Desire: A LitRPG Adventure Read online

  Table of Contents

  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 14.5

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 23.5

  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

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 1

  In modern day society, most people live in massive cities. The land that was once rife with wildlife has been destroyed and replaced by grey concrete. To experience the peacefulness of nature here is difficult, but not all of it is lost. Certain areas in the city have been set aside specifically to capture that peacefulness.

  One such place is a massive river that cuts through the city. This is a treasured spot of joggers and people who want to relax. Benches were placed alongside the riverbank every now and then. People could sit there to feel the wind against their face as they listened to the relaxing sound of the river.

  Pigeons and crows lined the trees next to the pathway as they waited to snatch up food left behind by the populace. A group of crows were currently eating thrown away food that was left on the ground. The sound of feet hitting against the cement startled them. They flew away to higher ground for safety. A jogger passed by the litter on the ground. They slowed to a stop, turned around, and walked over to the leftover food. They picked it up and tossed it into the nearby trash can as they shook their head, “The nerve of some people.”

  This jogger was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties. His black hair was cut short. His eyes were blue, and he wore a tank top with shorts. He was just over 6’2. Muscles bulged out from his body, the word ‘ripped’ was the best word to describe them. Shaking his head once more, he continued on his jog.

  His destination was the bridge just ahead. This bridge was one of the only bridges in the city that allowed access across the river that cut through the city. Sweat dripped down his head, he gasped for breath as he pushed himself forward. Turning onto the bridge, he spotted a young man standing on top of the railings. Clenching his teeth, he ran forward.

  As he reached the young man, he slowed to a stop. He fell to the ground gasping for breath. The young man on the railings turned around and jumped down, he spoke to him as he handed over a bottle of water, “Once again I’m amazed, Ace. You only took 48 minutes and 23 seconds to run 10 miles.”

  Ace took the bottle of water and chugged it down as the young man handed over a small towel. Ace took the towel and wiped the sweat off of his body as he gave a hollow laugh, “I suppose.”

  The young man frowned as he helped Ace stand up, “Is it really that bad?”

  Ace walked to the railing and looked down at the river. His eyes were empty as he said, “I haven’t improved for months, Vincent.”

  Vincent walked over to stand beside Ace and stood in silence. Vincent raised his hand to clasp Ace on the shoulder, but thought otherwise. He lowered his hand as he said, “You didn’t think you would improve forever, did you?”

  “No,” Ace shut his eyes as he clenched his hands, “I’m not that foolish. It’s just… I didn’t want it to happen, that’s all.”

  Vincent pondered over his words, trying to understand what Ace was feeling.

  “I don’t think I’ll improve anymore,” Ace’s heart clenched in pain. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at his hand, “Damn this body.”

  Vincent looked at him as he said, “Even though it will be impossible to improve your body, you can still learn more about what to do with it, right? Experience and muscle memory, perhaps?”

  Ace nodded slightly, “Right, but that’s only a part of it. I loved the feeling of improving every week.”

  Vincent didn’t respond. He didn’t know how to console him any more than this. Ace suddenly slapped his cheeks, he picked up his backpack that was on the ground next to him and turned towards the end of the bridge, “Let’s go to school!”

  Vincent watched Ace’s back as he walked off. His heart was in pain for Ace, but he was unable to do anything. He sighed softly, “Neither of us can accomplish our desire now, huh?”

  He picked up his own backpack and caught up to Ace. Their destination was a famous university in the city just north of the bridge. They lived together in an apartment complex just south of it. Ace was studying for a degree in physiology and anatomy, while Vincent was studying for a degree in philosophy.

  Ace usually left early to go on a jog. Vincent left later and met up with him at the bridge, bringing their backpacks, a towel, and water. Afterwards, they would head to school together.

  When they were young they had been neighbors. They grew up together and were closer than most siblings. As they grew older, they moved into an apartment complex and started going to a university together. One year has passed since then.

  They split up once they got onto campus. They were studying different degrees and their classes were located in different buildings. As Vincent went his own way, all signs of emotion disappeared from his face. His hair was brown, his eyes green, and he was tall and slender. He was just slightly shorter than Ace. He wore a sweatshirt with jeans even though it was hot out. A pair of girls turned their heads as he passed. One of them spoke, “He sure looks gloomy, doesn’t he?”

  The other responded, “I think it makes him more attractive.”

  “There’s no denying that.”

