Real Life RPG (5 page)

              “If it is the dungeon I can do that if I get to keep the blue stone found at the end” I replied.

              “You mean these things?” Tabitha said as she opened her sack and had 4 of the stones. “I steal these things to level up my thief ability since even if I get caught no one really cares about a worthless blue stone”.

              “I’ll give you a gold for all four” I said as I eyed the stones. I could tell they were at least good for another ten hours since they had not started to lose their color.  The woman smiled and tossed them to me as I handed over the rest of my money. Gage shook his head at my deal but stayed silent, probably because he knew without me he could never defeat the bullies that were guarding the path. I scanned Tabitha and could see in fact she was a rogue, one who was only at level 2. She must have gotten tired of trying to fight alone as most people here I noticed did not take those who they thought were weak into their party. We quickly made our way back to the dungeon where Tabitha received her 50% share and I gave Gage his ten percent. It was harder to level up at this point for us as only the two zombies provided any real experience points since they were still at a higher level. Tabitha wanted to run through the whole thing again and ended up at a level 6, I was a level 8 along with Gage. She departed at the end although I was sure to watch my inventory sack. If she had tried anything it would have been tough for her to get through Gage once I kicked her out of the party. I had 7 of the stones so far the least of which had 4 hours remaining. When me and Gage teleported to the beginning this time we were shocked to see a small crowd waiting for us, led by the Bolly brothers who looked as naked as Gage was when I re connected with him.

              “Let me guess, two warriors killed you” I said eyeing the warrior Jerrod.

              “Fuck yeah those bastards did” Dylan spoke up. “We almost killed them since we were expecting them but they have a lot of potions, probably from all the killing they have been doing. I told these people here about your deal, they are all low leveled and want to complete this dungeon. I want you take up your time first with my own offer”.

              “How about this offer” I butted in thinking about what type of loot they might have, namely the blue stones. “If I help you kill these guys, then I get all of their money and any five items they may have that I want”.

              “Deal” Jared said as he stuck out his hand.

              “Gage I am going to leave our party” I announced.

              “I don’t like your party anyway” Gage replied. “You make stupid deals for worthless items, all I want are those two gone. They are at a higher level than what could be achieved here without some serious grinding”.

              “I shook my head and kicked him from my group and joined the Bollys. When I handed over the two sets of gear I received from killing the zombie twice they smiled then set off towards the path. Dylan however still had no staff, not that he really needed it at this low of level anyway, especially since all he did was heal.

              I followed along the path they set when the brothers slowed up a bit. We walked farther as a figure dressed in the same rusted gear I had gotten off the zombie blocked our path. Behind us I could hear another sound which meant we were surrounded.

              “Hey didn’t we just kill you an hour ago?” one of the men said as he eyed the party.

              “Looks like you brought some back up this time, a level 7” I heard a voice from behind me say.

              “You gave a tough fight the last time, but even with your little mage I still deal out more damage than you can take” the first man said. I looked at their names and then again at their faces and paled. I knew both of these men, everyone knew these two. Salvatore “Big Sally” Provolone and Francis “Frankie Kneecaps” Stallone, both infamous mobsters. They were finally convicted of killing no less than fifty witnesses including four district attorneys. I twins for their part split up and rushed the pair as I let corroding rain fill the area followed by a decaying mist. The mobsters didn’t seem to care as they side stepped both warriors then charged at me and Dylan. I somehow managed to roll out of the way of Big Sally but I could hear Dylan grunt which meant he had to be hit hard. Big Sally went for a follow up blow as Jerrod buried his blade deep into his back for a critical hit dropping the mobster to 85% life. I didn’t turn to face the other mobster as I could hear him in fierce battle with Jared. When Big Sally turned around I stuck him hard with my weapon dropping him to less than half of his life. I turned quickly and could see Jared was already at 50% life but so was Frankie Kneecaps as the last of the mobsters armor fell to the ground in ruins.

              “It’s that fucking mage with the skull staff, get him” I heard Big sally say from behind me as I struck Frankie Kneecaps as he was turning around. In the end they both fell, but my party was not without damage. Dylan was at less than 5% life and Jared was under 20%. Jerrod was still at fifty percent as I searched through their belongings. I claimed 60 gold from their bodies, more than enough to finally get off of this island. More importantly I had found 3 blue stones. I left everything else for the Bollys who all outfitted themselves as I smiled at not only gaining a level but at the pop up to my new ability although it was much different than I remembered.

              I clicked yes and was thankful that I did not use any of the points I had received then took a look at my character.

