MMORPG: How a Computer Game Becomes Deadly Serious

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, flesh and blood or digital, is purely coincidental.

Visit the author’s website on www.emilevanveen.com

Copyright © 2010 Emile van Veen, all rights reserved

Kindle Edition, Januari 2011

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ISBN-10 145631808X

EAN-13 9781456318086

Cover concept and design by Alwine van Winsen, www.vrij-werk.nl

~~~

PROLOGUE

Dusk
was slowly turning into evening, making the heavy grey clouds stand out more prominently against a background of changing colors. With the fading daylight the land changed as well. By day, the relentless sun beat down on never-ending stretches of yellowish prairie. Just enough grass managed to cling desperately to some kind of shrivelled life, to prevent this place from being called a desert. At many places, though, the soil was nothing more than hard rock and caked sand. Now, in the twilight, the sparse grass had taken on an improbable, but magnificent hue of green, softening the harsh colors of the day.

The road ran from east to west through this vast land. It was paved with rocks from the nearby mountains, though at places the persistent vegetation threatened to overrun the pavement. Travellers were warned not to stray too far from the road. Many predators had found a way to survive here.

Only one rider was travelling the road. When he reached the point where it veered slightly northward, he held in for a moment. A huge lion had wandered close to the road, and he eyed it warily. Even though he judged he was out of the range that would make the animal attack him, he nudged his horse just off the other side of the road. Giving the lion a wide berth, he continued his journey.

Eventually he approached the mountains that had been looming on the horizon for quite some time. The mountain range ran along the entire coastline, from the north, where a great river spilled into the ocean, to the far south, where the marshes began. The road ran through the only pass in the mountains.

The man followed the road downward into the ravine. It was like a wide gully that cut all the way through the mountains, steeply descending to sea level on the other side. It wasn’t long before he encountered signs of habitation. The first thing he spotted were fences, belonging to the farms just outside the little town that was his destination. Soon after, he passed the communal graveyard. The road made a sharp turn to the left, followed by another turn to the right, then he finally saw the roofs of the town below him. In the far distance he could see the surface of the ocean glimmering in the light of the moon.

The road led into the centre of the town and ended at the large pier of the harbour. This modest settlement was one of the major ports of the continent, handling a fair amount of the traffic to and from the continent on the other side of the ocean.

Instead of following the road all the way downtown, the traveller turned right and entered a street that was actually a ledge on the mountainside. Some houses were built on the right side of the street. On the left side, a sturdy wooden fence protected the reckless from a fall onto the roofs of the buildings below. This was no superfluous precaution. At the end of the street, just past the general goods store, a tavern was to be found.

This was where the traveller was headed. He dismounted in front of the inn and ducked inside. Many places like this were gloomy and depressing, but this particular tavern was airy and open. The taproom was empty save the innkeeper and one customer.

The customer was sitting at a table in the left corner. When their eyes met, the man winked. The traveller walked up to him and sat with his back to the room.

“You’re late,” the man said.

The traveller nodded. “It took longer to get here than I thought. I’m sorry.”

It remained silent for nearly a full minute. Finally, the man reached into his bag and traded a document to the other.

“These are your new personal orders. Read them carefully. Memorize them.”

The traveller didn’t read the document immediately, but stored it away for later. He stood, as did the man he’d come to meet.

“Yes, sir.”

The man nodded. “Good. I expect you to.”

With these words, he turned and walked out of the tavern into the night. The traveller watched how he mounted his horse and rode down the ledge to the main road. For a moment he disappeared behind a building, then he saw him again, descending to the docks. His eyes followed him all the way along the pier, where he boarded a large ship anchored there. A few moments later, the ship slowly started to move. It turned sharply and sailed out of the bay.

Only then did the traveller open the document he just received and start to read.

In hotel rooms some three thousand miles apart, two men disconnected their laptop computers. Both had paid for the use of the hotel network in cash at the reception. One of them started to pack. It didn’t take long, as he always travelled light. Fifteen minutes after the rendez-vous he was in a taxi on his way to the nearest train station.

~~~

CHAPTER I

It
was only much later that he was able to look back on that crucial moment and admit that chance really had nothing to do with it. True, they arrived at the house on the same day, Khalid only minutes before him. And yes, their rooms were directly opposite each other, with only a narrow corridor separating them. That could be put down to chance, coincidence, or fate, or whatever one wished to call it. From there on, it was Robert himself who was partial to the events to follow.

