I run back to the surface, taking the stairs two at a time. Climbing the ladder is easier now that it’s upgraded from the rope construct. Once back on top I head to the shed where we’re storing the surplus produce. As I’m about to step through the door I notice the makeshift calendar, updating it to today. My heart sinks a little when I realise there’s only two days left for my deal with Quarn. There’s no way I’ll get the money in time. Shit.

I gather a handful of the teal corn, a hand of emgrass and some straw, adding a few mushrooms on top for good measure. I have no idea what these creatures like to eat, but they should be able to find something to enjoy here. Swallowing my anxiety about losing Reynard I slink towards the cave.

Back in the rat room the creatures flock around me. They keep a few feet between me and the circle, but I’ve clearly been identified as a source of food. I start off with handing out a couple of ears of corn. A quick consensus is reached, and two of the rats scamper away happily with their treats. Next is the emgrass, strewn across the floor in a line. The rats seem less impressed with this offering. They eat it, but none of them retreat to enjoy the spoils. That’s fair enough I guess. I put a few mushrooms in piles around me, letting them pick the ones they prefer. Apparently they prefer all of them but the miners sludge. They briefly fight over the fungus until they each get a piece, running away in different directions. Afterwards there’s only one rat left. Clearly the runt of the litter, it sniffs daintily at the last pile.

“Go on fella, chow down.”

Skill increased: Animal handling.Ability increased: Wisdom.

A tentative lick at the glistening pile is followed by a careful nibble. Soon it’s eating with gusto. When it’s done, it turns away from me, heading towards the darkness of the cavern. Then sideways towards the wall. Then back towards me. It stumbles around for a bit until it freezes mid step, then falls over like a dropped plate. A few twitches later and it’s perfectly still. Moving closer, I try to see what’s wrong.

It’s muzzle is foaming, white with dark specs oozing out of it’s mouth. I guess I found out why the others didn’t want to eat that particular mushroom. Shrugging, I turn to explore the rest of the cavern. There are many holes in the walls here, crevices and hiding places. None of them larger than a cat. This isn’t the rats nest, but it does seem to be one of it’s egresses. With no intention of sticking my hands or any other limb in there, I exit the room through a different passage.

As soon as I’m out of the rats chamber, the ceiling gets moist and drippy. The chemical smell of the slag runoff permeates the air down here. With my enhanced sense of smell it’s not particularly pleasant. One glorious day I’ll be tasked with infiltrating a bakery or a candyshop. That’ll make it worth the investment. Soon I come to a crossing, with three ways to go. I mark the way I came from with a piece of coal, drawing a circle with an arrow inside, pointing away from the room. In the leftmost path I draw a square with the number one and an arrow pointing into the darkness. Job done, I walk down the path.

After a minutes walk I reach a larger cavern. There’s a small lake of the foul smelling water here, with slimy trails running down one of the walls. It seems like Tiene’s dam has had an effect down here already. In one corner of the chamber is a much larger version of the disciple plant I saw upstairs, with green vines spreading across the wall in a sunburst pattern. Some of them stretch upwards, disappearing into the ceiling. Underneath it is a large green stem, pulsing intermittently. I’m about to step into the cavern when I notice a disturbance in the pond. Stopping, I bend down slowly to pick up a rock, hefting it in my hand before throwing it into the middle of the pond. A large splash is followed by rapidly expanding rings, waves crashing onto the floor of the cave. It’s clearly deeper than it looks. I hope I don’t have to empty it on my own. Maybe we can extend the pump system, make a stack or something.

As I’m considering the options available, the pond goes completely still for a moment. Then a large, flabby hand bursts out of the water, hitting the ground with a wet slap. Another follows close after, and I prepare to head out of here. I’m just not equipped to deal with any kind of dungeon boss creature. With effort, the creature lifts itself out of the water. A morbidly obese humanoid, pink with blue grey keloids mottling it’s skin. A single eye scans the room, clearly unable to see me. Instead, it focuses on the source of light. Opening a slimy mouth, it bellows a mournful noise before scrambling towards me. Deceptively fast on it’s thick legs, it’s claws dig into the ground as it propels itself towards me, mouth open. Without thinking I throw my torch to the side and move the other way, hiding in the entryway. The monster leaps, smashing into the wall with a wet splat, extinguishing the torch in the process. Swearing to myself, I move away from the noise, attempting to find the way back by memory. Luckily I’m not particularly deep in the mine yet.

I manage to find my way back to the rat chamber without being followed. There is still a vague glow from the maggot, giving me enough light to know where I am, but not enough to see anything useful. Heading directly towards the stairs up, I stop when I hear a scrabbling noise. A single pair of eyes glitters in the poor light, accompanied by a disturbing wheezing. I get the scraps I have left in my backpack, dropping it on the floor in front of me. The glowing eyes come closer, ignoring my meagre offering. Drawing my crowbar, I get ready to fight. I guess a single rat isn’t going to be a problem.

Stepping forward, I slam the crowbar into the creature. Expecting a quick resolution to the problem, I’m pleased with the heavy impact against a furry body. I’m less enthused when it bites back.

