Hell's Glitch (LitRPG): Into a Dark Adventure (23 page)

Though it had many
downsides, raw glass refinement was still one to consider, especially at lower
levels, but Sam was overall disinterested in a weapon type that was ultimately
weaker than the others in the long run.

“Okay, thank you Sedwin. 
You gave me a lot to think about.”

He gave Sedwin a smile
and the bear awkwardly tried to do the same.  Sam decided to hold off on any
weapon refinement yet.  He didn’t have the ore he needed anyhow.  But there had
to be some around if Robert was able to make a poison weapon, unless he really
did apply something to his weapon beforehand.

As Sam rested at the Soul
Beacon, his thoughts went back to Ji.  He couldn’t help but wonder what that Dragon’s
Breath Pyromancy from her could actually do.  He decided to go through the
forest searching for her again in case she had some new tricks to teach.

******

Sam’s search for Ji ended up being fruitless.  He did come
across a pair of rather peculiar messages from other players though.  One had
read:

Revenant is Death!

Relevance 0

And the other read:

Need Quintessence.

Relevance 7

Sam moved on from the weird messages back towards the Soul
Beacon.  He was unsure where to go next.  He had been to the cave to see if the
merchant would come back, but hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him.  His only
option now, was to explore the front of the forest, where Caesar had killed him
before.  As he thought of his approach, a message popped up in his HUD in large
yellow text.  The words looked rough and jagged, almost like they were etched
in stone.

You Are Being Encroached Upon By Justinian89Thrills

“Bah, I wasn’t ready.” Sam said to himself, nervously
laughing.

He wondered how the people he encroached before had felt. 
Were they more nervous than he was?  Were they actually scared to face him? 
The answer to that was yes in many cases, he knew.  He was just overdue for this.

He soon shook away his nervousness, as it was silly for
someone who caused as much grief as he did to be nervous.  He slowly moved
through the trees, keeping a close eye out for his opponent.

Of course, Justinian89Thrills would have been spawned
somewhere in Sam’s general vicinity.  It didn’t take long for Sam to spot him. 
He saw the crimson eyed Walker easily from several meters away.  He was bathed
in a fine red mist that perpetually ebbed and flowed.

Sam took out his Flexile Wooden Bow+20 and measured his
shot.  He loosed his arrow and struck Justinian right in the neck for a nice
amount of damage.  Justinian recoiled and ran forward to the direction where
Sam had fired the arrow.  Sam was already well away from the spot.

He moved cautiously to avoid Justinian’s roving eyes.  As
Justinian closed in on the spot he was before, Sam lined up another shot and
nailed Justian89Thrills in the side of the head for more big damage.  The two
critical shots combined took down a fourth of Justinian’s health.

Sam had nowhere to run now.  Justinian had him in his sights
and barreled forwards towards him.  Sam switched to his Rapier and Metal Crest
Shield.  At this range, he couldn’t help but notice something very strange
about Justinian.  He was wearing a set of armor that looked identical to King
Herke’s.  He was even wearing the king’s bloody crown.

“What the hell?”

Sam was not just confused by Justinian’s outfit, but also by
his fighting style.  He held his shield up in front of his face as Justinian
wailed away with two swords.  Eventually Sam’s stamina was chipped away to
nothing thanks to Justinian’s rapid slashes.  Sam’s guard was quickly crushed
and he was hit with three slashes, two from Justinian’s shortsword and one from
his longsword.  His health quickly fell below half and he was knocked away.

“Shit!” he yelled as he rolled away.

Justinian was right on top of him again.  Sam saw that he
was about to strike and parried.  He’d mistimed Justinian’s first blow and was
hit by that and a second slash before rolling away to avoid another which was
likely to kill him.

“His first strike was way too fast!  For whatever reason, he
attacks faster when he’s dual wielding.”

Justinian smelled the blood in the water and ran at Sam
again.

“I’m not losing this!”

