HC:Pacifist | Ch. 53 - The Basement

Brian left the world of AstroTerra and turned off the VR helmet. Cursed be that traitor. The basement around him was dark and dingy, reflecting the poor construction materials. Since he had moved here, he had a persistent cough that wouldn't go away. He'd asked Mrs. Bessie to get him some over-the-counter medicine, but it couldn't solve the humidity of his quarters.

Cursed be Gary. His memory was pulled back to when he realized what Gary would do to him and Shirley. He ran for his life as quickly as he could. Since this episode with Roth started, Brian had considered what he would do if things went sour between him and the others. Even though his actions were disgusting, at least no one would dream of looking for him here. Besides, Roth's mother could use the rent. After what he had done to her son, at least, this way, he could do some good. He had four hundred thousand in cash with him. He had internet access and a VR helmet. All he needed was some food, clean clothes, and a bathroom.

Brian knew that Loki kept someone surveying Roth's mom's house. The psychopath went out of his way to destroy as much of Roth's family as possible. He had already bought whole companies just so that he could fire Roth's brothers. It had been tricky to get here from the Pegasus building undetected and then to sneak into the house without scaring the Slayer's mom.

But once he said that Loki was out to get him, she had been more than happy to oblige and stash him away in the basement. Although VR helmets were incredible, he missed his comfortable capsule. Here he had to leave the game to eat and use the facilities periodically. Oh well...

On a positive note, starting fresh in AstroTerra wasn't so bad. He had thought it would be dreadful to start over with a new character, but it turned out that he was having a lot of fun trying out a warrior class.

Besides, he could deposit all his items into a deposit box inside the game, so he started his new account with a generous amount of capital. During the two years that Brian had been a part of the Pegasus guild, he had diligently studied their library.

He was able to reach level 10 and get his items in under two days. He also could unlock a less-known sub-class within the warrior branch and was following a series of great quests that were helping him to progress this new account swiftly.

As he exited the squeaky bed and stretched his back, he heard a coin thrown into the air and grabbed again. Startled, he turned. A man sat in the shadows of the basement, repeatedly making the movement that caused the noise. Brian felt his mouth go dry, and his heart began to race. Had Loki and his goons found him?

Taking a closer look, he realized it wasn't a coin. Maybe it was a poker chip? He couldn't tell in the dark. Other than the repetitive motion, Brian couldn't make out anything else. It was too dark.

"Who's there? Who are you?" he called, trying to suppress the terror he felt.

"Where's Roth?" The man kept throwing the chip up into the air. The voice had a rasp that caused shivers to run down Brian's spine. Brian furiously considered the implications of this being the first question asked. Perhaps it wasn't Loki who had sent this man. Loki knew where Roth was.

"Excuse me?"

"Where. Is. Roth?"

"Who are you, man? Does Mrs. Bessie know you're down here?"

"Where is Roth?"

"How should I know? Isn't he in prison?" tried Brian.

"Where. Is. Roth?" There was something about this man that Brian only had felt when he was facing Loki or Zin. He felt like a deer frozen in a headlight. Some deep-seated instinct told him he wouldn't go far if he ran away.

"I don't know."

The man stood up, constantly throwing the chip and picking it up again. As he stepped forward, his features became visible in the dim light. He was shorter than Brian and older too. Probably in his forties, estimated Brian.

He only had one arm, but he didn't seem scared of Brian being able to overtake him. An intrinsic tattoo spiraled up his arm and crept up his neck.

Brian didn't have anywhere to run away to. Zin and his goons were looking for him. If he did something to this man or caused a commotion, Mrs. Bessie would hear it, and he was doomed anyway. The only thing he could do was to talk his way out of this one.

"Who are you?"

"A man looking for Roth."

"What do you want?"

"To find Roth."

"From where do you know the Slayer?"

"From looking for him."

This was going nowhere. He waited for the man to say something. He finally stopped tossing the chip in the air and put it into his pocket while taking a piece of paper that he unfolded so Brian could see it. It was the forgery of the Prison Association that they had sent to Mrs. Bessie.

"It's an excellent forgery." Brian gulped. "Here is what I know. I know that Roth had enemies. I know this house is under surveillance. I know you know the house is under surveillance. I also know you were in the military for two years, where you learned how to fool the bugs spread around the house. I know Roth left prison a month ago. I know he never made it home, and Mrs. Bessie thinks he is stashed away in a slaughterhouse. The only thing I don't know is where Roth is."

Brian gulped. "Are you with the police or something?"

"Oh no. If half of what Roth told me about his enemies is true, I wouldn't be so stupid as to run to the police. Not in this town, anyway. Especially an ex-convict like myself."

"Then what do you want, man?"

