Gambler’s luck is a key unwritten rule of cards. If a player loses their money, a jackpot is up ahead, if they have a losing streak, they're about to have a winning streak.
And how did that apply to Tenner? Well, his deck of troubles was as big as the shit he would take when he found a functional bathroom.
His prize simply had to be near. At the top of the Realm, a way in to assassinate his troubles.
The universe understood that Tenner deserved to get to it as fast as possible, but it couldn’t let him. In the end, it was required by the laws of card freaks around the world to make him face every obstacle conceived so he’d earn great skills and perks. Or so he told himself, dead physically and soul-wise, after climbing hundreds of meters of mechanisms, hot pipes and deadly jumps.
The path up was easy for the first few dozen meters. Then the things hanging off the Realm walls deteriorated, the gaps between them expanded, the glowing pipes started throbbing with heat and mechanisms moved.
Hundreds of obstacles, all of which brought him to the verge of death in a uniquely sadistic way, was a game Tenner had never played before. A few times, he was left hanging by two or three fingers, screaming at the top of his lungs.
For example, there had been a platform that cycled from left to right on a chain. On the right, it got a package from a mechanical arm and on the other side it delivered the package.
Getting on it, Tenner was almost thrown off then he threw himself off to get past the place.
The twenty meter leap of faith ended in him catching a wire, clambering up it and continuing the ascent through a mechanism of pipes.
Farther up, instead of rest, he was constantly pushed by things that would kill him if he stopped for even a second. His muscles strained, unbearable pain flashing through them. He’d long passed soreness and entered agony. A little doubt pestered his mind that the pain would cripple him. A damage message appeared, making it even scarier. Tenner tried fighting it, best as he could.
After a moment, the world twisted, pushing him away from the wall, urging him to fall into a bed of clouds below. The ground seemed to whisper. His muscles tried giving in, but Tenner’s last bullet of will and energy kept him alive.
Tenner held on with what strength he had, knowing that there had to be a place where he could stop. Finally, he sat, trying to fight the dizziness, a sturdy antenna holding his weight.
Looking straight down, giving in to some of the whispers, did not help.
Maybe I’m not sick because of the constant movement. His fingers crawled under his mask and loosened its grip.
[Warning! Damage: -1 to health!]
A breath of fresh air entered his lungs. He felt ten times better.
The higher up I go, the less oxygen I get. At the same time, I need more. The mask I crafted is so thick it stops not only the toxic desolation air, but the air I need as well. But I can forgive this thing -- it is my baby.
As meters of metal wall passed and clouds below shrunk, stops to catch breaths and rest Tenner’s dying muscles became necessary. When Tenner returned to climbing after the dozenth pause, his mind started struggling. It couldn’t focus or find ways up. He found himself hanging off a strand of wires connected to an antenna, staring at a blank spot, like if a gray cloud had blocked his vision.
Tenner tried shaking his head to get out of the fog.
The assurance that the universe had his back and wouldn’t let someone as important as him die kept him going.
The sun rose higher, staining the landscape orange. The air warmed up. Especially at the upper half of the Realm.
Its metal walls were black and the pipes changed color from temperature: most of them turned into a maroon shade, starting to spew gases out of tiny outlets.
Hundreds of meters below the sweat drenched Tenner, odd creatures emerged from small pits all around the Realm. Even the canyon that the odd salesman formed under his feet housed little inhabitants which, unlike the blakills, meant no harm and just tried to survive.
They faced conditions, like the one’s Tenner struggled against right now, every day and didn't have a card legend’s instincts nor a handmade axe. Truly, incredible beings.
Tenner developed a climbing technique which involved a quick jump, a grab and a pull. A tiny slip up could send him hurdling half a kilometer down to his death, but he accepted the risk for a speed increase.
My hands are better than others’ -- I’m literally incapable of slipping up.
As the sun’s heat reached an unbearable point, the end came into sight: the wall bended into a roof covered in walkways.
With a tear on his cheek, Tenner jumped over the railing and sat down. His eyes closed and he recovered for a moment. Many deep breaths cycled through Tenner’s lungs, but none seemed to give any air. His consciousness started waning.
He had to get inside now.
Gasping, Tenner stood up and walked, his eyes looking for a way in.
The walkway led up some stairs and past two massive antennas, ending up in a large platform with a massive red hatch. It was locked, but a few meters away, hidden by a pipe, were a few smaller hatches.
