A satisfied grin grew on Yuri mouth as the words left his mouth. His eyes appeared tranquil yet fierce as he continued to gaze in Conel’s direction. The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Moments passed awaiting a response; Conel came to a stop for a bare second before continuing towards those pairs of crooked stairs. As he had traversed the first step along the crooked stairs he calmly turned around facing the awaiting crowd before him.
“Games have never interested me. Neither do I believe the premise that there is millions of dollars up for the grabbing.”
Conel once again began traverse upon the crooked stairs determined to leave this establishment behind. As he approached the final stair step his tranquil voice spread across the room
“Clean up this room next time. Otherwise I will not be trilled.”
Conel not turning around quietly stepped through the door at the top of the staircase.
Yuri’s tranquil smile bloomed and develops into a crude laugh. Tiny amount of saliva left his mouth as the laugh grew louder and fiercer. After a session of intense laughter Yuri reached into his inner pocket, took out his rough handkerchief and proceeded to clean up the consequences.
“David Conel, a whim of iron without match.”
“Fine then. Ken and Leon that leaves you.”
Yuri’s loud and fierce voice resonated across the enclosed space. Determination returned to his gaze as he beamed across the two young assassins faces.
“Obviously both of you are still rather doubtful so let me explain”
“A new virtual reality unit will be released in unison with the game. This unit’s price is presumed to be a tenth of the price of current units, 1000 dollars.”
As Leon heard the price his face grew grimmer by the moments. Yuri’s keen eye sight caught a glance at Leon and saw the color drain from his face. Sweat was dripping slowly across his face, as the worry grew. Such a rare opportunity carried great emotional weight especially on individuals that was drained of wealth.
“Leon do not worry. This unit and the game are obviously paid entirely by me.”
“And obviously you can collect items yourselves in the free time which surely will have good value.”
A coy smile once again crawled up on Yuri. Wealth was more precious than life for those born undaunted and forgotten. Opportunity was a godsend and would always be welcomed with open arms.
As light returned to Leon’s face the skeletal human of a man Mr. Kolt strode towards Leon in a direct manner. In his hand was a single page of white paper and words scribbled across the page. He handed over the paper piece towards Leon and waited for him to receive it. Leon quickly picked up the paper and read its content
“I Leon hereby agree to the following rules
1. Carry out every mission given by your employer.
2. You as the employee will receive 20% of the mission’s payload.
3. You may under no circumstances give up a contract half way.
Employer Name: Yuri Maklov Employee Name: _________
“
As soon as Leon read the last sentence he was handed a marine ink pen. Mr. Kolt’s precision and keen eye was almost a godsend. As Leon received the ink pen Mr. Kolt proceeded to hand over an identical white paper to the youthful man known as Ken. As he received it with a serene smile Yuri’s fierce voice once again resounded across the room
“Look over the contract and sign if you wish so. Otherwise the door is obviously at the top of those stairs.” Yuri said while nodding towards its direction.
Ken’s everlasting smile continued to bream across his face. Without much thought he moved his hand in a swift manner, clearly demonstrating his fast and precise hand movements.
“Games are always fun”
Ken turned towards Leon in a casual manner. He put his hand steadily on the back of his head as he normally would. As he fiercely scratched the back of his head he once again opened his mouth
“Senior Leon will you accompany me on this fun journey”
Leon knowing what abyss laid behind that casual yet cheerful smile couldn’t help but twitch. Any game that involved the demon with an everlasting smile would decidedly end up in a twisted and cruel bloodbath. The path of carnage was clear, blood would be spilled and dreams would be destroyed. Although Leon’s current situation would by many be considered even worse, the thought beckoned in his mind.
“Of course”
In spite of Leon’s emotional turmoil not a single strand of emotion had left his inner self. As he faced Ken he spoke with external overbearing confidence. Doubt a thing left behind.
Showing equally masterful hand movement Leon signed. As his last stroke left the paper Yuri’s coy smile evolved into brightness.
“Good! Good!”
“So here is the deal. Tomorrow morning my people will set you up with the proper equipment. You are free to leave your current locale here Ken. Since I assume that you are not currently stationed in the city”
Ken kept his cheerful smile as he nodded lightly in response.
“Instruction regarding missions will go through my organization and then I will transverse the contract information.”
“As in any virtual reality game, this will be time consuming. But profit equality attractive.”
“Take these brief instruction manuals which will explain the core concepts of virtual reality gaming.”
As the words echoed out, a bony hand appeared with the manual in question mere seconds after. Leon took hold and could only grasp in its lightness. Knowing the technical difficulties in creating a complex virtual reality game and machine, Leon sighed at how little information was needed to actually utilize the hardware.
Yuri as on queue turned around his gorilla body and strode of the stage. As he took the last of the five steps his powerful voice echoed
“You are dismissed”
Leon signaled a goodbye towards his ever smiling junior before he traversed toward those crooked stairs. Moments later he appeared in an ever bustling hut of activity. Loud noises of heavily drunken middle aged men spread in the atmosphere. Screams of ecstasy of the few winning residents also travelled in the air. As Leon opened the door, the colds of Russia hit his face sending a shrill down his body. It was an unpleasantly cold winter's night; dark, mystifying, the moon was sheltered by the murky looming clouds. Cold winds swept the lands as they hit against Leon’s thin dark coat. After an hour’s walk Leon finally reached his fragile hut, warmth spread as he stepped inside the door.
