The realm between nevere.., p.1
The Realm Between: Neverending Dungeon: A LitRPG Saga (Book 6), page 1
The Realm Between
Book 6: Neverending Dungeon
PHOENIX GREY
Text copyright 2020 by Phoenix Grey
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.
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Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
About the Author
Special Thanks
FREE BOOK
PROLOGUE
EARTH – November 3rd, 2057
Another death. Another grieving family. A tragedy atop another tragedy. And for the first time in a very long time, Michael Coleman felt guilt.
Janine Cossey had drowned while trying to save her son after he’d fallen into the Colorado River on a family vacation. Sadly, the effort had been wasted. Though onlookers had seen her clinging to the boy as the rapids took them under, they were not found together. The mother had washed ashore unconscious and in critical condition a little less than a tenth of a mile from where she had dived in after her son. The child wasn’t so lucky, fished out of the river lifeless a quarter of a mile away. Now the two were reunited in death.
It could have been prevented, Michael Coleman thought as he listened to Janine’s grieving family behind him while he removed the implant that had kept her connected to The Realm, leaving behind a bloody puncture wound in her temple. After having worked with Radical Interactive’s secret project for over two years, he thought he’d become immune to feeling anything concerning the deaths of the patients. It was the small child clinging to his grandmother’s side sobbing uncontrollably that tugged at Michael Coleman’s heartstrings--a child that was now orphaned thanks to the way things worked inside of The Realm.
Thinking about it made Michael Coleman want to go rip the implant out of James Bower’s head. The janitor had been nothing but vile since landing in The Realm, quickly taking on the role of a villain. Most patients adapted to the medieval setting in a more positive light, feeling their way around for a bit before allowing the various NPCs (non-player characters) to guide them toward the path of an Adventurer and then finally out of The Realm. But not James Bower. As soon as he discovered the lack of swift justice, he set off on a different path.
The NPCs that had found him were a kind elderly couple named Deven and Alisha Kent. They had taken him in and treated him like their own, telling the 53-year old that he reminded them of their son, who had perished back when Deven had been the leader of a gang of outlaws known as the Kent Clan. After losing their only child, the couple had realized how precious life was and decided to move from Gascaria to Patheana to make an honest life for themselves.
James quickly became enthralled by Deven’s tales of past lawlessness. It wasn’t long before he was pocketing items from the local marketplace. When he realized how low level most NPCs were, he saw even more opportunity. For his first few months in The Realm, he spent his time killing everything he could get his hands on to level up as fast as possible. Then he began using sheer force to take what he wanted.
Upon hearing of their adopted son’s malicious actions, Deven and Alisha cast James out. He robbed them blind before he left, granting them only their lives for the kindness they’d previously shown him.
The rest was history. Over time, James Bower recruited some of the most unsavory NPCs he could find. Corruption wove through him like a terminal illness as he continued to fall deeper and deeper into darkness. Accosting a traveling carriage that belonged to a newlywed couple, James found the wife particularly appealing—a treasure he hadn’t coveted yet. Despite the vast differences in their levels, the husband fought hard to protect his bride to no avail. He became James’ first human kill. Once he was done with her, the wife became his second.
While his deeds had been dastardly, and he’d either murdered or robed all NPCs that would have put him on the path out of The Realm, it was all fun and games when real souls weren’t at stake… Until they were.
Janine Cossey wasn’t the first patient murdered by the Bower Boys. James Bower and his gang camped by well-journeyed roads to reap the spoils of travelers. It had only been a matter of time before he ran into another outsider to The Realm.
Hoping that some type of recognition and mercy would settle over James Bower, the visual team at Radical Interactive watched with bated breath as two humans met on the virtual field, one a self-proclaimed villain, the other an Adventurer just wanting out of The Realm. They were given specific instructions not to intervene. This was the first time that two opposing patients had met face to face inside of The Realm, and while it remained a protected project, locked behind piles of non-disclosure agreements that would keep Radical Interactive safe, Shinichi Sometani had wanted to see what would happen.
Boone Bradford had died that day—the first person killed by another patient inside of The Realm. If the project had been public, Radical Interactive would have been eaten alive by the media and likely faced multiple lawsuits. But everything was kept well under wraps.
Shinichi Sometani sent out an email to everyone involved with James Bower and Boone Bradford, claiming that what had happened was a fluke and that Boone’s consciousness had been transferred to another server. Michael Coleman was one of the few people who had known that was a lie. Boone Bradford had flatlined in the hospital shortly after James Bower had run him through.
It had been a peculiar case. How could crimes of the mind be punished? The Realm was just as responsible for Boone’s death as was James Bower. But which was more responsible? Michael Coleman had pondered it many a night. The Realm was the only thing keeping these people alive in the first place. Was it any different if a monster in The Realm killed a patient or another patient killed them? Sometimes, Mr. Coleman felt that what they were doing at Radical Interactive wasn’t right, but he would continue to throw his morals to the wind for the hefty salary he was paid for keeping things running between the technical teams and the hospitals.
