Glitch Boxset Read online

  > You have just received a new quest!

  > Name: “Gear up”

  > Goal: Examine the room and gather everything useful up.

  > Reward: +10 exp

  I looked around. There were several bulky, cumbersome cabinets. At the other end of the room was a door. A flat panel display hung from the nearby wall. A message written in red letters in the middle of the screen said ‘The door is locked!’

  At the far corner of the room was a full-length mirror. I walked over to it and took a look at the reflection. I saw myself, a lean guy with the plain face and short-cropped black hair.

  It was interesting. Most video games I’d played had integral character editors that allowed the player to customize their avatar. Still, this game seemed to not have such a feature. Here the player’s avatar looked exactly like the player himself or herself. I had almost no doubt that my real body was now seated in a cozy armchair, with a virtual reality helmet mounted on the head, through which my mind was now wandering around this virtual world. So looking in the mirror I was regarding not myself but just my avatar.

  A message appeared in the log brought me out of my reverie.

  > The player Stan didn’t make it through the night! He was burned alive!

  While I was reading the message, another one popped up.

  > The player Christine didn’t make it through the night! She was boiled in the acid to death!

  I seemed to feel chills run up my spine. Sure players more often than not perished in video games. But why did the game inform other players about some other player’s having been killed? And those two players had died such horrible deaths. I had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.

  To distract myself from brooding I set about looking into all the cabinets. While I was tossing the room a few more messages about players’ deaths appeared in the log. Seemed like something extremely dangerous was going on in the street, what with all these numerous deaths.

  Having opened another cabinet, I found some clothes. It was something like a gray T-shirt with short sleeves, a pair of dark pants, and a pair of shoes. I hesitated for a second. Stealing is wrong, right? But then I rolled my eyes and chuckled at myself. Duh, silly me, I thought, it’s just a video game, dummy, so all these clothes have been placed here specifically for me by the developers. When I looked at the T-shirt again and reached for it to pick it up, a table with the item’s statistics appeared in my HUD.

  > Name: ‘T-shirt’

  > Armor type: Outerwear

  > Rarity: Common (white) (*)

  > The player’s required level: 0

  > State: 100/100

  > Physical resistance: 1

  > Fire resistance: 1

  > Frost resistance: 1

  > Corrosive resistance: 1

  > Electrocute resistance: 1

  > (*) A new tip is available!

  Lifting my left hand, I directed my gaze toward the crystal. The Main Menu popped up. Switching to the Help menu, I selected it and read the tip.

  > General:

  > Tip #2

  > According to the rarity, weapons and armor are divided into several groups:

  > The common (white color) are ordinary and featureless things. You can find them in the game quite often.

  > The uncommon (green color) are somewhat better than the common. Hence, you can occasionally find green items but not as often as the white ones.

  > The rare (blue color) are scarce. Their statistics are much better than that of the uncommon. Besides, the rare items have one special quality.

  > The epic (purple color) are very scarce. Their statistics are really excellent. Also, the epic items have two special qualities.

  > The legendary (orange color) items possess the best statistics possible. They have three special qualities. Acquiring the legendary item is extremely hard. They seldom drop from raid bosses or strong monsters.

  > (Hide the tip: Yes/No)

  > (Return to the Main Menu: Yes/No)

  I lowered my hand, looked inside the cabinet again, and directed my gaze toward the pair of pants. After a moment a new piece of information appeared in my HUD.

  > Name: ‘Pants’

  > Armor type: Outerwear

  > Rarity: Common (white)

  > The player’s required level: 0

  > State: 100/100

  > Physical resistance: 1

  > Fire resistance: 1

  > Frost resistance: 1

  > Corrosive resistance: 1

  > Electrocute resistance: 1

  I then looked at the pair of shoes.

  > Name: ‘Shoes’

  > Armor type: Outerwear

  > Rarity: Common (white)

  > The player’s required level: 0

  > State: 100/100

  > Physical resistance: 1

  > Fire resistance: 1

  > Frost resistance: 1

  > Corrosive resistance: 1

  > Electrocute resistance: 1

  After getting dressed, I padded over to the mirror and took a look at the reflection. The clothes fit me so well as if it had been made specifically for me. Turning away from the mirror, I looked around. There was one more cabinet I hadn’t looked into yet. After I went over to it, another message appeared in the log.

  > The player Flynn didn’t make it through the night! He was torn to pieces and gobbled down!

  Pulling the door open, I looked inside the cabinet. A pistol lay on one of the shelves. The handgun’s stats emerged in my HUD.