You have been bitten for 45% damage.You have been poisoned.You have taken 5% poison damage.

Taken aback by it’s strength, I attack again. This time I try stabbing at the glowing eyes. I need a solid strike to kill it fast enough. A jarring shock goes up my arm, causing me to drop the weapon.

You struck ground. Weapon lost.

I rub my hand, slowly circling the glowing, unblinking eyes. Sweeping my feet around as I move I try to find my weapon with no luck. There’s barely a click as pain radiates from my foot.

You have been bitten for 45% damage.You have taken 5% poison damage.You are in the between…

The world dissolves into the familiar greytones of the land of the dead. Or wherever you go when you await respawn. I really need to get some better equipment, or just stay away from combat altogether. It’s a shame to admit it, but I kinda miss the high adrenaline action of a good fight. I shake my head at my own idiocy. No way to back out now I guess. Rishi would log out and cut my balls off. I bring up the respawn command.

Do you wish to respawn? (Warning: you will be unconscious until the clock runs out.)

As I’m about to accept the prompt, a sound makes me turn around.

“Seems to me your adventure is a bit all over the place brother.”

Clad in a grey trenchcoat, wearing a fedora and smoking a cigarette, he’s leaning against a lamppost I swear wasn’t there before.

“Rezzer.”

I nod as I approach, reaching out a hand. He looks at it for a moment before he offers me a smoke. I accept it, and he lights it for me. We stand there just savouring the moment, despite the fact that the smoke doesn’t taste anything. Everything is an illusion in the grey lands I guess. I exhale, watching the cloud pass, before I look at him.

“I didn’t think you guides were allowed to talk to players after the tutorial.”

He grins.

“Guess I just couldn’t get that green body of yours out of my mind.”

I laugh, and he winks at me.

“Generally you’re right, but you’ve caught the attention of some important people with those videos of yours. I was sent here to tell you what the new deal is. Your partners are getting a similar meeting.”

Finishing the smoke, I flick it aside. The embers fly a few feet before winking out of existence in the mists. He continues.

“Your rent will be taken care of in the real world for one month. In return, you up the frequency of your videos and forfeit the earnings you’ve made from your videos so far. If you manage to continue gathering viewers the way you have the admins will revisit the agreement at the end of the month.”

I try to bring up the portal to get fresh numbers, but I’m being blocked. Can’t access it from here. Going by the last numbers I saw, I’d say it was a good deal. Pretty much break even by now, unless there was some kind of massive surge. Still.

“Only the earnings from my uploads, right?”

He nods.

“And only the earnings so far. Any future earnings are safe.”

A pull of his cigarette and another nod.

“What about some in game benefits? I could use some financial aid right now.”

He grins.

“Nah brother, that’s against the rules. Prime wouldn’t let them. Besides, last time I gave you any aid you got yourself robbed, didn’t you?”

I flip him off and he just laughs.

“Do I get time to think about it?”

He looks away, shaking his head.

“Deal expires when you accept that prompt mate.”

Growling softly to myself I start pacing back and forth. There’s going to be a catch somewhere, but the deal is too simple. I turn towards him, nodding.

“Where do I sign?”

With a flourish he draws a scroll from inside his coat, handing it to me.

“Just press your thumb to the dotted square, and you’re good to go.”

Taking a deep breath, I sign it. The scroll dissolves, and a feeling of anxiety I didn’t even know was there is gone. We’re safe for a month. Rezzer looks around, searching for something. When he doesn’t find it, he looks relieved as well.

“Right, we’re no longer being watched by the admins. They’re probably celebrating the deal by now.”

He comes closer, putting his arms around me, hugging me close. He smells like fresh tobacco.

“I don’t know how you managed to get noticed by Prime, but he’ll be paying attention to you going forward. Be careful, brother, and don’t forget where the ripcord handle is.”

I swallow heavily, feeling his warm breath on my ear.

“Yeah, I’m going to press the button now, okay?”

He steps back, grinning.

“Hey, I can’t let you leave without trying it on. You know how it is.”

He lights another smoke as he returns to his lamppost. I roll my eyes as I wave, accepting the prompt. The grey world blurs around me as I go unconscious.

***

You are affected by Respawn Sickness: Level 4. 10 minutes remaining.

I groan as I wake up on a pile of hay. The soft light from outside tells me it’s late in the day. At least I get to lie still until the worst of the sickness has passed.

You are affected by Respawn Sickness: Level 3. 30 minutes remaining.

I stand up when I hear voices outside.

“I’m not sure where he went, he was here when I left earlier.”

Tiene is back. I hope it’s not the next day already, I have crops to deal with.

“He can get a bit strange sometimes. He thinks to much is all. He’s probably just down in the forest over there.”

That voice, I’ve heard it before. I move too fast towards the door and my vision swims a little from the exertion as I go outside. Tiene is standing with a large man. They both turn towards me as I steady myself against the wall. I hear Tiene shout something as I’m grabbed from behind, and a cold dagger is pressed against my jugular.

“I have looked forward to this for weeks now.”