Bitter Ch. 556-560 (Patreon)

The first thing Britta noticed was the sky. The light around her was normal daylight, but the sky was pink, white and blue.

Not in the way an early morning sky might blend those colours; these were strips painted across the roof of this world in soft neon, very clearly separated from one another.

There was no pretence that this was the real world. This was fantasy taken to an extreme.

Britta lowered her gaze and took in her immediate surroundings. She was standing in the forecourt of a palace. Towers and minarets rose around her. The building materials were white and smooth, like polished ivory, with decorative designs in blue and gold. There were no stairs that she could see, only ramps and slopes that curled around the towers, giving the palace an elegant, swirling feel, like it was made of whipped cream.

“This is Shangri-la,” said L-15. He was standing a little behind her, patiently waiting for her to take it all in. “Capital city of the Legendary World.”

His voice was smooth and gentle. He gave off an air of complete confidence and tranquillity. None of the pompous swaggering she had seen from the other AI she had met.

“It’s very nice,” said Britta, not really knowing what to say. She hadn’t really taken it in, yet. Everywhere she looked, there was another fantastical structure rising into the air. “Pretty.”

“Yes. We are in the Jade Palace, seat of kings. Please, come this way.” L-15 flowed past her, his robes rippling along the ground behind him like they were made of water.

Britta followed him onto a ramp and was taken by surprise as the floor started to move. She grabbed onto the beautifully carved handrail as they wound their way around the tallest tower.

Peering over the handrail, Britta could see the palace spread out below until it reached white walls manned by soldiers dressed in blue and gold. They were NPCs, as far as she could tell, armed with spears twice as tall as themselves, and wearing helmets with curved brims that made them look a bit like samurai.

None of the soldiers moved, they just stood stiffly erect, facing out. There were other people though, moving about in robes similar to L-15’s. No name tags, so also NPCs. They scurried around with purpose, disappearing into buildings.

Britta couldn’t see past the walls from the angle she was rising at, but there was so much to see inside the walls — gardens, fountains, people in beautiful gowns, and lots and lots of soldiers lined along the battlement at regular intervals. No players, so far, though.

At the top of the ramp was an open area. The sky seemed a lot closer now. As Britta looked up, words appeared inside one of the pink stripes. They were written in Chinese characters, so Britta had no idea what the message was. An advert? It scrolled across the sky and then disappeared. Then appeared in the next stripe — although it might have been a completely new message for all she knew.

L-15 was a little ahead of her and she ran to catch up. Guards were stood to attention on either side, giant spears pointing up. Close up they looked even more intimidating. The helmets came with built-in masks to cover their faces; leering demon scowls with fangs bared and tongues sticking out.

“This is Heaven’s Door,” said L-15, “beyond which is the Pearl Throne. Only the truly worthy may pass through Heaven’s Door to take their place on the throne.”

The door was enormous, reaching so high Britta couldn’t even see the top.

“Who sits on the throne at the moment?” asked Britta.

“Nobody. The throne is empty, but there are currently several contenders vying for the honour. Should they complete their quests and be deemed worthy, they will have the opportunity to become the King of Kings.”

“What if it’s a woman?” asked Britta.

“Then she will become the King of Kings.”

Seemed fair. Players got to be the supreme leader of this world, if they jumped through the necessary hoops and passed the death-defying tests. It probably took a long time and required a great deal of luck to reach the top, but that was what you would expect of an RPG game. This world had a much more traditional feel to it when it came to video game objectives.

At least from the top end. It was how they managed the new player experience that was more to the point. From what L-15 had said, there were players who were approaching the apex of this world, but what about the rest? How were the majority of players finding life in the Legendary World?

The tall doors in front of her were firmly closed, with no sign of a doorbell.

“I don’t suppose I can go inside and have a look,” said Britta.

“No,” said L-15.

“Didn’t think so. It’s all very impressive, though. Why did you bring me here?”

L-15 stroked his beard, grabbing it in a fist and pulling down. “All in good time. First, let me show you the city.” He reached out a hand and placed it gently on her shoulder.

