Countdown (Reality Benders Book #1) LitRPG Series Read online

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that a few times,” our driver clenched his teeth angrily and gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles went white. “We all understand that these aren’t even our thoughts. It’s just enemy mages trying to muddy the waters. Cheap propaganda like the Nazis used back in the war. ‘Russian, surrender, there’s plenty of food and shelter in our camps.’ History tells us what happened to those who believed them. My great grandfather was surrounded by Germans near Kiev in ‘41, and he surrendered. He and a hundred thousand other captives were tortured to death in a concentration camp.”

  That time, the diplomat didn’t interrupt the driver and let him say his fill. After that, Lozovsky continued:

  “And so, Gnat, you did something rude to Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. With many people around, you either gave him the finger or showed him your bare ass. Various stories have reached me. After that, you called him an especially bad name, something along the lines of ‘impotent dotard.’ You said his magic was worthless and no match for you. And before that, you brought shame upon his granddaughter, stripping her naked and taking her clothes and lens.”

  “What?! I didn’t even do a tenth of that!”

  “Gnat, it doesn’t even matter now whether you did it or not. I’m telling you the story the way I heard it. And believe me, that exact story is what our enemies heard as well. After all, Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin is a big mucky-muck in the Dark Faction. In his homeworld, he’s part of a ruling Triumvirate. So, the old mage cannot simply ignore an insult and pretend nothing happened. His own people just won’t accept it. They’ll start doubting his right to rule. Beyond that, as with any high-status player, he has an Authority stat, and your insults brought it down a good deal. And now, put all that together. What do you think you were doing in the forest just now?”

  I thought very briefly and gave him a full answer:

  “I could tell right away I was being used as live bait. But it’s not like the traitor was going to come get me himself. More likely, he would simply tell the Dark Faction where to find me. So, you were using me to test someone you suspect by selectively feeding them information. The whole faction thought I was headed to the Antique Beach. Just a few people knew better. And even less were aware that I’d be going to the Geckho base.”

  “Wait, wait!” Ivan Lozovsky interrupted me. “You’re basically right, but the last thing is not part of the plan. That was a spontaneous improvisation on my part. In fact, Dmitry Zheltov was supposed to come and bring you back to the Capital. We told him you’d be in the forest to scan territory and determine the boundary of a water-flooded cave system that is inhibiting construction.”

  Seemed like a thin pretext. Who would believe such crap? But the diplomat proved me wrong:

  “Those waterlogged caverns are a real thorn in our side. Two days ago, we had a group of people digging a ditch get eaten by cave monsters when they accidentally broke it open. So, that part looked natural. But the Dark Faction informant must be a lower level player because the enemy attacked the little bus after you got let out. We were ready for that. The Second Legion was on the scene in a matter of minutes.”

  Chapter Twenty-One. Harpy Cliffs

  THE PERESVET DASHED first through a forest clearing, then some swampy hollows and meadows with grass as tall as a person. The all-terrain transport confidently overcame shallow streams, stones and rocky slopes. I kept a close eye on the road and surroundings, expanding my map the whole time.

  Cartography skill increased to level thirty-one!

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-six!

  Everything was coming together just perfectly! I liked this trip more with every minute. Also, this was an excellent chance to find out about the surrounding world and its laws. Ivan Lozovsky wouldn’t pipe down for a second and told me something about every part of Karelia we passed through.

  But mostly, the diplomat told me about the structure of Geckho society, which he had spent a long time studying. They had many outposts throughout the cosmos, and many powerful space fleets. He also told me about meeting several significant furball leaders. Ivan Lozovsky also told me that he was the only person in our faction to have visited the Geckho planet Shiharsa. As the official representative of a new vassal, he was officially introduced to Krong Daveyesh-Pir himself, one of the highest leaders of the Geckho and the official sovereign of our Earth.