No… buttons… no way… to open it. Tenner went straight for the smaller hatches. He jumbled random commands with the faint hope they’d open. The mumbles turned his CHEK’s weak light on.
Shaking his head, Tenner crouched by the hatch and grabbed on a handle. The red metal burned his hand. He pushed it with all his weight. The handle clicked, metal plates shifted on the hatch’s surface, but it remained in place. Grunting, Tenner leaned in, his eyes inspecting the mechanism.
The handle had opened a lock.
Rage entered Tenner’s fists. He could unsheathe his axe and strike the hatch until it was nothing more than chips of metal. But he also knew another method of getting in. For which he had just the perk.
Tenner spun around and stumbled towards the antennas. It ripped out with little resistance. A few kicks split it into two. One half in hand, he returned to the hatch and inserted it into the lock. His ears pressed up on the hot metal and caught every little detail, click and scratch.
After a few tries, he got it and pushed.
The hatch’s metal surface started shifting again. It unleashed pressure and opened.
Tenner hopped in.
He could finally catch a fulfilling breath. Adrenaline had numbed a lot of pain that kicked in all at once. He fell to his knees and gritted his teeth. It subdued.
At least I'm getting stronger.
This was a long corridor with walls covered in pipes and ceilings in hexagon shaped fluorescent lights. It led past a small server room where, in between the buzzing machines, glimpses of inside the Realm could be seen.
Tenner grinned at the sight then laughed at the irony -- he’d escaped a Realm to get to one. Luckily, this Realm housed great opportunities and freedom: he’d be on his own path, taking care of himself, doing things that mattered to him.
The excitement was hard to bear. He couldn’t wait to get down, maybe bring justice to the bastard who didn’t let him past the entrance. If it was convenient.
The room ended in a stairway down, with a big number on the walls.
No way. Tenner’s brow furrowed. On the floor below, there was a number lower -- fifty four. After descending for fifteen minutes, familiar figures came into his view. The iron took him aback.
***
They’re exactly like the ones under Realm 349, Tenner thought, brow rising. He hid under the stairs. In fact, there wasn't anything else apart from those stairs -- inhabitants occupied most of the space.
A robot passed, holding a cylinder with a glowing orb inside.
It stopped in front of a wall, opened a tile and replaced the cylinder inside with the one in its grip. Then, it moved on to other parts of the wall, repeating the cycle.
There were five droids in the room carrying out the schedule.
Tenner tried figuring out their patterns: when they passed, when they looked away, when they opened a tile. These robots not only looked the same, but operated with the same principles as the ones under Realm 349.
They’ve got a preprogrammed list of moves they choose randomly whilst trying to achieve their goal of… putting cylinders in different places, Tenner deducted then tried inspecting a passing droid.
It mercilessly blocked each of his attempts without even being aware of them or where they came from.
Whenever Tenner had been inspected, he felt nothing -- it was good to know that other people, and robots, didn’t feel anything as well, no matter their level.
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Fighting against three droids was a pain in Tenner’s ass. He might as well talk shit to a blakill if he wanted to showdown against five.
I know they can see behind their backs. I gotta get past without triggering them or getting into an axe fight to the death.
A couple of robots passed, clearing a perfect opening.
Tenner put a foot outside the stairs’ shade, but retracted it.
To his right, a droid had dropped a cylinder, scattering metal and glass across the floor.
Through the hole in the wall, two crabs with huge fangs emerged and attacked the robot. All the other droids rushed to their colleague’s help.
Tenner leaned forward and bit his lip as he stared at the vicious battle. Minutes of chaos passed before he snapped back -- this was his opportunity. He hurried out, inspecting the odd crabs along the way.
[Name: All-Devouring Craboid
HP: 434]
[Non-C creature]
A craboid came after Tenner, but electricity from an open wire fried the little suicide killer. He wouldn't wait for the rest of them to start chasing him. And to be extra careful, he took a little detour.
The temperature of the room he ended up in struck him oddly. Down his nose, drops of sweat ran down and he turned to the source of the unbearable heat.
Molten metals swirled in circles and whooshed behind thick glasses of massive furnace-like generators. Tenner walked past rows upon rows, in awe of the sheer scale. It’s hotter in here than atop the Realm.
In a shadow, a creature huddled up against a generator.
What? Tenner clenched his fists and stepped back. His legs still felt the craboid’s damage, making him wary of any living thing. Inspect.
[Name: Wilderness Morono
HP: 117]
[Non-C creature]
Apparently, moronos weren’t only cave creatures. Those who wandered the underground were many times larger than this fluffy thing with ears covering its eyes, yet no matter how relatively small the morono ahead seemed, it still dwarfed Tenner.
