Project Daily Grind (Mirror World Book #1) (6 page)

Chapter Five

A
s I walked, I decided to message Greg.
Hi there. Didn’t work out with the dwarves. I’m coming over.

He took his time to answer. He’d probably already forgotten me. Or he might have been ignoring me. I was no family of his, after all.

Finally, he wrote back.

Hi noob! So you’ve changed your mind then? You’d better hurry up, it’s lunch time in an hour and our HR is only open in the mornings. If you fail to get hired today, you’ll have to shell out tomorrow for the capsule.

Thanks Greg. I won’t be a mo.

My pleasure. When you enter the settlement, just ignore the system’s greeting. You’ll sort it out later. Just keep going straight ahead until you see the town hall. It’s easy to find. The place is called The Ruby. That’s it. I’ll let you know if I’m in the area. Good luck... noob.”

It took me longer than expected. The blessing had expired after twenty minutes – and one becomes very quickly used to such things. I tried to keep up the pace but only brought myself down to near zero. I had to stop, then continue on my way in a more relaxed tempo. I’d never forget those last fifteen minutes. I was fighting off the desire to invest another two points into each characteristic. Still, I restrained myself.

As I walked through the gate, I followed Greg’s advice and disregarded the system’s greeting. It only took me a few minutes to reach the town hall, wasting a few more precious Energy points on it. It wasn’t the right time to skimp. Getting a job was critical. I’d hate to have exited the game with nothing to show for it.

The settlement was a cross between a very small town and a rather large village. Closer to its center the streets grew wider, the small houses giving way to taller, more imposing edifices. The place was clean – cozy.

The multi-racial folk I met on my way were more on the smiley side. Then again, why would they frown? This was only a game. They didn’t have a care in the world. Judging by their clothes and the abundance of zero levels, the bulk of the settlement was comprised of Grinders—mainly gatherers. About 70% of them must have been Mine Diggers—prospectors. There were also lots of herbal doctors. One was busy sweeping the street. I could hear the clanging of hammers and the ringing of an anvil. No one seemed to be lazing about or shirking their work. They really gave it their all and didn’t slow down for a minute. If only everyone worked like this in real life!

It didn’t take me long to find The Ruby. It would have been hard not to have noticed Greg’s massive bulk hovering next to it. A slightly smaller species of his race was standing next to him, listening to whatever Greg was passionately telling him.

Hi Greg I’m here!
– no, I didn’t shout it across the square. I simply PM’d him.

He swung round, his gaze searching me out in the crowd, then waved hard with his shovel of a hand.

“I told you he wouldn't take long,” Greg bellowed to his partner when I finally stopped next to them, gasping for breath.

His partner wasn't exactly a partner—or rather not in the sense you'd think. He turned out to be female—a female Horrud... what would you call them—a she-Horrud? A Horrudess? The reason I was curious was because I was probably risking my own skin as a wrongly uttered word might earn me a hearty punch from this ten-foot lady built like a hippo.

“Hi, I'm Olgerd,” I hurried to introduce myself.

“As if I didn't know,” she bellowed, then bared a row of small fangs in a smile. “It’s written all over your face.”

“Oh. I still can't get used to it.”

“You will, don't worry. Never mind. Come along, then, I'll sign you up. You're lucky you got me on my good day.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“You'd better thank your friend,” she grumbled, unlocking the door. “He's been on my case for the last hour:
oh please let's take him, he's a total newb, he's such a sorry sight
... As if I have nothing better to do with my time! My friends have almost given up waiting for me while I'm busy here with you two...”

“Come on, Sandra babe,” Greg butted in. “You know I can be grateful,” he glared at me meaningfully, nodding at the lady's monstrous bulk striding next to him.

“Of course,” I awoke from my stupor. “I owe you. The first payday, I'll be around with a box of chocolates and a bottle of champagne,” I faltered and added, “or whatever you guys give to each other here.”

“Yeah, something like that,” she swung her fifty-pound hand in the air, waving my suggestion away. “Real-life stereotypes die hard.”

