Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (6 page)

No matter which way he went with his attribute points, he’d be lacking in every other way. While his enchanting would certainly help shore up some deficiencies, it would in no way balance him enough to be as strong as any other class. He would never fully measure up against any one else in their chosen forte.

Once accepting that fact, Runner came to the conclusion that he was now faced with two choices. Dedicate himself to one class and be second best to every other person out there. Another option was to dedicate himself to every class, and spread himself wide. Wide and very thin.

On top of everything else, he had made mistake of querying how many people were in graveyards. It had been an errant thought, that if people died, they’d reappear in the graveyard, right? If it was true that death brought true death, the graveyard would be populated.

Finding the command to find everyone in a graveyard only took the barest of searches in the help section. Before he took the time to consider the consequences of the query, he had already gotten his answer. He had not been prepared for the number; though it provided confirmation of his worst fears.

“In a situation where I need to level up the fastest, is it better to have a bigger toolbox, or just one really good tool?” Runner mused aloud. Stifling a yawn he rested his forehead on the cool glass of the window. Runner only had one goal. Level up fast, hard, and get everyone left out of this trap. Game or not, it was actually killing people. By the thousands. Three thousand fifty-seven to be exact.

“I have no idea what you’re raving about now, but if it’s about a job that needs doing…I try to keep my toolbox as small as possible. Fit it with the best tools I can. Anything that serves a second purpose is perfect, and if I can find one that can do three things it’s even better,” Hannah supplied from the table. Rope creaked as she noisily shifted around in the chair, causing Runner to glance back at her.

Bound from the waist down to a chair, she appeared content. Leaning back as she finished her meal she waited. The bowl burst into blue motes of light and faded to nothing. As the little lights disappeared she rested her arms lightly on the table.

“That seriously doesn’t bother you? The way things just, poof, turn themselves into an electric fart and disappear?” Runner asked. He turned himself around completely to face her.

She’d cleaned herself up since they’d arrived. Leather armor had been replaced with simple peasant garb.

Runner had purchased it on the cheap from the innkeeper downstairs. Pricing had been only a few copper coins, on top of which he paid for two days lodging. A tub of water to bathe in was the last purchase to round out their stay; all told only cost two silver coins.

Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum coins were the measure of wealth in Otherlife. Coinage was on a ten base system. One Platinum coin was worth ten Gold, which was worth one hundred Silver.

That group of thieves had a number of silver coins between them that went to Runner’s war chest. Selling off all the duplicates in his inventory, then selling the raiders gear to boot, he made a tidy sum. He already had three gold to his name and a fistful of silvers. He couldn’t think of a way to confirm his financial standing, but he’d bet on being ahead of the curve.

“Not in the least, I had no use for it. There was nothing left, either. This is how the universe works. What’s so hard to understand? The fact it bothers you makes you even more strange. You using magic to rewarm the water, now that’s a topic. Or when you used magic in that fight with the bandits. Care to explain, or are you still pretending they didn’t happen? I’m not blind you know. I may not be the most intelligent, or even the best spoken, but I’m not stupid,” Hannah inquired with a Cheshire's grin.

Runner shook his head with a grunt and refused to comment. Casting Fireblast into the water hadn’t immediately worked, but after a few tries it eventually took hold. He’d decided to try because of the fact that so many of his previous experiments had been successful.

“Let’s just say I know a bit of magic and leave it at that. Back to what you were saying earlier though. It definitely has merit, though now I wonder if it’s even possible? I’d have to find an attribute that fit every class. I’ll probably need to find two actually, as I doubt Dexterity would cross into the realm of casters. Best place to look will be in the second promotion tier for end results,” Runner said.

Calling a system window into existence, Runner opened the in game help file. After a moment he found the section dealing with the classes. It had tables, charts, and diagrams of the information he needed. Flipping straight to the section he focused on the second tier of promotions.

Doing a cross comparison against each and every one would take time. It would be worth every second of the time spent if he found attributes that transcended base classes. Hannah was absolutely right; this called for a multi tool of the infest caliber. He could build himself into a jack of all trades, one that was proficient in each area. Rather than the bargain bin, must go, on sale, version.

Time passed in this way. Rain smashed itself to bits on the window pane while Runner continued ever deeper into his analysis. Meanwhile Hannah kept her hands on the table as instructed. Runner noticed that over time her posture became more rigid, her fingers tips lightly tapping the wood of the table.

She jumped when Runner suddenly sat up straight and laughed.

“Ah ha! Dexterity, Intelligence, and a dash of Agility. It’s not perfect, but it’ll definitely hit a second promotion for every base class. Thank you Hanners, that was a wonderful thought. Now, let’s see,” Runner muttered, his voice fading out. He tilted his head down and peered into the character window.

“You realize you’re insane, right? You told that idiotic peasant you weren’t, but I’m starting to wonder if you truly are. You’re not even listening anymore, are you? Jackass,” sighing, she put her head down on her forearms in resignation.

“I’m not insane, thank you. I will admit to being eccentric, but an NPC would never understand. You don’t even realize this is all a game. To you, it’s completely natural. Dexterity, Dexterity, Dexterity, Intelligence, Intelligence, Agility,” Runner continued. “And so, we who had become error, are now Win.”

With a nod of his head, he tapped the Accept button with his thumb for emphasis. Losing complete control himself, he started to lean forward as the world swayed crazily. Collapsing to the ground he bounced once and came to rest on the wooden floorboards. Mobility and thought were lost in the turmoil that enveloped his mind.