James Bower’s actions were not without consequences. After the incident, Shinichi had his programmers write in a hit on the outlaw. The bounty for the Bower Boys was created, and NPCs were dispatched to weed out the NPC members of the Bower Boys. They were expendable, both the NPC Adventurers and the NPC outlaws. James Bower was the only one to be protected. The hope was that seeing the futility in his attempt to keep his gang together would finally turn him onto the right path.
Once he was out of The Realm, he’d return to his life as a janitor, his secret protected forever. The real world had stricter laws and swift justice. Surely, he would relinquish his life of crime when he realized that it had all just been one long simulation.
That was just a theory, of course. There was no way to predict how James Bower would behave if he ever made it out of The Realm. Michael Coleman hoped that he wouldn’t.
Posting the bounty proved to be fruitless. Shortly after one of James Bower's party members would fall, he’d find someone else to replace them with. The Realm had no shortage of seedy characters, and James Bower was heartless. Human or NPC, they were just as expendable to him as the NPCs were to Radical Interactive. Short of purging him from The Realm and ending his life, there seemed to be no way to stop the outlaw.
Michael Coleman knew that he had the power to pull the plug on James Bower. He could order it done, or if he was feeling particularly brave, do it himself. He could tell James’ wife and daughter that the program wasn’t working and that there was nothing else they could do for James. And he’d most certainly be fired for it.
Now, though, standing in this room above this woman who had given her life in an attempt to save her child, it felt like the right thing to do. Every fiber of him that was good told him to make that phone call. It would only take a few minutes. James Bower would be dead before the higher-ups at Radical Interactive found out about it.
Doing the right thing was hard when his livelihood was on the line. In a sick way, Mr. Coleman could see a comparison between him and the outlaw. By doing nothing, he was throwing his morals to the wind for greed. It was hard to force his own hand when he held onto hope that Radical Inte ractive would eventually do the right thing. Surely, after the death of Janine Cossey, they’d see that James Bower was a threat to every patient inside of The Realm. Something had to be done about him, and a bounty that whittled him down yet protected him at the same time wasn’t enough.
With a sigh, Michael Coleman took the implant, gave his condolences to Janine’s family, and walked out of the room. It was beyond his control for now.
CHAPTER ONE
THE REALM – DAY 114
“Azure Galvan, just the man I’ve been looking for,” said James Bower.
Azure could feel his pulse radiating throughout his entire body. Panic had set in the minute he had realized what was going on. The Bower Boys had staged an ambush.
When neither Azure nor Harlan immediately responded, James Bower leaned around to look at Uden. “This is the guy, right?”
“Yup. This is him,” the half-imp replied with a mix of weariness and apology in his tone.
Azure didn’t bother to turn around. The betrayal would have felt like a stab to his chest if he wasn’t so busy worrying about his imminent demise. Right now, James Bower was all that mattered—the only one of the Bower Boys left that Azure didn’t stand a chance against.
Who was he kidding? The situation was impossible. He was going to die here today. He and Harlan both were. All they could do was stand there and watch how things played out, try to appreciate every precious moment that they still drew breath, and prepare to fight for all they were worth, despite the definite grim outcome.
James Bower looked as smug as a dwarf who had just found a gold mine. Even when he’d been uncertain about whether they’d caught the right guy, his confidence had never faltered. The amount of it that he exuded was almost staggering. This was a man who almost always got his way—that never knew what it was like to lose.
For being a bandit who had stolen countless invaluable items, James Bower was not decked out in armor. He wore brown breeches and a crisp white shirt that probably offered nothing in the way of defense. The most impressive part of his getup was a pair of shiny black boots that looked like they had once belonged to someone very wealthy.
James Bower’s short black hair was slicked back away from his face, and he had a smattering of salt and pepper stubble on his cheeks and chin, as if he had gone a few days without a shave. His dark brown eyes were large and bright. A brown cloth was loosely tied around James Bower’s neck, likely used as a bandana for the rare occasions when he felt it appropriate to attempt to conceal his identity.
A spiked cudgel hung from his hip, the blunt end stained with layers of crusted blood. Azure doubted he’d ever cleaned it. If keeping it dirty was meant to look intimidating, it worked. Azure couldn’t help but wonder how many Adventurers had met their demise from the end of the cudgel. Maybe he would, too. It was an unnerving thought, being bludgeoned to death.
No, Azure wouldn’t allow that. Not unless they held him down and beat him to death, at which point, there would be no other choice. Just thinking about it made his stomach turn.
The thought of trying to escape was creeping to the forefront of Azure’s mind. But how far would he really be able to get before they ran him down? Tasso was a mage, and Uden could throw daggers with great accuracy. No, Azure definitely wouldn’t make it very far.
