《Death Galaxy》 Difficulty
Welcome to Death Galaxy, Wanderer.
Please select your Difficulty: Easy For player¡¯s new to the TDAG Genre. -Higher HP, Lower XP gain, No Pain. Normal For veteran players of the TDAG genre. -Normal HP, Regular XP gain, Low Pain. Hard This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. For veteran¡¯s looking for a challenge. -Higher Enemy HP, Higher XP Gain, Moderate Pain *Nightmare For the true professional TDAG player. -Survival System Activated, Higher Enemy Level¡¯s, Lower XP Requirement¡¯s, Sub-Realistic Pain. **Legendary For those who want to live another life. -Full Integration System Activated, All Enemies have Lore appropriate Levels, Realistic Pain. Lower XP Requirement¡¯s, Higher XP Gain. *Recommended for those experienced with other Traveler? Games, Premium Account required. **For those unsatisfied with their current life or those incapacitated in some form and unable to interact with their life fully. Selecting this Difficulty automatically turns you into a Traveler employee. Premium Account not required.
Character creation. Alex had little reason not to pick Legendary. Wouldn¡¯t have bought the game if that hadn¡¯t been the intent. With that choice made, it was time to move on to character creation.
Please select your race: Human Lizardman Greys Android Echo
A pair of humanoids for each race popped into the black void. Most likely to advertise both sexes, Alex could see that the stereotypical humanoid shape had taken place. A variety of sizes and textures so to speak but probably enough similarity for most people to remain comfortable in their new forms. Worrying about the appearance later, Alex went down the list of each race. A window popped up that gave a short description of each one.
Humans are one of the oldest and chaotic of the races in Death Galaxy. Numerous empires, of a varying political core, have risen and fallen over their history. This has led to much of their personal history being lost, a tragedy only worsened by the Fall. A resilient and adaptive race, Humans are one of the most prevalent of race, populating nearly every corner of the galaxy. Due to centuries of hard-fought survival, none know why or what caused the Fall even though their ancestors lived through it.
Lizardmen are a paradoxically new race that found themselves awakening from stasis over numerous planets, hidden stations, and lost spaceships. Hailing from a time long before the Fall, they have no real knowledge about it. Already having been in a downward spiral, the reason they went into stasis in the first place, only due to their physical toughness and strength have they maintained their species. Reawakened Lizardmen are found in random but isolated locations, the total numbers varying.
Greys arrived from a different galaxy long before the Fall, opening a special gate to cross billions of lightyears. During the Fall, their only mode of transportation became irreparably damaged, trapping all Greys on this side. A relatively fragile race compared to all others, their numbers dwindled considerably, becoming a rare sight even to this day. Their vast intellect and knack for technological manipulation the only reason they did not go extinct, as their expertise keeps them on high-tech planets.
Androids are both new and old to Death Galaxy. What few records remain to show them being present before the Fall, few if any survived the Fall. Of all races, Androids being synthetic beings leads to severe diversity. From a simple mechanical skeleton of low intelligence to the most sophisticated cyber-organic android nearly indistinguishable from all other races, physically and mentally. It is still a debate what truly distinguishes a machine from an Android, considering they are ¡®born¡¯ in factories mostly.
Echos are one of the rarest races you will ever find in Death Galaxy. The reason for this is because they are not one race but multiple races that have been drowned by the Void. After the Void touches an individual, regardless of race or living status as even Androids are affected, Echos will be able to manipulate void energy. While most maintain their original relationships, there is an unspoken kinship with other Echos. Generally found near Void charged areas, with no real history to speak of as a race.
It was all descriptive information, with tidbits of benefits sprinkled in along with a possible starting location. Well, Alex assumed. The Traveler Games company kept a tight lip on the actual mechanics of the game. All people had to go on was a short description. Didn¡¯t say much about the game itself but it said enough to get people interested.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. In a galaxy of the dead, their silence screams louder than the void of space. Will you survive or will you join their legion? Debates and numerous interpretations came out about this one quote. A vague IP with no history or being designed by a noteworthy developer shouldn¡¯t have gained as much attention as it did. And it wouldn¡¯t have. If the company making it wasn¡¯t also using it as a flagship for the newest VR system at a cheaper price than all other competitors. The techno freaks were going rabid about the top of the line VR going for relatively dirt cheap. When it came out people could even be paid to play was the final nail in the coffin. But that didn¡¯t matter. The how¡¯s, what''s, when¡¯s and why¡¯s were trivial things in Alex''s eyes. It was a way out, and they were ready to take it. They just had to pick a race. Unexpected Finalization Picking a race hadn¡¯t been easy. If Legendary Difficulty was as hard as it said it was, every possible advantage was needed. Problem was, every perk could have had a hidden downside. So as tantalizing as some options were there was a very real possibility of the demerits outweighed the benefits. Hard to play a game if you started out crippled, right? In the end, everything was based on guesswork. While Alex could have just waited for others to get in first to give tips and tricks, it would be at a disadvantage. Traveler Games said all day one players would receive an in-game boon, with the boon increasing in quality the higher the difficulty. There had also been a media blackout for an entire week put in place as well. You either took a risk and reaped the rewards. Or you stayed behind and trailed behind everyone else. An easy decision for some sure. It was just a game, right? They welcomed the challenge. But Traveler¡¯s Games¡¯ had also put out a warning shortly before the VR System and Death Galaxy itself were shipped out. If you treat Death Galaxy like every other VR that came before, you will pay dearly for it. There is a level of freedom and control in your hands that has never before been seen. Even on the easiest difficulty, a lackadaisical approach will see you punished accordingly. This isn¡¯t a game like any other. This is not a game at all. It¡¯s another life for you to live. One that will be at constant risk and danger, where every move matters. Approach it with the same amount of fear and caution danger demands of you in real space. Some thought this was just a PR move, while others saw it as an in-universe advertisement. The company¡¯s stock going up because of it the next day was seen as ample evidence. Overall, no one took it seriously. Alex was of a different mindset. If the VR was as realistic as the company boasted, as near perfect sensory recreation of real life, why damage the emersion? Alex was here to get away from their own life, if but for a moment. And what better way than to lean in as hard as possible? Alex wasn¡¯t here to roleplay. He was here to live. Serious emotional emersion aside, they chose Echo. It was basically a two for one deal. And hell, who didn¡¯t want to play with sci-fi magic? Nothing beats military hardware like a good old fireball. Selecting Echo, another window popped into existence.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
You have selected a Male Echo as your race. Are you sure? Y/N
Always have redundancy. Would hate to be the guy who miss clicked and got stuck with a race they didn¡¯t want. Alex confirmed his choice. All the other races disappeared, and Alex was left with his soon to be an avatar in front of him. Now, Alex was left with the most torturous part of any game. Character customization. Considering just how important this part would be, as it would be his literal face at this point, there was no room for error. Alex was ready to spend hours tweaking everything just how he wanted. So, it was with some disappointment he found himself with only three slides. The base appearance for an Echo, before the original race was added in Alex guessed, was a silhouette with a colored outline and lights where their eyes would be. The form was clearly male, a stereotypical form that was a bit more buff than Alex was in real life. The slides were simplified color wheels that showed every color of the rainbow. One for his eyes, outline, and the silhouette itself. Didn¡¯t leave much room for individuality, did it? Oh well. Might as well make the most of it. Within a couple of minutes, Alex got the appearance he¡¯d liked. Reflective black with golden eyes and a golden outline. Not his best work, but it got what he was aiming for. Dark, rugged handsomeness with a glint of value shining through. And he had hit the nail on the head. Definitely. Probably. Maybe. Ok, Alex didn¡¯t know much about color theory, but it still looked cool. It was enough for him.
Would you like to confirm your appearance?* Y/N *Note: As an Echo, it is virtually impossible to change your appearance afterward.
Eh, Alex was fine with this. Hopefully, the race he was going to graft the Echo onto had more options to work with. Maybe he¡¯d pick the Lizardmen. Always wondered what it felt like to have scales.
Character Creation Complete.
...I¡¯m sorry, what?
Avatar Locked In.
No, no, no! Wait! What about my original race? Aren¡¯t Echos just race variants!?
Please Select Your Class.
Ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkkkkkkk. Class Selection. The game had asked if he was sure, but he didn¡¯t expect it to just settle on a colored shape as it did. He was filled with equal levels of frustration and regret. If he knew things would have been as bare-bones as they were, he might have changed his mind picking Echo. ... Sigh. Welp, what¡¯s done is done. Might as well move on to the next bit or he¡¯d never get over it.
Please Select Your Starting Class. Due to selecting Legendary Difficulty, you may pick from a pool of five. Chaos Bowman Temporal Gravedigger Gun Pharmasist Destiny Outlaw Nano Biologist
Ok. These classes were weird. Like, really out there. Piecing the tidbits of lore that were spread around by the races, he was entering an apocalypse scenario. A rather serious one since it was on a galactic scale. A galaxy built on logic and pseudo-science if the Void his race was made of was anything to go by. So, things that had mythical, fantastical, or even western themes to them seemed out of place. Alex remained puzzled for a moment longer before deciding it wasn¡¯t worth thinking about. There¡¯s a reason for everything, so might as go with the flow. Can¡¯t nitpick every little detail, or he might not have any fun. For now, it was best to see what he had to work with.
Chaos Bowman: A bowman can either be an archer or a lead rower on a boat. As a Chaos Bowman, you are an indecisive madman who tried to do both at the same time. It worked. Somehow. A hybrid class, you will receive abilities from both Archer and Head Boatman classes. Due to the muddled melding of these classes, you will be prone to chaotic side effects at random. Survive long enough and your chaotic powers will overwhelm your enemies on a ship and at range. Probably.
Temporal Gravedigger: Time is an encroaching mistress that claims everything at some point. You have elected to be her personal excavator. Through manipulation of time to varying effects, you will know when and where someone will meet their end. Be it the cold emptiness of space or the bitter warmth of salted earth. A primarily utility class, you are not left vulnerable. Many a soul found themselves six feet underground underestimating an experienced shoveler. Woes be someone meets one with time on their side.
Gun Pharmacist: Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.A medical professional that learned to defend themself and administer drugs at a distance. Proficient with chemistry and marksmanship, you know numerous concoctions to help or hinder wherever you administer it too. A support class that also dabbles in craftmanship, specifically of the medical and gunsmithing kind. You may not be a doctor, but you can still administer your medical knowledge with a bang. May those at the end of your barrel be a friend or pay dearly for it.
Destiny Outlaw: Reality has a path for all to walk down, with few able or willing to diverge from their destiny. You make it a habit of breaking the chains of fate on a daily basis. You see the invisible strings that pull others, controlling them like blind puppets. With the proper measures, unimaginable results may come to pass. Beware though this power. Not all chains are equal, some as fragile as string while others are as tougher than the strongest metals. Fate will not stand idly by while you ruin their plans.
Nano-Biologist: Curios things, aren¡¯t they? Smaller than the eye can see, and yet they manipulate the building blocks of life so easily. Even with the secrets to biological life at your disposal, few are capable of showing immediate effects. Not you though. You can craft and control machines to produce the ultimate being with a snap of your fingers. There are limits of course. You can not create the impossible, but with the proper research and resources, you can get damn close.
