dejectedly. “It was a strong enemy and I was afraid I would let you down. I was looking for a solution. I increased Wisdom but it did not help. Then I raised my Instincts and understood what I had to do. I had to suck the energy in a certain rhythm and…”

“Let me peck out its eyes!”

“Is it lying?” I glanced at the raven.

“No, it’s too stupid and lacks the brains to tell a proper lie. I just like three things: collecting crystals, killing enemies and mocking the weak. Just kidding...”

I wasn’t so sure about that. Okay, going down the list of charges.

“All right, Bri. Let’s assume that I believe you on that point. Why did you try to drive me away from the prey?”

“I... The power had gone to my head! I wanted to become stronger. If I had taken over that body, I would have become powerful.”

“Caw!” The raven stretched out his neck and flapped his wings. “I told you it was dumb, didn’t I? Giving in to basic instincts… I don’t even have the words to describe its stupidity. You cannot possess the body of someone who is that much stronger than you. The Monkey King would have simply waited for this mosquito to make a move, then crushed it and absorbed it, becoming a little stronger.”

“Master saved my life!” Bri piped up in turn. “I won’t ever do it again!” True enough.

If it had a real body, tears would have welled up in the ghost’s eyes. I’d gotten used to the fact that Bri had shown little personality and behaved largely like a meek pet, rather than a proper partner. Making its betrayal all the more unexpected. I had to try to puzzle out the motive behind it. “Why do you want to become stronger?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do? Everyone wants to become stronger! If you get stronger, you can eat more! And become even stronger! And eat again! Maybe I could eat the whole world! Or even...” Bri cast a sidelong glance at the raven and flew a little way away. Very... eloquent. Like a cat with a dog, honestly.

“Did you hear that?” Legion was indignant. “No, did you hear that? Tentacles and phoenixes! Let me eat it!”

“Don’t worry, it’s never too late to save the world,” I chuckled. Not that I was impressed by the ghost’s desire to devour everything within reach of its tentacles. “Bri, I’ll give you one more chance. But don’t let me down, otherwise, I’m not sure I can protect you from this bloodthirsty monster.”

Bri gave a respectful wave of its tentacles and dived obediently back into the bag, leaving me alone with the sullen raven. The bird began to turn to stone before my eyes, a hint that I needed to finish up here.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 19 minutes and 12 seconds.

I rolled the monkey corpse over, trussed it up and shoved it into the bag. Then I deactivated my combat form, dressed and headed for the portal. It had been a very tiring day.

Chapter 13. A New Threat

I LAY ON THE BED, gazing at the cameras hanging from the ceiling, and didn’t even try to move. Sheer laziness kept me in place. Any mission, no matter how short it was, was incredibly stressful. Venturing into the unknown and risking death... so the returning brought a huge sense of relief. It was all over… I’d survived... I’d managed... and other such garbage. Because nothing was really over, and it would keep happening again and again.

It was an emotional rollercoaster. The euphoria from having survived, and the anxiety about the future. Under normal circumstances, people needed time to recover, with rest, entertainment, even psychotherapy sessions. It was easier for me since my skill set allowed me to pull myself together in a matter of hours. The Calculating Mind relieved psychological stress, the Great Healing eliminated physical injuries, and Second Wind gave me my strength back. The other players lacked such abilities.

Attention! Player has returned to Room 1. He appears to be in a reasonable condition, no external injuries have been detected!

My return had not gone unnoticed after all. Fourteen seconds. I’d started to wonder if all these cameras and sensors were just for show.

“Are you alright?” the duty officer’s voice came directly from the speakers. “Are you hurt?”

“Everything’s fine,” I said loudly and clearly, and sat up. It wasn’t time to rest yet.

I’d gotten dressed before returning to Earth, of course, so the dried blood wasn’t as obvious. My answer didn’t stop a pair of duty medics from rushing into the room. I spotted a couple of soldiers with a stretcher hovering out in the corridor, but at least they didn’t force their way inside.

“Didn’t I say that I don’t need medical help?”

“I’m sorry, Officer, but we have orders,” one of the medics shook his head apologetically. “We need to ascertain that your life is not in danger.”

“You’re aware of my healing ability, aren’t you?” I waved my hand. “Fine, have a look.”

It took about ten minutes to get rid of the overly attentive doctors. I spent another ten minutes in the shower, washing off the blood and sweat. The remaining dirt, as practice had shown, remained back beyond the threshold. I didn’t want to get out of the shower, but duty called. I turned the water off and got dressed again. Fortunately, a clean uniform had been left out for me.

The clock hanging on the wall showed 5:09 PM. I’d been gone for more than six hours. Quite impressive. I picked my bag up from the floor and went out into the corridor. I knew the procedure. Put the loot in the freezer, eat, provide a preliminary report. Then a medical examination and three days of ‘quarantine’. Useless, but what could I do?

* * *

Khan was sitting on the bench opposite the exit, obviously waiting for me. He’d also cleaned himself up, changed clothes and perhaps even gotten something to eat. Apart from him and a couple of sentries, no one else was around. “You came back after all.”

“You doubted me?” I smiled. “Come on, we’ll talk on the way.”

“The battle, wounds, a burning church and no witnesses,” Khan shrugged, getting up. “You left first, but everyone else returned to the base an hour and a half ago. The mission was completed ahead of schedule, we weren’t shown the full statistics, but... We feared that you ran out of time or failed to make the transfer.”

“The System gave me three hours,” I answered the unspoken question. “I preferred to use all the allocated time that I had. How did the rest of the operation go? No losses?”

It would have been more appropriate if Eva was here as well, not just Khan. However, I wasn’t going to ask about the girl outright. Work romances were discouraged, although not outright forbidden. Plus, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

“It was fine,” Khan reassured me. “The police behaved quite reasonably at the start, they kept the building under control, but didn’t meddle in our affairs. There was even a chance that the locals would finish off the monkeys without us, but no such luck. Another ‘super’ from the local office appeared at the very end and immediately tried to get his hands on our plunder. He demanded we hand over our weapons and loot. Naturally, we asked for time to think about it. By this point, we’d received the message about the partial success of the mission, and Eva had passed on your order, so I gave the order to withdraw. We destroyed the ‘black boxes’, dumped our weapons and equipment in one of the rooms, and left through our personal rooms. Obviously, we took all the monkey bodies.”

“Did Eva come back, too?” I inquired. She had been separated from the main forces, so the question was appropriate in this instance.

“Yes. She’s fine.”

“You did a good job, well done,” I didn’t miss the opportunity to praise my deputy. “How did our superiors react to the loss of equipment and weapons?”

“They weren’t thrilled about it, but they accepted it,” Khan sighed. “Besides, we could communicate with them, so we discussed this issue before we left. We’ll have to write some reports, of course. What we’ve brought back is certainly enough to recoup the losses, even if our Western friends refuse to return what we left behind. But we have problems of a different kind, more serious ones.”

“What happened?” I grimaced. Just what I needed right now, more bad news. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stick my head in the sand.

“Another group mission appeared, right after we left. Ten players.”

Two missions in a row, in the same region, within a short space of time. A shiver of apprehension ran down my spine.

“Don’t tell me they sent the backup team?”

“That’s exactly what they did. Not immediately, but at the end of the second hour, when all the slots were still free and it was obvious that no one else wanted to try their luck. The idea was that they wouldn’t engage in battle, but would leave the mission area at once and, if possible, contact the base.”

I didn’t ask what the hell the authorities had been thinking. There was no point in asking Khan, and I had a rough idea of the reasoning behind it. The decision was controversial and risky, but such missions didn’t always end badly. It was just my luck, but veteran units dealt with most other missions quite easily, even without firearms. Some of our people would have been sucked in there for sure, and a trained group had a much better of avoiding losses than a bunch of random people. Especially for a simple ‘organized retreat’.

“When were they supposed to return?”

“It’s been over four hours. They should have been back about thirty minutes ago.”

“And?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“No one has returned yet.”

I closed my eyes, digesting the information. Ten reserve squad players were missing. Or should I say ‘perished’? We didn’t know for sure, of course. The mission could have been extended, they could have been given extra time to talk to their patrons, they could have decided to return on their own two feet, but... I couldn’t believe it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

“Who are we talking about?”

“I knew you’d ask,” Khan said, holding out a folded piece of paper.

I ran my eyes down the list. Ten names. Spider was the leader of the unit and the strongest mage. His presence in this ‘obituary’ was inevitable. Kitsune… The half-werewolf could have easily joined the main group, but she was more useful in the reserve group – without firearms, she became one of the strongest players. Zorro, a good fighter, with the Familiar skill. He’d tried to get one of the captured Hellhounds as a familiar, but hadn’t succeeded. Kenny, a man of about thirty, very annoyed at his useless Instant Death skill and focused on being good with a sword. Highlander, an older man who’d been given the chance to live for hundreds of years, but hadn’t even lasted a couple of months. Alice, a gloomy young woman who kept to herself. It must have been hard to sense everyone’s emotions. Bella, pale from constant blood loss, with a passion for injuring herself to train her Blood Control. Bir, the funny guy who was with me in the helicopter after the third mission. The last two slots were occupied by Baron and Jaeger, newcomers whom I barely knew. That was it.

If our worst fears were realized, it meant that only three people from the original group still remained: precious Diamond, the complete nutcase Rodyakha, and the cautious Tatra. Frankly, I had been a little afraid to see Tatra in the ‘obituary’ but, apparently, my speech hadn’t made enough of an impression on her. Or had she been saved again by her fake injury? Just as it had saved Medusa, who’d replaced her. Just as it led to the death of one of the newbies, who’d taken the vacant spot. Perhaps it had altered their chances. Would the reserve group have stood a chance if it had different members? It was useless to wonder. It was also too early to bury them, there was still time left. Even if they had died, there was a very slim chance that someone would return through resurrection.

“Do the others know?” I asked.

“I think so,” Khan said. “No point in hiding such news. Everyone’s in the recreation hall, waiting for the outcome. Did you hear the announcement? They know you’re back. Many were worried and would have come here, but the rules, you know. In the end, we agreed that I’d come by myself. “

“Tell them I’m fine. I’ll deal with all the procedures and come join you.”

Khan nodded and walked off down the corridor, leaving me alone. Nearly… Another sentry stood at the door to the freezer room, where I was supposed to deliver the ‘biological acquisitions’.

* * *

I handed over my loot, visited the dining room, then the boss’ office, before finally making it to the rec room, where nearly all the remaining players had gathered to wait for news. There was eighteen of us, including the newbies. Not even enough for two whole units.

The reserve group never returned, not after an hour, not after two, not even after three. The mood was despondent, and the presence of a couple of psychologists didn’t help at all. The heavy losses, among other things, meant that the remaining players would have to risk their lives more often. Unless, of course, a person broke and decided to resign. Despite the monsters everywhere, martial law hadn’t yet been declared, so we still had that right. It would be a stupid and useless thing to do, though. The missions would still appear, and our chances of survival were much higher if we stayed together.

“I would like your attention for a moment,” the major broke the silence. He looked gloomy and exhausted. It hadn’t been an easy day for him either. “I have to inform you that from this moment on, the reserve group is officially considered perished. We have received information that they were on a container ship in the middle of the ocean, which was attacked by some aquatic creatures…”

“You found them?” I asked the question that was undoubtedly on everyone’s mind.

“Unfortunately, the ship is currently considered missing, and has most likely sank.”

So, the chance of finding their bodies or at least returning the bags was close to zero.

“That’s all for today. I recommend that you go to your room and get a good rest. If you need to, you can contact one of our psychologists. The base is on full combat alert, so they are all here and will be waiting for your visit. They will provide you with sleeping pills if needed.”

There was no point in waiting any longer, so people began to slowly disperse. I headed off as well, picking up the gloomy Eva on the way. I think we’d find something to ‘talk about’. But we didn’t get far, we hadn’t even left the hall when a new message appeared.

Attention! A local Rank C mission is available!

Conditions: hidden.

Slots taken: 0/1000

Starting in: 2 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

“No, no, no, “ Eva whispered. “They can’t do that. We just got back, didn’t we? Didn’t we?”

I put my hand reassuringly on her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. Looking around, I saw the fatigue and indifference on the faces of other players replaced by poorly concealed fear. A local Rank C mission… One thousand slots... players died quite often, and despite the influx of new blood, we thought there were about 5,000 of us on the entire planet. A little more, perhaps.

Attention (Leader I, private message)! There is no chance of winning, but humanity needs you! The gods advise you not take part in this mission!

What was the point of such a warning? If the mission didn’t cover the entire planet, all of us would be dragged there. Or nearly all of us. A second later, I received an answer to this question.

Attention! An individual F-ranked mission is available!

Conditions: Kill a Rank F monster on the Outer Battlefield.

Reward: Improved relationship with Shiva.

Penalty: none.

Slots taken: 0/1.

Starting in: 2 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Accept the mission?

Yes/No

Appendix No. 2. Timing of the Past Day

10:15 — mission announcement. The mission is urgent, only one hour is given to prepare.

10:30 — start of the mission.

11:42 — second mission is announced. One hour is given to prepare. The first team obviously will not return in time, it is decided not to bother them. The question is whether to send a reserve team or take a risk by sacrificing an unknown number of players who will be drawn into the mission.

When all the slots remain free, the order is given to go on the mission, do not engage, report the situation and wait for evacuation.

12:42 — start of the second mission. Departure of the reserve squad.

13:00 — the timer is reset for the first mission. Time remaining: 3 hours.

13:30 — expected end of the first mission if the timer hadn’t been reset.

14: 00 — the hero completes the mission.

14:30 — deadline for the return of the first group.

14:30 — the first team is evacuated.

15:25 — the first team returns to the base after a total of 4 hours and 55 minutes.

15:42 — expected end of the second mission.

16:42 — deadline for the return of the second group.

16:52 — the hero leaves his personal room and returns to base, after a total of 6 hours and 20 minutes.

18:42 — the reserve group is declared missing.

18:52 — a new mission is announced, commencing in three hours.

21: 52 — start of the new mission.

Appendix No. 3. Table of the Hero’s Stats and Achievements

Vasily

General/Global ID: 89...83.

Local ID: Z-8.

True Name: Ivan Vladimirovich Susanin (hidden).

Age: 24 years old.

Race: human (97%).

Gender: male.

Level: 10 (14/200 System Points).

Available: 14 SP.

Parameters:

Strength: 7/10.

Agility: 10/10

Intelligence: 10/10.

Vitality: 8/10.

Stamina: 10/10.

Perception: 7/10.

Luck: 2/10.

Race Parameter:

Intuition: 10/10.

Additional Parameters:

Wisdom: 10/10.

Faith: 0.

Heresy: 3 (Cult of Cain).

Fame: 3.

Free Points: 0.

System Skills:

Player (D, 1/1).

Linked System Skills (depending on the player’s rank):

— Intuitive Interface (D, 1/1) — convenience, features and adaptability of the interface.

— Help (D, 1/1) — allows one to evaluate System objects.

— System Language (F, 1/1).

— Database Query (hidden).

Combat Skills:

— Spear Fighting. (F, 5/5) — upgraded to Spear Master.

— Archery (F, 3/5).

— Shield Mastery (F, 1/5).

— Sword Fighting (F, 2/5).

— Hand-to-hand Combat (F, 2/5).

— Last Touch (F, 1/5).

Earth Skills:

— Basic Army Training (F, 2/5).

— Sniper Craft (F, 1/4).

— Mine Disposal (F, 1/4).

— Sabotage (F, 1/5).

— Small Unit Tactics (F, 1/5).

— Earth Medicine (F, 1/5).

— Camouflage (F, 1/5).

— Japanese (F, 1/1).

Goblin Skills:

— Goblin Language (F, 1/1).

— Skald (F, 1/3).

— Tracker (F, 1/3).

Features:

— Minor Magical Ability (F, 4/5) — provides one unit of Wisdom for each level.

— Mana Sense (E-, 1/1) — allows one to sense mana flow.

Rank E Skills:

— Invisibility (E, 1/5) — creates a cloaking field around the player.

— Duelist (E, 1/5) — allows one to conduct a duel according to certain rules.

— Calculating Mind (E, 1/5) — removes emotions, increases rationality.

— Spear Master (E, 1/5). The Seven Stones School.

— Split Stone (E, 1/5) aka ‘Split’.

— Great Healing (E, 1/5).

System Bonuses:

— Identification (E, 1/5) — allows one to determine the properties of objects.

— Overclocking (E-, 1/1) — allows one to significantly speed up one’s thinking processes once a day.

— Second Wind (E-, 1/1) — allows fatigue to be reset once a day.

— True Gaze (E, 1/1) — allows one to see the flow of magical energy.

— Improved Agility (E -, 1/1) — ligaments and tendons are much stronger and more flexible than normal.

Rank D Skills:

— Kinetic Shield (D, 1/5) — creates a passive defense field around the user to deflect fast-flying projectiles.

Achievements and Titles:

Eighth (personal, unique) — sometimes bad luck is so great that great luck passes very close by. Features unknown.

Atheist — reduces the favor of the gods.

Heresy of Cain (hidden) — leader of a heretical cult.

Leader I (personal, scalable) — you are the first to reach Level 10 among the people of your world. This is a significant achievement and Fame has been increased. Other effects are hidden.

Divine Label of Enemy of the Golden Monkeys.

Cards and Artifacts:

Rank F:

— Spear (F) — 3. Spare spears surreptitiously taken from the Alliance arsenal.

— Sword (F) — 2.

— Katana (F) — 1.

— Saber (F) — 1.

— Axe (F) — 1.

— Junk skill cards (F-) — 15. English, Chinese, Japanese, Edible Plants, Hentai, Embroidery, Horse-riding, etc. Others not specified.

— Minor Magical Ability (F) — taken from a dead sorceress.

— Clean skill cards/empties — about 50.

— Sword of Warrior of Y (F-) — taken from a skeleton warrior. Forms part of his arm.

— Bottomless Bag (F, 1/7) — two kept in the private room. Six kept on Earth. Total: 8.

— Eternal Flask (F+) — about 20. Part of the Player Kit. Converts normal liquids to System ones, keeps them from spoiling.

— Wand of the Sorceress (F+, scalable) (0/100 SP).

Rank E:

— Archer’s Kit: renewable quiver (E), goblin bow (-), archer’s ring (-), spare bowstring (-).

— System Dagger (E).

— Spear of the Golden Monkey King Killer (E+) — increased durability II. Instills subconscious fear in Golden Monkeys of lower rank.

— Search for Life card (E) (0/100) — not yet studied.

— Universal Combat Form No. 417 (mana)

— Defense Against Scanning.

Rank D:

— Mask of Cain (D, cursed).

— Smuggler’s Bag (D, 1/7) — 1.

— Sun Sword (D, Inti).

— Sword of Heresy (D, Cult of Cain) — a divine weapon defiled by Heresy.

Linked Properties:

— Personal Enemy of God II.

— Heretic.

— The Will of Chaos. Slightly improves the favor of Chaos Beings.

— The Eradication of Heresy Quest. Reward for the head of the mask owner.

Other:

— Phylactery — stone containing a soul fragment. Kept in the private room.

— Mana Stones — exact number and size unknown.

— Crystal Powder — dirt mixed with the magic heart dust from the undead. Purpose unknown.

— Player Kit — 10 incomplete sets.

— Modern Bow (-) — transformed using the Archer’s Kit. There are now several of them, and the card continues to work.

— Broken Spear (F--) — the hero’s starting spear, broken in a battle against the Bone Horror.

— Books. Magic and fiction books which belonged to the goblin shaman at the fortress + other property.

— Mysterious sphere received from the goblin girl Reb.

— Legacy of the Sorceress. Books, treasures, hair, diary, and a letter to her parents. Given away, only copies of the papers remaining.

— Faded cards from studied skills. Can be used as armor, other use unknown.

— Personal armor, fitted more or less to the figure. Not often worn, mostly carried in the bag.

— Non-System weapons and shields. Some left in the private room, some taken to Earth. Some given to the scientists.

— Loot from the city. Various objects, books, some silver, gold and jewelry. Stool left in the private room to serve as the altar.

— Share of Alliance loot. A portion of what was found in the fortress, mostly valuable objects. List unknown. Part of it converted into money.

— Alliance papers. List of players, their skills, email addresses, contacts, etc. To be burned after reading.

— Plant seeds and herbs. The player took samples of everything that could be useful or interesting. Some samples given to the scientists, some kept at home.

— Autopsied goblin corpse. Kept on Earth. May be of interest to science. Handed over to scientists.

— Golden Monkey Corpses — to be processed and used to create System items.

Companions:

— Legion/L — an ancient Rank D ghost. Level 3.

— Bri — Rank F ghost. Level 7.

Canned experience:

Arrow with 4 SP. Second one left with the player’s brother.

Title: lieutenant of the FSB.

Chapter 14. The Pressure

Attention! An individual F-ranked mission is available!

Accept the mission?

Yes/No

DESPITE THE TEMPTATION, I shook my head and closed the window. It wasn’t hard to guess why an individual mission had appeared — the gods were trying to pull the most valuable players out from under the blow. I doubted that my comrades had been given the same option. The fact that the gods had resorted to such tricks raised some questions. For example, why did such a mission appear at all? I could see two options: either the gods had little control over the System processes, and the mission had been created automatically, or there was a serious schism between the celestial beings. I was betting on the first option. A strong enemy had appeared on Earth, the defense mechanisms had kicked in, and we now have what we have. Three hours to prepare...

“We better get back.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Eva nodded. The others had apparently come to the same conclusion.

Despite Shiva’s offer, I couldn’t take the easy way out. My whole strategy was based on pretending to have my own divine patron, which meant that I couldn’t accept a helping hand from another god. That such an offer was made at all was very alarming. If anyone began to doubt whether I had a patron, it would immediately raise the question of how I’d obtained the Faith parameter, as well as my impressive set of skills. No, if I didn’t want to be exposed, I couldn’t think that the gods were dumber than me. I wasn’t overly afraid of a Rank C mission — I hadn’t used the return card, so the risk for me would be minimal. I could always escape, as long as I wasn’t not killed instantly. It was a very reassuring thought, but I wanted to save this trump card for a really tough spot.

Attention! Attention! Combat alert! Remain calm and await further instructions.

“Another mission?” Vladimir asked wearily. The major didn’t look too good, as if he, rather than us, had run around for half a day with a submachine gun. I suspected that the loss of the second group hadn’t been received very well by the people at the top, who were now considering the two eternal questions: whose fault it was and what were they supposed to do about it?

“And it’s a Rank C,” I nodded, briefly describing the notification. Nor did I conceal the warning I’d received. Most of the players had already returned to the hall, and were hovering nearby, so the information spread quickly. I didn’t tell them about Shiva’s generous offer. My ability to heal was too important, and I could easily be ordered to ‘use any chance available’ in this situation. Plus, considering that I’d already refused… What would be the point?

“I see. What do you think about all this?”

“It doesn’t make sense to accept the mission this time. Let the lottery decide. The chance of losing is about one in five.”

“Twenty percent. Not so high.”

“Nevertheless, some of us will be dragged into it for sure,” I retorted. “We have to prepare for the fight. A mission of this rank is no ordinary event. If it’s been announced, it means the monsters are already on our planet and are killing people. We have almost three hours to figure out what we’ll have to deal with.”

“A sensible idea. I’ll get the analysts to search for information.” The major raised his voice, “In the meantime, I recommend that all free players use this time to rest. We’ll let you know when we find anything!”

* * *

“Aren’t you coming?” Eva touched my sleeve.

“No, sorry.” I shook my head. “I don’t have time to rest now. I need to replenish our stocks of weapons and equipment, in case we have to take part in the mission.”

“Surely they won’t send us into battle again?”

“I really doubt it.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to volunteer?”

“No, don’t worry, these are just precautions, in case I’m unlucky.”

There were few things that I was as sure of as of my luck. Rather, its absence. Although the chances of being picked for the mission were quite small, I was almost certain that I wouldn’t be able to avoid it. It was an irritating thought, to be honest.

“As you wish,” Eva snorted. “I’ll be in my room. If you change your mind, the door is open.”

I looked at her retreating back and sighed wearily. I doubted we’d continue where we left off today.

* * *

Replenishing the stocks of weapons wasn’t difficult since the government didn’t scrimp on such trifles, so there was a spare kit for each player on the base. For situations exactly like this. In addition, the reserve team had left with only their System gear, so we now had a bit of a surplus.

On the other hand, it made no sense to take too much with me. Even with the fifty-fold weight reduction, a full set of gear, including ammunition, was close to a kilogram. I could move a full set for a large group to the site of the mission, but I couldn’t go far from the landing site with such a load. Unless I used a specially designed trolley made from heavy duty but light alloys, which would then be a huge pain in the butt during combat. It meant the team had to collect the equipment themselves, which probably wouldn’t be possible this time. According to the probability theory, only three or four people from this group would be dragged into the fray this time around and, judging by the scale of the call, we’d be scattered over a large territory.

“Please sign here.” The sergeant, like everyone else on base, had clearly heard about the losses and was behaving very politely.

“Just a second…” Any sensible person knows never to sign documents without reading them and understanding the gist of them first. I ran my eyes down the list, making sure that everything was correct. Given the warning, I wasn’t planning to fight. The list thus included a personal kit, tech, plus additional weapons. For arming possible allies, I’d decided to take a dozen lightweight sets that included only the basic weapons, assault vests, communication devices and extra ammo.

The bag now weighed over ten kilograms and pulled on my shoulder — a trifle, perhaps, but only until I’d have to fight with it. Or run with it. I also had to remember that I would be wearing my own gear and weapons during the mission, and they weighed quite a bit. Plus, I couldn’t just discard the bag if it got annoying since it was far too valuable. Of course, I could get rid of the excess weight in advance, but a pile of weaponry wasn’t something I could just dump on the sidewalk. While I could, theoretically, drag up to five tons of equipment to the mission, I limited myself to a more sensible number. At least until we knew where we were potentially headed.

“Yes, everything’s right.” As I scribbled down my signature, I found myself thinking as if I couldn’t avoid this mission. Even though I was much more likely to learn the outcome from reports and news releases. Was it intuition or just belief in my ‘luck’?

“By the way, Sergeant. How about helping me with a couple more matters?”

* * *

“Well, what do you think?” I asked the sergeant.

Two of his assistants had dragged in a full-length mirror, which they’d probably taken from the hallway, and now I could see myself much better. What a stunner.

“If I saw you without warning, I’d start shooting. Is this some kind of new superpower?”

“Let’s not call it that, okay? We’re not in the USA to play superheroes. You’ve signed the permits, so you know about the real situation, yes?”

“That’s right. What is it, then?”

“The less you know, the better you’ll sleep. This is a state secret, Sergeant, for which you’ll have to sign yet more documents.”

“One more won’t make much difference. I’m already privy to so many that I can only dream about holidays in Turkey or Egypt.”

“If you say so. This is a combat form that all players will receive at Level 10. I was just the first one to reach it.”

“Wow… That’s cool, right?”

“You have no idea...”

I needed to check the other ‘bonuses’, so I activated Active Disguise, tracking the mana expenditure. It was a pity, but I couldn’t really assess its effect ‘from the inside’. It’s not like I could hide my own personal information from myself. If mana consumption had increased, it was barely noticeable. Deactivate.

I felt much more comfortable in the combat form on the whole, but if I didn’t want ordinary people to take me for a monster, I needed an enclosed helmet, as well as clothes. And more insignia. It’d be even better if my new look was familiar and recognizable. Should I star in a soda commercial? This was already happening in the West, where some of the ‘superheroes’ were advertising all sorts of consumer goods. It was mostly the newly-minted veterans who’d been lucky enough to draw a visually impressive ability out of the hat. For example, Michigan had been asked to advertise toothpaste. If he could do it, why not me?

“Lemonade – the drink of real heroes!” I mumbled, smiling at the mirror, and suspected that this was unlikely to improve sales growth. Coming from the monster looking back at me, it sounded like a threat. Drink lemonade, viewer, or you’ll be sorry.

“What did you say?” the sergeant reminded me of his presence. “Do you need something?”

“Yes, I do. Remember how you wanted to shoot me? Well, wishes can come true. Take out your gun and shoot me in the leg.”

If I wanted to test and configure the defense field, I had to start with a non-vital body part. I could heal a leg injury in half an hour, as long as I had enough mana.

“No can do,” the sergeant drew himself up to his full height. “It goes against my official instructions.”

“Yes, very good,” I said. “However, when a senior orders you to shoot him in the leg, all that a good subordinate should do is clarify which leg to shoot, the right or the left one. And which spot: the knee, the foot or maybe the ankle? Don’t think that I’ve gone crazy… I need to check my defense field, and you won’t even pierce it with your gun.”

“Such checks require approval. I had a friend who’d decided to check a new bulletproof vest the same way and had asked me to shoot at him.”

True, although a bulletproof vest does stop a bullet, the force of the blow is still impressive, it’s just that the damage is crushing instead of penetrating. Firing from afar would only leave bruises, but who did that? You could miss and hit the other person in the head. On the other hand, firing from up close would turn the bruises turn into ruptured organs, internal bleeding and a hospital stay, even death.

“Okay, we’ll start with something easier then. Pick up a rock and throw it at me.”

