The Crimson Quest: A LitRPG Adventure Read online

  "I think everything will be fine," Cosmo replied. “Plus, Sonny didn't really seem like a healer.

  “But we need a healer, don't we? How are we going to attack the village without a healer? "

  "Don't worry. I'll make sure everything goes well .

  I continued to follow Cosmo, wondering how he could be so confident. We were about to raid a village with only me, him, Johnny, and a bunch of half-dead peasants. The truth was, I was starting to get nervous. We were rapidly approaching the moment of truth. But, it's just a game, isn't it? What if I die? So what? I become a lost soul?

  Surely it couldn't be that bad? I would just join Todd, Ronald and Sonny. We'd just be a couple of ghosts trying to find our bodies. It didn't seem that bad. In a way, it sounded pretty exciting. But I knew it wasn't true. Being a lost soul was not something I wanted to happen given the current issue. What if being a lost soul prompts me to go to ZeroDust? The idea of potentially getting stuck in a space of nothing scared me.

  Other than that, dying didn't sound like fun either . I started to walk faster as I tried to drown out any negative thoughts that came to my mind. No one else was going to die. I was going to save Todd like I had originally planned. And if the weather permitted, I might save the others too. We walk for a long time before finally arriving at the top of a small hill covered with sand. Around us there was a bunch of little red cactus-like plants. In the distance, I could see a small village. It wasn't really a village. A feeling of relief came over me . We could do that! "That is true? It is the village of bandits.

  "Yeah. There it is." Cosmo replied.

  "And now?"

  “We are attacking. That's what."

  "So, are we just going to go in broad daylight?"

  “That's right. It shouldn't be too difficult.

  I took a deep breath. Shit. I had killed this guy who looked like a broom. But, it just happened. I didn't go into this fight knowing I was going to kill someone. It was different. I was about to go there and become a rabid maniac . But they were bad guys. It was mediocre lives that robbed the other players. So, in a way, they deserved it. What is strange is that I had never thought like this in a regular video game before. In an ordinary video game, I would just run to demolish what I wanted. But it was so different. "Are you ready?" Cosmo asked.

  I nodded. "Take your training," I yelled.

  Cosmo stood next to me. "Stand on my other side Johnny." You should be frank with us now since Sonny is dead.

  "But wo n't that put me in the crosshairs?" Johnny asked with a shudder.

  “Just be prepared. Take out your sword and be ready to kill any bandits you see.

  Johnny drew his sword. He held him by his side. "I'm a little worried that we will die in this battle."

  “Don't let these negative thoughts get into your head. Take them out, ”I replied.

  “They're stuck there though. It is impossible to get them out.

  "Let's get out," Cosmo ordered with his hand in the air.

  “I am ready for battle,” a peasant shouted from behind us.

  Our march turned into a run as we held our weapons in the air. That was it. It was the moment of truth. Our steps were rapid when we entered the entrance to the village. Small fires burned as the tents swayed in the wind. In total, there seemed to be about four or five tents. But, where were the bandits? My question was quickly answered when one of them stepped out of his tent. “We are under attack,” he shouted.

  Several bandits emerged from their tents. A bandit ran towards a peasant. The peasant raised his sword in the air but was stabbed in the stomach. His eyes went blank as he fell to her side. Another peasant rushed towards him. "Are you okay? Answer me if you're okay."

  While he was asking his question, a bandit crept up behind him. "Die, " he cried with a blade to his back.

  The peasant has fallen on the other peasant. Shit. It was not starting well. Johnny moved closer to me. "It's horrible. I think we're really going to die.

  I raised my sword in the air. "No, we are not. Do n't stay near me.

  Johnny got really close to me. So close it touched me. "Not so close."

  Johnny took a step beside him. After that, a big muscular bandit looked at me. He smiled. Around his neck he wore a silver chain, and its air black was smoothed up. He pointed the finger at me. "Catch it," he shouted.

  Suddenly someone threw me to the ground. My face was in the mud and I couldn't see anything. “Cosmo,” I shouted. "Help me! One of them has me!

  Someone grabbed the back of my head and knocked my body over. Once on my back, I couldn't believe what I had seen. It was Cosmo. "What are you doing?" I asked.

  He said nothing. He just slapped me in the face. "Shut up," he cried. "Open the mouth!"

  His hands entered my mouth as I tried to cry out for help. “Johnny. Cosmos has gone mad! Help me!"

  Still, Cosmo tried to open my mouth. But, I was fighting. "Don't make me kill you," he yelled with furious eyes. "Just open your mouth."

  "No. Stop it! Why are you doing this?"

  He nudged me in the face and I felt liquid slide down my throat. Suddenly my throat went numb. Then my body started to shake. What was happening to me? Did he just poison me? My vision became blurry and everything happened in slow motion. But then I saw something. It was Johnny. He was running away. He was leaving me. I couldn't believe it. My best friend would let me die? Cosmo turned and pointed at him. “Someone catches it! Hurry."