Her office was as massive as its owner, with a heavy desk, a powerful chair and several crudely made cabinets.

Sandra—which was apparently her name—laid her hand on a dark panel built into the wall. After a brief pause, a translucent screen materialized over the desk.

“We need to wait for it to boot up,” she explained, studying herself in a wide mirror. Our eyes met. “You're probably wondering what a woman would want with an avatar like this?”

I gave an embarrassed nod.

“Don't,” she said. “Your reaction is perfectly normal. I'm actually twenty-five and blonde with legs that go on forever. Can you imagine how fed up I am with all the idiots, with all those
Hi beautiful
and all that bullshit? Now imagine me as a freakin' Elfa or a Dryad. I need to work, you know. My mom's sick; every minute is precious. That's why I chose this little gal. This way I can kick any butt that shows disrespect.”

“I know what you mean. Excellent decision,” I said and I really meant it.

“I like you the way you are,” Greg offered jokingly.

“Yeah right, pull the other one. Wait... aha, it's up and running. Now, name: Olgerd. Race: Ennan,” she peered at the roller captions on the screen. “Why did you go see the midgets first? What was wrong with us?”

“You see, Sandy, he'd managed to run into our little shit within his first hour in the game. The motherfucker had very nearly given him a dose of his Lash of Fury.”

“The guy is a first-rate freak,” Sandra commented without taking her eyes off the monitor. “I think everyone here’s fed up with him like you wouldn't imagine. Had it not been for his daddy, we'd have long shoved his head up his butt... know what I mean?”

I didn't but I got the idea.

“The dwarves keep themselves to themselves. Greg, you really should have told him!”

“I didn't know, did I?” Greg mumbled. “I thought he was one of those…“

“Thinking isn't your forte, buddy. Now, what next? How many points have you got left?”

“Thirty,” I said.

“Really?” she turned away from the screen. “How many did you start with?”

“Forty.”

“Which means you had twenty-five test points. Not bad. But I'm surprised you've made it here at all. Did you take frequent breaks?

Greg laughed. “No, he didn't. He used the Dark Hand. Aragorn bestowed it on him.”

“What, that cheapskate? He's tighter than a duck's ass!”

“It was Lady Isa who asked him to do so,” I said.

“Ah yeah. Our lord's daughter. That explains it. She's a nice girl. So how are you going to distribute your points?”

“Depends on the contract,” I said.

I'd already come up with a strategy. Now all I had to do was double-check it.

“What kind of contract do you want, then?”

“I'd like piecework plus extracted value.”

“You've come prepared, eh?”

“Purely by chance,” I shrugged. “I checked the contract types when I was choosing my char. But I still don't understand what extracted value means.”

“It means you get a bonus from the resource's market price. Which in our case is one percent.”

“How interesting,” I said.

“Useless, more like,” she snapped. Seeing my puzzled face, she began explaining. “You see, your lord's mines are poor in precious stones. And whatever's available is only worth something in large quantities.”

“In other words,” Greg added, “had I signed this type of contract, I'd have had to toil in the mines day and night—and I'm not even sure I'd be able to earn what I'm earning now.”

“But it's your decision,” Sandra summed up.

“Is it possible to sign a contract, then cancel it and sign a new one?”

“You mean you'd like to try it?”

“Yeah.”

“You can, of course, but you'd have to pay the cancellation fee.”

“I see.”

“But you can in fact try without canceling the contract. Thing is, you are required to sign a two-week contract first. This is sort of trial period. Then if both worker and employer are happy, they can make a longer contract—say, for six months. After that they can make an even longer one... you get the picture. I think two weeks will be well enough for you to make up your mind.”

“I agree.”

“Excellent. So what do you choose?”

“Piecework plus extracted value.”

Greg gasped.

Sandra hummed sarcastically. “I had a funny feeling you would. Just something my delicate stone heart tells me. Trust my word, dude: they'll carry you out of the mine feet first.”

“Let's see if I make it,” I whispered.

My hands shook with excitement. This was probably what a gambler feels when he bets everything he has on zero. I risked everything, but it was worth it. I wasn't going to raise enough money promptly just by working. And
promptly
was the key word. I needed the money fast. I needed my girl to live.

