I lowered myself into the foliage surrounding me, keeping an eye on the minimap of my heads-up display that had a full squad of hostiles walking towards me. I huddled deeper into my camo coat, trying to hold in my breath as the leaves rustled. The guard squad marched by, and I had to stop myself from letting out a sigh of relief. I wanted to explore the new DLC that had just been released, but to get there you had to infiltrate a large facility in this game’s version of Russia. I suppose I should open up by introducing myself. My name is Michael Dina, and I’m one of the Top-ranked Spellshooters in the popular VRMMO Castevac. A modern-day fantasy shooter that uses old fantasy tropes in a modern setting.
I was currently trying to make it into the exclusive pre-test for the new DLC they’ve hesitantly dubbed Nirvana. Of course, the devs were pretty hugely in the camp of rewarding their loyal players, so the early-access build was set up as either a max-level raid or a max-level infiltration. Personally, I was going for the infiltration route. My archetype of Pulyobod may not have been hyper-specialized for it, but that was one of the upsides of using such a generalist class. I began a slow crawl through the courtyard, letting the cloak cover my vision as I made my way forward inch by inch. I was at the final stretch, just taking the final stretch from the courtyard to the Nirvana staging area, and it seemed like the hardest of the path was behind me. My goggles didn’t pick up the tech from any fancy cameras I had to dodge, and the only alarm spell my sixth sense was picking up was on the path directly to my left. I did a quick scan around me to confirm the squad behind me was gone before I finally smiled and stood up. The cloak still covered me fully, and I was able to jog my way through the open door to look at the transit hub to Nirvana.
In the room was a large gate in the center of a techno-magic circle. Instead of a door or gate like one would expect, it seemed to be spewing a thin cloud of purple smoke. I reached towards it, pausing as a pop-up graced my vision. WARNING: TRAVEL TO NIRVANA IS CURRENTLY ONE-WAY! ENTRY WILL LEAD TO A LONG-TERM PROFILE SET UP IN THE EXPERIMENTAL SERVER! THERE IS CURRENTLY(1) SLOT OUT OF 1 AVAILABLE FOR TRANSPORT ON SERVERS 1-49 TOTAL SLOTS LEFT (2)! INITIATE WARP?”
I smiled wide. A warp gate, there had been hints of each country trying to make one all throughout the game’s lore. Supposedly they had figured it out a few years ago, but they couldn’t keep it stable. I pulled out my old revolver, checking it over and double-checking the action. I nodded and threw off my camo-cloak. My hands roughly shoved it into my Omni-ruck as I looked down at my totem necklace. After making sure all the important totems were still attached I pulled out the most important check I needed to do before I warped. From my chest, I grabbed at my Spirit Guide’s totem. The fox skull hooked to my chest rig glowed as the spirit emerged, the shadowy female form staring at me with hollow eyes. “Michael, you appear to be mid-operation. What do you need?”
I smiled at the spirit in front of me, nodding towards the gate. “Just a quick check. Will that thing kill me if I walk through it?”
The spirit turned around and floated beside the gate. She stared for a moment before shrugging. “It is as safe as any gate could be I suppose. I would advise you not to take it, but we both know you will brashly charge through it with the knowledge that you will survive the attempt.”
I chuckled, putting the fox skull back down. “Thank you, Crystal. You really do know me so well huh?” I initiated the warp watching as the fog slowly surrounded me. I expected something to hide a loading screen, maybe a pop-up to say it was downloading the update or something. Instead, the fog instantly began to coalesce around me. Purple fog fading into green trees and hills as I moved forward. Then in an instant, the purple snapped away, sending me stumbling to one knee. I winced as my knee hit a rock, rising up to rub the soreness out of it. I glanced down at it. “Damn, wasn’t pain disabled in the base game? Something about stimulating pain with the inherent time slow-down for VR meant you would wake up in way worse pain?” I looked at my knee before shrugging. They had probably come up with a fix and wanted to test it in the DLC. I brought my revolver up my eye level as I shook my head, sending my totems clinking together from my necklace. “With your numerous tricks and antics, guide my next prank oh taunting Puck.”
My totems glowed briefly before an arching silver light sprouted from the end of my barrel. I nodded at one of my few direct combat spells as I began to slowly clear the hill. Fatal Prank was a high-level Pulyobod ability. Until I fired a shot I would have a line from my weapon that would tell me unerringly where the shot would land. Of course, it didn’t tell me anything else, like the armor of the impact area or the lethality of the shot, but having a shot be near impossible to miss was already a powerful ability. Especially since it negated any magical shielding the target may be cowering behind.
I took maybe ten steps before I found the first proof of the Russian scouting mission. A dead soldier, rapidly stripped of gear but abandoned where he lay. The reason was easy to see. His limbs had been frozen into the ground, a magazine frozen in the black ice that held him down. An arrow was jutting from his chest, which made me tense up. Though nothing I had on me warned me of nearby danger, an arrow killed just as easily as a bullet.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I tightened my grip on my pistol, grabbing the foregrip as I channeled some mana into my spirit guide’s skull. Crystal appeared, looking more solid than she did before. “And what is it this time my foolish partner?”
I scanned forward, keeping my head on the swivel. “Possible hostiles. Scan for things on your side?”
