Spiteful healer book one.., p.1
Spiteful Healer: Book One - A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
SPITEFUL HEALER
Book One
HAKURAI
For my loving wife, who has never stopped encouraging me.
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 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
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
A Note from Hakurai
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Chapter One
SCHOLARSHIP
“This isn’t looking good!”
“No, it isn’t. Makaroth’s down to only one healer in his party still standing.”
“And that raid boss just doesn’t want to go down, does it?”
“No, it does not. Wait, wait a second! Makaroth’s charging right at it?”
“It looks like he’s going for the tail?! Oh no, I can’t watch!”
The sound of a sword cutting through the creature was followed by its agonizing screeches.
“He did it! Makaroth did it!”
“Hell yeah!” Several cheers erupted from others in the waiting room. Their eyes were glued to a livestream broadcast playing on a mounted flatscreen TV.
Not Eli, though – he couldn’t have been less interested even if he’d tried. He gazed out of the window at the neighboring high-rises, doing his best to tune out the noise they were making.
A large digital billboard on the side of the nearest building had his attention as it transitioned between various advertisements. A self-cleaning stove, a toast-printer, and the latest autopod model from BMW.
When it swapped over to an advert offering a place where his ‘hard work, determination, and compassion’ would be appreciated, his eyes widened with interest until the product revealed itself. It was for a VR-MMORPG titled ‘The Shattered World.’ He sighed and looked down at his feet.
The others in the room, his peers, picked up their chatter, discussing what they’d watched on the TV. Eli did his best to avoid engaging with them, but when he glanced up to look at the holographic display for the time, he caught the gaze of one of them. The stranger took this as an invitation to include Eli in their conversation, but much to Eli’s relief, that train never left the station.
“Eli Winters?”
A woman interrupted the chatter, looking over the waiting room’s occupants. Eli gave her a nod and hastily followed her out of the room. She led him down a hallway into a large office, shutting the door behind him once he’d stepped inside.
An empty chair awaited him in the center of the room, and as he walked toward it, he remembered why he was there in the first place. This realization replaced the annoyance he had from the waiting room with anxiety, and he felt the sweat building up on his palms as he sat down.
In front of him were two men and a woman dressed in formal attire. They sat behind a large wooden desk covered in folders and documents, which they were looking over and shuffling around without speaking a word.
Eli used this time to casually brush his hand through his short blond hair, both to rid his palms of sweat and straighten out any wayward strands. He adjusted his suit jacket, straightened his back, and looked toward them attentively.
After what felt like ages, the man in the center looked up and cleared his throat.
“So, Eli Winters. You wouldn’t happen to be familiar with David Winters, would you?” As the young man spoke, the other two behind the desk also looked up.
“Yes, he’s my father,” Eli replied.
“Really? The David Winters?” His eyes twinkled with excitement.
“Yes.”
“Who?” The other young interviewer raised an eyebrow at her co-worker.
“Makaroth. You know? The player behind Makaroth. The famous streamer from Shattered World Online!” he replied matter-of-factly.
“Wow. Incredible.” She turned to face Eli. “It must be fun to have such a famous parent. I heard that he and his guild made it across the Eastern Savringard mountains last week. Were you with them?” she asked while leaning forward over the table.
Eli hesitated. Both the young man and woman looked at him with excitement. Eli briefly turned to the third interviewer, an older gentleman, who showed no interest in the topic being discussed, then reluctantly turned back to the other two.
“No. I’m not a player myself,” he answered while maintaining eye contact.
“Oh…” The young man let out an audible sigh of disappointment while the woman shook her head and turned her attention back to the documents on the desk in front of her.
“I’ve been focused on my studies,” Eli added, but they had already lost interest.
“Now that that’s done,” the older interviewer interjected, clearing his throat, “tell us, why do you feel you deserve a scholarship to study medicine at Equinor University?”
Eli looked at him and took a deep breath. “Well…”
Fifteen minutes later, Eli stepped into an empty elevator and hit the button for the lobby. On the back wall of the elevator was another holographic advertisement for the Shattered World Online, featuring the number one streamer Makaroth’s face smiling back at Eli. He glared back at it, clenching his fists as he watched the advertisement animate the face.
‘Check him out now, live on Worldstreamer! Witness the greatest player take on the deadliest challenges!’ the elevator speaker yapped.
Eli thrust his fist into the face of Makaroth, distorting the holographic image and banging the back wall of the elevator behind it. The image remained distorted until the sound of the doors opening could be heard behind Eli, prompting him to pull his fist back and make his way out of the building and onto the sidewalk.
