HC:Pacifist | Ch. 59 - Up and Down

Scratchy hadn't lied. The farther he went west, the worst it smelled.

"How can you find your way through the sewers so easily?" Asked Roth, trying to take his mind off the gut-wrenching stench.

"We just sssmell our way through it."

"I see..." Roth wondered if it made it harder or more manageable for the snakes to live down here. If they had such a powerful sense of smell, every breath had to be torture for them. On the other hand, where he only felt the stench, snakes had a vast assortment of information.

"Here we are. Just climb up that ladder. Go through the grid. It leadsss into Merchant Ssstreet."

"Thanks, Sophie."

"Anytime," said the snake as it climbed off Roth, dove into the water, and headed back where they had come from. Such interesting creatures! They were different from any other of the races that Roth had met. They seemed colder and more calculating but, at the same time, were hospitable and caring.

Roth looked at the two new quests in the ongoing quests window: [Call for Backup] and [Down the Drain]. Besides that, he also had the quest to help the dwarf exiles.

Even though all the quests Roth had were interesting, it wasn't his priority right now. He still had an inventory full of stuff he had to dump and he had to find a way to disguise his identity.

It was time to meet the merchant who had taught the trade to Bartholomew and his family. Roth climbed up the ladder until he could see the grid. He stared at it dumbly for a few seconds and then checked the timer on his [Miniaturize] skill. He still had over 15 hours of cooldown left before he could shrink and go past the grid! He'd forgotten about that. He could only use the drains as entry and exit points if he shrunk!

He looked at his inventory. He had several [Miniaturizing Potions] there, lying around. But they were given to him by the Ratans to be sold. It was unethical for him to use it for his own gain. Besides, even if he paid for it out of his own pocket, he would still need to fork out 300 gold! He didn't have that kind of money right now. The question was: was it worth it to trade 15 hours of his time for 300 gold and potentially lose some of the favor he had with the Ratans? He looked at his stat page. He had favor with the Ratans in spades. He took a deep breath and, motivated by the stench of the sewers, made up his mind.

You can't use this item. It is locked for sale.

"Noooooo!" Roth's frustration echoed through the stinky sewers of Hilsford.

*

"Aaargh! I can't believe this!" screamed Gary as he punched a wall in Treesbury repeatedly. Wilson and Xana regarded him impatiently. Gary had made this conference call so they could all be briefed on the newest developments.

"How could you not use your observation skill on that player, Gary?! Now, we're not even sure we're not chasing wild geese. It could have been his lookalike." Even Xana's usual impassive gentler voice was testy and shrill.

"Yeah, Gary. Thanks for making us go broke for nothing!" barked Wilson.

"I was caught off-guard! I don't walk around with my observation skill turned on all day! But, still, I'm sure it was him. It was the same avatar."

"I was saving for a new set of drones. I can't believe I wasted 5.000 gold teleporting here for nothing. Hasn't Loki already told you that it was OK? He'll show up eventually!" Ever since they sacrificed Shirley and Brian, things had been sour between them. Gary knew they blamed him for what happened. It was easier to blame others than yourself.

"I don't like your tone, Xana and Wilson. Don't forget who's in charge here! Can't you see what this means? If Roth is with his old avatar, the whole story we fabricated for Loki is mute. He'll see through the lie, and we're all dead. This is the worst thing that could have happened!"

"I told you we should have come clean after the first time the Slayer went missing. It was better to risk Loki's wrath then than it is now."

"Come on, Wilson! Wake up! You and I wouldn't be here if we had done that." Sparks and accusations were the norms whenever they talked now. This was going nowhere. Gary had to get a hold of what was left of his team.

"OK! We wasted all our money on teleporting to six of the ten cities of Green Country. That means that he must be in one of the remaining four. Each of us goes to one different city. We have a 75% chance of going to the same place he'll be. He can't easily travel between cities until he's level 30, giving us plenty of time to locate him. Right?"

"What if he teleports?"

"He'd have to be swimming in gold for that," countered Xana. Good. The discussion had become more constructive. This was a better environment.

"Good. I will take Bushbury. You guys choose the other cities. Remember! He'll most likely hang out around the garrison. He won't resist playing as a berserker. Here. I have found the relevant quests to unlock the berserker class from the guild's library."

"Won't Loki see you have dug up this information? That will make him suspicious, no?"

"If he checks the logs, Loki won't suspect anything. If we were sure that Roth had reset his character and started playing with the same avatar, we would still want to access this information.."

"Fine," said Xana. Wilson didn't even bother speaking. Gary took a deep breath.

"Guys, I know things went wrong with Brian and Shirley. We had no choice. It was the five of us or them." Xana looked the other way with tears in her eyes. "For what is worth, I'm sorry for what happened. Don't worry. I'll never betray you guys." Wilson and Xana's silence showed Gary that they didn't believe him. Beneath his smile, Gary thought furiously. Throwing these two under the bus would be much more complicated when the time came.

