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Info #10: Each player may display his armor, weapons, or stats in the game and on the official website. If you want to hide this information, go to the “Personal Information” tab in the HUD and turn this feature off.

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Info #11: Because of the game mechanics, you cannot hide all of your character’s information from the nearby players.

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Info #12: the exception to paragraph 11 is the supreme officers or those players whose agility parameter has reached twenty-five or higher.

Loading completed. Welcome to the world of Guns and Magic! #1 VRMMORGP*.

*According to the independent gaming magazine Flashes on 04/09/2311.

Yleen, the head of the guild alliance, leader of the dungeon clearing operation in the mountains of Orodrim Eoul and the “Lord” elected this month, moved along with six officers and two military commanders along a huge corridor toward the meeting room, where Vvy (level 23, 80%, 11th place in the military rating) and Latludious (level 20, 27%, 5667th place in the military rating). The armor of the supreme officers of the army, issued by special order of the Vanguard, was reflected on the mirrored floor, walls, and ceiling. On everyone’s head was a liquid titanium alloy camouflage helmet. Twenty-first century FN Scar-L 5.56 caliber assault rifles hung on their backs. On the body was a blue shirt, on top of it was a light black protection, shimmering with thin yellow lines. Special sensors blinked inside each part, like protective lighting on the roofs of high-rise buildings. In the event of a deadly threat, they triggered and in a second retracted the hidden ceramic plates, protecting the point of attack. On the waist, they wore utility belts. One could see many things: cartridges, handguns with silencers, special elixirs, restoring syringes, grenades, C4. As if they were not going to a meeting, but to a special operation. Uniforms were the same for everyone. The distinctive feature was cloaks: black for the Lord, dark blue for military commanders, red for the attack squads officers, green for the protection squads officers, and white for the support squads officers.

At a slow pace, with a confident step, they climbed the stairs to the podium, illuminated by the altar yellow light, turned left into another huge corridor, there in the middle of the way, they turned around, as if on command, came closer to a wall. Yleen put his hand on an ordinary mirror. It activated and sank down, a panel with numbers appeared in its place, where he typed in a four-digit password, and the secret door opened. Once inside, they sat down without further ado, each in his own place. Latludious looked at everyone, nodded in greeting, exhaled and leaned on the back of an upholstered chair and put his hands on the armrests.

“Will you at least take your helmets off?” asked Vvy, in a gruff, low voice.

Yleen took off his helmet, put it on the table in front of him, and remained standing. He bent down towards the interlocutors and rested his five outstretched fingers on the marble surface of the table. Latludious could see for the first time what the thrice-elected supreme ruler looked like: hair like an airplane runway, square cheekbones, and a beer belly rolled out from under the light armor.

“It seems,” Yleen said, looking at the new Fade style haircut on the Top Secret leader’s head, “Vvy was so worried about you he changed his hairstyle.”

“It’s not true. I have an Afro hairstyle for worries.”

Yleen twisted his face and waved his hand.

“Fuck it, you won’t drag me deeper into this topic,” he replied and straightened up. “Let’s get right to the point. You,” he pointed to Latludious, “should have come yesterday morning, but you came at night. What happened?”

“Got lost.” The magician answered and did not blink an eye.

“Got lost?”

Latludious scratched his cheek with his long nails and waited a few seconds before uttering the same phrase:

“Got lost.”

“You have a map in the interface.”

Another long pause.

“Elgoreombdon has changed.”

Ghoton was a thirty–five-year-old officer of the attack squads with pale skin, a bushy mustache under his nose and a smoothly trimmed beard of a strange black-reddish color, round glasses on his face, an ectomorphic physique. He got up from his chair, straightened his red cloak and crunched his fingers.

“How did you lose two teammates?”

Vvy gave him a suspicious look and got the same in return.

“We’ll replace them. Now there are many worthy players of our guild in this fortress. You can choose one of them, or you can wait for the reinforcements approved by Vvy and me to arrive tomorrow,” Latludious replied, looking only at Yleen, not noticing the others.

“There will be no replacement,” said Ghoton, and scratched his mustache under his nose and continued. “Before your arrival, we discussed some changes in the plan so convenient for your guild for a very long time. Everyone has concluded that you are fooling us.”

Vvy got up from the table and turned his back to the attack squads officer and answered, looking at the white and elegant arches, behind which the installed holograms projected a blue sky instead of walls.

“Listen, Ghoton, I am the deputy head of the guild alliance. I decide and Yleen gives the go-ahead. Such regulations. You’re not in this food chain.”

Vvy turned to the chosen Lord and, looking straight into his eyes, asked:

“What’s going on?”