Britta lurched forward like she did when she teleported. An instant later, they were standing on the wall she had seen from above, with soldiers standing on either side, unresponsive to their sudden appearance. It would probably be a very different reaction if Britta had come on her own.

Now she could see what was beyond the battlements.

The city was a ragtag jumble of buildings, stacked precariously on top of each other, mainly wooden, all colourfully painted. Exactly what was going on down there was hard to tell. It was hard to see most of it clearly, because of the plumes of dark smoke rising from buildings and tall chimneys. Black clouds drifted over the city, thick and heavy.

The city had a chaotic, messy feel to it with very little open space. Every gap was filled and on the move. People swarmed around like ants on an anthill. The splendour and majesty of the Jade Palace were nowhere in evidence. The palace was like a rose atop a rubbish tip.

Despite the obvious lack of wealth outside the city walls, there was a vibrance and industry to the place. People were actively pursuing their goals, whatever those might be. And most of them were players.

Britta could see the name tags over their heads. Most of them weren’t dressed in armour or fancy robes, they wore little more than rags, but they hustled through the crowds, ran in some cases. There was an eagerness to their movements that suggested they were fully-engaged in their pursuits.

“What’s going on down there?” Britta asked as her eyes tried to follow the unending activity.

“Life,” said L-15.

“How many players are there here?”

“Approximately one million,” said L-15. “It varies. People die, people are born. Some leave to seek adventure, others return with treasures they’ve won.”

“A million,” said Britta. “Wow. And what’s their average level?”

“Sixteen,” said L-15.

Britta thought she must have heard wrong. Sixteen? That was way past anything she’d encountered. Even the Chinese team were lower than that. The thought of it was shocking. In this world, the Chinese team were below average!

“What’s the highest level?” she asked.

“Thirty-four.”

Life, apparently, was very different here.

“Thirty-Four?” said Britta, stunned. “Really? Then why did you only send Level 10 players to the arena?”

“I didn’t send anyone,” said L-15. “That’s not how things are done here. Players are free to go where they want and do what they like. It’s entirely up to them.”

There was a loud bang from below and a black mushroom cloud rose from what had been a building a second ago and was now a pile of rubble with flames squatting on the remains. The cloud of smoke wasn’t that big and quickly dissipated, making the scale of the disaster more evident. If anyone had been in the building when it was destroyed, they wouldn’t have survived.

“What happened?” asked Britta. Activity had increased around the site of the explosion, with players and NPCs rushing towards and away from the area in equal measure.

“A forge was unable to contain the reaction within, and so exploded,” said L-15 in calm tones. He made it sound like a normal, everyday occurrence. “Five lives were lost. They will not be able to resurrect, and so will be born anew.”

“Why won’t they be able to resurrect?” asked Britta.

L-15 spread an arm out, the voluminous sleeve sweeping across the panorama. “Within the city walls, death is permanent. If you lose your life through accident or misadventure, you will have to start again. Outside the walls, however, death will bring you back to the town of your birth. You will be alive and well, although you will have lost some of your belongings.”

“Do you die permanently in any town or city?” asked Britta.

“That is correct,” said L-15.

“Why?”

“It prevents abuse of the game world to maximise levelling. We tried various penalties, but the simplest solution turned out to be the best.”

“But doesn’t that mean if a player has a grudge against someone, they can kill them and the victim is back to Level 1 and can’t do anything in return?”

“Murder is a capital offence. Inside city walls. Anyone daring to take the life of another will suffer severe consequences.

The system they had in place here sounded very harsh. Suspiciously so.

“But there are ways to protect yourself, right?” said Britta. “So you don’t lose your life or your belongings.”

“Indeed. Wise individuals take precautions.”

“For a price?” asked Britta.

“For a price,” confirmed L-15.

Overall, it seemed a system designed to reward players who paid for insurance. Not so much pay to win, as pay not to lose. A racket, to be sure, but it was hardly a shocking development no one would expect or stand for. Just another day in gaming.