*

After five minutes of banging his head against the wall for being so stupid and not thinking things through, Roth decided to make the most out of the time he had left until the cooldown timer in his [Miniaturize] skill refreshed. He first decided to read more about Hilsford in the Gazette but found it hard to concentrate in such a smelly place. He had to move, or he would go crazy.

When Roth was in prison, his cell was two by four meters. It was tiny, especially for someone as giant as him. Regardless, Roth had learned from his fellow prisoners how to exercise in the confines of such a cramped space. What else could one do in jail? Regular exercise had helped him deal not only with the guilt and the negative feelings that had haunted him after his father died but also with the loneliness of imprisonment and even with anger management. Regular exercise calmed him down. This was big enough for an extensive workout compared to his limitations when incarcerated.

Roth's second title had been unlocked from running. [Marathonist] had allowed him to save many hours of gameplay that would have been wasted recovering energy. When he'd looked up the forums, he had seen among the list of more common titles one called [Alpinist]. The ladder that took Roth from the ground to the drain was twenty meters long. It was time to test his theory and see if climbing could unlock it.

Roth started climbing up the ladder and down the ladder. At first, his movements were somewhat clumsy, especially climbing down. But after a few runs, he developed more confidence and was soon in the zone. He didn't even think about his movements anymore. He just focused on his breathing.

Although the game allowed players to skip sleeping, Roth missed resting. It wasn't easy to face his problems twenty-four hours a day. It had been over a month since he left jail, and here he was, exercising as if he was still locked up. Gary and the gang were still looking for him. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. Loki was a bloodthirsty sociopath, and he had to be furious at him for the beating he'd given him. He wouldn't let him go easily. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder.

Roth heard a loud mechanical sound drawing near his location. A gatorbot. He climbed up the ladder and tried to stay as quiet as possible. The gatorbot passed by dredging and crushing the garbage and moved on, ignoring him. Roth sighed in relief. It was time to get back to work. Going down the ladder.

He wondered how his mother was doing these days. Loki had threatened that she would suffer the consequences if he didn't hurry to leave the game—poor mamma. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. Even if Roth left the game, nothing stopped Loki from having one of his goons waiting with a gun ready to shoot him. He had to have a plan to leave and what to do after he left. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. But what could he do? Loki's connections ran far and wide. He had to think of something that could ensure his family's safety too. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder.

By climbing, you strengthen the muscles in your back and legs. +1 strength.

Eureka! It had worked! Reinvigorated by the excellent news, Roth kept going as fast as he could. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. If Gary was still looking for him, why hadn't they found him? Gary was working for Loki, and Loki must have an army at his beck and call. Didn't he? How is his guild doing these days? Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. Some gaming companies were exceedingly powerful. Back in his day, there had been the Krakens, the Ogres, the Yetis, and others. Even though they would sometimes have a better year than others, the top 10 gaming companies hadn't changed in years. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder.

By climbing, you strengthen your back and legs muscles. +1 strength.

By climbing, you loosen your back and legs muscles. +1 dexterity.

He had depleted his energy. He still had to take a break even with his high endurance stat. After all, the [Marathonist] title didn't apply to climbing, only to run. Thankfully, he had gotten used to the smell. It was still there, but by focusing his mind on other things, he could bear it. He took the chance to look at the guilds in the forums. The amount of publicity and advertising to join a guild was mind-blowing. He saw several names he knew from other games. There were the Krakens, the Ogres, the Griffins, the Centaurs, the Dragons...

Roth found the name of that monster's guild: Pegasus. What a hypocrite. For someone as insidious as himself, he should have gone for something much more vile in his name. Regardless, he had chosen a cute horse with wings. Typical of him. But to think that his once small gaming company had grown so much to go toe to toe with the other big guilds. He felt his heartbeat quickening and his rage building up. He had to snap out of it. He went back to climbing.

After five more hours of climbing, he received an unexpected notification.

You have endured the stench of the sewers. You can face any challenge in your path.

You've unlocked a new stat [Resilience].

• Increases resistance to debuffs;
• It's easier to resist environmental hazards.

It'd been a while since Roth had uncovered a new stat. With this, perhaps life in the sewers would become a little easier. At least the developers recognized how hard it was to stay in this cesspool for a long time. He returned to his exercise routine after looking at the extra stat in his character sheet.

He kept going. Going up the ladder, going down the ladder. As for escaping by other means, nothing had come from his efforts to get the Sergeant to write his mother a letter or contact the police. Did she even get the letter? Or had Loki taken over the post system too? Going up the ladder, going down the ladder.

You have unlocked a new title: [Alpinist]

Title description: By practicing climbing, you have developed fantastic motor skills. Your agility has become impressive.

Title effects: 20% speed when climbing. You can climb longer without getting tired.

Roth frowned. He thought that he would at least gain some stats from it. It might come in handy if he ever had to climb somewhere. He also gained +3 strength and +2 dexterity by doing this activity. It was the equivalent of achieving a level. At least his time hadn't been completely wasted. He still had five hours to kill before the cooldown of [Miniaturize] refreshed. What else could he do down here?

Ch. 58 - Ssewerss

INDEX

Ch. 60 - Soros