Sam brought forth the intense heat inside of his soul and
condensed the flames into a fireball.  He quickly tossed it at Justinian’s head
and rolled away behind some trees to heal.  Justinian had retreated from the
attack and gave Sam some much needed time to breathe.

“I don’t care if this is cheap.  I’m going to finish that
guy!”

He took a swig of his Soul Fire and thought of how Justinian
could’ve gotten King Herke’s armor and crown and the most obvious reason came
to him.

“That bastard killed the king!  He must’ve teamed up with
Rondo.  Now, I’m really mad!  I’ll show him the justice of the king’s guard,
the king’s justice.”

Sam rushed forward and dodged one of Justinian’s slashes. 
He lifted his shield up as his foe approached and baited his combo.  Justinian
didn’t disappoint, and Sam was able to sidestep him and net a backstab, leaving
Justinian with just a little more HP than he himself had before.

“You must have a lot of HP.  That would’ve killed anyone
else.”

Sam rolled away to some uneven ground to create some
distance.  He primed a fireball and tossed it just as Justinian was fully on
his feet.  Justinian instinctively dodged then ran at Sam, who stood below him
on the sloped terrain.  Justinian went with a jumping attack that would no
doubt knock Sam to the ground.  Sam was ready for him, however, and caught him
with a Skyward Thrust that he had timed impeccably from the moment he charged
the power for it.  Justinian was caught in his descent with several rapid stabs
and was finished before the final thrust had even touched him.  It was the only
way Sam could land the upward aimed Technique.  He had to stand below him.

You Have Vanquished an Encroacher.

As with his own encroachments, Sam’s spoils for winning
included a unit of solid Quintessence and a thousand souls.  This time, instead
of a Bloody Tearstone, he received an item called a Token of Survival for
winning.

“That’s for the king, asshole!”

Sam stopped and read his new item to see if it had any
value.

Token of Survival

Proof that one has survived an otherworldly assault.

For those who have never adventured, Spirit Walkers are
naught but a myth and those who talk of them are considered tellers of tale
tales.  Though mostly ephemeral, encroaching spirits can sometimes leave
lasting personal effects.  Objects or body parts left behind by Spirit Walkers
can only be preserved when a survivor has an intense connection to it.  With
proper proof, even the skeptics can be swayed.

After a while, Sam’s adrenaline began to wear off and his
thoughts turned to the real world.  Just how long had passed since the last
time he checked.  Now that he was thinking about time, it felt like he had been
in the game forever and while he was loving every minute of it, he couldn’t
help but wonder the state of his real body.

The medical staff had assured him that they would take care
of his body, but hadn’t given him any concrete details on how.  To be fair to
them, he hadn’t asked for any details either since he was so eager to start the
game.  He found it strange too, that he hadn’t experienced any lasting fatigue
yet from playing for so long.  He had been playing for more than a day now.  It
hadn’t occurred to him to log out and check on himself until now.

“Maybe I should log out, just to log out.  Stretch my legs a
little ... my real legs.”

He scrolled through his menus to the options menu.  He
couldn’t find the logout option there.  He searched through his other menus,
including his Alpha Build menu and couldn’t find any option that said “quit,
exit, main menu, log out, real world, or even GTFO.”  He was quite vexed.  His
next thought was to call Alex, but before he was able to do that he got a text
message.

Video Message Incoming: Fulton Milner, Director/Lead
Designer

25
Phase 2

It was surreal seeing Milner’s real life head superimposed
in the center of his HUD.  The man was so dedicated to player immersion that he
didn’t even let people voice chat or directly message each other, but here he
was breaking all types of immersion with his joyless real life face.

“Hello alpha testers.  I highly suggest you watch this
message somewhere safe.  At a Soul Beacon perhaps.  I’ll give you ten minutes
to find one.”

His face disappeared faster than it appeared, leaving Sam
with a very peculiar feeling.