* * *

It took about twenty minutes to adjust the Kinetic Shield, and now I could see that this ability wasn’t Rank D for nothing. The range of settings was extremely wide, and almost everything could be adjusted, from the size and shape of the field to its individual properties.

For example, the field could react to projectiles, depending on their speed, weight or density. Take rain as an example. The field blocked everything by default, but using it as an umbrella was unnecessarily wasteful. With the right settings, energy consumption could be significantly reduced while maintaining safety.

In addition, the shield could be multidirectional, meaning that it would block external attacks, but allow me to fire from the inside. There was also a choice of response — the projectiles could be gently diverted to the side, rigidly blocked, slowed down or even caught in the air. The latter consumed a lot of mana. At the same time, blows were felt and registered, which made it possible to instantly figure out where the fire was coming from.

The shield could even block the enemy during close combat, but it was too energy-consuming. Moreover, all the settings were available at the first skill level, without any additional training.

True Gaze made the work much easier, allowing me to create something reminiscent of Gothic armor, full of angles that blocked projectiles while also deflecting them to the sides. It was not only effective, but also economical. Even so, a lot depended on where exactly the force would land. It wasn’t rocks that I’d have to deal with but something more substantial, so the shield was unlikely to withstand more than a couple of hits. Still, as its reserve grew, so would its power and usefulness.

“Okay, let’s leave it at that. Thank you for your help.”

Deactivate Combat Form?

Yes/No

I confirmed my wish, and the excess flesh melted away, turning into streams of mana. My clothes immediately sagged, becoming way too large. Footwear was the biggest problem. If clothing could be adjusted using belts and I could simply wear a larger size, this didn’t work for the boots, which would be ruined. I’d taken my shoes off this time, but my feet had gone up at least a couple of sizes. What was I going to do in battle? Take my shoes off every time?

Certain items of clothing also remained a problem. While fabric would simply be torn to shreds, well-fitted chain mail could cause a lot of internal injuries. For a monster with only their fur to cover them, this wasn’t a problem, but for me… It was a major inconvenience. I glanced at the timer.

Time remaining: 1 hour, 52 minutes and 27 seconds.

* * *

I’d finished my preparations faster than I’d expected, so there was still time left. What should I spend it on? Take a nap for half an hour? I wasn’t particularly tired, for Second Wind was still active, but if I was dragged into a mission, a chance to sleep might not come soon. And I wouldn’t be able to activate some of my abilities again.

“I’m back, boss,” Bri emerged from the wall. Perhaps it was risky to use a ghost who’d misbehaved, but he’d already been admonished, so the worst he could do was try to escape. A stupid move that would have cost him his life.

“Did you check on everyone? Anything interesting?”

On my return to the base, I’d used the ghost to keep an eye on the situation and on the other players. The team’s morale was low and the approaching mission worried people. I was afraid that someone would have a breakdown. Of course, it was unlikely that someone would decide to harm themselves, but I wanted to make sure.

“They’re afraid, boss!” the ghost whispered. “All of them. Some are hiding it, but I can sense their fear.”

I closed my eyes, looking at the images transmitted by the ghost. Most looked calm, but very few had managed to fall asleep. Some were crying in the privacy of their rooms… including Eva, even though she’d looked calm when we parted.

Attention! All players on base, please present at Lecture Hall No. 1 in thirty minutes for a briefing.

* * *

No one answered the knock on the door. I nodded to the ghost, and it slipped inside, quickly returning and confirming that the room’s owner was inside. Okay… I pushed the door, finding it unlocked, and stepped into the room. Perhaps I should have done so right away, but I wanted to give her time to pull herself together. “I’m coming in!”

The young woman sat in the armchair, her legs tucked under her and her head hanging down. Her hair obscured her face, but I knew what it was hiding. There was nothing wrong with tears, but everything had its place and time. It was too early to despair and grieve for lost comrades.

“How are you?”

“Not good, obviously.” Her voice sounded hollow, but not hysterical. “Kitsune was my friend. I tried not to think about it, but we lost ten people today. Ten!”

I said nothing, bowing my head and giving her a chance to talk.

“This isn’t even the end… This new mission… Even if not all of us go into battle… How many will it take? Four people? Two? ‘Just’ one? I could die today, or it could be you or someone else I know…”

Given that a thousand people would be pulled into the mission, she was right. Someone was bound to die.

“It doesn’t matter that we’re all going to die eventually, you know? I joined the squad primarily because I’d hoped to make it.”

“You did the right thing. Our chances are higher together than if we were alone.”

“Higher? Perhaps... but how much higher? Have you already forgotten that you almost died today? Yes, you defeated the Monkey King, but how close had you been to death? How close were we all? How many more times will we be this lucky?”

“I have no intention of dying.”

“Right. You’re one of the strongest among us. Perhaps you’ll achieve the impossible and become strong enough to free yourself, but what about the rest? You know what the losses are like among players.”

“They’re going down.” I laid a hand on her shoulder. “I know you’re tired. We’re all tired. But don’t belittle your chances and don’t give up. You’ve survived the first missions, which means that you have every chance of making it.”

“I had plans for my life. I wanted to finish my studies, get married, live a long life and die surrounded by my grandchildren... Hell, I had a boyfriend.”

“Oh, really?” I tilted my head quizzically.

“Well, sorry I’m not a virgin. I haven’t been sixteen for a while.” Eva snapped. There wasn’t much anger in her voice, just fatigue and despair. “Plus, we broke up, if that’s what you’re wondering. Damn it... I don’t want to fight anymore... I don’t want to die.”

“You’re not going to die,” I said reassuringly as I took her into my arms and kissed her lightly. “Not today. I promise.” I needed to quickly revive the young woman, and I knew a good way to relieve the tension. Eva knew it, too.

* * *

“Is everyone here?” the major asked. “Then let’s get started. As you all know, the System has announced a new Rank C mission for one thousand players. Firstly, I must inform you that it is forbidden to accept it voluntarily. Our department has already suffered considerable losses today, and the risks are considered unreasonable this time.

The tension in the hall lessened significantly after these words. It was an expected and reasonable step, for one shouldn’t give orders one couldn’t enforce. It was nice to know again that the project wasn’t headed by complete idiots.

“Nevertheless, it’s too early to relax. We must accept the possibility that one of you won’t be able to escape the draft. The chances are one in five.”

Approximately. It was difficult to know how many ‘chosen ones’ the gods would decide to pull out of harm’s way. There was no information about this in the Alliance chats, but I doubted the leaders or priests hadn’t received such an offer.

“Based on the available information, the Analytical Department has identified the likely location of the upcoming mission. It’s Japan. Three hours ago, at about midnight local time, a tsunami hit the coast of Honshu, near Tokyo. Because the Boso Peninsula covers the city from the east, the capital is usually protected from such natural disasters, but it got hit this time. Following this, a monster surfaced in Tokyo Bay, which we believe to be the cause of this ‘anomaly’.”

Scattered shots of the monster appeared on the screen. They’d clearly been taken by different cameras, but the images taken from the air were especially impressive. It was late at night, but the sky was clear, and modern cameras worked quite well in such conditions, so the photo was quite sharp, although black and white. The creature resembled a gigantic octopus, except that its tentacles grew all around the perimeter. It was difficult to estimate its size for most of the ‘iceberg’ had been underwater at the time of filming, but the part that was visible was enough to indicate that such a thing could snack on blue whales. It appeared to be slowly drifting towards the city.

“The creature’s code name is Leviathan. It is being accompanied by Slimes, the monsters you’ve already heard about.”

Strange that they hadn’t named it Cthulhu going by its appearance and all those tentacles.

The image on the screen changed. More black-and-white photographs, probably done from a helicopter or a drone. The coast, bearing traces of destruction from the receding wave, and hundreds of creatures slowly changing shape. The population’s response was impressive, considering that most would have been asleep at the time.

“As we can see, the Slimes are showing high adaptability. They looked kind of like fish underwater, but they changed once they reached land... Hard to say how many there are in total, but we’re clearly talking about thousands, perhaps even tens or hundreds of thousands.”

Tens of thousands... oodles of experience for those who could defeat them. I actually felt a brief pang of envy. I didn’t think that monsters like that could destroy the capital of a prosperous country. Perhaps it would be a catastrophe in which thousands would die, but it would make the Japanese players much stronger, once they defeated it. Plus, their main ally, USA, wouldn’t miss their chance. Not that it made me particularly sad, but…

“We think that this creature is just a giant Slime. A kind of ‘mothership’. By the way, there have been reports of decreased catches in the Japanese news over the past few weeks, and several fishing vessels have gone missing.”

I remembered reading about it myself. After learning Japanese, I sometimes glanced through the news websites of our eastern neighbors. For a country where a large part of its food security depended on the sea, a sharp drop in fish numbers in its coastal waters was cause for alarm. I didn’t think these creatures could gobble up all the marine life, the ocean was too big for that, but they had probably driven away shoals of fish.

A mobile phone video appeared on the screen, shot by a Japanese man from the window of a high-rise building. A siren wailed somewhere in the distance. Even if he knew that he had to evacuate, he was clearly in no hurry to follow the government’s instructions. The street lighting was strong enough to for us to see a Slime hunting people, albeit without much success. The few pedestrians sensibly kept away from the suspicious creature and, when it tried to approach them, started running. The events were accompanied by humorous comments. Apparently, the streamer was hoping to film the arrival of the ‘heroes’. Or at least the arrival of law enforcement, and then sell the video recording to a news agency.

“This is what is happening closer to the coast.”

The picture changed to what was probably a street camera from one of the illuminated intersections. There was no sound this time. There were few cars at night, but they were completely ignoring the traffic rules — a couple sped through a red light. One suddenly stopped and picked up a young woman from the side of the road. The video sped up, showing that it was a recording... several cars flashed by, then running people… Some tried to take shelter inside buildings, but the doors were all locked. It quickly became apparent what they were running from, as hundreds of Slimes came crawling after them. There were casualties this time, for not everyone could run fast enough. As soon as someone stumbled and fell, the monsters would swarm over them. We couldn’t see the details, but it wasn’t a clean death. I felt Eva squeezing my hand.

“Note that the Slimes are quite different from the ones we’d seen before. Many have acquired tentacles, some have bony protrusions capable of inflicting stab wounds. Some even have a shell. These creatures demonstrate excellent adaptability and, it seems, possess a significant capacity for change.”

Hmm… As soon as the briefing was over, I was going to change my equipment set-up and bring more grenades and napalm. Perhaps leave out half of the submachine guns? Bullets were ineffective against Slimes, and I saw hardly any transparent creatures. It would be difficult to strike the monster’s magical core by chance, although I hoped that True Gaze would help me in this instance. But, again, from what distance?

“If these creatures can reproduce on their own, their existence is a considerable threat. A new predator in our oceans. We can only hope that the source of this horde is the Leviathan. Or that they came from elsewhere. If the Japanese can destroy it, there is a chance that the threat will be eliminated sooner or later. Unfortunately, these are just hopes and assumptions for now.”

I remembered the hypothesis I heard previously, that Slimes could multiply by dividing, and tried to imagine what would happen if this was true. The oceans belonged to humanity only because there was nothing on this planet to challenge our dominance. With the abundance of food found in the oceans, thousands of creatures could easily turn into billions. Collapse of global shipping, deserted islands, and millions of monsters swarming the coastal cities… A frightening picture.

“Then why don’t they send us into battle?” one of the newcomers shouted. “If things are so serious?”

“There is little real benefit from the players in this situation. You will only die in vain if you are sent out against a horde of these creatures without modern weapons. It makes a lot more sense to use the army, aviation and navy in this instance. The Japanese Government has so far refused our military help. Plus, they have three American bases nearby: a naval base and two air bases, and they plan to destroy the Leviathan on their own. The horde will be more difficult since there are so many Slimes, but there is no reason to panic. The coastal regions are being hastily blockaded by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, so sooner or later, the monsters will be pushed back, captured or destroyed. Let’s hope that the remaining creatures will die on their own.”

The screen showed the Leviathan again, now in real time. The video was taken from the Japanese news, judging by the line of characters running across the bottom of the screen.

“Getting back to business,” the major continued. “Based on all of the above, if one of you ends up on the battlefield, you will have only one goal, and that is evacuation. The Japanese Government is aware of the upcoming arrival of players and will warn the Self-Defense Forces. However, you shouldn’t count on getting much assistance — it’s a mess over there and they have their own problems to worry about. You will now be given reference materials and instructions. You have about half an hour to read through them. We hope that the American aviation will deal with the monster mothership before the start of the mission.”

Several employees walked through the rows, handing out materials. I nodded politely, accepting the package and old-school paper folder from the ‘secretary’ with the rank of junior sergeant. As I automatically gazed after her, I received a jab in the ribs from Eva, who sat next to me. Ah, the delights of ‘family life’.

I snorted and started reading. The recommendations had clearly been prepared in a hurry, but they were quite simple and rational. If the mission does not require you to participate in the fighting — retreat west. If fighting is required — fulfill the conditions, then retreat west anyway. It also explained how to identify west from all other directions in the urban sprawl. There was also information on how to contact command via mobile and how to obtain a phone. The easiest way was to take it off a corpse or commandeer it from a Japanese citizen. Moreover, we were advised to find someone poorly dressed, since ‘older smartphones are less commonly password-protected’. A separate sheet contained a description of simple hacking methods. Three dozen phrases in Japanese, of varying degrees of complexity and usefulness. Several possible gathering points, in case we needed to assemble as a group. Evacuation points outside the city if the mission took a while or if Japan was destroyed. What? I reread the last line. Apparently, the Analytical Department, just like the Ministry of Defense in several Western countries, had recruited a bunch of science fiction writers.

I didn’t have any memory problems, so I remembered most of what I’d read first time around. However, unlike the others, I could take the papers with me, even in electronic form, since the instructions could be downloaded onto a tablet. Peeking into the package, I found three mana crystals and a phone inside. I, for one, wouldn’t have any communication problems.

* * *

Once I was sure that I hadn’t missed anything important, I took the tablet and quickly found the channel that was being broadcast on the screen. I put on my headphones and finally heard the news anchor, who, despite the time of day, was cheerfully telling his viewers about the might of Japanese weapons and American aviation, and the miserable fate of the monster who’d dared to attack the capital of one of the toughest countries on Earth. The Japanese clearly didn’t lack patriotism.

I supposed it would be the same anywhere. There is no reason to panic, the government is doing everything possible, residents of the affected and neighboring areas need to urgently evacuate, whilst also remaining calm. If evacuation is not possible, remain inside the home, hope for the best and wait for rescue. There were no videos of Slimes devouring citizens on the main channels, probably to avoid a panic. It didn’t look like the threat was being taken very seriously... I guessed that most Japanese would still be asleep and had no idea how bad things were.

The camera finally swung around to show the Leviathan and the reporter announced the ‘combat aircraft launching an attack’, which wasn’t shown to us, of course. The first rockets struck the monster. There was a moment of silence, and then... nothing happened. The rockets simply sank into its body and, even if there was an explosion, we could see no evidence of this. Was it a type of defense aura? The Leviathan waved its tentacles, and, although it couldn’t reach far enough, the news reporter shouted that several planes had been brought down. Not the ones that had launched the rockets, surely. Given their speed, they should have been far away already, but the Americans had probably sent several squadrons.

The video suddenly jerked, there was a scream, and the broadcast was interrupted. It looked like the journalists’ helicopter had been destroyed, which was hard to believe since they had kept well off to the side. The tentacles wouldn’t have reached that far. I no longer envied the Japanese, for this creature wasn’t going to be easy to deal with.

“Here,” I said, handing Eva a card. “I recorded the Japanese language for you. Study it while you have time.”

Perhaps it was unwise (4/200), but you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. After everything I’d seen, I couldn’t shake off a bad feeling.

* * *

I lay on the bed again, studying the ceiling and watching the timer counting down the seconds. Everything was done, all the words had been said, the arsenal had been updated to match the mission conditions. With my luck, I was sure that I’d be pulled into the fray.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 0 minutes and 22 seconds.

Slots taken: 23/1000

Wow, there were people out there who were willing to stick their heads into the lion’s mouth? Patriotic Japanese residents? Or simple idiots? Being a reasonable person, I didn’t feel like rushing to a place where a bunch of monsters would do everything possible to finish me off, and yet... I abruptly realized that I was afraid of something entirely different. That the ‘call’ would pass me by, and that all I’d have left is to wait and see who wasn’t coming back this time.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 0 minutes and 13 seconds.

I was afraid that luck would ‘hear my thoughts’ and do the opposite. It would leave me here. To hell with luck and randomness, I was going to decide my own fate. I waited until the timer had almost reached the end, and confirmed my participation in the mission.

“Shit, did I really do that?”

The world blinked, and I found myself in my private room, already regretting my impulse. Yet I knew that I’d done the right thing. It was a strange feeling… And what was the point of regretting something that was already done?

I took the raven out of the bag, passed a lighter over the stone, and began to change my clothes. Unless I wanted to become an online celebrity, a player’s clothing wasn’t suitable for the current mission. The Slimes weren’t going to shoot at me either, so I chose clothes that would allow me to disappear into the crowd if necessary. I had only five minutes for everything, so I had to hurry up.

“Why are we here again?” Legion shook himself and looked around suspiciously. “You were going back, weren’t you?”

“I went back. This is the next mission.”

“What... how long did you keep me in the bag for? How many years have passed?”

I began to lay my clothes and equipment out on the floor. I should bring a table next time.

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s only been a few hours.”

“Two missions in a row? I demand more crystals!”

“Or what, you’ll complain to the union?” I decided to change the subject. “Listen, I’ve been wondering for quite a while… My status indicates that I am only 97% human. Do you happen to know what that means?”

“Caw!” The raven flapped his wings. “You people have a science called mathematics. You learn percentages in fifth grade, and there are several among my ‘fragments’ who have completed all eleven! This means that there were non-human beings among your not-too-distant ancestors. You’ll be... the sixth generation.”

Sixth generation… A great-great-great-grandfather or great-great-great-grandmother. Too many greats... Going that far back, I ended up with 32 possible candidates, living in the second half of the 19th century. My family didn’t have records going that far back, at most, we knew a couple of names and a few life details. For a couple of ancestors out of thirty-two... No, it was pointless.

“Does it make a difference?”

“Perhaps you can awaken the bloodline, but it depends on who was your ancestor.”

“Is there any way to find that out?”

“Well, there aren’t that many options. The knowledge gained by your scientists includes the method of exclusion. I assume that you are aware that certain actions must be performed for a child to be created. Humans cannot reproduce by division, so it would be an act of copulation. Which, in turn, imposes certain restrictions on the size and physiology. Humans do not lay eggs, which discounts various kinds of dragons and phoenixes. Of course, nothing is impossible for higher entities, but if we consider the most likely options…”

“Go on.”

“Your ancestor was probably a goblin, or a hobgoblin. Among the low forms, only they can interbreed with almost anyone. They’re very adaptable.”

Why did I get the impression that the impudent bird was mocking me?

“Seriously?” I chuckled, taking out a crystal and twirling it in my fingers. It didn’t sound very inspiring. “There are no goblins on Earth. Are you sure of your conclusions?”

“Then...” the raven watched the stone in my fingers as if mesmerized. “Looking at you, I can immediately see that you couldn’t possibly have goblin ancestors! Perhaps they were archons, the next stage of human development? Even gods! We won’t know until you awaken the bloodline.”

“Okay, I’m done.” I tightened the last strap, then jumped up and down to check. “It’s time to move out.”

“The crystal!”

“You’ll get it when we return.”

Legion cawed in delight, made a circle, and dived into the portal. I followed suit. Time was running out.

Time remaining: 0 minutes and 24 seconds.

Nevertheless, I checked what fate had thrown at us this time, before I stepped through the portal.

Quest No. 6

Type: maintaining the natural balance.

Information:

A creature that is a threat to the ecosystem has invaded your world. Eliminate the threat before it is too late.

Global objective (C):

Destroy the Slime mothership.

Reward:

— Unknown.

Penalty for failure:

— Unknown, variable.

Anticipated enemies:

— System creatures.

Local objective (F):

— Kill any monster.

— Survive for six hours.

Reward:

— Temporary access to the Server.

Penalty for failure:

— No return.

Allies:

— Players.

— Locals.

Chapter 15. The Japanese Monster

THE TRANSFER ITSELF was one of the most unpleasant and riskiest moments, in my opinion. It was completely out of my control, and I could be thrown anywhere, even under the very tentacles of the Leviathan, or in amongst its monster retinue.

The wailing of an alarm system wasn’t the worst option in this case. Assuming it was a security alarm and not a fire alarm, of course. It was about four o’clock in the morning local time, and quite dark inside. I reached into my bag and took out a flashlight. A ray of light coming out of nowhere would be a strange sight, considering that I hadn’t deactivated Invisibility.

“The door is closed, so I decided to wait for you.”

I turned around and the light from my torch illuminated the raven sitting on a table and calmly pecking something out of a bowl. Oh, the glutton...

“What? I’m absorbing the blood essence that you gave me, so I need to eat well. Would you like some nuts?”

“No, thanks,” I snorted. “Was the alarm going off when you arrived?”

“Hard to say.” The raven tilted his head to one side. “I suppose not, but it turned on almost immediately.”

So, I was right and it was a security alarm, which was a relief. In addition, it meant the owners were away, otherwise the alarm wouldn’t have been left on, and they would have come to investigate the noise by now. People tended to do that. I ran the torch over the walls and ceiling and, not finding any cameras, finally switched off Invisibility. There was no point in wasting mana. Even if there were hidden camera somewhere in here, I’d get over it.

Still clutching the return card in my hand, I crossed the room to the huge window. Despite the unfolding disaster, the electricity was working, and the city glowed with thousands of lights. The titanic spire of the Tokyo Skytree stood out among the multitude of buildings as one of the few landmarks that couldn’t be confused with anything else. I estimated that it was more than ten kilometers from here. Which wasn’t great news, because the tower stood near the coast.

I was about twenty or so floors above ground, and I couldn’t see any monsters or destruction below. There was a surprising number of cars considering how late it was, so people were clearly trying to leave the dangerous area. There were also plenty of pedestrians, and their behavior gave no cause for alarm. If the Leviathan was waving its tentacles menacingly from the other side of the skyscraper, or if the building was on fire, the passers-by would be behaving differently. Either running and screaming in horror, or trying to film the tragedy on camera — another bad habit that didn’t help human survival.

I tapped on the thick glass and opened the window, letting in fresh air and the muffled sounds of a siren. I finally put away the card, smacked the bag a few times to release Bri, and sent him to check out the neighborhood.

“Legion!” I turned to the raven, who’d already finished his dinner. “If someone appears, escape through the window and wait for me downstairs, at the entrance.”

Having made sure that there was no immediate danger, I now had to figure out a way to get out of here. I walked around the apartment. The sheer number of rooms and the furnishings indicated that someone quite rich lived here, with its modern and expensive gadgets, and paintings in gilded frames. In one of the rooms, I found traditional Japanese stands displaying swords, a mannequin wearing samurai armor, and a safe, which probably contained something interesting. A year earlier, I would have itching to touch everything, but now I only gave it a cursive glance.

A TV had been left turned on in one of the rooms, mumbling the news.

“...Clinton has declared that the alien monster will be destroyed in the next few hours. For reasons that are not yet clear, direct strikes cause only minor damage to the Leviathan, so alternative methods will be used to block its advance on the city. The main goal currently is to drive the creature back into the open water, where it can be destroyed with the help of the fleet and, if necessary, even intercontinental missiles…”

I assumed that the TV had turned on by itself, as part of the emergency notification system. It was often used due to the constant earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan. As soon as something serious happened, televisions would turn on, notifications would arrive, phones would start beeping to wake their owners up, and loudspeakers would turn on in the streets. If it was any other country, only ten percent of the population would know that something bad was happening, but here, the analysts estimted that at least half of the city was no longer asleep. Well, there was nothing else for me to do here, so I had to leave.

* * *

“I should have expected this.”

The front door was as impressive as the apartment itself. It was all steel, with a bunch of locks that couldn’t be opened from the inside. I needed a key and, judging by the electronic panel, a passcode as well. The panel most likely controlled the security system, so I could turn off the blaring alarm if I knew the code. The wailing was meant to scare off the criminal, warn about the imminent arrival of the security company, and force the robber to hurry.

I was more annoyed than worried by the siren. As far as I knew, even the police didn’t typically carry firearms here, and weapons were almost non-existent among private individuals, including security guards. Even members of the Yakuza preferred to engage in martial arts, baseball and kendo, rather than target shooting. It was because the authorities reacted very badly to firearms. It was unlikely that the security guards would dare to confront a person in a bulletproof vest and holding a submachine gun. The last item provided a significant boost to my charisma and instilled politeness, peacefulness and a desire to be somewhere far, far away in my unarmed opponents. Still, I wasn’t going to resort to force, threats or destruction unless absolutely necessary. Our Foreign Ministry was already having a hard time, it certainly didn’t need another international incident.

I decided to wait a little bit and move to plan B only if nobody came to investigate why the alarm was going off. Some explosives attached to the wall, and the apartment would have a spare exit. I even found a suitable place, for as often happened in such cases, the door was stronger than the surrounding walls. I remembered how I’d once seen a steel door attached to walls made of plaster board, which could be pierced with a… Well, maybe not a finger, but a table knife for sure. This was the danger of mental inertia, for even criminals often followed the most obvious path.

* * *

The security guards did arrive, but judging by the muffled voices, they informed the office that everything was in order after checking that the door hadn’t been tampered with. Having turned off the alarm system from the outside, they decided against venturing inside the apartment, loudly complaining about “false alarms”, “lazy technicians” and problems with apartment access.

Foolish people. I waved my hand, and the alarm resumed its wailing, causing someone to swear violently and ring the doorbell. Like any normal burglar, I didn’t reply.

“We need noise,” I told the raven, who’d returned to the room. “Break something, will you?”

Legion cawed loudly as he took off, and there was a loud crash behind me. Apparently, he enjoyed the destruction, because he didn’t limit himself to a single act of vandalism and I soon heard another crash. The another one... the guards could no longer ignore such hints, and there was a rattle of keys. A couple of minutes of scrabbling and the door finally opened, admitting two men who would have been perfect to star in a film about the Yakuza. One was about thirty-five years old and slightly plump, while the second looked to be a decade younger and had his hair slicked back. Both wore suits. The most surprising thing was that they were holding handguns. Real ones, apparently. Only the police had the right to carry arms in Japan, and these guys certainly didn’t look like law enforcement officers. I would have recognized a police uniform... gangsters? Well, it didn’t matter. The only thing I was worried about was whether they would have enough brains not to shoot. I doubted that they could finish off the raven, but my desire to leave quietly could be in jeopardy.

“Stay here and I’ll go check what’s going on there.” the older man ordered the other one, carefully holding the gun with both hands. “Hey! Is anyone there? This is the Cobra security agency! We’re coming in!”

It was quite amusing to watch, but I didn’t wait around and, after carefully stepping around the younger man swiveling his head from side to side, slipped out into the corridor. Phew... let’s get out of here. There was a cawing sound behind me, shouting, swearing, then laughter... no gunshots.

It would have made perfect sense: an open window, a raven flying in, an alarm going off... a series of mishaps, nothing more. I could have probably negotiated my way out without all these tricks, even without threats, but I had no desire to reveal my presence ahead of time.

I decided to avoid the elevators and, opening the door, headed down the stairs. After making sure that there were no cameras on the landing, I deactivated Invisibility and reviewed my appearance. The military style was quite popular in developed countries, but I wouldn’t look much like a tourist with a submachine gun and a bulletproof vest. I’d have to hide the extra equipment for now.

The same applied to the bag, which obeyed my wishes and grew indistinct for a moment before acquiring a camouflage pattern. The media had made player gear recognizable, and while fashion designers were already releasing ‘new collections’, it was easier to erase all hints than to pretend to be a victim of the latest trend. The complete ‘player kit’ from Versace cost about 100,000 dollars — a cheap fake compared to the original.

* * *

I was guided by logic and not only emotions in coming here. I didn’t give a crap about the Leviathan, and its elimination was not my concern. Magic could be powerful, but it was unlikely to be infinite, so the behemoth was bound to be destroyed sooner or later. In one way or another, so I didn’t see how I could help. Shoot an arrow at it and hope that it would kill it? I knew this didn’t work with strong monsters. Hope that it’ll be finished off, and the arrow would absorb a lot of experience? Not even funny. Well, yes, funny that I was even considering such an option.

My goal was simple — kill as many monsters as possible, get as much experience as possible, and avoid dying in the process. If possible, protect civilians and other players, but only when it’s possible. One of my main opponents here wouldn’t be the Slimes but the local self-defense forces. For the military, players were more of a hindrance than an ally, a crowd of foreigners with unclear legal status, who had to be sent to the rear, when a lot of your fellow citizens already needed help. Would they let me hunt freely? I somehow doubted it.

In the end, a perfectly ordinary gaijin left the building, a common occurrence in the capital. Now, only another player could recognize me for who I was.

* * *

“Did you see that?” The raven swooped right over my head. “Did you see that? They had guns! I took such a risk! Such a risk! You have to give me more crystals!”

“They were only handguns,” I said, rolling my eyes. “How can they possibly harm a Fire Crow? I’m glad you restrained yourself and didn’t burn them on the spot.”