Never thought I’d see one of these here. He approached it, easing his shoulders.
Behind the big morono, there was a smaller pair. One slept, hugging the scolding hot generator, the other laid on its back, tail scratching its white belly.
Tenner asked himself, How did you get in here? Willing to get drenched in sweat for an answer, he stepped into the crack between generators the moronos occupied.
Inside the shade, a shaft of light shone. It came from a hole in the wall about the size of a Tenner. Like him, the moronos must’ve noticed that the machinery outside the Realm walls could work as a stairway and began their work, bending pipes and tying wires to form a straightforward way up.
If the Realm walls poorly insulated the heat, it was easy for these creatures to find where to break in.
Tenner could report this to someone and get quite a nice reward. Maybe he could even hunt these moronos… No, he couldn’t -- the adoration for these creatures, who’d ravaged the walls of those who hadn’t let them in, was simply too strong.
Leaving them be would cause a lot of damage too. In fact, it was ninety percent of the reason why Tenner backed off.
I’ll let you do my revenge for me.
The big morono grumbled and rolled around. The others started rumbling. Tenner cursed and hid. The creatures returned to their rest and Tenner sheathed the axe he’d unknowingly grabbed. That was a close call, but at least he’d avoided attracting any--
“Pete, you alright?” Shouts echoed behind him. “Those droids are going haywire and I saw blood-- who are you?! Stop, we have to talk!”
Twenty four, twenty three, twenty two.
Tenner descended floor after floor, their contents blurred -- like a laser, he aimed towards their stairways down.
The chaser stopped pleading and focused on catching Tenner, getting closer with each footfall.
He has no chance of getting me, Tenner started to cut every corner, jumped down stairs and threw down machinery in his wake. No one ever does -- dirty tricks are all I have up my sleeve!
Right after that thought, he got hit by panic.
On this floor, there were no walls or machines, just a wide open space, a railing, the transparent back of holograms projecting a beautiful night and the skyline of a dark city. Most importantly, nothing to give Tenner the advantage he needed.
“Let’s talk face to face, Worker to normal person!” The chaser arrived at the floor, struggling for air. He’d called Tenner a “normal person”. That would slide this time. “I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about!”
I’m not listening to your fucking orders! Tenner didn’t even glance at the chaser’s face: he chose a direction and dashed.
“What is wrong with you...”
Now, Tenner stopped and turned around, eyes narrow. Those words had sent whiplash down his whole body. That level of disrespect went off the scale.
[Error: inspect blocked]
The Worker’s--who donned a yellow jumpsuit with warning symbols, a hard hat with a flashlight and a pair of black glasses while his hand gripped a pipe wrench--level didn’t matter -- he’d learn how to treat Tenner right.
Tenner gripped his own weapon. “What’s wrong with me? Really?” he said. “You’ve got no right to say that. I’ve travelled--”
“That we’ll talk about later,” The Worker said. “What are you doing here? How did your ass even get in?”
He cut me off. Tenner’s face soured. “I’m passing through to the city below -- I couldn’t get in through the entrance.” Nevertheless, he explained himself.
“Your ass climbed all this way up?”
He nodded.
“Bullshit.” The Worker spat. “Are you here to inspect my work?”
Tenner’s hand shook in anticipation of chopping the Worker’s head off. Yet, the time wasn’t right. He’d killed his first bounty too early and learnt: wait until you get the information you need.
“No. I’ve lived my whole life locked in a tiny Realm, away from civilization. I deserve freedom.”
“Hmm. You’re from a Muted Realm. Maybe you’re really here to get to the city. In that case, you’re one lucky, but dumb fucker -- that Realm kept the otuside world away from you,” the Worker spoke, more to himself than to Tenner.
“What are--”
“Anyway, I can’t let you pass.”
“Rules?” Tenner grunted.
The worker slowly nodded.
They don’t apply to me and all the things I’ve gone through! Tenner snapped and dashed, his axe striking the man three times.
“Fucking low-levels…”
With three snappy movements, the man’s wrench blocked each attack. He moved like a robot, not breaking eye contact for even a second.
Tenner jumped back, bedazzled. He’d really seen what he had. His unblockable hits had been blocked.
Then, the Worker swung his wrench, the air around him crackling and electricity buzzing. A few glowing lines appeared, highlighting wires that went from a pair of steel circles around his forearms and connected to his CHEK.