It wasn’t pain exactly, though extremely uncomfortable. His head felt two sizes too small. The large amount of memories twenty levels provided felt like too much to take at once. Like a light switch being hit, his brain shut down, and he was unable to control himself. Blitzing through the material as efficiently as it could his mind sorted and processed everything. It couldn’t keep up. A human mind wasn’t built for this.

Memories settled into places that felt natural to him, Only now was he aware of how much had been missing. Distant memories of childhood, sunlight filtering through windows at his parents house back on Earth, watching bits of dust flutter through beams of light to disappear as they passed into the shade. Enrolling, and subsequently being expelled, from college. Joining the Corps and being promoted to a Senior Systems Admin after a brief stint Earth side. There were gaps here and there, but he could guess at his own history from the things he could remember.

One memory stood apart from the rest by virtue of being the most recent. Boarding a capital ship bound for an outer colony that was in revolt. The travel would take years, count towards his deployment, and even be considered hazard pay. For a non-combatant, it was a dream job.

He stared at the ceiling as he gathered his thoughts, trying in vain to put some order to his life. His life according to the memories he now possessed.

Then his view was filled with Hannah, her black hair framing her face like a darkened halo against the muted light. Cold sapphire eyes appraised him like an insect. Runner could only track her with his eyes, unable to turn his head. As suddenly as her face appeared, she pulled away again.

Realization settled over him like a wet blanket. Shifting his weight around was the extent of his control. There would be no cry of alarm, or defense of his self.

It was no use, his brain felt like it’d been rewired by an apprentice electrician. Nothing was connected to where it should to be. He’d need time to let his brain rewire everything. Time was something he didn’t have.

Metal rattled quietly, coming from the direction of the door. He guessed that Hannah was checking the lock, confirming it was engaged probably. The clatter was replaced by fabric whispering across the floorboards. Hannah popped into view, peering down at him once more.

Runner figured this to be the end. When he’d explained the situation to the mayor, he’d informed him that thieves were hung. There was no jail,no willingness to put the community at risk for their eventually release. Runner had declined their invitation, stating that he’d escort her to a city for actual justice.

The mayor emphasized this point forcefully when he mentioned Hannah was partially of the Sunless race. Runner hadn’t been sure how the Mayor had made that distinction, he hadn’t been aware of it himself. Did NPCs distinguish the Sunless race by black hair? Blue eyes maybe? His own hair was black though; his eyes blue. Did he not qualify since he was a player? Chalking it up to a distinction of Players versus NPC, he let the thought drop.

Exhaling slowly Runner did his best to control his emotions. He waited, gaining a little peace in the acceptance of his expected end. It wouldn’t do to face her with fear. To go out with a whimper, so to speak. Truth be told, the worst part of this was not even being able to see her hands.

“Try not to struggle, it’ll just make this harder,” she said. Leaning in towards him, Runner closed his eyes in response, accepting and waiting. Listening to his heart for several beats, no strike came.

His head was lifted from the floor, then gently placed on what felt like wadded up fabric.

Combed from his eyes with a delicate touch, his hair was brushed aside. It was done while avoiding touching him, as if he was made of poison, and contact would burn the fingertips.

“There. Is that better? I can’t do much for you,,” she admitted quietly. “Your pack is full, and looks like a rats nest. Like someone upended a gods damned cellar into it. Very fitting for you, but not very useful.”

Runner’s eyes snapped open and he fastened them to Hannah. She was bent over him, his head and neck now resting comfortably, her hands resting on her knees as she looked into his face.
I’m not dead? How the hell did she get into my pack? She shouldn’t be able to, shes an NPC, and I’m not dead?

“I’m assuming whatever you were doing backfired. Or something,” Hannah tilted her head to the side, watching him.

“Uhm. Can you blink?”

He blinked.

“Ok. How about we go with once for yes, and twice for no?” She asked him.

Yes

“And to make sure you’re not blinking to blink, please blink twice.”

No

“Great. Did you manage to cast paralyze on yourself?”

No.

“
Did you activate a curse or something?”

No

“Ok. Not paralysis, not a curse, maybe it's similar?”

Yes

“Was it a spell?”

No

“Are you insane?

No, No, No.

“What exactly are you? Who are you? You talk to yourself, you do things that contradict the laws of the world. You use spells, Stealth, and clearly can handle a weapon. You killed others, but want to punish me for my crimes. When they wanted to do exactly as I thought you wanted them to, you refused. You treat me like any other human though I’m not. You purchase meals for me that cost you as much as what you buy for yourself. You talk like an educated twat but you don’t talk down to me.”

Yes

“Yes what?”

No

“I guess you can’t really answer any of that since it’s not a yes, no, answer.”

Yes, No.

“You’re a real fucking shit, you know that?”

Yes

“Sleep, idiot. I’ll keep watch till this,whatever this is, wears off. It will wear off right?”

Yes

He closed his eyes.

Unexpectedly, and like a bad made for web drama, Runner had fallen asleep. Coming back to wakefulness, he did his best to feign sleep. From his new memories he knew the technology that powered Otherlife was very cutting edge. One could have said it was nearly an adaptive AI in its base state. Clearly that massive resource boost had taken the game, and elevated it to a whole new level. NPCs acted like people for the most part. They accepted the rules of the game as if it were normal.

The game’s original operating shell was supposed to sync with the user, nesting itself in the users mind, utilizing it as the hardware for visualization. This would leave the entire server to be able to process everything else. This still wouldn’t be in keeping with the amount of resources it was increased by though.

Clearly, the difference between NPC and PC isn’t normal anymore either. Something has gone horribly wrong here. Hannah was actually digging through my inventory. My inventory! That shouldn’t be possible on any level.