The Lag (The Game Master: Book #1) Read online

  The Lag

  a novel

  by Andrei Levitsky and Alex Bobl

  The Game Master

  Book#1

  Magic Dome Books

  The Game Master

  Book # 1: The Lag

  Copyright © Andrei Levitsky, Alex Bobl 2015

  Cover Art © Vladimir Manyukhin 2015

  Translators © Irene Woodhead, Neil P. Mayhew 2015

  Published by Magic Dome Books, 2015

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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  Table of Contents:

  Part One. Danger Looms

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Part Two. Locked in the Game

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  More LitRPG books by these and other authors

  Lag:

  In online gaming, lag is a noticeable delay between the action of players and the reaction of the server.

  (Wikipedia)

  Part One

  Danger Looms

  Gryad Online:

  A massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and produced by the RussoVirt Corporation, the fifth in the Gryad series (not counting the add-ons). Gryad Online continues to develop the world already familiar to users through the first games of the series.

  The game is set in a world first introduced in the Gryad: Swords Vs. Sorcery game. Its events take place twelve years after the First Storm — a global magical disaster that concluded Gryad IV: Breach of the Magosphere. Despite the game's audience of over 9 million with an increase of 100,000 new players each month, currently only two large areas of Gryad's enormous world are open to the public: the Dead Canyon and the surrounding area of adjoining kingdoms of Vardis, Selour, Nideria, Cryte, Zygon and the downfallen Warp. According to the RussoVirt press center, the company is planning to unveil more large locations shortly, including its own moon Shaard. At the time of writing this article, more definitive information is still unavailable.

  (Wikipedia)

  Chapter One

  "Die, you bastard!"

  Take that! And again!

  The knight wielded his heavy two-handed sword with remarkable ease. Attila leapt aside. He could see the enemy's smug face and the disdainful glare behind his slotted visor. The knight's sword glowed with magic, his scarlet cloak floating behind his back, the gold of his armor blinding. Next to him, Attila's gray deerskin jacket and hunter's pants looked decidedly tacky.

  The knight's two henchmen smirked as they rounded on Attila. They loved their fun: to ambush a lone ranger on a deserted road and chop him to bits, then watch him die. They probably felt so tough and bold, and they couldn't have cared less that the victim's blood looked so believably red as it gushed onto the green grass.

  The whole clearing was studded with small pyramids of bones. Apparently, these three scumbags had been using it for quite a time. A tiny kitten sat by one of the graves miaowing weakly, his eyes tearful and forlorn.

  Attila dodged a new blow, then parried the next one with a round shield, apparently too light and fragile to withstand the attack.

  The shield didn't break, protected by a Poisonous Light spell. Normally, you couldn't cast it on a shield. But Attila could do many things that an ordinary player couldn't.

  The fierce flash blinded everyone with a brief show of colorful runes — everyone but Attila who'd covered his face just in time.

  In fact, it was a cartoon character on the computer screen that shielded his face, obeying the gesture of a hand in a sensory glove. As for Ivan Attila himself, he was sitting at his desk watching the fight unfold. He could actually see everything from two perspectives: both through his char's eyes and via a "God's Eye view" from above, as if soaring high above the fighters' heads.

  Attila had been testing this cheat device for a good three hours already and he was more or less pleased with the result. Having said that, this thing could guarantee him some big problems with the game overseers. To avoid this, he had to send the cheat to the customer quickly. Within half an hour, he'd be done.

  The God's Eye dropped lower. Where before a green sea of forest lay and the tiny figures of fighters appeared in the clearing, Attila could now discern a kneeling knight, his two blinded henchmen and a ranger towering over them: himself.

  Himself in the game, that is.

  He twitched his fingers ever so slightly, then moved his hand slowly to one side. Attila the toon chopped through the legs of one of his enemies. In a wide sweep of his sword he decapitated another, then buried the blade in the first one's chest. Back to your respawn points, noobs!

  Two bodies collapsed onto the grass. Having received the lion's share of the spell, the knight kept cussing while his life bar shrank. Initially blue, it was now orange rapidly moving into red. His henchmen lay there dead as doornails. Color rapidly drained from their bodies until they dissolved into nothing, leaving behind two tiny pyramids of bones, a pair of boots, a jacket, a sword, a knife and a money pouch. Dying in Gryad caused you to lose some of your gear and in some cases could even strip you of up to 10% xp — and once you're level 20 and above, each and every xp point costs you dearly.

  "You wretched skunk!" the knight's voice rose to a shriek. Skin was peeling off his face; his empty eye sockets had turned black, burned by the spell. "I'll find you wherever you are!"

