Avarice: A LitRPG Virtual Fantasy Adventure Read online

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  COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER

  THIS PUBLICATION IS PROTECTED UNDER THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 AND ALL OTHER APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL, FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS, AND ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED, INCLUDING RESALE RIGHTS: YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE OR SELL THIS BOOK TO ANYONE ELSE. EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976, NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED, OR TRANSMITTED IN MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM WHATSOEVER, ELECTRONIC, OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATIONAL STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN, DATED AND SIGNED PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR.

  PLEASE DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN OR ENCOURAGE PIRACY OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS IN VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR’S RIGHTS. PURCHASE ONLY AUTHORIZED EDITIONS.

  THIS WORK CONTAINS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT AND IS INTENDED FOR READERS 18 YEARS AND ABOVE OR WHATEVER AGE BY YOUR LOCAL AND STATE LAWS DEMAND. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD TO READ THIS CONTENT.

  ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS WORK ARE A PRODUCT OF THE MIND AND IS A FIGMENT OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION AND THEREFORE FICTIONAL, AND MAKE NO REFERENCE TO REAL PEOPLE OR SITUATIONS AND EVENTS, ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL EVENTS, WHETHER PAST OR PRESENT, PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2017 ©JEFFREY THORNE

  avarice

  a litrpg saga

  jeffrey thorne

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER – FINALE

  Prologue

  I took in a deep breath. I rubbed my sweaty palms together once more as I stared at the helmet. Several years of doing nothing but backbreaking work, tirelessly putting up with annoying customers, malevolent bosses and irritating co-workers in a dog-eat-dog world had finally come to fruition. The device was smooth, and I trailed over it as though it were my lover. The feeling of cold metal that I could not identify responded and I let myself drum over it quietly, contemplating if this was real, and if it was about to happen. Then my mind easily recalled the sheer unease I had felt as I had collected the thing from the black market dealer, and I instantly knew that this was the real deal.

  I had already put most of my affairs in order, I had quit from my job, paid my rent and bills, and I had even gone as far as to tell people around me that I would be travelling. Most would have considered this excessive and somewhat risky in case anything went wrong, but I simply did not care – this helmet was my ticket out of this world, and I wanted nothing else reminding me of being in it.

  I had positioned myself on the couch, placing the device over my head with a little bit of trepidation and I could not ignore the shiver that ran down my spine as a dry laugh escaped my lips. This was it. I was going to do it.

  “Immersion Helmet, Activate.”

  Commencing Immersion…

  WARNING!

  The software found in Immersion Slot is the highly controversial “Avarice”, and has been banned in thirty-six countries. This game is illegal to own, it is connected with over a hundred cases of missing persons and it is suspected to be used by gangs and notorious mafia organizations alike.

  I grinned. At this juncture, a normal Immersion Helmet would have failed to continue working on the software, and my apartment would have been invaded by police teams in the next fifteen minutes. But this was no normal helmet.

  “Bypass. Activate Lazarus Code: Zero-Eighty-Fourteen, Forty-Nineteen, Omega, Alpha.”

  The words that would change my life were uttered, and at that very moment, I peaked in happiness.

  Chapter 1

  Welcome new player to Avarice!

  The feeling of having one’s own consciousness travel from one place to another was something that was ineffable to describe. I did not want to question it, or rather, I could not question it, and instead it took everything in me in order to curb my giddiness.

  Welcome to the world of Avarice! The new full virtual immersion software that will utterly alter the world and advance technology to the realm of gods!

  Fine, fine, I did not care about the specifics, all I wanted was to get launched into the story.

  Terms and Conditions

  By agreeing to play Avarice, you are agreeing to all the terms and conditions of the developers. Would you like to read the terms and conditions?

  I snorted. Really, who did they think I was, reading the terms and conditions? I knew what I was getting into when I decided to spend over six years’ worth of pay to buy the goddamned helmet and software. I had spent tireless hours doing research upon research in order to make sure that this would be the solution that I would find to my dull, meaningless life. I had no family, no friends, very few hobbies and interests, and all of that would change by entering this, a virtual immersion software that was globally banned.

  Psychologists had claimed that the simulation was capable of turning all those who played it into sociopaths that would not be capable of properly functioning in society. That the simulations of Avarice supposedly turned all those who played the game into expert killers, liars and manipulators.

  What a load of baloney.

  Most likely they had come up with that theory in order to shut down the facts that anyone could do anything in the simulation. Wanted to find out what it felt like to take hallucinogenic drugs without actually having it damage your system and make you dependent? You could do it in Avarice. Sit down and get high in the Simulation, without it affecting you in real life. Enjoy the tastes of alcohol without permanently damaging your kidneys or liver. Smoke endlessly without it ever affecting your lungs. Avarice catered to every vice in existence, possessing all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.

  The game had also been called sexist, hedonistic, and devoid of any such thing called human decency. Or in particular, the fact that one could pimp NPCs, own them, marry them, or do pretty much anything they wanted with them.