“Right, I'm sending you the contract. Yes... good. Press
Accept
here and here. Yes... all done!”

“Sandra?” I said. “I wonder if you could forward a copy to my bank, please?”

“Absolutely. Here you are. And one more thing. We have several in-game banks here. You’ll need to open an account with one of them and send me the number. That's where we'll send your wages. Pay packets are paid every week. I'll expect you at our office tomorrow to confirm your data. Here's the address. Your module number is 345C. As for your working schedule, it's entirely up to you. This idiot needs to show up at eight every morning,” she nodded at Greg, “but you have a different set of problems entirely. You're entitled to a start-up kit: gear, clothes, tools and food. It won't last forever, as you understand, so any new or replacement items are your responsibility. Now. You can get it all at Digger's Store—that's our local minimarket. Apart from that, there're loads of various little bits of software: bots, maps, resource guides, satnavs, music players...

“I'm all right, thanks.”

“That's it, then!” Sandra squeezed her bulk out of the chair. “Congratulations on your first job in Mirror World! I'm not shaking hands with you, otherwise you'll be walking round with an injury debuff for the rest of the day. Now a word of advice. You can pick up your gear tomorrow if you wish. It's better you quit the game for today. You've been here long enough for Day One as it is. Plus all your experiments with energy. You'll know what I mean when you're back. See you tomorrow. Good luck!”

We thanked her again and walked out onto the street.

My new friend smiled. “So, Mister Mine Digger, see you tomorrow? Once you log out, get yourself a nice big meal and go to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day for you. Oh, and one more thing. Before you log out, I suggest you bind your login to this place. That way you won't find yourself God knows where next time you enter.”

I nodded. “Will do. I really appreciate it, man. No idea what I'd have done without you.”

“That's nothing,” he waved my words away. “Now press the logout button.”

Just before I did, I received a system message,

Grryrsch would like to be your friend! Accept: Yes / No.

I smiled and pressed
Yes
, then logged out.

Chapter Six

M
y awakening, or whatever you might call it, was instant. One moment I was standing in the middle of the mining village, then I pressed
Confirm Log Out
and here I was, stirring in the plum jelly like a beetle in a jam jar.

The lid of my “coffin” was already open. My vision was blurred, as if underwater. But of course! This was my bad eyesight coming back. I’d been so busy in the game I hadn't even noticed that I could see perfectly well.

My body shuddered as the real world flooded over me.

A dull throbbing in my temples came first. My blood pressure was off the scale—and I'd left the pills in the rented apartment that morning. Never mind, there's nothing a hot shower can't fix. It had always worked for me before.

Gradually, the pain began to subside but it was still there. I clambered out of the capsule. My poor legs! What had those people been doing to my body while I was playing? Had they sent it to unload cement trucks? I'd been told it might feel bad but I hadn't expected it to be so freakin' awful!

How long might I last like this? No, no, thinking like that wasn't going to help anything! I
had to
last—as long as was necessary!

I felt at least five years older. My joints ached, my muscles felt leaden. My head was splitting, my eyesight was failing and my hands shook. I could clearly hear my heart beating.

Someone supported me by the elbows.

“Ah, you’ve come round?” I saw my brother's blurred smiling face. “Welcome back!”

* * *

A soft chair hugged my body. A cup of hot strong tea; a warm blanket wrapped around my legs. My brother's office was cozy and quiet. Night had fallen behind the window. I hadn't even noticed the day go by.

“Feeling better?” Dmitry was sitting opposite, nursing an identical tea cup.

“Sort of,” I croaked. “But I feel like I've been through the mangle.”

“Nice simile. You did well calling it short.”

“It was a tip from some good peop- er, good Horruds.”

“Who did you join?”

“Some dude called Lord Shantar.”

“Good,” he nodded. “You'll have a fixed wage and will be able to pay off your loan just nicely.”

“I’ve chosen piecework plus extracted value.”