“Ahem... yes, this Old One was most merciful. I could have burned them to ashes, but I didn’t! I think that deserves two crystals.”

“If I start paying you for not burning someone, I’ll go broke very quickly. Crystals don’t grow on trees. We’ve already agreed that you’ll get one when we come back. If you do a good job, perhaps there’ll be two crystals. Now, go and bring back Bri. The ghost should be somewhere on the roof.”

The raven eyed me doubtfully, considering whether to keep bargaining, but then gave a croak of displeasure and began to ascend in a spiral. He had a long way to go, which meant I had time to make a call.

I took my smartphone out of the bag. The B-10 was one of the latest domestic models, yet practically reeked of the nineteenth century. I was exaggerating, of course, but the model was five years out of date, which, by industry standards, made it an ancient relic. Alas, the developers couldn’t buy the current tech nor catch up and overtake the leaders, who had the funds of hundreds of millions of consumers at their disposal. Limited production gave rise to a high price, comparable to that of the flagship products, and resulted in poor demand. It was used mainly by government services, who were concerned about communication security, and software and physical bugs. The B-10 had its advantages, such as durability, reliability, and weight. Like the legendary Nokia phone from old jokes, this device could crack nuts and cause traumatic brain injuries.

It did perform its main functions perfectly well. I checked that there was a connection and internet. And geolocation, since the monsters couldn’t get to the satellites. Where was I?

Half a minute later, the arrow on the map indicated my location. Right... I went into Contacts and selected one of the saved entries.

“Hello, you have called the Magellan Information Agency. If you would like to speak to the operator, please press one. If you would like to transfer...” Snorting, I pressed one, and a pleasant melody started playing, but the phone was picked up almost immediately.

“Magellan Information Agency. This is Max, how can I help you?”

Damn secret agents... couldn’t they see my number on the screen?

“This is Lieutenant Vasily,” I said and waited for a response. Don’t tell me they’d saved the wrong number?

“Captain Smirnov, Senior Analyst,” The voice hardened. “What is the situation, Lieutenant? Are you in immediate danger?”

“As expected, I am in Tokyo, Shibuya District. There is no immediate danger.”

“What are the mission requirements?”

“The global objective is, unsurprisingly, to destroy the Slime mothership. The local objective is finish off any of the monsters, plus hold out for six hours. The reward is connection to the Server, and the penalty for failure is no return. Perhaps something else, it seems too simple…”

I was worried that the penalty for failure was so minor. The situation didn’t feel like a deadly mission that was best to be avoided, and that had caused the gods to become so alarmed that they were pulling the ‘chosen ones’ out of harm’s way. Yes, there were a lot of slimes, but if I turned around now and walked away, they were unlikely to catch up with me. What was so difficult about finishing off one and then retreating? Even a modicum of caution made this mission much safer than the one in the goblin city. I glanced at the counter.

Remaining players: 985/1000

Losses during landing were insignificant, only 1.5% in the first hour.

Somewhere overhead, I could hear the rumble of the airplanes, as well as explosions coming from the direction of the ocean. Progress, but no messages about a successfully completed mission.

“What about the Leviathan?”

“It is still in the bay, but it will reach land soon. The allies have inflicted hundreds wounds, but it is difficult to judge their severity. New tactics and weapons are being considered. Overall, the district where you are has been locked down, but this is unlikely to hold the Slimes back for long. Most refugees are gathering at Shibuya Railway Station, but there have been some problems, communication has been disrupted and there aren’t enough trains. We recommend that you retreat to the north-west, away from the city, or to the north-east, which contains the government quarter and where the cordon will be much stronger.”

“Aren’t they going to evacuate the area?”

“According to the official version, no. On the contrary, more and more ministers are arriving right now. They are stating that the danger is not so great, while their flight can negatively affect both the general situation and their ratings.”

Right, and having their politicians devoured by monsters would certainly boost public morale. I understood the motivation, but I didn’t agree with them at all.

“What about the mission? Are players allowed to hunt freely?”

“I don’t have exact information about this. The Japanese have their own problems to deal with, so most of our requests are being ignored. I suspect that they will insist on immediate evacuation.”

“Then I’m going to avoid contact with the local authorities, wait for the monsters to appear and finish off one of them. For starters.”

“I have to remind you that while you have the right to act according to the circumstances, you must refrain from taking unnecessary risks. Head to one of the evacuation sites, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Got it,” I agreed and changed the subject. “Who else has been dragged into this besides me?”

“Three people: Eva, Tatra, and one of the newcomers called Imp.” I remembered the guy who had asked questions during the briefing. “They haven’t contacted us yet.”

I closed my eyes for a moment. Eva... what the hell? One chance in five. Why couldn’t it have been one of the others? Unfortunately, there was no point in getting stressed just yet. Even if the landing zone was limited to the coastal areas, the chance of meeting another player was small, especially one specific player. I believed that Eva would manage. If any of them needed help, it would probably be Tatra. I had little to say about the newbie. Imp had joined the department only five days ago and had been undergoing initial training, so we’d barely spoken to each other.

“As soon as one of them contacts you, find out where they are and let me know. Over and out.”

“Over and out. Good luck over there.”

I ended the call and sighed. There was a cawing sound above my head — my ‘partners in crime’ had returned. It was time to move on.

* * *

“I’ve always wanted to visit Japan,” I muttered as I admired the sights. Although most of the establishments were closed due to the alarm and nighttime, the neon advertising and the street lights dispersed the darkness.

There were few cars on the roads. Those who could leave had already left, and the rest weren’t allowed to enter here. The military or buses full of evacuees passed by several times. I mostly encountered pedestrians, who were heading in the opposite direction. Some were hoping to sit the danger out inside their homes. It wasn’t a bad idea, as long as the Leviathan didn’t reach them.

I followed my usual approach. Bri covered my back while the raven flew ahead to check the road as I slowly followed him, moving in the direction of the sea. Slowly, because I didn’t want to run into a horde of the creatures and I’d soon have to retrace my steps. The less distance I covered now, the less I’d have to run later.

“People with weapons ahead!” Legion announced. “There is a road block.”

“Are there any players among them?”

“I saw two.”

A series of images appeared in my head. A road blocked with concrete blocks, a narrow passage left between them. Around fifty soldiers and policemen, mostly with submachine guns, two machine gun positions, armored personnel carriers, and a couple of trucks. Cannon fodder... a group of civilians stood next to the buses, apparently waiting for enough people to gather so they could be evacuated. I recognized the players by their specific clothes, but it was difficult to say whether they were there voluntarily. The players weren’t handcuffed, yet a guard stood beside them. Well, I didn’t know them, so it wasn’t my problem.

“Meet me on the other side.”

* * *

The military weren’t letting anyone over to the other side, so I had to cover the last stretch under Invisibility. Of course, I could have tried to talk to the soldiers and find everything out directly, avoiding the guesswork, but my paranoia didn’t allow me to trust strangers just like that. Plus, no matter what they said, it wouldn’t have changed my plans.

I let a young woman who’d decided to leave the dangerous zone to go first, and continued on my way. I was now in the fairly extensive coastal region of Minato, which was no longer controlled by the authorities. Several embassies, including the Russian one, were located here. The employees had apparently been evacuated to the government sector. Those who had been at work or who could be found, since not everyone lived at the embassy. In any case, there was absolutely nothing for me to do there…

The airport was in the bay itself, so civil aviation had been very unlucky. There was another one, but it was too far away. I checked my messages, but there was nothing new, only the current summary.

“Stop!”

I dodged the outstretched arm. A Japanese man of about forty tried to find the right words in his poor English, “Boy, it is dangerous there. Don’t go there. Go there!”

I smiled, appreciating the gesture. After all, he had been the first to notice that the gaijin was going in the wrong direction, and had showed concern.

“Thank you, friend,” I replied in English, since the conversation could become tedious if I revealed my knowledge of Japanese. “I know about the danger.”

“Then...”

I stepped around him and kept going, feeling the puzzled stare at my back. Okay, it was time to get ready for battle.

* * *

“What do you want? Give me your wallet and your bag, and get out of here while you still can!”

Hardly anyone was out on the street, and many were engaged in things that weren’t legal at all. Smashing, grabbing and looting were the companions of any catastrophe. These two youngsters, for example, were trying to break into an ATM. They didn’t have much in the name of tools, and their skills were even worse, so the only reward they were going to get it was a shower of orange paint. Plus numerous notes also stained orange and thus unusable.

One of the guys had a crowbar in his hand, while the other was clutching an axe — very weighty arguments, of course.

“I think I’ll decline,” I chuckled. “You guys have restored my faith in humanity. You could have at least put masks on, you know?”

The situation was becoming a bit tense, and there was no military nearby. I reached into my bag and showed them a trick, pulling out a submachine gun.

“It’s not real!” This exclamation didn’t stop the young hooligans from dropping their implements and running away. I wasn’t going to shoot them in the back. They hadn’t chosen a good direction to run in, and, with some luck, would soon be devoured by monsters. If they were luckier, the ATM cameras had captured their actions.

The raven was flapping his wings again, telling me that he had found a suitable target.

* * *

The first Slime I had the pleasure of meeting was busy dissolving the body of some poor sucker. The monster was a disgusting pink color, the size of a jeep, and slowly getting bigger. Five tentacles with impressive bony growths wavered above, not so much trying to catch someone as monitoring the situation. The closest potential victim, a tanned girl with brightly dyed hair, was about ten meters away from the monster and actively working on increasing the distance. The heels weren’t making the job any easier, so she quickly threw them off.

“How sensible,” I muttered, noting that the girl hadn’t abandoned her shoes, but had picked them up and was running barefoot. “or just poor.”

I stepped aside and let her pass me by. How did the old song go? I looked back to see if she had looked back, to see if I had looked back. In this case, the Japanese woman did look behind her, but more to check whether I was going to speed up. After all, when running away from a bear, you didn’t need to be faster than it, you just needed to be faster than whoever was running beside you. This didn’t necessarily work with monsters, since they killed for experience rather than for food or anything more perverted.

“It’s like a national folklore monster.”

In its current form, the Slime looked less like goo and more like the monsters the Japanese like to depict in hentai comics and cartoons. Although this beast used its tentacles for more practical purposes, namely, for killing.

“It’s a little far, of course, but worth a try.”

Identification. Once upon a time, one hundred mana units had seemed very significant, but as my reserve increased, I could afford such expenses even right before a fight.

Big Slime (63%)

Status: System creature.

Type: Silver.

Creature Rank: E.

Level: 4.

Danger: moderate.

Specifications:

Intelligence: 3.

Size: 12.

Fluidity: 5.

Perception: 12.

Instinct: 10.

Wisdom: 20.

Luck: 1.

Features:

— Adaptability — this creature adapts well to any environment, and can change to a large degree.

— Absorption — the creature can absorb any organic matter, increasing in size and absorbing the properties of its prey.

— Weak acid — the creature’s flesh requires caution when cooking.

— Magical Sense of Touch I — the creature lacks nerves, so perceives the world using magic.

— Magical Vision I — the creature lacks eyes but can see.

— Search for Life — the creature senses living beings within a certain radius.

Rank E, Level 4. Not bad, although I’d expected something more from such a colossus. I looked at the three dots at the end.

Attention! Terminology conflict. According to the sapient beings of this cluster, the current name does not fully correspond to the features of this creature. Would you like to change the name to the more appropriate (Tentacle Monster (66%))?

Yes/No

Was this because I had a higher rank now? I’d never received such a detailed message before. As for the question itself, well, why not? Let it be called a Tentacle Monster. There was some irony in this, given where I was.

“Okay, let’s take a look at you, you dirty pervert.”

I activated True Gaze, but from this distance, it only showed that there was a clearly magical creature in front of me. The monster glowed a beautiful blue, but finding a vulnerable spot was difficult. Squinting made no difference, even though the skill was formally tied to vision. I just needed to get closer, right? How much closer, though? Slimes didn’t have eyes, but they could orient themselves in space, and whether my Invisibility worked against them was a vital question. I had to figure that out here and now, before I traveled any further.

The monster finally finished absorbing the corpse and crawled towards me, inviting a series of panicked screams from the audience. A few of the pedestrians, having put some distance between themselves and the monster, stopped and turned to film what was happening. I couldn’t guarantee that no one was filming from the windows, so it didn’t really matter.

“To some extent, our meeting is fate,” I muttered, taking the spear out of its card and withdrawing into Invisibility.

Perhaps the submachine gun would have been more effective, but I had to consider the accompanying skills. If I pumped enough mana into the spear, I could almost certainly blow this creature into little bits just by striking its center. A round from the submachine gun would inflict fatal damage only if it hit the core. The core that I still couldn’t see, despite the monster’s approach.

I shifted a little to the side so as not to accidentally get in its way or be within the reach of its irritatingly mobile tentacles. When it was about five meters away, I finally found what I was looking for, a pulsating core. It had to be the ‘crystal heart’. I would have spotted it earlier, but it wasn’t located in the center of the body, as I had expected, but rather at the base of the rear tentacle. It was so stupid that I could hardly believe it.

I could take out my rifle and simply shoot the creature at this distance, but then I wouldn’t get any loot or experience. Plus, how convenient was it that I’d come across a single monster and could thus complete one of the mission tasks? Of course, the objective simply said to kill a monster, but I wasn’t sure if death using non-System weapons would count. Let someone else check that.

However, I wasn’t going to simply kill the creature. I needed to develop an approach that I could use later.

“Go, Bri.” The ghost rushed towards the monster and started sucking out its energy. I followed, keeping a safe distance and watching Bri’s progress. It wasn’t doing so well. The Tentacle Monster immediately sensed a new danger, stopped, and started swinging its tentacles, crushing the surrounding pavement. A useless move, yet it also began to alter its external coating. Channels paled before my eyes and rearranged themselves, cutting off the ones the parasite had hooked on to. The flesh crumbled after the drained channels, but too slowly. Bri would then fly to another place, and the situation would repeat itself. I supposed the ghost could win eventually, but how long would that take? An hour? Half an hour? If Bri could even digest so much free mana.

“Here, Bri, come back here,” I spoke aloud. As far as we knew, Slimes were deaf. It was a good opportunity to test this theory. “I choose you, Legion. Fire attack!”

I’m drawn to this kind of humor when I’m nervous. The raven didn’t appreciate the joke, but he complied with my order. A fireball struck the monster from above, causing a relatively big wound, which seemed to only anger it. The tentacles splayed out in all directions, trying to catch the low-circling raven and destroying the road surface. The monster was about a meter short, and didn’t look like it could jump.

“Draw it over there,” I pointed to the raven, who flew far enough away and sat down on the pavement. His wing suddenly dropped, and he hobbled away, pretending to be injured. “I don’t remember wild crows using this trick.”

“Don’t forget, this Old One is not a simple raven! One of my souls saw this trick on the Discovery Channel!”

Okay, it was time to finish this. Taking advantage of the distraction, I leapt up to the monster and struck a precise blow. The spear entered easily enough, yet the flesh immediately closed around the shaft, slowing down the blow. The tentacles darted towards me, but they were too late, for the spear tip had reached its target.

Attention! You have received 4*10*0,5*2=40 SP! (44/200)

Attention! You have completed the first part of the local quest (destroy any monster).

A card appeared above the body, but I couldn’t reach it for I had to jump back when the creature suddenly turned into a puddle, like a water balloon pierced with a needle. I didn’t think the liquid was hissing from dislike, so I had no intention of walking into acid without making sure that it wouldn’t burn my legs. In addition, I saw not one, but two corpses inside. The second, judging by the remnants of clothing, had been a player…

“The crystal!” the raven croaked mournfully. “It was destroyed. You should at least collect the dust!”

“Keep an eye out.”

“I hate Slimes. It’s almost impossible to remove their hearts and they don’t have eyes. Insignificant, useless creatures!”

“Hey!” I was indignant. “Hating everyone is my thing.”

Damn… The mutilated corpse didn’t evoke any feelings beyond mild regret and disgust. I hooked the player with my spear and dragged him to the edge of the puddle with some difficulty. It was impossible to identify the person, so I took only the bag, which was mostly intact, and the sword card. Not a particularly rich player, clearly one of the newbies. I also collected some slime in a jar, in case the scientists wanted it, and took a few photos.

After making sure that the acid had little effect on my boots, I waded into the puddle and took the card. Hilarious... I chuckled and put it away in my bag.

Time remaining: 4 hours, 27 minutes and 48 seconds.

Dawn was approaching, and the hunt had only just begun.

Chapter 16. Foreboding

I HAD BEEN A BIT HASTY about the dawn. My watch showed 5:30 am, and dawn wasn’t arriving until 6:45 am. It was winter, after all. Although, in this part of the world, it was 8-10 degrees even at night, and the trees hadn’t even shed their leaves.

I turned at the sound of footsteps, and discovered that the young Japanese woman who’d run away so quickly before had come back.

“What do you want?”

“You’re a real Shinigami, aren’t you? I mean superhero. You’re from the USA, right?”

I grimaced, but didn’t ask why she’d assumed that, realizing that I’d automatically asked my question in English. As for the terminology, the world was a big place, and the players had acquired many local names. The Hunters in Korea, Shinigami in Japan, Supers in Russia, Superheroes or Capes in the USA, Nexts in Europe, Daevas in several Muslim countries, and I’d heard that we were sometimes called Shamans in Africa. However, globalization was doing its job, the terms were interchangeable, and Western terminology was widely used alongside regional terminology.

“What’s your name? You saved my life! Can I get your autograph? Oh, I don’t have a pen. Let’s take a selfie, okay?” The girl delivered half of this speech in English and half in Japanese. Apparently even the corpses didn’t bother her too much, although she tried to avoid looking in their direction. She didn’t wait for permission either, but dropped her platform shoes, dived under my arm and tried to take a photo. I intercepted her hand and took the device off her. “Hey, give it back! Do you have any idea how long it took me to save up for it?”

Twirling the smartphone in my hand, which was one of the latest models, I glanced thoughtfully in the direction of the acid puddle. She didn’t get a chance to snap a picture of me this time, but how did I know that she hadn’t taken a couple of photos along the way? I poked at the screen and discovered that it was locked and required a fingerprint. Oh to hell with it. The monster’s death had caused plenty of people to crawl out of their houses and at least three were eagerly filming what was happening. What was wrong with everyone?

“No photos,” I said gloomily, returning the phone back to her and adding a couple of more colorful interjections.

Cameras, cameras everywhere. Perhaps I’ll be advertising toothpaste on Channel 1 after this mission. No wonder some of the newer players wore masks made from System clothing, creating further similarities with comic book heroes. The deceased player had worn one, although little of it was left after being inside the Slime. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to play Batman. My face was listed in the databases, so neither a mask nor distracting red underpants would preserve my anonymity. I had to make the most of a bad situation.

“***,” the girl repeated after me enthusiastically. “You are Russian, yes? I know Russian little bit! Cheburashka, vodka, beer, ***, ***, ***, ***!” Based on her vocabulary, the girl’s interest in Russian was limited to being able to swear really well at someone on occasion. How nice.

“A military operation is underway.” I sighed and switched to Japanese. “Please head to the evacuation zone. If you walk a little further down the street, you will come across a cordon of the National Self-Defense Forces.”

“But all these monsters,” As soon as the girl realized that I could understand her, she became a nuisance. “You will accompany me, won’t you?”

“No. I have things to do.”

“I’m... I’m an adult!”

“All the more reason to say ‘No’. The road is safe, so you can walk over there by yourself.”

“Why? I’m scared! Aren’t you supposed to be saving ordinary people?”

Yeah, and ‘bring retribution in the name of the moon’. In any case, I wasn’t going to waste any more time on this victim of globalization and social media, so I turned around and walked away. Straight through the acid puddle, so that the barefoot girl didn’t dare to follow me. As soon as I could, I dived back into Invisibility and jogged for a short while, reappearing around the corner. Pathetic, I know, but she was so tedious.

* * *

Having made sure that there were no ‘fans’ following me, I found a secluded corner with no street cameras, and stopped to sort out my loot. First of all, the trophy Bottomless Bag. Despite the acid, it was scruffy but still usable. I wasn’t sure it could be repaired, but perhaps it could be merged with another bag. In the meantime, I needed to put it away, so I emptied its contents on the ground.

“Oh, wow.” A System flask, several impressively large stacks of yen and a bunch of gold and silver jewelry. The deceased hadn’t hesitated to take advantage of the situation. Had he robbed a jewelry store? It might seem stupid, since he couldn’t transport the loot in this bag, but we were on Earth, so nothing was stopping him from hiding the stolen goods, and returning for them at a later date. Even if he didn’t return, a stash on the other side of the world would be a heart-warming thought.

“Crystal!” the raven landed next to me. “I can sense a crystal!”

Seriously? As I’d already discovered, Legion wasn’t interested in fake or even real diamonds, so I inspected the loot again. I couldn’t see anything at first, but there were several cases, as well as a jewelry box, which had clearly been stolen from the same store. Inside was a crystal, or more precisely, a phylactery. I was taken aback for a moment. The dead man had not only refused to give it to one of the gods, but had carried it around with him? It wasn’t the best idea, for a number of reasons.

“The crystal! It’s so beautiful!”

“I thought you liked mana crystals?”

“I love beauty!” the raven reasonably objected. “I am a stranger to prejudice! I like what I like. If this crystal is different, I will accept it as it is!”

“Bravo,” I clapped my hands. “However, I need this phylactery for myself. Please keep an eye on the situation around us.”

The raven gave the crystal a passionate stare, but took off anyway. I turned the phylactery around in my hands. Interestingly, despite being similar to mine, it also had some differences. Identification.

Phylactery

Rank: 1.

Features:

— Condenses the Nascent Soul (not available).

— Chance of attracting the soul of the deceased (not available, requires binding).

— Chance of resurrection (not available, requires binding).

— Chance to dedicate a stone to one of the deities.

— Can be improved (0/100 SP).

— Can be destroyed (+100 SP, Heresy).

— Merge. This fragment can be merged with others.

— Can be used to create a Minor Altar (1/10) (Heresy).

— Binding.

Owner:

None.

As I’d suspected, the deceased had been unlucky. The crystal couldn’t draw his soul back, so the player had died a final death. Interestingly, although my Identification was still at Level 1, I’d received more information than last time. Some of the features were blocked, but I now had others… The most interesting one was the ability to collect ten fragments and construct an altar, but the merger was something to keep in mind, too.

As far as I knew, the chance of attracting a soul increased from 1% to 3% when a crystal was dedicated to a god. It didn’t sound like much, but it was a triple increase in absolute terms. Even without a deity, the chance of resurrection jumped by an order of magnitude, reaching one thousandth of a percent, but the growth couldn’t be taken into account here. It wouldn’t hurt to check how much my chances would increase with the merger.

Creating a Minor Altar was a tempting idea, but too many shards were required. I couldn’t possible count on so many idiots carrying them around in a bag, so I’d need to work with the atheists... Or should I start a cult? Tempting, but the risks were too high.

I put the crystal away and, since I had the time, took out the Tentacles card dropped by the Slime. Identification.

Tentacles

Rank: E.

Level: 1/5.

Description:

—The human body is imperfect. Perhaps this is what you are missing?

Features:

— Allows one to grow several magical tentacles, the number, location and properties of which vary.

— Can be combined with a Combat Form (a free slot is required).

Saturation:

0/100 SP

Despite the E rank, the card was hardly exciting since saturation was zero, and I couldn’t see the point of spending heaps of experience and a combat form slot on something like this. It also wasn’t clear from the description whether these tentacles could be retracted. I wasn’t all that keen on becoming a tentacle monster.

I scooped everything into my bag and stood up to continue my journey.

* * *

I didn’t really have any goals beyond surviving and, if possible, finishing off a few more creatures. The main thing was to avoid getting too close to the Leviathan. It wasn’t just about leveling up. If a Slime represented a moderately difficult opponent for me, it was a death machine for ordinary citizens. They had a chance to escape on the street, but in confined spaces, such as the subway, even one tentacle monster could kill hundreds of people. The fact that the attack was happening at night had probably saved a lot of lives.

Although the girl’s exclamations had triggered a sarcastic response, it didn’t mean that I liked the idea of mass civilian casualties. I simply knew how to prioritize and didn’t want to die trying to prevent something I had no hope of preventing. What was the use in dead heroes?

So, when I came across the leading Slime, I turned sharply to the left, deciding to move parallel to the coastline. This allowed me to avoid the bulk of the creatures while catching the nimblest ones, and, if necessary, make a hasty retreat.

Attention! Attention! Danger from the sea! This is not a drill! Please leave the coastal areas! The wards most under threat are Yokogawa, Kawasaki, Ota and Shinagawa... It is also recommended to leave the wards of Minato, Chuo Koto and Urayasu…

“Has the warning system woken up again?”

I remembered what I’d read in the training manual. These messages were supposed to be spoken in five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese, but the current situation was highly unusual. Apparently, they couldn’t find any interpreters or the interpreters couldn’t reach their workplace, so the message was repeated only once, in clumsy English. Like the reports about bad weather conditions, which sounded only in Japanese.

A rumble came from the coast, and the ground shook once again, reminding me that while I was busy with ‘all this nonsense’, a real battle was taking place nearby. Without much success, but I needed to keep my distance, in case the military decided to strike with something really powerful. I didn’t think they’d go for the extreme measures in the next few hours. Too many people had refused to evacuate and had taken refuge inside their homes, and no politician would dare to sacrifice tens of thousands of voters. Not immediately, at least.

“Russia is our sacred state, Russia is our beloved country. A mighty...”

I stumbled and only then realized that it was my phone ringing. Whether due to an overabundant imagination, excessive patriotism or a weird sense of humor, the ringtone had been set as the Russian national anthem. I looked at the screen. A number came up, but I didn’t recognize it, since it began with +81.

“Who is it?” The number was local, so I could guess who it might be.

“Hi, it’s Eva.”

“I’m glad to hear from you, I was worried,” I admitted and realized that I was telling the truth. I wasn’t in the habit of stressing over things that couldn’t be changed, so I tended to focus on what was happening directly in front of me, but now I felt calmer. Slightly. “Are you alright? Where are you?”

“Everything’s fine. I approached the local military and one of them lent me his phone.”

“Have you contacted the base?”

“Yes, so I knew you were here, too. Unlucky, huh?”

“We’re both alive and that’s what matters. What area are you in?”

“Kamagaya. You’re in Shibuya, right?”

I closed my eyes and imagined the map. It was a bit far, although it was difficult to calculate the exact distance. Thirty kilometers or so? I couldn’t make it on foot since there were only three hours left, but if I used the railway or found a car, I could get there before the end of the mission. What would be the point, though? Eva was safe and didn’t need my help.

“No, I’m in Minato already, I decided to hunt a little. What about the task? Did you kill a monster?”

“No, of course not, when would I have had time? The penalty is minimal, anyway. I don’t need the System to get home. The airport in Narita is whole and functioning, and so is the railway.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Don’t get too carried away hunting. They don’t need our help in fighting the Slimes. They’re gathering the players at railway stations, and promising a comfortable deportation from the country. The military and police are controlling the stations, the trains haven’t stopped running, so you can join us if you reach the nearest stop.”

I stopped to consider my options. Eva had a point. So far, everything had been going perfectly, with minimal losses among the players, and the Japanese government ready to provide evacuation. Maybe they’d even feed us on the flight… So why didn’t I feel calm? On the contrary, the relief from hearing Eva’s voice was replaced by even greater anxiety.

“I’ll think about it,” I said. “Listen, can we keep in touch? Can you call me back?”

“I’m not sure. This isn’t my phone, and I don’t know where I can get one around here. I don’t have any money, unless I rob someone. I’ve heard that looters and robbers can be shot on sight, so you should be careful out there…”

“I’ll send you the number of my electronic wallet and password. There’s about five hundred dollars there, which should be enough. Please get a phone and call me in half an hour, okay? It seems too simple. I have a bad feeling about this, so I’ll try to find out more.”

“I think you’re overthinking it. We’re just lucky that we aren’t needed here and have a place to retreat to. That’s all... if we had to fight that thing and had no option to evacuate, it would have gobbled us up sooner or later. The System isn’t trying to kill us, but it can be wrong.”

“You may be right, but please do what I’ve asked. Sorry, I have to go... ring me back.”

* * *

I hung up not only because I had nothing more to say, but because I’d run into some monsters again. There were two Slimes this time, and they were much smaller in size, yet also had tentacles.

Small Tentacle Monster. Level 4

The second one had a slightly lower level, and I learned all this without even using Identification. I was much higher in both level and rank. Nevertheless, I scanned one of them to make sure that there were no surprises and to gather more information for my ‘database’. They didn’t seem to be very different from their larger brethren.

“Caw!”

Their appearance had nothing to do with luck or fate. The creatures were trying to catch the raven, who was running away, dragging his wing and periodically spitting fire at them. This was probably the reason why they’d chosen a bird as the victim. Once Legion was sure that I’d spotted the approaching enemies, he took off and landed on a nearby street lamp. The Slimes stopped for a moment beneath it, and then switched to me.

“Nice work,” I said, pulling out my spear.

I didn’t activate Invisibility, preferring to ascertain what they were capable of in a fight. The Slimes were easy enough to deal with since their tentacles were much shorter than my spear, and I could see their ‘hearts’ clearly. Nevertheless, I didn’t risk it and circled around them, cutting off everything that was sticking out. The spear could chop as well as stab, and the creatures became much less dangerous without the tentacles. They tried to pull the weapon out of my hands a couple of times or reach me, but I easily evaded their attacks.