“What a weird guy.  Guess I’ll make my way back to the Soul
Beacon at the cave.”

Sam rested inside the cave and leveled up his stats as he
waited for Milner’s next immersion breaking message.  He leveled his speed up
to twenty-eight and went back to thinking about what Milner’s impending message
would be about.  Maybe he would have something to say about the missing log out
function.  Hopefully they’d get it up again pretty soon.  Sam was getting
anxious thinking about such a huge flaw in the game’s system.

How did they mess that up
, he thought.

He checked the time again and saw that his gameplay hours
had stretched even further.  He had already logged over fifteen hours in the
game.  He really needed to get out and check on himself and see if he could
even move his legs after getting so immersed in this world.  He was sure that
he’d have to pee like a racehorse too, once he got out.

Video Message Incoming: Fulton Milner, Director/Lead
Designer

Milner’s image cut into Sam’s HUD.  He was visibly sweating
and the dark rings under his almond shaped eyes were now more pronounced.  His
shaggy black hair was more disheveled and for whatever reason, his five o’clock
shadow looked messier than before.

He then remembered that it was an automated digital clone
that he had come across before when configuring the game or perhaps Milner had
simply pulled an all-nighter to ensure that the test was going well.  Looking
at him, Sam wondered if Milner shared the same Japanese heritage as himself. 
Milner was not a traditional Japanese name, neither was Fulton for that manner.

“Bear with me, testers.  I know this is jarring.  My team is
just finishing the calibrations to allow me entrance into your game worlds. 
Ah, looks like they’re already done.”

The video feed was cut and suddenly a light blue portal
appeared next to Sam.  Sam hurriedly got to his feet and drew his sword.  A
light blue, pixelated version of Milner stood in front of him with his hands in
his coat pockets.  Slowly, digital Miller came to be colored with more
realistic hues and eventually it seemed as if the man from the video had now
stood right in front of Sam.

It reminded Sam of when he had first entered the virtual
world.  Milner was wearing the same white lab coat as before.  Milner stared
right at Sam, but his eyes didn’t seem to be focused on him.  Most likely, it
was the same look he was now giving to all the testers
en masse
.

“Yes, this is good, feels more natural this way.  With that
aside, I’m here to make a few announcements regarding this alpha build test. 
First off, I’d like to congratulate our top testers for giving us some much
needed data.  The top five testers include Immortal Kalika, Sword Wrench Man,
Sarem the Sanguine, Justinian Eighty-Nine Thrills, and Regal Deego.

“These testers have made the most progress in the game,
collected the most rare items and equipment, and are generally the best overall
players of the game.  Top five player Sarem the Sanguine is also the first
tester to find five distinct glitches in the game earning him the reward for
that contest.”

A replication of Sam’s avatar appeared next to Milner in his
black armor and long swooping cloak.  He was life sized and made Milner look
like an ant.  Milner’s head barely came up to his chest.  Sam grinned and mumbled
to himself.

“I look good in my Bloody Sunday’s Best.”

Milner dismissed the digital Sarem clone and continued on.

“There will be further rewards for those who find a suitable
number of glitches, but that particular contest is now over.  Thank you Sarem
for helping us ensure the quality of Project DH.”

Sam took a strange pride in that.  It felt good to be
finally acknowledged for his skill.  He took his gaming very seriously.

“Our number one player is, by and large, Immortal Kalika. 
She is the only tester who has not died yet, truly deserving of her namesake. 
These feats are also deserving of a round of applause.”

IMMORtAL_Kalika’s digital clone appeared right next to
Virtual Milner.  Even though her avatar was small, she still looked badass and
dangerous with her blood red hair, dark skin, deep black face tattoos, and
yellow pupils.  She was also wearing a red and white outfit that looked just
like Ji’s, complete with her artistically styled steel plated gauntlets and
greaves.  Had she killed Ji in her game?