  All that was very interesting, but I was interested in more earthly matters. I decided the time had come for a very important question. I really should have started with it, but I kept putting it off. What exactly was the Dark Faction? After all, it clearly wasn’t one of our usual governments, nor some top-secret special service or representatives of a highly important corporation. Magic, strange technologies, unusual social structure, a language unlike anything I’d heard on earth... All that spoke to them being totally alien to our world.

  “That’s right,” the diplomat agreed. “They come from a parallel world, an alternate reality, another version of our mother Earth. Call it what you like. We share a common history with roots in the darkest depths of time. But at a certain point, our worlds split and became incompatible with one another. We cannot say for sure why. Now we can encounter the inhabitants of that alternative Earth only in the game that bends reality. In this game, we can access a primeval Earth. A sort of blueprint for the planet. But, no matter how many alternate Earths are out there, there is only one in here. Also, events in the game impact not only our world, but all other versions as well.”

  “Hey, hold up,” I got caught on the diplomat's last words and decided to delve deeper. “How can the game contain a primeval Earth if the Geckho just discovered it?”

  “Well, the Geckho didn’t create the game that bends reality. It has existed long before them. The Geckho discovered it themselves around three hundred tongs ago. That is a bit longer than one thousand years in our reckoning. What's more, even then, the game had other inhabitants. For example, there are the Trillians, an ancient race of space nomads, wandering from one planet to the next. And the Meleyephatians, a warlike and extremely aggressive race of conquerors that enslave planets one after the next, making them obedient vassals and members of their horde. And the Geckho have discovered evidence of much older races that no longer exist, the Precursors, Mechanoids and Relicts. The Geckho have learned a lot about this game. But even a thousand years later, our wise suzerains do not know all the mysteries and laws of the game that bends reality. All the same, we can say for sure that the Geckho introduced our planet to the game.”

  Again, he went to his favorite topic, the Geckho. But I asked Ivan Lozovsky to return to the Dark Faction.

  “We first encountered them four months ago. We know for certain that they are also newbies in the game and built virtual reality pods after seeing a video clip just like the one we got. And now, they are actively expanding their holdings just like us. Our territories have bordered one another for the last two months. Ever since then, our conflict has been heating up. We keep sending more and more soldiers of higher level, but there hasn’t been much headway. Now, it is truly a struggle not for life, but to the death. By the way, you should find it interesting to know that they call us the Dark Faction. To them, the Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Americans, Japanese and whatnot are one and the same. And the game identifies us as such, ‘Dark Faction.’”

  “Interesting, but does the Dark Faction have one initial base or a few like our world?”

  “Now that we, unfortunately, do not know. The Geckho refuse to answer that question, maintaining neutrality as not to influence our conflict. And we have yet to take any prisoners from the Dark Faction of a high enough level to have such information. Perhaps Minn-O La-Fin, who we captured yesterday, may have known the answer but Leng Radugin forbid us from using enhanced interrogation on her. Also, she was instantly ransomed, exchanging her for two of our soldiers. Our only clue is that, three months ago in the Poppy Fields node, which is to the northeast of Karelia, our scouts witnessed a firefight
between two Dark Faction squadrons. So, it is possible that our opponents also have various sub-factions.”

  “But that isn’t for certain,” the driver threw out. “I’ve heard that, the poppy plants are predatory and release intoxicating vapors. First, reality starts to glitch, then you fall into a deep sleep and the poppies entangle you in their roots and suck out your blood.”

  “Yes, that is true,” the diplomat said. “It is possible the Dark Faction soldiers were under the influence of the poppy fumes. But that isn’t the only evidence for other human factions. For example, take that captured IR lens... Can I have a look?”

  I unclipped it from my helmet and handed it to Ivan Lozovsky. He turned the item over in his hands and squinted, trying to read the miniscule script. Yesterday, I had also tried to figure out what was written there but didn’t encounter a single familiar character.

  “Mhmmm... Quite a curious little item. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to talk with its owner yesterday,” the diplomat said, handing it back to me. “You see, Gnat, that is not the language of the Dark Faction. But the lens was clearly made for humans because no other race I know of has the proper anatomy to use it.”