“You are suspended,” shouted Ghoton and added, “by a general vote among the officers in whose food chain you were digested and shat from.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Ghoton ran his tongue over the upper rows of his teeth with his mouth closed, twitched his nose and said:

“About how you did everything behind the backs of the supreme officers. You messed up our Lord’s brains, but one of us found out about it and told everyone everything. You’re a rat, Vvy, and your guild is trash. So now it doesn’t matter what your intentions were, leaving us in the dark is your big mistake.”

“Stop it. Blaming based on personal guesses does not lead to good things. Vvy, I’ll address you as a friend. There really was a vote. Any of the officers present in this room can start it. I will not stand across the throat of the majority.”

“You should,” Latludious replied. “Because that’s what a leader should do.”

Yleen rested his knuckles on the table and said, baring his teeth:

“Don’t bare your fangs, kid, with someone who is playing on your side.”

Then he turned to Vvy and asked: “Who is Ronnie?”

Latludious looked at the head of the Top Secret guild, who propped his chin on his hand and was thinking about something. Apparently, he would not answer. The magician shifted a little in his chair. He could not find a comfortable position that would suit him and, clicking his tongue, took the initiative and answered:

“Our sniper.”

Yleen flashed his eyes, grinned, made two circles with his right shoulder, and looked at Illyseh, who was sitting in the farthest corner of the rectangular table. He looked like a professor who had not left the walls of the library for many years. His balding head reflected the bright overhead light, a second chin hanging down like a sack and clear, gray eyes. The officer of the support squads looked at the table, as if he was about to fall asleep, and seemed not to listen at all.

“There are a lot of snipers. Why him?” Illyseh asked, without raising his head and so quietly that Latludious did not understand which of those present asked the question.

“Excuse me?” he asked again and peered at each officer.

“Why him?” Yleen said.

“Because he has the most powerful rifle on the server.”

“Which one?”

“Barrett M107A1.”

“Where did he get it from?” Yleen asked and approached Latludious and Vvy with an interested look, adjusting his long black cloak.

The “Bishop” turned towards the Lord and leaned his back on the arm of the chair. The feeling of discomfort in his mind reached the limit, but he did not want to give a look.

“He made it himself,” he replied in a still calm tone, as if a sommelier was giving advice about wine in a small talk.

“Caliber 12.7, damn me! He’s not just a sniper, he’s a first-class gunsmith,” Gra - the officer of the defense squads and a brave warrior with a strong stocky body and a long black beard with pigtails - yelled in a delighted voice.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“How did you persuade him?” asked the girl, the second officer of the attack squads with the pseudonym Zeeaa. Hair long to the waist, yellow-red eyes like lava erupting from a volcano, elegant and thin facial features and pointed ears resembling the shape of an elf. “It doesn’t look like a player of this caliber needs a team at all.”

“I beat him at chess on a dare,” Latludious replied.

Zeeaa laughed, covering her mouth with her palm, and leaned back in her chair. It seemed that for her, this throne was comfortable in the maximum sense of the word. “Bishop”, without knowing why, went berserk when this thought crossed his mind.

Ghoton slammed his fist on the table and attracted everyone’s attention and said:

“Stop beating around the bush. All air flights are temporarily suspended. No one is coming to reinforce you. Do you want to tell us how the dragon attacked you?”

“Your truth. It attacked. But we seriously injured it before we fell down.”

“I don’t want to pull information out of you with ticks.”

“You just won’t let me talk, and that’s the very reason I came here.”

“Are you saying that if it weren’t for me, you would have told us everything?”

“Yes.”

“The same way you told the other officers about the secret scouting mission?”

Latludious lowered his eyebrows and brought them together and said:

“Yes.”

“Well, what size was the dragon?” Ghoton continued to press on.

“Three times the size of a Flying Fortress.”

Both officers of the defense squads gasped. The support was silent. The military commanders were sitting, hiding their faces behind the protective glass of their helmets with their hands on their knees.

“Will it come to seek revenge?”

Latludious barely restrained himself so as not to grin all over his mouth, but the folds in his eyes betrayed his joy, which Illyseh noticed and cleared his throat louder than usual. Yleen’s eyes twitched in his direction, and “Bishop” had already noticed this.

“I would have flown in if I were it.”

“When?”

Vvy shook, he turned to Ghoton, poked him with his finger, looking from under his brows straight into his scarlet eyes and said:

“When are you going to stop asking stupid questions? Dragons do not fucking send us memos. How the fuck should we know?”

Ghoton straightened up and looked down at Vvy, although he was not as tall as him. The officer’s hand reached for the assault rifle, but he immediately pulled it back, regaining his composure.

“Calm down,” Yleen said sharply, but without raising his voice.