So, Alex had options, some betters than others. None of them were entirely useless, but that may have just been his bias opinion. Usually, classes were entirely combat focused, with abilities to support others or themselves on occasion. It was weird to see classes that weren¡¯t even focused on such a thought process. It could be they just didn¡¯t have immediate access to an offensive front. Being late bloomers that really kicked off at later levels. It could also be Alex just lacked the proper imagination at the moment. A healer could be far more dangerous than a warrior in the right circumstance. With enough preparation and forethought, a commoner could slaughter a giant. Difficult but not impossible. With this train of thought, Alex thought back to the last message Traveler¡¯s Game had put out. Death Galaxy wasn¡¯t meant to be treated like a game. Outside of games, life wasn¡¯t just about fighting and being strong, Sure, the stronger you were the easier life could be. A good could archer feed himself by hunting at a safe distance. But there was still somethings strength couldn¡¯t do. A swordsman couldn¡¯t grow vegetables just by cutting the ground. Life demanded a multitude of skills that were more complex than just ¡®smash good¡¯. It didn¡¯t devalue being able to protect yourself, but if you wanted to live past just the fight, more knowledge was required. Something these classes could be capable of in their own respect. It was something that demanded he go over each class and weigh the possible pros and cons carefully. After the fiasco from just character creations, there may be some unspoken demerits Alex wasn¡¯t seeing. If he wanted to survive longer than a day in Death Galaxy, he had to milk every advantage he could get. Especially if he was going to be playing on Legendary Difficulty. Haunting Preview Alex spent a lot of time here debating which class to get. Humming and hawing at them as each one called to him. Well, all of them except Chaos Bowman. Don¡¯t think there are many rowboats in space or much need for a bow and arrow when there are guns available. Eventually, he narrowed it down to two but just couldn¡¯t decide. Rather than spend another hour going back and forth on the subject, he went with the age-old method that never let humans down. He covered his eyes and picked at random. Truly, Alex¡¯s intelligence knew no limits. So as to not second guess himself, he made sure to click yes on the confirmation window without really seeking what he¡¯d chosen. Didn¡¯t really work, but his finger had already clicked on the yes button already. Seeing what he¡¯d ended up with was a mixed feeling, even if it had been one of his more preferred choices. His thoughts melted away as the white void Alex had been standing in turned entirely black. Deep darkness that left Alex blind for a moment. Soon small light began to appear in the black void. Stars. Then galaxies. Soon enough Alex was floating in space where all of reality existed. A universe is a vast place. A feminine voice spoke up, coming from nowhere. A reality full of possibilities and potential. Alex was now on a planet. An alien landscape with strange fauna. A quadrupedal hairless canine-like animal sniffing the ground. Millions of years of progress, trillions of lives arriving and going in a flash. The creature then stood up on two legs and Alex saw a civilization sprout into existence around him in seconds. Clothing covered the alien, basic tools in his hand. A simple house in the distance, with other aliens of different hues and sizes but still of the same species. The alien held their makeshift axe on their shoulder, admiring what may have been their family off in the distance. Then the alien stepped to the side and began walking. As they walked, Alex was watching a real-life highlight reel of this creature¡¯s society advance. A medieval civilization touting knights in armor. An industrial revolution with muskets and flintlocks. A world war era of riffles and explosives. The information age of smartphones and computers. And then the age of flying vehicles and laser weaponry.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The alien changed as it walked, wearing appropriate clothing for the gear and time. Physically, there were also noticeable changes. They stood taller, straighter, with their facial features smoothing out. Leaving the survivalist appearance for a more civilized look. And yet, all things must come to an end. The constant entropy that claims life ever-churning forward. The landscape, sprouting countless technological achievements, began to rot. Skyscrapers fell, flying vehicles crashed, and vegetation decade in seconds. The once-proud alien began to age rapidly, body shrinking and hunching over, as their skin sagged and paled. Every step became an arduous struggle, demanding more and more of the creature. Eventually, it was too much. The alien fell and rotted almost instantly. Skin became dust and his ragged and old clothing evaporated. The only things left were the yellowed bones half-buried in the sand of a dead world. A cold cycle that puts the dead to rest. An entire civilization disappeared in an instant. All Alex was left to look at was an unmarked grave with wind blowing sand that slowly buried the corpse. A sober and nihilistic reminder of how insignificant life was in the grand design of the universe. A cycle that is now broken. A silence more prevalent than any Alex had ever experienced came. He couldn¡¯t even hear his breath. Worried and discomfort began to settle in. Emotions that stopped dead as the bones began to rise. Like a broken marionette, the alien¡¯s remains moved in a disjointed manner. Stiff and rapid movements that should have cracked or ground. Sounds that the unnatural silence kept Alex from hearing. Rising to a crouched position, the alien had fully dug themselves out of their once grave. All on its own. The head snapped towards Alex. Panic grasped at him. He took a step back. The alien took one forward. The reality of the situation became clear to Alex. It could see him. And it didn¡¯t look nice. Alex was far too slow. In the couple steps that it took him to turn and run, the alien had already tackled him to the ground. He struggled and flailed, trying desperately to save his own life. Then his world became a pain. He screamed. He cried. But he couldn¡¯t hear his own suffering. He couldn¡¯t hear the crunch as bones were snapped. He couldn¡¯t hear the tearing as his skin was lacerated. He couldn¡¯t hear the splash of blood against the sand as he began to bleed out. The silence left him deaf to it all. But he could see it. And he most definitely felt it. By god, he could feel it. Yet, drowning in the delirium of pain and silence, the last few words the woman spoke broke through like thunder. Wanderer. Will you survive the oncoming silence? Will you be another unmarked grave amongst billions? The last thing Alex saw was the monster. The unfeeling and uncaring beast that disemboweled him without mercy. A savage undead freak that was choking the life out of him, the final nail in the coffin. Alex saw his own face, a ravenous grin of madness carved into it. Or will you be dammed to a fate worse than death? Darkness claimed him. Welcome to Death Galaxy. Player Choice Alex found himself in the same white void as before. He was confused for a moment, bit really remembering what had happened. A small reprieve as the memories came crashing down on him like a shower of bricks. Alex fell to his knees, dry heaving, his body reacting poorly to the experience. Quite an achievement in this day and age. At worse VR could only induce vertigo or dulled pained simulation. Alex really felt like his body was trying and failing to compensate for the psychologically damaging experience he just went through. Truly, a marvel of human technology designed by Traveler Games! ¡°I need-fuck-to, turn down, heugh, the p-pain receptors. God damn, that sucked.¡± Something that Alex failed to recognize at the moment. Not that he felt he should have been complaining. He had set the game to Legendary Difficulty. He just hadn¡¯t been expecting that level of pain in the god damn intro. He might need to rethink whether an extra paycheck was worth that level of realism. It sold the downer tone the game was going for if nothing else. Wiping the spit off his face, a rather impressive graphical design now that he noticed it, Alex stood back up. Can¡¯t play a game if he stayed in a fetal position the entire time, now could he? The system recognizing, he was ready to continue, brought him another window. It appeared to be a summary of his previous choices.
You have selected the following settings for Death Galaxy: Difficulty: Legendary Race: Echo Class: Destiny Outlaw We will now begin generating your avatar and select the appropriate starting location.
A loafing bar began to load underneath the window. Numerous small software keywords being generated, or quality checked. Of which there was a lot of because Alex could hardly read the words that were flashing in and out rather quickly. Well, guess there really was no going back now. He was stuck with Legendary Difficulty for the rest of the session. He could always opt-out later. Might as well give it a shot. Right before the bar reached full capacity, another window appeared.
Wanderer, there appear to be several modifiers to your Avatar. These modifiers are: Difficulty: Legendary Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.Race: Echo Class: Destiny Outlaw Day-One Boon: (Legendary) Traveler Employee Account Please wait as Death Galaxy is updated to include these modifiers.
Uh, ok? Kind of wanted to play the game already but sure, he could wait a little longer. The bar was full in seconds. Well, that was fast. The first window had changed. They were also rather significant.
You have selected the following settings for Death Galaxy: Difficulty: Legendary (Permanent)* Race: Echo (Android: Organic Model) Class: Destiny Outlaw (Former Class: Nano-Biologist) Day One Boons: Starting Class Skills, Starting Race Skills, Starting Equipment, Background Scenario, Legendary Quest. *As a Traveler Employee, you may not change Difficulty, Delete Avatar, or Change Account. Would you like to begin Wanderer? Y/N
This... what the hell was this? He couldn¡¯t change the difficulty. His Echo subrace was chosen for him. His class, which had a subclass he wasn¡¯t told about, was also picked for him. And on top of all that, he was stuck with this character forever. For a game that touted freedom and control, he was experiencing a startling lack of at the moment. Alex let out a groan of frustration, brushing his fingers through his hair as the game was wearing down his patience. It was one thing to take his agency at times. Games demanded you hand over some control to the designers if you wanted to play their games. He got that. What he couldn¡¯t accept was have it happen on the back of what was paramount to torture in the can of a near-death experience. Then being told that such suffering was likely to continue because of a misinformed decision was insulting. No amount of money was enough to band-aid the experience. Sure, others could argue he had been warned beforehand about how bad it would be. Alex would then ask them if they would like to experience lifelike disembowelment and be told not to complain about it. ... Whatever. Life¡¯s fucked Alex one too many times already. What¡¯s another kick to the nuts, right? Selecting yes, Alex saw the window disappear without any fanfare. While waiting for the scenery to change deep exhaustion snuck upon him. He became so tired; he couldn¡¯t even break his fall as he literally fell unconscious. The next moment, Alex was staring into a reptilian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Android 413X what is your current status?¡± Alex, master communicator and lexicon extraordinaire, bedazzled the female sounding lizard with his masterful use of language. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I repeat Android 413X, what is your current status?¡± ¡°...Who?¡± A window popped in front of his face, preventing him from ruining his first impression any further.
Welcome, Wanderer. Before you truly begin Death Galaxy, we will be running through your Background Scenario. The choices here will decide what leads to your Class: Destiny Outlaw and Race: Echo. Due to selecting Legendary Difficulty, applicable progress will be maintained after completion.