Attention! You have gained 10 SP! (54/200)

It was only the fourth level. The spear disappeared, returning to the card, then appeared in my hand again as I confronted the second Slime.

Attention! You have gained 7 SP! (61/200)

All done. There was nothing to take from these poor bastards, only an emptie falling out of the first one. On the other hand, I’d obtained almost twenty SP in a couple of minutes. This was the life.

* * *

My thoughts returned to the current situation. I could guess all I liked, but I simply didn’t have enough information. I needed an additional hint, which I could only get from above. If anyone knew the answer, it was the gods... technically, I had my own patron, but only the priests had a connection. I didn’t have one, but I never claimed to be a priest, did I? Perhaps I could ask for a hint, but from whom?

Although I’d become one of the Alliance leaders, some habits were hard to break. I was used to relying only on myself, and in many ways, that was a mistake. I’d kept in touch with the other members and leaders of the Alliance, but our communication had always been sporadic, and had gradually stopped altogether. We still had common interests to unite us, but more and more aspects brought us into conflict with each other. The gods, each of whom wanted an altar on the goblin world. Governments trying to grab everyone within their reach. The long pause in communication hadn’t helped either.

I downloaded and installed one of the numerous popular messengers, and logged into my account. Of course, doing this on the government phone was risky, but I wasn’t going to reveal anything secret.

Contact list. Right... most of the avatars were lit up, showing that the user was online. Or, rather, their phone, since the applications were running in the background, completely replacing traditional communication. One of the reasons why mobile operators were forced to drop their prices on calls, and then switch to packages altogether, and why the included internet was limited. I didn’t know anything about the priest of Inti — perhaps he still hadn’t created a new one? I suspected that Sulu had been the priest of Seth, but he’d never gotten in touch after disappearing. There were rumors that he’d survived, but I doubted it. So, I had five potential informants. Michigan, the priest of Quetzalcoatl. Brahmin, the priest of Shiva. Diva, the priestess of Hera. Qing Long, the priest of Guan Yu. Finally, Alexander had become Odin’s servant after an intense struggle.

I couldn’t be bothered figuring out whom I should contact, so I simply dropped a message in the main chat and marked it as extremely important. That’s it, now every member of the inner circle would receive a notification, and hopefully one would call me back. It also avoided stupid questions, such as why I’d turned to them, and not my own priest.

* * *

Attention! You have gained 15 SP! (76/200)

Another Small Tentacle Monster, Level 6, was sent into the next world to the sounds of the Russian national anthem, leaving behind a puddle of slime, a few experience points and an emptie.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Dmitry,” a familiar voice said. “You asked about the mission in Tokyo?”

“Did you learn something?”

“You were right. Diva managed to contact Hera, and while she didn’t say anything specific, she did drop a hint. There’s something wrong with the mission itself, the goddess strongly recommended to at least complete the minor task.”

“Reasons?”

“She didn’t say. One more thing, the mission zone is most likely not tied to Tokyo, but to the Leviathan itself, so…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. If the creature was driven out of the bay, the borders would shift, and it may become impossible to complete even the minor quest. I didn’t think that I’d find myself rooting for the monster boss.

“Thank you. Can you make sure that this information is conveyed to the Japanese? I’ll pass it on to my own people, but I can’t deal with this issue personally right now. Better if it comes from Europe and the USA.”

“I’m not sure they’ll take it seriously, but I’ll try. Good luck over there.”

I looked at my phone thoughtfully. My intuition hadn’t let me down this time. No wonder the evacuation option seemed too easy. The situation still wasn’t clear but at least I could see where the threat was coming from. I had to assume that mission failure was fraught with serious problems, but what could I do with this information? Try to stop the evacuation?

Time remaining: 3 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds.

Chapter 17. The Road

I MADE ANOTHER CALL after speaking to Dmitry, informing management about the change in the situation. The warning was vague, and there was no guarantee that the people at the top would be able to do anything, but I had to try.

I checked the call log to ensure I hadn’t missed any calls, then set the phone to vibrate only. Apparently, Eva hadn’t found a phone yet, nor had I heard from Tatra and Imp. It wasn’t surprising, considering they had neither money nor knowledge of the local language, so obtaining a phone wasn’t that easy... Or, maybe, their corpses were being slowly dissolved by the monsters even now.

“How can one not be pessimistic in this situation?” I stared up at the rapidly brightening sky, then shook my head, returning to reality. I pulled up a map of the city, and found the nearest evacuation point. Tokyo was a tangle of railway lines, as well as the high-speed railway line along the coast called the Shinkansen, which translated to ‘new main line’, and connected the largest cities in the country. Interestingly, the system wasn’t built as a monopoly. Some parts of the network belonged to the state, but most were privatized or originally constructed by business entities, yet all sections were linked to each other and worked in unison. Even now. The railway stations had been declared the assembly points for the civilian population.

Buses were too unreliable, so using the existing railway system was much more effective. Plus, it was much easier to defend the stations with the evacuees inside than to try to control the roads.

The metro stations were another sensible evacuation point since they were connected to the railway network, the only difference being was that they were underground. Even the wires ran above the trains, and not under the platforms like in Russia. Alas, stations closer to the coast had been flooded by the rising water level, and many of the creatures had found their way into the tunnels, turning them into a kind of classic dungeon. I’d been strongly discouraged from venturing in there. “As if I was planning to, anyway.” I muttered to myself.

The nearest evacuation point was Tamachi Station. I didn’t really want to be near the shore, but it was better than going back. It was certainly closer. The line ran only a kilometer or two from the ocean, but the rails had survived, unlike the overhead wires. The Japanese were now running several diesel locomotives, which they had set aside in case of repair work and emergencies… A prudent nation.

* * *

I’d long concluded that it was better to take things one step at a time in difficult situations, instead of planning too far ahead. I first had to establish my goals and their priority. One, I wanted to stay alive, obviously. Two, I wanted to save Eva and all the people I knew. Three, minimize losses among the players. Four, I hoped to become stronger by taking advantage of this opportunity to level up. Five, save as many civilians as possible. The rest included avoiding being seen by cameras and witnesses, following orders, and so on… It wasn’t like these things weren’t important, but I’d classified them as ‘other’ and would consider each problem as it arose.

For example, I’d been strongly encouraged to leave the combat zone, but I could ignore these recommendations or follow them as I saw fit. Unlike disobeying direct orders, which could be very costly. Fortunately, I’d ensured a high degree of freedom for myself, and so far, I’d been allowed to act as I thought best. Nevertheless, my possible death would hit the department hard, for there was no shortage of oldies wanting a cure for their ills.

It may seem that leveling up was the highest priority, but I couldn’t stay away when such... bullshit was going on around me. Not only for moral reasons, although a clear conscience was important, but also for practical reasons. Actions done for the common good improved a leader’s reputation, while an attempt to sit it out on the sidelines could easily destroy it. Since I’d spent so much effort on building a good reputation, I needed to maintain it… Honestly, although moral reasons prevailed here, life had taught me to always look for me and mine. If you didn’t take care of your own interests, no one would do it for you. On the contrary, people would try to take advantage of you. Consequently, I was going to do what I wanted, but without unnecessary losses. I would take care of leveling up along the way, especially when the monsters insisted on getting to know me personally.

I spun around, slicing off the small tentacle monster’s limbs, and delivered a blow that practically split it in half.

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (82/200)

As I drew closer to the shore, I started coming across smaller and nimbler low-level creatures. Most scampered away, using the tentacles to propel themselves along, to hide in any crevice they could find. Some preferred to attack. This was how natural selection worked, with the weak, the brave and the stupid dying first.

I cleaned my spear by returning it to the card for a moment and summoning it again. It was the third small fry that I’d finished off without receiving a single card, not even an emptie. Greedy bastards.

“I hate Slimes,” I announced, slightly modifying my motto.

If someone had seen what I’d done to the fourth monster, they’d have certainly believed me. Mindful of the requirement to kill any monster, I first cut off all its tentacles, then removed the flesh layer by layer, until it had stopped twitching. My arrow was the final touch, piercing the tiny ‘heart’. I didn’t absorb the experience but transferred the arrow to a special case while wearing my gloves, and put it in the bag. Perhaps the System would count the absorption of experience as completing the quest? At the very least, it made my journey more meaningful, by slightly increasing the likelihood that I’d achieve my goals.

“I hate Slimes.” there was more sincerity in my words this time.

Such an execution was quite tedious and dangerous. I received several painful burns, but successively butchered two more ‘donors’. I didn’t know when I’d get an opportunity like this again, and I wanted to make the most of it. “Alright, enough is enough.”

The mission was already halfway through, and it wouldn’t hurt to pick up the pace, but for that I’d need to steal a car. I didn’t like that option. Not because it was illegal, since this battle would excuse such behavior, but because I simply lacked the appropriate skills. Perhaps I could start some rust bucket without a key, but a car like that was difficult to find in the capital of a prosperous country. Plus, parking lots were paid and fenced off here. The streets were bare, so I had to consider the question carefully, with no guarantees of success.

Of course, I could try to stop a vehicle by simply standing in the middle of an intersection, but the roads were practically empty. If the disaster had occurred in the afternoon, there would have been traffic jams, but now, anyone with half a brain and a working car had hurried to put some distance between them and the coast. Traffic wasn’t allowed in here, so there was nothing to cause traffic jams. Even if a car accident occurred, people didn’t wait for the police and just kept driving. Or, if the damage was too great, drove around the damaged car or dragged it to the side. I’d seen a couple of such accidents, a driver’s corpse still trapped in one of the cars.

Cars passed me by occasionally, but the drivers didn’t want to stop, so to get the keys, I would have to commit not only theft, but armed robbery, if not murder. We weren’t in a computer game, where I could fire at an approaching car and, after watching the driver run away screaming or tumbling their corpse out onto the street, sit down on the warm seat. This was a surefire way to get onto the most wanted list, no matter the motives.

Of course, I could try to corner a driver before they got into the car, but as I’d already mentioned, most of the locals had left earlier. I’d spotted several parked cars and even kicked their tires, but no one had appeared in response to the alarm. In Tokyo, as in most large cities, parking spaces were hard to find, so the cars weren’t parked right under their owners’ windows.

I had another, less obvious option – a bicycle. I ought to try pack one into my bag next time. There were folding models out there, after all. In the meantime, I’d have to commandeer one from somewhere. I first checked the map for specialty stores, but was left disappointed. The only things I could pilfer nearby were shoes and sportswear. However, this didn’t mean that I had to rely only on my own two feet.

Bicycles were an extremely popular mode of transport in Japan, and this was even mentioned in the instructions we’d been given. Bicycles were serious business here — they had to be registered, cyclists had to obey traffic rules, and there were special parking lots and quite serious fines. I repeatedly came across dramatic road signs with crossed-out bicycles, indicating that they couldn’t be ridden on these streets.

Nevertheless, every family around here owned a bicycle, so all I had to do was to decide where to steal one. Standard parking lots were no good. They had hourly rates, so a person was unlikely to leave a bike there overnight. Plus, the front wheel was usually locked using a special mechanism, and could only be unlocked with a matching key. Perhaps I could smash the lock or saw through the pin, but it would take too long. There was a much simpler option: private bicycles were kept in small parking sheds beside apartment blocks.

“Well?”

“I found it!” the raven cawed, made a circle, and flew towards the nearest house.

I didn’t have to walk very far before I found what I’d been looking for. There were only four bicycles in the parking lot, and all were secured, with a chain or even a cable. This might have been a problem for someone else, but I had tools with me, so I chose the largest bicycle out of the ones available. The chosen sports bike was the only one chained to the bicycle rack, but my hydraulic scissors managed to cut through the chain.

“Right,” I showed a paper bag containing money to the security camera and put it in place of the stolen bike, weighing it down with a stone. I had plenty of yen thanks to the deceased player, so this act of decency cost me nothing.

I thought for a second and then cut the cables of the remaining bicycles. In the current circumstances, this was one of the few ways to quickly leave the disaster area. If the owner of my chosen bike was still hiding at home, I doubted he’d be happy to find the money once he got over “Who is to blame?” and faced the question of “What do I do so I don’t get eaten?”

Well, I’d done everything I could, and it made no sense to waste any more time. I hopped onto the seat, and checked to see that Bri was securely hooked onto my aura and wouldn’t fall off. Then I was on my way.

* * *

Riding a bike didn’t just make me go faster, it also meant that most Slimes couldn’t catch up to me, and had to only rely on interception. I was forced to dodge them, but this was a minor nuisance. The main disadvantage was that I couldn’t make the bike invisible, so I had to ride out in the open, and risk running into trouble. Still, I was unlikely to find myself in a dead end if I kept traveling along the main streets, and the raven did a good job of reconnaissance. Almost like Karlsson-on-the-Roof and better than any drone, not to mention a dog. The tentacles monsters would have devoured the dog already.

I’d updated my arsenal before the mission, so I could use heavy weapons, but I didn’t want to make too much noise. I didn’t get any experience for Slimes killed in such a way, plus my stock was limited. The bag helped, and the magic helped, but I was no camel. In addition, wielding a spear from atop a bicycle seat was ridiculous, so I’d have to get off the bike to fight.

“Hey, stop!” I slowed down when I realized that I was being addressed in the System language, and spotted a player running out of a building entrance. He was wearing the standard clothes and sword. “Hey, friend! Wait a minute!”

Herald. Level 2

Unexpectedly meeting an ally didn’t excite me in the least, and only awakened the dormant paranoia. Any veteran had some ability that could come as a nasty surprise. The fact that we were formally on the same side didn’t guarantee anything. I carefully put the bike down and waited.

“Listen, um, you’re one of us, aren’t you? Sorry, I can’t see your nickname and level. Plus, the bike and the clothes... you’re doing a good job of pretending to be an average person. I saw the bikes as well, but they’re all chained up and I can’t slice through them with my sword.”

“You guessed it. I’m from the Alliance, if you’ve ever heard of it.”

I went into the settings and ticked the box next to ‘Display nickname for allies’. As for my clothes, there was little left of the traditional image. The streets were almost completely empty, so there was no need for me to pretend to be a tourist. I had donned my combat gear, leaving only the weapons in the bag, except for the gun holster at my belt. The danger level was moderate, so I didn’t want to carry too much on me. If I needed to, I could pull a submachine gun, or even a flamethrower, out in a couple of seconds, and my spear was at the ready… I could even use Invisibility combined with Kinetic Shield.

“Is that better?” I asked, switching to the System language. “You can call me Vasily. Are you here by yourself? Have you seen any other players?”

“I’m alone. Listen, do you know where we are? This is some place in South Korea, right? There’s characters everywhere. Or maybe this is Vietnam? The locals are all in a hurry, don’t know a word of Spanish, and I don’t speak much English myself. Not that they can, either.”

“You’re close,” I said. “We’re in Japan, Tokyo.”

“Do you know what’s going on here? Are you sure you should be going that way?”

“I’m sure. I don’t know about you, though. What do you want?”

“The same thing we all do. I want to avoid getting gobbled up, amigo. Have you seen those creatures? I personally killed a couple of the small octopuses, but then I met one the size of a truck. To hell with it, I thought, let the locals deal with them.”

“So, what’s the problem? If you’ve finished off a monster, just climb to the roof of some skyscraper, block the entrance, and wait out the remaining three hours. What could be easier?”

“Right... and where are you going?”

“There’s a train station nearby. I’ve heard that the locals are gathering there for evacuation. I want to see how things are going over there.”

“It doesn’t sound very promising. I’ve seen plenty of movies, and a bunch of monsters always seem to appear in places like that and then eat everyone. The roof option seems more practical. Listen, do you have any extra weapons? You’re like one of those ‘walking armory’ people, right? One of those leaders who hand out weapons to everyone? I’d feel safer with a gun. I could then shoot the bike cable, too.”

My potential companion was beginning to annoy me by this point, so I stopped and studied him thoughtfully. A partner would be good, but Invisibility meant that it was easier to travel alone. “Will a submachine gun do? Keep in mind that it’s not very good against the octopuses, though.”

* * *

The burst of gunfire came almost immediately, when I had moved barely five meters away. Apparently my new ‘friend’ needed a bit of time to figure out the unfamiliar weapon.

“Seriously?” I dropped the bike and turned around. “Thanks for destroying my faith in humanity.”

Herald raised the submachine gun again and emptied the rest of the clip into me. Or the magazine, if I was being pedantic. Although the military folks I knew didn’t usually bother with the finer details, and left the arguments on the topic to the online armchair experts.

“Why won’t you die? Die!”

“Spotted Horse cannot be killed by a bullet,” I quoted an old film. “Especially if the bullets are blanks.”

“Then you decided to abandon me from the very beginning? You wanted me to be devoured by monsters, huh?”

Amazing that after trying to shoot me in the back, Herald had the nerve to accuse me of something. Was he stalling for time? Distracting me? It was worth replying in any case, since all conversations were being recorded by the ‘black box’, which was rather irritating. If there was something completely inappropriate in the recording, I could always ‘lose’ it on my return…

“Only the first magazine contained blanks. I would have warned you once I was further away.”

I didn’t think that a gun would work against tentacle monsters. Unless the bullet clipped the ‘heart’, which was extremely unlikely. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to risk giving a stranger something more powerful.

“Well, what can I say, you outplayed me. Let’s forget about this incident and go our separate ways?” A clumsy lie obvious to both of us, but it allowed us to continue the game without moving on to the next stage. Despite the assassination attempt, the traitor’s System status remained green.

“Why did you attack me, anyway?”

“It’s nothing personal, amigo.” The would-be assassin took a step back, maintaining the distance between us.

“I’m not your amigo.” I took a step towards him.

“Look, I just saw an opportunity and decided to take it, you know? I wanted your bag. It’s Level 3, right? You guys at the top are getting stronger every time, but for ordinary guys like me, every mission might be my last. I couldn’t miss this opportunity, you see?”

I nodded automatically. Indeed, I understood this bastard perfectly and didn’t even blame him for the attempt. I suspected that if I hadn’t given him a weapon, his insidious plans would have remained only plans, but he’d decided to go for it.

“Weren’t you afraid that the Alliance would take revenge?”

“Life is not without risk. The Alliance would first have to find out that I was at fault. Even if my status turned red, I’d just have to wait until the end of the mission.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” He finally stopped retreating. “It’s obvious! Did you honestly think that I hadn’t considered the idea with the roof myself? Or that I didn’t realize we’re in Japan? Yeesh, there are Pokémon on every street sign here.”

The ‘villain’s confession’ was cut off mid-sentence, as I’d been expecting. He released the empty magazine and immediately inserted a new one, lifting the submachine gun... too slowly. I had already activated Invisibility and ducked to the side. An unnecessary precaution, since Herald didn’t have time to shoot. He was betrayed by his own thoughts, and as soon as he started moving, a fireball struck him in the head. The traitor gave a wild scream and collapsed unconscious.

“Put the fire out.” The raven drifted lower and seemed to suck in the previously released flame. I could probably save the guy using Healing, but what would be the point? It made no sense to leave behind an enemy who’d surely seek revenge, which he could deliver simply by surviving until he was brought to hospital, and giving his testimony. I had to finish what I’d started.

I picked up the submachine gun and shoved it back into my bag, simultaneously taking out my hangman’s gloves and dagger. I couldn’t absorb the experience directly for the System would perceive it as a rule violation. My familiars didn’t need the red status either. Should I use the mask? Not a great option with the sound of gunfire heard miles away, so there might be dozens of eyes were watching me right now, plus a couple of security cameras.

To hell with them. Scrunching up my nose, partly because of the smell of burnt flesh and partly because of what I was about to do, I plunged the dagger into the man’s neck. The nickname above his head blinked out, indicating that it was all over. I yanked the weapon out, feeling the energy trying to burst through the flimsy barrier of my gloves. I hurriedly threw the dagger into the case and hid it in the bag. Another interesting question... could I frame someone by allowing them to absorb this ‘toxic’ experience? Based on my observations, the System perceived many things as black and white, and didn’t react to attempts to circumvent the restrictions. Well, almost didn’t react...

“I hope I won’t get banned for taking advantage of the System bugs.”

In any case, I received only one more sword card, a bag and a few System garments, since I didn’t take the pants off the corpse. This was a classic case of exceeding the limits of self-defense, but for some reason, I was sure that if this came out, the case would never reach court. I’d be acquitted at the investigation stage. I just had to avoid getting carried away. If they suddenly decided to get rid of me using ‘legal methods’ in the future, they’d be able to invent and prove my guilt, regardless of the facts or the court’s jurisdiction. That’s how it has always been.

* * *

Gone were the days when loneliness felt like a disadvantage. Given my abilities, partners would be a burden. The closer I got to the ocean, the more tentacle monsters crossed my path. I physically couldn’t kill them all, unless I wanted to do nothing but farming.

I had to abandon the bicycle near the end of my trip. It was becoming more and more dangerous to move full steam ahead, and I had no desire to die from my own carelessness. Just like conducting a genocide of the really stubborn monsters – I didn’t have the time for it, and killing them was an awful hassle. Even a direct hit from a grenade launcher didn’t guarantee instant death. There were a few skirmishes (92/200), but I tried to avoid unnecessary confrontations, constantly retreating into Invisibility and changing my direction.

“Where are the damn tanks?” It was a worthwhile question. Despite formally lacking an army, Japan had tanks, and a plenty of them. Several hundred at least, or even a thousand. Of course, they wouldn’t work against the Leviathan, but they’d work well against the rank-and-file tentacle monsters. You wouldn’t even need to fire; the caterpillar tracks would be enough. I doubted the monsters could pierce the armor on a tank. Perhaps they could slip through the cracks, but modern combat vehicles were almost completely sealed.

I imagined what a single tank could do. Perhaps a Slime would survive if you drove over it — after all, the ‘heart’ was quite small, and could be hidden, while the body seemed to be made of pseudoflesh, but this was even better. A crushed monster would still be alive, but wouldn’t be able to resist properly. An ideal frag. Nevertheless, there were no tanks in the area. Some were defending the government quarter, and some patrolled the main streets. But where were the others? Were the authorities worried about the road surface and the communications below, which would be inevitably damaged by heavy military machinery? Nonsense, now wasn’t the time for that.

I think the truth was much simpler. The monsters had crawled out on land in multiple places, so the tanks were kept busy at other locations. And here... they simply didn’t dare to send them here, fearing the close presence of the boss. Were they worried that the tsunami could happen again? I didn’t think so, otherwise they wouldn’t have directed people to the railway stations… On the other hand, some confusion was inevitable, and the authorities could act according to different prerequisites in different situations. Even if they weren’t afraid of a repeat of the cataclysm, I was starting to get nervous. Not enough to retreat, but enough to keep the return card close at hand.

* * *

“A-a-a-a!”

Turning my head in response, I saw the person who’d jumped out of the window land on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. It wasn’t pleasant.

“Help! It’s going to eat me! No!”

I looked up, just in time to see a tentacle appear behind the woman and drag her inside the apartment. The scream was cut off almost instantly. Judging by the dangling rope made of sheets, the couple had hoped to escape by dropping down to the floor below. Perhaps the man hadn’t committed suicide, but had simply been bad at climbing.

Another tragedy out of many. The monsters had quickly realized that the sources of experience points were hidden inside the concrete boxes, and some were busy opening these food cans. Judging by the size of the tentacles, the creature was quite large, and wouldn’t have had much trouble breaking down a door.

What was happening certainly wasn’t news to the neighbors, with several people bursting out of the front entrance and, with a frantic look, scattering in all directions.

“Don’t I just love stealth missions,” I muttered, standing next to the entrance and peering into the darkness. “I simply adore them.” My intuition was right again, as another monster slid out after the fugitives. It was large, but clearly not the same creature as the one upstairs. There were only a couple of cats floating around inside this translucent loser.

I worked out roughly where the heart was located, let the creature pass by me, and struck. The spear entered its flesh, and a stream of energy rushed along the shaft. Bang! The slug turned into acid rain, but not a drop fell on me. For two reasons. First, I had a good grasp of Splitting Stone, and could direct the shock wave so that the fragments mostly flew in the opposite direction. The second reason was my umbrella, by which I meant my Kinetic Shield, which easily deflected the few drops that could have landed on me.

Attention! You have gained 20 SP! (112/200)

Another emptie as a reward. I’d been real unlucky with loot lately. The opportunity to grow tentacles, for example, didn’t excite me much. I could buy what I needed when I had access to the Server, rather than taking what was dropped. I could definitely find a better use for this pile of experience points.

Nor was there gratitude from the people I’d rescued, who ran without even looking back. A couple seemed to be running in the direction of the station, but I couldn’t be sure. I uttered a heavy sigh and followed them. Perhaps I should have dealt with the creature lurking inside the building, but I had no desire to venture into the narrow corridors. I didn’t have much time left, and this wasn’t the first broken front door that I’d seen. As they say, if you ever need a helping hand, it’s at the end of your arm.

* * *

I didn’t bother looking for a new bike since I didn’t have far to go. Boom! I winced at yet another explosion. It was closer and much louder this time. The authorities hadn’t given up hope of dealing with the Leviathan, and were trying different options, but without much success so far. It was as if the creature had been created to resist our technologies. Based on the news I regularly received on my phone, the army was taking credit for the fact that the chthonic monster was still drifting along the coast, and hadn’t clambered onto land or started to destroy the high-rise buildings. “It’s like frigging Godzilla.”

I was in a rotten mood. The closer I drew to the coast, the more I could see the damage caused by the tsunami. Although the result had been devastating on the west coast, the wave had been much weaker within the bay itself. Nevertheless, it looked thoroughly depressing with the algae, dead fish, shellfish and other sea creatures that I couldn’t even name. Overturned cars, garbage, human corpses, dead pets, even Slimes… Although there were relatively few corpses, fewer than I’d expected.

Despite the time of night, hundreds should have died. As far as I knew, the tsunami had appeared suddenly and close to the shore, so the warning had come too late. On the other hand, the water lacked the force to bring down multistory buildings, so the waves had crashed against them, quickly losing their destructive power.

“Are you sure you can’t see anyone?” I asked.

“Caw!” The raven, who’d returned from his reconnaissance mission, was indignant. “Perhaps there are people inside the buildings, but there is no one on the street!”

I sighed. I’d thought that the further we went, the more monsters would appear, and that I’d be forced to make the final part of my journey under Invisibility, but I was wrong. The streets were empty, well, no, there was a lot of garbage and bodies lying around, but no Slimes.

“If everything’s going too well, it means you’ve missed something.”

The unsettling situation was resolved when I heard gunshots and explosions coming from up ahead. When a person hears something like that, they normally stop and think about whether they needed to go there, but I just picked up my pace. This didn’t mean that I’d thrown caution to the winds.

“Legion, find out what’s going on. Just be careful!”

The raven made a circle above me and flew towards the sounds of battle. I’d already guessed the answer. What was the point of trawling through buildings and breaking down doors, with most apartments standing empty, then chasing after quick prey, when you could attack a place where hundreds, if not thousands, of people had gathered?

The raven returned almost immediately to confirm my suspicions. I ran through the pedestrian overpass and went for the finish line. Well, I would have, but I chose to hide in a multistory office building almost adjacent to the station, and figure out if I should reconsider my plans.

* * *

The station building was two stories tall, spanned the railway tracks and was connected by a covered and glazed walkway. It wasn’t the best place for defense, although the Japanese had done a great job. About a hundred soldiers, sandbags, machine guns... I guessed they’d come on the same train I was hoping to ride on.

The problem was that several hundred Slimes had gathered around the building and things weren’t going well for the local special forces. I certainly didn’t like what I was seeing. Tentacle monsters showed little reaction to being pierced by bullets, they’d sag a little, but if the core wasn’t damaged, soon resume moving.

Nevertheless, ten or so creatures had been turned into piles of slime. With such heavy fire, the Japanese forces sometimes hit the right spot by accident, or thanks to the right choice of weapon. Grenade launchers had proven to be the most effective, since Slime bodies were quite dense and the grenades would pierce the outer shell and detonate inside. Even if this didn’t annihilate the monster, it stopped it in its tracks for several minutes. Very small Slimes, the size of a dog, could be destroyed with a simple gun bullet.

However, this didn’t work on everyone. The largest creatures had formed a kind of armor, and although it wasn’t strong enough to protect them from bullets, the grenades couldn’t penetrate it. Only a freak accident could destroy the core in this case.

What would happen next? I was in no hurry to join the battle as I considered the chances of the local forces. Getting inside wasn’t a problem, but I’d have difficulty abandoning them afterwards.

“Bri, see what the situation is like inside. How many soldiers, players and civilians are there... Legion, you’re responsible for aerial reconnaissance.”

I opened the window to release the ghosts, and continued my surveillance. The defense was holding mainly because the monsters could only attack from a few directions. They couldn’t fly, they could hardly jump, and that was only the small monsters, they didn’t even think very well, so a machine gun placed at the right spot was quite capable of stopping them. After receiving a critical amount of damage and reassembling themselves into one piece, the creatures most often retreated to try to find a better way. Unfortunately, this would work for as long as the defenders had bullets, and I doubted that the soldiers had been given enough. In any case, as soon as the creatures drew back from the walls, the fire stopped immediately.