“You’ll kill it if it arrives,” Latludious continued and got up from his chair and leaned on the back with both hands. Everything would be fine if the lower back did not catch at this moment. “During the battle, I paralyzed it with a spell, and my comrades showered it with machine-gun fire.”

“Is the dragon that weak?” Zeeaa was surprised.

“No. We couldn’t kill it.”

“So we’ll kill it!” Gra laughed and punched the palm of his other hand. “And hit the jackpot.”

“You’re only interested in the money-grabbing metaphors,” said the plump girl next to him - his wife grinned.

“Then we’ll cut it up like fresh beef and fry steaks from its meat.”

“I’ve never tasted filet mignon from a dragon before.”

“You will soon, honey! Lord, let me supervise the preparations.” said the officer of the defense squads and twitched from over-excitation.

“Patience,” Yleen replied. “First things first.”

The military commander, Hebanyac, rose. He examined everyone. He did not take off his helmet and said in a high-pitched voice, so terrible, as if he scratched on a blackboard with his fingernails:

“Those who want revenge don’t come back alone. The Flying Fortress has 12.7mm machine guns, and if you couldn’t kill the bird with those bullets and magic,” he mumbled three times, pausing meaningfully between sounds and twirling his head, “it’ll crush us all like ants.”

“You have two hundred of the same machine guns on the walls, and another hundred magicians,” Latludious replied and looked down and glanced at his fingers gathered in a lock. “After Fremaho’s escapade in Otron, magic ceased to be a secret. On third-party sites, players sold manuals for money, and soon it’ll appear on the official forum. Hiding it makes no sense anymore. Even if 5 dragons came at you, you still could handle them.”

“You’re so clever, Bishop! You think everything through a few moves ahead!” Hebanyac replied in a tone as if he was praising a little child.

Latludious did not answer, only nodded his head with a dissatisfied look, as if trying to get rid of the intrusive boy.

“We have a battalion of healers,” the second officer of the support squads Bernavi spoke up. “In case of heavy losses, we’ll be able to save most players.”

“A battalion of healers?” Vvy said and stretched his head with raised eyebrows.

No one answered. Everyone looked askance at Bernavi.

“How greedy you are,” Zeeaa said. “You kept silent, and then you felt the profit.”

“Didn’t you know?” Hebanyac squeaked. “He eats gold for lunch, which is mined by his guild of miners.”

Bernavi narrowed his eyes. Yleen turned to Latludious and Vvy:

“I know how important this scouting mission is. Thanks to my word, it will take place on one condition: two officers will go with you.”

Latludious felt goosebumps run through his body. His face went stiff. The pain in the lower back did not subside, it became even worse, as if hit by a bat. His stomach churned.

“Does your stomach hurt?” Yleen asked, raising his eyebrows. “I didn’t know that such things happen in this game.”

“Don’t pay any attention to me,” Latludious replied and sat back down on the chair and bent over.

“Okay, then I’ll continue. We all have first-class armor, excellent shooting skills and tactics. And what do we do with it? Nothing. Here, each of the officers is not higher than the twelfth or thirteenth level?” Yleen said, emphasizing the numbers with his voice. “We sit all day in the halls, making announcements to the public. From time immemorial, the genuine leader was the one who ran on horseback ahead of the army, the one who fought for his people together with his warriors. They believed him, trusted him. And now we, like a pack of uneducated secretaries, are sitting behind these damn papers, maps, discussing something, but the case is not really moving. Ladies and gentlemen, we are already forgetting what kind of adrenaline battles bring us, what honor victories give us, and what are we here for, right? Let’s return our dignity and the title of actual leaders!”

Everyone nodded. Vvy expected to hear a standing ovation after such a speech, but it did not happen.

“Besides, we’ll kill two birds with one stone,” Yleen finished.

“Which ones?” Vvy asked and almost choked on his saliva.

“We’ll satisfy the distrust of some officers, as well as two of my close comrades will go on a research mission and help you. Let’s work not with words, but with deeds.”

Everyone fell silent. Latludious drummed his fingers on the table. He thought and a minute later, twisting his face for the first time, said:

“If we all die there? Past campaigns ended in crushing failures. If we lose the leaders, everything will go downhill. That is why all the commanders-in-chief are sitting safely in their offices.”

“They are sitting because they are afraid to take up arms. They deserve no respect. We are all first–class warriors here. And in such a campaign, they are exactly what you need, right? You said it yourself. Besides, we are not all going together, but only two people. Don’t worry, Bishop.”

“I would insist on my people,” Vvy said in an uncertain tone.

Yleen glared at him and shouted:

“Are you fucking nuts? We’re trying to find a compromise, and you’re getting more suspicious with every phrase. Don’t give me a reason to doubt you.” He approached Vvy point-blank, clenched lips betrayed disappointment and anger in him, he jerked his head and looking from under his brows said, “listen to me, I don’t give a shit who you trust here, the players are on our side. So... either you agree, or I remind you that there are no irreplaceable people. If you go wilfully, be sure that you will not see the first place in the ‘Dominance’ rating. I’m not joking."