First Moments In Hell Zanthras was not a patient woman. Patience bred complacency. Complacency bred laziness. Laziness led to death. Death leads to more death. It was something Zanthras was done seeing. That¡¯s why she was here, in bum fuck nowhere, on a dead planet with no one to drag her down with their own inefficiency. Even better, she found enough resources to boot up a sophisticated Android to smoothing things along for the rest of her life. To say she was disappointed with 413X was an understatement. Zanthras had never come across a more mentally disabled machine in her life. This wasn¡¯t the standard faults of a machine that was going into disrepair or experiencing software corruption. Those could have been fixed. No, the malfunction that plagued 413X was much more insidious. Ignorance and curiosity. He was just so full of pointless questions! Who was she? Was she a Lizardman? Where were they? Were they on a planet or a spaceship? Ridiculous! It was like she was dealing with a newborn hatchling than a dilapidated machine with who knows how many years of experience. But she could have worked with that. Grit her teeth and push through those inane questions. Correct its ignorance and turn 413X into a useful tool for her survival. She made it this far already. How hard could one little robot be? And then she found out he was a scientist of all things. Yes, she had spent weeks of time and resources on a noncombatant android instead of something useful. Zanthras was living in what could be best described as a dump and at worst a shithole. Literally, nothing that could be useful for a scientist. All she had to work with was a tougher body to take the hits. While his pseudo creator was experiencing a debatably reasonable mental breakdown, Alex was examining the room he was in. Instead of investigating and taking a more proactive approach to the situation, Alex was doing what any experienced gamer did. He looked at the pretty looking polygons. The VR had delivered as advertised. The graphics were incredibly lifelike. Sure, he had already been seeing them with character creation and the cinematic intro. Honestly, Alex had just chalked that up to the selective presentation. Travelers Games wouldn¡¯t have been the first to use higher quality previews than the actual game. But this may have been the first time the trailer had undersold the quality. Weirdly enough, the visuals clashed with his other senses. His sense of touch was rather dull like his entire body was slightly numb. Alex was confused by this, and then he remembered what race he was. Androids, or maybe just Alex¡¯s current model, were machines. Some senses wouldn¡¯t be needed as much. In addition to being built for a specific purpose, Androids probably were harder to kill in general so many of the organic features weren¡¯t brought to a living person''s level. Speaking of his race the android race, the version Alex was anyway, looked more like a cyborg than a full-on robot. A human form with pistons and gears clearly visible mostly near the joints, with the overall correct shape for a bipedal humanoid. No extra bits and pieces as far as he could see. The only thing that really stood out was his feet. He didn¡¯t have toes. It was a weird sensation when he wiggled his flexible shoe like a foot without a doubt. Overall, if Alex wore the right clothing and left his more skin as areas exposed, he¡¯d be indistinguishable from a person. One that wasn¡¯t reptilian like the mechanic in front of him, as the lack of scaled skin would indicate. Or such features were isolated to his head. Alex hadn¡¯t found a mirror to check yet. It was an appearance that clashed against the Lizardman that was with him. Or is it Lizardwoman? Is it like human were its gender-neutral? Would sound weird if he said huwoman. Honestly, he probably should have been more focused on why she had repaired him, other than getting lost in thought about her culture. It was hard to consider these facts when there was a literal alien in front of him.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Her appearance was enough to call Alex¡¯s attention. Unlike his Echo avatar, there was actually more details. Overall, Lizardmen looked like someone decided to put a reptilian template on a human form. Scales replaced skin, claws instead of fingernails, lizard eyes, and spikes where hair should be. Some parts were missing, like a nose or ears. Instead, there were just holes in those areas. Still enough of a bump on the face to look like a nose though. She was both amazing and slightly disturbing to look at. It was a shame the magic of alien biology clashed with her boobs. Wearing a mechanics overall, it failed to hide her hourglass figure. And this fact sort of ruined Alex¡¯s emersion. She was clearly a blue scaled reptilian extraterrestrial. What part of evolution demanded mammalian features? Did they give live birth? Did they produce milk? Can lizards produce milk? When he asked, she looked more confused than offended but still. It was a rather rude thing to ask a total stranger. Especially if it was your first question after you just met. Pushing past this, she said she wanted to go over some basic diagnostic tests. Make sure nothing was broken or loose. Then came a retune of stretches and awkward body movements. Nothing impossible, but it took a minute for Alex to get in the rhythm of things. His new body was rather different from the one he was used to without a doubt. As the procedure went on, Alex couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the situation. Basically, he was getting to play a tutorial that was seamlessly intergraded into the game. In fact, he was testing the control and getting used to the movement. From his eyes at least. From the Lizardman¡¯s point of view, this was just a diagnostic test. ¡°Alright. Now, pull up your personal sheet.¡± To say didn¡¯t understand nor knew how to follow her request was an understatement. Thankfully, this was the moment that Death Galaxy reminded him it was a game.
ID: 413X Class: Nano-Biologist Level: 0 Skills: None Attributes: None
Unfortunately for Alex, his character sheet was rather empty. It lacked any other than his Avatar¡¯s name and class. Everything else had nothing going for it. Alex had to say it was rather weird-looking. No game he¡¯s ever played lacked this much substance for his character. Then again, no game tried to be this immersive. ¡°Well, 413X? Are you a construction model or combat version? The latter would be ideal, but I could work the former. God¡¯s know you have enough material to work with here.¡± Right, the Lizardman was still here. Having yet no reason to distrust her, Alex released the findings on his sheet. ¡°I don¡¯t really understand it, but I¡¯m a Nano-Biologist. My level¡¯s zero and I don¡¯t have any skills or abilities.¡± There was an audible clang as the lizardman had dropped a wrench she had been holding. ¡°No. No, you can¡¯t be serious. You can¡¯t be that useless. You can¡¯t have taken weeks of my life just to turn out to be a god damn scientist.¡± The lizard woman then began to have a small moment of despair. Alex didn¡¯t see what the problem was. Sure, his class was a bit weird, but it wasn¡¯t like he was useless. She had another body on hand that probably didn¡¯t need to eat. If it weren¡¯t too complicated, he would double their level of production and overall ability in most things. Alex could help her fight if need be, at worst being a meat shield. Not knowing how to comfort a bipedal reptilian, Alex went around and did his damn best to admire the graphics. As luck would have it, Zanthras wasn¡¯t the only one getting an unfortunate revelation. Alex''s alarm went off. A familiar window appeared in front of his eyes. The awkward mood soured entirely for Alex. He had been having fun running away into the digital world. And now it was time to head back into that hell. Without any fanfare, he logged out of the game. While Alex was dealing with his personal issues, Zanthras had bigger problems. The poor revelation of the Android¡¯s usefulness was only worsened by the fact the machine stopped moving. She only noticed because it fell to the floor without breaking its fall. She jumped, surprised by the noise and stared in muted horror as the android she spent weeks repairing seemingly drop dead. Zanthras thought the day just couldn¡¯t get any worse. And then it did. Developer Woes Darrel hated his job. It wasn¡¯t the crunch time. It wasn¡¯t the thankless work. It wasn¡¯t even the constant questioning of his abilities. He¡¯d dealt with idiots before and over-demanding bosses. What he hated was the fact he had no damned idea what he was doing. Signing up and being accepted by Traveler¡¯s Games R&D department had felt like a dream job. A steady paycheck, solid standing if he changed jobs and a lucrative number of benefits. And it had gone as planned in the first months. The steady increase of ranking and payment as his efforts were recognized. Some office romance with a coworker. Even a rumored project lead position if he played his cards right. And then he was pulled onto the team that was developing Death Galaxy. To say it was a shit show would have been putting it lightly. Several warnings went off in the back of Darrel¡¯s head. The game was already complete. So was the VR pod that would be used to run the game. Hell, even the marketing team had finished in advance before the game was released. All Darrel had to do was smooth out the bugs with the help of a team of developers. Darrel had thought it was a weird but simple request. A bonus upon completion and even a discount for the game and the VR pod when it finally came out. It had been too good to be true. And it was. Because the last couple of years were development hell. The game would literally crash over the smallest thing. You logged in. It crashed. You got to character creation. It crashed. Your avatar loaded into the game. It crashed. It took literal months to get the game to run for longer than five minutes. And that had been issues on just the game itself. The system that actually ran the game proved to be a rather hazardous machine. Whenever the game didn¡¯t immediately crash, the capsule would experience a wide degree of malfunctions. Users would be ripped out of the VR without any safety features. Some remained aware of their real-world senses clash with the game¡¯s virtual ones. Even an unfortunate few had gone into shock by the overloading level of information the pod shoved into them. They had signed a waiver, but a check and apologies weren¡¯t much compensation for their injuries in some cases. The only reason that Traveler¡¯s Games wasn¡¯t sued by this was the numerous clauses they had snuck into the waivers. It had boiled down to the injured party being threatened with financial disaster if they disclosed an ounce of what had transpired. They were handed money, were given a halfhearted apology, and then told to move on with their lives. No one on the team could believe the lead director when she said the game was complete, much less the hardware. It wasn¡¯t until she gave an example of both working perfectly did the team have their doubts swayed. Death Galaxy ran without issue on any other hardware, even some of the cheapest systems, a feat in and of itself. The Traveler¡¯s Capsule as the VR pod was called could play any other VR game, to a staggering level of clarity.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Both worked fine by themselves. It was actually getting both of them to work in tandem that was the problem. Something that the actual game developers or the VR engineers couldn¡¯t tell them why they reacted this way. Darrel and his team were literally told to just figure it out without any direction of how to. It''s why Darrel spent the last four years of his life trying to fix this broken mess of a game that couldn¡¯t be shipped with any other VR system or vise versa for the Traveler¡¯s Capsule. It was a miracle in his eyes they had gotten the game to the level of playability they had. It''s why everyone on the team was celebrating the release. Everyone except Darrel that is. Darrel didn¡¯t see himself as a genius. A little smarter than average. But how he saw himself as a perfectionist. A painful attitude in an industry that was chock full of glitches half the time. But if he didn¡¯t fix the problems in front of him, he¡¯d have them nagging at the back of his mind until then. While they had solved the majority of the problems in Death Galaxy, there were shortly still some scattered around that the team had failed to notice. And this is why he hated his job. Because while he was still at work, everyone else was partying as if they had just passed the finish line. Darrel himself knew they were far from safe. Death Galaxy had been a pain in the ass in a controlled environment. He could only imagine the hell that would be trying to keep it running with millions of players trying to break the damn thing every day. And the only way they knew how to fix the damn thing was blind trial and error. A scenario that would be reinforced by the number of players that would play Death Galaxy on Legendary. The few test runners who had played on those settings had quite almost immediately, some full-on resigning from VR testers. There was such a thing as too much realism. And now there were a few hundred thousand people who were going to play all at once in uncharted territory. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the company lost sales because of it. If that were to happen, his head would be on the chopping block as marketing was looking for someone to blame. He¡¯d be so lucky as to be the only one that got thrown under the bus. Wouldn¡¯t that be a blow to interspecies relations if the first new human-old human joint VR system tanked almost immediately? With that thought, Darrel kept typing away at his computer. All alone in his own little cubicle, Darrel was monitoring millions of people explore and experience the game he had spent years fixing. It warmed his heart knowing people would enjoy the result of his efforts. It also frustrated him as it showed an untold number of bulls in his china shop of a game. He hated being right. He found the first major bug. Turns out the avatar, in an attempt to maintain realism on Legendary Difficulty, would not disappear when the user logged out. Which translated into a spontaneous vegetable becoming victim to the laws of gravity. Hell, some players had already died because of it unbeknownst to them. How the hell was Darrel supposed to fix an intended mechanic of the game? He didn¡¯t know. He hated not knowing. He hated his god damn job. Half Hearts and Half Breeds Alex was a man that came from a respectable family. Good money and above-average genes, as his father would have put it. A history of successful men and women in most things they did. Not enough to retain political or celebrity status, but enough to earn a wealthier than average lifestyle. It''s why Alex was able to afford the VR pod made specifically for Death Galaxy. Travelers Games faired no expense, intending to provide the most sophisticated graphics in recent history. A fact that Alex just confirmed. Stepping out of the giant black egg that was the VR machine, it still was a stark change from the other market items. Everything else was just a helmet that induced controlled rem sleep. They were good, no questions about it if you bought the right model. Even then, there was still a noticeably clear disconnect whenever someone played. A detachment from your real body that your VR avatar always had. Traveler¡¯s Capsule instead sported near indistinguishable senses from real life. Of course, such quality would be out of the price range of most people. His family lineage was the only reason he had been able to afford it in the first place. A fact that was lorded every day above Alex¡¯s head. Not that there was anyone else around to reminded Alex of this fact. Other than himself. Alex left his game room, a place entirely built for virtual entertainment, and headed for the bathroom. It was time for his daily medication. As much as he hated it, it was necessary for his survival. And as much as sweat relief death would bring him, it wouldn¡¯t have been a painless exit. It would be much better to die in his sleep. Reaching into the bathroom mirror, Alex pulled out a bottle of pills and a small syringe with four needles. The syringe was for his heart. The pills were for his brain. Unbuttoning his shirt, he aimed for the same scars that never healed all his life over his breast. A quick plunge, a sharp pain that Alex had gotten used to over the years, and the chest pain that was starting to develop disappeared. Turning on the faucet, he downed the required daily pill. He didn¡¯t feel like he needed them, but that meant they were working. Closing the mirror, he was presented with reflexing. The sad little man that always looked a jump away from death. A life of medication and depression would do that to you. Or this was always what Alex would have looked like in better circumstances. He couldn¡¯t jump into other dimensions to check. The new humans had vetoed that technology long after they had arrived. Maybe his roots would have been a dull blue instead of bright pink. God, he hated the color. No amount of shaving or hair die was going to get rid of it. It was the only piece of dysfunctional biology that worked in any capacity that could be called well.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. That¡¯s what Alex got for being born a mixed race. It wasn¡¯t anything trivial like skin tone or cultural divide. No, his parents turned out to be a literal tridimensional union. Usually, there wasn¡¯t anything wrong with new humans and old humans reproducing. As far as science could tell, there were more genetic similarities between the two than a human had with a banana. Visually, the only real difference was the fact new humans had different hair and eye color. Instead of being limited to variants of red, brown, black, and blond hair, new humans sported every color of the rainbow except those four. Their eyes themselves sported variants of red, yellow, orange, and white. You¡¯d think hair color wouldn¡¯t cause so much trouble, wouldn¡¯t you? You¡¯d be right. But like all things, there¡¯s always that one-million-dollar lottery winner. Alex turned out to be the unluckiest guy on the planet. Because its malfunction was literally one in a billion. Turns out, there was a rare occasion where there was just enough DNA diversity that human bodies were considered to be different species entirely. Essentially, instead of a human born with a percentile diversity of both races, he was treated like a half bread. Like how a tiger and lion would make a liger. Unlike how it''s commonly portrayed in fantasy, half breeds are full of biological disfunction. In Alex¡¯s case, it¡¯s a chemical imbalance in the brain and the mussels in his heart being self-destructive. The first leads to near-constant migraines at best, psychotic breaks at worse. His heart tended to cannibalize itself as his cells saw each other as invaders. The pills provided a vital solution that controlled the biology of his brain and kept things stable. The syringe was just a quick patch of vat-grown cells that temporarily patched his heart and speed up his healing. Alex had to apply his medication daily to maintain a stable living. Unique medication meant specifically for him. Regular life would be difficult but not impossible in this state. As long as he took care not to commit to a too physically demanding lifestyle, his weak heart wouldn¡¯t rupture. If he kept taking his pills at a regular pace, he was a functioning member of society. Expensive but doable. So why did he hate his life? People with much more crippling deficiency would be able to do more if they tried hard enough. The difference between them and Alex was rather simple. They wanted to make something of themselves. Alex just wanted to curl up and be forgotten by the world. One of the side effects of crossbreeding was the fact new human hair color was dominant but quickly ¡®died¡¯ after enough time. This led to the vibrant hair color blending into a more standard old human hair color. Alex¡¯s lineage was rather obvious as his old human hair was straight black like his mother¡¯s. He looked like a new human trying to masquerade as an old human that forgot to redye his roots. A controversial fashion choice in this day and age. A fact his so-called family never let him live him down. Apparently being born a mistake was as much your fault as it was your parent¡¯s. Alex got a call. Checking his wrist phone, he saw the one person he didn¡¯t want to talk to the most in his life. His father. The universe was laughing at him. Transdimensional Sickness ¡°Hi, dad.¡± ¡°Hey there sport, how are you doing?¡± John Black was a man of resolution and dedication. A strict man with values and honor on his side. Such traits had gotten him far in life, a feat when two races living on the same planet were in an unspoken cold war. The fact he snaked a partner on the proposed opposing side was just icing on the cake. ¡°Surprisingly good so far, dad. Got the new Traveler Games VR system installed today. It¡¯s been everything it¡¯s been hyped up to be. Hope it stays that way.¡± ¡°Good, good. That''s real nice son. Glad to see you¡¯re enjoying yourself.¡± There was a moment of silence. Alex was familiar with this pause in the conversation. He knew his father rarely made a social call. Not at this hour at least. It was a sign he cared. Didn¡¯t stop it from grating on his nerves. ¡°There was just a dip in power when it was installed. After that, the power went back to regular levels. Didn¡¯t even feel it.¡± The sigh of relief he let out was palpable. ¡°Good. That¡¯s good. Honestly, I was rather worried about the thing being too much for the power grid. Guess I ow your mom dinner for getting worked up.¡± Alex couldn¡¯t help but smile at the flirtatious nature his parents had kept all these years. Don¡¯t think he ever met a more amorous couple in his life, real or otherwise. The joy died as he remembered there was only one real blemish on their happily ever after. And it was on a call with his father. His dad must have picked up on it. He brought up a movie Alex had shown interest in, trying his best to uplift his son¡¯s spirits. And so, the call devolved into a catch-up conversation. Some points of interest were discussed, gripes were aired out, and overall a pleasant talk. ¡°Well, I better be going son. No rest for the weary as they say right?¡± ¡°Course dad. Talk to you later.¡± Alex hung up. He stared at his reflection a little longer. An uplifting conversation, as brief as it was. And not a drop of joy showed on his face. They say smiling is less demanding than frowning. Apparently, Alex was aiming to prove them wrong. If such a firm but loving man was Alex¡¯s father, why did he hate having these conversations? Because every word was dripping with pity and self-blame. He and his mother thought it was their fault for Alex¡¯s misfortune. A perspective that infuriated Alex as he just saw them as being unlucky. If anyone was to blame, it was Alex himself. Alex sat on a sofa that faced the window wall of his home. His house was built on the side of the mountain, at the edge of a cliff face that fell into the open ocean. A real tourist attraction as an arm of land reached into the ocean, littered with trees and various fauna. A natural work of art only enhanced by the setting sun and crimson clouds. It was also entirely fake. If Alex walked up and touched the window, the image would distort as the entire wall of a television flickered. The waterfall he heard falling down the cliff came from speakers than outside. The balcony had sprinklers and hidden fans to simulate storms and wind.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Why was such a financially gifted and medically stable, to the extent he could be, a person like Alex trapped in his fake house? Because if he left his home for more than an hour, he¡¯d die. An incident years prior had left his body irrevocably damaged. As the tech from new human society was spread around and concurrently advanced, there was a rapid increase of quality-of-life access. Besides hover cars and superior fuel efficiency, came the greatest feat in logistical history. Teleportation Gates. Or the more scientifically accurate name, as far as Alex knew, a two-point wormhole system. You go through one door; you pop out the other. They were all the rage years back; around the time his parents were born. To Alex¡¯s generation, they were common but expensive forms of transportation. He was supposed to go on a field trip the first time he was going to go through one of the gates. He¡¯d been so excited Jumping from one side of the world to the next. It was almost magical. So, you have to imagine how horrifying an experience it had been being fine on one side and then walking out the other vomiting blood with your skin beginning to melt. Turns out half breeds are incredibly sensitive to trans dimensional travel. Since part of you is foreign matter to the universe, the part of you that that came with the new humans, you¡¯re a bit out of sync with old humans¡¯ reality. New humans didn¡¯t have this problem, something about their biology being medically treated when they first crossed over. Like most things some people slipped through the cracks and didn¡¯t get the treatment. His mother¡¯s grandparents had been one of the lucky few. Really lucky since they hadn¡¯t shown any adverse symptoms. Neither them nor their children, who would grow up to have his mother, ever dealt with the unspoken consequences. Apparently, her biology had been under a delicate balance where if she ever crossed through another portal, her body would deteriorate. No one ever needed to travel through one of the things, presumably ever, so it had never come up. Not until the time Alex had been born. A lot of people had gone through what Alex had, so it was fair to say a lot of people died until everyone figured out what was going on. Apparently, out of the billions of scientists on the planet, no one had thought to ask if wormholes and parallel universe hopping technology were incredibly similar. One was banned research, the other was fair game. Of course, nothing could go wrong with enough testing. Funny how that turned outright? The only real reason Alex had survived the experience was luck and money. Death by the manner Alex was dying by was agonizingly slow. So as traumatizing as it had been, it was enough time for his parent to round enough money to get some scientist to do a quick fix. Something about layering multiple reality¡¯s on top of each other was enough to fix Alex¡¯s issue. Essentially the same wormhole tech that had been killing him had been his only salvation. Problem was, there had not been an actual method of curing Alex. His body was now permanently compromised. And even then, it hadn¡¯t been a perfect fit. Bits and pieces of his body deteriorated if he overused them. Do you know what body parts were in constant use? The brain and the heart. It''s why he needs the daily medication. If he didn¡¯t take them, his brain would rot and his heart would stop with enough time. So, on top of his failing body, if he ever left the specialty-built house, his ¡®foreign¡¯ atoms would be ripped out of his body. Best case, he¡¯d die instantly. Worst case, he¡¯d live the rest of his life as a vegetable of pain and agony. Staring at the night sky, Alex could only liken his situation to space. Full of potential, only to have it snuffed out by an uncaring universe. He had money. He had loving parents. He had access to the most immersive and realistic VR technology, giving him as much freedom as anyone else for moments at a time. This was on top of virtually getting anything he asked for. It was a privilege Alex rarely used, but it had never really been challenged. Anyone else could have been happy with the status quo. Anyone else would have been happier in general. Make the most of it. But Alex? He had only one response to anyone who ever asked why he wasn¡¯t happy. Happiness is temporary. Satisfaction was eternal. Alex was feeling pretty fucking unsatisfied and unhappy in his gilded cage. Logging In Having had enough of his bouts of negativity, Alex went back into the Traveler¡¯s Capsule. The mat black insides made it hard to distinguish where the chair was, but the material was soft enough to just sink in. Other than a button to close and open the capsule, it was entirely hand¡¯s free. Leaning back to be comfortable, he let the cover slowly descend and shroud him in darkness. One moment, he was sitting in the most expensive chair. The next, he was in his virtual menu that had access to most of his social media and some entertainment options. Checking out some of the news, Alex wondered if anyone had broken the embargo relating to Death Galaxy. Unsurprisingly, other than rumors and speculation, no new information was being put out. No one with an actual job wanted to jeopardize their position for short term clicks. Surprisingly, all the user-supported networks were also barren. Alex would have expected one loose-lipped individual to try to put even a little bit of information. It likely that someone had talked but Traveler¡¯s Games was quick on the uptake and silencing any leak at a fast pace. Of course, this casual perusing led Alex to come across related information concerning VR, Travelers Games., and the political discourse between new humans and old humans. Bored and in no hurry to get back to Death Galaxy just yet, he read up a couple of random articles. Needless to say, the adult market was making a killing due to VR. So were the therapists getting paid to deal with sex addicts. Like most things in life, there were always unexpected consequences. Not that that was the only market raining in cash, but it was the biggest attention-grabbing topic Alex guessed. Traveler''s Games was being tight-lipped as always. Being a five-year-old company co-founded by James Tailwind and Dorothy Jameson, a new human and old human respectively, they garnered quite a lot of attention. Sure, both races intermingled on a daily basis, especially in a working environment. But you¡¯d think a company that touted being a bridge between species, they have more to say to the media. Inversely, they retained a quiet and straightforward approach, only saying what they needed to when they needed to.