Victory? Only partially, for although the people inside were relatively safe, the assembly point wasn’t really an assembly point. Anyone who believed the TV and headed to the station would likely die at the tentacles of the tentacle monsters. Plus, the people inside couldn’t remain there forever. A train would arrive sooner or later, and they would need to reach it somehow. If the train didn’t arrive, they’d run out of ammunition and be devoured by the creatures.

The monsters had to be distracted, driven away or destroyed somehow. I had absolutely no idea how. Unless I went down there and killed them all myself? Yeah, right... as my grandfather always said, pull the other one, it’s got bells on.

* * *

“Testing, testing,” I changed the channels one by one on the walkie-talkie as I searched for the right one. “Tamachi Station, can you hear me?”

“Are you the helicopter pilot?” I had been expecting a reply, but it still came a shock. “When are you going to attack?”

“No, it’s not them. I’m one of the... superheroes. I was heading to the evacuation point, saw you fighting, and I’m now in a building nearby. Can I help you somehow?”

“Another...” the soldier swallowed the word he was about to utter. “Sorry, it’s the nerves. Listen, we have over a dozen Shinigami here, not counting the guy who’s already been eaten by the creatures, and they’re all gaijins. A ‘translator’ would come in handy, of course, but it won’t work. If you want to help, hang up a sign along the road that the station is under siege, and then go somewhere far away from here. These creatures have devoured five civilians before our eyes in the last half-hour, and I don’t want you be their next victim.”

It wasn’t hard to guess that the soldier had heard my Japanese and decided that he was speaking to a compatriot. I wasn’t going to disabuse him of the idea.

“Thank you for your concern,” I chuckled. “I’ll put up a sign, but I’m not leaving here. My skill allows me to reach you even through a cordon of monsters.”

“Then come after the helicopters have done their job. To avoid unnecessary questions, we called the helicopters an hour ago, but they’re occupied with other things. Have you heard about that thing in the harbor?”

“Yes, I have. By the way, how are you going with ammunition?”

“Not well. This is classified information, but I doubt you could pass it on to the octopuses, even if you wanted to. One more attack like we just had, and we’ll only have the superhero swords to count on. Maybe they’ll be good for seppuku.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “I’ll sort out the warnings, and then come to you. I want to see how things stand with my own eyes. Over and out.”

“Well, I warned you, young man. Over and out.”

* * *

Caution! Monsters ahead! The railway station is under siege! Don’t go there!

There were plenty of different establishments in the building, but I couldn’t find any cans of paint, so I wrote the warning using whatever I could, which was spicy ketchup. I had nothing to offer as advice to those who’d arrive here. If they were devoured by monsters, it would be through no fault of mine.

This sign was only the first… There was plenty of ketchup, so I had a lot of work ahead of me.

* * *

Everything ends sooner or later, both the ketchup and my passion for graffiti. After leaving about a dozen warnings around the perimeter, I decided not to wait any longer and find a way into the station before the helicopters arrived. Otherwise, the train could leave without me. I glanced at the timer.

Time remaining: 2 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds.

I decided to approach along the railway tracks, where there were just as many tentacle monsters, but more space to maneuver. Of course, I informed the soldiers of this by radio and checked that my route wasn’t mined, that they were waiting for me, and wouldn’t shoot me by accident.

The trip itself brought with it a sense of deja vu. I’d experienced something similar in the goblin city when I made my way past the undead horde and the Bone Horror. Nevertheless, the situation here turned out to be simpler and more complicated at the same time. There weren’t enough Slimes to block all the approaches, so I carefully moved in generous circles around them. I gave them a wide berth because the creatures could still sense me, despite the Invisibility. More precisely, they could sense the tiny trembling of the ground.

As soon as I drew too close, the tentacles would begin to wriggle anxiously, groping all around, and fellow creatures would gather around the one that had raised the alarm. Which made it much more difficult to escape the narrowing circle. Fortunately, they were easily distracted, a thrown stone easily making them switch their attention. Still, this feature put an end to my idea of hunting large groups of Slimes and killing them by myself. Even a random blow from the tentacle of a ‘mini-boss’ could easily send me to rebirth.

I had to be extremely careful. It was exciting, in a way, if I forgot that my life was on the line. I was about halfway there when I heard the vaguely familiar hum. Combat helicopters appeared in the sky, and swung around to prepare for attack.

I swore profusely, and did the only thing I could in this situation – I started running.

Chapter 18. The Station

THE CURRENT SITUATION differed from the previous one in that Overclocking was unavailable, so I had to rely on Strength, Speed, Reaction and Luck. Perhaps not on the latter, if I wanted to remain alive. My shirt was drenched in sweat at the very thought of what a rocket exploding near me could do.

“Caw! Do you want me to bring down these steel birds for you?” The raven suggested. “Your machines burn well if one strikes the right place!”

“Don’t even think about it!”

“Suit yourself… But you thought about it first.”

“Stop distracting me,” I waved him away. “Just stay out of the way, don’t reveal yourself, and cover my back.”

The bird cawed again and wheeled abruptly to the side. This exchange of thoughts took less than a second and didn’t interfere with my actions. I shifted to the left and jumped from the pocket track, used to park the trains and let them pass each other by, to the main tracks. This calmed me down immediately. Yes, I’d have to make a small detour, and there were more Slimes here, but the chance of being accidentally fired upon was much lower. The soldiers weren’t going to risk destroying the railway when they were planning to evacuate people along it. I hoped… There were, however, five railway tracks, and while some could be damaged or occupied, they probably didn’t all have strategic value.

Crap. Perhaps I shouldn’t have run at all, for the helicopters were circling overhead, in no hurry to attack. The monsters, on the other hand, despite being unable to see me, could sense the ground trembling and began to shift in my direction as soon as I picked up the pace. I could no longer afford to weave as I chose the best path, for the slightest delay could spell my end. Better if I simply avoided making any mistakes, unless I wanted to find myself in a ring of creatures and become a very interesting target for an air strike. Perhaps the military wouldn’t shoot missiles at such a cluster of monsters, but the helicopters also had machine guns…

I ducked, letting a tentacle as thick as my leg pass over my head, and barely had time to jump when another one snaked out at knee level. I rolled, leapt back to my feet and rushed forward, beyond the reach of the ‘mini-boss’. Son of a...

Thrusting my hand into the bag, I spun around, picked a suitable point, and threw a grenade slightly to the side. It was a RGD-5, fragments of which flew in a radius of ten to fifteen meters. A very inspiring idea. There was an explosion behind me, but my calculations had been correct and the fragments didn’t reach me. The tentacle monsters froze for a second, allowing me to slip through the rapidly closing circle and break out into more open space.

“Damn it to hell.” The Kinetic Shield winked, indicating that it had deflected a bullet, and a moment later I heard the burst of a machine gun. Apparently, someone’s nerves had given out or he’d decided to warn his friends about the next monster attack.

“Bastard!” I shifted to the right and dropped Invisibility, allowing everyone to see me. Both allies and monsters. The shooting stopped, though not immediately, but now I was really out of time. If the Slimes had only suspected my presence before, now they knew I was here, and were desperate to get to know me.

The machine gun peeking out of a hole in the walkway came to life, but it wasn’t shooting at me this time. It was firing at the creatures to my left, trying to help in some way. Or apologize for the past mistake? I automatically struck a small spider-like creature with my spear, which had suddenly popped out from somewhere, and activated Split Stone at the same time.

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (114/200)

The creature was literally torn apart, but there was no time to see if a card fell out. The flow of energy passed through my body, and bits of monster flesh struck the Kinetic Shield, but this didn’t slow me down at all. The last few meters... Legion cawed cheerfully somewhere nearby and a fire blossomed. I hoped he hadn’t struck the machine gunner.

My eyes were fixed on the door, which was surprisingly still in place, and almost undamaged by the creatures’ previous attacks. Probably because, in this world of glass and plastic, the service door was made of steel. They were waiting for me, a soldier holding the door open, and gesturing for me to hurry. A couple of his comrades with submachine guns were monitoring my approach.

I could already see myself bursting inside, but my foot caught on something, and I rolled, barely keeping my head from slamming into the rail. It wasn’t clumsiness, I’d been unlucky enough to step on a small Slime hiding in a dip in the ground... The meeting hadn’t gone well for it, either, for I had literally pulverized it. Although it was still moving, it no longer posed any danger.

“Crystal!” The raven swooped down from above and, ignoring the acid, tore out the monster’s heart. If this Slime possessed any Luck, it had to be even worse than mine.

Propping myself up on one elbow, I glanced at the people meeting me. Clearly, none of them were prepared to leave the safety of the building to help me. On the contrary, they were staring at something behind me, and from their expressions I realized that I hadn’t left the Slimes far behind like I’d thought. They could see what I couldn’t.

“Hurry up! What are you laying there for?”

Ignoring the pain, I jumped up and raced forward a couple of meters, but the injured leg failed me again, and I dropped to my knee. Dislocation or fracture? Idiot... Healing... the mana bar dropped to zero, leaving me without the Kinetic Shield, but the pain disappeared, allowing me to rise, cover the last few meters, clamber onto the platform and burst through the doorway. The door slammed shut, and a couple of seconds later, I heard a thud. It was too weak to break through the door, and then we heard the first explosion and machine-gun fire outside, making the tentacle monsters lose interest in us.

“Wow, so you made it,” one of the soldiers monitoring the door chuckled. “I thought you were a goner for sure. There go my ten thousand yen.”

I automatically converted the local currency into dollars. My life was worth one hundred bucks. I felt a little hurt.

“You should have placed more on me. I had it all under control.”

I unclenched my hand and saw that I was still holding the return card. When had I pulled it out? Why hadn’t I used it? Man, this was all harder than I thought.

“Alright, let’s go. Captain Isida ordered us to bring you to him.”

* * *

I glanced around a little as we walked. The station building was packed with hundreds of people, perhaps over a thousand. Men, women and children... there were plenty of foreigners, which wasn’t surprising as there were several hotels nearby, and the airport was close by. There was also a large military presence, but the soldiers kept themselves apart and didn’t inspire much confidence. They clearly weren’t special forces and had been randomly pulled in here. I saw both police and members of the militia in civilian clothes, including women.

“There are a lot of people,” I struck up a conversation, twirling a rapidly shrinking mana crystal in my fingers. The raven had remained outside, so he couldn’t interject at this point.

“That’s right,” the guide readily replied. “There weren’t many monsters for the first couple of hours, so many people managed to reach the station. We even ventured out to help the residents of nearby houses. Unfortunately, the monsters then gathered around the station, so we had to withdraw inside the building.”

“Any problems?”

There was an explosion and the crackle of a machine gun, reminding me that there were certainly problems, at least outside.

“Eh?” my guide said. “It’s been relatively calm. A couple of meltdowns, a fight, a heart attack, things like that. There’s a cafe in the building, so we’ve got food for now. Although there’s nothing to cook it on, since the electricity’s been cut off.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed. What about water?”

“We have running water. We’re in the capital, you know, we have an excellent filtration system. The tap water here is cleaner than bottled water.”

“That is impressive.”

I put the depleted crystal back into my bag and took out the next one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t replenish my strategic resource from the tentacle monsters.

* * *

“What’s wrong with your eyes, kid?” The commander in question, wearing a rumpled army uniform, stared intently at my face. “You don’t look like the man we’ve been waiting for. Although such coincidences don’t exist, yes? You understand what I’m saying?”

“Indeed,” I nodded. “I speak Japanese perfectly.”

“Sorry, you don’t look like you’re Japanese. Are you hafu?” I assumed he meant half-Japanese. “Or a Yankee?”

“No, I’m Russian.”

“Oh, great. Well, since you’re here and you know our language, you can interpret my words for the other... superheroes. None of them can speak our language, and only half understand English, at best.”

Yes, it was like a game of broken telephone... the more people were in the chain, the less accurate was the message that the last person heard, compared to what had been said originally. Although I was sure that the captain could have conveyed the information without me…

“What exactly am I supposed to tell them?”

“Information. The helicopters are going to clear the area around the station, and then they’ll return to base, to reload and such. The train is on its way, so we’ll need to ensure that the civilians can board safely.”

“You want the superheroes to help you?”

“Hilarious,” he snorted. “I want to make sure that you people don’t get in the way or distract my soldiers with inappropriate demands. This is Japan, our laws apply here, and we don’t hand heavy weapons out to civilians, especially to foreigners. You can all thank me for not taking away your swords and spears.”

I decided not to remind him that Japan had recently signed an “international memorandum of cooperation to defend against invasions” and he had no right to do something like that. I suspected he knew that himself. “Are you sure? You don’t have that many soldiers. It would be better if you let us help.”

“It would be better if some clowns in tights and masks minded their own business. I was ordered to ensure everyone’s safety, including yours, and I will ensure it, whether you want it or not. So, will you do what I’ve asked, or are you going to keep wasting my time?”

“Certainly. I’m glad to be of assistance.” I nodded. This was going to be tricky.

* * *

The ‘over a dozen supers’ I’d heard about, turned out to be sixteen people. Ten men and six women. They all had different levels, mostly Level 2 or 3, but a couple of players only had the first level, three had Level 4, and one had even reached Level 5. I could vaguely remember at least four of those present, whom I’d crossed paths with during the second mission, and they certainly remembered me. The strongest person present was Diego, a follower of Inti, who had a useful ability to create an Energy Shield. It worked well against goblin arrows, but I wasn’t sure it would work against bullets.

“Attention!” the commander began his speech. “I am Captain Isida.”

“Attention, everyone!” After diving into the settings for a second, I revealed my nickname and level to everyone. “I am Vasily, one of the Alliance leaders. Perhaps some of you have heard of me? Well, this man is Captain Isida, and he is responsible for the defense of the station. I’m guessing you know him already, too. He asked me to convey his wishes to you…”

“I only gave my name and rank,” the captain interrupted. “Why is your speech so long? We don’t have much time.”

“I introduced myself and outlined what was happening. Don’t worry, I’ve conveyed your words accurately. Please continue.”

“Following the orders I have received from the government, I must protect civilians and ensure their evacuation. This applies both to the citizens of this country and tourists like you.”

Tourists? I stared at Captain Isida to figure out if he was joking, but his face was completely unreadable. Fine, he had his own goals, and I had my own.

“The captain says that duty requires him to protect civilians, which includes you and me. However, I’m not here to interpret his speech. I have something to tell you myself.” I switched to Japanese again. “Go on, captain.”

“The train is on its way! Once the helicopters are done, we will leave the building to finish off the surviving monsters and ensure the train is safe for boarding. Your task is simple – do not get in the way of us doing our job! Forget your superpowers, stay together with the other civilians, do not rush into battle, and everything will be fine.”

The captain stopped, giving me the chance to interpret what he’d said. It was strange, really. Why did he care so much about our safety? He apparently disliked superheroes, so what was stopping him from throwing us into the melee?

“I assume you already know about the helicopters.” I began. “As soon as they’ve finished, the military will head outside to finish off the wounded Slimes. The captain insists that we do not interfere.” I paused for a second. “However, on behalf of the Alliance, I strongly recommend the opposite and encourage you to at least fulfill the secondary objective. In other words, each of you should finish off one monster and avoid leaving the location before the mission expires.”

“Not leave the location?” One of the players interrupted. “Where are the boundaries of this location, then? Wouldn’t it be better to get on that damn train and away from this nightmare?”

“I don’t know exactly. According to my information, the location is quite large, but the boundary is tied to the Leviathan. However, I know players who are fifty kilometers away from here and still haven’t left the mission zone. We should keep that in mind.”

“Are you suggesting that we ignore the words of an official representative?”

“This fellow has his own recommendations, and I have my own. Everyone can decide for themselves whom to listen to and whether to listen at all. Just don’t blame me if you don’t like the consequences. If you survive, of course.” I smiled. Well, I’d done everything I could in this case. I warned them. Some may say it wasn’t enough, but I’d given the players a chance, and whether they used it wasn’t my concern.

“What are you arguing about?” Captain Isida twitched his cheek nervously.

“They’re eager to fight, Captain,” I complained. “Can’t you see? I’m trying to convince them that it’s wiser to obey your orders, but they don’t consider themselves civilians… They don’t want to hide behind other people’s backs when they can help.”

“As if they have a choice.”

“Japan signed a memorandum a few days ago,” I reminded him. “You’ve heard about it, haven’t you?”

“Tch, I’m just wasting my time here,” the captain growled. “Tell them that I can’t guarantee the safety of those who decide to venture outside. If the monsters grab them, my soldiers won’t lift a finger to save them. That’s it, I don’t have time for you anymore.”

I watched the captain leave. What was that? He’d given up awfully easily, as if his resistance had been purely formal. For example, because he’d received such orders…

“What did he say?”

I chuckled… Perhaps I’d discovered new facets of an interpreter’s job. It was like that Awkward Puppets video about the Spanish translator. She just admitted stealing from the bar herself.

“Captain Isida has gone to prepare for the operation. He gave his permission for volunteers to step forward from among the players, but he cannot guarantee our safety. From my perspective, this is going to be the best time to complete the first half of the mission. The Slimes will be wounded and weak, we’ll have cover from the military, plus the emergency evacuation. A chance like this won’t come again, but it is up to you to decide.”

* * *

The helicopters did their job quickly, then flew far, far away to replenish their ammunition and such. The military’s first step was to rush outside and soon return with several impressively large containers in tow. They contained weapons and ammunition, with heavy weaponry predominating. A couple of machine guns were immediately dragged upstairs, to be installed in the passageway.

“You came anyway?” the captain openly grimaced. “Fine, just don’t get in the way.”

To my surprise, everyone had followed my advice without exception. Although there must have been some players who’d already finished off their monster and could have sat this one out. The Japanese soldiers hadn’t given us any weapons, but I corrected this injustice by sharing my stores. For the moment, we kept the guns in our bags so as not to annoy the locals even further. Perhaps I was showing poor judgement, but I refused to believe that one of them would repeat Herald’s mistake and shoot me in the back. People rarely stab each other in the back if it gets them nothing. You’d need to be utterly insane to try to pull this off with all these witnesses present, and while being surrounded by enemies.

The military went out first, leaving only a small guard behind. I followed them to inspect the carnage… The helicopters had done a stellar job, if not annihilating, then driving away the Slimes. There were puddles of slime and monsters trying to pull themselves together again as far as the eye could see. Given a bit of time, they would regrow their tentacles and become just as dangerous as before, but right now, they were quite defenselessness.

I spotted the largest of the surviving monsters. It was a chunky Level 9 Slime, the same bastard that had almost gotten me before. At least, I wanted to think so.

“This one’s mine!” Dick, one of the Level 2 players, rushed to the prey I’d set my sights on. I guessed he had a scanning skill of some kind, since he was painfully confident in his actions.

“Wait! Be caref...”

The warning came too late. The dying tentacle monster whipped its only surviving tentacle around, easily ran Dick right through, and lifted him off the ground to pull him closer. My healing ability wasn’t going to be of much use here, judging by how abruptly the player’s nickname disappeared and by the fact that the monster’s level increased by one. What we needed was a grave digger.

This wasn’t a good start, but it would remind the others to be careful. I was now quite close to the monster, so I retreated into Invisibility as soon as I spotted the crystal. The creature’s single tentacle was otherwise occupied, so nothing stopped me from running up and striking the Slime. It was a seasoned monster, and its ‘heart’ was hidden deep inside the flesh. As soon as my spear became stuck, I poured most of my mana reserve into Split Stone.

Attention! You have gained 100 SP! (214/200)

Attention! You have reached Level 11! (14\220)

Having reached this level, I could theoretically accumulate enough experience points to bring one of my E-ranked skills up to level 2. But it was too early to think about this.

I barely managed to stay on my feet, almost falling into the puddle of slime. The creature had flooded the ground around me in its death. I hoped the acid wasn’t strong enough to melt the rails. The sleepers weren’t wooden either.

By the time my head had cleared a little, the cleanup was almost over, although not all the monsters had been used for experience points. As it turned out, the soldiers had their own way of dealing with the creatures. They usually threw a grenade at a Slime, which it would cheerfully swallow, and the internal explosion produced a miraculous effect. The smaller creatures lacked the resilience of the mothership. They would survive occasionally, but more often than not, they turned into a puddle of slime. It was thus important to throw the grenade accurately and avoid the resulting shrapnel…

After making sure that my boots could still withstand the acid, I waded into the puddle, grabbed the card hovering in the air, and hurriedly left. Let’s see… Identification.

Acidic Blood

Class: E.

Level: 1/5.

Description:

— Passive skill. Gradually converts your blood into a weak acid, while preserving its former properties.

Additionally:

— Incompatible with your race. Fatal outcome is likely.

Saturation:

100/100 SP

A very sophisticated method of suicide. Indeed, a guaranteed method, since a person couldn’t possible survive with acid flowing through their veins. Even if you were lucky enough to be resurrected, the skill was passive, which meant that it would immediately kill you again. It felt like the full saturation was mocking me, a huge pile of experience points that I couldn’t obtain in any way.

Moreover, looking at the card in my hand, I experienced the strange feeling one gets when standing at the edge of a precipice, on a platform watching the approaching train, or in other places where you know that a single step would mean your death. A frightening, irrational feeling.

“Hey, Skye, come here.” I shook my head, breaking the spell. “Help me out, please.”

Together with another player, I pulled the body out of the puddle and wrapped it in a piece of cloth, before dropping it into my bag. His relatives would surely prefer to receive the body when it could still be identified.

I clutched another crystal in my hand. Killing the creature had not only brought me a lot of experience and deep moral satisfaction, but had nearly drained all my mana again.

“Caw!” There came a flapping of wings above me. Legion looked so depressed that I immediately realized that something very, very bad had happened.

“Did you lose the crystal?”

“I swallowed it!” The raven wailed. “Such a waste!”

If I understood correctly, it wouldn’t come out naturally because it would dissolve in the body. So, swallowing a crystal could be considered an irretrievable loss. What a terrible tragedy...

* * *

Taking advantage of the fact that nothing was being required of me, I checked the timer. A little less than two hours remained until the end of the mission, which was plenty of time to board the train and reach the station. What about losses?

Remaining players: 943/1000

Little more than five percent... not bad for a mission like this, although I wouldn’t call the losses small. Yet it was far from the disaster I’d secretly expected. Had I made a mistake?

“It’s not over yet!” the captain was shouting. “Assume perimeter defense! Check the rails, the train should be arriving on the third track! Start slowly bringing out the civilians! Make sure that nobody steps into the puddles!”

We had discussed all this in advance, so people knew what to do without this valuable guidance. The captain was right about one thing, for I also had doubts that everything would end so simply. Helicopters were awesome, of course, but they couldn’t finish off all the monsters at once. The tricky urban conditions, plenty of places to take cover, the need to protect strategic objects, and, last but not least, limited ammunition. How many helicopters were there? I’d seen six or seven... and where were the other tentacle monsters?

I sent the raven out to investigate. I didn’t like what he found: even a quick flyover showed that the creatures hadn’t gone far. Moreover, reinforcements were gathering around them. Still, there was nothing we could do about it. We just had to hope we could get out of here before it was too late.

The next ten minutes were relatively quiet. The military were digging in, the civilians headed to the platform, and I was almost convinced that the evacuation would go without a hitch. However, I wasn’t convinced enough to distribute the points I’d received for this level. I preferred to wait five minutes and do it from the safety of the railway carriage.

“The train, the train is coming!”

The people remaining inside the building rushed outside before it had even come to a complete stop. The cheers quickly subsided. The locomotive passed by the platform, dragging only twenty or so cars behind it, and stopped. Well, yes, an autonomous diesel locomotive couldn’t pull too many loaded cars. There were twenty stations on the line, and each one had hundreds of refugees. Our station hadn’t been the first… I doubted that more than three hundred passengers would fit into a carriage, no matter how hard we packed them in. I guessed the train could take our people, but further stops would be limited.

“Monsters! Stand to!”

The train doors opened, but the situation took an abrupt turn before boarding could even begin. There were screams, gunfire and explosions. The Slimes, which had been lurking nearby all this time, had launched another attack. This was bad. Very, very bad.

Chapter 19. The Battle

ALTHOUGH Overclocking was out, the high Intelligence allowed me to think faster, so that time seemed to pass more slowly. A slight difference, but enough to allow me extraneous thoughts even in critical situations, such as the current one.

Thanks to the raven, I could see the whole picture as well as the military, who had a drone and a communication channel that players had no access to. Slimes were approaching from all directions in shockingly large numbers, even more so than initially. Moreover, the main attack didn’t come from the right or the left, along the railway track, but from the sea. Fortunately, the train itself was protecting us from the onslaught. Not all of us, for a rearguard remained on the other side of the tracks, ten or so soldiers with a machine gun. I suspected that they were done for.

“Don’t panic!” Isida’s voice rang out. “Stop the creatures at any cost! Do not use heavy weapons, you might clip the train. Only grenades! Civilians are to continue boarding. The elderly, women and children go first!”

I didn’t know if it helped, because the civilians were clearly close to panicking, and the soldiers were already shooting. We had nowhere to retreat to, for shots were also being fired from the station building, and the doors were too narrow to let this crowd back in quickly enough.

“Nobody move, this is an order from the Alliance! Support the military!” I shouted, having made my decision. “Use under-barrel grenade launchers! Just be careful!”

Isida was right. The carriages were far from empty. Even grenade fragments could easily hit someone inside, but we had no choice — we couldn’t do anything with just bullets. We had only one chance to hold off the wave of monsters, get on the train and leave before it was too late. Or get on the train at once... Four players had apparently remembered their civilian status and showed no intention of fighting, pushing through the crowd towards the cars. Smart bastards, but I wasn’t going to let them forget it. By accepting my weapons and following me, they had also assumed certain obligations. So I regarded their quite natural desire to escape as desertion. A flash of rage, and I caught myself raising the submachine gun and seriously thinking of firing after them. No, damn it.

Activate the Calculating Mind?

Yes/No

I usually avoided this kind of doping, but this situation was different, and months of regular use enabled me to control the state of calm. Therefore, although it seemed rational at first glance to race aboard the train, abandoning the others, I was able to keep in mind the other aspects. Reputation, conscience, public opinion… I had little concern for such ephemeral things right now, but I knew that everything would change in the future. Of course, survival came first, but running to take a seat on the train in front of thousands of witnesses, or disappearing from the mission was irrational. It was irrational even if I thought they might all be eventually devoured by monsters.

“Dear passengers, the doors are closing,” came the automated voice. “The next station is Hamamatsu.”

“No!” The screams merged into a cacophony of sound. “You bastards! They’re closing the doors! Help, I’m stuck! They’re trying to leave us here!”

That was rational, but there was another possibility. The train stretched for almost half a kilometer, but the boarding was taking place on a very small area in front of the station. The area that the military could defend. Unfortunately, trains were designed in such a way that it was impossible to open or close only some of the doors, since they were automatic. Well, it was possible, but it would take time. All the doors on our side were open initially, but now the driver had no choice but to close them all. The first Slimes had reached the train and would have gotten inside if he hadn’t shut the doors in time. Of course, there were guards inside, but it was hard to fight tough monsters in a crowded carriage. A small creature could simply be stamped on, but the trick wouldn’t work with the larger Slimes. The most the guards could do was smash the glass and shoot from the windows…

“Calm down!” I yelled, trying to quell the growing panic. “This is just a measure to protect the back carriages! The doors will open again in a moment! Wait a bit!”

This had little effect, there was a jangle of broken glass and screams of pain. People tried to clamber onto the train through the windows. Vandalism, but a good idea on the whole. There was considerable chaos in what was happening. Despite the orders, some of the passengers had left the cordon, hoping to sit in a different carriage, but not everyone had succeeded. Now the losers were running back, zigzagging between monsters and preventing the soldiers from shooting.

“Get out of the way!” One of the soldiers shouted.

“Continue fire!” Isida snarled. “Otherwise, none of us will leave here! I don’t care about the train, throw the grenades as they get closer!”

The fear of monsters was stronger, so the pause didn’t last long, and the shooting resumed with renewed vigor. A man fell, catching a bullet, then another, while the others preferred to switch to crawling. I finally got a good look at our enemies. Small, dog-sized Slimes ran ahead, their tentacles scuttling along the ground, looking more like spiders than tentacle monsters. The bullets knocked them down one by one, but most got up again, and there were clearly too many.

“How many are there?!” swore Nagi, one of the players, as he nervously changed the magazine. “Aim better if you don’t all want to die here!”

It was irrational to use a machine gun in this situation, so I hadn’t fired a single shot so far. We needed something radical here, so I took the flamethrower out of the bag. I had several with me, but I hadn’t dared to give them to my allies. It was too terrible a thing in the hands of an amateur.

“Cover me!” I took several steps to the side to get a better view.

How did it go… handle down, cock the trigger mechanism, raise the leaf sight, set the range, move the safety catch…

“What are you doing?” I turned my head to find that Isida had spotted my ‘trump card’ and wasn’t the least delighted. At least, I didn’t think he was pointing a gun at me for fun. “I’m ordering you to stop!”

I could understand him. It wasn’t far from the train to the walls of the station or the surrounding buildings, while a rocket incinerated everything alive on an area of up to eighty square meters. If I made a mistake, I’d damage the train, and we’d all be doomed. A particularly poor shot, say, under my own feet, could completely put an end to this battle, turning thousands of people into corpses. But I wasn’t going to make a mistake because I’d already made the calculations. We couldn’t shoot at the head of the train, but the train had moved far enough forward that I could try to shoot beyond its tail.

