Chapter 22

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The first alarm bells rang when they tried to give me a weapon. That is an automatic rifle with ammunition, plus body armor and a helmet. No one cared that I had accidentally walked in off the street into this crazy place - here's a gun for you, boy, go shoot! But to get a machine gun I had to register, and the System clearly advises me not to get involved with "adepts", so I said I would do it on my own. And then the bell rang number two - the office "adept" examined me and a little digging in the phone gave the characteristics of my courier equipment. He even guessed that it was not upgraded and listed the options for improvement!

Of course, you'd think the hunters had finished off one of the unreal monsters that had snacked on my colleagues before, but something tells me it was sadder than that.

Nevertheless, my teammates were already waiting for me next to the "portal".

"Hey, what's your name? The clerk's office hired me for an unscheduled one, they say you're a lucky rookie, is that you? I'm Vasek, this is Dimon, why didn't you bring a gun?"

The babbling guy was in his forties, a slouchy, short, lively fellow. I guess I'll call him Sparky. I always have trouble remembering names, nicknames are easier. Funny, I can tell what the person was wearing, how he moved, and what intonation in the conversation, but the name with all these images begins to harmonize only the second or third month of dense communication. Maybe because names often do not coincide with personalities?

Nicknames in the game are much easier to remember. Although why think badly of yourself? Not "bad memory", but "immediately see the essence of the person and discard unnecessary details"!

"I have this," I waved my left hand, showing my glove. " Is that enough for me?"

"If we're going to your dungeon, that should be enough."

He wouldn't stop babbling, and I even checked him with the scanner just in case. Not "hound," but "huski". In general, if we follow the principle, there should be "watchdogs", "minks" and others. But what makes me think that the Hunting Swarm is always a canine?

"So we're going to the "green zone", right? The scenario should be simple, and a third of the group we have a newbie, it gives relief, plus we go without epics - nothing complicated should be, right?"

From the endless monologue, which our third listened to with a patient expression of the whole body, I learned that the hunters are already quite good at navigating their System. You can choose the right adventure by color, plus it's intuitive to know what to do on the spot - convenient, right? Or here's the thing - you can't lie behind the gate! Very curious information, especially when coupled with the stories of our Sage about the safety while on the trail. Only we don't just talk, we also need to think with caution...

"Ready to go? Come on, Marius, look for the entrance."

I looked at Sparky, at the gray-green-blue mist of the portal hovering a meter away. My thoughts didn't come up, so I spit on my stealth and pulled out my phone, and turned on the scanner. The hunters looked serious as if that were the right thing to do. And also with impatience, like, "How much longer can we wait? Okay, okay, the command "walk" will come now.

One and a half steps to the right, into the curve of the treble clef.

By the way, I don't have order right now! And why did the System Prompt work? I took a step to the right and put my phone down and started to move my hand, just short of touching the gate. At some point they suddenly flowed with light smoke, I tensed up and when I caught something even slightly resembling the indicated figure I stepped forward. Did it seem or didn't it, that the places covered by the cloak squeezed through the gate a little easier?

"Whoops... So, are we going to clean the temple? Not bad, there are not only artifacts but there is also gold and stones sometimes!"

Sparky stepped forward with his assault rifle at the ready, the Third followed him, mimicking a pro. I'd seen real commandos walk; this one mimicked movie ones at best. But his weapon wasn't a toy, you must remember.

Just in case, I swiped my phone back and forth, and I was hardly surprised when the picture drew what was unembodied. Both of my teammates were "smoking". Not like a real demon, but as if they were wet in the sun. Rookies, huh?

I sighed - hadn't I seen demons before? - I looked around. The ceilings were high, about ten meters high, and the columns, big as Egyptian temples, led up to them. The walls and columns are decorated with carvings, but some vague, as if they had begun to emerge from the stone, but had not yet decided what exactly they would depict. There are slabs underfoot that don't seem to have been erased either, but the ornamentation is almost indistinguishable. In short, not Unreal Engine 5 at all.