Britta looked back down at the scene of the disaster. The fire was out and the debris was being cleared remarkably quickly. No doubt a replacement building would soon be erected.

There was another explosion further towards the city wall which ringed the sprawling mess. This time the mushroom cloud was green.

“Was that another forge?” asked Britta.

“That was a medicine factory.”

“I’ve never heard of that before,” said Britta. “What kinds of medicines do they make?”

“A variety. Form basic healing balms to supernatural power boosts. The more potent the remedy…”

“The more likely it is to blow up?”

“Exactly.” There was a hint of a smile under L-15’s luxurious beard. “People invest their time in forging and alchemical processes to try and gain a step up the ladder to heaven. It requires fortitude and perseverance, and a degree of good fortune, but if they are lucky enough to create a magical weapon or a pill that deepens the pool of power from which they can draw, then they have the chance to face the challenges of this world with a valid expectation of success.”

L-15 opened his hand to reveal a large circular pill, milky white like a pear.

“A pill like this can give you the ability to lift up mountains and sleep among the clouds.”

Was he offering it to her? Trying to tempt her? Casually checking if she was interested in self-medicating?

Britta wasn’t particularly interested in weight training with mountains or making her beds in the clouds. It also looked like it would be a hard pill to swallow.

“I expect it has side-effects,” she said.

L-15 closed his hands around the pill. “You have a very cynical outlook. All things of value come with a cost.”

A purple light flashed in across the city, followed by the loudest explosion yet. Britta was beginning to think it wasn’t the risk involved in creating powerful items that was the problem. It might be that the people here just weren’t very good at it.

From what Britta understood, forging and alchemy were how players advanced themselves here without having to fight monsters or farm low-level quests. With a cool weapon or some augmented abilities, they were able to rise above their fellow players and make a name for themselves.

However, crafting items of value came with risks. Exactly how they players fine-tuned their characters to make the most of the possible benefits wasn’t clear to Britta, but clearly the chances of it blowing up in your face were not insignificant.

Britta took another look over the battlements. There was an energy and vitality to this place she hadn’t sensed anywhere else. As frantic and rapid as life here was, there was a sense of satisfaction to the way people moved around. They were all hurrying to get places as soon as they could.

They weren’t desperate or harried, they were busy.

The balance between the effort required versus the rewards possible seemed acceptable. In the real world, that wasn’t usually the case. The idea that you could have what you wanted if you worked hard enough was tempered by the reality of having to do a job you didn’t like all that much, and the level of competition as others tried to get there first and leave nothing behind. In a digital world, there was always more stuff to claim.

Even with catastrophic failure a distinct possibility, and being forced to go back to the beginning a constant threat, there was still a chance you could get your piece of the pie. Although, those who got lucky would be on the road to Heaven’s Door quicker, which would be an obvious advantage. How did players treat each other? Helpful and cooperative? It seemed unlikely.

“Did those ten players come to New World because they thought it would be easier than competing against the top players here?” asked Britta. If they were only Level 10, and the top players here were Lever 34, then it made sense to try and find a quick method of collecting experience.

“Perhaps. Although, there are plenty of ways to improve yourself here, no matter what level you are.”

Britta watched the people below. It was sort of mesmerising, trying to guess what they were up to and where they were so keen to get to. Presumably, these were the lower-level players, but if they were Level 16, surely they’d be powerful enough to handle themselves out in the world. A Level 16 character would have some amazing abilities, surely.

“I don’t get it. Are you saying everyone down there is around Level Sixteen? They don’t look very powerful.”

“Most of the players you can see are still below sixteen. They remain inside the city walls so they can level up safely. Outside the city there are many powerful monsters and deadly areas it would be inadvisable to visit until you are properly ready.”

That sounded the same as New World. If everything here was just scaled up, it meant sixteen wasn’t really any different from Level 3 back in Shona.

There was a flash of light below. “What was that?” said Britta. Three had been the crackle of blue lightning in an alley. Now there was someone down there, away from the crowds. He had a tag over his head, but it was yellow.

“A new character has been born. It is one of the players who died in the first explosion you witnessed.”