“You can’t order a civilian around, Captain. It’s not rational.”

The Kinetic Shield allowed me to ignore his threat. Right now, it was significantly lower than the one posed by the creatures. Of course, there was a possibility that he’d decide to use a machine gun, so I positioned myself behind the civilians. It was shameful, yet rational… A monster fell ten meters away, knocked down by someone’s bullet. Diego took a step forward to stand beside me and raised his hand, in which a bluish energy shield appeared. I noticed that several players also pointed their weapons at the captain. Irrational, but I tried to remember them, too.

I stopped paying attention to these distractions, took aim and smoothly pulled the trigger. The shot was almost perfect — the flaming flower narrowly missed the last car but engulfed at least three dozen creatures, including four largish ones. The ones closer to the center were shredded and incinerated, but those around the edges only rolled along the ground, rapidly losing tentacles and excess flesh, but apparently still alive. Alas, there was no wall of fire, for the mixture burned strongly but very briefly, and there was nothing to help it spread here.

“Fire! We need more fire!” the raven cawed eagerly in my head, spitting a clot of flame at a spider. Apparently, he was a pyromaniac as well as a lover of crystals.

Unfortunately, I could only reach those who were far away from us, so the flamethrower didn’t solve the problem, it simply gave us a chance to hold out for a little longer. If our opponents had been goblins, they would have most likely fled, but the Slimes didn’t even flinch. They only seemed to care about their own injuries, with those who’d received critical damage preferring to crawl in the opposite direction.

“Good shot,” Diego muttered.

I threw away the useless tube and looked to my left, spotting a mark in his shield with a bunch of cracks spreading out from it. Apparently his shield could withstand bullets, at least gun ones.

“Thanks, Diego.” I nodded. It was a little unexpected, considering that I wasn’t not on the best terms with his divine patron.

I shifted my gaze to Isida. At any other time, I’d have been angry or offended, but now it was irrational. Why continue the conflict when we’re all about to be gobbled up?

“I assume that was a misunderstanding, Officer?”

“A misunderstanding? One mistake and you could have killed us all!” He lowered the gun. “I forbid you to use such weapons! The next shot will not be a warning one.”

“Whatever you say, officer,” I nodded, declining the raven’s suggestion to burn the bastard to the ground. As well as the ghost’s offer to suck the life out of him. “Did you hear everything? It’s all right!”

Revenge is irrational. At least during battle. And not even after it. Isida had already done enough to earn the title of a national hero or go to jail for the rest of his life. It all depended on the outcome of this battle, the media’s position, and the government’s decision.

I raised the submachine gun and fired a burst in the direction of our real enemies.

* * *

The evacuation continued. My assumption turned out to be correct — the train driver didn’t dare leave, thus abandoning a thousand people to certain death, and the doors of some of the cars reopened. Manually and sometimes incompletely. Only two carriages were under our control, so the boarding was quite slow, besides, there were already people inside, so there was a jam when some tried to move further along the train to make room for the new passengers, while those already there didn’t want to shift. Some passengers continued to climb through the windows, further complicating the situation…

“Hold your position! Not a step back!”

Despite the shouts, we were clearly losing and suffering casualties. Although some of the creatures stopped before they reached our ranks, the soldiers were dying one by one. There were losses among the players as well. Two were already dead and I’d made sure that their bags had been collected.

“Damn it to hell.”

A random spider, who’d successfully dodged the bullets, leapt up, slashing a tentacled bone blade across the throat of the machine gunner, then slipped further into the crowd.

“Ben, Skye, take care of it!”

The players I named rushed after the Slime, but their help was no longer needed. Despite the increased level, the creature’s size let it down, so after striking several chaotic blows, it was trampled to death and exploded, dousing those around it with poisonous slime. The fallen civilians were dragged to the side so that they wouldn’t be crushed, and I threw them a couple of bandages, but it was irrational to waste any more time on them.

“God, how many of them are there? And where are the damn helicopters?”

Alas, the helicopters still hadn’t returned, and they would have been of little use. They wouldn’t be able to fire their missiles for the same reasons that we couldn’t use heavy weapons. We had little chance of success otherwise… Although we were still holding out, the screams and shots had fallen silent on the other side of the train, for the guards there were all dead. Perhaps someone had managed to climb through the train window or escape, but it made no difference to us. Surprisingly, the military had remained relatively ordered. Only one had tried to escape, but the captain had immediately shot him.

I’d already shared around most of my stock of weapons and ammunition, but they were disappearing at a tremendous speed. It didn’t take much brains to shoot, so I had time to analyze the situation. What made these creatures attack us at all? They should have realized by now that we weren’t easy prey, yet they just kept coming. Perhaps they also had their own quest? Like ‘kill ten people and return to your native swamp’?

We had almost succeeded, with only a few hundred civilians remaining on the platform, when the whole thing collapsed like a house of cards.

“Below us!” Nagi shouted, jumping away from the train as tentacles snaked out from under it.

Some of the passengers were less lucky and the tentacles wrapped around their legs, trying to drag them under the carriage. The gap was small, however, so the people couldn’t fit. The creatures struggled to squeeze through, but their sharp bone growths allowed them to quickly finish off their captives, which also impeded the evacuation. Now trying to get into the carriage was turning into a dangerous undertaking. Considering whom we were dealing with, I had no doubt that the Slimes would eventually clamber out onto the platform.

“Maybe we should push a grenade in there?” someone from the military suggested.

“No!” I interrupted the genius. “Protect the passengers! Cut off the tentacles! Use the System weapons!”

For a short while, twenty seconds or so, I even thought that we would succeed, but it was an illusion…

“Above you!” the warning came from the ghost this time.

I looked up and realized that it was all over. The machine guns that had been covering us from the overpass overhead had fallen silent, and the screams of their crews had gone almost unnoticed in the general mayhem.

The Calculating Mind was still working, so I didn’t feel any unnecessary emotions about this. It was just another fact to consider. One of the firing points was directly above the train and had provided cover from both sides of the train, but this now worked against us. The creatures who’d broken into the overpass couldn’t quickly break out of it again, but nothing stopped them from using the already prepared hole. Dozens of creatures rained down on the roof of the train, and most couldn’t stay on the smooth surface.

“Get back! Above you! Watch out!”

Some of the players jumped back, but my warning came a little late. The Slimes slid down and immediately started killing. They slaughtered about a dozen passengers and three more players in a matter of seconds. The creatures’ levels grew before my eyes.

“The next station is Hamamatsu,” the soulless female voice informed us again and this time, it wasn’t a trick.

The train started moving without even trying to close the doors, crippling people and crushing the Slimes beneath it. Some of the creatures tried to jump aboard, but only a few ‘lucky ones’ succeeded... or unlucky ones, depending on whether the guards could quickly deal with the Slimes who’d managed to get inside the crowded cars. Otherwise, the monsters would cause a massacre, grow fat with the points, and the train would become one giant trap.

I assessed my prospects and remained on the platform. The chances of making it were small, and the risk was irrational. My plan had failed and I needed a new one. A plan in which I wouldn’t be devoured by dozens of the nearby creatures. Step one, clearly, was to run away.

* * *

“I’ll clear the way for us!” I pulled the Shmel out of the bag again and, almost without aiming, fired it in the direction I’d chosen for escape. Some of the creatures who’d approached from the coast were trying to crawl around the train, and the fact that it had started moving allowed me to get many of them, creating a gap in the patchy crowd.

“To the train station!” the captain shouted. “We can hide inside!”

“You can’t, there are creatures inside!” I waved my hand. “We should make a break along the station, to the right!” Or to the left, now that I have turned to face the station. But how else to indicate the direction?

There was one thing none of us had any doubt about — we needed to run, and those who couldn’t run were doomed. Although the weakest should have been the first to board the train, most people abandon all pretenses of politeness when their life is under threat. Plenty of old men and women remained on the platform, but at least I didn’t see any children. There were also wounded people, and if the captain’s plan gave them an illusory chance of survival, mine obviously doomed them to death.

“You!” Isida must have said something else, but I was no longer listening.

It was irrational to waste the precious seconds, so I ran. The train had drawn away from the station, and the creatures were now disturbingly close. Their first victims were civilians again, buying the rest of us a little time.

Most of the surviving players ran after me, as well as some of the military and civilians. I stopped along the way, and, with the help of a glove, threw a couple of the barely moving, charred clumps into my bag. I doubted that the Slimes would survive the journey, but the scientists would be happy even with the corpses.

I glanced over my shoulder in the last moment to check how many creatures were crawling after us, but most were more interested in the people remaining at the station. There was a stampede at the door, then everything collapsed when a huge tentacle smashed through the glass and snaked out of the window. The station was also occupied by the Slimes… We had completely lost this battle.

Interlude. Isida.

CAPTAIN ISIDA RAISED HIS GUN and fired at the approaching creature. It was pointless, but he emptied the clip without even keeping one bullet for himself, then threw the weapon after it. He didn’t use the gun because he was dumb, but because his job was to monitor the situation and command the troops, not to fight the monsters directly. It was too easy to get carried away, to succumb to the temptation to fire a volley into the creatures and lose control of the situation. Although it had still happened in the end.

“Retreat!” He yelled. “It’s over! Try to break through alone!”

That blaster ‘super’ had been right, it was stupid to try to protect everyone. A mistake… Isida didn’t blame himself for what was happening, for even monkeys fall from trees. The academy hadn’t prepared him for a situation like this, and he’d done everything he could, even more. It just hadn’t been enough, and now he would wash away the shame of defeat with blood.

The captain instinctively backed away, not wanting to die. He was physically strong and could have attempted to get away, but it was one thing to fall in battle, protecting the civilians to the last, and quite another to run away, abandoning them to certain death. If he died, he’d become a hero his family would be proud of, but if he remained alive, he’d only be a scapegoat for the politicians.

Isida took another step back, and found that there was a wall behind him. People nearby were dying one by one, screaming and begging for mercy. He didn’t want to suffer the same fate… Picking out the largest creature with his eyes, he drew a grenade out of his pocket, pulled out the pin, and jumped, trying to push it as far as possible into the enemy’s flesh. He endured the pain for a few seconds, then opened his fingers, allowing the grenade to explode. It was a death worthy of a samurai.

Chapter 20. The Trap

THE FLAME FLOWER created a corridor through which most of us who’d chosen ‘flight’ managed to slip through. Those who remained at the station drew a significant portion of the Slimes towards them, if only because they were closer. Unfortunately, there were plenty of creatures left over for us, too.

Attention! The mana level has dropped below half!

Deactivate the Calculating Mind?

Yes (rational)/No (rational)

Unlike the legendary donkey, who’d have starved to death in this case, I didn’t hesitate to choose the first option. The skill’s effect vanished, leaving me alone with my emotions, which weren’t too pleasant given everything that was happening. At least the mana consumption had decreased, and my desire to escape by dropping the ‘ballast’, while not completely disappearing, ceased to appear a facet of rationality. Conscience and principles in general weren’t very conducive to serving one’s personal interests. I had to look for compromises.

“And yet...” I spun around, slicing through a spider and simultaneously releasing two dozen mana units through the spear. It was enough for the blow to be fatal and the Slime’s heart to shatter.

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (16/220)

There was no time to check if a card would appear, so I turned and ran to put some distance between me and the approaching creatures. Although the spiders were quite fast, they still couldn’t keep up with humans, not least because they were too small.

“On the left!” Bri warned me.

I could barely feel the ghost clinging to my shoulders, but it served as the eyes on the back of my head, allowing me to monitor the situation from almost every direction. Like now, when a spider that leapt at me from the side was knocked down with an ease that frightened even myself.

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (18/220)

I looked at the approaching horde. The perfect target for grinding? (Author’s note: grinding is a game term meaning repetitive, low-risk actions aimed at obtaining benefits, such as experience points).

No, it was too hazardous an attraction. Even if I was certain that I could eliminate a single creature, they provided only dribbles of experience points, yet preferred to attack in groups. They were small, quite fast and mobile, and nearly all of them had claws at the end of their tentacles, so that a dozen spiders could easily finish me off. A single, even minor mistake, was all that stood between me and death. And not just me.

“Get up if you want to live!”

I bent down, helping a fallen man to get back on his feet, literally dragging him a couple of meters, and only let go once I was sure that he could move on his own. Damn… Perhaps I’d been too hasty in switching off the Calculating Mind. I still had a store of crystals, so I could hold out under the effect until the end of the mission.

“We stick together!” I shouted in Japanese. “Watch your feet, and don’t leave behind people who fall! Those of you who have weapons, cover our flanks!”

It was utter chaos all around me. Some of the fugitives had scattered, even though our surroundings weren’t conducive to such maneuvers, with multi-story buildings on the right and fences on the left. The shore wasn’t the best direction in this instance. From what I’d seen, the low-level spiders came from there. It wasn’t for nothing that the Leviathan had been called the mothership in the briefing, and it seemed that it had recently spat out a new batch of babies. I had to admit that they were well suited to combat. The adaptability of these creatures was quite disturbing: color, tentacles, claws, different behaviors… What would be next? Would they grow wings and learn to spit acid?

“I hate Slimes.”

There was a heart-rending scream on my left, and, turning my head, I saw several spiders knock down a man, quickly stabbing him with their claws. He would have jumped over the fence if he’d had another couple of seconds. As usual, despite all my efforts, I couldn’t protect everyone.

“Don’t stop!”

The smallest delay would allow the creatures to catch up to us, and if a battle began here, monster reinforcements would arrive from the station and few of us would survive. Perhaps it would be only me. It was odd, but despite witnessing so many deaths, I was slowly beginning to believe in my own immortality. It’s wasn’t even the return card. Logically, I knew that any mistake could be my last, but at the same time, I didn’t believe that I could really die. It was a dangerous and harmful feeling.

Thanks to my maximum Stamina, I easily overtook most of the fugitives, pulling into the lead. I glanced at the Stamina bar for a moment. I didn’t think about it often, preferring to focus on sensations, but now it was a little more than three-quarters full.

“Keep going!” I felt a strange lightness. “The overpass slopes upwards, that’s where we need to go!”

It wasn’t for nothing that I’d spent an extra five minutes studying the map before heading to the station. After covering another twenty meters, I turned sharply to the right, drawing the crowd after me. Perhaps someone would keep running straight ahead, but that was their problem.

We were slightly unlucky here, for the road wasn’t very wide, went uphill, and the several abandoned cars further complicated the situation. I jumped up onto the hood, ran across the roof, and hopped back onto the road. It wasn’t strictly necessary, but if some repeated this trick, it would help avoid congestion and save time for the rest.

I was the first to reach the main street and, climbing on the roof of a small truck, took another Shmel out of my bag. Patience, a little patience…

“Everyone, run that way! If you feel like you have no strength left, you can try to hide in one of the buildings.” I switched to the System language. “Diego, lead them directly over there!”

“Got it.”

Several players and soldiers stopped, showing the slower civilians the way and probably covering me as well. Once the last civilian ran past me, I fired at the most distant visible point. The shot was accurate, but the result wasn’t very impressive, for most of the creatures had drawn too close and only those lagging behind were hit. Even that was better than nothing. Now we were being chased by ‘only’ forty or so Slimes. Most of them were low-level spiders, but there were also six larger individuals. Not many, and yet...

“Time to go!” Nagi shouted.

He was right. I waited for the first, most impudent and fastest spider, and struck again, strengthening the spear with a burst of mana. The creature was nearly torn in half, but, to my annoyance, I didn’t get the message about receiving experience points. I didn’t get a chance to finish the Slime off because five more spiders arrived at once.

* * *

Now that the first stage of our retreat had been completed, it was possible to assess the results. Around twenty soldiers, half of whom were women, although they had been a minority in the Japanese detachment. Some would call my decision cowardice, but I attributed it to common sense and correct instincts. We could still hear shots coming from the station, but it was clearly the last few notes... Only six players remained: Diego (5), Ben (3), Skye (3), Nagi (4), Jasmine (2) and Leia (3). There had been sixteen initially, but one had died immediately after leaving the station, four had run away, and four had died a little later, right in front of me. The last one, Void (3), had disappeared during our retreat. He might have died or maybe he’d just decided that his chances of escape were better on his own. Never mind.

There were about forty civilians left, and most of them obviously couldn’t run any further. After all, modern life doesn’t demand much stamina from people, and the stronger ones had pushed their way onto the train. In the worst case, we had to cover four to five kilometers to the nearest checkpoint. But how many could run that far? Several overweight individuals already looked like they were about to keel over from a heart attack. On the other hand, if stopping meant dying, most people tended to change their attitude to the phrase “I can’t anymore”. I had no such problem, for I could easily run for hours thanks to my level, but I had to figure out what to do about the rest.

“Nagi, keep covering our rear. Find yourself some helpers, and make sure that no one is left behind.”

“What should I do with those who fall?”

“Whatever it takes to convince them to get back up again. You can even hit them or make someone else drag them. Whatever the circumstances dictate. If all else fails, they should hide in one of the buildings, it may give them a fighting chance.”

Or it will distract several Slimes from the main pack. Anything was better than dying stupidly in the middle of the road, not only not slowing down, but actually strengthening our enemies. Again, if a person locked themselves away or climbed up on the roof, they’d have a decent shot at surviving.

I accelerated sharply again, returning to the beginning of the column. Covering the rear and picking up the fallen may have been the right thing to do, but I had more important business to attend to.

* * *

I was right to be worried. Although most of the Slimes had gathered around the station, it would have been too naive to hope that we wouldn’t meet any others. The road was wide, but the Slimes were moving only a little slower than humans, so any delay would allow our pursuers to catch up to us.

I sent the military to the flanks to direct the crowd and protect it from attack. This way, there was less chance that our automatic weapons would hit another person. Unfortunately, the elite soldiers had mostly died at the station, and the remaining soldiers included those whose combat skills raised certain questions.

There were several bursts of automatic gunfire.

“Cease fire!” I stopped the senseless waste of ammunition. “Don’t shoot!”

Surprisingly, they listened to me, although formally I had no right to give these soldiers orders. Well, well, what have we here.

Large Tentacle Monster (66%). Level 4

I mentally grimaced. The name no longer seemed quite so funny. It’s not like this dirty-gray Slime was really blocking our path — it had simply crawled out onto the middle of the road, waving its two-meter-long tentacles in all directions. Although we could skirt around it, this was fraught with danger in case it moved and killed someone. Or if it delayed us and shared the meal with our pursuers. I still had some grenades, but after tossing one up in my hand, I abruptly changed my mind. It was risky, but I could finish this monster off with my spear.

“Diego, hold this,” I threw the grenade to my ally on the run. “Use it if I run into any problems. Make sure that everyone goes around the monster on the right, and that they stay away from the tentacles. Until the creature dies, at least.”

“You’re going to attack it with a spear?”

“Of course.” I switched to Japanese. “Go around it to the right! Only on the right, okay?!”

I withdrew into Invisibility and sped up, shifting to the left. The tentacles turned uncertainly in my direction and froze, unable to reach that far. It was dangerous to venture into this tangle, so I stopped beyond their reach and activated True Gaze. Unlike the small creatures, which could be torn apart by Split, I had to strike as close to the heart as possible, and this tentacle monster had its heart almost in the center of the body. Shit.

Attention! Terminology conflict. The current name may not fully correspond to the features of the creature. Would you like to change the name to a more appropriate one? (Big Slime, Tentacle Monster type (73%))

Yes/No

I snorted and confirmed the change, which fortunately took only a few seconds. It was all I had. I wasn’t that far away from the others, and the first people were already passing the creature on the right. As expected, the Slime immediately forgot about me, turning all its tentacles in the direction of the new prey. A jump, a strike, and a stream of mana poured through the spear. Just a little longer...

Attention! You have gained 40 SP! (58/220)

The tentacles that had whipped back towards the new threat dropped before they could reach me, but I still took a leap backwards. I was a little shaky from the flow of energy that had flowed through me, but fine overall. Plus, my experience of fighting against the Slimes grew in leaps and bounds. I had injected enough mana to hit the heart this time, but not enough to blow the creature to pieces. There were frightened screams, but even if someone had been hurt, they could still run. Nobody fell.

I came out of Invisibility, pulled a crystal out of the bag and threw it into my mouth, tucking it under my tongue. The raven’s recent example had given me the idea. Perhaps it was wrong to shove something that was once part of an intelligent being in my mouth, yet it allowed me to keep my hands free and restore mana during battle. The important thing was not to choke on it. Ultimately, the crystal was simply concentrated magical energy.

“Shit.”

Another emptie fell out, forcing me to wade into the acid puddle. Unlucky. Looking back, I estimated the distance to the monsters and kept running. I had to make up for lost time again.

* * *

“Good shot,” Diego nodded when I finally caught up with him. “Do you want the grenade back?”

“Keep it, I have a couple more.”

“What’s our plan, then? We have a plan, right? Other than running in this direction, I mean?”

“Of course we have a plan,” I chuckled. “Several plans, in fact.”

“Wonderful,” snorted the Brazilian. At least, that’s where I thought he was from. “Will you be so good as to share it?”

Well... we could wait until the weakest of us fell behind, which would delay our pursuers and let the faster runners break away. I didn’t share this plan, however. It was neither the time nor the place for those kind of jokes.

“A trap,” I breathed out. “Since we can’t get away from these creatures, we need to find a suitable place to swat them all at once.”

“An excellent idea. How exactly are you going to do that?”

“You’ll see…”

When people said that the Shmel is ideal for urban combat, they primarily meant storming buildings. It was difficult enough to use a rocket-assisted flamethrower in the open since a lot of distance was required, while inside buildings, the walls held the fire in. This meant that the distance could be less, and the chances of survival for those inside were close to zero. But the building would also be done for, so we had to find something that we didn’t mind burning down to the ground. Moreover, avoiding the risk of survivors hiding on the upper floors, and the resulting fire burning down half of the block. Although the mixture itself burnt quickly, other items inside would be set on fire, and there were clearly no firefighters here.

“Hey!” I switched to Japanese. “Does anyone know of any single story buildings nearby that we can run through?”

Looking for a suitable place on the map while also running was a dubious pleasure, so I had to rely on memory and aerial reconnaissance.

“I know,” came a voice from behind me. “There are several ancient Buddhist temples down the street, a little off to the side.”

I grimaced. I didn’t want to destroy tourist sites, since it wasn’t something I could compensate for with money alone. Nor was it a good trend as I’d already burned down a temple recently. Not to mention the fact that they clearly weren’t built from concrete in the old days, so unless we found a stone temple, the walls simply wouldn’t contain the explosion. No, to hell with temples.

“Anything else? Maybe a supermarket? Something with no cultural value that we can burn down without feeling bad about it? And so that the fire doesn’t spread to neighboring buildings…”

“I know!” One of the soldiers responded this time. “There is a metro station further down, with a small supermarket beside it. It is two stories, but it’s surrounded by the walls of high-rise buildings and empty roads. Nothing to catch on fire.”

I looked at the sky, and the raven caught my thought and took off in the indicated direction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“Diego, I’m leaving you in charge! Keep the pace up. We need a bit of time, so make a little loop, okay? You have a walkie-talkie, so we’ll stay in touch. Skye, Leia and Jasmine, we’ll need to go for a run.”

Although personally checking the site didn’t seem like such a good idea, we also didn’t have much time. If I waited for raven to return, it would be too late. Unless we made a circle and came back? No, to hell with it.

* * *

The supermarket turned out to be suitable, although the back doors were closed, so the lock had to be taken out with the help of my faithful spear and Split. It wasn’t a 24-hour store so there were no staff inside, which was a relief. I don’t think they would have been happy to learn that they’d need to find a new job soon.

“Fire!”

The soldiers were backing away while actively firing at the approaching Slimes.

“Hold them back! Grenade! We need to buy us a bit of time!”

It wasn’t working well, but it was working. After losing a tentacle or two, the spiders would drop, and firing into their torso also slowed them down. Unfortunately, the shortage of ammunition prevented us from eliminating them completely. The submachine guns fell silent one by one, switching to single shots, and we had nothing left to reload them with. I had a few zinc cartridges left, but they still needed to be hammered into the magazines. Plus, they weren’t suitable for the Japanese guns, and I had few Russian ones left.

“The civilians have passed.” Diego said dryly over the radio.

“That’s enough! Everyone has crossed!” I translated. The language barrier was incredibly irritating. “Retreat!”

The soldiers hurriedly turned around and ran inside the supermarket. I had the feeling that they would have run even if I hadn’t given the order. The Slimes followed them inside soon after. The aisles had been piled high with goods and knocked over shelves, so people had an advantage in this race.

I didn’t go inside with everyone else but remained under the cover of Invisibility on the opposite side of the street, to ensure all the Slimes had gone into the building. It was difficult to say what I’d have done in this mission if I hadn’t been sponsored by my country. Would I have remained on the outskirts, hunting solitary creatures? Perhaps this seemed like a good option to some, but not to me. I hated the lack of choice and helplessness.

I didn’t risk it by trying to fire through the doorway using the Shmel, instead I’d left several booby-trapped shells inside the building. More than several.

“The soldiers have all exited the building,” said the walkie-talkie in my hand. “We’ve barricaded the doors, but they won’t hold for long.”

“Copy that,” I responded. “You have about fifteen seconds. Run away.”

By this point, nearly all the Slimes had slunk into the building, so I turned the corner, took a few more steps, and pressed the detonator button. For a second, nothing happened, and I even started to worry that something had gone wrong, but then the world shook. It looked like my plan had worked.

* * *

When people say that they did all they could, it usually means that they hadn’t done enough. The phrase itself epitomizes failure. After all, if you look harder, you can nearly always do a bit more and, perhaps, achieve success. This phrase was especially annoying when there was still time left to try and change something. Despite missing the train, I wasn’t going to give up, and I had been considering other options even as we ran.

I didn’t hurry to catch up to the others, but circled back to the site of our ‘terrorist attack’.

“Send the bill to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, please.”

I wondered what the damages would be. Only a flaming ruin remained in place of the two-story building. There had been plenty inside to catch alight. Pieces of smoldering debris flung out by the explosion lay scattered here and there, but most importantly, the fire hadn’t spread to the neighboring buildings.

“How did it go?” the walkie-talkie came alive again.

“Everything’s fine, the targets have been destroyed. Move on to the agreed point, then rest for five to ten minutes. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

There was no need to hope or to fear, depending on which way one looked at it, that anything had survived inside the supermarket, so I headed to the Slimes that had been wounded by the soldiers. The lucky ones who’d received a few bullets and hadn’t had enough time to recover and catch up with the pack, now became my legitimate prey. Or my victims, since the Slimes obviously possessed intelligence, even if it wasn’t human. One, two, three, four…

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (60/220)

…

Attention! You have gained 2 SP! (68/220)

Five? No, I had a slightly different plan for the last of the unfinished ones. To start with...

Attention! Terminology conflict. The current name may not fully correspond to the features of the creature. Would you like to change the name to a more appropriate one? (Small Slime, Spider type (73%))

Yes/No

Having confirmed the new term, I didn’t kill the Slime at once. I cut off its tentacles in a move that was becoming familiar, then plunged the System dagger into its body. I did it slowly and carefully, so that the blade passed very close and touched the crystal, but not so that it destroyed the heart and caused instant death. Perhaps this wasn’t the right time for an experiment, but I wanted to test a theory.

After a couple of minutes, the creature twitched one last time and its flesh turned into a puddle, allowing the dagger to drop to the ground beside a cracked crystal. Although the stone was covered in cracks and close to shattering, it still hadn’t fallen apart and seemed to be slightly different to the usual one. Identification.

Damaged Magic Heart (78%)

Rank: none.

Type: System artifact.

Features:

— Allows one to accumulate and store mana.

— Capacity: 90 units.

— Damaged. Leak 3 units/hour.

A storage device? I looked into its depth and saw something reminiscent of insect larvae frozen inside the amber. A chill ran down my spine. Was this what the original Slime looked like? Wouldn’t that be too many changes? Well, I’d figure it out later.

“Crystal!” the raven flapped his wings.

“It’s a magical heart.”

“There are different types of crystals,” The raven admonished me. “Do you think I wouldn’t recognize a crystal if you called it something else?”

“Fine, call it a crystal.”

I put it in my bag. I needed to distribute the free parameter points, but it still wasn’t the best time for this. Finally, the dagger itself was what I was interested in. I touched it with the card and put it back in my pocket. It was a much simpler and obvious way to save and transfer experience points. But it also made it more expensive, because I couldn’t use the weapon until I’d absorbed what it already contained. I glanced at the raven. I’d need the card a little later. There was still time left... albeit not so much.

Time remaining: 1 hour, 20 minutes and 03 seconds

Players: 902/1000

Interlude. The Evacuation

KAWAKAMI RYUU LEANED against the carriage wall, staring morosely through the glass at the passing urban landscapes. His thoughts were far away. Only a year ago, twenty was considered to be the age of majority in Japan, but globalization and standardization have affected many aspects of life. Old customs were fading away, laws were changing, and now, having celebrated his eighteenth birthday a week ago, Kawakami was officially considered a full citizen. With all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. The guy had previously been a volunteer in the thirteenth squadron, but now he’d signed a contract and become a proper member of the Jieitai, the national self-defense forces. Either way, he had to do it if he wanted to survive. The government considered the study and development of alien technology to be very promising and didn’t hesitate to invest money in the players.