"There."

Sparky walked looking at everything over the sight, carefully stepping in small steps, turning his whole body around, not lowering his weapon. And what now, we will search in the "ruins of the temple" for the main monster, fighting off the henchmen at the same time? Solving puzzles, marking the walls of the labyrinth, scattering nuts, and fumbling for hidden panels? The hunters walked more and more confidently with each step; it was as if they were waking up and beginning to act. Sparky wasn't joking anymore, they weren't saying anything at all, and I was pacing behind them as if I'd brought burgers and a Coke to another laser tag game just as the guys' turn came up. Now they'd shoot off their session and pay attention to the guy in the raincoat with the big bag trailing sullenly behind them.

The flash behind me didn't even alarm me.

I just stared at the wall, where a huge winged silhouette suddenly appeared, and then suddenly they started shooting.

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"Dimon, pin him down! Push! Go, go, go!"

Sparky yelled, shooting past me, and I froze, unsure of what to do, and only cringed at the flashes. The two hunters in front of me were firing wildly toward the exit, and behind me, there was a rumble and a glare - not something I'd been prepared for in my life.

"Have a good day!"

Poke, poke, step.

I turned around - Mopey was lying on the floor, twitching strangely, and

Sparky was firing his pistol, cocking his ass in a funny sort of crouch. And then it flared up again and the stalker fell to the floor against his partner, twitching as if from electricity.

"Have a good day!"

I stepped across the hall to the far wall and wondered if I should hang the bag on my belly as additional protection, but I decided not to make any sudden moves. The stalkers were lying motionless, no blood visible, and everything looked like a shocker. Was there a crunch? I do not remember, and my ears are still ringing from the firing. There was no smell of ozone...

There was suddenly a sound from the side, and I mechanically said goodbye and moved out of sight, then retreated into the thicker shade. What to do in such a situation? My hand slid mechanically to the phone, I listened, moved the brightness slider to the minimum, and then quickly opened the settings.

Warranty - turn on.

Yes/no

Yes.

It didn't get any calmer, but the pulse in my temples stopped pounding. Someone's here, someone with a long-range weapon that flashes when it works. Who could it be? What am I supposed to do? Let's say it's a priest of the local lightning god, how do I deal with him?

And I think it hit me because my back is aching. It's a real sore spot for me, the back! Straight first shot and hit me, I was coming in last and he missed us and covered us from behind, but didn't get through the cape, just hit me lightly.

I froze, with my head slightly lowered. There was no breathing, no creaking of dust underfoot. Trying not to rustle the sleeve of my cape, I poked under my feet, then guessed where the shadows were thicker, pointed there, and lifted my foot: "Hey, where are you?"

Balancing on one foot, keeping my toe an inch away from the transfer spot, I listened. Silence.

"Hello, anyone home? Or did you run away?"

I was even surprised at how ordinary my voice sounded. Even though my heart was jumping to my throat a minute ago.

"Have a goof day!"

Step...

Immediately a huge figure flashed on the wall again, spreading its wings!

There was no time to poke, someone behind me was running toward me with a yell, I just threw up my hand and thought as loudly as I could: "Activation!"

I was hit five times in three seconds, but I could only see it. The glove's protection worked, I felt nothing, only the attacker's short baton flashed when he touched me.

"Have a good day!"

I couldn't escape, my hand shook, and I got out only ten paces away. Immediately, another shock struck my long-suffering back.

"Activation!"

I fought back, trying not to hurt anyone. But the enemy was too dodgy.

"Have a good day! Asshole, get out of here!"

For some reason, I didn't feel like hitting him. With the indestructibility and unstoppability of the glove, it would have been like hitting with a wall cannon.

"Activation!"

This time he didn't just hit but howled in the process, and after a series of short pokes, accompanied by sparks, he jumped back and raised his baton with both hands in front of him, like a sword hilt. I retreated to the wall:

"Let's not do anything stupid!"