  "Die, you bastard," Attila mocked the knight's earlier words knowing that the microphone would carry the phrase to the Dead Canyon. His victim would hear it and so would the player himself — whether using a sensory suit, a capsule or the good old butt in chair, eyes on screen method. Having said that, few gamers used it these days.

  The life bar blinked one last time, expiring. The knight collapsed and began to fade. Then he disappeared, leaving behind another bone pyramid. This one seemed even bigger than the other two — grander and more respectable, so to say.

  Ivan Attila connected his thumb and index finger into a circle, then moved the gloved hand slowly. Obeying the signal, the "God's Eye" too turned around and flew over the forest. Controlling his char with his other hand, Attila made him lift the sword and the wallet. Where the dematerialized knight had just la
in, Attila discovered another pouch, bigger and fatter than the first one. He could almost hear the beaten player cuss wherever he was now as he picked the pouch up.

  Ding! the speakers echoed with the clinking of money. The sound pleased his ear. According to the number next to the icon, Attila had just become 120 gold richer. Not bad. That would teach those three idiots a lesson. What did they expect for assaulting a peaceful passerby?

  He crossed the clearing and switched the God's Eye to float mode to make sure it always stayed overhead. Amid the trees stood the conical squat rock of a pagan temple, its doorway blue with the opening of a portal. Such structures styled as ancient ruins were in fact the portal stations that allowed you to log out without losing contact with the game. Naturally, you could always just quit any time you wanted, but the Gryad world treated such unauthorized logouts as sudden death, entailing loss of property and xp points.

  Attila's doorbell rang.

  He pressed Esc for the logout window. Still, he wasn't in a hurry to quit the game now that his char was under the temple's protection. Who the hell could that be? His aunt was away; he didn't expect anyone in her absence. Could it be the social care people checking on him? If so, they could always ask the woman next door for the spare keys. She always kept them in case of any emergency. Attila had special needs, after all.

  Cringing unhappily, he rolled his wheelchair out into the dark hallway, his hands deftly turning the wheels. Why couldn't they let him do his work in peace!

  The cheat was practically finished but he wanted to improve the image quality some more. While static, the objects looked perfectly in focus, but the moment you sent the God's Eye flying, the player's field of vision narrowed, blurring the peripheral images. And even though the customer hadn't specified any particular demands to these parameters, Attila still wanted to look into it. This particular cheat meant a lot to him. And if the deal fell through...

  His heart missed a beat. He shivered. The lack of money meant trouble. Big trouble. Better not to think about it.

  He wheeled himself to the front door and peered into the peephole cut in the door at a normal person's chest height. A young man was waiting on the landing with his back to the elevator. He wore a green overall and a baseball cap. In his hands he was holding a large box. Already?

  Attila's wristwatch announced midday. Wow. Talk about prompt delivery.

  He swung the door open and wheeled himself aside, letting the man in.

  "RussoVirt delivery service," the man began with a professional smile.

  "That's right. It's for me. I've been waiting."

  Both fell silent — then both recognized each other.

  "Kostia? Kostia the Billystick? It can't be you, surely!"

  "Attila? No way!" his ex-classmate stopped mid-sentence, taking in the wheelchair. His initial surprise gave way to embarrassment. He looked aside.

  "Right, so what are you waiting for?" Attila's voice sounded ruder than he'd intended. "Come in," he turned the wheelchair and rolled it into his room.

  The apartment was quiet. For the last year and a half, Attila had been living with his aunt, a flight attendant with some international line or other. She was probably in mid-air halfway to New York now. In her absence, Attila never bothered to turn on the radio or even the television.

  Kostia the Billystick followed him, inconspicuously studying the tall wheelchair that Attila kept rolling with both hands.

  "I did see your name on the receipt but the way they wrote it I couldn't be sure," he said. "I memorized the address but I didn't put two and two together. You used to live somewhere else, didn't you?"

  Attila entered his room and swung the chair round to face his friend. "We sold that place. I live with my aunt now. She's away at the moment."

  "I see," Kostia wanted to continue, then fell silent. He didn't ask about Attila's parents.

  Silence hung in the air.

  "You've done well by ordering Sensorica," he finally blurted.

  He lay the box onto the table and prepared to deliver his habitual speech: This suit will make your virtual experiences a breeze! You can use it to walk the vast expanses of the digital world — and not just walk but run, leap or even fly! We guarantee the authenticity of your experience.

  He was about to blurt it all out when Attila's grim stare cut his sales pitch short. Kostia lowered his eyes. "We have an anniversary tomorrow."

  "What anniversary?"

  "Don't you know? RussoVirt is celebrating its ten years in business. I could, if you wish... I mean... we'll have a buffet and some guided tours. I'll be there too. I could show you in. The only thing is..."

  "Why would I need to go there? Very well, show me how it works."