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Speaking of relations, things weren¡¯t getting any better on that end any time soon. Another diplomatic schism as people tried and failed to gain access to more new human tech. Inversely, new humans were trying and failing to gain access to grander political standing. Everyone was fully aware they were only allowing a slow trickle of their technology, and even then, it had advanced society a hundred years. Everyone also knew that old humans made most of the laws the stifled a number of actions new humans could take. One side said that the technology they held was too dangerous. It was the express reason they had to leave their reality in the first place, so they didn¡¯t want to endanger anyone else. The other stood firm that they couldn¡¯t trust their new neighbors so easily, even though multiple generations had passed. People were still undecided if they wanted to trust a species entirely similar and wholly different. Alex, being born on the fence, could see how dishonest people were being. Still human nature regardless of origin to be full of greed. Sure, there most definitely were people that believed what they were saying. Noble intentions aside, everyone wanted power on some level. Weather material or metaphorical. Eventually, someone would break the camel¡¯s back and it¡¯ll be all over. It was without question nukes weren¡¯t the worst thing humanity had invented for the last couple of years. It didn¡¯t matter much to Alex himself if the world blew itself up. He didn¡¯t expect to live that long. His curiosity sated; Alex pulled up Death Galaxy¡¯s interface. Neon text with the backdrop of a galaxy shaped in the form of a skull. Simple, but effective. Tapping the image, Alex logged back in. He¡¯d only been gone a couple of minutes. Hopefully the NPC he woke up with would have some quests or something of interest to do. Nothing like driving away from an existential crisis by doing fetch quests right? Simple and monotonous, just how Alex liked it. 413X woke up on the ground, a lizardman holding him and crying. Considering the blue pigmentation, it was easy to figure out who it was. There was also a grey-skinned man, a bladed weapon in his hand. Looking at the cut on the lizardman¡¯s face and the yellow blood on the blade, gave a very dark implication about what was going on. As always, Alex was a master of tact. ¡°Why the hell did I just walk into?¡± First Blood Several thoughts went through Alex¡¯s head, mostly questions about what was going on. An alien woman was weeping on his chest, shaking. A hairless, black-eyed man was holding a blade threateningly. A juxtaposed to the look of shock he had on his face at Alex had spoken. The emotion passed and there was only a grim determination on his face. A small smirk hanged on his lips. ¡°Well, that''ll make things easier. You, android, tie up this lizardman. You¡¯re being repossessed and you work for me now.¡± With more confidence than Alex felt he had any right to, the stranger turned around and started rummaging through the lizardman¡¯s belongings. Alex himself had yet to move as he was still stunned by the unexpected turn of events. He was on the ground in a corner of the room instead of standing like when he logged out. He had also been stolen without his input. Honestly, this was a vast contrast to how he first started the game. His thoughts were interrupted as a coil of rope was thrown into his lap. The lizardman pulled back away from Alex. Looking back up, the stranger looked to be non-so happy with Alex¡¯s dilly-dallying. ¡°Well? Get a move on. I don¡¯t have all day.¡± With that, the alien went back to his thievery. Getting up, Alex held the rope in his hands. Turning to face the lizardman, the woman was cowering in the corner, tears raining down her face. A shameful sight, but Alex didn¡¯t have much of a choice. He stepped forward, losing the rope in his hands. If he didn¡¯t want to get hurt, he¡¯d have to obey the man¡¯s orders. You have to be calm and cooperative in these types of situations. One wrong move could lead to injury or worse. So, for now, the lizardman would have to just deal with the unpleasant situation. If he just listened to the mand, they could both- Alex blinked. He looked down at his hands. The metal fingers were grasping an old rope, of sturdy quality but clearly aged. The ground beneath him was cracked and dirty, complete cleanliness not having been a priority. The ground itself was made of a material that Alex had never really seen all his life. This juxtaposes to the common scenery he had seen all his life reminded him he was in a game. One where he was in control and not at the mercy of others. Either the world or his own body. Why was he listening to this man? All he has is a knife. A kitchen knife of all things as well. And unlike the other person in the room, he was acting with clear hostility. he retaliated, there was a strong possibility of Alex losing or dying at worst. Obviously, going against him could end poorly since he had a weapon and Alex did not. Inversely, staying with a clearly selfish person would not end well for him in the long run most likely. It appeared he saw Alex more as a tool than a person, something the easily agitated Alex. One that would be easily disposed of at the slightest inconvenience. It came to Alex¡¯s mind he was left at a crossroads where self-preservation or his own autonomy was at risk. A thought that made Alex¡¯s grip on the rope tighten. It wasn¡¯t a hard choice to make between the two. Seeing the Stanger still busy rummaging through a desk, Alex faced the lizard woman beneath him. Raising a finger to his lips, the universal symbol for silence, Alex tipped toed towards the other alien. He got within a foot of the man before he noticed Alex had gone quiet. ¡°Are you done? Cause if you are, I need you to-ack!¡± His sentence was cut off as rope began to strangle his windpipe. Alex thought it poetic he was using the rope on the aggressor instead. He also found it incredibly hard to keep his grip. The stranger flailed, pulling at the rope while also trying to shove Alex off of him. They ended up slamming into some furnisher, Alex still managing to maintain his death grip. When it looked like he had won, the aliens struggle going weaker, the rope snapped. Alex was thrown back by the loss of leverage, creating distance between the two. He was filled with irritation, not having expected his weapon of a choice to break so easily. Then he saw that the rope hadn¡¯t been torn apart. It had been cut. By something extremely sharp as well. The alien turned, brandishing the blade he had been holding this entire time. Only now there was something quite different about the kitchen utensil. The knife was covered in some black energy that seemingly absorbed all light around it. The man then gave a wild swing, one that Alex tried to avoid. He may be a robot, but he wasn¡¯t an idiot. If it glows, don¡¯t let it fucking touch you. His theory was proven right when after avoiding a strike, the blade went through a table like a hot knife through butter. Nice to see even with all the realism of Death Galaxy there was still bullshit space magic lying around. Or equivalent technology that any old thug could get their hands on. Either way, he did not want to be cut by the damn thing.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It looked like both of them lacked any combat experience. A boon because the stranger would be unlikely to hit. A bane because Alex only needed to make one slip up to lose the fight entirely. Really it looked less like a fight and more like two people flailing around trying to hurt each other. They circled each other for a time, Alex entirely on the defensive. Even with a clear focus on self-preservation, it wasn¡¯t full proof. The stranger was managing to get a few nicks in. With how supernaturally sharp the blade was at the moment, those few nicks turned into gashes. Alex knew he couldn¡¯t keep this up. He¡¯d go down by a thousand cuts instead of just a rather critical one. And it didn¡¯t help he¡¯d been doing his best to make sure the attention was entirely on him. If the alien were smarter, he¡¯d have gone for the lizardman. Either as a hostage or preemptive strike. Alex couldn¡¯t have that. That would have defeated the purpose of the whole fight. So as the fight went along, Alex had to settle for the facts as they were. He was going to lose. There was one gambit he had in hand, but it was very unlikely to succeed. But Alex didn¡¯t really have any other choice. With grit teeth, he took the only out he could see for himself. After one swipe, Alex overstepped. His foot had got caught on a piece of rubble. He lost his footing and left himself wide open for an attack. An opening that the alien didn¡¯t miss. The stranger put his full weight in his attack as the knife went for Alex¡¯s torso. He didn¡¯t miss it. As the blade sunk deep into his own guts, a lot deeper than Alex would have liked, the gray alien let out a cry of victory. Unfortunately for him, it hadn¡¯t been an instant win. Alex grabbed onto the man¡¯s wrist, holding him in place. The stranger was reminded about a rather important fact. Alex was a god damn robot. Might as well use that to his benefit. So, he let the stranger stab him. What would prove fatal to anyone else would only be debilitating at worse for him. Best to take advantage of every opportunity he had, right? With his other hand, Alex grabbed the man by the head and slammed it into the wall a couple of times. The stranger still refused to let go of the knife, which was gouging out Alex¡¯s insides due to the struggle. He couldn¡¯t feel the pain, but he didn¡¯t think he would last long if this went on for any longer. Alex went for a weak spot. Changing his grip, Alex shoved his thumb into the alien¡¯s eye. There was a sickening pop as the eye socket began to bleed white. It was enough pain for the alien to let go of the knife finally. Throwing the man to the ground, Alex took the time to pull out the blade and reassess the situation. Looking at his wound, there was a sizeable hole as the black energy had made mincemeat of his guts. The blade itself had lost this dark aura, apparently only being active in the other man¡¯s hands. The room was in shambles, some furniture broken, tipped over, or cut into pieces. The lizardman was off in a corner, eyes full of terror as she had stood back and watched the fight. As the stranger was writhing on the ground in pain, clutching the area of his crushed eye, Alex could see he was quite defenseless. The battle was over since he had the only weapon between the two and was the only one in a good enough condition to keep fighting. The smart thing to do here would be to restrain the alien for questioning or just to bring him to the proper authorities. Alex wasn¡¯t feeling smart. In fact, he was feeling something distinctly different. Something exceedingly... primal. Alex straddled the alien, knife in hand. Looking into its alien eyes, there was still enough humanity in it to pick up on its emotions. Fear. Regret. Desperation. Even with only one eye, it was hard to miss all that information. He didn¡¯t look anything like the confident thief that came to rob a lizardman from earlier. He looked like a man desperate to live, at any cause. An appearance Alex didn¡¯t think would be too out of place on his face if he had been in the man¡¯s situation. Alex only paused for a moment. Then he brought the knife down. Murder, as far as Alex could tell, was harder than it looked. It took a couple of swings before he hit anything fatal. An unlucky situation for the alien. The man screamed the entire time as his head was lacerated. Hits scraped past his skull, leaving only shallow wounds. Blood spilled out, covering the alien, the ground, and even Alex. He tried in vain to protect himself. Alex only needed to hold down an arm and kneel on the other to put a stop to that. Eventually, Alex got it in the other eye, sinking deep enough that he thought he hit the brain. The alien stopped moving shortly after. Standing up, Alex left the knife where it was. He stumbled over to the only still standing desk, falling to his knees when he got close. Seems a lack of pain didn¡¯t stop the growing weakness wounds would give a person. At the very least he got some recognition for it. A couple of windows popped into existence.
Class Skill Unlocked: Eye for Analytical Biology. It takes practice to know which organ pumps blood and which organ digests food at just a glance. - You have an easier time identifying and logically deducing the biological function of creatures. - Knowledge concerning biology will be more easily retained and applied.
Race Skill Unlocked: Android Durability. When you¡¯re made of metal, you can be surprisingly harder to kill. - Fatal strikes will not kill you instantly if they lack sufficient to damage or miss the correct vulnerability. - Replacing body parts with other materials and/or models will change overall durability appropriately.
