Allisium

Chapter 5

It was a planet devoid of color, except for our novice clothes, something that announced us as easy prey and that we had to solve sooner rather than later. There was no green, no red, much less blue, but there was grayish green, grayish red and grayish blue.

It seemed like London on any given day.

Initium was the world of the beginning, a planet where freedom and illegality went hand in hand to steal and kill without anyone lifting a finger to protect you. It was the law of the strongest, so when Greek pulled out the Beretta, I knew that without him we would not have lasted more than ten minutes of adventure.

Although that didn't mean forgiveness, as we still had a group conversation pending for having withheld such important information from us.

Initium was similar to Earth, although without seas and instead lakes of great capacity. The best place to take shelter at that time was in the outskirts of the capital, since rushing to get to the hotel room after killing the leader of that clan was suicide.

“This turkey's hotel room is in the center of town," Zen announced as he checked the inventory.

“Phew! “whistled Greek. What a level that stronzo had.

“The city is close, maybe an hour's walk away," I said, looking at the map.

Initium only had one city, the rest of the planet had large amounts of land for missions and, from time to time, some ghost town perfect for ambushes like the one we had suffered.

The most remarkable thing about Initium, apart from its lakes, grassy fields, high mountains and a globalized ash”gray color, was its Guild Fountain. Otherwise, it was a planet where not even killing a whole species of rabbits that roamed around ensured that we would gain experience to improve our physical abilities.

To get to the Guild Fountain we had to go to the capital and find the hotel that gave access to the initiation mission. Curiously, the hotel housed the room we had stolen from that idiot.

“How much will it cost to buy a room in that hotel? “Zen used to ask himself questions out loud.

“A lot of money," I answered. As far as I know, the closer to the Guild Fountain the more expensive the property is.

“We'll ask for a price when we get there," said Greek, raising an eyebrow. I'm beginning to think that stronzo wasn't just anyone.

It certainly wasn't. Not to be alarmist, but a hotel room in the heart of Initium must have cost at least fifty thousand credits. And it was better not to think of the dimensions it would have to house an entire clan.

The problem was that we didn't know how many people made up their clan, let alone if they would be waiting for us. I wished it was just the six who had managed to flee.

But we all knew that a clan of eight people who were dedicated to robbing rookies couldn't buy a hotel room in the center of Initium's capital city.

“Oh, we screwed up..." Dagon sighed, getting the worst of it.

“No man, no. “Zen tried to calm things down. Don't get ahead of yourselves, maybe he's a real”life rich guy who decided to go big in Allsium and screwed up.

“If he's a rich guy, he can catch up with us in real life and kill us for murdering him in Allsium. “Greek caused both Zen and I to frown in disapproval.

Touch was definitely not his thing.

“We'll pay him and give him back the property," Dagon stammered, fear filling his eyes. Then he'll have no reason to kill us, will he?

“Don't be a stronzo," Greek replied. You know very well that we can't pay for a hotel room in Allsium in cash. We own the property, but we only have a thousand or so credits on us. That's not even enough to wipe your ass. Besides, I'm not going to give anything back to anyone who tried to rob me? “he said, crossing his arms. He asked for it. He accepted the terms of the game when he decided to leave virtual Earth.

“Fuck, for all the geeks in the world. “Zen was starting to get nervous. We're dead, whichever way you look at it.

“Well, well..." I tried to calm them down when I spotted a cave where we could take shelter. That cave looks safe, what do you say we let Dagon go to work while we figure out what to do?

“It's the best we can do now. “Zen nodded. We should sit down and think. Damn the time you pulled out the Beretta, Greek Marion.

“Without this beauty you would be crying on your bed in your room in Tokyo. And I'm sure that since you live near the train tracks you would have committed suicide by now.

You had to know Greek very well not to take his humor seriously. But it was true that he was not far off the mark.

Zen was a hikikomori, that is, a person who had abandoned all social contact and lived in his room at home. He had not heard from his parents in real life since two years ago, just when he started living in Allsium. He said that his family visited him in the virtual world sometimes and that they were understanding. Nevertheless, Zen's life was tied to Allsium, and he was both physically and emotionally dependent on the virtual world, so if he was killed....

In short, Greek had not strayed too far from the reality that awaited him.

“Do me a favor and shut up, you fucking mafia midget. “Zen called Greek that when Greek's tongue was untied.

Italian, from Milan in particular, Greek was as passionate as he was direct and outspoken.

“Well, guys, I'm staying in your care. Take care of me, okay? “Dagon disconnected from Allsium. His body was still there, it was the moment he was most vulnerable.

The big guy was going to work, to continue earning money in case it was necessary to invest it in Allsium. We could not let him down.

“I expected more from the ragazzone, to be honest," said Greek, sitting down on a rock in the cave. Did you see what he did? He's pissed himself, guys, and it's slowed us down a lot. We might be dead if those stronzos had come back.

“Don't be so hard on him. Of those of us here, he spends the most time in real life," I replied, a little disgruntled. We are different, we love living in Allsium and we were eager to come to illegality. Dagon is made of different stuff, he is more... normal.

“He's a liability," Greek continued. But he's our friend. “He wanted to correct himself when Zen and I raised an eyebrow. We're in this together, but he's got to be brought to his senses. Guys, he's almost six feet tall and could be a force to be reckoned with. Remember that our luck in Allsium may depend on his abilities, Capito?

He was right. Nearly six feet tall and weighing over a hundred pounds, Allsium could turn him into a physical powerhouse with the right path. Dagon would give us a hard time, but he was an investment in the future, our champion.

That is, if we survived, to see it, of course.