Die Trying - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

By this point Wade was nearly spent. The only part of him that felt okay, was his mauled arm. It still didn't hurt, even felt better than ever. He had no idea why, given how nasty the bites were, but he wasn't going to question it. He'd still need to get it checked out first chance he got, but for now whatever it was, it paid today's rent and got to stay.

The four of them hobbled into the maze of residential cubes. From the street, they looked like bland concrete blocks stacked into makeshift pyramids. But inside the narrow alleyways, Wade found faded murals and chipped paintings hidden from view, with ladders connecting the levels above.

"Identify." He breathed out, looking at one of the cubes.

Nathir Slave Housing Unit

"Yeesh, lovely place." Illy said.

"Vee talk later, when safe." Leon said, doing most of the hauling for the elf. One meaty finger pointed up. "Suggest there, look safe?"

Wade followed the finger up at the housing units above. Each had exactly one window, and on the other end what looked to be a metal doorway on very thin balconies. Ladders all over led up to those doorways.

"I had it up to here with these bloody ladders." Illy sighed, then looked back at Selena. "Right, how we getting knife ears up there though?"

"I carry. I have two point extra in strength." Leon shrugged, grabbed and pressed the elf's waist closer to him. He ignored her startled squeak and hauled her up slightly off the ground. The elf looked morbidly embarrassed about this, struggled for a second out of sheer reflex, but was too late to say anything before Leon started climbing up.

"Is she going to be all right?" Wade asked, "She seems real pissed off about all this."

"Eh, knife ears will sulk for a bit and get over it later." Illy followed behind and Wade closed rank behind them.

"Identify." Leon said under his breath, staring at the wall of the cube before them, then looked down, "Is clear. No enemy health bars inside."

These really were other players in this insane game. He'd need to be a little more cautious around them. They'd been cautious of him for a reason. That PvP quest. That said, the quest had stated 'Defeat or subdue'

Lot of different interpretations to what defeat means, not all of it lethal.

His other quest had said he'd found two out of twenty three players down here. And there were three of them, so the elf didn't count as a player. Wade filed that information away for later. He needed to know more first. He was out of skeletons eating his eyes danger, but backstabbing by the girl who could literally summon daggers to backstab on demand? Keep friends close, enemies closer, and the police speed dial the closest.

At the top, the group eventually figured out how to get in: Roll up the doorway like a garage door. At least the doorways here were normal-people sized instead of made for ten foot basketball giants.

Light seemed to automatically turn on as the group creeped in. Leon closed the door shut behind them, finding a locking mechanism, sliding it shut with a solid click. "Okay, is good." He tapped the doorway. "Nice strong metal. Safe here for now."

There was a second of tension. Then the group all sighed in relief as they were clear.

The window here wasn't broken, glass covered with dust but otherwise useable. The walls here were thick otherwise, likely soundproof. The doorway sure as hell looked to be, not even a gap anywhere. The still silence around them felt more like a sanctuary.

"All right, feels right creepy," Illy said, helping the elf to the far side of the wall. "At least there's a wee bit of light."

"Not for long." Leon grabbed the small light at the top of the unit, easily reaching it given his height, and after a bit of tinkering, he unscrewed it like a lightbulb. "Light show from window, da? We do not want to be caught from distance." It remained lit in his hands, a tiny little miniature crystal lantern.

"Fine, feck. You figured out how to turn one of those off yet?"

Leon did: He turned it off by shoving it into this shorts and sitting down in the corner. There was still light, but it was faint now. "Problem solved."

Illy opened her mouth to protest, held it open for a moment, then closed it. "Eh, feck it. If it works, it works." She turned and started making her way to the elf, one hand unhooking her sack and the other digging into it for supplies. "C'mere long-ears, let's see what's wrong with ye."

The locked door and lack of light made Wade feel a lot safer. And there were dozens of ladders in that alleyway, all leading up to different cubes. The skeletons would have to go through a long list of places before they stumbled onto them.

He took a breath, then started really looking into where he was and with who.

The actual room was slightly bigger than his own living room in his rented condo. A washing basin, a window, and a small table near the center, almost encircled with small stools. On the other side of the room, Illy was sitting down next to the elf, trying to pry off the punctured boot she had. She had her leather backpack on the ground, very old and wet gauze out. Wade could smell some kind of liquor in the air.

The elf was not cooperative. "What's going on here? Stop that." She hissed, eyes focused on the menace about to start something. "Lay a hand on my armor and I'll hurl you over the nearest cliff."