  > Name: ‘Newbie’s Punch’

  > Weapon type: Pistol

  > Rarity: Common (white)

  > The player’s required level: 0

  > Damage: 10

  > Accuracy: 40

  > Fire rate: 550

  > Magazine size: 15

  > Elemental damage: None

  Aside from the pistol, there was a leather belt with a drop leg holster attached to it on one of the shelves. On another shelf lay scattered a few extra pistol magazines. The lowest shelf had a shoulder bag lying on it. I threaded the belt through the loops of my pants, slung the bag diagonally across my shoulders, and stowed the spare mags away in the bag. Then I picked up the pistol.

  Funny. Never had I held a gun in my hands, but once my fingers wrapped around the pistol grip, I instantly felt self-assured. In one fluid motion, I ejected the clip, checked if it was fully-loaded, and inserted it back in the grip. I then thumbed a round button, which was beside the magazine release, on the pistol’s side. A small holographic display popped up alongside the pistol, showing the ammo counter in the mag: 15. This done, I nimbly shoved the pistol into the holster.

  I handled the pistol so skillfully as if I had been dealing with weapons all my life. It amazed me a great deal.

  A message popped up in my HUD.

  > The ‘Gear up’ quest accomplished! You have received the award: +10 exp!

  There was a quiet sound like a rat’s squeaking. I whirled around to see a note on the flat panel display change. Now it said ‘The door is open!’ in green letters. A few more messages notifying of some players having died emerged in the log. I wondered how many players have already been killed during this night.

  I headed for the door. It opened to a long and quite wide hallway. I saw a few creatures. They clung to the walls and the ceiling. These creatures bore a resemblance to bugs or roaches, but they were the size of a domestic cat. These unattractive creatures stirred their antennae, moved their legs, and emitted quiet chattering sounds. Some of the creatures scuttled from place to place every now and then. All of them paid me no mind.

  A message turned up.

  > You have just received a new quest!

  > Name: “The first fight”

  > Goal: Clear the hallway from all the vermin.

  > Reward: +30 exp

  I deftly withdrew the pistol from the holster and pointed it at the nearest roach on the right-hand
wall. I aimed for a couple of seconds. When I began squeezing the trigger, the roach’s stats popped up in my HUD.

  > Name: ‘Weak mutant roach’

  > Level: 1

  > Health: 10/10

  My index finger pulled the trigger. The pistol cracked once. The roach was smeared across the well, dead. The body plopped with a wet sound onto the floor. A short note appeared before my eyes and in a second disappeared.

  > +5 exp!

  The remaining creatures skittered toward me, giving out menacing sounds with their jaws. I set about discharging my gun. One shot to a creature’s body was enough to kill the mutant roach. Yet it took two bullets to waste a creature. Me taking careful aim notwithstanding, some of the bullets were going wide. I guessed the low accuracy attribute of the pistol was to blame. So it took the whole mag to kill all the creatures.

  The pistol itself felt like a toy. It was all too light and the recoil was almost imperceptible.

  A message popped up.

  > The ‘First fight’ quest accomplished! You have received the award: +30 exp!

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed that the experience bar was all but full. A little more experience points and my character would level up.

  I also thought that I had to reload the pistol. However, before my brain could issue the signal, my hands seemed to start acting of its own accord. They automatically ejected the spent mag, letting it drop to the ground and slammed a fresh one home.

  Having cast my gaze downward, I saw the empty mag at my feet. Thought about picking it up so that I could fill it up with cartridges later on. Yet before I could lean over and grab the mag, it suddenly disappeared. Dissolved in the air leaving no trace behind as if it had never been lying on the floor.

  I gaped at the spot where it had been a second prior. Then I straightened up. Well, it figures, I thought. Sure this game was exceptionally vivid and realistic, yet at the same time it was just a video game and like any other video game, this one had some flaws and restrictions. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to pick up empty magazines and carry them.

  Having looked around, I also observed that creatures’ bodies had already disappeared, too. Greenish pools were slowly growing at the spots where the carcasses had been. And in the middle of each pool lay something. I walked over to one of these things and took a closer look at it. The item looked like a dark brownish sponge the size of the matchbox. I wondered what it was.

  Another message showed up before my eyes.

  > You have just received a new quest!

  > Name: “Food chain”

  > Goal: Find and gather up 10 pieces of mutant roach meat.

  > Reward: +20 exp

  So the strange-looking thing was roach meat. Why should I pick it up? Was I supposed to gobble it down later on? The thought made me recoil. Eeew! I wasn’t about to start feeding on roach meat. Whoever had thought this quest up could wolf down roach meat, but I wasn’t going to do it.

  I headed for the far end of the hallway. On reaching it, I encountered a locked door. It wouldn’t open. I guessed it was another game limitation. The lock mechanism wouldn’t release unless a particular event occurred. In other words, to split this hallway I had to accomplish the current quest by gathering up the pieces of roach meat.

  I retraced my steps. Overcoming revulsion, I hunched over one of the greenish pools, reached out with my right hand, and picked a piece of roach meat up. It felt rubbery. Once I stowed it away in my bag, a message appeared.