He had been kept waiting in the main hall for about ten minutes while the building attendant took Khalid through the registration process and issued him a key. When it was Robert’s turn and they passed each other in the doorway, they’d exchanged a glance and a cordial nod. One freshly arrived resident to another.

Of course, he didn’t
need
to make the effort to introduce himself to his next door neighbour, did he? Especially not at that specific moment, right after he had unpacked. In fact, wasn’t it a little rude of him to force himself upon someone who so obviously didn’t relish his company?

And certainly nobody
told
him to nearly strain his neck, so he could read those fateful messages on that computer screen. At that moment of course, those meant nothing to him. That came only later, when the great Robert Barnes, foreign exchange student from England freshly arrived in the Netherlands, decided to stick his nose in places where it didn’t belong.

After his first knock had gone unanswered, Robert had been about to turn away, should have turned away. But his overzealous ears had detected a faint noise from inside. So he stooped, pressing his ear against the wood of the door. Now he heard it again, clearer this time: the sound of keyboard strokes. So the young man he saw earlier that day was in. Maybe he just hadn’t heard him knocking?

To make sure, he knocked again, really hard now. This time he was rewarded by some undistinguishable noise from inside, definitely a reaction to his knocking. Robert decided to turn the knob and open the door.

His step positioned him directly in the middle of the room. It was identical to his own room, though set up in mirror image.

He guessed this place must have a view of the picturesque square around the medieval church. They were on the third floor, and his own small window looked out on a dreary blistering concrete wall that had probably been white once. Or gray. Or yellow. There was no telling. It belonged to the adjacent building that obviously didn’t share the same long history. The rooms were small, maybe ten by fifteen feet, but offered everything a student needed. A bed, a small couch, and two sturdy chairs at a narrow table bolted to the wall. And, of course, a comfortable desk for studying.

The big difference with his own place was that the curtains were drawn, shutting out most of the daylight. The only illumination came from the screen of a laptop computer on the desk. The young man was sitting behind the computer. He was half turned toward him, his attention divided between his screen and Robert. He looked irritated at being disturbed.

“Hello, I’m Robert Barnes,” Robert began, realizing he wasn’t exactly welcome. “I live in the room across from yours. Arrived just today, same as you, I believe?”

“Excuse me?” his neighbour answered, clearly not understanding what he was saying. It was only now that Robert noticed that he was wearing earphones.

He raised his voice. “Sorry to disturb you. I arrived today. I thought I should say hello. I live in the room directly opposite yours.”

Clearly torn between his computer and basic civility, the young Arab-looking man cast a glance at his computer screen, then at his visitor. After a few seconds, he came to a decision and grudgingly pulled off his earphones.

“Hello, my name is Khalid.”

Robert extended his hand, which was taken after half a second of consideration.

“My name is Robert. I arrived today. I believe you’re new as well?”

“Yes.”

Robert suddenly was at a loss about how to continue this conversation. He considered asking where Khalid came from, but decided to go for what obviously occupied the other so much. Judging by the computer screen, he guessed the man called Khalid had been playing some computer game. At the centre of the screen he saw some weird character floating over a mysterious landscape of snow-capped mountains, perched on a flying dragon or something like that. The dragon was patiently flapping its wings while it hovered stationary. In a box to the lower left of the screen text was scrolling by in a blue color.

Robert took a step closer to examine the screen better. For a split second he thought that Khalid was going to stop him, but that would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? It was just a computer game!

“What are you playing? It looks nice!” Robert tried to make conversation.

For a few seconds it remained silent. “World of Warcraft,” Khalid answered shortly.

Robert had never heard of it. “Really?” He smiled at Khalid. “What’s that?”

Khalid turned to the screen and Robert saw him cast a quick glance at the text box. “It’s a multi-player game. Millions of people play it at the same time. You can play it alone, but also team up with others. Like I do at the moment,” he hinted not so subtly, without looking up at Robert.

“That’s impressive! What do you have to do?”

This question was answered by a half shrug of Khalid’s shoulders. “Nothing, really. You can do whatever you want.”

Even though Robert clearly felt that the man wanted him out of his room, he didn’t want to give up yet. He was here now, and he wanted to achieve at least some connection with his new neighbour. He was about to ask another question, when he noticed that he’d lost Khalid’s attention. He was looking intently at the text box. Robert stooped to see what had drawn his attention.