"Quit being a radge and hold still you pure dobber! You're gushing blood you glaikit roaster, lemme take a look at it."

That clearly did not settle issues.

"I'm warning you monkey." The elf hissed in elvish, slapping away the hand and generally being a nuisance. "If you think a minor injury such as this could stop me from protecting against rogues, I'll disprove that in an instant. Goddess as my witnes— HUMAN. CEASE."

With one final shove, the scott finally gave up trying to pry off the boot. "Ahrh, she's being stubborn again. Fine, go bleed out in the corner then long-ears. Dunno what her problem is."

The elf curled her legs up to her chest, arms protectively guarded to her side, glaring back. When Illy stepped away, only then did Selena start undoing a small buckle by the boot. She slipped a hand inside, groping around for the wound. That couldn't be sanitary at all, but Wade couldn't tell what else she was doing. Checking in on the wound?

Maybe she had a healing item on her. Maybe she knew about healing items in general and he could get some info for his main goal here. His head instantly went into overdrive at the thought.

If he could recover something like that and bring it back home, that would cut down on the hospital bills, which could then be redirected to more food, paying off the family loans earlier, and he could potentially re-use it for other business ventures. He could get very, very rich off all this. Assuming he didn't just die out here, and could convince the elf to help him on his current obsession.

The warpaint under her eyes made her look more like a wild elf, or something from nature. If earth stereotypes for fantasy elves could even be applied. And he still had no idea how this elf ended up in this group. Although he could understand her from Market's buff of languages, so there was at least a one-way communication possible.

And as he pondered on the language buff, he remembered there were other parts to it.

Market's blessings (Language, Passage, Luck) - Allows you to read, write and speak fluently in any language used by general trade. Allows passage into Azdrial with all currently equipped gear or independent beings, and allows return passage back in the same manner. Increased overall luck and success in gambling.

Allows passage with independent beings. If the elf didn't actually have any healing items and it was some kind of spell she knew... could he smuggle the elf back on earth somehow later on? The buff did say he should be able to speak elvish, but he had no idea how to actually trigger that yet, although he'd figure it out soon enough.

He looked up at the elf, who was still busy tending to her wound, and all he saw were dollar signs.

Why even stop at just one elf?

Assuming Azdrial here was a world where even gods like Play wanted to jump ship, then what of the regular people here? Could he smuggle an entire crew of magical medical experts? It didn't need to stop there, he could bring back crafters, mages, alchemists or any kind of oddity that Azdrial had outside.

Build an entire enterprise. Become a magical contraband mogul. Get rich. Swim in a vault of gold like McScrooge. Wade felt a bit of drool and he had to quickly wipe his mouth before anyone noticed.

Speaking of being noticed - he'd need to hide them from the government first. Uncle Sam would be about as welcome as a wasp at his picnic. And just as determined to eat his lunch.

The most pressing issue wasn't the paradigm-shifting implications of magic or how it would revolutionize human civilization and culture forever - no, the real issue to Wade was that the IRS would try to tax his new business venture.

And he needed the money. How long would it take diving into this world until he got the healing gear he needed for Ann and Jason? Especially Ann. The nursing facility had been bleeding him dry.

---

"Mr. Wade, I'm calling about your sister's outstanding medical debt. We've been very patient, but-"

"Patient? You've called me twelve times this week. During work hours!"

"Look, I understand this is difficult, but the hospital needs to be paid. Your sister can't handle her own affairs anymore, can she? That makes you responsible."

"I... what does that even mean? Responsible how? I thought the state handled that? She's on their insurance."

They had denied that claim, but Wade hadn't known. And her debt had been bought out instead by collectors who believed they could find a sap to pay it off, even if they had no legal responsibility. They knew exactly what to say to extract such things out of the grieving. "Mr. Wade. you wouldn't want your sister's credit destroyed forever, would you? Imagine when she's healed and out of the ward, her life would be crippled beyond repair! This debt is just going to keep growing with interest and fees. But if you can make even small payments, show good faith, we can work something out."

"I... I really don't have the money, I'm sorry. I'm barely paying off my own hospital bills right now."

"We're not asking for the full amount. Just fifty dollars. Twenty-five even. Something to show you care about your sister's situation. Once you start making payments, we can set up a plan and have it logged into the account as evidence of good faith. Very reasonable terms."