  Admittedly, this was one of the reasons I wanted to enter the simulation in the first place. I could already feel my mouth water at the concept. Endless sex without having the fear of STDs, pregnancy, or all the other complications? That was all I needed to sign up.

  The World of Avarice is designed to be in two: a Utopia and a Dystopia. All starting players will have to climb their way up from the lower Dystopia in order to reach their utopian ideal.

  Well I certainly did not know that. Fine, it didn’t make much of a difference to me anyway.

  Would you like to create a new Character?

  Mentally, as I noted that the commands could be subvocalized, I agreed.

  Select your Gender:

  Male

  Female

  Custom

  I did not hesitate for a second as I chose the male option.

  Your chosen Gender is Male.

  Select your build:

  Tall and Buff

  Tall and Regular

  Tall and Lanky

  Medium and Buff

  Medium and Regular

  Medium and Lanky

  Short and Buff

  Short and Regular

  Short and Lanky

  I wasn’t egotistic enough to pick the first option, or any of the buff options for that manner, and instead I chose the Tall and Regular.

  Your Chosen Build is Tall and Regular. Note: Your choice of race may or may not alter any selected build. />
  Choose a Race:

  Human

  Elf

  Human-Elf Hybrid

  Dark-Elf

  Human Dark-Elf Hybrid

  Demon

  Druid

  Dwarf

  I almost snorted as I looked at the last option. I really pitied those people that would actually choose the dwarf option.

  Here was the tricky part of course, I knew that each race came with its own benefits and disadvantages, and these racial benefits would make a huge difference eventually. The only problem was that Avarice was not exactly a ‘fair’ game, and you wouldn’t know what benefits each race had unless you picked it. You could gripe about this being crummy, except that no one would care, and the GMs would probably just flip you the middle finger for your griping. Hell, since being banned globally, those who still played it knew that the GMs pretty much had the power of gods in what they could do. It wasn’t like the players could sue them or even so much as complain about the simulation’s unfairness, because by all rights, you weren’t supposed to be playing the game in the first place.

  You have selected Human-Dark Elf Hybrid.

  Are you certain?

  Of course. Benefits of a human plus the special allure of a dark elf would mean that I would have a little bit of versatility here and there.

  You are a Human-Dark Elf Hybrid.

  Your Race Benefits Include:

  Elvish Senses: +10% to Perceptiveness, +15% Boost to Ranged, +15% to Agility

  One With Night: +15% to Stealth

  Your Race Drawbacks Include:

  Half-Breed: You gain a negative interaction score with Dark-Elves.

  Dark Blood: You gain a negative interaction score with Elves.

  Well screw them. Just what I needed thrown into the mix, some racism.

  Select a Starting Class:

  Soldier

  Pilferer

  Bionic

  The infamous starting trio. I mused over the explanations for the classes.

  Soldier: Traditional frontline fighters. You deal heavy damage and can take the most damage. Traditionally deals damage with close-combat weapons and shields.

  Pilferer: The nimble scavengers. Moves fast in the battlefield, hard to catch and even harder to hit, but somewhat fragile. Traditionally deals damage with long-range weapons, and traps.

  Bionic: The power freaks. Capable of performing ludicrous feats of power with their mind, from telekinetic attacks to altering gravity. Incredibly fragile with-nonexistent skill in weapons.

  Speed or power, speed or power, the mantra repeated itself over and over in my mind before I contemplated which would be ideal. These were starting classes, though, and there were class hybrids that would exist at much higher levels. For now, I wasn’t stupid, if I wanted to stand a chance against threats, I needed to move fast and not hit hard. The Bionic option was tempting, but I did not fancy the idea of being a glass cannon. The Soldier would have been another valid option, but I did not want to be some bulking knight.

  The Pilferer however, was up my alley. I had always been the guy that would run away from a fight when it came down to it, screw pride and call me a coward. I’d rather be a living coward than a prideful corpse. It was probably the only thing that kept me alive this long after all.

  You have selected the Class: Pilferer.

  Class Bonuses Include:

  Scavenger: Higher Success Rates in searching for items

  Thief: Grants you the ability to steal from other players.

  I shrugged. The game was called Avarice after all, who could blame him for using any method at his disposal to get ahead? He certainly was not going to lose any sleep over it.

  Compiling Character…

  Enter Character Name.

  I stroked my chin. I needed a name, something that would strike fear into the hearts of all that saw it, or something that would make someone blink twice as they heard it. Or, I could just screw it and go all nerd-like for it by giving my character a name straight out of one of the most famous fantasies of all time. I chuckled at the thought. It was so bad that it could probably be one of the greatest sins of gaming.

  Bad… Sins…?

  It was simple, plain, a bit odd to actually think of it, but who was going to judge? Though I highly doubted if it would actually be available.

  You have selected the name “Sinbad”, is this acceptable?

  “No way, it’s actually usable?”