So, Alex won his first fight and got his first set of skills. He was also bleeding all over the floor, the blue liquid probably is important. At least he earned some brownie points with the lizardman. Might also get some loot from the stranger. If he lived through this, would not have been that bad of a tradeoff. Now it was time to see if his class had anything to fix this problem. ¡°Hey, lizardman. You have any nanomachines?¡± The Mechanics Fears Zanthras was terrified. She had been on this colony for the past ten years of her life. She had survived numerous lethal events. Famine, disease, critical malfunction, civil war, serial killers and so much more. Shepherd 7 was not a safe place to live in, a crisis occurring once every year at best. Desperation and resignation had taken hold of Zanthras numerous times. Danger had never been as close as it had been today, as she always managed to be lucky enough to avoid the brunt of the events. Yet none of it had never amounted to the outright savagery she had just witnessed. Watching two people brutally kill each other. Death was common in this depressing universe. But somehow, Zanthras had always managed to avoid seeing a murder. She heard of it of course. But it was another thing entirely when you saw someone die in front of you. Brutally at that. ¡°You never did answer my question.¡± Zanthras flinched at the synthetic voice. It went without saying she felt nervous around the one who put her on edge in the first place. The grey¡¯s blood was still on his hands, yet to dry. It was also not the only stained part of his body. She¡¯d have liked to be as far as possible from the android. And the cooling body on the floor as well. 413X hadn¡¯t obliged such comforts. For her sake and its, he needed to be fixed. Whatever skill the grey used had done serious damage to the chassis. It was like a blender had had free rein on his insides. She had to make sure 413X didn¡¯t shut down due to overheating of lost coolant. She had been worried he¡¯d kill her next after she said there wasn¡¯t any such technology around. Other than the disappointing face he made; he didn¡¯t give much of a reaction. At the moment, she was trying to find some spare parts to at least seal the open wound. An effort that required a lot of Zanthras¡¯ attention. It''s for that reason that she was rather scatterbrained when she answered. ¡°Lizardman are usually incapable of producing milk, as far as I¡¯m aware. My mother said they were originally additional muscle for defense and nutrition sacks on our home planet where food was scarce. Now, that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t females of our species that have mutated or enhanced their biology to produce some. Why I have no real idea. I work with machines, not vanity projects.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It was a minute before 413X responded. ¡°I, uh, meant your name. But good to know. I guess.¡± If lizardmen were capable of blushing, Zanthras would have been a tomato. Not that she would have ever seen one, but still. She had a habit of running her mouth when she was nervous. ¡°The name is Zanthras. Zanthras ConstrictorClaw if you wish to know my full name.¡± 413X simply nodded. Either to process the previous information or to remain still as Zanthras worked on him. Regardless of which reason, she was glad they¡¯d gone back to silence. God forbid they continued that awkward conversation. Finally, she had finished. It was by no means a perfect job. It would have been easier to replace the entire torso but there hadn¡¯t been such a complicated spare on hand. She had been able to weld the wound closed with some spare metals, while also replace the broken tubing for the coolant. But from now on, 413X had a clear weak point anyone with eyes could make use of. Unfortunate, but better than a complete shutdown. ¡°Wait. Does that mean men from your species have breasts?¡± And leave it to the android to deduce such an embarrassing fact. Zanthras was not built for this type of discussion. So, she took the easy way out. ¡°Alright 413X, I am going to turn on your sensory module. Please don¡¯t kill me.¡± 413X was rather confused as Zanthras remotely activated 413X¡¯s internal systems. ¡°Why would I kiaaaaahhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± 413X started spasming as their nervous system became fully functional. The easy way out was incredibly painful for 413X. Zanthras wasn¡¯t surprised. The internal damage and surface cuts, along with her admittedly suboptimal patchwork, must have felt like pouring salt into the wounds. When he fell off the table, he was on probably didn¡¯t make things better. Something that 413X was most definitely thankful for was the fact that the extreme pain was just temporary. Soon enough the agony turned into a dull ache. That was just the internal software doing a test run. Set everything to extreme sensitivity to make sure everything was working and then tone it down to regular levels. Standard procedure. 413X didn¡¯t see it that way. ¡°Who¡¯s the sick son of a bitch who put pain receptors in a god damn robot!? I¡¯m a fucking kill him!¡± Technically, it was Zanthras since she had built him from various parts. In reality, it had been a company that had designed 413X¡¯s model. But in the end, Zanthras'' was the one who decided to install all of the features. She didn¡¯t have to put the pain recognition software in there. Best not to tell the android that. Best to let him blame someone else at the moment. The android still scared her. She didn''t need to give it another reason to terrify her, like threatening her life. Small Preperations Alex was still sore, a fucking novelty in a god damn mechanical body, but at least he was functional. Zanthras was off to the side, rummaging through the room to salvage anything she could. While the fight hadn¡¯t been too destructive, some semi-important items definitely were broken. Unless Alex had been misled by the entire game itself, resources were important, regardless of the quality. Alex decided this was good enough time to check his sheet. He wasn¡¯t going to be moving too fast anytime soon. Sure, it was only two skills, but a change was a change.
ID: 413X Class: Nano-Biologist Level: 0 Skills: Eye for Analytical Biology, Android Durability. Attributes: None
Still rather barren. But regardless, it''s progress. But it did bring into question when Alex would get his aforementioned day-one bonus. If it was after the Backstory Scenario, things were going to be rather difficult. His first fight had shown just how underprepared for the fight Alex would be. A random thug had crippled him. Not that grand of a beginning to an adventure. Killing rats would be less painful. Maybe. Hopefully. ...Probably not. ¡°Well, this sucks. Everything useful went into you. Everything else was broken in the fight. Were going to have to leave the room if you want to be fully functional. Was hoping it wouldn¡¯t come to this.¡± Zanthras looked rather glum when she relayed this information to Alex. Considering how she acted during the struggler, it was safe to say she wasn¡¯t much of a fighter. Not in the traditional sense at least. She knew what was necessary for survival, as evident by the box of equipment she put on the table next to Alex. ¡°I don¡¯t have much. Nothing if I¡¯m honest. Have some spare clothing that could work as minimalistic protection, some tools that could help us break into some places, and my repairing gear. In case we come across anything I can quickly fix for our benefit. Other than that, we just have the skin on our backs.¡± Well, new clothes would be nice. Alex had bleed over his basic trousers he was wearing. The tank top and shorts Zanthras was sporting didn¡¯t look like they would provide much protection either. While Alex would like to ask why both of them were so underdressed, he¡¯d just chalk it up to limited resources. Beggars can¡¯t be choosers in the apocalypse. Before setting out, Alex remembers that there¡¯s a dead man in the corner. Walking over, he starts rummaging through his pockets. You can say whatever you want about respecting the dead, Alex knew those went out the window in survival situations.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The alien, one that Alex could guess was a grey since it wasn¡¯t distracting him with lethal swings, was just as baren. Other than what looked like food packets and some rapped cloth. His clothing was too dirty and torn up to make use of. So other than some minimal supplies and the knife Alex had been stabbed with, the man was lacking in items himself. As he was stepping away a bit disappointed, Alex saw that something had fallen out of one of the corpse''s pockets. A folded piece of paper had fallen out of his pocket. Picking it up, Alex unfolded it. It was a picture. Worn and old by the looks of it. It showed three grey¡¯s smiling and doing funny possess. All rather young. The one in the middle was similar to the grey at his feet. Before he had looked so worn-down and rugged by life. Alex just stared at the picture for a minute. He folded up and put it back in the grey¡¯s pocket. Maybe there was merit to respecting the dead. ¡°Didn¡¯t really find anything that could help us, not right now at least. Just some food and pseudo bandages.¡± Zanthras had already donned some new clothing, a jacket, and pants that cover more of her skin. Scales. Scaled skin. Damn, Alex might never get used to describing her features in some cases. ¡°Shame. But at least that means he didn¡¯t have any friends around. A better armed looter would have killed you or been part of a group. Lucky us.¡± Alex buried the small thought that said he had just been as desperate as Zanthras. It was too late to regret choices that can¡¯t be changed. Zanthras grabbed a solid pipe made of some unfamiliar material and let it rest on her shoulder. A bit dented but far more lethal than the butter knife Alex had been stabbed with. Speaking of, Zanthras had it held up for Alex to take. The android made a confused face as he took the inferior weapon. Zanthras shrugged in response. ¡°Your class being a doctor of some kind, the biologist portion, might mean you have some Skill with knives. Best to put that to the test before you rely too much on an inefficient weapon in the long run. And between the two of us, I¡¯m fairly sure I¡¯m the stronger one.¡± Saying those last words with a smile, Alex couldn¡¯t help but examine his own stature. Even though he was mechanical and by that logic theoretically superior, he couldn¡¯t disagree. Zanthras was most definitely the buffer of the pair. ¡± You¡¯re right, but I call dibs on the next weapon we find.¡± Zanthras chuckled as she headed for the only door to the room they were in. Grabbing a handle, she pulled the door to the side. Its rusted frame grinding and screeching horribly. Letting Alex¡¯s eyes gaze upon the first real backdrop to Death Galaxy. The world outside the windowless room was just as desolate as the inside. A familiar scenery of rusted metal, missing pieces of wall and ceiling with cables hanging out met Alex. Unlike the room though, it was noticeably darker. What little lighting there was, was sporadic at best, nonexistent at worst. A couple of steps into the hallway left Alex virtually blind. ¡°I can¡¯t see shit. Wasn¡¯t¡¯ installed with night vision apparently.¡± ¡°Here, let me fix that.¡± Zanthras took the knife from Alex¡¯s hands. She then mumbled a few words he couldn¡¯t identify, and the strangest thing happened. The blade began to shine like a flashlight. The knife gave off a soft glow, enough to light Alex¡¯s immediate area. He¡¯d not be stumbling over any more trash anytime soon. ¡°Well, lets get on with this why don¡¯t we?¡± Alex nodded. With better lighting, the pair walked into the unknown for Alex and yet undiscovered horrors for Zanthras The Silence Sometime later, Alex could safely say his hopes for finding anything of use, much less nanomachines, was getting rather low. Every room they had come across so far was in far worse condition than the one they started in. Which meant they had found nothing of real use. It was something that would require far more than it worth fixing, was literal trash, or it was so archaic that not even Zanthras could really identify. The labyrinthine like layout hadn''t helped things. Periodically, the lizardman would need to recast her light ability on the knife. Alex had eventually asked why she kept casting it on the knife than something like their clothing. Her response had been simple but straight to the point. ¡°The skill doesn¡¯t work on anything else. It purely works on tools. It¡¯s a kitchen knife, not a dagger. It¡¯s the only reason it worked at all. And before you ask, no, a pipe is not a tool.¡± Alex was rather disappointed, but it made sense. As much sense as game mechanics did anyway. There would always be inherent limitations. Alex was glad to be able to see regardless. ¡°Nice to see one of us has magic on their side.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not really magic. More divine assistance if anything else.¡± Alex raised a nonexistent eyebrow. He felt the facial movement but hadn¡¯t touched any hair when he examined his head with his hands. ¡°So, there are gods in this reality? Couldn¡¯t have guessed.¡± The dilapidated hallways and desperate aura everything gave would have hinted at the opposite. It was also weird to hear something mythological in a sci-fi setting. Then again, his classes hadn¡¯t been within the confines of pure science fiction. They were more supernatural if anything else. ¡°Something like that. I couldn¡¯t really tell you. One day I just woke up with my class evolving into Holy Engineer. Other than some fancy light shows, it hasn¡¯t done much else for me. Saves me the trouble of scavenging flashlights and the like. Would have been more useful when... when I...¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Zanthras trailed off, leaving only the pair''s footsteps making any noise. It went on for long enough that Alex felt the need to check up on the lizardman. Safe to say he hadn¡¯t been expecting the thousand-yard stare she had. A dangerous mindset in a dangerous environment. Especially when he heard a loud noise coming from down the hallway. A sound the Zanthras hadn¡¯t really recognized and kept moving forward. Grabbing her, Alex pulled them into an open room. Putting his back to the wall, arm on Zanthras, Alex prayed they hadn¡¯t been noticed. He didn¡¯t want a repeat of his last fight. Senses strained; Alex was able to recognize some bit about the sounds coming down the hallway. It was like metal grinding against metal. A sort of rhythm to it. Footsteps? Maybe a machine of some kind? Whatever it was, it was certainly getting closer. And then everything went quiet. Alex was confused. It hadn¡¯t sounded like it had stopped. Hell, it sounded more like it disappeared. It wasn¡¯t until a moment later that Alex realized he couldn¡¯t hear anything. Tapping his head, he tried to fix his likely broken ears. No sound returned for his efforts. Turning to he could see Zanthras was moving her mouth, pulled out of whatever stupor she had been in. Trying to talk in a very panicked manner. Alex was on the verge of panicking himself. There was something nearby and he couldn¡¯t hear it. A couple steps away from their starting point and they already ran into trouble. It would only be worse if whatever was heading their way was also causing this phenomenon. Readying himself for the oncoming struggle, Alex peaked through the doorway. He tried too at least. Once his head turned to the doorway, he came face to face with a creature far more horrifying than he¡¯d ever seen, virtual or not. It was a quadrupedal beast with a pair of horns on its head. Its feet were blood-stained knives and its fur failed to hide the numerous holes littered across its body. It lacked the top of its skull, a broken lower jaw leaking a hair¡¯s breadth away from Alex¡¯s face. He froze. Zanthras was shaking behind him. The silence seemingly deepening as he stared at this monstrosity. It stared back, still as a statue. They remained like that for a time. A pair terrified stiff and a creature remaining entirely motionless. Then the light on the knife began to dim. The monster twitched. Just like the corpse in the intro. The silence was pierced by words. ¡°Found You.