She warped in place, her human body fading as a fox appeared from the smoke. She let out a soft yawn as she walked beside me. “Of course. Two as one, none shall stop us.”
I smirked at my partner before stepping forward with light steps. The woods weren’t thick, which was already a bit disturbing. I was a Georgia native, and woods you could easily walk through were against my very religion. Though, it did mean my headway was faster than I expected. I paused as I saw a rocky outcropping to my right. I turned to it, knowing that Crystal would follow without the need for an order. Two souls, one body. I reached the outcropping and took in a breath. Apparently, the forest was on a mountain. At least, if this view was to be believed.
The valley in front of me was gorgeous. It looked like a drawing from the renaissance era of the Netherlands, or maybe china. Unmarred land and pristine nature as far as the eye could see. I lowered myself onto one knee, reaching for my binoculars. “Crystal, you have any clue where we are yet?”
She sat beside me, smelling the air around us deeply. “The mana around here is different from back home. If we were on the other side of the gate I would say we were in one of the mythical lost lands. Shangri-La, Atlantis, somewhere like that. But here, the mana is even denser than our myths. I think that gate went somewhere far from Earth.”
I nodded, taking note of a few thin trails of smoke. I raised my binoculars up and tried to scan them. Most were hidden by the treetops, but one in the distance I could barely make out. I checked the heading of the compass on top of the binocs and stared again. “I think I see a town in the distance, but it seems off.”
I adjusted the zoom and stared. “The buildings look new, but their construction is ancient. Looks like a hamlet from a crappy history documentary.” I made note of the heading again before looking at my outfit. I was in full tactical gear, solid black BDU’s with a light plate carrier and a totem necklace on. I looked like some cheesy action hero, especially with my short mohawk. I glanced at Crystal, asking her the question racing through my mind. “Could it have been a time-travel gate?”
She shook her head. “No, Earth’s mana was never this dense. But you may want to hide most of your gear either way. We don’t know how the locals will respond to your current equipment.”
I chewed on my lip for a moment. She was right, as much as I would prefer to keep my current outfit as it stands. I reached into my omni-ruck, pulling out a basic black Poncho and throwing it over my gear. It nearly reached my feet, covering my gear fully, and as a bonus kept my arms free, meaning I could keep my weapon at the ready. One plus side over the camo cloaks anyway. I stood up again, pointing towards the town. “That’s our objective. We’ll make it to town and try to find out where we are. If we follow the right leads we can probably find a way to go back and forth from home.”
Crystal hummed slightly as she moved beside me, looking over the forest as we made our way down into the valley. “Perhaps, but you should have checked to see if we could find a way back before you went through the gate. I doubt the Russians will leave it open now that you’ve gone through.”
I nodded, but couldn’t help the ecstatic smile on my face. “I know, but look at this place! Totally worth it. Even if we have to forage for a while.”
Crystal scoffed but quieted down as we moved through the foliage. I kept an eye on my compass, trying to keep our heading as clear as possible. Of course, it would be easier if I had my live map online. Unfortunately, I didn't have any signal. I lowered my weapon for a moment, wiping my hand through my hair and letting out a sigh. I tossed the sweat to the side before I froze. I was sweating. That was new. I shook my head. “Okay, it’s been an interesting day. I’m tired, I’m sweating, and we have no deadlines. I’m gonna camp for the night, Crystal, head on back.”
She nodded, her form shimmering before it flew back into her skull. I pulled a camp set from my Omniruck and laid it out as quickly as possible before ducking into the tent. I closed my eyes and spoke to the system. “Operator Dina-MkII signing off.” I paused, waiting for the data-stream that would surely lead me to my vr pod in my office. I counted to three to account for lag and still felt the uncomfortable cot beneath me. My eyes snapped open. I started desperately going through admin commands to try and force my way out of the simulation. I did the movements required to disable the physical blockers so I could physically remove my headgear and felt nothing besides strain as my body began to protest my rough treatment. I fell on my ass, shuffling around. “No way. Fuck no, what type of fucked up glitch is this!? I CAN’T BE STUCK HERE!”
I ran my hands over my face. “FUCK! Okay, strategy, gotta stay calm.” I took a few deep breathes, trying to calm myself. I pulled off my goggles, the small ammo counter that was all of my HUD without satellite connection disappearing as I rubbed my eyes. “So there are three options. One there was a glitch in the game and I’m stuck here. That’s scary, but a team will be on the way to save me as soon as the pod pings the fact I’ve been in for over an hour. So how long is that in-game, like a day or two? The second option is... well I’m permanently stuck, which is awful, but the pain and all that would still be deactivated. The final option is just weird. I actually got teleported with my gear from the game.”
I shook my head, leaning back up to a sitting position. “Insanity, but all of these options mean the same thing. I’ve gotta start making a life for myself here. If I’ll leave in a couple days it changes nothing, but the last two mean I need to make myself as comfy as possible.” I stood up. “Let’s just say this is me moving. Yeah, I moved out, that’s how this happened.” I slapped my cheeks. “So let’s go sleep this off and I’ll go see that town tomorrow!” I moved back into my tent, falling onto my cot and shutting my eyes. Maybe tomorrow would be better. While I don’t condone spoilers, the next day wasn’t any better. In fact, it wouldn’t get better for a long time to come. Not until a year or two after ‘the Witch of The Mountain’ had been established.