It was another hot day in Pittsburgh, PA. It seemed like a week or more has passed since he received the journal. Yet it hadn't even been 24 hours. It was just July 12th, 2023 and it was 7 AM. Travis and Clyde remained frustrated with getting Clyde his upgrade points. Travis knew it ate at him that he couldn't take part in the game. In different circumstances that might come off as self-serving, but Travis knew that it bothered Clyde because he wanted to help navigate this crazy yet dangerous game.
As if the world was on notice Travis heard a ringing in his ear. He checked his journal.
Party Mission - 'Drop the N Keep the PC' -
To bring NPC party members into the ranks of the journal holders he must be at level 5. After your journal is at level 2 you can promote an NPC. His journal will appear in the loot chest at your base.
There are 2 other paths for an NPC to "drop the N". First they need to be in an order with a rank over novice.
The other is by killing a PC and taking his journal. Depending on circustances this could make you a PC automatically or there could be other steps.
If a journal is found and the PC is dead from other means then the NPC will need a level 5 PC to endorse promotion. If that PC is still alive you will be required to kill him or get consent to use his spot.
After reading, Travis and Clyde looked at each other. On one hand, they were happy to finally have a path forward for Clyde, but the other information was troubling, to say the least.
“I didn’t even know there were other player characters,” said Travis.
“I’m guessing you are the only main character though. I wonder if you have any advantages,” replied Clyde.
“Well, we won’t know until we meet one. I guess the good thing is, how would an ‘NPC’”—he hated calling people that and would avoid it whenever he could—“even know about this?” Travis mused.
“I’m an NPC, and I know,” Clyde smiled as he said it, trying not to come off too strong as he corrected Travis.
“Touché. Although you are a bit of a special case, doing recon on a burrow of werewolves like a madman,” Travis smiled back.
They had discussed a plan over breakfast this morning—more sandwiches and some breakfast bars that Travis had. He kicked himself for not using his magic bag more often. He didn't know how much he could put in it or if there was a limit at all. He did have an inventory page in his journal that he hadn't given a proper look at either. Things had just been happening so fast.
He started the morning by gathering everything useful from the apartment: aspirin, toilet paper, a bit more cold cuts, bread, and some condiments. They didn't know where the items went when they disappeared into the bag—whether they became invisible or entered some spatial dimension, but they did show up when needed and that was what mattered.
Clyde considered that time might not pass for the things in the bag as it does outside. Maybe the food would stay in the state it was in when placed in the bag. He had read about it in an interesting series, something monsters, featuring a mouthy Aussie as its main character. "But I digress…" he said.
Determining the safest route was also a topic of discussion. Travis attempted to reach the roof of the building to assess the situation, but to no avail. They hadn't heard police sirens since last night, and the radio provided no local information.
Again, he regretted not going to a pharmacy to find medicines, vitamins, or even an emergency radio with a crank handle. What was done was done, though, and he wouldn't beat himself up over something he couldn't change.
They made their way downstairs, and Travis opened the door cautiously. Besides some debris, the scene looked like a calm July morning, showing in a powerful way that appearances could be deceiving. They headed to the car. Travis added a few gas cans' worth to top it off, just in case they couldn't stop again.
---
About an hour earlier, Anna was closing in on the Bedford Apartments. She couldn't stop thinking about what this MC (main character) was going to be like. It induced anxiety in her for a few different reasons.
The main one was her lack of trust in men. She knew it wasn't fair, acknowledging there were plenty of good men, but she didn't care. She had been mistreated too many times by the male gender.
Following her distrust of men was a general distrust of authority. Because she was attractive, men often tried to exploit their positions to get closer, and women, insecure about her looks, usually treated her poorly. Anna didn't think she was God's gift, but men were often inappropriate, and women saw any attractive female as a threat of some kind, at least in her experiences.
It's fair to say that Anna was a pessimist, which was understandable given her story. Though those that knew her thought she took it to the next level. These underlying issues drove her to make a mistake as she headed to meet Travis.
She wanted to be as high a level as possible. Who knew what advantage this man would have over her? Even though she was moving in the shadows and staying out of sight, when she saw an orc by itself rummaging through a police car, considering the potential experience she made her move.
With the stealth strike skill, she could kill it quietly and reap the reward. Learning the game came pretty easy, though Anna knew nothing about tactical positioning or the best way to spot a sentry spot, or even that she should be looking for them.
As she crept up to kill the brute with her deadly and menacing weapon an orc positioned on top of the building she had been hiding next to yelled a warning. Something in their language, but the orc in the police car tried to turn around fast. It was not the most agile creature, so it hit its head on the back very hard. Anna may not have known about defensive positioning, but she did know how to act fast. With her reflexes and upgraded strength, she pounced.
An arrow flew by her, just missing, but before it lay still after hitting the ground, Anna had stabbed the orc in its side, down the back, and the final one brought the blade up into its stomach under the armor. She looked it in the eye as she twisted the blade, spinning out and pulling the dagger as she left, hot blood spraying in the air. Moving again and so fast that the second arrow the sentry shot hit the orc as she spun away; it bled out soon after.