  My body became stiff and I couldn't move a muscle. Even my eyeballs weren't moving. Darkness took over as everything turned black. Shit. Was i dead?

  Chapter twenty

  I didn't know how much time had passed. When my eyes opened, I was somewhere I didn't recognize. My body rocked back and forth. Almost like I'm on a train or something. I felt my face. It hurts. I looked to my side and realized I was in a bed. What is he going ? Where was i? I quickly stood up and looked around. Wooden walls and parquet. It didn't look like a house. Then I heard the sound of a crashing wave. Was I on a boat? I got out of bed and almost fell. Yes, it had to be a boat. I was not used to the movement of the waves.

  I tried to balance myself by going up a steep staircase. Sunlight hit my face when I got to the top. The blue sky and fluffy white clouds were the first thing I saw. I looked down and noticed I was wearing an abbreviated V-neck shirt. I had brown shorts on and wore black boats. What the shit? Where was my armor? I opened my inventory and was shocked. All my gold, weapons and armor were gone. It was all gone!

  I looked to my left and then to my right. Wow. I was on a huge ship. In front of me, I saw a few players lined up for something. They were all dressed like me. Right in front of the line was a guy who looked like a captain. But was he really the captain? I walked towards the line. "Become me," shouted the last character in the line.

  "Where are we?" I asked.

  "You do not know? We are heading towards FlatFall. "

  "FlatFall? What is that?"

  The character gave me a strange look. I looked at his name and stats above his head:

  Luke The King368 - Level 61

  Human - Warrior

  Luke ruffled his shaggy blonde hair. "How did you get there?"

  “I don't know. We attacked a village of bandits. Well, someone I trusted betrayed me. I think that's what happened anyway.

  “It must have been internal work. Sometimes they do. They go looking for noobs and install them. I bet the organization pays it to attract new players.

  "The organization?"

  “Yeah man. They are called the Handlers. They take players against their will and send them here. They use different methods to do it. Sometimes they seriously injure a player, other times they use a potion that literally paralyzes them.

  “This is what happened! Cosmo poured something into my mouth.

  "Yeah. It's called TimeMist. It's a potion that was created by them. If they pour it down your throat, you're gone.

  It was all starting to make sense. My mind bega
n to replay the memories of Cosmo getting the potion from the old man. I remembered how weird he was playing back then. So it's me! He must have received the TimeMist potion. This bastard. How could he do this to me? I trusted him, and even admired him. Then I realized that I was silly of him to trust . I would never make that mistake again. The line started to move as we moved with it. "Now what? What's going to happen to us?

  "I don't know. I've never known anyone who's been to FlatFall. From what I understand, most of the players never come back. They stay here for good.

  What the hell? Was this guy serious? How could we stay here forever? It sounded like a nightmare. "I'm sure you can go," I replied.

  "Dude. That's not what I heard.

  "But what if you die?" Won't you become a lost soul?

  He's laughing. “Yes it is. But, once someone finds your body, you reappear here. Not only that, you lose everything when you die. So dying is even worse here. This brings you back even further. "

  It sounded pretty crappy. The line has moved on. Then there was a sudden jerk. The ship had stopped and Luke was next in line. The captain muttered something to him as he wrote on a piece of paper. Then he patted Luke. "Leave me," he cried with his thumb behind his back.

  I take a step forward. The captain looked at me. I couldn't help but notice how ugly he was. "Last name?" he asked revealing the most crooked teeth I have ever seen.

  "Walker. My name is Walker."

  He started to write my name on a dirty piece of paper. I examined his teeth. How could he be happy with them? And why hadn't he fixed them yet? Was he really satisfied with his appearance when he looked at himself in the mirror every morning? I seriously doubted it . Yet the captain continued to write my name. What was taking him so long? It was a very short name. Finally, he was done. After that he started patting me. "Leave me," he cried.

  Leave me? It was the same thing he had yelled at Luke . This captain dude was on a serious ego trip, it seemed. I walked slowly. Where was I going? In front of me I saw a long, narrow plank of wood leading to a dock. Every step I took creaked as I walked. Not far from me, I saw Luke. “Wait,” I yelled .

  Luke slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Dude, I think they're taking us to a dungeon."

  "What? Are you serious?"

  "That's what the other characters are saying."

  “But we are not in chains. That does not make sense.

  “Look ahead of us. There 's a guy in a chain, I think.

  It was another line. This time there was a tall, well-built man in the front. Luke was right. He had chains. "What the hell? What are we going to do?"

  "What can we do? Look around you."

  I looked around and saw what Luke was talking about. Several NPCs were fully clothed in armor and carried large swords. "Shit. This can't happen. How did it happen?"

  Luke didn't answer. The aligned moved as I moved closer to losing my freedom. Suddenly an alert appeared in front of me:

  Friends request

  Johnny The First wants to add you as a friend. I accept? Yes No?