  “Gerd Tamara said the same thing yesterday,” I reminded him. “She said it was made for people, but not by the Dark Faction.”

  “Yes, I have never seen letters like this before. That is not the Geckho alphabet, nor Miyelonian symbols. It is all very strange... By the way Gnat, up ahead are the Harpy Cliffs, the next node on our journey. Its main feature is a wall of nearly impenetrable cliffs, which are inhabited by a huge number of birdlike humanoids. And a lot of them seem to be flying around today...”

  Successful Perception check.

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-seven!

  He was right. I could see no less that one hundred of the strange winged creatures spinning around above the cliffs and looking down in agitation. The harpies looked spooked. Maybe it was some kind of predator or other threat. I told my companions.

  “So it seems. Fortunately, we aren’t going there,” the driver answered, also looking at the flock of dark-colored bird-men. “We generally take a shortcut through those cliffs but, as you heard, its blocked today. We need to go around. And I say that’s a good thing — I hate those assholes! They shit on our windshields, throw rocks at us and shoot us with their crossbows...”

  “The harpy are fairly intelligent,” the diplomat replied. “They can use missile weapons and firearms, are willing to negotiate and quickly learn foreign languages. They even can be enticed to trade from time to time. But the foremost rule that must be observed when talking with harpies is that one must never believe a single word they say! They disdain everything that cannot fly. Also, in the harpy lexicon, there aren’t even such concepts as ‘honor,’ ‘debt,’ or ‘agreement.’ To the harpy, tricking a trusting neighbor and breaking one's word are considered barks of great honor. And mocking the weak and wounded is their favorite pastime. They've made problems for us before. Fortunately, the harpy have no weapons that can damage our Peresvets.”

  Then, one thousand feet from the cliffs, our truck and two others took a sharp turn to the left down a road parallel to a ridge of high overgrown hills. I was surprised to see the flock of mythical creatures start quickly flying in our direction! And although Ivan Lozovsky assured me the harpies were powerless against our vehicles, I that put me on guard.

  Before that, I was watching the road and surroundings closely, leveling my skills. But now, I was darting my eyes in every direction, utterly paranoid. The harpies were intelligent, so they must have known our vehicles were too strong for them. But they were coming in our direction nevertheless. Suspicious! They clearly had some plan of action, or they saw something from above we hadn’t yet guessed. I spent a few seconds waiting impatiently for my scanning ability to reload, and quickly activated the icon.

  Scanning skill increased to level twenty-three!

  I saw many markers on the mini-map and took a closer look. They were all expected, although... in front of us, there was a narrow space between nearly sheer cliffs with a huge deep puddle. At the very narrowest point, our path was blocked by a chain of red markers. I zoomed in on the suspicious part of the map and read the description:

  Antitank mine

  “The road is mined! Next to the puddle! Brake!!!” I screamed in a voice not my own, warning of the danger.

  But our driver answered in a surprisingly calm voice that betrayed no emotion:

  “Yes, I know...”

  And he pushed the pedal to the metal, turning our armored car right toward the chain of mines!

  * * *

  I had to admit, I didn’t understand what was happening right away. At first, I thought the experienced driver wanted to speed up to get around the mines through the deep puddle to the left or (I mean, who knows what antigravs are capable of?) up the practically vertical surface of the cliff to the right. Then the diplomat grabbed the wheel and tried unsuccessfully to turn it. I only realized the full gravity of the situation when he shouted at the top of his lungs: “Help me, you bonehead!!! Can’t you see, his mind is under control!”

  Vadim was pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor with a glassy look and holding the wheel firmly with his iron grip. Most likely, I should have tried to find a hand break or to pull the key from the ignition. But in my panic, I totally forgot about such humane methods of stopping the armored vehicle. The seconds were ticking away, and I needed to act decisively. So, I took out my shotgun, placed it to the driver’s temple and shot with both barrels.