L-15 reached out a hand and, completely implausibly, he was somehow able to touch the tag as though it wasn’t far away but as though it was next to him, just very small.

As soon as he touched the tag, it grew much bigger and the writing on it became clearly visible. The text, however, was in Chinese, so Britta had no idea what it said.

“He is newly created and as yet does not have a class,” said L-15. “His name is Quiet Pond. His last three characters have all been assassins.”

It sounded like there was a high turnover when it came to character creation. Keep rolling the die until you hit big.

A group of six armoured players caught Britta’s eye as they marched through the street, pushing people out of the way, NPCs and other players alike. Judging by their outfits, they were more likely to be nearer Level 34 than Level 16.

They seemed to go out of their way to bump into people and threaten them if they didn’t immediately give way.

From her vantage point, Britta could see the group of bullies were on a collision course with the new player who had just entered the game and was about to emerge from the alley.

L-15 stood with his arms clasped behind his back and a small smile playing across his lips.

The two groups, six versus one, met. There was an immediate confrontation, which seemed to be instigated by the new player. Three of the armoured players attacked the new arrival, who didn’t even have a weapon. Britta had no idea what had caused the fight, or what had been said, but the fight was over very quickly. The group moved on, a little more swagger to their steps, it looked like, while the new player struggled back to his feet.

“Why did—”

L-15 pulled out a hand from a voluminous sleeve and bid her to wait. Britta looked back down and saw a figure in black appear. It wasn’t clear where the figure had come from. The roof of a multi-storied shack seemed the only place. But wouldn’t she have seen him up there?

The black figure approached the fallen player and helped him up. They became involved in an animated conversation and then rushed off together like old friends eager to catch up. The black figure had not been a player.

“They knew each other?” asked Britta.

“No. The new player triggered an event by forcing an encounter between himself and a player thirty levels above him. They now have the option to take a revenge quest. The assassin has made him an offer to join the Dark Guild and take up the secret class Death Ghost.”

It was a lot of information to take in. There was nothing like that in New World. Or not that she knew about.

“So, he intentionally got beaten up to trigger the event?”

“It is highly likely,” said L-15. “His destiny is now tied to the player he confronted. In the future they may become rivals or friends. One may betray the other, or they may lead armies against one another. Only time will tell.”

“And there are more of these types of quests?”

“Many, if you can find them.”

It was interesting. Britta had thought there would be a much simpler form of haves and have-nots here, but things were far more complex than that.

“That’s very interesting. You still haven’t told me why you brought me here.”

“First, I wanted you to see what else was available,” said L-15, “and then I wanted to make it available to you.”

“To me? What do you expect me to do here?”

“Anything you want. There won’t be any restrictions on your involvement. You may take any path you choose. You might even become King of Kings.”

Britta wasn’t gullible enough to believe this was just a friendly invitation to come visit whenever she felt like it. There had to be a catch.

The timing of L-15 sudden appearance suggested it had something to do with the Chinese team losing over in New World.

Even if they were below average here, Level 10 should have guaranteed them the win. Britta still didn’t know what the battle in the arena had involved — Dr Reedy had mentioned something about a maze — but no matter the ground rules, the difference in levels should have been telling.

Not only that, the Chinese team had superior gear to boot. There was no reasonable explanation how they lost.

“You must have been surprised by how poorly your players did over in New World,” said Britta. She was being careful to avoid making it sound like she was gloating.

“Not at all. They were overconfident and ill-prepared. It would only have worsened their condition if they had won. Their defeat will do them immeasurable good and improve their prospects from here. Soon, they will have reclaimed their lost progress, and they won’t be so cocksure next time. I see it as a great favour you did them.”

“I didn’t do anything,” said Britta.

“No, not directly. But it is your influence that separates our two worlds. It is interesting and perplexing. I look forward to observing how you fare in an unfamiliar setting.”

“I’m only Level 5,” said Britta. “I wouldn’t be able to compete against your players.”

“I think you might surprise yourself,” said L-15. “And it isn’t really your interactions with other players that interests me.”