¡± Its half mouth broke into a grin before darkness took both Zanthras and Alex. A Losing Battle. Alex was blind and deaf. He was injured. He lacked a level or appropriate skill meant for combat. His only companion was a noncombatant with combat paralysis syndrome. His only weapon was a kitchen utensil. A smarter man would have run. A more heartless one would have thrown Zanthras to save his own skin, either to escape or gain an advantage in the fight. Alex was none of these things. Some would chalk it up to the disconnect from playing a game with no consequences. Others would point to a hero complex buried underneath his cynicism. Alex? He just thought he was insane. Why else would he charge the monster in total darkness? One hand fumbled forward, grabbing onto something to gain leverage. Grasping onto a damp wound, a fact Alex ignored, he stabbed into the area near his hand. He found purchase, the blade sinking into something. It didn¡¯t seem to mind. ¡°A fighter?¡± The beast retaliated. It bucked, trying to throw off Alex. He managed to hold on if a bit throttled in the process. It was enough to limit Alex¡¯s movements so all he could do was hold on. Unfortunately for Alex, his grip loosened when he was slammed into a wall by the monster. ¡°Bold¡± Falling to the ground, Alex still couldn¡¯t see but he could read the situation. An eyeless monster didn¡¯t care if the room lacked lighting or not. Scrambling to the side, hopefully in a direction away from the beast, he stumbled as he felt the ground vibrate underneath himself. Likely the bladed limbs had cut into the floor. ¡°Weak.¡± Alex didn¡¯t see or hear the next strike coming. He took the brunt of the hit, being launched into the air in the process. Could be the monster charged at him. Could be it elongated its neck and used its head like a club for all he knew. Regardless of the how, it definitely hurt in the end regardless, especially when Alex landed. ¡°Stupid.¡± Alex wasn¡¯t in a position to disagree. Things were going extremely poorly compared to the last fight. In the first five seconds, or what felt like it, Alex has taken some damage and lost his weapon. The enemy also clearly had the advantage since it could function with two muted senses. He was also alone in the fight since his companion was in the same position as him. A blade sunk into Alex¡¯s arm. His scream vibrated through his body. A fluid dripped down his face. Looking up, Alex was close enough to smell the monster. His other senses went into overdrive to compensate for his current situation. He wished they hadn¡¯t. The scent of rot and blood as the beast breathed on him was utterly repulsive. ¡°Give in child. Your pain is meaningless. Why struggle against the inevitable?¡± The fatherly tone the beast spoke with, an oddity in and of itself, clashed against the numerous injuries the creature had inflicted. Sinking the blade limb deeper didn¡¯t help matters. Another edge brushed against Alex¡¯s face. He flinched back, but even with just a touch, he was already leaking from his cheek. ¡°The Silence is far more forgiving.¡± Welp, Alex could admit it. Death Galaxy delivered on what it promised. This was an experience was unlike any other. He was utterly terrified and definitely did not want to die at the moment. Ten out of ten, would not play alone again ratting right here. Not that Alex was in a position to save himself.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The room lit up. The quick change in lighting blinded Alex. Blinking the spots from his eyes, something you wouldn¡¯t think was an issue for an android. Turning to the light, Alex could see Zanthras holding onto a small wrench between her fingers. Huddled into a ball, she appeared to be hyperventilating. Her breathing only got worse as the creature turned its head in her direction. ¡°Heretic.¡± The visceral hatred in the creature¡¯s voice was palpable. The monster moved. It had yet removed its limb from Alex¡¯s own, so his hand was almost cut off by the movement. It approached Zanthras, each bladed leg sinking into the metal ground as it stopped towards. Zanthras tried to scramble away. She didn¡¯t get far. She had trapped herself in a corner instead of being near the doorway. Alex needed to get up. He needed to move. The android needed to do something. To him, this may be a game, but to Zanthras? It was her life. No matter how insignificant a bunch of ones and zeros maybe, god forbid he¡¯d let anyone else die in his place. His life wasn¡¯t worth that sacrifice. A fake one or otherwise. Zanthras was crying as she dropped the wrench and held up her pipe in a poor attempt at self-defense. The beast laughed. It loved over her, dwarfing her in stature and power. Alex tried to get up but failed every time. His old injuries stacked on top of the new ones left him incredibly weak. Not to mention one limb was malfunctioning by being nearly cut off. ¡°Faith in a dead god?¡± Move. ¡°When the mother was so gracious to bring you the Silence?¡¯ Move! ¡°Such betrayal shall not go unpunished.¡± Move!
Instability Detected.
The monster raised itself onto its hindquarters, front legs raised and ready to strike. Zanthras closed her eyes as she prepared for the blades to fall and end her suffering. Only they never came. Cracking an eye open, she chanced a glance. Only to see something incredibly bizarre. The creator was flailing around as 413X had it in a headlock. It wasn¡¯t strange because the android was risking its life. It was the fact he managed to do it at all with a broken arm and several injuries. During the struggle, the lizardman and the android made eye contact. His lips moved. The words disappeared into the supernatural silence. But Zanthras got the message. Tightening her grip on the pipe, she found what little courage she had left and swung with all her might. It was safe to say Alex wasn¡¯t expecting the virtual earthquake that rang through the monster and into him. He almost felt the monster¡¯s ribs crack himself Zanthras swung so hard. It was safe to say she was certainly stronger than him that¡¯s for sure. Regardless, he was only glad the lizardman got a couple more swings in. Eventually, the beast fell after one decidedly strong swing. Alex was rather happy about that. Less when the adrenaline, or whatever equivalent his android body had finally left him. By god, everything hurt. Using your limb as leverage in grapple did not do you any favors apparently. Alex couldn¡¯t even move at this point. Things weren¡¯t any better once the creature kept speaking. ¡°You would deny salvation...? Why? Have you not seen the pain you will burden yourself with?¡± Zanthras landed another hit on its head. It didn¡¯t stop talking. ¡°With a blasphemer of all things.¡± Another sickening swing failed to silence the beast. ¡°Truly, the mother is all-loving.¡± The remains of the skull were almost entirely turned into mush at this point. ¡°She is still willing to offer her hand in kindness.¡± Its head was gone at this point. And yet it didn¡¯t stop. It would not stop. Alex was beginning to pass out, unable and unwilling to stay conscious any longer. ¡°All you need to do is take it.¡± Zanthras ran over to Alex, recognize he was not in a condition. He tried to keep him away, doing her best to not let him shut down. It was an ordeal turning him on the first time. He was in a far worse condition now than when she first found him. Much less she lacked the parts to fix him this time. If he went offline there was a chance, she¡¯d never turn him back on. The last thing Alex saw was the lizardman giving him a worried look as she shook him. Her efforts were in vain as far less sinister darkness took him. The last thing Alex heard was a deep guttural laugh the seeped into his skull. Penetrating deep into his body and violating what little safety a person¡¯s own mind should provide. It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say it felt like someone had invaded the castle that was his own soul. ¡°Will you take it, Alex?¡± Corporate Meating Darrel was currently in one of Traveler Games¡¯ numerous offices, contemplating jumping off of the 143rd story. Long enough to maybe second guess the decision but not short enough to save him if he did jump. It would definitely be less painful than the conversation he was about to have with one of the department managers. He dreaded the potential of this conversation but wasn¡¯t surprised when the email finally came in. The numerous tickets they¡¯d been getting the past 36 hours were nonstop. Even knowing, hell the company had planned for this honestly, the numerous complaints they¡¯d get for a core design of the game. Granted, no one expected their account to get deleted on their first death. But that wasn¡¯t what Darrel was being called in for. Other people had their hands full handling the litany of issues popping up. His, as the team lead, related more to an overview of the current systems concerning Legendary Difficulty. A report that was going to sound less than stellar. Rubbing his forehead, Darrel vibrated his leg. His nervousness didn¡¯t abate when the new human came in. His boss, Sandra Blackskull, sported quite the appearance even among the numerous parallel humans. Rigid lightning blue hair clashed against her violet suit. It also made Darrel feel underdressed with his jeans and flannel shirt. Placing a binder on the table between them, Miss Blackskull got down to business. ¡°Evening Mr. Cameron. I do hope the scheduled meeting hasn¡¯t interrupted any pressing issues.¡± Darrel cleared his throat, settling into the professional atmosphere. ¡°Nothing the rest of the team can¡¯t handle. There are a lot of issues, as expected, but nothing game-breaking as of yet. At least, nothing that we didn¡¯t build as intended.¡± Probing the waters, Darrel wondered if his last remark would be addressed. ¡°Yes, we have been receiving numerous complaints. But the marketing group will handle that end. We gave the player base ample warning beforehand. If the customers want to complain about the initial difficulty, they shouldn¡¯t play at all. The game isn¡¯t for the faint of heart or childish entertainment like others.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Harsh. Fairly sure most wouldn¡¯t see it that way. But Darrel was here for a paycheck and fixing problems, so best not to focus on such things. The company¡¯s perspective was their issues, not his. ¡°Something I have picked up on if your initial report was accurate. It''s not surprising a third of the new employees demanded refunds after playing Legendary difficulty. Not that we would have wanted such weak-willed customers or staff if they couldn¡¯t handle a little challenge.¡± Permadeath and an inability to make new characters because your expensive VR capsule was hard locked into a single account? Gee, why would anyone demand a refund? Not that Darrel would have voiced these thoughts. Not in those words specifically. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong Miss Blackskull, but I still think we need to update the offline portion in some capacity. A comatose avatar vulnerable to outside influences doesn¡¯t advocate a proper challenge. It feels more like a cheap shot.¡± The deadpan stare, along with her bloodred eyes, was quite intimidating to Darrel. But he needed this to be said, as lacking a player base would end up with him losing his job down the line. He didn¡¯t really care about the customer really, but without them, he wouldn¡¯t be around. Empathy was good and all, but altruism wouldn¡¯t fill his stomach. ¡°If we want to keep the number of players we have and get more trickling in, we need to advocate that most mistakes are the player''s fault. It has to feel fair. We set the rules and they decide to play willingly, so yeah it is on them at the end of the day. No one complains about russian roulette because they lost as being unfair. Not that they could but they knew what they were getting into.¡± The small smirk on Miss Blackskulls face meant Darrel was getting through to her. It also meant she had a rather dark sense of humor since Darrel hadn¡¯t meant that as a joke. ¡°So, I was thinking, if we aren¡¯t going to change the system, why not give the players a helping hand? Give them a warning beforehand, like a message that tells them they aren¡¯t in a safe location. That way, once they log back in any consequences aren¡¯t a surprise. We could even go further and make an app that warns them out of the game if their avatar is in danger. Really hammer in their carelessness is what got them killed.¡± Miss Blackskull cupped her chin. Really giving Darrel¡¯s words a thought. He was fairly sure his fingernails would cut into his palm if the tension in the room got any higher. ¡°I will bring your idea to the board. If we feel it doesn¡¯t compromise the legitimacy of Death Galaxy, your suggestions will be allowed through. I make no promises.¡± Darrel relaxed his shoulders, relieved to see the main gripe his team was dealing with would be addressed in some capacity. If it didn¡¯t, oh well. He tried. Miss Blackskull opened her binder, pulling several sheets of paper and holographic projections ¡°If that is all, it''s best we move on to the rest of this meeting. I am to understand some players managed to no-clip themselves into a sun and have yet to die even as we speak?¡± Oh boy. Right. Everything else that''s going to aggravate Darrel. Joy. Slumbered Awakening. Darkness. There was nothing. ... Wait. No, there is something. Its... A person? A child. But why? Why would someone be here, where there is nothing? The child turns. An effeminate voice speaks. ¡°Why?¡± Tears run down her face. The sorrow is physically pressing. Thick enough to suffocate. ¡°Why did you hurt my boy?¡± A little girl isn¡¯t speaking anymore. Her face begins to melt. Limbs sprout from her muddy head. Tentacles, clawed hands, hooves, tails, wings, and more. Torsos follow, connected to random creatures. Earth fauna familiar. Alien abominations were never before seen. Eldritch abomination that refused to be looked upon. Heads are the last to appear. They are all the little girls'' faces. The creature finishes its transformation. A facsimile of a dragon made from random pieces fused without rhyme or reason. The once little girl dwarfed the darkness as she screams down. Her words knives as they rip into reality. ¡°Why would you hurt my baby boy!?¡± The darkness broke. Horrors were revealed through the cracks. They looked hungry.
