Glitch Book Three Read online

  I was disappointed to find out that someone had already scoured the house and picked up the loot. I checked all the rooms but found absolutely nothing.

  Perhaps it was Stan and Guard who had made it over here to retrieve their items. I wished there had been a way to keep in touch with them.

  I exited the building and drove onto the road. More and more players connected to the game. Many of them were tooling around in their decrepit vehicles. They sped away as soon as they’d spotted my dangerous-looking car.

  Some guy looked out a second-floor window of the building I drove past, fired a short burst on my car, and leaped backward away from the window, disappearing from sight. I had no idea as to what he tried to accomplish. Maybe he’d tried to lure me into the building. I didn’t take the bait. Pushing the accelerator harder, I sped away.

  I came across a vending machine and bought a few stimulators, vigors, and high-velocity bullets, and then continued with my traveling, scouring the city for a good hiding place.

  Eventually, I found what I’d been looking for. I rolled along a street with two-story houses lined both sides of the road. Most of them were intact, more or less. The house that caught my attention, on the other hand, was quite ruined. It was missing three walls and had its roof caved in. Which was why the building looked unattractive and unobtrusive. It was a perfect place to hide my car in.

  I pulled into the garage that adjoined the house. It was so spacious it could easily accommodate at least two more vehicles.

  Before climbing out, I checked the fuel gauge. The fuel tank was half empty. I should take it into account when––or if––I took a spin in the car next time.

  I split the garage and let my gaze sweep around the street. There was nobody around. It was devoid of any players. At least for the time being.

  A rustling sound came from the rear. I whipped around to see an overgrown mosquito flying my way.

  > Name: Giant mutant mosquito

  > Level: 7

  > Health: 95/95

  I dealt with the mob without any trouble. Upon death, it exploded gushing greenish blood over the blacktop. A message flashed before my eyes.

  > +50 exp!

  Not bad. I decided to hang around in this street to get a few levels.

  The killed mob dropped some resources, namely chitin, and a piece of meat. Picking up the loot, I set about checking out each house. Mutant mosquitos swarmed the street. I wasted them all. The experience bar filled steadily. Some dropped resources after getting slain.

  Souring another house, I found a few chocolate bars. A piece of info appeared in my HUD as I looked at one of them.

  > Name: Chocolate bar

  > Hunger reduction: –30 points

  Stowing the food away in my bag, I exited the building and continued wiping out the mutant mosquitos.

  The wind began to blow. It was getting colder. My sheer clothes failed to keep me warm. Lifting my left hand to eye level, I looked at the crystal embedded into my flesh just below the wrist.

  The Main Menu appeared in my HUD. Switching to the Crafting menu, I learned that I needed to find some more resources before I could build a fire pit.

  I switched back to the Main Menu, selected the Character tab, and checked two lines I was interested in.

  > Hunger: 45/100

  > Freezing: 25/100

  It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected it to. The Freezing bar filled by only a quarter. I’d surely gather up all the necessary resources before I froze to death.

  After gobbling down one chocolate bar, I went on to waste the mutant mosquitos and soon leveled up to 9. Entered one building, looked at the crystal, and began examining the skills from the Warlock skill tree.

  I assigned three points to a psi-power I’d been fancying unlocking for quite a long time.

  > Name of the psi-power: Teleportation

  > Description: Allows the player to move from one point to another instantly, covering distances without wandering the physical space between the two of them. The player can’t teleport themselves to a place that is out of their range of vision.

  > The stats of the Teleportation psi-power:

  > Level: 3 out of 3

  > The distance is 30 yards

  > Cooldown is 10 seconds

  > Mana consumption is 350 points

  That skill consumed a lot of mana. Perhaps I should employ it only when push came to shove. Say, when surrounded by a swarm of strong mutants.

  I allocated the last two points to another psi-power.

  > Name of the psi-power: Twins

  > Description: Allows the player to create illusory counterparts of himself or herself. The twins have lesser HP than the player has. They can attack foes but deal little damage to them. Twins last for a limited amount of time. They disappear when time is up.

  > The stats of the Twins psi-power:

  > Level: 2 out of 3

  > A twin’s HP is 50 percent of the player’s HP

  > The damage a twin does is 10 percent of the player’s average damage output

  > The total number of the twins is 2

  > Twins last for 20 seconds

  > Mana consumption is 250 points

  With all the five skill points assigned, I left the building and wasted another mutant mosquito. I received lesser exp for it than I had before. I decided to level up one more time and then leave this area.

  After some time I laid my hands on two good clothes. One of them had dropped from a mosquito and the other had been in one house.