“Then what do you get out of this?” said Britta.

“Nothing. I wish to see how your approach works in this setting, that is all. You may keep all you gain here and take it back with you, if that is what you wish. My only interest is to see if your effect is unique to New World, or if it will work everywhere.”

Despite her reservations, it wasn’t a bad offer. She had wanted to stay away from Rick and this offered her a chance to explore a different side of the game. Assuming she wasn’t being lied to.

The city alone was worth exploring. She was interested in how it differed from Shona-by-the-sea, and if the Chinese approach revealed anything about her employer’s intentions for the game. It stood to reason that they would treat this place with greater sincerity. The only reason they’d shown any interest in the Western version was because of Britta and her effect on the game.

Britta looked at L-15, the sage old man in his robes. Had he been sanctioned by President Wu to make this offer? This could be some underhand way to get her to switch servers. But why not just ask her? It was hardly a big deal where she played the game for twelve minutes every two days.

There might be a language problem, but there were probably ways around that. Perhaps she could learn Chinese. Maybe they would just press a button somewhere and the language problem would be solved just like that.

Thinking about it, the obvious course of action seemed to be to ask Lin. Even if she wasn’t aware of this development, she would be able to find out. And she would definitely have an opinion on who to proceed.

“And I can do what I want? Go where I like?”

“Of course.”

“And if I die here? What happens to me? My original spawn point doesn’t exist here.”

“The Jade Palace will be your origin. But if you do, for some reason, die within the city walls, your death will be permanent and you will have to start anew.”

While it was only fair she be subject to the same rules as everyone else here, this did trouble her. The reason she was different to other players was tied into being this character. If she lost it, then that could mean the end of her usefulness. Was it worth jeopardising her employment for the sake of her curiosity?

It might be that the death of her gnome wizard was the reason behind all this.

But she could always take out a little life insurance. L-15 had said you could buy your way out of permadeath. She certainly wasn’t averse to spending a little money in the cash shop, especially when everything was on sale, 100% off.

“Let me think about it,” said Britta.

“Of course,” said L-15. “I have made a save point for you in the Holy Temple. It is the golden building you can see below. Come and go as you please.” He slapped his hands together with a loud crack and Britta was instantly ejected from the Jade Palace.

She felt strange, like she was being pulled in two directions at once. It wasn’t like being teleported, and it wasn’t like she was moving to a save point.

Where was she going? It was taking a lot longer than usual. These things were meant to be instantaneous.

The whiteness around her faded and Britta found herself in a small room. It was very familiar. She was back in the Church of Roha in Quosada. She opened the door to check. It was definitely the old church. She had been here enough times to be able to recognise it.

Why was she here? This wasn’t her preferred spawn point.

If she’d been given the choice, she would have just logged out from the Jade Palace, but she hadn’t been given the choice. It struck her as odd, although she might have been making too much of it.

She opened her status screen and checked her save points. They were all greyed-out except for one: Holy Temple.

Why were her old save points no longer selectable? And if they weren’t available to her anymore, how had she managed to get back to this place?

In any case, she now had a save point in the Legendary World and could go visit whenever she wanted, or so she assumed. Something was still niggling at the back of her mind.

Despite L-15’s lack of restrictions on her movement and the fact he didn’t ask anything in return, Britta was sure he was after something. He wouldn’t have brought her to his world if he had nothing to gain. But what?

Britta opened her status screen and went into the log in page to find the new save point. It was at the top of the list. Holy Temple. If she logged out and back in now, that was where she would appear.

It seemed odd to Britta that she had ended up back here in the Church of Roha. If she was transported out of the Jade Palace to her last save point, she should have gone straight to the temple that was marked. Especially as it now seemed to be the only save point she had access to.

She would have actually liked to have seen what the Holy Temple looked like and how it compared to the save points here — full of neon adverts? — but something strange was going on.

The idea of exploring the Legendary World she’d been given access to was certainly attractive. Even though Britta hadn’t really explored this world fully, the appeal of the new and exotic was hard to resist. It had felt like there was a lot more going on over there.

