I woke to the patter of teardrops on my face. I pried open my eyes and my vision was obscured by a mass of dirty-blond hair.

“Easy.” I said raising an arm. I could feel the vibrations in my head but my hearing was still shot. “I’m alive.” Hanna’s head jerked and she pulled her head back far enough I could see her tear-streaked face. Her eyes widened and she was suddenly kissing me. It was short but so out of left field I had no idea how to react.  

She finally pulled back from the kiss then looked at me and must have seen something in my expression. Her lips moved but I had no idea what she said. I pointed to my ears and shook my head.

“My ears are shot and I think my back is broken. I can’t feel my legs.” I pinched my leg but felt nothing.

Her eyes widened and and her lips moved again. I shook my head again and Hanna looked even more worried and frustrated. I started opening menu’s.

Wounds

Torso: (Severe)  Broken Back (-100% LBstr, -15% Agi)

Torso: (Moderate) Sprained Shoulder (-30% UBstr)

Head:(Severe) Ruptured Eardrums (Deafened)

That would do it. I tried the log next.

* User Has Leveled Up. User Is Now Level 10

* User Has Unlocked Skill System

* Quest Log Updated

Tomb Of The Rat KingThe people of valor’s crossing are under siege by rats from the Tomb of the Rat King. Delve the depths of the Tomb, Defeat the Rat King and restore peace to the village, before the rats destroy too much of their winter stores.

Update: The Rat King Has Been Slain. Proceed into the Tomb and find the source of the Corruption.

Recommended Level: 15

Difficulty: Dungeon

Rewards: ???

I caught Hanna’s eyes and pointed to the stone building behind her. She looked puzzled and I spoke up. “We need to end this. Move me to that building we need what’s inside.”

She frowned but shrugged then started dragging me across the stone floor like I was a sack of potatoes. It was rather wounding to my male pride but I was thankful it wasn’t the real world. There I’d be crippled for life here I would be crippled for a day or two.The steps up in the building were even less fun, but apparently the door had opened when Hanna killed the Boss. Inside was a stone dais upon which sat a single black orb.

Bla-Blip

I opened my log again.

Tomb Of The Rat KingThe people of valor’s crossing are under siege by rats from the Tomb of the Rat King. Delve the depths of the Tomb, Defeat the Rat King and restore peace to the village, before the rats destroy too much of their winter stores.

Update: The Rat King Has Been Slain. Proceed into the Tomb and find the source of the Corruption.

Update: You have found the source of the Corruption. Remove it from the Cave or Destroy it.

Recommended Level: 15

Difficulty: Dungeon

Rewards: ???

I pointed toward the black sphere. “Hand me that If you’d be so kind.”

Hanna frowned and picked up the sphere. She shuddered visibly and quickly handed it over. It felt…..  Well, evil for lack of a better word. It seemed to radiate greasy black power. I inspected it with the inventory Screen.

Orb Of Corruption

(Legendary)

Consumable

An orb of power created by the mages of old, but corrupted by being bombarded with dark magic.  This orb is overflowing with magical power. Using this orb will imbue the user with that power greatly enhancing their physical and mental attributes.

Using this orb will increase all stats by 30 Permanently.

Will forcefully change users race to Dark-One.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

That’s a lot of stats. 10-15 Entire levels worth really. I would be ridiculously powerful. What the hell was a legendary class item doing in a level 15 dungeon? I looked over at Hanna and her warm brown eyes looked expectant.

Women….

Sighing I hurled the orb against the far wall. It was awkward without my hips or legs in the throw, but I got enough power behind it. The orb hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces.

A golden light filled the room, and a woman materialized before me. I glanced over at Hanna and saw she was standing perfectly still, not even breathing. Dust motes and pieces of the orb hung in mid-air as if time itself had stopped. I looked back to the woman and shining golden eyes met mine. The woman was statuesque taller even than Hanna and so perfectly proportioned it was obvious she could not be human. She wore a pure white toga over perfect tanned skin. Golden blonde ringlets framed an aristocratic face and fell in perfectly managed disorder. She looked at me and I felt like a mouse before a hawk. She was inhumanly beautiful and radiated an aura of absolute power.

“Greetings Thomas Ritter.” Her voice was a smooth alto, warm and golden like maple syrup. It seemed to sooth my nerves and my tensed muscles relaxed against my will.

“Is that my name?” I asked. I had no idea what was going on. Was this part of the quest?

“It is your name. No-one should be denied their name.“ Her face was serious and I could see anger in her gaze. I was very thankful it was not directed at me.  

“How did I get here? Why am I trapped?” I asked frantically. Could this woman tell me what had happened or better yet get me out of here? My thoughts swirled as I tried to understand the situation.

The woman looked both sad and frustrated. “My son’s foolishness and human greed have brought you here. There are many trapped but fear not. Your time here grows short, but you will return. You must return. You will be needed.”

“I don’t understand. Was I kidnapped? How is this even possible? Who are you? Can you get me out of here?” I was frantic and my words spilled over top of each other as my heartbeat ratcheted up.. This woman or what ever she was knew all the answers I’d been searching for.

“Hush Child.” The woman’s voice cut me off and the thought of ever speaking again disappeared from my mind. “You will soon be free to come and go as you please but return you must.” The woman smiled a gentle smile and the sheer beauty of it made me want to curl up in her lap and weep.  “I am…. A goddess you might say. Call me Baria,  remember the name Thomas Ritter and use it to find your way back.” She stepped towards me, bent down and, placed a kiss on my forehead with her perfect lips. “Now sleep child and heal. Your journey has just begun.”

**********************************************************

Jasmine clicked though the report in front of her seething. She’d lost her chance at being a tester. She’d got another email that said they didn’t need testers anymore. They’d apparently gathered all the data they needed and were gearing up for launch now. In 14 days there would be 200,000 thousand players chomping at the bit to get in on the action. Which left Jasmine back at her crappy job with more reports to read than ever. She sighed, then flipped to the next report.

At least they let her keep the raise. She was making solid money now and although her work days we painful drudgery she at least made enough money to endure it. The best part was they were cutting her a deal on the capsule they’d put in her house. Normally they retailed for 5,000USD. But they offered to sell her the one she’d been using for only a grand. That was steep, but she could afford it now. Who was she kidding? She’d have paid the full 5k. Otherworld was just way too addictive and she’d be standing in line with all the nerds at the midnight release she had a feeling. At least they were letting her keep her character. All the testers were going to have  theirs wiped.  

She paused as her eyes caught something on the report she was looking over. An NPC killed a boss? How was that even possible. She didn’t think they were supposed to go on quests. What was it doing in the boss room of a dungeon. She re-read the logs paying more attention this time.

Yes NPC 495664 has killed monster 756B61F3584, while grouped with player 13617. She read on. They killed the boss then something strange happened. The log seemed to skip some time. She pulled up her search tool and queried the game servers directly.

Yes, The player was sitting in one place. Then suddenly was laying down without having moved, and all of his wounds had been healed. The level up should have restored his life but how had his wounds been healed? He’d broken his back. Even in an inn that should have taken a week to heal. She flagged the lines in question and sent a notification to her boss. Someone would have to look into this.

End of Volume 1

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Note: Been a fun ride so far. This ends the first volume. The second one will take a bit longer as it's still a WIP and will need some serious rewrites. I'll try to keep pushing our a chapter a week, but it might be longer than that. 

Thanks for all the views and reviews! Stay tuned for volume 2.