***
Tenner shouted as his back prepared for another onslaught of pain.
The Worker tackled him.
The second Tenner’s body connected with the hard floor, a swift “dismiss” left his lips. The damage message in his vision disappeared a split second later. He went on the offensive, laying down punches to the Worker’s face.
The Worker snapped his head out of the way of a few blows and blocked the rest with his wrench. But the fool didn’t pay attention to Tenner’s eyes.
Their gaze was unfocused, trying their hardest not to give in what was really on Tenner’s mind -- the axe his left hand swung at the Worker’s back.
The man released a howl as blood gushed out of his rear, bones cracked.
Tenner pushed him off and got to his feet, bringing the blood covered axe to his chest. His feet took him away from the Worker whilst his mind thought up of ways to win this fight.
So far, it hadn’t been on his side or even a fair fight. If the bastard used dirty tricks like those odd CHEK Extensions, Tenner would use his own. He knew his health was low and that the level gap between them was huge, but he also hadn’t tapped into his full potential. His attacks would now use all of his strength and they’d target the Worker’s weakest point -- his legs.
The Worker stood up. The blood from his back had reached his chest and stained most of his jumpsuit. It matched his wrench which soared straight at Tenner.
Tenner blocked with the axe’s handle and pushed.
The Worker held his ground, gritting his teeth as the skin on his back tore from the pressure.
“AAARGH!” Tenner screamed. His muscles were already sore from climbing, and now they had to hold back a half-robot maintenance worker. It was absolute insanity. But it would only last as long as the foe did.
The Worker kept going and managed to push Tenner back.
What perseverance, Tenner thought. He’s almost like me.
The moment came: the man couldn’t bear the pain anymore and shut his eyes.
That was all Tenner needed -- he stopped the pushing contest and chopped at the Worker’s legs.
Gore splattered around the man and he stumbled, holding himself from the ground with one hand. Then he put another hand on the ground. And started standing on them.
Tenner’s jaw dropped fifty floors. For a moment, he couldn’t put together a single coherent thought. His arm swung his axe forth without looking, but he’d reacted too late.
The Worker had crawled up to Tenner, one hand on the ground, the other whacking his legs with the wrench.
Tenner dropped his weapon to block. The trajectory was off and the axe crushed his toes.
[Warning! Damage: -5 to health] [3x]
[Being’s HP: + ½ ]
The Worker jumped to his feet. He limped. And pounded Tenner’s sides. Finally, the wrench soared straight at his chest for a killing blow.
Tenner crouched to grab his aching foot, dodging the wrench. Once he stood back up, another killing blow soared at his chest. Tenner pushed the tool with all of his strength. It stopped. He grabbed on.
The man raised Tenner, dangling off the wrench, a few meters into the air. “Worker’s rule number three, part seven,” he began. “Any intruder who doesn’t willingly let themselves be removed from Realm Mechanism territory and or intends harm to a Worker automatically forfeits their life.”
Tenner’s brow furrowed. Still holding on, he relentlessly kicked the man’s chest. He’d get out of this situation, just couldn’t let go: the man would strike the wrench down and the lightning fast speed with which he’d do it would end Tenner instantly.
“I had to memorize that rule recently,” the Worker said through his teeth. “It’s had a lot of use for the same reason why you shouldn’t have left your Muted Realm.”
Tenner raised a brow.
“The world’s going to shit.”
He remembered fighting the robots and manipulated his arms’ muscles to jump a meter up. Falling, his leg extended for a kick.
“Goodbye.” But the worker’s wrench was faster.
[Warning! Damage: -2 to health]
The whack hurt a little, but because of its speed and short distance, packed a lot of power.
Tenner crashed through the hologram of the dark skyline and fell. For a moment, the echoes of a “have a nice flight!” could be heard. Then, the air whooshed, deafening any other sounds, and cooled Tenner whilst ripping his baggy outfit away from him.
The city neared, it’s lights, streets and an array of different buildings becoming clear. The outlines of its tiny inhabitants appeared.
Tenner frowned -- quite frankly, he was displeased. This was the most unfair thing anyone must’ve experienced! He struggled through the wasteland and climbed atop the Realm just to end up falling to his death? If he could, he’d demand a talk with somebody.
As the last fifty meters passed and the fall seemingly slowed, something pulled on Tenner’s sleeves, but only one last thought entered his mind.
If I had similar Extensions, I could’ve easily kicked that Worker’s ass.
[Being’s HP: ERROR ]
Everything went black.