Alex woke up. He was in a world of pain. His left arm was on fire. His chest ached with every breath. Everything else was numb from bruises. Once again Alex was reminded how irrationally organic his body was. Fucking pain sensors.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Looking around, a struggle in and of itself. He found himself in another random room. Zanthras was off to the side, sleeping under a blanket. She had some scrapes and bruises but overall, she looked fine. Alex tried to sigh with relief. It turned into a grunt as his pseudo lungs pushed on his bruised ribs. God Alex wished he had natural healing as an Android. If his first injury was anything to go off of, all these wounds would stay until he repaired them. His body was wrapped in bandages of some sort, its shiny appearance clearly not made from cloth. Most of them were on his torso and a single arm. It did little to alleviate that pain. Much less since he was on some table that did not do any justice to his back. Seeing as he wasn¡¯t in a state to move, or didn¡¯t want to even try honestly, Alex had time to think. Overall, it was easy to say he had not been smart about his actions so far. Getting into a fight before he had any skills, stats, or levels? Suicidal. Exploring an unknown and clearly hostile environment without foreknowledge? Braindead. Putting up a fight with what might be a mini-boss at best? Man, Alex really liked pain! He¡¯d be slamming his head if he didn¡¯t think that¡¯d break something. Clearly, Zanthras knew more than him, so it was in his best interest to pump her for information. He took some hits from her already. Twice even. It was the least she could do. Speaking of information, this would be a good time to look up the rewards he¡¯d gotten from his last fight. If the blinking exclamation point at the corner of his vision, he¡¯d gotten more than just a broken body out of it. Alex was rather thankful the mechanics were thought-based rather than manual. Hand-eye coordination wasn¡¯t his strong suit at the moment.
Skill Upgrade: -Eye for Analytical Biology Lv2 -Android Durability Lv2
Skills upgrade has been negated due to the Backstory Scenario. Skill progression will be maintained but withheld until the Scenario is complete.
Attribute Unlocked: Survivor Sometimes it takes more than grit and luck to survive impossible odds. -You will have an increased chance of surviving a fatal attack. -You will maintain greater functionality in poor physical conditions than most.
Attribute Unlocked: Giantslayer David and Goliath''s fights are far harder to replicate in practice than most people think. -Increased physical and mental capability when facing superior enemies. -Gain greater rewards when facing superior enemies.
Attribute Unlocked: Instability Defy expectations and perform outside your capabilities -REMOVE THIS ATTRIBUTE OR FACE DIRE CONSEQUENCES -FATE IS MONITORING YOU.
Well, it was safe to say this was all a mixed bag of information. Skills won''t level until after he finished this prologue. His build was making him out to be a tank which he did not like. Realistic paint and tanking were not a good pair. And apparently surviving his last fight wasn¡¯t in the cards!? He picked destiny outlaw sure, but what the hell? Ah god, damn it. Now cosmological constant riding his ass. Ugh. Alex really wished Death Galaxy weren¡¯t such a pain in the ass. He¡¯d quit if he had anything better to do, much less waste what money his parents decided to spoil him with. Hopefully, Zanthras could clear this up on top of everything else they¡¯d be talking about. He¡¯d yet to check if the game mechanics were available to NPC¡¯s. It would be a help, but he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they weren¡¯t. Walking that fine line between realism and game mechanics. He just hoped she woke up soon. Since the moment he regained consciousness, he had been ignoring an important fact. It now became too much of discomfort to ignore. Alex came to a rather uncomfortable conclusion. He needed to eat. And he needed to pee. Ok. Whoever designed this body? Fuck you. Honest Questions. Alex was glad this place still had plumbing, much more familiar toilets. It added questions as well. One of the dozens swimming in his head. Zanthras was awake now at least. It was a good time to get some answers he was looking for. ¡°Hey, Zanthras. You got a second to talk? I think we need to have an important discussion.¡± Zanthras paused for a moment. She was currently tallying the remaining resources they had. Food and water, tools, and useful materials. The latter of which was entirely gone at this point since most were spent keeping Alex alive. ¡°We have the time. You won¡¯t be going anywhere for the moment.¡± With the constant glances, she gave the heavily barricaded door, it was safe to say there was another reason for the wait. Two traumatic experiences back-to-back weren¡¯t morale-boosting events. Not that her reasoning was incorrect either. ¡°You got any idea why I¡¯m such a mess? I feel more human than mechanical half the time. Seems a bit counterintuitive to give an android so many flaws.¡± Alex winced, as the gestures he made during the talk made the pain flare. Zanthras only shrugged in response, setting up what looked like a pot over a square device. ¡°You¡¯re more human than machine, unfortunately. I can¡¯t tell you who made you or why, but I can tell you what the result was. Your as close to an organic as possible without actually having any organic parts. That¡¯s probably what your class for nanomachines is for since you wouldn¡¯t be able to heal otherwise. Sure, there probably some spare parts lying around, but there wasn¡¯t any around when I found you.¡± Her next words were spoken softly but not quite enough for Alex to miss out on them. ¡°I would have gotten a months¡¯ worth of food if I had managed to trade you out.¡± Alex raised an eyebrow. ¡°If I worth such a pretty penny, why hadn¡¯t anyone else found me.¡± Zanthras gave a small smile. Whatever she was cooking began to boil in the pot. The assorted foods she¡¯d thrown in looked alien or processed. Smelled good though. ¡°If you didn¡¯t notice, the territory we went through wasn¡¯t the safest place. You weren¡¯t worth that much when I found you either. Not at first glance anyway. Anything universally useful like your built-in nanomachines had already been scavenged. Everything else was either too damaged or too complicated to be worth the risk. Every second count in these halls. You¡¯d have just been unnecessary weight.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ouch. Insult an android¡¯s self-worth more why don¡¯t you. ¡°So why did you pick me up then? If you fixed me up, I¡¯m sure you could have spent more time on other projects.¡± Zanthras took the burning liquid off the electric fire. A small ladle was used to fill up a bowl. She continued to serve herself in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. ¡°Zanthras?¡± She jumped, almost spilling her meal. Startled. Almost like she had forgotten Alex had been there at all for a moment. ¡°Yes?¡± Alex stared at the lizardman. ¡°Why were you down here?¡± Her eyes refused to make eye contact with Alex. She fidgeted in place. Her grip on the bowl tightening. Still refusing to speak. Alex just sighed. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll tell me when you¡¯re ready then.¡± Zanthras coughed. ¡°Besides that, where exactly are we anyway? I¡¯ve seen lots of hallways and rooms, but no real purposes. This feels like an underground bunker at times, others a dilapidated office building. Zanthras perked up, relieved to have something else to talk about apparently. ¡°The Tower, or well, it used to be a tower. One of the only safe places on Egis-7. Doesn¡¯t look like it but trust me. It could have been far worse. I¡¯ve heard stories about what goes on outside this place. None of them pretty.¡± Having mentally recovered enough, Alex rises from his prone position. It hurts but it''s not debilitating. Zanthras hands him a bowl. Alex is about to refuse but remembers what she said earlier. Mostly human. So, he probably has to eat. ¡°So, where are we headed then? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some safe space you¡¯d been living at this whole time. A place that¡¯s keeping the pluming running and the lights on.¡± Alex takes a spoonful from the bowl. The soup is dry. It was better than Alex thought it be. ¡°Heaven. Serves as a fort and mechanical engine for the Tower. It''s also one of the few places that still has advanced tech. Enough to repair and maintain but not enough to produce much. It should have some nanomachines to fix you up. Won¡¯t be cheap but I think we¡¯ll have that covered.¡± Taking a moment away from filling her own bowl, Zanthras reaches into her bag. She pulled out a horn. A rather familiar and unforgettable sharp object. It was one of the monster¡¯s horns. ¡°Not every day someone takes down a Silent One. Their such a menace theirs a standing bounty out on their heads. It would cover your repairs and then some. We just have to make sure we make it back in one piece.¡± Zanthras stares at the trophy, lost in thought. Alex got the feeling there was history there. Memories from a life of constant struggle and terror. Whether it was from what the defeated Silent One represented or just a general experience, Alex couldn¡¯t tell. He tried to uplift the mood, seeing as low morale could get them killed. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯ll have a safer trip heading back. No evil goat to stop our trip.¡± Zanthras freezes. Her breathing speeds up before she regains control of herself. Her hands are shaking. Her words tremble as they leave her. She doesn¡¯t look up at Alex as she speaks. ¡°It¡¯s not dead.¡± Alex doesn¡¯t respond. His mind takes a moment to process very unpleasant news. Soon enough he finds a shard of courage to actually speak up. ¡°But... but you killed it. I saw you smash that things head into a paste. Sure, it looked pretty injured already and was still walking after that but-¡° ¡°It, they, the Silence Ones... They don¡¯t die. You can kill them sure. Break their bodies, burn their blood, and trap them. But they don¡¯t stay dead. They come back. Maybe a day, a month, or a year.¡± Zanthras sounded on the edge of sobbing. ¡°They always come back.¡±