  Sharpshooter skill increased to level seven!

  Rifles skill increased to level twenty-two!

  Most of the windshield and the whole left door were spattered in blood and flesh. The lifeless and practically headless body of the driver fell to the side. I was deaf, but the most important part was over. The mad driver had stopped resisting and Ivan Lozovsky managed to turn the wheel. Just twenty-five feet from the deadly obstacle, we turned sharply to the right and flew off the road. At our high speed, the transport first tried to go up the steep slope, but fairly quickly slammed into a double-trunked tree and came to a stop.

  My forehead slammed painfully into the armored glass, reducing my health by half.

  Bleeding! You will lose 3 HP every 3 seconds for 20 seconds.

  Despite the damage and pain, I exhaled in relief. I had 310 hitpoints of 518, so the bleeding wouldn’t lead to anything serious. The diplomat sitting next to me also looked somewhat disheveled and bruised up, but it looked like he’d be fine too.

  Placing his right hand to his cracked lips and making sure all his teeth were still in place, Ivan Lozovsky looked at the blood on his fingers and winced in pain:

  “I'm afraid this is not the end of our misfortune. There must be an enemy Psionic Mage very close, as he managed to take Vadim under control. We cannot stay here. Mages do not travel without support. Here you go, Gnat.” The diplomat put his chair back, opening a passage to the covered trunk. “There’s a highspeed cannon mounted back there, get into firing position. I’ll get on my radio, tell the others what happened and try to get the car back on the road.”

  “I’m a Prospector. I cannot use an automatic weapon!” I remembered in time and added that I could not pilot flying vehicles either, which probably applied to the antigrav.

  “Damn! Out of all the game classes, I had to join up with a Prospector!” Ivan Lozovsky lamented, not hiding his annoyance. “Wait! Gnat, where are you going?!”

  I had opened the side door and was jumping out of the vehicle. Ivan Lozovsky was totally right. We absolutely could not remain in the immobile vehicle. I also sensed that. The enemy's main forces must have been waiting in ambush on the main road at the narrow pass. I suspected that was exactly what had the harpies so worked up. But our column took a detour. The enemies weren’t expecting that but, just in case, they mined the detour as well. The flock of harpies after us had been following the enemies o
n the ground. They knew the road was mined, and we couldn’t get out. So, if my thinking was right, this place would soon be lousy with enemies.

  With just such unhappy thoughts in mind, I scrambled up the steep rocky slope to get a better view and help my allies find the hostile troops. I heard a deafening thunder from behind me. It was the second Peresvet. It had turned its cannon and was firing practically point blank at our third vehicle. This was probably also that enemy Psionic Mage!

  I also noticed that two soldiers had run to the head Peresvet from the second vehicle. Ivan Lozovsky opened the door for them and the first soldier took shelter in the cabin. But the second didn’t manage. I didn’t see the shots or even hear them. I just saw a pair of bright flashes reflect off our vehicle’s armor and the soldier fell to the ground, already dead. Another bright flame lit up a bush next to the Peresvet. Clearly one of the shots meant to kill my ally had landed there.

  I quickly ran to some thick bushes and lied down behind them. I tried to follow the firing trajectory from the burning bush above the corpse, and that led me to some thick vegetation somewhat below my position fifty feet away. Most likely, the enemy sharpshooter was crouching somewhere over there. But no matter how closely I stared at the dense thicket, whether with the IR-lens or without it, I could not see an enemy.

  But then I saw something more interesting. Not far from me, there was a tall old man on a rocky outcropping wearing a dark hooded robe and holding a long, crooked staff. He was standing in the open just above the second Peresvet. He was waving one hand and the skull atop his staff was glowing.

  Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. Human. Dark Faction. Level-108 Psionic Mage

  The very same Dark Faction Psionic Mage who attacked me during the prisoner exchange! My heart started pounding. Here was the last thing I needed!