  > Name: Leather jacket

  > Armor type: Light

  > Rarity: Uncommon (green)

  > The player’s required level: 8

  > State: 294/350

  > Physical resistance: 50

  > Fire resistance: 45

  > Frost resistance: 95

  > Corrosive resistance: 15

  > Electric resistance: 20

  > Name: Leather pants

  > Armor type: Light

  > Rarity: Uncommon (green)

  > The player’s required level: 9

  > State: 280/380

  > Physical resistance: 70

  > Fire resistance: 65

  > Frost resistance: 55

  > Corrosive resistance: 25

  > Electric resistance: 30

  I changed into newly found armor and continued to croak mutant mosquitos. Finally, I leveled up to 10. I replaced the “green” level 4 pistol with the “blue” level 10 Mantis Slayer, putting the former in the bag and sliding the latter into the holster.

  I also had enough resources for building a fire pit now. I created it in one backyard. I squatted on my haunches and cooked all mosquito meat I had. Then looked at the crystal. The Freezing was steadily reducing. I decided to assign the skill points while I was warming up by sitting next to the fire.

  One of them I allocated into the Twins psi-power, upgrading it to the max level. But I wasn’t sure what to do in terms of the remaining skill points. Perhaps I should turn my attention toward the other skill trees: Mechanic, Building, and Survival.

  I was examining various skills for a spell. What skill should I unlock? Fortification, perhaps? It allowed the player to reinforce windows and doors with armor. Quite useful skill against the invasion of night mutants.

  But as things turned out, the decision was taken from my hands. A message popped up in the log:

  > Attention! The Outbreak in Park of Despair is due in 20 minutes!

  It occurred to me that I’d already seen such a message on the first day. I’d assumed that it might’ve been some game event.

  I was eager to check it out. Lifting my left hand, I looked at the crystal to consult the map. Park of Despair wasn’t too far off. I could get there on foot in time. Maybe Christine would show up at the event as well, so I might get a chance to return the girl her car.

  After checking the map one last time, I set out.

  Chapter t
wo

  I arrived at the place without let or hindrance. The park was pretty big, yet it struck me as pathetic. Gnarled trees were long since dead, their branches dry and leafless.

  I wasn’t sure where to go, so I headed for the center of the park.

  Other players soon came into view. There were about fifteen of them. Some had come in twos and threes, but most of the players were by themselves, eyeing the others suspiciously, wary of strangers.

  It was a quite unusual sight. Before now, I’d never seen so many players clustered together and not trying to fight among themselves in this game.

  As soon as I walked from behind a tree, all the eyes instantly locked on me. Many of the gamers had their nicknames painted various shades of red. My eyes made a sweep of the players. It was quite reassuring that only one player was stronger than I was.

  > Name: Sullivan

  > Level: 14

  Save for that one, the other players had lower levels than mine was, or equal.

  I stood there rooted to the spot when I saw two familiar players. Croc and Frozen themselves. They stared back at me, their eyes pools of hatred.

  They didn’t either get many levels or lay their hands on good weapons since I’d whacked them. Croc had level 10 while Frozen only 9. They held harmless-looking machine guns, which were no match for the “blue” and “purple” assault rifles they had to their names before.

  Upon seeing my foes, I reached for my pistol. However, something unexpected transpired. The handgun wouldn’t slide out of the holster. Some invisible force pushed my hand away from the pistol.

  Well, at least it explained why the players didn’t try to rough one another up. The park was a safe zone. A player couldn’t be attacked here. At least until the event was over.

  Christine wasn’t among the players. Still, there were a few minutes more before the event began, so the girl might yet show up.

  When I just arrived at Park of Despair, a message informing about new notes in Encyclopedia had popped up in the log. I’d seen it but decided to read it later on. Since I had nothing to do at the moment, I lifted my left hand, looked at the crystal and switched to the Encyclopedia.

  All unread messages were marked with an asterisk, so I saw the new ones immediately.

  > History of the World

  > (Show: Yes/No)

  > Creatures and beings

  > (Show: Yes/No)

  > Game events (*)

  > (Show: Yes/No)

  > (Do you want to return to the Main Menu: Yes/No)

  The Game events tab contained only one button with a sign above it reading, “The outbreak.” I pushed it and went through the text that appeared after the page refreshed.

  I learned that the participants in the Outbreak event had to fend off mutants for one hour. The friendly fire got turned off, so the players couldn’t inflict any harm on their teammates. A player could be killed only at the hands, or more specifically claws, of the mutants.

  Instead of getting discharged from the event, a player who got killed came around to the mutant’s side, turning into one. A player who got through the Outbreak without turning into a mutant received a lot of experience points. A player who got whacked by the mutants lost neither his or her exp nor items.

  Got it! The rules sounded pretty simple. I lowered my hand and looked around to learn that our team got joined up by a few more players. Yet Christine wasn’t among them. Seemed like she wasn’t going to take part in the event after all, for it wasn’t long before the event started.

  As if in confirmation to my thought, a message appeared in the log.

  > Attention! The Outbreak will begin in 60 seconds!