He choked on his tea. “Are you mad? You won't survive this week! Everybody knows how poor his mines are. It's basically just refuse rock they sell on an industrial scale. I'm sure the bank will bring your loan amount down now...”

“You didn't tell me that,” I whispered. “You didn't tell me lots of things.”

Was it my imagination or had he really shrunk under my gaze?

“Listen,” I began. “My wife and I really appreciate what you've done for us. You're literally bringing our daughter back from the grave. This is your game and your money. I'll never be able to repay you. We may be half-brothers but we are basically strangers. You don't owe me anything but still you're helping me. The only excuse I have is the fact that I met you so late. Then there was Christina's illness... even though it was my responsibility as your elder brother to call you and stay in touch. I'm very sorry about it. But Dmitry, you shouldn't have done it the way you did. You just threw me in at the deep end, as if you wanted to see whether I'd sink or swim. Like a blind kitten, you know. I understand all this about the company's policy but Dmitry, this isn't the right way to do these things, is it? I've been in many European countries where I'm pretty sure your company has its fair share of terminals too, but somehow I don't think they treat their clients the same way. All I've heard was some vague hints, like
don't worry, you'll soon find out
, and a few very economical pieces of advice. Is this your company policy or our traditional Russian recklessness? Don't forget I'm a total noob as someone's already called me!”

“That's exactly what you are,” Dmitry answered calmly.

I choked on my soliloquy and stared at him.

“Why do you think I took you to Zoriana? What were you doing in that test module all that time, tell me? Did you read the game's story? Did you peruse the in-game news? No good blaming me for not taking it seriously. A newb is all well and good but how was I supposed to know you were completely virgin? Apparently, you don't even watch TV or check online news! Our ads take up more TV time than women’s tampons! As you've just said, this isn't the right way to do these things.”

A long silence hung in the air. Finally I took in a deep breath, wishing to speak first. However, he beat me to it.

“Never mind,” Dmitry said. “We're both to blame, probably. We can't undo it. Drink your tea. Try to get some rest. You can sleep here. This chair is convertible. You can't go anywhere in that state. I've already ordered you a dinner from the Ukrainian restaurant. Nothing like a bowlful of Ukrainian borsch to cheer one up! You'll chase it down with some smoked lard on rye bread followed up by a dish of potato dumplings with crackling, then wash it all back down again with some kvass. That'll put you right. Then have some more tea before you go to bed—and tomorrow you won't know yourself!”

He was already reaching for the door when I finally said, “Thanks... brother. I'm sorry.”

“I'm sorry too. Actually, how did you like Mirror World?”

“Honestly? Not special. The real world is better, simply because both my girls are here.”

“You know something? You've no idea how much we have in common.”

He gave me a wink and left.

I attacked my food as if I'd been starving for several days. I could barely remember ever having this kind of appetite. Finally I sat back, feeling drowsy. No, wait. First I had to give Sveta a ring. She was awake, anyway, listening to little Christina's heart.

“How are you, sweetheart?” her anxious voice demanded.

I grinned into the receiver. “I’ll live.”

“I've checked a few sites and forums. There're lots of pictures there. Is it as real as they say it is?”

“You can't even imagine. You're much smarter than I am, by the way. I haven't even thought of looking it up. I might do some browsing now before going to bed.”

“Please take good care of yourself,” her voice quivered. “People say lots of things.”

“I've already worked that out. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

“They say you need to eat a lot when you log out.”

“I've just wolfed down three times my usual portion—and I think I'm hungry again.”

“Please don't! I'm telling you that as a doctor! You'll be sick!”

“It's all right, don't worry. I'll grin and bear it. How's our Little Rabbit?”

“She's still the same,” she said softly.

“It's going to be all right, sweet, I assure you. Tomorrow first thing I'm going to the bank to sign for the loan. Dmitry is topping it up so they can start growing our baby's little heart. She'll make it, I know it.”

She gave a sob. “It feels as if I'm losing both of you.”

“What are you saying, babe? You know I'm strong. I only look like a wuss.”

“I know... that's why I'm worried. You might overdo it. I know you. When it's for us, you'll do anything.”