Virtual Milner clapped his hands and soon the sounds of a
chorus of claps joined his own.  Sam wasn’t sure if it were a premade audio
track or the combined audio of the other players.  Sam himself wasn’t clapping,
though not out of spite.  He respected Kalika’s prowess completely and hoped to
reach her level of play soon.  He just felt like clapping would be pointless.

“Now, on to the main reason for this intrusion of mine.  I’m
here to inform you all of the changes we’ll be implementing going forth with
this alpha test.  We are now entering the second phase of Project DH.  To be
honest with you all, phase one of the project was a total failure.  Overall,
you’ve all proven to be a lackluster group of testers with unusable player data. 
None but Kalika has given me even close to the results that I need to call this
project a success.  That may be my fault, since I didn’t provide the correct
motivation for you all, but that stops now.  From here on out, we’ll be
striving for the best results.”

Milner paused and stared right through Sam with a
frightening intensity.

“We can all agree that people are motivated by many things,
but under it all are very basic primal motivations.  We are motivated to eat, we
are motivated by success, and we are motivated by sex.  All of these
motivations harken back to one ultimate truth: we are all motivated to
survive.  That’s the ultimate goal of our species, survival, by any means
necessary.  I want you all to keep that in mind, because phase two starts with
the activation of Survival Mode—or I should say it started with the activation
of Survival Mode.”

What the hell was he talking about?  Survival Mode?

“Of course, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘what is Survival
Mode?’  To put it simply, it means that if you die inside of the game then your
real life body will die as well.”

“Bullshit!” Sam yelled out loud.  “Why would you even say
something like that?”

“Many of you are knowingly disturb by this and rightly so. 
That’s a natural response.  Many of you also don’t believe a word that I am
saying or at the very least can’t believe it.  But it’s the truth and the
quickest way to get you to believe it is to show you, because your survival is
what’s important.  Survival mode has been active now for the last two hours,
ever since this last spike of PVP interactions.  It’s only been active for PVP,
which can only be initiated via player encroachments.  Certain testers who were
killed while being encroached upon are now dead in real life as well.  In the
last two hours, twenty-one testers have been killed in PVP combat.”

“No way ... no fucking way ...” Sam repeated as he listened
on.

“Since my words are not proof enough, my team has prepared a
video chronicling all those who’ve lost their lives.  This is a graphic video,
but none of you can afford to look away.  I implore each and every one of you
to look on and remember each player who has died so far.  Remember their names
as you go forth.”

Milner faded away and another video appeared in Sam’s HUD. 
The screen was split in half with half the footage detailing a match between
two testers in third person view and the other half showing a close up of some
young guy strapped to a Dream Chair with his head covered in the Miyabi Full
Dive headgear.  He was breathing deeply, almost snoring, and subtly reacting to
the virtual fight.  It looked as if he were having a very vivid dream.

Sam guessed it was the sleeping guy’s gamer handle at the
top of the screen.  His name was LAStrPD.  His avatar, a revenant in Fighter’s
armor, was on the left side of the screen joined in battle by a crimson eyed Walker,
Justian89Thrills who was dressed as he was when Sam had fought him only moments
ago.

Justinian nailed LAStrPD with two sword blows and ended the
fight with a vicious thrusting attack.  LAStrPD fell to his knees holding his
stomach.  The guy in the recliner on screen next to him strained against the
straps binding much of his body, nearly breaking them.  His screaming seemed
inhuman but didn’t last long.  It was replaced by incoherent babbling as his
body violently convulsed and he foamed at the mouth.  Soon after, even the
convulsions stopped and some young nurse walked over and checked the pulse of
the tester.  The nurse removed the Miyabi headgear and placed a white sheet
over the body.

The video then cut to another side by side of a young lady
in the Miyabi headgear.  Her revenant Cutthroat went by the name of Lord of
Boltz.  She put up a good fight against Justinian but was ultimately cut down
by him, just like LAStrPD.  Her real life death was just as gruesome as LAStrPD,
only she suffered a severe nose bleed as well.

