The Lag (The Game Master: Book #1) (31 page)

"Just gaming stuff," Attila answered. "Solve gaming problems for people. I actually like it. The idea was just begging to be born. I have a funny feeling they'll now mushroom all over the virtual worlds. We need to jump on the bandwagon while we can. Especially as we already have one solved crisis on our resume: Alpha."

The speakers clicked. They heard the familiar synthetic voice, the one used by Wayfarer,

"Not really."

They fell silent, dumbfounded. A third Skype user —
war_khan
— had joined their conversation, even though neither Beast nor Attila had authorized him to use their chat.

"But how did you-" Beast began in a sunken voice.

"Alpha is alive," Wayfarer cut him short. "We've only destroyed a small part of him. Alpha has left Gryad but he's still alive. He controls Bagrov — and through him, all of RussoVirt. I don't think he'll strike back straight away after his first major defeat. Most likely, he'll be acting discreetly and systematically. And he won't forget you. Here, have a look."

Yanna leaned closer to the monitor. Attila moved his chair closer. Two long sequences of letters and digits appeared in the chat window.

"What's this?" Beast asked breathlessly even though you could tell by the sound of his voice that he'd already worked out what it was.

"This is the anonymous account number in the Bloodmyst Isle First United Bank," Wayfarer explained. "In the World of Warcraft. There's two hundred thousand gold doubloons on the account. It's yours."

Silence fell. In the Skype window, Beast blinked and squinted, his broad freckled face betraying a whole range of emotions.

Attila was trying to calculate the rate. Two hundred thousand gold doubloons, it was... it was... He was about to Google the current in-game currencies rate but reconsidered. It was clear enough that this was one hell of a pile of money. He could always work out its exact size later.

Without saying a word, Yanna reached for the bottle of wine and took a long drink before passing it over to Attila. He took a few swigs. In the meantime, Beast recovered his senses and asked the question they had been itching to ask too,

"Wayfarer, mind telling us who you are, man? I'm very curious. Who the hell are you?"

"You might have guessed," the synthetic voice answered after a pause.

"Guess?"

"It's actually quite easy. If you remember everything I said in the game... In any case, I'd like to join your Bureau. Think you can hire me?"

Wayfarer didn't seem to question the viability of their Bureau idea. Attila suddenly noticed something that hadn't been there before: the third little icon in the Skype's side window that showed the chat's members. The first one was a camera shot of Beast's very own face, the second nothing but the acronym I.A. that Attila usually used instead of his Skype avatar. But the third... a white spiral swirled in it, resembling a tiny galaxy covered in a fine net symbolizing the World Wide Web. This Wayfarer aka war_khan had a weird taste for avatars.

Suddenly he realized who Wayfarer was! With a silent click, the picture in his head fell into place.

Unbelievable. But it had to be
him
. Definitely. But why would
this kind of person
choose Gryad, of all places? What if he'd really been killed — or rather, his body had been but he'd uploaded his identity to Gryad just in time somehow? There could be no other explanation.

Attila opened his mouth to tell the others about his discovery when Yanna spoke, answering Wayfarer's question,

"I don't mind you joining us. Why not? And you?"

Something stopped Attila's words in his throat. He decided against sharing his discovery with anyone. He just nodded. In far-off Switzerland, Misha Bolshakov a.k.a. Beast clenched a freckled fist and shook it in front of the monitor, announcing to the whole world,

"Watch out, everyone! We're coming!"

End of Book One

Dear Reader,

If you haven't yet worked out who Wayfarer is, we suggest you reread the first book of Game Master. There's a direct clue in its text revealing his true identity. But if you still can't guess, wait for Book Two to come out. It'll be out shortly. You can subscribe to Game Master Alerts to follow its progress.

Thank you for reading
The Lag (The Game Master Book#1)
! If you like what you've read, check out other LitRPG novels published by Magic Dome Books:

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More LitRPG books currently being translated to be released soon:

Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman Book #2
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