  I couldn't believe it. Was that little traitor sending me a friend request? I shook my head. He left me to die. For that , I wasn't sure I could ever forgive him. I didn't want to accept his friendship, but I wanted to see what a false excuse he had. Screw it on. I was too curious not to accept the request of his friends. I accepted it. Within thirty seconds, I received a message from Johnny:

  It's me Johnny. How are you? First of all, I want to say I'm sorry you're dead. Second, I want to say something else. Well I mean I hope you are doing well. Are you OK? Let me know.

  Johnny

  What the hell? What sort of pathetic little message was it ? The line came on as I started to give him a piece of my mind:

  "You left me man. How can you do that? I've seen you. I saw your cowardly donkey run away. You haven't even looked back. Now I'm in this fucked up dungeon called FlatFall. I really stand in line for my chains. Yes, they will chain me! All because of you. How could you not even help your best friend? You say we're best friends, but you haven't helped me. Don't send me a message again! I don't even want to see you again!

  I closed my messages and looked ahead. Shit. I wasn't far now. The guy in front of Luke was shackled. "Looks like we're next," I yelled at Luke.

  Luke took a step forward and the tall man wrapped a thick metal chain around his wrist. He pushed Luke forward. "Then," he said, pointing to me.

  The cold metal went around my wrist. He tightened the chain and I felt a prick. "Then," he said, pushing me quickly on the back.

  I ran closer to Luke. "We have to escape."

  "Keep your voice low," Luke whispered. "Who knows what they're going to do to us with that kind of talk."

  We walked down a long hallway with torches mounted on the walls. Damn, that looked like a dungeon. How could I survive such a depressing life? I continued down the hall until my feet hit something. I tripped and almost fell to the ground. Under my feet, a thin old man coughed. "Water. I need water."

  "This guy needs water," I yelled.

  In an instant the line stopped moving. A tall, muscular, bald man walked up to me. “We don't waste water on his type,” he said.

  I said nothing. Then the man spat on the old man. “Here is your water. How did you like it?

  Shit. I felt bad for the old man. But I didn't want to say anything because I had a feeling it wasn't going to go well. "Slide that slug into the hole," the man asked.

  The hole? It looked like a terrible place. Were we all heading for the hole? Two men rushed over to the old man and grabbed both of his arms. With a burst of energy, they ran as fast as they could while dragging him behind them. “It's burning,” the old man yelled.

  I shook my head. It appeared that the old man was suffering from severe carpet burn type symptoms . The guys dragging him were super fast. Did they get up in the morning for the sole purpose of training for their job? I didn't know, but it all seemed so fucked up. This poor old man was about to die and there was nothing I could do about it .

  Luke looked at me with terror on his face. We didn't say a word, but I knew we were both thinking the same thing. The line resumed its movement as if nothing had happened. Guess it was just another day in the dungeon? We went further and further down the hall until we came to a large room. A short older man in a black robe stood in the center of the room. Her hair was white, as were her eyes. “Welcome to FlatFall,” he said with folded hands. “I am the emperor of this wonderful establishment.

  It made it look like some sort of seaside resort. Who the hell was he trying to fool? It was not an establishment, it was a dungeon. I saw what they did to the old man and I didn't approve. “These chains around your wrist are temporary, ” he said with a pleasant tone in his voice.

  Some of the prisoners around me were actually excited. "Despite what you may have heard, FlatFall is not a terrible place."

  What a shit. It was dreadful. They could give me cookies and milk everyday and I would still think this place was terrible. The little man was trying to put rose-colored glasses on my head, but I wouldn't allow it. He turned and began to walk back and forth. “A lot of players are very happy here. We are offering you a rare opportunity . An opportunity to become a very powerful character. "

  I had to admit it. This last sentence caught my attention. The man continued to speak as I began to listen more closely. “You will work here for us. We will provide you with food, shelter and leadership. If you work hard enough you will have a great life. "

  One of the prisoners raised his chained hands in the air. What the hell? Did he think it was high school? The little man in black pointed at him. "Excellent. Do you have a question?"

  The prisoner looked a little shy. But, he asked his question. "Yes. How often do we eat?"

  “That's a great question. You are usually fed once a day if you work hard enough. We make sure that no stomach is empty here at FlatFall. "

  Once a day? Did his little shit rea
lly think that was enough? The man put both hands in the air. “No more questions for today,” he said, taking a few steps back.

  Everyone became calm as the man paced back and forth. Nothing was said. Then he scanned the room. “Everyone here will be fighting about three times a week in the Colosseum. You will also participate in a group quest in order to become stronger and earn more gold for FlatFall. More gold for FlatFall means a better life for you. Remember - you just that.

  The Coliseum? We were going to fight in a colosseum? I didn't know why, but it turned me on. The idea of fighting in front of a crowd seemed really cool. But the thought of being forced to fight scared me. The little man said one last thing as he looked like he was ready to go. “Now take this time to get to know each other. Also make sure to enjoy the live entertainment. "