We talked for a long time—crying, laughing and dreaming. Finally, Sveta cut it short and demanded I hang up, making me promise I wouldn't stay up too late with the computer.

The Internet, indeed, was packed with the information about the game. Everything you needed, it was there. Players' blogs bursting with pictures, clan sites, employment sites and forums... I found the official Stonefoot Clan's site. Indeed, they had no vacancies; a small announcement promised potential openings next year. A whole year! This was a huge amount of time in gaming terms. Would the game even be here in a year's time?

Never mind. As I looked up my employer's site, I was chewing on the last slice of rye bread. Waste not, want not. But when I opened the biography of Lord Shantar, I very nearly choked on my fare. This Lord Shantar was none other than my very own bank manager friend Mr. Shantarsky! That's what had been giving me this constant déjà vu feeling all day.

All right. So that's what it was, then. I didn't even know what I was supposed to feel about it. The next morning I'd have to raise the subject in the bank. I was dying to call my wife but stopped myself.

Dmitry must have known all along. But he'd said nothing to me, the fox. Never mind.

I went on reading. Lord Shantar, level 210. When did the guy find the time to play? A member of the Gold Guild clan which in turn made part of the Alliance of Light—was in its top 10, in fact. They looked like serious people. Apparently, the game was divided into the two sides of Light and Darkness respectively, constantly feuding with each other. Not that it had anything to do with me: I was a humble level-0 Grinder.

So I gave that bit of info a miss. I couldn’t care less about their petty clan wars.

The game's official site informed everyone of the beta testing of their water world. According to the news, it had been successfully tested on several local servers with a preliminary release date in roughly three months' time. Nice job. Those game developers didn’t rest on their laurels.

From there, I switched to studying the various stats: professions, gear and point distribution.

Apparently, I'd done rather well on my first day in the game. Some had it much worse. I read in a blog about an Italian, a total newb like myself, who'd managed to splurge all his points on Strength—naturally, completely immobilizing himself. After having sat still for two hours, he'd been forced to reset his characteristics, losing 20% in the process.

A chill ran down my spine. I wouldn't have liked to have been in his shoes, that's for sure.

I also found out that the few lucky ones who'd managed to reach level 3 in farming—which seemed virtually impossible doing standard mining—received access to a second profession: a crafting one. Its choice depended on one's racial characteristics. In other words, I wouldn't be able to choose freely anymore: I had to accept what I was offered. According to the bloggers, this second profession was akin to a ticket to heaven. It took a lot of elbow grease, but in another year or two such a hard-working bastard could afford a Silver plan, no less.

I whistled with surprise. My hands shook as I entered my race in the search box. Right...

Excuse me?
No results found
? None at all? I checked the connection. It was working. What was wrong, then?

I entered the word into the advanced search. Aha! One of the forums seemed to have the search term mentioned in a dialogue—the whole two lines of it. A certain MedVed was writing,

Hi all,

Checked the admins site today. They've introduced this new race, the Ennan. I mean, WTF? What's wrong with all the dwarves and other underground midgets? Nothing about their abilities anywhere. Just another stupid beta they'll have to delete after a while.

A certain Ginger Dwarfa answered,

Who are you calling midgets, jerk?

That was about it. I stared at their brief teenage squabble trying to work out what was going on.

I did another check, just in case, of some of the biggest and most influential sites and forums. Nothing.

That was a let-down! Did that mean I'd chosen a non-existent race? How on earth had I managed to do that? I'd already spent half a day playing it!

Finally I located the info that comforted me somewhat. Apparently, the game included lots of races that hadn't become part of it. That didn't mean anything. Quite a few players were happy about it. Choosing one of the so-called “dead races” was even trendy in a way. But being a single player of some esoteric dead race was admittedly weird.

As I fell asleep, I kept thinking about my wife and daughter. Strangely enough, I was looking forward to the next morning. The Ennan's gloomy glare puzzled me. What kind of beast are you? How am I supposed to level you? You don't even have a simple manual, let alone a guidebook.

I'd managed to stake everything on a dark horse. Just my luck.