Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (books for 20 year olds txt) 📗

“Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?” I heard the woman just in front of me tell him, before smiling at me.

The man didn’t reply, but neither did he push to the front of the line again. He patted his pants, fixed his laces, and scurried off, swearing under his breath.

“You’re a naughty one,” the woman in front of me said to Louie and she bent down to pet him.

Louie didn’t pay her any attention, but his tail-wagging accelerated for the duration of their encounter.

“He’s very sweet,” she said when she stood back up.

“That he is,” I replied casually and continued watching him with a smile on my face.

“I’m Jenny,” she said, offering her hand.

That’s when I realized what was happening.

Nope!

“Alex. Nice to meet you,” I replied, taking her hand and shaking it.

Ah, damn. How do I get out of this?

“He shouldn’t be eating all that cheese and bacon though, right?” she asked, looking me straight in the eye.

“Well, just don’t tell my wife!” I blurted out and smiled, satisfied at how fast I’d come up with a convincing way out.

“I see,” the woman said and smiled again. “I won’t.” She turned to face forward again.

Our next interaction was as she was leaving with her takeout bag in hand. She smiled at me and I nodded.

This is weird.

“That lady seemed interested in getting to know you,” Louie said once we were sitting on a bench, eating, a few blocks away.

“Maybe,” I replied, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

“But you weren’t,” he pushed.

“No,” I said between bites.

“But why?”

“You know why, Louie. How can you ask me that?”

“It’s been years—” he said, but this time I interrupted him.

“I don’t care how long it’s been,” I said, barely able to keep my voice down. “Let’s just enjoy our food, okay?”

“Okay,” Louie said and buried his face in the aluminum-wrapped delicacy he’d selected for tonight’s dinner.

Our walk back home took us a little longer since we were carrying the extra weight of our guilty pleasure. I guessed I wasn’t in a good position to work out for tonight and in any case I felt more like gaming. It was Friday after all, and I’d be home just in time for my regular 6 p.m. streaming window.

After a quick shower, I booted up the PC Leo had custom-built for me. I unplugged the camera since I never used it though I didn’t trouble myself with putting it away. I moved the microphone out of the way and booted up Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on an emulator.

A couple of minutes after I went live, I saw I had one person watching my stream. That was Leo of course. He had always been supportive of my streaming. I was even foolish enough to think I’d be able to make money playing games. I had thought that working for a games studio would give me an edge over other streamers, but when I never got any traction, I blamed it all on my lack of good equipment.

Then I stopped streaming altogether when… when things changed. And in an effort to get me back into my old habits, he’d bought me a great setup. I never used it, but I still streamed my games with no microphone or camera just so he would know I was there. Maybe he deserved better.

I turned on the microphone, and for the first time, started talking on my stream.

“Is this thing on?” I said, awkwardly looking at Louie who was happily panting next to me. “Welcome to twitch.tv/DotDisorder. Happy to have you here, my number one fan. It’s a hot evening and I’m glad you joined me on our weekly appointment. Here every Friday at 5 p.m. New York time. This time, we’re going to be playing a classic, as you can probably already see. So I have a question for you. What is a man? Is it A, an adult male human? B, the evolution of a boy? or C, a miserable little pile of secrets?”

Last man standing

Coda

“Alexander Rage!” a voice shouted, and the berserker cut his story short. “It’s time.”

Alex stood up and glanced at the people around him. There were a lot more there now than when he had started recounting the events of his life. And they were looking at him with interest. What he had told them was only the beginning of his tale.

The people around that bonfire had found out how he’d gotten that nasty scar below his ear. But not how he’d gotten the rest of them. They knew how he’d entered the Apocosmos and progressed to level 4. But the man before them was now level 43 and looked like he’d seen more death than any one of them.

He walked toward the voice and saw a minotaur waiting for him. Alex thought about examining his stats, but what would be the point? He wouldn’t have to fight him. He was just another servant. The minotaur walked in front of him, the still wet ground splashing under his damaged hooves. One in front of the other, they headed toward a big tent illuminated by magical white torches.

“You must be quite a warrior,” the minotaur said. “The doctore hasn’t shared anything about your past, but considering you’ll have the whole arena to yourself…” He let that statement linger for a few steps, but after seeing how it got no response from Alex, he continued. “I’ve prepared the equipment you’ll be using. Pretty powerful stuff.”

Yet again, the human offered no reply.

“Do you fight with heavy armor or light?”

Alex considered the question. He didn’t have a preference. Armor was just a tool to get a job done, and the job it needed to do was keep him alive. He considered the information the doctore had given him. Three weaker fighters. A rogue, an archer, and a tank. If those were his only enemies, it would have made sense to go with heavy armor.