  > You have received 1 piece of mutant roach meat!

  After I collected all the other pieces of roach meat, which totaled to 5 pieces, since not each killed roach had dropped a piece of meat, the door at the far end of the hallway hissed open. It admitted me to a spacious room. Some awkward machines were scattered around the room. At the far end of the room was an elevator. Its door was closed and a sign above it said, ‘The elevator is blocked!’

  Another message popped up.

  > You have just received a new quest!

  > Name: “Back to fight”

  > Goal: Get rid of all the mutant vermin in the room.

  > Reward: +30 exp

  A few more overgrown roaches clung to the walls. I dealt with them with no trouble at all, emptying the whole magazine. All the roaches killed by me gave me five experience points each.

  A message emerged.

  > The ‘Back to fight’ quest accomplished! You have received the award: +30 exp!

  Once it vanished another one turned up.

  > Congrats! You have just leveled up to 1! You have got 5 unused skill points!

  Out from the corner of my eye, I spotted number 1 appear above my health, mana, and fatigue bars. After a second a notification of receiving another quest appeared.

  > You have just received a new quest!

  > Name: “First steps”

  > Goal:

  > 1. Pick the character class from the Skill tree menu;

  > 2. Learn the ‘Simple machine gun’ skill from the ‘Mechanic’ tab in the Skill tree menu;

  > 3. Learn the ‘Cooking mutant roach meat’ skill from the ‘Survival’ tab in the Skill tree menu;

  > 4. Learn the ‘Fabric outfit’ skill from the ‘Survival’ tab in the Skill tree menu;

  > 5. Allocate 30 points into the character attributes in the Character menu.

  > Reward: +50 exp

  Yet before starting doing this quest, I wanted to accomplish the previous one. After I collected all the pieces of mutant roach meat, having dropped from the roaches, a message popped up.

  > The ‘Food chain’ quest accomplished! You have received the award: +20 exp!

  This done, I lifted my left hand and looked at the crystal. After the Main Menu appeared, I switched to the Character menu. A piece of information popped up.

  > You have got 30 points! Allot them into the following character attributes:

  > Strength: 0

  > Endurance: 0

  > Agility: 0

  > Perception: 0

  > Intelligent: 0

  > Charisma: 0

  > Luck: 0

  > (Show the clarifications of the attributes: Yes/No)

  > (Return to the Main Menu: Yes/No)

  I unfolded the clarification and immersed myself in perusing the information.

  > Strength: 0

  > Note: Strength determines the maximum amount of your health points, melee damage you deliver, your ability to handle heavy weapons, and the maximum weight you can carry. Strength is the most important attribute for the Soldier class.

  > Endurance: 0

  > Note: Endurance determines the maximum amount of your fatigue points and your ability to wear heavy armor (the fewer your Endurance attribute the sooner you will be getting tired while having on heavy armor). Endurance is the important attribute for the Soldier class.

  > Agility: 0

  > Note: Agility determines your movement and reloading speed.

  > Perception: 0

  > Note: Perception determines your maximum amount of mana points and your ability to see.

  > Intelligent: 0

  > Note: Intelligent determines the rate at which inventions are produced. Intelligent is the most important attribute for Engineer class.

  > Charisma: 0

  > Note: Charisma determines the maximum prices you get at various vendor machines. The fewer your Charisma the fewer discount you get.

  > Luck: 0

  > Note: Luck determines your chances of finding rare items such as weapons, armor, etc.

  > (Hide the clarifications of the attributes: Yes/No)

  > (Return to the Main Menu: Yes/No)

  After reading all this information, I realized it would be better to pick the character class before assigning the points to the attributes. Switching back to the Main Menu, I selected Skill tree. A piece of info appeared.

  > Pick the class:

  > Soldier

 
> Warlock

  > Engineer

  > (Show the clarifications of the classes: Yes/No)

  > (Return to the Main Menu: Yes/No)

  I selected the first ‘Yes’ button and the page refreshed.

  > Pick the class:

  > Soldier

  > Note: Soldier is a crack shot. Soldier is the only class that is capable of wielding all kinds of weapons, wear heavy body armor suits as well as power suits, and upgrade all weapons and armor sets.

  > (Show Soldier’s skill tree: Yes/No)

  > Warlock

  > Note: Warlock deals with foes using dark energy. Warlock creates deadly anomalies and booby traps out of dark energy. Warlock handles only handguns such as pistols and revolvers and wears only light armor such as leather armor.

  > (Show Warlock’s skill tree: Yes/No)

  > Engineer

  > Note: Engineer excels in creating various electronic gadgets, turrets, robots, combat drones, and so on. Engineer can wear all manner of armor, short of the heavy body armor and power suits. Engineer handles all manner of weapons save for the heavy ones such as rocket launchers, miniguns, Gatling lasers, etc.