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"Ding!" I said.

"Up!" Cryl yelled.

Congratulations! You've reached Level 2!

Racial bonus: +1 to Intellect

Class bonus: +1 to Intellect, +1 to Spirit

5 Characteristic points available!

I opened the char's menu. After a second thought, I added 3 points to Intellect, 1 to Spirit and 1 to Constitution. Would do for the time being.

Intellect had already reached 16 which gave me 160 points mana—not bad at all for level 2.

"You finished with yours?" I asked a vacant-looking Cryl.

"Five more sec. You can start pulling."

"Okay," I nodded and began climbing the hill feeling I'd been living there for ages.

Whereby I immediately stumbled into two gnoll gatherers.

"é*@&!" the toothy bastards yelled, lunging at me.

" é*@ç$!!" I yelled back, tumbling down the hill. "I'm bringing a train! Two gnolls! Rover, attack!"

I set him loose on the farthest monster. Now I had to deal with just one. "This one's ours," I shouted to Cryl.

He nodded and stepped in the mob's way. After some quality clashing of steel and humming of spells, the gnoll collapsed.

You've received Experience!

While I'd fought, I kept casting Life Absorption as the quickest way to deal damage. So now my life bar was still at 100% while Cryl's hit indicator hovered in the orange zone.

The next moment, my zombie groaned and crumbled to dust. His gnoll, albeit rather bruised, turned round and went for us.

"Wait, step aside. Let me first," I told Cryl and lunged forward burying my dagger in the gnoll's eye.

You've dealt 14 points critical damage to Gnoll Gatherer!

Immediately I stopped his clawed paw with my face. His next punch landed on my liver. Jeez, it hurt.

Cryl joined in from behind my back, adding a lovely aggro-generating bunch of hits. The monster swung round to face him which allowed me to step back and cast Life Absorption again.

More hits. A flash of magic.

You've received experience!

Got him.

"Great job, man," I offered
 
Cryl my hand. "You did it by the book."

He shook my hand, his face serious. "So did you, cutie. No fuss, just got the job done. You're a legend."

We smiled to each other.

"I hope one of them at least happens to have another Soul Stone," I said. "My zombie has given up the ghost."

"Let him rest in peace. He saved his master's life. Lived like a dog, died like a hero."

"Must be his karma," I mused watching Cryl crouch by the bodies.

More coin-rattling. I now was five coppers richer.

"When it rains it pours," Cryl cheered up. "This one has a Stone and a gray bracelet, call it twenty more coppers in the till. Oh. The other one's empty."

"You can have it all. I'll have the next one. But give me the stone, please. Time to resuscitate our hero."

The hero didn't live up to his fame. The raised zombie was level 2. I really needed to get myself some stuff with pet leveling bonuses. Never mind. I'd have to change the pet when I got another stone, as simple as that.

Two minutes for regen, then I rushed off to get us another gnoll.

The farming process continued without a glitch. I kept pulling a gnoll or sometimes two. The loot was meager to say the least: a few coppers apiece plus miscellaneous trash like rusty daggers, some ore, and all sorts of statless items. Once or twice we had a couple of quest bracelets albeit gray ones. To get anything cool you had to head deep into the caves.

Two hours into the game, we were level 5. Each had a couple hundred coppers and a dozen bracelets to show for our trouble. On top of that, I got myself twelve Soul Stones although now the raised zombies' levels 2 to 4 didn't look like much compared to my level 5.

We were meditating after a complex fight with two more gnolls when a high-level Druid dashed past right between us.

"Train!" he yelled and disappeared, speed-buffed.

"What did he say?" Cryl turned to me. Then we were swallowed by a mob crowd chasing the druid.

No idea where he'd pulled so many. He must have fallen out of a cave and bolted for the city not bothering about the low-level guards. It had worked for him. But not for us.

They spent us in five seconds flat. Still sitting, I took two crits to my back,
 
jumped to my feet for a second and collapsed again. A crimson haze clouded my view.