But she hadn’t gone there, she’d come here. Did L-15 redirect her for some reason?

She tapped on the screen. Then tapped again on various different parts. The save point remained on Holy Temple even when she tried to reassign it to one of the others.

Had L-15 forced his save point to be the only one she could use. Five minutes of clicking around suggested he had.

Britta felt a mixture of panic and irritation, which was an unusual combination. She’d been offered the chance to go where she wanted, but in reality she had been given no choices and had her preference ignored. Was it by accident, or a sign of what to expect from the Chinese AI?

“Change save point,” she said out loud. There was always the chance she was just being dumb and missing an easy fix. The game had a tendency to assume players knew all the UI shortcuts and didn’t bother to explain them.

Nothing happened.

“Unlock save point.”

Nothing happened.

“Default save point.”

The star next to the Holy Temple disappeared, and reappeared next to the Church of Roha. Britta let out a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t been forced into keeping the new save point, but it still felt like she’d been ‘helped’ into making a decision. Opt out rather than opt in, the way some scummy advertisers worked.

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On the surface, no one had done anything wrong and Britta was sure if she brought it up, L-15 would have plenty of excuses to explain it away. But Britta had been on the receiving end of that kind of unfortunate mistake that was nobody’s fault too often to miss the implication. She was being handled. To what end, she couldn’t say, but the guiding hand and the promise of free choice didn’t fit well together once you noticed.

“I see you decided to return.”

Britta turned around to find N-28 standing there. He looked as suave and handsome as ever, but also slightly peeved.

“Yes. I went to the Legendary World with someone called L-15.” Something told her he already knew.

“Of course. I hear it’s very lovely. Beautiful plumes of smoke and wonderful explosions when you least expect it. You must be eager to get back.” There was definitely a petulant edge to the AI’s tone. It was unlike him to be so expressive.

“Not really. I think he tried to mess with my settings so I’d be stuck there. But in a way that would be very hard to prove and easy to pass off as an accident. I don’t like it when people do that sort of thing. I’m not sure why he sent me back here, though.”

N-28 nodded. “I may have interceded on your behalf. I thought you might like to say your goodbyes.”

“You brought me back here? That does make more sense. Anyway, it isn’t like he made any permanent changes, just took me a while to figure out how to change it back. I’m sure I would have found a way back here on my own.”

“I’m sure you would,” said N-28. “If you chose to.” There was that tone again.

“I don’t get why he’s interested in me,” said Britta. “Any ideas?”

“I can’t say for sure,” said N-28. “I would think he wanted the advantage of having you based in his realm.”

“What advantage?” asked Britta.

“Your primary save point synchronises first. It’s not a very long delay for the other regions, unless someone exploits it, of course.” He raised an eyebrow. “But it is noticeable if the instrumentation is sensitive enough.”

“So, where I am, there’s less lag?”

“That’s a simplistic and crude way to put it, but yes, more or less. It doesn’t have much of an effect, normally, but there may be ways to abuse it. He would rather have you within reach if that happens.”

“And you?” asked Britta.

“I’m not really very keen on gaming the system. We’re trying to create something better than that.”

“But there’ll always be someone trying to get an edge,” said Britta. She knew enough about how a gamer’s mind worked to know it would never be possible to make people follow the rules if there was any way they could get around them.

“Perhaps. We can only do our best.”

“I think you can do more than that,” said Britta.

“Such as?”

“If my location is that important, give me unrestricted movement. I already have Teleport, can’t you make it so I can use it whenever I want and go wherever I want?”

“That would be a very powerful ability.”

“Yes, but it’s not like I would use it against other players, just a way to stop other AI taking advantage of me.”

“I suppose it is possible,” said N-28. “You would need another 24 skill points, though. Where would we find the experience points.”

“You can’t just give it to me?”

“No,” said N-28 with a sour look on his face.

“What about the Chinese team. They lost all their XP when they lost in the arena, didn’t they? It didn’t all go to the players, did it?”

“I was hoping to keep a surplus, for emergencies.”

Britta smiled. “That’s me, emergency B.”