"Very simple. I want to talk."

*

Josh once again checked his map. His employer had stressed the importance of following these instructions to the letter. If he was successful, he could finally get rid of his debt and get his life back. He turned left on the sewers and activated his stealth skill, spotting a group of players ahead. He blended in with the surroundings and waited for the players to pass.

“Are you sure that what you read in the guide is true? Could this be a scam?”

“I’m telling you. It’s someone I know from school. Besides, I paid 10 gold for the information. He’ll have to pay me back with interest if it doesn't check."

“Only six hours to go before we unlock resilience, then.”

“Are you sure this is the place with the best smell?”

"From what he told me, under the academic district, it's where the smell is the easiest to bear."

"Those damn developers. How did they devise the idea to make a place stink so bad."

The group disappeared in the distance, the echoes of their conversation fading under the noise of the dripping water. Josh’s figure materialized again. He was level 40; there was no way that they could have seen through his disguise.

The Pegasus Guild’s library had a list of ways to unlock hidden stats, and coming to the sewers was one of the easiest ways to gain resilience. Running into warriors down here, near the sewers' entrance, wasn’t uncommon.

The smell worsened as he ran deeper into the sewers, but the spare encounters with players became even fewer. He heard a mechanical hum. A gatorbot! His stealth wouldn't fool the machine; the only way to fool it was a consumable that he couldn't use up here. He took off in the opposite direction until he couldn't hear the mechanical sound.

Now in the clear, Josh followed the map until he was right in the heart of the commercial district. He found the drain and counted the steps until he finally found the location as described in the guide he’d received.

It almost felt untrue that two years building up his character until he was this high-leveled was about to go to waste. But his contract bound him, and he had to obey any orders from the top brass without questioning.

He had arrived. It was a chamber where different tunnels intersected. The ceiling was tall and cavernous. This was a point where several tunnels and pipes intersected.

Above him was the commercial industry, with its many industries. The resulting waste was sent down the sewers as they produced their goods. This chamber, in particular, was right under Tanner Street and Chemist Street, two of the smelliest industries in the game.

The resulting smell was unbearable. Josh tried his best not to gag. According to his briefing, he wouldn’t feel any smell soon enough. First, he ran the perimeter and installed the scramblers according to the instructions.

He patiently waited for one of the gatorbots to run its round. As it arrived near the scrambler, the light on the device turned purple, and the lights in the drone started repeatedly blinking until they shone the same color. It turned the other way staying clear from the scrambler.

The gatorbot was a globular dark green machine that hovered a few centimeters over the ground. It had a mesh of metal that scraped against the stone floor and dredged the filth and litter in the sewage. Its long mechanical maws occasionally chewed the dredged debris and crushed it into a powder, keeping the sewers unclogged.

Although many players had tried, this mob was way out of reach for any player in the game.

GatorBot

Lvl. 80

10000/10000

You weren't supposed to fight it. You were supposed to run away when you heard the distinct scraping of the stone floor with the sporadic clank that the machines produced.

Assured that the only hindrance to his mission’s success had been eliminated, he headed toward the chamber, located the Ratan nest that could be found here, and cleared it in a few seconds. The elite Ratan was level 15, so it was a piece of cake for him.

Amidst all the fighting, he was careful not to destroy the nest. Most players would start by targeting it, as it increased the spawn rate of ratans. As long as it remained intact, it would keep spawning ratans adding to the difficulty of the hunt. But even with his handicapped skill set and items, Josh’s level was so high that it made no difference.

He stood next to the mound of dry straw and garbage that bred the pests and sat beside it. A Ratan appeared, and he instakilled it with his dagger. He took a sentry drone from his inventory and programmed it.

It would work for an hour and easily dispatch any other mobs that spawned while he completed his mission. The only mob that could pose any danger to it was the elite, but it would take three hours for it to respawn again, according to the guides.

Are you sure you want to activate your parasitoid egg here?

Warning: To lay your egg, you must permanently sacrifice one of your stats. Which stat do you wish to use?

"Strength!"

Warning: From the moment you choose to lay your egg, your character will become immobile. If you die, your level will reset to 0. All Terran factions will become your sworn enemy.

[Y/N]

“I hate you, Loki. Yes.”

Your strength stat has been sacrificed for the glory of the Hive.

You have embraced the parasite within.

You have changed races. You are now a [Parasitoid].

You are now a Parasitoid Egg. Serve the Hive King.

He kneeled to the ground, and his skin started cracking, letting out a viscous black ooze. As it got into contact with the air, it expanded until it became a sphere encasing both Josh and the Ratan nest.

Ch. 52 - The Tomes

INDEX

Ch. 54 - Preparations