Warning! You have died in battle. In a moment, you'll be respawn in your last bind point.

You can change the bind point using a special spell or artifact. A grave containing all your gear and the contents of your bag will appear in place of your death. Only you can pick them up. If you don't reach your grave within three hours, it'll be teleported to the nearest city graveyard.

* * *

Strictly Confidential

From the Edict of the President of the Russian Federation On Creating the Sharazhka Classified Experimental Facility

Installation Bunker 9 to be used as the server farm.

Deploy
 
Eden 17 Office Deluxe as the experimental virtual environment software.

Register and assess all nationals categories 4, 4a, 7 and 11.

Shortlist all C1-listed nationals such as researchers, analysts and top engineers.

Lay the groundwork for potential digitizing of all the individuals over 65 years of age and those with serious health problems.

When the crimson haze had dispersed, I found myself back at the forest opening where I'd entered AlterWorld. It wasn't quite the same, though. The forest had become black and white. My ears didn't detect a single sound. I was hanging suspended inside a slowly rotating crystal sphere. A countdown blinked before my eyes,

Resurrection in 5... 4... 3...

With every count, the world gained in intensity and depth. At zero, the sphere burst with a jingle sending an avalanche of sounds, smells and colors.

I shook
 
like a wet dog and congratulated myself on my safe homecoming.

I wasn't too upset about my sudden death. I'd lasted five levels which wasn't bad for a newb: they normally died in droves in the beginning. I was a bit annoyed with the power-happy idiot who'd dragged his train across the whole location right over the low-level players' heads. The guards by the city gates would make a quick job of the gnolls. But how many others had they destroyed on their way? Even worse, they could lose their enemy and fall behind halfway, then walk back to the caves and attack the young hunters from behind.

I squinted at the location's chat room window and grinned. The place was rife with swearing as everyone cursed the idiot runner.

I hadn't lost my hard-earned experience, though. Up until Level 10, the game was in evaluation mode and didn't even demand paying. There was no penalty for character death and the player was temporarily immune to PK—that is, couldn't be killed by other players. By the same token, he or she couldn't choose specialization, either. Nothing new there: a drug dealer often offers the first fix for free. Admins had to have their pound of flesh. It wasn't for nothing that the corporation's annual profits were on a par with an average country budget.

My group chat was flashing. Cryl didn't mince words. "Did you remember the motherfucker's name? I'll blacklist him. I'll kill him every time I see him!"

"Relax. This is game in progress. Plenty of this sort of stuff. Leave it. What you gonna do now?"

"Dunno. It's eight minutes till forced logout. I'll have to play 3D, and I hate it. After FIVR, it feels as if you're handicapped. I might check the shops to get rid of the loot and pop into the guild to get my Talent points from the Master. And you?"

Good question. I'd made level 5. I needed to go see Grym. Then I had to do the corpse run to retrieve my gear. And it was high time I started thinking about somewhere to spend the night. Enough leveling. Time to get some daily bread.

"Same, more or less," I answered. "I've added you to my friends list. Until next time. It's been a pleasure playing with you."

"Likewise. I've added you, too. What time are you online, normally?"

Oh. I didn't want to lie to him. Nor did I want to talk about my hopes and plans. You never know. "I'm taking some downtime, sort of. I'm online whenever I want. Knock and it'll be opened, if you know what I mean."

We exchanged smilies and I left the group.

I inspected the white diaper that seemed to be an integral part of my body and lovingly felt my six-pack abs. They looked great. Freebies always do. How many years had I been dreaming of something like that? This is what made the virtual reality so appealing: it made the impossible possible as your dreams came true making you river deep, mountain high. Millions of slim fat girls, billions of pretty uglies...

I swatted a mosquito on my neck (what's wrong with those developer people? Or was it AI's idea?). Using a compass to find my bearings, I walked to the hermit's cave.

As I went, I killed half a dozen rabbits. The level-one monsters gave no experience but added a few points to your hand-to-hand skills and dropped enough meat and pelts in the bargain.