His gaze flitted from James Bower to Sesto Bradley. It felt like a game of which one doesn’t belong. While Uden could easily fall into the role of a villain, James clearly exuded the confidence of a nefarious leader, and Tasso looked all the part of a strong battlemage, Sesto Bradley appeared timid and nonthreatening. He was tall and lanky, his blue robes oversized and practically hanging off of his frame. Azure imagined they must have some serious stats for the cleric to be wearing something so ill-fitting. His head was oddly short and balding, his beady eyes sitting behind round-framed glasses. In truth, he looked like a middle-aged man playing at being a wizard. There was no intimidation factor to him whatsoever. The staff he was currently lazily supporting his weight on was more than likely mostly just used for defense.
“And who’s your buddy?” James Bower turned to Harlan, throwing his arms out to his sides in an exaggerated welcoming gesture.
Harlan leaned over to Azure and whispered, “Who are they?”
It had not been lost on the kid that they were in a dangerous situation, but it amazed Azure that he hadn’t put the pieces together yet. Azure had told him before they’d left Grayreach that The Bower Boys were after him. Who else would come all the way out here to find him…besides The Adventurers Guild, that is? Clearly, Azure hadn’t gone far enough to be out of anyone’s reach. He regretted that now.
James Bower threw his head back in mock offense. “Don’t you know who I am, son?”
With a bit of hesitation, Harlan replied, “No. I’m afraid I don’t.”
“I’m none other than the notorious James Bower that you’ve undoubtedly heard so much about. Ring any bells now?” He waited, then when he saw Harlan’s eyes widen with fear, James Bower nodded. “Uh huh. There it is! You know me. You know me!” he announced proudly. “But I don’t know you.” James Bower paused for half a second as he squinted at the boy as if trying to discern his identity. Then he waved the thought away. “Aw fuck, doesn’t matter. You’re not who I’m here for anyway. Too bad for you, kid. You keep bad company.” He looked past Harlan to Uden. “Earn your keep, half-monster.”
Without needing any further prompting, Uden stepped forward.
Everything happened so quickly that there was no time for Azure to react. He wasn’t even sure what he would have done if he’d had the chance.
All Azure heard was a gurgled, “No!” as a pale hand reached around Harlan’s forehead. Then there was a blade to his neck, and blood sprayed in James Bower’s direction as Uden slit Harlan’s throat.
“Wrong place at the wrong time, kid.” James Bower shook his head and tutted at the freckle-faced youth as he fell to his knees, grasping at his neck as if he could keep the blood from spilling forth.
Azure’s mouth dropped open as he tried to process what had just happened. In the span of a few seconds, his already minimally slim chances of survival had been driven down even further.
“Look at that.” James Bower gestured to the convulsing boy.
It was a slow death. The blade hadn’t gone all the way through, just pricked Harlan’s windpipe enough to prolong his suffering.
Reality coming back to him, Azure quickly reached to his Bag of Holding to dig for a Potion of Minor Healing in the hopes of saving Harlan, but then he felt the sharp poke of a spear between his shoulder blades.
“Uh-uh-uh.” James Bower shook his head sternly at Azure, then pointed at Harlan. “I said look. You will look!”
Azure’s hand twitched. He was caught between fishing out the potion anyway or just watching.
“Look what you did!” James Bower’s voice boomed over the forest, driving birds out of the nearby trees. “You just killed that boy.”
“You killed him!” Azure shot back.
“Oh really?” Amusement took over his expression. “He’d still be alive if you hadn’t come after me. Maybe.” He cocked his head to the side. “You know who else would still be alive?” James nodded toward Sesto, who quickly secured his staff in the crook of his arm before digging through the bag at his hip.
Azure watched as the opening of the bag began to widen. Sesto curled his fingers into something inside of the bag and began pulling. When he extracted his hand, there were tendrils of red hair woven around it. Human hair. Azure’s stomach turned as he recognized who the hair belonged to.
Sesto pulled Franziska’s severed head from the bag and tossed it at Azure’s feet. It rolled past him, coming to a stop in front of Harlan. The boy now had one hand on the ground, his body heaving. His life’s blood painted the whore’s twisted expression. She had clearly died in pain.
Something rumbled through Azure then. First, a nearly uncontrollable rage. Then, a sickening irrational calm. His gaze traveled up to James Bower’s face, and he looked him straight in the eyes before saying, “I’m going to kill you.”
“For what? It’s your fault that they’re dead.” The bandit wasn’t the least bit scared. “What did you think was going to happen? That you, as low-level as you are, were just going to be able to hunt me down and avenge your friend’s death without consequences. You never had a chance, boy.” His expression darkened as he approached, his hand resting on the handle of his cudgel. James Bower stopped a foot away from Azure, then leaned in so that their faces were mere inches apart. Azure could smell the bandit’s breath, oddly minty and fresh. “What are you going to do now, boy? Are you going to kill me? Because, I don’t think you are. You see, what I think is about to happen is that you’re going to try to attack me, and then Uden here is going to stab you in the back while I bash your face in. Because, you see, even if you attack me, it’s not going to do a whole lot of damage.”