“Brother, welcome home!”
Darren face beamed with light as he stepped into the warmth. A light in an everlasting darkness was what kept many undaunted travelling. Such was the case for Leon his first couple of years, but once you grow accustom to the total absence of light many find sanctuary in the darkness. Live with something during a long period of time and eventually it becomes one with your being.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“So what was the offer about?”
“A virtual reality game”
Stating the word game out loud was all but unfamiliar to both Leon and Darren. However the thought always daunted Darren, knowing that other children his age had such luxuries. In consequence Darren face sparkled with an even stronger beaming light as those words left Leon’s mouth.
“Really?”
The brightness in his voice spread across the roam as his smile grew ever wider. Leon seeing his excitement growing showed a hand sign for the purpose of calming his young brother down, but to very little effect.
“Okay listen. It’s like this I met Yuri….
---------------------------------------------------------
The world is as silent as if it ended in the night. The sun is still resolutely below the horizon and the street is as dark as some old-school black and white movie. As Leon closed his eyes he felt the heady pull of dreams, beckoning him back to play. Like a little kid at the swings who's been told its home-time, he turned begrudgingly to the light switch and flicked it, immediately the room is bathed in that unnatural electric glow. But the cool blue strip light was free with the room, along with the rising damp and the cockroaches.
Bear moments later, a heavy knock slams against the front door. Opportunity has come knocking and the lands of dreams will have to be postponed. Quickly getting dressed Leon opens the door eagerly. Outside a fifty year old man with gruesome facial scars comes into light. Without letting a sound escape he hands over a rather large box which presumably contains the virtual reality set. Leon willingly accepts the package and the man hastily takes off. Yuri’s thugs and men was usually men with few words, which usually intervened perfectly with the assassin crowd.
Darren is still fast asleep, heavy snores escapes his nostrils. Before opening Leon gathers his thoughts about what he had read last night in the manual.
Sovereign Online.
There are six races, Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Beast men, Demons and Northlings. Every race contains several sub-species. Information regarding how to obtain these sub-species is currently unknown. Every race gets a unique racial passive at the start of the game. The games theme is modestly inspired by middle age European architecture and culture at least for Humans. Swords, bow and magic is the conventional way to engage in combat a fact that made Leon excited. Classes are determined in the early parts of the game depending on player choice. Death means loss of great amount experience and equipment.
The world size is larger or equal to the real world. The world is currently not explored, and many unexplored areas are therefore open for players to venture in. Killing is permitted by the game rules to appear anywhere but if caught under the supervision of town guards strife will occur. Leveling is the conventional means to measure power. Behind leveling are stat points, which are given naturally at every level up through the ten attributes points given after every level. However players can also level stat points if an action correlating to an attribute is done the correct or numerous times. Skills are naturally given to every player once they pick up a class. However as with attributes points, skills can be created on the players own accord.
The virtual reality unit is designed to simulate a real world experience, and currently holds a 90% realism factor.
Naturally there were other key elements which the manual mentioned but those were the once that seemed to be the most vital. Leon overwhelmed by the amount of elements and complexity the game was built on. As a single drop of sweat swept Leon’s face as he began tearing up the well tucked package. The technological content made Leon immediately grasp, by the outlet of the package he assumed the unit would be massive in size but to his surprise what laid in side was a rather small piece of headgear.
Leon was intrigued and therefore chose not to wait until his brother left the land of dreams. They had made a pact the day before, not to engulf in the magic that is virtual reality until both of them were awake. However Leon was by trade a viscous assassin and therefore treacherous by nature. Knowing that his brother was as deceptive, he put on the headgear with a clear conscience.
As the headgear came down on top of Leon’s head the atmosphere and his view changed. Everything turned jet-black and quiet. Leon heard his own heart pounding as the world was turning ever blacker. The noise reduction on this unit was both mesmerizing and scary as the only thing you could hear was your own body beating. As the jet-black had settled all-around a deep and determined voice spoke out of the darkness
“Welcome to Sovereign Online. As the servers have not opened yet you cannot enter the game. If you wish to create your character beforehand please confirm this message”
“Yes”
Leon’s voice resounded out into the jet-black darkness. The recognizable tone brought Leon both comfort and amazement.
“Which race would you like to choose?”
“There are currently six available races, Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Beast men, Demons and Northlings.”
“State their name and further information will be provided”
Leon had analyzed this choice before and leaned against the demon race. Demon’s was notorious creatures of the night a characteristic that went well with his personality. The racial passive was said to be related to night creatures and other notorious dangers.
“Demon”
“Demon are notorious creatures of darkness and strive from the”
“Skip”
Leon had no interest in the backstories. This was work and not play, realizing the difference was one of the initial steps in making money.
“Will you accept demon as you race?”
“Yes”
“You’re starting location will be randomized inside the demon’s domain.”
“Please state you’re in game name”
“Leon”
“Name not taken. Name accepted.”
“Your character’s appearance will be based on real life appearance as stated by the law of Misdeemed conduct in virtual reality games. Do you accept?”
“Yes”
“Character is now being created.”
Second’s past as Leon stared into vacuum. As the voice disappeared sounds of his heartbeat and pulse once again echoed in his mind. After a whole minute, the voice again resounded across the jet-black atmosphere
“Character Created.
“Name: Leon Species: Banshee”
“Banshee?”
Leon couldn’t help saying out loud.
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