  Assuming his professional stance, Kostia gave his practiced smile. "Greetings from the RussoVirt delivery service! We're happy to-"

  "Cut the crap out. I've already ordered some stuff from your bosses: some gloves and a pair of goggles. So I've heard all this before. Are you new there?"

  "Yeah. This is my third delivery."

  "I see. Open it, will you? I'd like to take a look."

  Kostia reached for the box. His glance chanced on a few pin-ups of a pretty blonde girl on the wall by the desk. Reaching inside the box, he produced a large oblique helmet and handed it to Attila. He looked it over and laid it in his lap. Kostia reached into the box again and pulled out a modest-looking bag. He looked around him for a place to safely lay the expensive item. Attila nodded at the couch.

  The bag's zipper whizzed open. The sensory suit glittered in the sunlight.

  "Sensorica Super Suit," Attila was leafing through the fat manual. "Why did they need to call it like that?"

  "Why not?"

  "A suit I would understand, but why all this fanfare?"

  "It's to make it clear this is the latest thing. New generation technology. A special design for people with special nee- never mind. Basically, they thought that Super Suit would sound cool. Now," Kostia once again remembered his job responsibilities, "Now I'm obliged to read the Agreement out to you. The RussoVirt Corporation hereby informs its users that it has conducted the tests necessary to establish the safety of its equipment. Any possible malfunctions may result from..."

  "I know, I know. Do you really think I didn't read the fine print before buying something as expensive as this?" Attila rolled his chair away from the couch and reached into the desk drawer, producing a few bank notes. "Here. You've done your job. I appreciate it."

  Seeing his friend move around the room in his chair made Kostia feel uneasy. While Attila was just sitting there, you couldn't tell there was anything wrong with him. He was just a guy in a chair — never mind the chair looked funny. But the moment he grabbed hold of those big old wheel rims in order to push himself around, you could clearly see that his ex-classmate was indeed handicapped for life. His legs didn't move at all... or did they? When Attila had reached into the desk for the money, Kostia thought he'd noticed his right knee twitch ever so slightly.

  Attila stared at him as if knowing what kind of thoughts Kostia was thinking.

  "You..." Kostia began.

  "Are you trying to work out what happened? I can tell you. You remember our old Nissan, don't you? Mom was driving. Dad was sitting next to her. I was in the back. We were driving along the railway when this girl in a red SUV shot out from a side street," Attila pointed at the pin-ups on the wall. "An enormous thing. I still have nightmares about it. It rammed right into our car. Mom died on the spot. And Dad... the impact was so strong he was thrown out of the car onto the tracks. Just when a locomotive was speeding past. It... it sliced right through him," he paused, staring at the pictures. "The SUV was fine. Just a dent in the bumper. Her father was loaded. It was he who got her all these modeling gigs. So their lawyer pulled all the strings. She was acquitted. Even though she was DUI at the time."

  As he spoke, his voice was growing hollow. In the end, Kostia couldn't work out very well what his friend was saying. He shifted fro
m foot to foot, not knowing where to look, wishing the earth could swallow him whole.

  Attila proffered him the money again. "Auntie and I, we sold my parents' apartment. To pay for my studies. But it didn't work, as you can see. I quit college — but I did get some IT training. I work from home now. Mess around with different programming stuff. The money is good. Auntie is rarely home. Nobody hassles me. Come on, take it."

  Mechanically Kostia took the money. "What's this for?"

  "For your delivery."

  "But... you paid by card, didn't you?" Kostia faltered. He still had his pitch to finish. There were lots of things he was yet to tell Attila; then he had to help him into the suit and make sure he knew how to connect it.

  Crumpling the money in his hand, he mumbled, "Thank you for choosing Sensorica. Super Suit is our latest gaming accessory that runs our dedicated OS developed to control our state-of-the-art softwa-"

  "Stop it," Attila said. "I read it all, I tell you. Thanks, Billystick. Off you go."

  "No, wait. I still have to tell you about the safety regulations..."

  "Don't need to. Thanks. Just go."

  "But..."

  "Please go."

  Stooping, Kostia left the room. He remembered Attila from school when he used to be an athletic type, active and cheerful. Seeing him now hunched up in his wheelchair... no, he couldn't.

  Attila unlocked the door, letting him out, then immediately slammed it shut behind his back. Only in the elevator did Kostia remember that Attila hadn't even signed for the delivery. Still, going back up was beyond him.

  Having got rid of his friend, Attila hurried back to his computer. He walked his char into the temple and quit. The chat icon was flashing: someone was trying to get hold of him. Attila chose not to answer. He rarely used the game chat these days. Instead, he'd managed to build Skype into his interface. It was true that Gryad hadn't yet joined Skype's latest array of in-game communications, but things like this never stopped Attila. He simply hacked the code, connecting Skype Messenger to Gryad.