The next video featured a bald avatar dressed as a Priest,
who wielded a Battle Axe.  It was a familiar opponent to Sam.  The name
displayed at the top, HolyVermillion, confirmed that it was the same tester he
had fought.  The tester playing him was as large as a professional football
player, but looked at peace reclining as his revenant avatar did battle.

The footage on screen was of Sam’s avatar, Sarem, digging
his Rapier deeply into HolyVermillion’s back and kicking him into a minefield
of Stumpies that teamed up and killed him.  Holy Vermillion’s large young
tester thrashed about and broke through his restraints.  He managed to grab
onto a nearby nurse who was trying to secure him.  He yanked her around and crushed
her wrist in one hand.

He grabbed the exposed parts of his own face with his second
hand and squeezed it with violent intensity, breaking his skin and drawing
forth his own blood.  His thrashing soon stopped, his grip on the girl slackened,
and some other nurses came to assist her.  They cautiously checked his pulse
and then placed the white sheet over him after removing his headgear.

“Holy Vermillion ...”

The next video was another of Sam’s kills, this time against
a player called 3Angelo.  Sam had finished the undead Ranger with an arrow to
the head during their intense sniper battle.

“Three-Angelo.”

Sam repeated all the names of those he had allegedly killed
during PVP play.  There were many.

“Infamous Sampson.”

“Call of Carl.”

“John Washington.”

“Xpansion Pak.”

“Dick Rumsfeld.”

“Spearwife.”

Sam had counted each time a player was killed.  Durga2Smooth
was the twentieth player killed.  The seventh to be killed by
Justinian89Thrills.  Justinian was second when it came to PVP kills, Sam was
first with eight.  In these circumstances, it wasn’t a title that he wanted. 
He quietly watched on as the twenty-first video began to play.  Tears began to
fall from Sam’s virtual eyes as soon as the name and images appeared.

In real life the player was tall and skinny.  A lanky white
guy with large hands.  His face was at rest, with a faint smile on his lips as
he laid in his Dream Chair.  The battle between the avatars was a playful yet
heated one.  A tall dark Cutthroat versus a heavily armored Knight with a tower
shield.  The Knight struck out with his Arming Sword and landed a hit.  The
Cutthroat retaliated with a couple of Fireballs then managed to land a backstab
on the Knight.  Finally, the Cutthroat parried the Knight’s sword slash and
stabbed him in the heart.  Sam committed the image and the name to memory.  His
final kill.

“Roburn.”

His best friend, Robert, struggled and squirmed against his restraints
as his avatar faded away.  Robert tore the restraints right off, as if they
were paper, and tried digging his fingers into the Miyabi headgear.  He punched
at it, harder and harder, until his knuckles began to bleed.  His legs were
still bound to the chair and he ripped one of those restraints off as well with
his bare bloody hands and stood on his free leg.

There was a small table nearby that he picked up and tossed
across the room inciting screams from the nurses nearby.  He clutched his
headgear and screamed.  His pain was evident in his tone.  Sam could see his
own sleeping self directly across the aisle from Robert and it frustrated him. 
A minute went by with Robert’s breathing getting more ragged with every passing
second.  Sam desperately searched for his logout button to no avail.  His best
friend was dying right in front of him and there was nothing he could do about
it.

A light was flashed onto Robert and someone could be seen
approaching.  Robert knew someone was approaching too, his attention focused
intently on whoever it was.  He lunged forth at the strangely dressed guards,
but the restraint that bound his leg kept him tethered.  He reached down to
pull at it.  Sam was suddenly startled when he heard gunshots.  There were two,
then four.  Afterwards, Robert slumped down to the ground cradling his body. 
His blood began to pool beneath him as the image disappeared.

Virtual Milner appeared again at Sam’s side, a blank
expression on his face, and his hands in his pockets.  Nothing had changed in
his demeanor, while Sam was on the verge of breaking down.