It’s not until I try out the role of damage dealer that I find my place. I’m first equipped with light leather armor and a knife and given the role of thief. I can sneak around and backstab for lots of damage. Unfortunately, while I enjoy dealing out damage, I just don’t have the health pool to go toe to toe with monsters in a stand-up fight.
Still, the experience shows me that I enjoy dealing out damage more than I like taking or healing it. Honestly, in the video games I play, I create jack of all skills characters capable of doing a little of everything and taking care of themselves.
The last role I try out is the ranged damage dealer, whose job it is to hurt the enemy from afar. I’m given the task of mage, with several spells, and I find it easy to keep my distance from the monsters and kill them from far away while the tank in the virtual group keeps their attention focused on himself. If a monster breaks away and runs after me, I have no problem leading the monster on a merry chase, firing my spells back at it. It’s quite fun.
Decided on my role as a ranged damage dealer, the only question now is which skills to invest. There’s an almost endless list of skills, and I want to get the ones that will help me the most.
Lillian suggested purchasing the skills Ranged Magic and Firearms. She said that I’d need to get both of those before I can purchase related skills like Rifle and Handgun. John points out that if I want to use any high-tech weapons, I’ll need skills in Laser Technology, Plasma Technology, and Nuclear Technology. He also suggests general skill investment in Computers and Bionics.
Lillian tells me that she’s scheduled some time at a User Dungeon for me so that I can level up and use Absorb to get some new abilities.
“A User Dungeon?”
“Remember how we talked about a dungeon that’s controlled by a User? Well, this is one of them. This one, in particular, is pretty popular around Halloween since it’s zombie themed. There are lots of mission types that you can sign up for with the owner of the dungeon. We have you signed up for an escort and defense mission this weekend with some other low-level Users.”
“Wait, why can’t you, me, and John just clear some regular dungeons. Wouldn’t that get me some levels too?”
“True, it would, but you’d hardly earn any experience since John and I are so much higher level than you. We’d be power leveling you so you wouldn’t learn much from the experiences and you wouldn’t improve your skills much.”
That makes sense. I can’t learn how to be a good team member until I have more experience under my belt. My only concern is money. To go on this training mission, I’m going to have to skip my shifts at work.
“Uh, I feel a little silly asking this, but will I get paid for going on this training course thing?”
“This training course thing costs us credits to setup. A lot of them. But we also need to get you at a higher level and some experience working with other people.”
“It’s not that I’m trying to sound ungrateful. But I still have bills to pay. If I’m going to be skipping work, I need to be making money while I train.”
“That’s reasonable. Well, whether or not you make money this weekend is up to you. User Dungeons work just like regular dungeons. The monsters you kill give experience points and drop loot. You can either take the loot or try to get some new abilities with your Absorb skill.”
Isn’t it always that kind of choice? Loot or abilities. Choose one, and you lose out on the other.
“Well, I’m in then if I can make a few bucks and earn some experience points.”
Chapter 23
The next weekend, Lillian and I teleport to Arizona where I’m scheduled to join a team of other Users to clear this mission. We port to an old run-down looking hotel in the middle of the desert. Apparently, the User that runs the dungeon uses each of the rooms as port sites that take the teams or individuals to their areas of the dungeon, where they can start their missions.
According to Lillian, the zombie dungeon is geared towards training teamwork and non-magical skills. The User who runs the dungeon is a huge fan of the zombie genre of movies and TV shows. He has a huge variety of zombies in his dungeons. Everything from the George Romero slow moving zombies to the World War Z speed zombies. He even has special missions that recreate the scenes from movies and TV shows. I’d be pretty excited to come back sometime to reenact the journey to the pub from Shaun of the Dead or the attack on the prison from The Walking Dead.
However, in line with that obsession with zombie films, the User that runs the dungeon has also set rules that prevent magic and high-tech weapons from functioning in the dungeon. So, no magic missiles or laser cannons will work inside the dungeon. The tech level allowed is just about what is used in the real world, except Users that come into the dungeon can’t bring in any weapons, armor, or items. They must use only the things they find in the dungeon. The idea is that Users learn to be resourceful and work together.
With those rules in mind, I’m standing in the hotel lobby wearing my regular blue jeans and a Firefly Season 2 t-shirt. Fox finally made that second season of the show, and it was worth the wait.
I meet three other Users who are all about my level. However, I’m quite surprised to find that they’re all teenagers. Nancy, Frank, and Joe are teens that attend some exclusive academy in the mid-west and have only recently been allowed by their parents to start training using the System. Nancy is level 6 and the oldest of the group at 16. Frank is 15 and is level 5. Joe, the youngest, is 14 years old and is level 4. Even though I’m only a few years older them, I still feel like I’m their babysitter.
The three teens give their mom and dad a kiss goodbye before walking through the portal to the zombie dungeon. I awkwardly wave goodbye to Lillian, who I hear whisper to the other parents, “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”
There’s a flash of light as I step through the dungeon door and when it clears, I see the zombie world dungeon. The four of us are standing on a deserted highway that runs through the middle of a thickly wooded forest. Strewn along the road are abandoned cars, human remains, and debris. The world seems eerily silent, and the only sounds are that of the wind blowing through the landscape.
The three teenagers walk to the Respawn Crystal and bind to it then start talking to one another. I walk over and bind to the respawn crystal too, then up to the group to see what the plan is for the mission. Since I'm the oldest of the four of us, I assumed that I’d be taking charge of the mission however it seems like the oldest girl has other plans.
Before I can say anything, she turns and tells me, “Okay, new guy, me and my brothers have been working together for a long time and since you're new to the group that means you follow my lead and I'm sure you'll do fine. First things first, we have to find the group we’re supposed to be escorting.”
Frank adds, “Yeah, just follow us and you'll do fine, kid.” Turning to speak to his sister he says, “We should also scavenge for weapons and supplies along the way.”
Joe nods in agreement as if he's used to simply listening to his two older siblings.
Not wanting to disrupt the authority Nancy has over her brothers, I only shrug and ask, “You three ever done this mission before?”
Nancy, answers, “Not this mission in particular but we've done one in this zombie world before.”
I smile at her and suggest, “If we need to find the group to start the escort mission, I propose that we spread out and look for signs of them.”
The girl rolls her eyes, huffs in irritation, and says, “I was just about to say that okay?” Then turning to each one of her brothers she orders, “Frank, you take the left side of the road. Joe, you and what's his name take the right side of the road. I'll take the center and also look for stuff to scavenge from cars as we walk.”