  He reached his class, entering inside and finding a seat. A person entered, carrying a cup of coffee. They moved to sit next to him. Suddenly, they tripped over someone’s backpack on the ground. The coffee flew out of their hands and landed on Vincent’s sweatshirt. The surrounding students gasped. The student who tripped looked up and noticed what happened. Their eyes widened in shock as they spoke, “Oh my god. I’m so sorry Vincent.”

  Vincent looked down at his ruined sweatshirt before turning to look at the student. He smiled slightly, “No problem.”

  He turned his head and went back to waiting for class to start. The student was ashamed, “I’m so sorry. Here,” They took a sweatshirt from their backpack and handed it over, “Use this.”

  Vincent shook his head, “It’s okay, really.”

  The student pushed the sweatshirt closer, “I insist.”

  Vincent mused to himself, “This person is the type who won’t give up.”

  “Okay,” He accepted the sweatshirt as he said, “I’ll return it tomorrow.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He pulled his sweatshirt overhead, exposing
his tank top underneath. The students who were looking at him gasped in shock, “What the hell?”

  All over his arms and shoulders were white scars. They covered every inch of his exposed body. Vincent took the other sweatshirt and put it on as he sighed to himself, “I couldn’t hide it forever anyway.”

  The student who handed over the sweatshirt was shocked, “Vincent, you…”

  Vincent turned his head and smiled again, “Don’t worry about it.”

  The student was even more ashamed of themselves. No wonder Vincent always wore a sweatshirt. He must have been hiding this secret, and now it was out in the open. The student solemnly swore to never trip again.

  The students gossiped over how he obtained so many scars, Vincent ignored them as the day continued. His classes ended a few hours later. Vincent was just about to go meetup with Ace when his phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket and read the text message. It said, “Meeting up with Alice. Be home tonight.”

  He responded with, “Okay, have a good time.”

  He headed towards the bridge that he was at earlier. He reached the middle and stood next to the railing. Climbing on top of it, he held onto the pillar next to him. He closed his eyes and felt the wind brush against him as he leaned forward slightly. He mused, “Not enough.”

  As he released his grip on the pillar a feeling of terror gripped his heart. The potential of falling into the river caused a sense of crisis. He smiled, “Ahhh, that’s more like it.”

  Just as he was about to fall over he gripped the pillar, steadying himself. After repeating this a few times, he jumped back down onto the bridge. He headed back towards his apartment. Just as he walked into his room, his phone buzzed again. It was another text from Ace, “Spending the night at Alice’s place.”

  He replied, “Enjoy.”

  He entered his room. Looking around, everything was neat and tidy. Realizing he had no homework to do today, he took his shoes off and climbed on top of his bed. He stared at the ceiling as the hours passed. He turned to look at the time, it was 11:00 p.m. now. He closed his eyes as he went to sleep.

  Vincent couldn’t remember the last time he dreamed. It had to have been over a decade ago. Strangely, he dreamed tonight. All around him was a black void. In front of him was the back of a young man. He wore a white robe. It was like it was underwater as it floated around. Vincent spoke, “Who are you?”

  The young man turned around and smiled at him, “What do you desire?”

  Suddenly, a piercing pain ran through his hand. Vincent’s eyes snapped open. His eyes winced in pain as he looked down at his hand. A glowing black tattoo had appeared on the back of his hand. His eyes narrowed as he thought, “What is this?”

  It looked like a serpent was eating its own tail. It was rotating in place like it was alive. The pain disappeared a few seconds later. He rubbed a finger across the tattoo, but all he felt was his skin. He raised his hand up to his eye to take a closer look. Suddenly, a screen popped into existence in front of him. He raised his head and calmly inspected it, “A hologram?”

  The hologram was blue. It wasn’t tall, only very wide. It had four boxes adjacent to each other. Each box was labeled something different, except for the final box. It was just the number 0. Vincent inspected each one, “Tasks, Challenges, and Rewards?”

  Tasks

  Challenges

  Rewards

  0

  Just as he was about to push his finger on the tasks button, his phone buzzed. Picking it up from his nightstand, he read the text from Ace, “I’m coming over right now, something weird is happening.”

  Vincent mused, “Him too?”

  He looked back up only to notice the hologram had disappeared. He looked at the tattoo on his hand, “I’ll wait until Ace gets here.”

  Chapter 2

  Ace entered the apartment not long after and found Vincent sitting at the kitchen table. Ace walked up to the table and sat down. He just about to speak before he noticed the glowing tattoo on Vincent’s hand. His eyes bulged out, “You too?”

  Ace raised his own hand and showed his tattoo to Vincent. Vincent narrowed his eyes slightly. Ace laughed as he recalled what happened, “Man that was painful, I woke up screaming. Alice was so angry, haha.”