“Oh, yes!” The squeak echoed through the hall again. “Our leader is not used to joking.”

Vvy gave Hebanyac a dead, indifferent look.

“I’m sorry,” he said and put his hand on Yleen’s shoulder. “Stress. Tell me, who will go?”

Vvy looked away toward Latludious, and their eyes met.

Yleen pressed the hand of the Top Secret guild leader with his index finger and threw it off his shoulder and replied:

“I think it would be right if one officer of the defense squads and one of the attack squads go with you.”

Yleen turned to face the others and asked:

“Who agrees?”

“I disagree,” Illyseh’s voice rang out in a silent and drawling sound. “Let’s go out into the corridor for a couple of minutes, talk in private, and hold another vote.”

“As you wish.”

The officers and military commanders rose from their seats and followed the exit. Latludious and Vvy were left alone and looked around.

“Who the hell is that guy, anyway?” Vvy asked.

“Probably some general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU who has returned from the past,” Bishop replied and got up from his chair and sat on the edge of the table.

“Who is this?”

“Didn’t you go to school?”

“History is not my strong suit.”

“Forget it. What pissed me off the most was his last sentence about the vote.”

“How so?”

“It showed everyone who’d discovered our plan and who was pulling the strings. Smart-ass fart.”

Vvy scratched his head and made an understanding nod and asked:

“Who do you think will they choose to come with us?”

“I don’t know. Their form is pure cheating. Whoever joins, we’ll be a pig pain in the ass. They wasted so much money on buying off the rest of the guilds. These are definitely not to be bribed.”

They were silent for thirty seconds, hoping to hear what was going on behind the door.

“Silence scares me the most,” Vvy said.

“Why?”

“I’ve had this fear since the war,” he replied, and sniffed the air. “When the silence is interrupted, people come out of the darkness, eager for your death.”

Latludious sighed, turned to Vvy and said:

“When will you meet her?”

“I texted her in PM. She said she would arrive at night with a small team. We’ll discuss the plan.”

“Vvy ...” said Latludious and fell silent.

“What?”

“Ronnie should not survive. I promised Maenad.”

Vvy lowered his head and, looking at the floor, replied:

“Maenad won’t stay in this guild for long. Don’t get attached to her. In any case, no one but us should go outside the mountains, otherwise we’ll lose our monopoly. But three on three doesn’t give us much of a chance. We’ll have to go all-in.”

“I think we’re outnumbered.”

“How’s that?”

“Have you ever played ping-pong?”

“I don’t feel you. What are you getting at?”

“When amateurs play this game, the loser is usually the one who pretends to be a professional. The first law of ping-pong is to hit back, stay out of the way, and wait for your opponent to make a mistake, eventually.”

“Not only are you a chess player, but as well... a tennis player or a ping-pong player? What do they even call them?”

“Table tennis player.”

“That sounds lame,” Vvy replied and laughed.

“Yes. I said it, and it seemed the same to me. In chess there is also a similar strategy. But I found out about it later.”

“Will it work?”

“They may be excellent strategists, but are unlikely warriors. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

Vvy nodded.

“They’ll make mistakes. We have been preparing for this campaign for six months, they decided a couple of days ago. Even if they ruin one of our plans after another, which is unlikely, we have Nika - a pawn who will wait until the last moment, and then she’ll become the queen and smash the enemy from the rear.”

“Who are we on your chessboard?”

“You’re the king, I’m the bishop.”

The door swung open twenty minutes later. Nine people from the top officers returned to the hall. Some sat back on their chairs, others on the table, others stood. Vvy and Latludious waited, saying nothing. Yleen smiled and walked up to them, stood very close and said:

“It’s time for the elders to stretch their bones. What do you think?”

Vvy narrowed his left eye and tensed.

“I don’t understand,” he said and looked at Latludious, who squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips until they became white.

“Illyseh and I will go with you. You have a plan, don’t you?”

They turned away and looked once more at the hologram of the heaven.

“Yes,” the bishop answered with an exhale.

Yleen snapped his fingers and waved his hand. Seven people left without saying goodbye. Gra was saying to his wife in a loud whisper: “I won, I won.” And she answered: “Yes, my commander, I can’t wait for your steaks.” Illyseh rolled his eyes, shook his head, and coughed menacingly. The four of them remained.

“Brief us,” Yleen said.

“We need to call the others,” Vvy replied.

“You’ll call them up to speed after you agree on the plan with us,” Illyseh said this sentence in about ten seconds.