"Activation!"

The flash was particularly bright, and my opponent, a young man of Central Asian appearance, but wearing a shabby European cut camisole, retreated, goggling his eyes. Apparently, it was a special attack.

How many more charges do I have?

It was clearly more than he had. Because the priest suddenly yelled something and threw his baton at me and ran away as fast as if he really, really had to. That's good, because what am I going to do with him? Not kill, right...

"Hunters? Hey, stalkers, how are you?"

I avoided the baton, just in case. What if there's a last-chance timer? It might blow up...

"Marius? Alive?"

Sparky rolled over on his side with a groan and coughed: "Where is that one?"

"He ran away."

"He's lucky, or I'd have had him for that sort of thing... Help... No, let me breathe... That's an ugly script, think about it..."

He chattered in a half-whisper, holding his head, but his rhythm was almost normal. He'd make it. There was his partner, too, starting to move.

The stalkers first grabbed their weapons, then turned their heads and looked at each other: "Did you see where he ran off to?"

"No, he's obviously decided he's had enough."

"That's right, or I would..."

The enumeration of punishments against the insidious and surely vicious servant of evil stopped only when they blew up the altar with a blast-pack in its ruins and found some kind of "heart. Both stalkers just didn't jump for joy. On the rights of the "winner" I withdrew from the looting, and only occasionally checked the loot with the scanner. My glove was discharged, my back hurt, my mood was bad, and I still had to walk home. Stalkers answer the question, return scrolls in free trade do not exist, and the office will set such a price that ... Maybe I could buy a return skill from the creators. I'm sure they can think of something. Or look for amulets in my setting?

"How shall we share?"

I checked the junk spread out on the floor. Some of it was defined as "system items," and some of them only had names.

"Look, there's some gold here. You don't have to sell it to the clerks, you can save it."

I didn't want to argue for the loot from such a lame boss, clearly a quest for those who had just come out of the tutorial, I didn't want to. So I sternly said, "What's taken in battle is sacred," and took myself a bludgeon, while the rest of the loot the hounds happily began to stuff into their bags.

"Well done, fatty! You pulled round, is that what you guys say? What did you lose some?"

I slammed the flap of the bag shut and re-asked:

"Loose?"

"Oh, yeah, that damn light! What do I want to finish this thing off - it's all gone! A month of progress down the drain!"

A glance at him through the scanner revealed, without much surprise, that both had almost stopped fuming. Yeah, a priest fighting demons, exorcising impure spirits. No surprise there.

I looked at the character page on the app: "I didn't lose anything. It's not like I "absorbed" anything."

"Well, yeah, it's beginner's luck. You're the lucky one because it's your first time in the group."

I didn't listen to any more of his talk. After packing, the stalkers moved toward the portal that opened in the wall, and I squeezed through it after them. On the other side waited for my eyes to adjust to the light, then I waited at the counter for the adepts to clarify the location of my order. The clerk Vladimir indeed glanced at me a couple of times as if to let me know that he suspected me of something.

What do I look like here? A stalker from another world? It's crazy, they might think that I'm much more experienced than I pretend to be, and I have a lot of artifacts. After all, I suppose even have a guild, I take a lot of skill sheets.

Stalkers were walking around, casually carrying weapons and discussing the next hunt. Some were slightly touched by the haze, and some were almost "foggy beasts," but they acted just like humans. The good-natured, well-fed monsters laughed, joked, said goodbye and hello, and looked on as the clerks looked at them. The adepts frightened me even more than the "hounds." The System is right; it's worth listening to.

I was about to turn off the warranty, but then my order was delivered. Just in case, I counted the sheets again, said goodbye, moved the slider to the "order delivered" position, waved goodbye to the people standing around me, and went outside. At least this time I didn't have to go back through the portals.

The warranty is a warranty, but the sweat was rolling down my back even my pants became wet.

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