Unfortunately for Anna, the orc blew some type of horn, and it was loud. Her instinct told her to stay and fight; the orcs were so slow that she was having an easy time killing them. That was mostly without them knowing she was there, though. Anna could become wildly overconfident.
---
The sound of the horn reverberated all the way to Travis and Clyde. Travis, who had been asking Clyde for his view on everything, went full-on Major Porter mode now.
"That sounds like a battle horn, lets go check it out. You drive and take me closer. We retreated to safety last night when we could have done more, but there is no excuse now,” he said in a calm yet commanding voice. He didn't know if he was trying to convince Clyde or himself.
Clyde was acting as he started talking, “take you closer, what about me?”
“I want you to have the car ready in case we need to make a fast getaway. Besides, you have no weapons Clyde.”
“Yes, sir,” Clyde said, trying not to sound sarcastic; he really meant it. There would be a day when he would fight side by side with the Major, but right now he was needed as a getaway driver.
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---
Anna dodged a couple more arrows as she got closer to the buildings. The basic direction was known to her, but not by heart. Directions were never her strong suit. That's when an orc came running past up the street; not noticing her pressed against a building. It would be possible to run up and kill it quietly she thought, but an arrow in the back was also possible. Throwing knives would be great about now, ran through her mind during all of this.
“Screw it,” she said as she ran out towards the orc. He was so loud clambering up the street that she didn't need to be quiet. There was another scout though and he yelled out, the Orc she was hunting turned around; this time she was too far away for a quick strike.
It came at her with its club in two hands over its head. The swing was clumsy, and easy for Anna to dodge. The way she moved was a cross between a dancer and a ninja, graceful and full of purpose. Her movement this time took her to the left, slicing the orc in its belly below where its leather armor came down.
Then she spun into it with such grace you wouldn't know she was killing something until you saw the blood. As she spun to face it, the previous wound was like a glowing target. The orc cried out in pain, more from reflex than anything else it jerked its elbow back. So strong was the orc that it hit her in the left shoulder with some force as she was backing away.
Far from a crucial injury but the force did knock her down, which gave the scout on the roof a chance to finally fire while she was still. Anna could have got up in that moment and got to safety, these things were slow footed and slow witted.
That was not Anna though. She sprung to her feet avoiding the bow shot. Then she tried something cute.
The orc on the ground had recovered from the pain and moved towards her with its club in one hand while its companion on the roof aimed at her with its bow. She feinted into the orc on the ground as if she was going to slice him but made sure to put her body right in the scout's line of sight tempting him to fire. When the orc on the ground lunged for her, she performed a movie type slide through its legs timing it just right so the archer fired thinking it had her dead to rights.
Neither monster landed their blow although the arrow did connect with a target, it just happened to be the wrong one. The orc cried out in pain as the stone tipped arrow cut into its shoulder. Ann was up and clear before either of them knew what was happening.
It was a beautiful move and it worked perfectly. The problem, and this happened a lot to Anna, is it was more flash than substance. She thought that the arrow would incapacitate her pursuer when all it did was make him angry. Not to mention every second spent fighting was more time for her assailants to muster more forces. Reinforcements kept approaching from all directions except the one Anna originally came from.
That's not entirely true, reinforcements were coming from that way, just not orc reinforcements.
*
Clyde drove back down Devilliars street towards Center Ave, the noise of battle, mostly orc battle cries, made its way to them. As they made a right on Center Travis could feel something new, he wasn't sure, but it was not a natural sensation.
He pulled out his journal and half himself, half itself, turned to the local map. There he saw an icon that said PC over it, it was running right towards him being pursued by red dots.
“Get ready to haul ass back to I-76” Travis said in an absent minded monotone as he studied the map. "We will need to make a fast exit".
Clyde knew something was going on but not what, he was letting Travis make plans in silence. It was something to see, you could almost sense the wheels moving in his mind.
Finally, Clyde said, “be careful Travis. Oh wait, do you have a flare or something in the truck?”
“Good thinking man” he turned and squeezed his arm; "I will shoot it up if I need you to come to me. Otherwise, be ready with the engine on right here”.
Clyde couldn't help but feel a bond with this man, even though they had just met. He hoped he wasn't moved out because he didn't have a journal. He had been moved on from and shoved out of positions of respect and admiration since he was a boy.
He had to try hard not to say something too mushy. He settled on “good luck Trav”.
It might seem like too much from Clyde as their interactions were not very deep so far. It wasn't just that though, it was the fact that this person who had been picked out as the #1 human by some entity was now going to risk his life for no other reason than he can. He has an actual loot chest waiting for him at some place called the "safe zone", and yet here we are.