"Twenty-five dollars doesn't sound like much, wh-"

"Exactly. It's nothing. And it shows you're willing to do right by your family. I can set that up for you right now, Mr. Wade. Automatic withdrawal, very convenient. It'll do leagues to help with a future restructuring and debt forgiveness to start early like this. If you start now, I can make an argument in a few years to even have the entire debt forgiven. This would be the best for everyone involved."

There would never be any argument in the future for forgiving or lowering his sister's debt, of course. Now wiser at 25, Wade knew that he'd been sold sweet nothings. But back then he was still new, recently rattled by calamity, and an easy target.

The best for everyone they said; in that the moment one begins to even assist with a debt, they were now legally inheriting the debt and were free to be hounded by collectors without protections. According to the new bankruptcy ruleset, recently lobbied and paid for by companies like Whick Revenue Partners, the very same ones hounding after Wade.

The moment one single payment of twenty five dollars hit the account book, it was truly the best... for 'everyone'.

---

The light by her armored boot stopped shining and Selena withdrew her hand, shaking it slightly. That was enough to snap Wade out of his rumination, letting him refocus on the now. He watched as she started buckling up the armor, pulling the straps all the way to their tightest setting. Job done, she lifted her hand up to her mouth and spat something out. Wade saw what it was a moment later. A small blue glowing crystal.

He didn't miss his chance.

Identify

Small Mana Crystal. (Low Quality)

The elf gave it a look over, inspecting it. She seemed upset by it somehow, but shifted it over to a small pouch afixed by the side of her chestplate, then carefully slipped the crystal inside as if it were the most precious thing she owned. Once done, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Exhausted, or meditating on something.

Play had mentioned mana crystals could power magical items even on Earth. He didn't consider his chances of talking her out of that crystal would be high, but he might find out how to get more of it. All of it was just another little piece into the puzzle of how to cast healing magic. He needed to figure this out.

Illy grabbed her leather bag and tossed it on the table with a mildly loud tap. The contents spilled out, water canteen, gauze, a smaller version of the lantern Wade had shattered only unpowered, and a whole lot of summoned knives. It did shake him from his thoughts, and reminded him he was still in a room filled with strangers.

The elf could wait, she seemed like she was taking a break from all this. If he wanted to recruit her later, he'd need to not be obnoxious right now.

The other two? He had to start there.

"Water's easy to get out here." Illy said, shaking the canteen. "Food's going to be harder. Haven't found any vegetation yet, plenty of animals though. If we're stuck in this world for long, we should start thinking about setting a base camp and sleep rotations."

Stuck in this world for long?

"I can't make it that long, I need to head back home." Wade said, "My next job's shift is starting in a few hours, can't miss that."

They stared at him.

"And here I thought I was the mental one," Illy eventually said.

Leon patted her shoulder. "No, you are."

"Oh sure, and his head's screwed on as tight as a bottle of Whisky at the local pub."

"Illy, he in shock. Brain processes trauma in many creative ways. See it happen many times before."

"I'm not in shock, I'm perfectly functional thank you." Wade said, narrowing his eyes.

They both looked at him with pity.

"You said you started with others." Wade asked, wanting to change this subject to something that actually mattered in getting him home. Figuring out what the difference between his start and theirs was a good spot to start from. "How?"

"We start with group of twenty two." Leon said. "I wake up to yelling and screaming in very furnished room."

"It was some kinda living room, just massive." Illy said in between sips of water. "House had huge kitchen, parlor, the works. Fair bit of havoc at first but we got ourselves sorted quick enough, got into groups, made schemes."

"Too many people in quiet city with loud voices. Went bad fast." Leon added. "First scout party left. Find food and maybe help." He shook his head, walking over to the window and taking a peak as he spoke. "Ehh, ten minutes later, only one came back, dying already. Draw all monster after him. Дебил, should have died in ditch far away, not bring back horde." The manhole cover remained steady in the road, the skeletons had either given up or were uselessly trying. Leon nodded with satisfaction at that, before going back to his corner.

"I'm guessing there wasn't a group effort to fight back?"

"More like a group effort to roach out in every direction." Elly said with a dark chuckle.

Leon gave a crooked smile. "And then golems came after us all. Chase us like rats."

"Golems?" Wade had thought the skeletons were the only thing he'd find down here. And homicidal weasels.

He lifted both hands and stretched them out. "Big magical golems. They attracted to noise. Some huge with six legs, other smaller. Identify tell it Nathir security forces. All levels sixty or higher. Kill people quick. Skeletons and animals attack us later, but can punch and fight those at least. Golems? Ehhh…. no good. Hiding only."