  A Human Dark-Elf Hybrid Pilferer named Sinbad.

  Simply perfect.

  Character Creation Complete!

  Welcome, new player to the world of Avarice!

  My vision morphed, and then I was no longer standing in a vast white space of the character creation screen, instead, I found myself suddenly standing on the roof of a large city, or rather, the remains of what was supposed to be a large city.

  No sooner had I taken my first step did a bullet strike the floor in front of me, and I stumbled backwards.

  “Dark-Elf Scum! Halfbreed Scum!”

  “The fuck?”

  Introductory Quest!

  Hit the Ground Running!

  Welcome new player, you have successfully purchased and entered the game that is globally banned for excessive violence, sexual acts, nudity, drugs, and alcohol despite common sense indicating otherwise.

  “The hell? Is this shit messing with me?”

  Avarice is your fantasy come true. The Higher Utopia is a flowing land of paradise and fantasy. Sweet endless sex, wealth, and a life of utter hedonism awaits. But, to achieve this, you have to claw and climb your way to the top, you are at the lowest dredges of society, the Lower Dystopia. Ascend to your fantasy, or die as a consequence of your Avarice.

  The choice is yours.

  Chapter 2

  My anger began to quell as instead, I felt a brilliant sense of exhilaration. This was what I had been looking for wasn’t it? This was something to give some meaning to my life other than a dull eight-to-five job, something that would send me that much needed sense of adrenaline. Adventure and danger were on both ends of the coin, and I had tossed it into the air.

  Quest: Hit the Ground Running!

  Current Objectives:

  Defeat or Escape the Elf Purists.

  Gunshots echoed once more, and one actually grazed my shoulder, causing me to swear out loud.

  Elf Purist Prime attacked you with Lead Firearm. You have taken minor damage.

  Lead Firearm? I would have laughed had I not been conserving my breath to use to run. Gods, the simulation felt so real. As I found myself leaping off rooftops with the sounds of gunfire echoing behind me, it felt all so very real. The air felt real, thick and heavy with smog, the wind crashing in my face felt incredibly real, blowing the long black hair of my avatar backwards.

  Parkour, a skill I had always wished to be able to have in real life, something I never feasibly saw myself doing, now here I was, in this reality, throwing backflips and complicated cartwheels like there was no tomorrow, leaping off huge distances and landing in brilliant rolls that I had never feasibly imagined.

  Gods, this was worth every single dime.

  It was a shame that the fully-virtual immersion software genre had long since collapsed and was only recently trying to return. There had been a large controversy a few years back where players had been unable to log out, putting them in a coma where they all eventually died. Needless to say, after that event, people had been insanely hesitant about going near anything that had ‘virtual’ on the title.

  “Get back here you halfbreed scum!”

  They were chasing after me, and I noted that they had stopped firing. Actually, now that I focused, it seemed that there was only one of them with a gun in the first place, the one called Elf Purist Prime. I could tell upon a glance that they were NPCs, and I wondered how long it would take before I ran into other players.

  Tutorial: Pilferer Combat Choices

  There are two major modes of engagement: Stealth Combat and
Open Combat.

  Open Combat: This is further divided into Close Range Combat, Mid-Range Combat, and Long Range Combat. In Close Range, you charge your opponent and attempt to defeat him with your blunt or edged weapons or fists. Your Strength, Perseverance and Agility are key to survival.

  Duly noted.

  In Mid-Range, you take on your opponent with firearms, or spears, dealing heavier damage and putting yourself out of harm’s way. If both you and your opponent have Mid-Range weapons, you enter a Fusillade, in which you both find cover, and begin firing at each other. The victor is decided by the strength of your cover, your Dexterity which determines reload speed, and your ammunition.

  I made an immediate note to focus on my Dexterity.

  In Long-Range, you take on your opponents with long range weapons. Striking first is key to immediate success, as is ensuring your position remains undetected.

  Considering I had no long range weapons to begin with, that was definitely out of the question.

  Stealth Combat: Stealth Combat includes hiding out of sight, and taking your opponents out one by one. The terrain, time and weather conditions can be your ally or your worst nightmare. Your enemies can and will lose track of you and they will also be certain to notice if one of their members are missing, so this cannot be a drawn out affair, unless you are capable of maintaining stealth under pressure. All attacks delivered from stealth are critical, but only the Pilferer class can deal instant fatal attacks from stealth.

  Stealth all the way I say, stealth all the way. I did not hesitate in leaping from a graffiti covered rooftop down into a window, shielding myself as I crashed through the glass. I had landed into a room that had, once upon a time, been used as a living room. Instead, I stared at the junk all around me as I realized that I needed some sort of weapon to be used if I wanted to take out the crummy guys chasing me.

  I moved over to the kitchen, throwing open the moldy wooden drawers with reckless abandon, in search for anything that could be used suitably as a weapon, and finding nothing but a broken wooden ladle and an empty can of beans.

  I picked them up, blinking for a few seconds. There was no way… these… they were considered weapons?