  Vincent recalled the pain when he woke up and nodded, “It was pretty painful.”

  Both their faces became solemn. Ace spoke, “What does this mean? I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”

  Vincent folded his arms. He closed his eyes as he organized his thoughts. A moment later, Vincent’s eyes opened as he looked at Ace, “Did you have a strange dream?”

  Ace’s eyes lit up as he remembered the black void, “Yeah, it was like I was in space. There was a young man in front of me. He said, ‘What do you desire?’ and then before I could respond I woke up from the pain.”

  “Same for me,” Vincent nodded slightly, “Did Alice have this tattoo as well?”

  Ace shook his head, “No, she couldn’t even see it. I was so confused I rushed straight here.”

  Vincent fell into thought again. He tried recalling the hologram. He focused on the image of the tattoo and a blue hologram appeared in front of him.

  Tasks

  Challenges

  Rewards

  0

  He looked at Ace as he pointed at the hologram, “Do you see this?”

  Ace looked around, trying to find what Vincent was referring too. He shook his head, “I don’t see anything.”

  Vincent explained the process of summoning the hologram, “Focus on the image of the tattoo on your hand. A hologram will appear.”

  Ace squinted his eyes and focused on the tattoo. He stood up in surprise, “What the hell is this?”

  Vincent expected this result as he shook his head, “I don’t know. I haven’t pushed any buttons yet.”

  He stood up and walked backwards. The hologram followed him. It maintained the same distance the entire time. He turned in place as the hologram maintained its position in front of him. He turned back to Ace, “I don’t believe humanity has the technology to do this yet.”

  Ace nodded in agreement, “Right, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  Ace raised his hand and pushed onto the ‘Tasks’ button. The button turned a darker color, signifying that it was the main window. Ace exclaimed, “A new window appeared.”

  Vincent followed along, pushing the Tasks button. The new window had different features. It was split into two panels. The right side was empty. The left panel had multiple buttons. On the far left was a down and up arrow. Some of the buttons read,

  1

  Perform 1,000 pushups within 1 hour.

  1

  Run 10 miles within 1 hour.

  1

  Earn 100 dollars in 1 hour.

  Vincent inspected each button. He clicked on the pushups task. Suddenly, the right panel showed information related to the button he just pushed. It read, “Complete 1,000 pushups within 1 hour to earn 1 point.”

  At the bottom of the right panel were two new buttons. One said ‘accept’ and the other was ‘forfeit’.

  “Vincent!” Ace shouted at him, “Check out the rewards tab!”

  Vincent moved his hand to the top right, pushing onto the rewards tab. A new window appeared. Underneath was a list of buttons. Some of the buttons read,

  10

  Your physical strength increases.

  10

  Your agility increases.

  Vincent tried to familiarize himself with the hologram. He tried pushing the challenges tab but it was grayed out, nothing happened.

  Time passed as they were both familiarizing themselves with the hologram. Ace walked through Vincent’s hologram, appearing in front of him. His eyes were sparkling as he looked at Vincent, “Is this a gift from God?”

  “No,” Vincent responded as a frown appeared on his face.

  Ace was confused, “What do you mean? You think this is a scam?”

  Vincent sho
ok his head, “That’s not what I meant. Go to the tasks panel and type in president.”

  Ace followed his directions. A keyboard appeared when he tapped the search panel. After typing in president his face froze, “This… can’t be right.”

  “This isn’t a gift from God, but the Devil.”

  What they were looking at was a task that said,

  10,000

  Kill the president of your home country.

  Ace staggered backwards in shock, “This… this…”

  Vincent continued, “This isn’t the only one like that. There are rewards for robbing a bank, killing someone, punching ten strangers, etc. Of course, there are good ones too, like save someone from death, help the poor, feed a starving man, etc.”

  Ace quickly recovered and he waved his hand, “We don’t have to do those tasks. It’s our choice.”

  Suddenly he froze as realization dawned upon him, “Vincent, this has to be fake, right? I mean, just look at these expensive rewards, “Gain the ability to turn invisible” or “Gain the ability to cast a fireball”? This is just a bad dream we’re having, right? Right?”

  Vincent looked at his best friend and understood what he was asking. This was too unbelievable, and the rewards are clearly impossible. He suddenly chuckled, “Ace… wouldn’t that be easy to test out?”

  Ace understood what he meant. He looked towards the cheapest reward,

  10

  Your physical strength increases.

  Vincent clasped Ace’s shoulder, “We can do the simple tasks that involve physical strength. Let’s skip school today and figure this out.”