              I smiled as I looked at the skill and felt safe that not many players would have the attribute points to unlock this skill. If by some reason they collected all of the blue stones then they would have at least been a level eight. It would take them to long to level up then gather back 10 blue stones before they disappeared. By that time they would at least have to be at a level 16 which should be impossible on Mandalo since the toughest enemy on the island is not over a level 14. Even if they somehow managed it I thought they would be more interested in joining the main game than some silly quest.

              “There is way too much stuff here to carry” Jerrod said as I snapped back to reality and saw multiple sets of the same armor. “My sack is full and all of this is beginner crap anyway”.

              “I’ll take some of it off your hands” Gage said as he pushed his way past me. I ignored the small man and left the Bollys party as to my surprise they linked up with Gage to continue their quest. I would have to be on the lookout for the mobsters I thought to myself, there wasn’t any doubt in my mind they would be gunning for me. I returned to the beginning dungeon and ran each group through although my price had changed. I wanted all the money found and they could keep all of the items. I got 6 people through pretty quickly, by making each of them join my party until I had a total of four then running through the dungeon. All of them were warrior class except one so I ran them through it multiple times until everyone of them was outfitted in the Zombie’s armor. I had 64 gold now and figured I should leave since I was one easy fight away from level 9. I got back on the path and continued following it, I was a little nervous at the area I had fought the mobsters but luckily they were not there yet. I continued on the path, careful to go around any wolf pups that I saw lurking about. I knew there was one other town on this island, this one far smaller than Mandalo although the name escapes me. This town had all female NPC Guards and any female who died in battle had the chance to respawn back there. Males could of course come to the town, the developers thought they could empower women by giving them their own town in a male dominated game. I could see the town over the hill I just climbed up as the sun started setting.

              I walked through the gates and up to the inn, I was not hungry but it was a habit to eat and although I hated to admit it, in game food tasted better than real food. I walked up to the barkeep, a woman who was as wide as she was tall.

              “What you want?” the lady said gruffly. I remembered everyone inside of Mandalo were programmed to be nice, the fact she was gruff meant PATRICK must have changed some things.

              “Food and a room” I said as a smiled back at her.

              “That’ll be 30 silver” the woman said as her stare bored into me.

              “Then I’ll be staying for three days” I said as I flipped her a gold coin. “Keep the change”.

              Her demeanor did not change as she reached behind the bar and came out with a bowl of some type of stew, a jug of what looked like orange soda and a room key. I grabbed the items and walked over to an empty table and began to eat as I heard a familiar voice.

              “Yeah, we killed those mobsters” Dylan Bolly said to a group of ladies who were listening intently. “We asked them to clear the road but then changed our mind and killed them”. I could see Gage had gotten along with the brothers fine and was even trying to make a move on one of the women present. The women for their part were nothing special, there were two that looked decent but most of these were hard looking women that had committed serious crimes. I listened to the group boast and embellish the story, before they finished they would have the crowd believe they each took turns defeating both mobsters in one on one combat. I finished my food and made my way up to my room, it was small but clean and was well lit despite the fact I could see no light source. I had never stayed in an inn in game before, so this was a first. There was a small bowl of water in which I used to wash up as I heard a knock on the door. The best thing about staying in an inn though was that each of the rooms were sealed to anyone who didn’t have a key, no amount of force would open the door.

              “Whose there” I replied as I slipped my robe back on.

              “Do you want company?” I heard a rough female voice say.

              I opened the door to find a forty something year old woman looking back at me. Although everyone in the game started out with a flawless complexion I could tell this woman was probably a druggie in real life.

              “It’ll cost you 20 silver, if you want me to bring a friend the price goes up to fifty” she said as if she was selling a bar of soap or something. In reality I would have sent this woman on her merry way but I was having a horrible day despite my in game character having a decent start. In the end it was only a game and I was robbed of real life. I of course gave her the fifty silver as she brought a friend along. There was no passion but despite their appearance they knew exactly what they were doing, I was pleased to see I performed a little better in game than I did in real life but an hour later they were gone and I slept soundly.

              I awoke and could see the sun shining through my window. I headed down stairs where I heard a commotion; the mobsters had returned and had armed themselves again. I could look at their stats and tell they had no stamina, they must have grinded all night in the beginning dungeon to outfit themselves again. The focus of their intent was on the twins who were at level 7 where both of the mobsters were at level 9. I could not see Dylan or Gage but did not worry too much about it. If you killed a character within city limits your character spent a week in jail if you started the fight. This was something the twins must have known .