This is how Grym saw me this time: in my underpants, lugging an armful of pelts and meat in front of me. Seeing his eyebrow raised in silent question, I attempted to restore my plummeting authority. I bowed and laid the game on the table.

"This is all for you, dear Grym. You live alone and spend a lot of time reflecting on lofty subjects. I don't think you have time left to hunt. These pelts could make a nice cloak, too."

Skeptical, Grym poked at my offerings and wiped his finger on his robe. "I thank you. You could use a cloak yourself, by the looks of it. Did someone wrong you? Has our forest been sheltering robbers? What's all this about you walking around in your undies?"

I gestured vaguely. "It's complicated. A lady's honor..."

Grym guffawed. "I knew I could help you."

He rummaged through some heaped-up rags and produced a scuzzy bundle. Unfolding it, he shook it a few times raising a cloud of dust and handed me the garment. "There! At least you'll have something to cover your privates."

Your relationship with Grym the Hermit has improved!

You've received an item: Wind-Patched Cloak

Item class: Unusual

Durability: 8/40

Armor: +5

Intellect: +2

Appearance: -10

Well, well. That was a poisoned chalice. Despite its excellent characteristics, wearing it in public could prove not just embarrassing but also harm me in quite a few ways. They could easily bar my entry to the city or raise shop prices. Even deny me a quest, whatever.

"I thank you, dear Grym. I have another question to ask you. My hunt has been a success and I've acquired a bit of experience. Could I stay to become your apprentice?"

Grym nodded. "I can see you didn't waste your time here. Indeed, you deserve a reward."

Congratulations! You've received 3 Talent points!

"Now go. I need some rest. Come back when you've doubled your strength."

The familiar gust of wind grabbed me under my arms and led me out gently but insistently. I'd forgotten to ask him about the guild—again. Not expecting much, I tried to wriggle my way back in, but received a message to come back once I reached level 10.

I neatly folded the filthy cloak, placed it onto the wet grass and sat down. The idea struck me with its significance. I was supposed to become one with the world. Only why had I put the cloak under my backside? Was I afraid of getting virtual hemorrhoids or of soiling my snow-white underpants?

I'd done it mechanically, just the way I'd have done it in real life. How wonderful was that? Come on, brain, keep growing into this reality. This wasn't a game anymore, this was our new home. Keep going.

I opened the Magic Talents panel and stopped, thinking. I needed to summarize today's experience. I was quite pleased with the Necro. The pet was great, Life Absorption did the trick and the DoTs were awesome. Still, I'd have loved the spell to deal more damage and heal me better accordingly. So I had to invest an extra point into it.

Congratulations! You've learned the spell: Life Absorption II.

Cast time: 1.7 sec

Mana expenditure: 22

The spell deals 15 points of magic damage to an enemy target simultaneously giving you 15 XP points. See Wiki for more details.

At the moment, I was still unable to improve the summoning spell. Once I was level 10 and had chosen specialization, the summoned creature would be losing one level per player's every five. At the same time, once a Necro reached level 10, he had a new skill tree branch open, dedicated to pet leveling. It could give the pet a considerable boost. A Death Knight, however, could only have that branch open after level 30 which meant that for Death Knights, pets became superfluous. So most Death Knights would level into some sort of armored high-DpS tanks while more group-oriented ones became the same with a higher potential of casting curses and mass debuffs.

I kept switching between branches and reading descriptions until finally I opted for two Death Skill spells. That gave me a damage-absorbing buff and control magic in the shape of a freezing spell.

Congratulations! You've learned the spell: Bone Shield.

Cast time: 2.9 sec

Mana expenditure: 23

This personal buff creates a magic shield that absorbs 40 points Damage. Duration: 20 minutes.

Congratulations! You've learned the spell: Deadman's Hand.

Cast time: 1.5 sec

Mana expenditure: 19

Freezes target for 2 sec

I moved my new skills to the quick access panel. There were still plenty of slots left, enough for ten spells. In the future, however, I might need to think carefully to decide which spells to stash away and which to have at hand at all times.