His parents had moved into a new house, his sister had transferred to the University of Tokyo, and he himself had started a prestigious high school without having to sit an exam. This was all in addition to help with training and leveling up. The need to obey orders wasn’t so scary after five missions, each of which could have cost Kawakami his life. Manga... Anime... Games... They had all become a thing of the past, yielding only to the desire... not even to survive, simply to live a little longer. He had succeeded so far, and this secretly made him hope that perhaps he really was the ‘hero’. In a figurative sense, of course, he was no longer a child to believe in such clichés.

He’d survived not only because of the government’s support – he also had a very strong ability. A Weapon Aura, which allowed his katana to slice through steel, not to mention all sorts of monsters. Of course, the duration of the skill was limited to one minute, and the cooldown lasted a whole day, but this disadvantage was largely compensated by his ability to time the aura’s effect. For the past month, he’d been practicing activating it strictly a moment before the blow. This ultimately enabled him to deliver about fifty strikes, more than what was required for a regular mission.

He was aware of the Leviathan’s invasion, of course, for it was difficult to miss such a thing if one lived in Tokyo. Funnily enough, he’d never been drawn into the mission.

You are in the #$@! mission zone. Would you like to join?

Yes/No

He looked at the message, then returned it to the tray. Of course, he hadn’t voluntarily accepted the mission, preferring to observe what was happening from the sidelines. As far as such a thing was possible in this situation. The government seemed to be in a panic from its own incompetence and had called in everyone it could reach, including all available Shinigami. Despite his patriotism, Ryuu disliked the nickname, which reminded him too much of his former hobby.

Attention! The train is arriving at Shin-Kamagaya Station! Please prepare to receive new passengers.

“This is the last station,” Inspector Kimura broke the silence as he stepped out of the other carriage. Of course, they wouldn’t have sent a schoolboy to perform this task alone, without adult supervision. “I heard that there have been some problems. The locals may have gone a little too far with precautions.”

“I’m sure we can handle it,” the guy nodded, twirling the weapon card in his fingers.

“You should talk this time around. It’ll be easier for you to calm them down.”

The guy nodded again. His talents were being utilized in a rather unusual manner this time. He didn’t have to hack any monsters today, only talk to the other players, solving problems that arose every now and then... the little misunderstandings. The players weren’t always happy to be evacuated. Half of the officers hadn’t even read the memorandum and had trouble believing that gaijins armed with swords and without a word of Japanese had special rights.

It had gotten to the point that players were being detained with no explanation and not even allowed to contact the embassy. In the current chaos, top management was mostly oblivious to what was happening. There had been clashes, people wounded and, according to rumors, even killed. However, Ryuu had no doubt that, officially, all the dead would be blamed on the monsters. He suspected that the dead would be sent straight to the scientists, to discover which organ was responsible for their superpowers and whether it could be transplanted into someone worthier. Or maybe he’d read too much manga back in the day. Had he become older? How many people did you need to kill to consider yourself a real adult? The guy looked at his own blurry reflection in the glass, and a sign flashed above his head.

River Serpent. Level 7

* * *

Attention! The train is ready to depart, please take your seats.

The message was in the System language, incomprehensible to ordinary passengers. Nor would they have been allowed onto the train. Soldiers with guns stood at the entrance, checking the incoming passengers off a list. It wasn’t a long queue, though… Although many of the players had initially decided to avoid the risk and leave the dangerous coast, unpleasant rumors had later arisen. Nothing concrete, just suggestions that it might not be safe to leave the mission zone.

“Well, are you coming?”

“I’m sorry, Tatra,” Eva shook her head. “We’ve already talked about this. I’m going to wait until it’s over. There’s not much time left until the end of the mission.”

“You won’t be able to return even when the timer reaches zero.”

The evacuation was voluntary, and was usually refused by those who’d finished off their Slime and could leave the country without the help of the local authorities. The girls had been unlucky – they hadn’t even seen the monsters, stumbling upon the military and meeting each other at the station. While everything seemed good on the way, the arrival was followed by complete isolation. They were given water and food, their System bags and cards, but they weren’t allowed to leave their rooms and requests to make a call were denied due to some kind of internal instructions. They had been reluctant to use force since their guards had automatic weapons. Throwing a tantrum didn’t work either, since rank-and-file soldiers lacked the authority to make decisions, while their superiors lacked the desire to sort things out. It was very frustrating... Unfortunately, most players were quite happy to complete this mission under the protection of the military, with no risk to their own persons.

“So be it,” Eva nodded. “Besides, the situation has changed, so I should be able to find a blasted phone now.”

“You’re still waiting for instructions? We’ll have to fly back to Moscow anyway. What’s the point of waiting?”

“What’s the point of rushing to leave?”

“The further we are from Tokyo, the safer we’ll be!”

“The station is quite safe, and I doubt this will be the last train. If you don’t want to go alone, then stay.”

Tatra snorted and spun around to enter the carriage. A few minutes later, the doors closed, cutting off almost two hundred players. The ones who’d ignored all the warnings.

* * *

Tatra didn’t enter the car and remained standing in the vestibule alongside a young Japanese man. River Serpent, yeesh... the guy’s level inspired respect, though. Was it true that the Japanese government was helping its players level up?

“Do you have a cigarette? I’d love a smoke…”

Contrary to her expectations, the guy silently pulled an open pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. The girl took a cigarette and leaned over as he lit the flame.

“Thank you,” she breathed out. “Although we can’t smoke in here, right?”

“That’s right,” the guy nodded to a notice with characters on the wall. “But following the rules in this situation would be stupid, right?”

Tatra smiled wearily, leaning back against the wall and enjoying her first cigarette in... a month?. She was forced to give up the habit at the training center, as well as many other things. Her fingers trembled slightly. It was almost over... soon they would reach the airport, and then leave Japan. Yet she was uneasy. Those ridiculous rumors...

Many argued that the punishment for failing the quest was suspiciously mild, but she’d had enough time to think it over and realize that this was true only within the framework of the modern world. Everyone was used to planes and the fact that you could fly around the Earth in a day, as long as you had the money. However, the System wasn’t perfect. How often did it encounter technological worlds that were at our level? If something like this had happened five hundred years ago, those who failed the quest would have remained on the other side of the globe, as far away as being on another planet. Stuck beside a raging monster, for the Leviathan was unlikely to disappear by itself. When the timer ran out, a new stage of the quest would probably begin. There was a chance that a loser who’d failed the mission would never return home. Or they could spend many years joining quests in the hope of being sent to familiar location… So the punishment was severe enough without needing to worry about a possible trick.

“How’s the army doing with the Leviathan?”

“You haven’t seen the TV?”

“It wasn’t on. Complete isolation and all that jazz. Seems to me that the man in charge over there needs to have his head checked.”

“Well, it was the usual stuff. The nation has rallied together, the military is doing everything possible, victory is near…”

“Oh, I can hear the irony in your voi…”

Attention! The mission territory is restricted! You cannot leave the location until the quest has been completed! Go back or you will be punished!

Tatra threw away the instantly frozen cigarette, feeling the fear she had pushed far down come back with new force. No, no, no! There were shouts coming from the carriages, but what could one do aboard a high-speed train?

“Please sit down.” the phrase was spoken in relatively good English, so many people understood it, but no one listened.

“Stop the train! I read about this in a manga! If we don’t turn back, our heads will be torn off! Or something like that!”

There was the sound of broken glass, but jumping out when the train was going at such a speed was certain suicide.

“Shut up, you idiot! This isn’t your stupid manga. Pull the emergency brake!”

Attention! You have received the status of Deserter!

Tatra ignored the message, singling out the most important point among the screams. The emergency brake! Her eyes found the red handle and the girl rushed up to it and pulled it hard, practically hanging off the handle. The train braked sharply, throwing her against the wall, but it was too late... the speed had been too high.

Attention! You broke the Rules and left the Mission Zone!

Attention! You have received the punishment Increasing Pain!

The pain appeared at once all over her body. Initially weak, it increased with every meter they travelled. The girl screamed, unable to comprehend where the pain had come from and why it wouldn’t go away. What was happening... The letters blurred before her eyes and a wild shout burst out of her mouth.

“What’s the matter?” Ryuu leaned over her.

“Pain... punishment... back…”

Tatra wasn’t the only one, for the pain had descended on all the ‘deserters’ at the same time. The further they moved away from the invisible border, the stronger the pain became. If they had been walking, they would have inevitably given up and turned back, but the speed of the train precluded them from doing that. By the time the train finally stopped, most of the players had lost consciousness. Or died.

* * *

“Ryuu? Are you alright? What the hell is going on?”

“I’m fine, Inspector! This is a System punishment. We must go back at once!”

The inspector leapt to the driver’s call button and slapped it with the palm of his hand.

“This is Officer Kimura! Reverse right now, that’s an order!”

“I can’t!” came the reply over the speaker. “You need to raise the emergency brake first! What the hell is going on back there?”

Ryuu rushed to the handle and returned it to its original position, noting that a quarter of the players in the carriage were no longer being recognized as alive by the System. The others were rapidly turning red, becoming legitimate prey for any other player. If everything had turned out a little differently, he could have easily been in their place.

“Done,” the inspector reported.

The train jerked, but then stopped again, almost causing them to fall.

“What’s wrong? I’ve lifted the handle!”

“Then someone else has pulled it down!” the driver responded. “Attention everyone! Urgently check the emergency brakes and return them to their original position!”

Ryuu swore. He couldn’t save everyone, so he picked up the girl, who was still alive, and dragged her to the back of the train. If he had correctly understood what was happening, she had a higher chances of surviving there...

“Yes, it’s done!” Another voice rang out ten seconds later. “I just thought...”

A minute later, the train began to reverse, slowly picking up speed and returning to the mission area. But for most players, it was already too late.

* * *

“Yes, this is Inspector Kimura,” the officer held the phone to his ear. “Stop the evacuation? By personal order of the Prime Minister? I admire his wisdom, but I’m afraid he’s a little late. Yes... yes… It looks like some kind of System punishment. Around half of the Shinigami died, the rest are unconscious. The ambulances should be arriving soon. No, I do not know who is to blame for the failure of this operation. Yes. Confirm measures to collect System property and ensure secrecy. Can I suggest...”

The warnings, passing through the bureaucracies of several countries, had come too late. As often happens in these situations, the focus now wasn’t on regretting what had happened, but on smoothing out any negative consequences. The hundreds of foreign citizens who had died due to the indirect fault of the Japanese government didn’t fit into the concept of truth in any way. Something would have to be done about it.

Chapter 21. The End of the Mission (1/2)

I COULD HAVE DISAPPEARED once I was rid of my pursuers, leaving the others to get out on their own, but we are responsible for those we have tamed. Anyway, I could only obtain information about the location of the other players from the Japanese authorities.

It wasn’t hard to catch up to the group. They hadn’t moved far from the trap, five hundred meters or so, and had settled down to rest in a parking lot. More of a scrapyard at this point. There were plenty of cars, but the tsunami had done its job, mangling them and dragging them all over the parking lot. Judging by the algae and other garbage piled up on the hoods, the cars had been completely submerged, so hoping to find a working vehicle here would have been overly optimistic. It wasn’t critical, though, for we didn’t have that far to go. About four kilometers...

Despite Japanese people being notoriously law-abiding, they didn’t hesitate to grab a bunch of first aid kits from the cars, and mercilessly pulled them apart. Bandages were especially popular, for some minor injuries had been sustained during the escape, which now had to be treated. I was pleased to see that even without my presence, the group hadn’t forgotten to station sentries around the perimeter, and the place itself was quite good, allowing people to scatter in several directions at once. Or even stand and fight, for the piles of cars played into the hands of people rather than Slimes.

“Have you had a rest? Great, we’ll be moving out in a minute. If someone suddenly feels that they can’t walk any further, they can try to hide in one of the buildings and wait until help arrives.”

There was some grumbling at this, but no one wanted to stay and rest a bit longer. Now that we were no longer being pursued, bringing the group to a safe place became a piece of cake. We could avoid large clusters of the creatures thanks to my ‘aerial scouts’, while individual Slimes and small groups became easy prey. Well, relatively easy…

The Slimes remained extremely awkward opponents for most players. While small spiders could be crushed or chopped into pieces quite easily, larger individuals were a serious problem. Swords and spears became stuck in the jelly-like bodies, and the only weak point — the heart — could only be seen in sufficiently transparent creatures, unless one had scanning abilities. We had to strike almost at random. Modern weapons were a solution, but we didn’t get any experience points when we used them. Plus, where would an ordinary player get a grenade from? Most of them had Level 1 bags, so they couldn’t bring anything extra to a mission. If you didn’t have a powerful combat skill that allowed you to tear the monster apart, there was only a long and dangerous dance, during which the Slime lost all its limbs, and was then gradually cut to pieces. Or, in case of a serious error, killed the hunter instead. That was how things stood.

This was probably the reason for the relatively small losses in a mission of this rank, strange as it was to say that about ten percent. The lack of a System punishment was both an advantage and a serious disadvantage. I assumed that most players had simply retreated, preferring not to take any risks. The one who’d died had either been unlucky with the landing location, or had considered themselves strong enough to hunt the monsters. In other words, the most promising players. I would have even said the best players, but the best hadn’t come here...

* * *

“Come on!” Jasmine shouted enthusiastically. “It’s almost finished!”

We’d come across a seasoned creature this time, and despite the not-too-impressive seventh level, the Big Tentacle Monster had managed to acquire chitinous armor and more than a dozen tentacles ending in sharp bone plates, while also matching a minibus in size. All this hadn’t helped it much, with the tentacles cut off one by one, the armor full of holes, and the creature itself, very aggressive at first, slowly retreating to the edge of the street.

But the players still couldn’t finish it off, for they couldn’t see the heart and were striking at random. As I observed their struggles, I realized just how well I’d chosen my set of skills. Even if they weren’t perfect, they complemented each other well, allowing me to kill Slimes with deceptive ease.

I watched from the side, controlling the situation and allowing someone to get the ‘super prize’. The abilities of my new companions may have allowed them to survive, but they were relatively useless now. Diego had his energy shield, Ben possessed weak telekinesis, while Skye had something similar to Sprint. Jasmine could teleport a couple of meters away but with a considerable cooldown. Leia could make her skin harder than steel for ten seconds, while Nagi hadn’t demonstrated his skill at all, complaining that it wasn’t combat-related. Interestingly, the last three were all atheists, which made me wonder why so many of them were here. The total number of those who, for one reason or another, hadn’t chosen a heavenly patron, barely exceeded ten percent.

“Just die already!” The pole axe sliced through the chitinous armor and got stuck in the creature’s flesh. “The devil!”

Ben didn’t try to pull the weapon out and simply returned it to the card, then immediately called it forth again — a common technique. The players were clearly angry, and I could understand them. There wasn’t much time left. A little longer, and we’d have to leave the unfinished monster to join the column passing by.

“Get back!” I shouted. “Everyone get back!”

The monster was still dangerous, even having lost all its tentacles, and its sudden thrust forward had almost succeeded. Fortunately, Skye managed to get out of the way using Sprint and, judging by his crooked smile, he knew perfectly well that he’d almost died. Okay, this was no longer funny.

I squinted. I hadn’t just been standing idle all this time, but had been looking for a way to finish off the monster. The reason for their failure was quite simple: two unlucky citizens were floating inside the Slime, and the heart was hidden somewhere between them. It was a cunning and seasoned creature. I would have said smart, but if that had been the case, it would have limited itself to defense, waiting until we got tired of attacking it.

“Phew… Maybe we should throw a grenade?” Leia suggested.

“No grenades, please,” Diego said. “It would be a pointless waste of resources.”

“Yeah,” Ben agreed. “If someone’s afraid, then she... or he can stand over there…”

“Fuck off!”

Taking advantage of the pause, I went in from the right side and struck. The spear went in deep enough, and my blow was accurate, hitting the heart even without the help of Split. The monster collapsed, turning into a hissing puddle, although less quickly this time, for the chitinous shell kept the gastric contents away from us. I jumped back, feeling the energy in the spear pricking my palm even through the glove. As if inviting to wait a few seconds and then...

“Hey, you promised that this Slime would be ours!”

I overcame the momentary temptation and carefully placed the spear on the sidewalk, then took a step back.

“I’m keeping my word, Leia.” I nodded. “See the glove? The experience is still inside the spear. We just have to decide who gets the points.”

“How are we going to decide that? Are we going to play rock-paper-scissors?”

I smiled. Although the suggestion sound crazy, I liked it. A little madness wouldn’t hurt.

* * *

Every action has its own motive, and it’s rarely simple. For example, extra experience would never go amiss, but if I’d learned one thing well, it was that if you wanted people to follow you, you had to share. Greed was an unforgivable sin in a leader. In addition, they had done the right thing by deciding to help civilians, and good deeds had to be rewarded. Certainly, if you wanted others to perform them at all.

As for the experience points... there were more than enough monsters in the area, and I was quite certain I still had time to obtain my share. Although the mission was technically limited to six hours, who was to say that I had to return at the end of it? I could easily stay here for another few hours. Even days, if the local government failed to get the situation under control quickly. I was in touch with the base, and without pressure from the System, I could really get the party started. Of course, the Leviathan made the hunting a little risky, but the boss hadn’t shown itself in any way so far, hovering as a kind of scarecrow on the horizon instead. Plus, the bonus return card was a definite attraction. There was no guarantee that it would be another return card, of course, for big perks like that didn’t come often. Perhaps only to those who were the first? Many people had tried to repeat my trick, but were rewarded with only empties. Or they had lied, just as I had. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was better to hide such a trump card up your sleep.

“Scissors! Bloody scissors!” Nagi growled. “Why didn’t I choose rock?”

“Because then I’d have chosen paper?”

I smiled, watching as the victorious Diego gently touched the spear and shuddered. It was clear that he started drifting a little, but he snapped back to normal after five seconds.

“Well... Congratulations on the sixth level.”

“Thank you,” Diego smiled, taking the card out of the air. “Here, this is your prize for second place.”

It looked like the Brazilian man also understood the importance of sharing. I’d earned only two points (70/220) during the journey, by finishing off an overly arrogant spider, but I made sure that each person who’d stayed with me got their share. Some even managed to go up a level.

“Yeesh,” Nagi was indignant. “Chitinous armor… Couldn’t you have scored something better?”

“If you don’t like it, I can take the card,” Leia smiled gently.

“Don’t even think about it, woman! For all you know, I’ve dreamed of becoming a ninja turtle since childhood!”

“It will look good on you.”

I shook my head and stopped paying attention. These humorous squabbles arose constantly, revealing the underlying tension. Things were going well so far, and although there were minor injuries and burns, no one had died. Several dozen more civilians, who’d been hiding in surrounding buildings, joined our group along the way. We were moving quite quickly, which was also important, for my backup plan required time to spare.

* * *

We weren’t destined to walk the whole way on our own, for it seemed that someone higher up remembered about our squad. At the beginning of our trip, drones had appeared above us, made a circle, and flew back. When there had been no response, I’d decided that no help was coming. I turned out to be wrong, for right after we dealt with the last monster, we were intercepted by a military convoy, if you could call four buses, an armored personnel carrier and a jeep that. Not very impressive, but quite secure. The Slimes were unlikely to stop and destroy the car.

The boarding went without a hitch, for the ten or so commandos in one of the buses surrounded us and provided cover. Then, just as smoothly, they returned to the vehicle.

“Excuse me, officer,” I approached the front. “My name is Vasily and I was leading this group. We need to discuss a few things.”

“Certainly. Jun, give this... guest your seat.”

The soldier stood up wordlessly and walked away into the depths of the bus. I was unlikely to find another seat for the bus was full, and many people had settled down on the floor.

“Your Japanese is very good, Vasily-san. I would not have guessed that you were a... foreigner.”

Nominal suffixes... although I knew when and how to use them, they subconsciously felt alien to me, like a thinly veiled mockery.

“Thank you,” I nodded, deciding not to go into the details of how I’d learned it. People knew roughly how loot drops worked, and such a card could have only come from a native speaker. Or I could have bought it, but then they could ask me the name of the seller.

“So, what did you want to discuss?”

* * *

Tokyo is a huge city, so it was almost impossible to blockade all the streets, even if one wanted to. Therefore, the plan was simple: there were large checkpoints reinforced with armored personnel carriers on the main roads, and roadblocks on the smaller streets, the purpose of which was to detect the approach of enemies and bring a rapid response squad to deal with them. Distribution and evacuation centers were located somewhere beyond the front line. This was where we were heading.

We passed the checkpoint, stopping only for an inspection, when the military checked the interior, the luggage compartment, looked underneath and even on the roof of the bus. I listened, noting the dissatisfied cawing for the raven had clung to the bus after refusing to return to the bag, but I didn’t hear any shots.

“Do they think we’re trying to smuggle Slimes in?”

“This is just a precaution. The threat is poorly studied, and, according to our information, there are some smart individuals among the octopuses.”

“I understand…”

I had been wrong to assume that the Japanese government didn’t care about its citizens. Columns like ours were regularly going deep into quarantine areas and collecting people who’d come out in response to their calls. Unfortunately, this process wasn’t conducive to hunting Slimes. While the monsters had boldly attacked the armored personnel carriers early on, after suffering several serious losses, they had abruptly changed their approach and preferred to retreat. This made high command suspect that they not only possessed intelligence, but also a communication system of some kind.

The inspection took about a minute, then the bus started moving again. I leaned back in my seat, debating whether to spend the parameter points, but decided that now wasn’t the time. I didn’t think we had far to go.

My thoughts about this whole situation spun around in my head. The fact that Eva still hadn’t called me back could mean several things, but the most likely explanation was that she hadn’t been allowed to get a phone. Only the local authorities could be responsible for that. Of course, they had no right to detain her and she could leave at any time, but life was an unpredictable thing. Nevertheless, all the players had been registered, which meant that I should be able to learn her current location. And not just her, but the other two members of our squad.

I checked the timer and statistics and blinked, trying to comprehend the new information.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds.

Remaining players: 796/1000

What the hell? Over a hundred players had died in the past half an hour, more than in all the time beforehand. The numbers continued dropping right before my eyes, until they stabilized.

Remaining players: 783/1000

This couldn’t be attributed to random losses — something bad had happened around here.

“Is something wrong?” My neighbor noticed my face change.

“It is nothing, Officer Arai,” I said, shaking my head.

Perhaps it was paranoia, but there weren’t many groups of players that could be taken out with one blow, and the only thing that came to mind were the evacuation centers.

I took out my smartphone and quickly sent a message in Russian to my supervisors. Let them solve the puzzle.

* * *

The newcomers were quickly sorted into three groups: civilians, soldiers and players. The soldiers were immediately assigned to squads, with no consideration of their emotional state. Civilians were taken further inland on buses, but the players were sent to a registration point. It was, funnily enough, located in a fast food restaurant. I didn’t have much time left, so I was the first to approach the official sitting at the table. He was around forty years old and beginning to go bald. Hara Keiji, according to the badge, with no title.

“What do you mean, impossible?” the conversation was in English this time.

“Unfortunately, I do not have the right to provide information about the location of other players. You can leave a request, which will be answered within three days, as established by law. You can also appeal my decision…”

I grimaced, realizing that I’d managed to stumble on a bureaucrat, and that it was practically useless to argue, cajole or appeal to the common sense of such people. I could intimidate, question or bribe him, but not with a sentry standing behind him. I could try to find his manager and force him to cooperate, but how long would that take?

“I understand,” I lied. “Then give me the phone number of the center in Kamagaya.”

“I’m afraid that’s also impossible.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Please calm down and complete this form.”

This was... so... infuriating... Obeying my mental order, Bri flew behind the official, wrapped its tentacles around the man’s aura and began to slowly sap his energy. In that moment, what I’d given up waiting for happened, and my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Eva… I’m sorry it took so long, but there were some problems.”

I snapped my fingers and the ghost released the halfwit. There was no more need for this, plus my anger was slowly ebbing.

“Are you still at Kamagaya Station?”

“Yes. Tatra was here too, but she left for Narito about fifteen minutes ago on the train.”

I remembered the recent mass death of players and thought that the time matched quite closely.

“I’m glad that you stayed behind. Have you seen the player losses?”

“Yes. Do you really think...”

“They left the mission area. In any case, wait for me at the station. I’ll send you a parcel.”

* * *

“Excuse me,” the official reminded me of his existence. “Please, you’re holding up the queue. There are other people waiting.”

This new attack did not trigger any emotions. I didn’t need anything more from him, so he could continue to follow his instructions, oblivious to everything happening around him.

“That’s fine, my friends are not in a hurry. Unlike me... I wish to decline the evacuation and continue the mission.”

One of the reasons I’d come here at all was knowing that I could easily leave, regardless of their willingness to let me go. But it was better to do it correctly, through the official channels.

“You have the right to do so. You need to write a written refusal to evacuate. Preferably in Japanese, but it is also possible to write it in English or, if you do not know it, in your native language. But then it will be hard for me to witness it, for we will need a translator...”

“English is fine.” I took a piece of paper and a pen and carefully wrote out exactly where and how they could stick it. I then added a couple of characters, today’s date and my signature, and handed it back. It wasn’t very diplomatic, but it certainly wasn’t a crime.

“Free form, right?”

“Certainly.” The official looked completely unruffled. “According to the Memorandum, item 3.2, you can continue the mission. You must leave the country immediately after the deadline expires or surrender to the patrol for extradition. The sergeant will escort you back to the perimeter.”

Wow, he’d managed to screw me over even in this. Well, I couldn’t care less about these demands.

* * *

No matter how little time I had left, I still found a couple of minutes to say goodbye to my allies and exchange contact details. Personal connections meant a lot in our world, and who knew when we would meet again. I also invited them to come to Russia, promising political asylum and protection, but I doubted that anything would come of it.

Considering that I was now deep in the rear, it would have taken me a long time to return to the combat zone, but I was lucky — the sergeant turned out to be a decent guy and got me a ride in a car heading in the same direction. Or maybe he was hoping that the monsters would eat me.

My sense of humor was getting blacker and blacker day by day.

Chapter 22. The End of the Mission (2/2)

Time remaining: 0 hours, 40 minutes and 43 seconds.

I SAT ON A ROOF, my legs dangling over the edge, and surveyed the landscape. The view was really something. Half-empty streets, skyscrapers, the sea and a huge monster floating in the distance.

Leviathan (54%). Rank C. Player. Name unknown. Level unknown.

I couldn’t see any more at this distance even if I used Identification. It wasn’t the most productive use of my time, but I was quite tired, emotionally more than physically. I hadn’t gotten up on the roof by accident, for I needed a safe place. In a little bit.

“Alright then.”

It was about thirty-five kilometers by rail to where Eva was currently located. Closer as the crow flies, but I’d given up on the idea of getting there in person. What for, when I had the dagger with the experience points? Well, crows could apparently fly at a speed of fifty kilometers per hour and, if you believed the rumors, could even accelerate to a hundred.

“Legion, you can fly faster than a normal raven, can’t you?” I took a crystal out in a practiced movement, twirling it between my fingers.

“Of caw-rse!” Legion agreed, his eyes glued to the stone. “I’m twice… No, three times faster than normal ravens! When I finally awaken the bloodline, I will be ten times stronger!”

“I’m more interested in speed, not strength. Right now, and not sometime in the future. Can you find Eva and give her the weapon card?”

“Of course,” the raven shook his head, as if to clear it. “No! Find a specific person in this huge city? How do you think I could possibly do that?”

“I know where she is, I’ll show you the location on the map and explain the way.”

“You know I’m not very good with your maps. It’s nearly impossible.”

“Nearly?” I willingly stepped into the trap he’d set.

“I need an incentive!”

“An incentive is a stick used to drive lazy pack animals.” I shared the wisdom I had read somewhere. “How about this — if you fail, I’ll take a crystal from you?”

“You... you... wouldn’t dare! I will fight you to the death?”

I snorted, aware that this was an exaggeration. Although the crystals drew the raven strongly, he could still control himself around them. It was a sort of game in which we tried to trick each other. I think he knew perfectly well that I was aware of it… Just as I knew that he knew that I knew… and so on, ad infinitum.

“If you succeed, I’ll give you an extra crystal.”

“That’s too little!” The raven’s eyes lit up. “One crystal is not enough to perform a miracle!”

“Two crystals?”

“You’re too stingy. Are you sure there are no goblins in your ancestry? Five! At least five crystals. There’s nothing I can’t do for five crystals!”

“Then maybe you could finish off that chthonic thing in the sea? Even the military hasn’t managed to defeat it.”

Rather, they’d “done everything they could” and kept reporting their successes, changing tactics and all that, but the result was the same. The Leviathan was still alive and posed a threat to the city. In the end, it seemed to be all sizzle and no steak, for it hadn’t destroyed a single skyscraper.

“A million crystals, and I will do the impossible! I’ll burn my way to its heart! For a million crystals, I’ll... I’ll destroy heaven and earth!”

“What for? I like both.”

“Or I won’t destroy heaven and earth!” Legion immediately corrected himself.

Nothing new here... I didn’t even crack a smile this time.