  I tried to pull the pistol from the holster once more to no avail. The players seemed to have to wait until after the event began before they were permitted to draw their weapons.

  A countdown began in the log. Most players looked around vigilantly. Seemed like the most part of the players present never took part in such an event and therefore didn’t know what to expect.

  I cast a glance at the twosome. They shot angry looks at me from time to time. The guys couldn’t do shit to me at the moment. Yet, after the event was over, I should watch out.

  Finally, a message popped up.

  > Attention! The outbreak has begun.

  I reached for my handguns at once. This time, they cleared leather smoothly. I glanced at the twosome once again. They weren’t watching me any longer. Instead the two PK looked around for any threats just like the other players in the group did.

  Suddenly, the park filled with enraged shouts. Mobs ran in our direction, weaving their way through the trees. All the players opened fire, shotguns booming, assault rifles burping, pistols cracking.

  We managed to hold the mutants at bay for a few minutes. I shot glances at the log to check the remaining time and the number of teammates alive, 17 out of 17. None of the players got killed thus far. Still, it was yet to change, for sure.

  The mutants died and got replaced by others instantly. The players unleashed a devastating firestorm of bullets, the engineers created battle drones, the warlocks used their psi-powers, but the mobs were getting closer and closer to us.

  All of a sudden, some huge creature leaped from behind the nearest tree and charged at our group. Its four muscular legs with long curvy claws carried the creature extremely fast. It stopped and crouched, its legs tensed, its lips curling back to reveal long and sharp teeth. Then the mutant leaped to land among the players.

  A few gamers, including myself, aimed their weapons in the direction of the mutant and pulled the triggers. The bullets ripped into the creature’s body, shredding it to ribbons, strips of ragged flesh exploding from the body. One of the rounds tore through its neck, opening it, crimson blood gushing over the ground.

  Finally, the mutant fell sideways, dead. The exp was divided among the players, who’d taken part in the execution.

  Another quadruped mutant materialized near our group. As I turned toward it and put pressure on the trigger, a player jumped right in front of my line of fire. Yet the bullets didn’t hurt him at all. They harmlessly went through his body.

  More and more clawed four-legged critters attacked us from every direction. The mutant offense was so aggressive we couldn’t hold our ground anymore and spread out, breaking up into twos and threes and running away.

  I found myself in a group of three players. One of them turned out to be Frozen. Just my luck. Judging from his face distorted in anger, he wasn’t all that happy having me with him too.

  The other player had only level 6. He sported nasty wounds on his body where he’d been bitten by the mutants. The guy didn’t look very well. His wounds bled profusely.

  “Wouldn’t you guys happen to have a heal?” He said.

  Frozen didn’t even look his way, totally ignoring the guy. I took a stimulator out of my bag and held it out to the wounded player.

  “Thanks, dude.”

  Before he could use the stimulator, a winged creature, which looked like a smaller version of a mantis, swept over us and spat out an acid gob, catching the guy in the face. The player died almost instantly, what with his HP being nearly nonexistent. He crashed to the hard earth, dropping the stimulator.

  A few drops of acid hit me. They ate through my armor and reached my skin. My HP began to shrink rapidly. Clenching my teeth in pain, I bent over and scooped up the stimulator.

  As soon as I administered the shot to myself, something slammed against my back, driving me to the ground. Searing pain exploded in my right shoulder as the creature buried its teeth into my flesh.

  With peripheral vision I could see Frozen standing nearby. He wasn’t going to lend me a hand. Instead the guy looked at me with a shit-eating grin on his face and took off. I didn’t blame him. We weren’t no friends. I’d probably have done likewise had I been in his shoes.

  I employed the Surge to shove the creature off my back. After puttin
g a few slugs into its head, I leaped to my feet. Mobs were everywhere, trying to box me in. Although I heard distant gunshots, no player was in the vicinity. I was all on my own now.

  I fired at the mutants on my heels as I ran away. The bullets tore through the creatures’ bodies, bloodily exploding out of their backs.

  I stumbled over something but managed to regain my balance. It was a dead body. Frozen’s. He hadn’t gotten far. Yet I was sure that I’d share his bitter experience very soon.

  My mana depleted as I used the psi-powers, trying to keep the mutants at bay. When I delved into my bag for another vigor, I found out that there were only two left.

  After replenishing my mana, I looked around. The mutants closed in on me from all directions.

  The bushes to my right parted and a quadruped mutant charged at me from the concealment. I sighted and opened fire. Some of the slugs punched into its body, showering the earth with ragged flesh and blood. Yet most rounds missed, the slugs kicking clods of dirt into the air all around it, for the creature constantly swung its body from side to side to dodge the bullets.

  The critter behaved in a totally different way than the other mobs did. Unlike all the others, this mutant acted like it was doing its best not to get killed. The mod had to be a player.