"Oh shit. City still has some kind of automated defenses going?"

Illy nodded, putting the canteen back into her back and sealing the whole thing up. "Most have four or more legs, and they use floating weapons above 'em. Big ones move slow, but the wee ones can outrun any of us. All of 'em heavily armored and hostile. Now you see why we're not keen on crawling back to the city."

Lethal difficulty huh. Maybe his starting location wasn't that bad. "How long have you two been running around for?"

"'Bout an hour or so." Illy shrugged. "Time goes fast when you're running for your life and making it up as you go. Don't think anyone else found a way back to earth yet, but Leon and I eventually got it somewhat together and came up with a rough plan to get out of the city itself. After that, we can start brainstorming a way back to earth."

"What was the plan?"

Leon shrugged. "We run very fast. Maybe throw smoll devushka behind me if we getting caught. Angry yelling will draw golems away from me."

The scot threw him a sharp elbow. His hand reached down and caught the small attack absentmindedly, chuckling to himself.

"It was your idea ye big daftie, how about you actually explain it?" She turned to Wade. "Leon made a point a while back that we've been following: If there's a way out, it'd be by the sewers, don't you think? All shite leads to rome. And how's about you numpty? Noticing you don't have jammies like the rest of us. Were you awake when you got sent here? Did you see what did it?"

Wade looked over the nightwear the two were wearing, then down at what he was wearing. "Uh no, unfortunately I was sleeping too. I work at a gas station in LA. Next shift for me was in four hours, it's easier to sleep in my work clothes. Skip having to dress up and buys a few more minutes of sleep."

The two stared at him.

Wade felt compelled to defend his decision. "Those minutes add up. If cut enough corners, I can even get a full extra fifteen minutes of sleep. Skip brushing teeth, eat and put on the vest while walking there, the works."

They shared a look between each other, as if passing a silent message.

"Yeah I see it now." Illy said, tapping a finger to her head. "How long do you reckon it'll last?"

"Shock? Eh, hard to tell. Could be minutes, or hours. Sometimes days. Seen very odd things in past."

"Fine, the yank really loves his retail shops, I ain't cruel enough to take away his only source of joy out here. So long as he's not stabbing us in the back and helping out, it's enough."

"No look, I'm being efficient." Wade said, now trying to paint a picture in the air for them. "Gas station uniforms don't need to be ironed right? They work perfectly fine crumpled up, and not having to put it on at all in the first place is even better. Staying and sleeping in uniform is the optimal strategy."

He opened his mouth to continue the defense, but the scot shut him down swiftly with one open palm. "Mate, there's skeletons out there arse deep in god knows what shite, so I ain't here to start judging anyone's morning routine right now. Just tell us what happened on your end."

Wade blinked back and realized they were… kinda right. His next shift at the gas station wasn't as important as surviving skeletal hordes, walking around in a strange world with magic, or having a game system affecting reality: Because he hadn't been late a single time yet to that job, so he could send a text and say he got into an accident or something and not lose any hours in the future from it. He'd banked enough goodwill to get away with it.

Wade felt satisfied with that chain of priority and found it perfectly normal logic.

There was a snap in front of his face. "Oi, focus. What happened on your end, bampot?"

"I went to sleep, and woke up in a cave alone, and then I got badgered by my sponsor." That's right, Play had sent him out alone. He should check to see what different sponsors for different players gave. "Did you guys get text messages from gods? Or were they something different for you?"

"… Shite, Leon. He's deeper in it than retail. He thinks he has a phone on him."

Wade narrowed his eyes at the Scot. Then silently took out his phone, and tapped it. They both stared at the phone like he'd pulled a magic trick. "Not crazy, see?"

"Holy shiite, he actually has a phone?!" Illy rushed out to look at it, one hand poking at the screen as if verifying it actually existed. "Leon, I think that's the first item confirmed from earth that's not clothing!"

Leon was rubbing his chin, eyes glued on the phone. "You say you have text? From gods?"

"Semi-long story. But just want to confirm, you both don't have phone or any way to speak to any guide?"

"You think we'd be stumbling around in the dark if we had a bloody guide on fecking speed dial?! Show us some of these messages!"

The phone buzzed in Wade's hand at exactly that moment. He looked down at the backlit screen.

Aww, are you talking about me? (◕‿◕✿)