“But if you had that many crystals, I would know about it. So, we will have to limit ourselves to saving this chick… Isn’t she worth fo… five crystals?”

“Three crystals. That’s my final price. I could just go there myself — I won’t reach her before the end of the mission, but it means that I’ll take three crystals from you. As you can see, you can not only earn three crystals, but also save as many. That makes it six in total, not five. Will you really say no to six crystals?”

In the end, we reached an agreement, but the need to constantly incite the raven was slightly irritating. However, I knew that the task was difficult and that he wouldn’t have agreed without sufficient motivation.

“You... it’s... Fine, I agree.”

“Keep in mind that you have to give the card to her personally, then return here. There’ll be no reward if you fail.”

“What if I don’t make it back before the end of the mission?”

“I’m not planning to leave, so I’ll keep hunting even after the mission is over. If I’m not on the roof, wait three hours. If I’m gone longer or you get lost, wait for me at the Tokyo TV tower. There’s no way you can miss it.”

“How long do I wait for?” The raven tilted his head.

“As long as it takes. I’ll come for you sooner or later.”

“I’m not Hachikō to wait forever. How long?”

I wasn’t surprised that the raven knew about the dog. He’d consumed plenty of soul fragments of people from Earth and had been slowly digesting them all this time. Or he’d merged with them, which sounded more humane.

“The deadline is one year. If I don’t come back within twelve months or send someone to get you, you’re free.”

I checked that the card was fixed securely — I needed to bring a more secure ‘harness’ next time — then attached a beacon to the second claw and threw the bird up into the air. I had to hope that Legion didn’t suffer from topographical stupidity and would find the way there and back again. If he hadn’t lied about his maximum speed, he should even be able to return in time.

* * *

After watching the bird disappear in the distance, I proceeded to what I’d actually climbed up onto the roof for. I sat down and closed my eyes. This place was safe enough to spend the available parameter points before the upcoming hunt.

Parameters:

Strength: 7/10 (100 SP).

Agility: 10/10 (100 SP).

Intelligence: 10/10 (80 SP).

Vitality: 8/10 (50 SP).

Stamina: 10/10 (80 SP).

Perception: 7/10 (80 SP).

Luck: 2/10 (1000 SP).

Race Parameter:

Intuition: 10/10 (50 SP).

Additional Parameters:

Wisdom: 10/10 (50 SP).

Faith: 0.

Heresy: 3 (Cult of Cain).

Fame: 3.

Free Points: 2.

Experience: 70/220.

The choice wasn’t that simple… At first glance, it made sense to bring Vitality to ten and thus get a bonus skill. However, I could increase this parameter using Healing, although the process was long and tedious, but this made it possible to save a precious point or two. In addition, I planned to raise Healing to second rank at the first opportunity, which meant that its effectiveness would increase significantly, including its ability to boost this parameter. Not Vitality then.

The second obvious choice would be to increase Strength and Perception to eight by investing one point in each. Not a bad idea, for once I reached the next level, I could increase any of the three parameters to the maximum. They were also useful in combat…

In any case, it paid not to rush these things, so I decided to consider all the alternatives. My gaze fell on the additional parameters. Luck? I’d already decided that I could manage without it for now. Heresy and Faith could not be leveled up using points. Divine power could only be taken away, and Fame even more so. Yet they lacked the first barrier. They could be leveled up indefinitely, if only I could find a way how. Why was there no Help section here?

What else? I could invest two points into a combat form so that when the barrier was broken, they could be transferred back to the ‘main body’. But using a combat form in the current circumstances was risky, for I could be shot dead by my fellow humans, so investing points into it didn’t seem optimal. Unless I acquired a special superhero costume to hide the changes in my body? “Pfft...”

Hmm, going back to the barriers. For some reason, I hadn’t considered this option for a long time, but I had accumulated enough experience points to remove one of them right now. Two green parameters, Wisdom and Intuition, had reached the cap ages ago.

Attention! Do you wish to break through the first limit (Intuition)? (50 SP)

The probability of success is 93%.

Yes/No

If there was a probability of success, then failure was also possible? However, the chances were high enough that I didn’t worry too much about it. True, the roof of a high-rise building in a city swarming with bloodthirsty monsters wasn’t the best place to experiment on myself, but... screw it. I could always escape using the card if things went south. I was already becoming overly cautious, and one couldn’t get far on caution alone.

Attention… Success! The Intuition parameter limit has been increased to 15!

Attention! You have overcome the limitations of your race! (20/220)

Attention! You have received the More Than Human achievement. Your race rank has increased! (E+)

Attention! You are the third person in your world to achieve this! Fame has increased!

“That’s it, it doesn’t even hurt,” I muttered as I looked through the messages.

The third person… It made sense. Enough time had passed and one of the top players, having reached the cap for one of the parameters, had decided to check what lies beyond. Sadly, it wasn’t me. It was odd, really, that I was the third and not the tenth. And why was my Fame increasing so rapidly? The parameter had reached four already, which I’d be glad about if it actually gave me anything. However, weren’t there usually bonuses for numbers that were multiples of five? In that case, I wouldn’t get a chance to increase it again for ages, thanks to Murphy’s law.

“Alright, what’s next?” I spent one point on Intuition, reasoning that increasing it by just one point over the limit shouldn’t result in anything really bad. A shiver ran down my spine, there was a flash of pain in my head, but nothing special happened.

Attention! You are the first person in your world to raise your Intuition above the natural limit!

You receive a passive skill... localizing name... Cassandra’s Whisper (57%) (E+, 1/5)

Cassandra’s Whisper

Class: E+.

Type: passive.

Level: 1/5.

Description:

— Time magic.

— You will hear a whisper warning of imminent death.

— A timer informs you precisely when you will die.

— Unstable skill.

As I’d expected, Fame didn’t increase, while the skill itself… It was nothing special at first glance, but then, one shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It was another E-ranked skill and a free one at that, even if I wouldn’t hear this whisper in the coming years. Furthermore, it was a skill that couldn’t be copied. I had worked out the principles and knew that skills coming directly from the System weren’t fully comprehensible.

Unfortunately, I was the third in this world, which meant that at least one, or more likely two bonuses had already been taken by my predecessors, and something told me there was no prize for second place. Moreover, if they knew about the reward, they might have removed not one, but several barriers.

“Change of plans.” It was now clear to me that I should save the second point. I currently had 20 SP left and needed another 30 to break through the limit for Wisdom. I put the mask on, took a second dagger out of my bag, and absorbed the ‘poisoned’ experience.

Attention! You have gained 20 SP! (40/220)

A card appeared in the air. Swordsmanship. Level 1. As I had expected. Since it had zero saturation, it was even more useless than the usual emptie, to some extent. I urgently needed another ten SP before the mission ended. The longer I waited, the less chance I had of being the first.

I stood up. If the raven returned here before I did, he would surely wait for me.

* * *

Slimes were not people, and small details tended to give away their path through the city. Streaks of goo, slightly melted garbage… For the larger creatures, doors torn off hinges, broken shop windows and other signs of destruction. Not that the creatures made much attempt to hide...

“Bri, scout ahead!”

The ghost flew to the right, but I didn’t rush after him. The damage before me wasn’t significant, so we were probably dealing with a creature that was quite small, which was disappointing. The spiders provided few experience points. On the other hand, I was quite far from the coast, so the creatures could have leveled up on the way here. After a moment’s hesitation, I stepped inside the building.

It was dark inside. Dirty, too, and I had been right about the leveling up, for the floor was splattered with slightly dried blood. I took out my torch. There were three bodies near the door, two women and a man. They bore the characteristic wounds and burns from the tentacles, but the bodies themselves were mostly intact. The Slime that killed them had been too small to absorb the ‘nutrient material’, but where had it gone?

“Wait,” a heartfelt whisper sounded in my ears. “Don’t go in there! Don’t go!”

Attention! You will die in eight seconds!

What?! My heart beat wildly and my body was covered in goosebumps, as if I truly stood at death’s door, and wasn’t just hunting a much weaker opponent. I spun around, tensely trying to identify the danger and expecting an attack, but nothing happened. The timer stopped, and the message flashed and disappeared. More than twenty seconds had passed but I was still alive. It was clearly the skill at work, but why had nothing happened? Was the whisper lying? Had the danger passed me by? Or... I looked at the doorway that I had been about to step through.

“Is anyone there?”

Silence.

“Bri, go and check.”

The ghost dived through the doorway, then returned to report its findings. Son of a... I threw a grenade into the other room, and took cover until an explosion shook the building. A large spider poised directly above the door frame, dropped to the floor, then quickly flipped over to assume a fighting pose…

If I hadn’t seen such a shell on Slimes before, I’d have thought that I was dealing with a new type of monster. But no.

Small Slime, Spider type. Level 6

If I hadn’t waited for Bri and had crossed the threshold, the monster could have killed me with one blow. Had I just narrowly escaped death? The spider shuddered and suddenly changed its mind about fighting, rushing somewhere inside the building.

“Bri, check the way ahead!”

I wasn’t going to let my prey get away, and after making sure that no whisper foretold my death, I gave chase, catching up with the creature after a few steps. The spear tip barely grazed it, but it was enough, for the burst of mana did the rest, splitting open the shell and flinging the spider several steps away. It still wasn’t dead, though.

“I hate Slimes,” I admitted. “You’re like cockroaches, only worse.”

The fugitive trembled at my approach, pressing itself into the wall and trying to shield itself with its tentacles. Even if it was a plea for mercy, I had no intention of listening to it. Maybe next time? Or never.

Attention! You have gained 15 SP! (55/220)

Collecting the emptie — even though I could have received something a bit more interesting for such an unusual creature — I continued on my way. It was time to return to my meeting place with the raven.

* * *

The elevator in the building was still working, but who would use the elevator at a time like this? Taking the stairs two at a time, I remembered my escape from the goblins during the first mission. So much had changed since then. I was now in great physical shape and wasn’t even out of breath from my climb to the roof. If those goblins had tried to chase me now, I’d have killed them all.

To my surprise, things were going well so far. Legion was supposed to be back soon. Eva had rung on my way back to the building and thanked me for the card. My plan had worked for the System didn’t care who’d killed the monster, so the death was credited upon receipt of experience points.

Time remaining: 0 hours, 15 minutes and 12 seconds.

Remaining players: 769/1000

* * *

Attention… Success! The Wisdom parameter limit has been increased to 15! (3/220)

Attention! You are the first to raise your Wisdom above the natural limit!

You receive the Meditation skill (E+, 1/5)

Meditation

Class: E+.

Type: active.

Level: 1/5.

Description:

— Allows you to regenerate mana faster.

— Requires intense concentration.

Not bad... however, this had all been child’s play. I could try to acquire more bonuses, but it would be more difficult from now on. I’d been lucky that both green parameters had been available. Vitality was still left, which also cost 50 SP to remove the cap. Then came parameters from the yellow category: Perception, Stamina and Intelligence. Most likely, two of these parameters were already taken. Strength and Agility were in the red spectrum and were almost certainly free. Not to mention Luck, the limit of which required an insane amount of System points. It was strange, really.

Parameters:

Strength: 7/10 (100 SP).

Agility: 10/10 (100 SP).

Intelligence: 10/10 (80 SP).

Vitality: 8/10 (50 SP).

Stamina: 10/10 (80 SP).

Perception: 7/10 (80 SP).

Luck: 2/10 (1000 SP).

Race Parameter:

Intuition: 11/15.

Additional Parameters:

Wisdom: 11/15.

Faith: 0.

Heresy: 3 (Cult of Cain).

Fame: 4.

Free Points: 0.

Experience Points: 5/220.

Interestingly, I couldn’t see the cost of breaking through the second barrier. Perhaps I needed to get at least one of the available parameters to the next limit?

* * *

Remaining time: 3 minutes and 14 seconds.

Time passed slowly, like it always does when you’re forced to wait. Minute by minute, second by second… At first, I couldn’t understand what had struck me as strange and then it hit me that I could no longer see the Leviathan. I haven’t seen it since my return. Perhaps I’d heard regular explosions and quite strong tremors during my hunt, but I’d gotten used to ignoring the nearby Battle of Titans. It had nothing to do with me. “What the hell?”

A creature of this size disappearing didn’t bode well. It promised surprises, and not the pleasant kind... I opened the messenger and read the latest messages from ‘technical support’.

“President Clinton has announced that the US Air Force used the latest secret weapon and destroyed the monster that has been threatening Tokyo.”

“The Prime Minister of Japan has issued a similar statement, thanking the American allies and stressing that it is now a matter of time until they eliminate the smaller monsters.”

“Congratulations on your victory! We are waiting for your return”

What victory, in the seven hells, were they talking about? If the Leviathan was truly dead, the mission would have ended. Was the System getting buggy again? No, it was more likely that the people upstairs had started celebrating too early. The enemy was still alive and that made me worried. Cassandra was in no hurry to whisper warnings in my ear, yet I felt incredibly jittery.

Attention! You are leaving the mission area! Return at once!

It took me only a few seconds to understand what was happening. The Leviathan was running away, and very quickly at that! I’d estimated that the radius should had to be at least fifty kilometers, and if the monster left now, everything that I had done during this mission would go down the drain. All the warnings, conversations, battles, a card for Eva… It would all be for nothing. The seven hundred remaining players would die, just like those hundred evacuees.

The timer was still counting down the last minutes, so there was a chance that the mission would end earlier. In addition, when we last spoke, Eva mentioned that although I’d been right, the players hadn’t died immediately and not all of them. If I only had more information... I smiled wryly. Nothing would have changed, there was no point in deceiving myself. No wonder the gods had spared their champions and urged them not to come on this mission. It was out of my hands, so all I could do was use the card to escape.

Attention! Do you wish to leave the mission and return to your personal room?

Yes/No

Still, I hesitated. A second later, I realized that I was waiting for the whisper that foreshadowed my imminent death, but all I could hear was the wind. After another moment’s hesitation, I put on my mask and switched to the combat form. Perhaps it would buy me an extra few seconds?

Attention! You have received the status of Deserter!

I wasn’t even shocked to see the message. I had been expecting something like this. I didn’t think it would be the end, though.

Attention! The global mission has been completed!

Attention! Deserter status has been removed! The punishment has been canceled!

Attention! Your contribution to the victory has been rated as minor. No bonus has been awarded.

Attention! The regard of Earth’s gods has improved!

I ran my eyes over the messages, stopping at the last one.

Congratulations! Mission completed.

Would you like to leave the location?

Yes/No

* * *

Victory? Really and truly? I didn’t feel any excitement, only emptiness and slowly receding despair... What had happened? Had the Americans been right and the fleeing creature had died of its injuries?

How many players had perished? I was quite close to the coast, so the message had arrived relatively late. But what about the others? It was hard to tell, for the counter was rapidly decreasing, and not because of losses this time. The players, after tottering on a knife’s edge, had no desire to test fate further and fled as soon as they received the unexpected pardon. I understood them perfectly. Now that the main mission was over, everyone could leave, even those who hadn’t fought at all. A minute later, only fifty or so players remained in Tokyo.

Remaining players: 54/1000

The number seemed to stabilize. So, I wasn’t the only one who’d thought that leaving wasn’t mandatory? It was strange that the mission hadn’t ended automatically once the main objective had been completed. Unless the timer had frozen in the last few seconds...

Time remaining: 0 hours, 0 minutes and 24 seconds.

I sighed, pulling myself together. If even those who had stood on the edge had decided to stay, I certainly had to stand by my decision. Right?

* * *

The ground shuddered again, a rumble came from the sea and the sky darkened. Why was I not surprised? The victory message hadn’t eased my sense of impending disaster, but had only made it worse.

Attention (global alert)! The mission zone is under attack! Players in Japan are advised to evacuate immediately (Hera).

A siren started to wail, warning the residents of approaching danger, but this time, even the most modern warning system was of little help. I stood on the roof of the building and watched as a huge wave rolled ashore. I’d never seen a tsunami before, but I doubted the waves were normally this high and strong... what was happening over there? I strained my eyes in a desperate attempt to discern something in the flashes of light and thunder.

“Bri, in the bag!” I looked up at the sky. I didn’t want to abandon my sidekick. “Where is that blasted raven?”

Remaining players: 4/1000

Ten seconds was how long it took between the call to evacuate and the first strike, and most of the remaining players had chosen to leave. The city had only recently withstood a tsunami, but this one appeared higher and more destructive. The buildings remained standing, but I didn’t envy the people hiding on the lower floors. I also suspected that we didn’t need to worry about the Slimes in Tokyo anymore. Even they were unlikely to survive such a natural disaster... and this was only the beginning.

I stayed away from the edge of the roof, worried about being blown off. A bright light came from the sea and several skyscrapers collapsed, turning into a mound of rubble. It was time to leave, yet I ignored the warning floating before my eyes.

Would you like to leave the location?

Yes/No

I felt angry and helpless. Even if most of the players had escaped, what about the ordinary people? Had the civilians, whom I’d spent several hours rescuing, managed to get away, or at least take shelter in one of the high-risers? Not that the latter would necessarily save them.

The ground itself shuddered this time, cracks running along it, and dozens of skyscrapers collapsed in the distance. It was like Armageddon. Even if the attack ended now, it would be hard to restore the city. Was it a coincidence that the call to evacuate had mentioned Japan, and not just Tokyo? That meant not only Hokkaido, but a multitude of other islands. The Kuril Islands were also relatively close. What was going on?

“Legion!” I no longer believed that the raven would return in time, but I was going to wait until the end. Until the sibilant voice informed me that I had only a few seconds left to live, or until I was certain that I couldn’t stay here any longer. Even if the building started to collapse, I’d have a second… It was stupid and yet…

A new wave came and more buildings collapsed as the wave moved further inland. The streets were now covered in several meters of water, the buildings rising out of it like islands.

Remaining players: 1/1000

I was the last one left again, but this brought me neither pride nor joy. Rain poured down from the sky like a sheet, reducing visibility to zero. If the next wave was big enough to cover the building I stood on, I wouldn’t be able to see it.

“You will die... Death is near… There is no way out…”

Attention! You will die in seven seconds!

“You are doomed...”

Was I imagining it or was the voice different this time, with a hint of gloating in it? Anyway, ‘doomed’ was too strong a word. I still had a chance, and this time, I was going to take it.

Would you like to leave the location?

Yes/No

Despite my fears, the process worked as before. I closed my eyes and confirmed my decision, finding myself in the familiar void.

* * *

Mission Stats

Personal Mission (F): completed.

Global Mission (C): completed.

Players: 1000.

Died: 373.

Survived: 627.

Failed: 0.

Epilogue. The Cicada

THE CREATURE named the Leviathan moved away from the city, but it understood that the inhabitants of this world would not let it go so easily. The locals were much stronger than anyone it had ever encountered before. Worlds that had only recently joined the Great War rarely survived the changes and became welcome prey for those who found them first. Countries could rarely oppose the incoming monsters, and players needed time to build up their strength, time that no one was going to grant them.

The only initial danger came from the newly baked gods, but they were usually scattered, frightened, and few in number. The more intelligent life there was on the planet, the more gods could appear. Some worlds had only one or two, but this planet had seven.

The gods were the main danger and the main prey, and one of the few things that the Leviathan was genuinely afraid of. The being whose might was enough to destroy weaker worlds was acting as bait in this instance. It had to prove that humans couldn’t cope with such a threat. Demonstrate that their weapons — even the most complex ones — were helpless against the power of an ancient player. That it could repeatedly attack the coastal cities, triggering new missions again and again, and destroy those who answered the call.

How soon will the local gods grow tired of watching the unfolding events and decide to intervene personally? They may be strong, but without the players, the world would fall sooner or later, and become an eternal feeder for the strong. At the heart of the struggle was the need to eliminate the gods early on, thus preventing them from growing stronger and increasing the levels of their altars. Even newborn gods wielded considerable power within their Domain, but they simply became very strong as soon as they set foot beyond it. More importantly, they became vulnerable to those who know where to look…

But the bait doesn’t care about what happens to the fish. It was why the Leviathan didn’t strive too hard, trying to maintain a balance between the need to complete the quest and the desire to survive. It appeared to be succeeding.

When the Leviathan had almost reached the ocean, the ‘steel birds’ appeared above it again. Their strikes, very weak at first, were becoming more and more irritating as they drained the numerous defense auras. A couple more hours and they might have succeeded.

There was another explosion, and a wall of flame struck its body. The ancient player didn’t strike back this time but obediently died, allowing the flesh to disintegrate and releasing tens of thousands of larvae. False targets that made it easy to hide among them. Of course, this wouldn’t deceive anyone for long, but even a brief moment was enough for its escape.

* * *

The sphere containing Leviathan’s true essence split open, releasing a blue butterfly that flew away. Now it needed to get far enough away from the shore for the players to face Retribution.

The System lacked proper intelligence and acted according to rules and algorithms that, if studied, could be used to one’s advantage. Even now, without knowing what kind of quest the humans had received, the Leviathan knew exactly what it needed to do.

First, create enough victims for a quest to form. The Leviathan could have immediately headed for the open sea, but this might not have worked for, according to the unwritten rules, the enemy had to be given a chance. If one was in too much of a hurry, the mission would simply be canceled and no punishment would follow. It was something else entirely to wait until the very end of the small cycle and leave, taking all those lives at the last possible moment. A trap with almost no way out, unless the gods themselves got involved.

* * *

A hand emerged from nowhere and closed around the butterfly, crushing the wings that were stronger than steel.

Attention! You have found the required objective. The Reconnaissance quest has been completed!

Would you like to leave the location?

Yes/No

The Leviathan reacted instantly to confirm, yet it was too late...

Attention! Transfer has been blocked. You cannot leave the location!

“No! Let me go!”

The one-eyed old man hovering in the air looked at the prey clutched in his fist. Even though Odin was a god, holding on to the butterfly wasn’t all that easy.

“Goodness me, a talking butterfly! I remember that I was once interested in entomology. You would have been a real jewel in my collection, but we don’t have the time…”

En-to-mo-logy... The Leviathan had received plenty of information about this world, yet the horrible realization of what this term meant didn’t come to it immediately. The fist began to clench harder, overcoming its desperate resistance.

“Lady, save me! You will die! You will die! You will...” The desperate squeak was abruptly cut off. Odin brought his fist to his mouth and sucked in the soul that was trying to fly away. A creature that had lived for thousands of years and could destroy entire worlds now died its final death.

* * *

“My, my, such rudeness.” a pleasant female voice rang out. “My servant was right and you will die today.”

Odin turned, pointing his spear Gungnir in the direction of the voice. Another butterfly appeared from a tear in space. It was much larger and its outline was reminiscent of a human figure. One could call her a fairy, at a stretch. A Queen of Fairies.

The Goddess Ilene. Level 3

“The seal!” she smiled, showing sharp teeth. “He-he-he... you will definitely die now. You should have run as soon as you heard my voice, but now you’ve lost your chance.”

The old man showed no sign of fear, and what happened next wasn’t what the fairy had been expecting. A split second before her will sealed the space closed, the air rippled with the appearance of six gods.

Hera. A slender brunette in a snow-white toga, with a tiara on her head, a scepter at her belt and a garnet in her left hand.

Guan Yu. An Asian man with a tanned face and a long black beard, wearing green clothes and a gold-trimmed hat, and clutching a guandao.

The Great Set. A muscular young man, his skin as black as darkness... with the head of a donkey. The animal’s scarlet eyes held a wild rage and a readiness to kill anyone who dared to joke about his appearance. A loincloth, a necklace and a bronze sickle in his hand completed the image.

Quetzalcoatl. He was supposed to look like a winged snake, but had instead appeared as a man in a player’s outfit, with a steel mask shaped like a dragon’s face. Only the few feathers in his hair served as a reminder of his true appearance.

Inti. A dark-skinned man with a bare torso, covered in gold jewelry. In his hands was a bizarre mixture of a spear and an axe.

And finally, the many-armed and blue-skinned Shiva, in clothes made of tiger skin. His symbol of power and main weapon was a trident.

“The seal!” the gods said in unison. A new seal was placed atop the first one, preventing all who were present from escaping.

* * *

“You...” There was confusion, disbelief, even despair in Ilene’s voice. “All seven... But you are rivals! How is this possible? How did you manage to reach an agreement?”

“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind,” Guan Yu replied. “Did you really think that Odin would come here without support?”

“I...”

“I suspect she assumed there would be fewer of us,” Hera smiled. “Three, four at most. And you thought that the monkey would help you, right? Even now, you’re hoping it will come.”

“It doesn’t matter!” the fairy bared her sharp teeth. Dark armor covered her body and glowing daggers appeared on her hands. “I have the third level! You are only larvae! You cannot kill me!”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Odin nodded. “We won’t know unless we try, won’t we?”

The Earth gods slowly scattered, surrounding the fairy in a semicircle. The symbols of power were important and the rules were the same for all. If they wanted to benefit from the upcoming murder, they had to perform it properly.

“Don’t you feel sorry for your people? The destruction will be terrible! The city will be destroyed! Not only the city, but the entire region will suffer.”

“You sent your servant to attack Tokyo to lure us out,” Hera smiled thinly. “Isn’t it a little late to show concern about our people? However, I will make sure that the losses are as small as possible.”

Hera moved her lips slightly, sending out a global alert. Now the players had to leave the dangerous zone. Moreover, she could save even more, by giving easy missions to players who were dangerously close.

“You’re thinking too small,” Quel said coldly. “I will launch a new recruitment drive.”

If millions were to die, they didn’t need to worry about the energy expenditure and limit the recruitment zone. The could change the rules slightly. Select some of the candidates themselves. Give those that were worthy a chance... or those who considered themselves worthy.

“You!” Ilene exclaimed furiously. “Don’t you dare underestimate me! Although there are seven of you, I will almost certainly kill one of you! Perhaps even two.”

“So what?” Shiva chuckled. “While the altar is intact, each of us can be reborn. On the other hand, one of us will now reach the next level.”

“If the others allow it. Even then, you will be much weaker. Is it worth it?”

“This isn’t going to work,” Odin shook his head.

“There is another option. Let me go, and I will leave your world forever! I can even tell you about the other gods. Things you won’t discover for yourself for some time!”

“Really?” Hera said. “Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it? So, what can you...”

Shiva attacked first. Silently, interrupting the conversation, and the others immediately joined his attack. The fairy had been right about one thing — she was much stronger than any of the seven. But this didn’t save her.

* * *

Attention! You have reached the second level of power!

Each level meant a huge difference in strength for the gods, yet they had prevailed due to their number. Guan Yu laughed as he looked at his battered allies. Despite the butterfly’s threats, she had failed to kill any of them, only to inflict serious wounds, but wounds, unlike death, were much easier to heal. Ilene could also be reborn in one of her temples someday... if her neighbors didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. In any case, it would take a very, very long time and she would be much weaker. Resurrecting a god was a very expensive process. Ilene would not be a problem for decades to come, even centuries.

“That was a great shot,” Hera smiled crookedly, the first to speak. “Although someone could have waited. We might have learned something new.”

Shiva didn’t bother to respond to this barb, but joined the others in congratulating the winner. He had lost two arms in this battle, and things could have gone much worse if the others hadn’t attacked.

“Thank you, my friends,” Guan Yu responded warmly, holding the fairy’s corpse by her antennae. “Don’t worry, I remember our agreement, and it remains in force. The Pantheon will be led by the god who captures the altar in the goblin world, and the rest will obey them! It is time to go. We will share the fairy’s corpse and other trophies later.”

The seal shattered as the gods took a simultaneous step back and disappeared. Staying outside the divine domain longer than necessary was dangerous. Too many hungry eyes were directed at Earth, and they weren’t in the best shape for a new fight right now.

* * *

The titanic waves raised by the battle of the eight gods hit Japan, surpassing what the Leviathan had created nine hours earlier. Millions of dead, cities and infrastructure destroyed, death of the government, and damaged nuclear power plants.

Although Hokkaido didn’t repeat the fate of the legendary Atlantis, the price of victory had been too high.

The next book of the series:

Overlord of the Dungeon (In the System Book 4)

End of Book Three

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About Petr Zhgulyov

Although an avid reader from an early age, Petr had never tried to write a book himself until he began his IT studies. This is when he discovered Russia’s biggest online writing community, Samizdat. His first book received a warm welcome from his online readership and Petr even got a letter from a traditional publisher showing interest in his book. But when Petr accepted their proposal, he didn’t receive a reply. He never heard from them again.

A few years later, already an IT professional, Petr wrote another book and sent the manuscript out to publishers. This time, it was rejected. In those days, writers were only considered “proper authors” if they worked with traditional publishers; all others were branded as amateurs.

For the next five years, Petr didn’t write much but did a lot of reading instead. That’s why the arrival of the new genre of LitRPG, followed by RealRPG, immediately piqued his interest. A few more years down the road, and Petr realized it was probably the right moment to get back into writing. If it didn’t work now, then he’d call it a day.

By then, Russia had seen the arrival of online writing portals which allowed authors to sell their books directly to their readers, bypassing traditional publishing houses. Petr quit his day job and started a new book. This time it was RealRPG. Readers immediately noticed his City of Goblins, leaving thousands of comments and positive rankings. The following installments consolidated his success, securing the new series’ place among the leaders of the new genre.

They say that three is a charm – it certainly was for Petr, who can now pursue his passion for writing full time. And now you too have a unique opportunity to read his books in other languages.