---
Anna ran up the street, cutting through a yard, and thought she had lost them until the side of the house burst out, an orc was right there. There was the sound of a human scream from inside the house, but she paid it no mind. At this point she had an injured shoulder and a huge cut on her lower left back from a small stone one of them threw. Still, she fought and ran, slicing and ducking out.
There was a building coming up so she dipped behind a wall and pressed against it. The orc ran right past her, as it moved past on her left she sliced its right leg from the side of the knee to the back of it. Blood gushed out, and it fell. She then jumped on top and finished it off with a series of strikes. There was a mess of blood and gore covering this petite young woman.
There was still lots to do she thought, running in the general direction of the elusive main character. Whenever someone finds a trick that works and keeps going back to it, there will always be a time when it doesn't work anymore. To Anna's surprise her ticket was up on her wall hugging surprise attack. As another orc was seen running up the street, she went behind a brick building hoping to use the same trick on it.
Only one more kill to put her up a level she thought. Most of the orcs she had been fighting were called Orc Brutes, literally. They were big and slow and carried clubs. But the longer the fight lasted, the more the higher-level enemies came out to play.
Now she was pursued by an Orc Priest and an Orc Marauder. The priest had some basic offensive magic at its hands, but one of its spells was called “mark”. If it saw you, it could mark you and send its marauder mates to your location, within about a 25 feet, depending on the skill of the priest. She hid behind the house, waiting for another easy kill, but the orc marauder went a different way. These orcs also employed more than just a main weapon.
The orc ran out from the other side of the house, and Anna was startled, but she had enough space and time to make a run for it. The thought to square up and fight never came because she was so surprised by the orcs entrance. Unfortunately, she did not have as much time as she thought, these variants of enemy were smarter and faster. As she ran her feet got caught up on something, tripping her up and taking her to the ground.
---
The sound of commotion was hard to miss, especially because the orcs made a ton of noise as they fought. They would make great front-line soldiers, but damn them if stealth was ever needed, Travis thought.
He ran around a corner and saw a woman of small size and height, run out into the street. She couldn't see him due to the angle.
She looked like she'd make it clear of the orc until it threw some kind of projectile. It opened up into a net with balls at the ends. The nifty weapon missed to the side but still caught her leg; he didn't know if it had magic in it or not, but it seemed to grab her other leg once it hit. She fell and hit her face pretty hard. Travis knew what he would do with the orc but wondered if he should shoot the flare to call Clyde with the SUV.
As he thought and moved in closer, two more orcs were converging. One was dressed similarly to the wolf mage and carried the same type of staff. He had them in his sights, but he was about 75 yards away. The maximum effective range was between 50 and 100 yards for his Beretta. Targets could be hit from much farther, but not with the required impact or accuracy.
Travis was forced into action when the Orc that felled Anna saw its comrades come into view. Perhaps it had considered taking her with it for whatever purpose orcs had for human women, but it reconsidered when the others arrived. Sharing was caring, after all, and orcs didn't seem like the caring type.
He raised his club to strike. In a flash, Travis pulled his gun from its holster. In that moment, he wished he had listened to Clyde and put those points into reflexes. Despite this, he acted fast, driven by years of repetition and experience. Travis aimed just below the head in case the orc swung down and moved his head in that direction. This orc was faster than the others. *Blaow, blaow!* Two shots rang out—one hit the orc in the forehead, the other above the nose, center mass. It staggered for a second, as if it believed it could fight through two holes in its face, then it fell. Luckily for Anna, it fell diagonally and to the right.
*
All of this happened very quickly. Anna usually acted and thought fast, but she was in a daze after falling on her face. Blood ran from a cut on her forehead, and she felt as though she was about to die when the orc raised its club.
Anna was a peculiar person. She had many quirks and had led a life full of trauma and excitement, ranging from dangerous and poverty-stricken periods to luxurious ones, although not simultaneously, of course. One of her 'things', as her aunt used to call them, was that she did not fear death. Some people thought it was a mental condition, akin to the inability to feel pain, but they were wrong.
During the most harrowing time of her existence, Anna had been forced to beg for her life. However, her captor had overplayed his hand, and by the time he thought he had broken her, the opposite had happened. She no longer cared whether she lived or died.
She had spent so much time fearing death that she convinced herself on a spiritual level that all it could bring was peace. One way or another, it would bring her the long-sought peace she desired. There was no God that could judge her after all she had suffered, and if that wasn't what awaited people after death, then it was just a long goodnight, and she was fine with that.
After the bullets struck the orc, a normal person might have felt elated or overwhelmed. Anna, however, merely looked back and stared at Travis. She wasn't exactly disappointed that it wasn't over, but she certainly wasn't elated either.
Understanding Anna would prove to be a challenge for Travis if they could both stay alive, that was not a given in this world.
Not to mention, the DM was not going to get attached to players denying him the satisfaction of close calls with death. In most earth movies and shows the MC and main side characters always lived through near death experiences. Being a near expert in earth media the DM thought his game would be more like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones when it came to player deaths and plot armor.