He tilted his head back and let out a frustrated groan, getting a few strange looks from others who were coming and going. It took him a moment to stop sulking and head off toward the nearest bus stop.
As if mocking him, every digital advertising billboard that Eli walked by along the way kept switching to either ‘The Shattered World Online, the VR-MMORPG that lets you leave reality behind’ or ‘VGN – the number one livestreaming network for all things Shattered World’ and their poster boy, Makaroth.
Luckily, a welcome distraction came in the form of his phone ringing. A small transparent screen appeared in his peripheral vision showing the caller ID, thanks to his standard eye implant. It read ‘Derrick,’ and Eli couldn’t help but smile as he accepted his best friend’s call. A dim blue light lit up on his ear due to his ear implant, signaling to those around him that he had an active phone call.
“What’s up?” Eli asked.
“How’d it go?” Derrick answered, his voice coming through the ear implant so Eli could hear him clearly despite the noisy cars and autopods zooming by.
“Terrible. Two of them were fans of Makaroth.”
“You didn’t trash-talk him again, did you?” Derrick sighed.
“They wouldn’t stop asking me about him. I couldn’t help it. Pisses me off when people put him on a pedestal.”
“You’re never going to get a scholarship like that. Pretty much everyone plays that game now. We’ve even got a few big-name players in our school.”
“You and I don’t play,” Eli said as a bus pulled up at a nearby bus stop. Eli had to hop forward a few steps to avoid missing it, and when he arrived in front of the bus doors, they opened for him.
Eli stepped on and slid his wrist over a scanner beside the door. The scanner made a beeping noise and lit up green to confirm he had an active bus pass. He found an empty seat and sat down next to a woman whose blue ear implant was also lit up, indicating that she, too, had an active call.
“The only reason I don’t play is because I can’t afford a sim-box. But you said your dad left his old one behind when he moved out, right?” Derrick asked.
“Yeah, I’ve been using it to study… My mom worked hard to pay for it, so no point letting it go to waste.”
“Still a waste to only use it for the default simulations. You should try the game out,” Derrick suggested. “I’ve heard it’s crazy fun and insanely immersive. You can be anything you want in it.”
“Not interested. It’s just a game, and thinking about it reminds me of David.”
“You’re being too stubborn, man. Forget your shitty dad for a second. Besides, you can make money in that game super easily. That’s one of the reasons you want to become a doctor, right?”
Eli
“I don’t know anything about playing it, though. How would I make money, and how much? More than a part-time job?” Eli asked.
“If you’re good, way more. You can sell resources, even the low-level stuff. Some people have full-time jobs doing that. You know Richard from our chemistry class?”
“The guy who nearly blew us all up at the start of the semester?”
“Yeah, him. He literally spends all his free time mining in-game and sells it on the Market Exchange for money.”
“How much does that make?”
“I saw a video guide on how to get $10 an hour mining, so something like that.”
“Seriously? $10 an hour? That’s a third of minimum wage,” Eli groaned.
“Yeah, but Richard’s an idiot. You could do way better and don’t need to be good at games.”
“Who the heck is paying real money to buy stuff in a game?”
“Tons of people. They’re too lazy to farm themselves or don’t have the time and just want to level up and fight monsters when they log in. You’re underestimating how big this game really is. How do you think your dad got so famous?”
“If I play, I’ll be doing what he did,” Eli sighed.
“Well, you’re going to need to find a way to make money if you keep screwing up scholarship interviews,” Derrick replied. “At least think about it. You could probably ask the big shots at school to help you get started since you’re so damn popular.”
“People only want to talk to me about Makaroth. Look, I’m home. I’ll talk to you later,” Eli replied, hanging up as the bus pulled up to his stop. He got off and walked the several blocks to his small townhouse crammed between several others, put his key in the door, walked inside, and took off his shoes.
“Mom, I’m home,” he called out, but he got no response. He walked through the kitchen, living room, and bathroom; all the doors were open, but the rooms were vacant.
“Mom?” he called again, heading upstairs to the narrow hallway at the top.
He checked his room, her bedroom, and the upstairs bathroom. All were empty. Finally, he turned to see the door to his dad’s old office closed. Eli opened the door to see the sim-box on the far side of the room turned on and in use.
The sim-box was a sleek white round-edged box about the size of a bathtub, with a height of roughly five feet. Similar to a tanning bed, the top of the sim-box closed over the bottom, but a bright light came from a screen on the side of the large device.
Eli walked toward the screen and saw the buttons and interface he’d grown familiar with since his dad had started using it. The screen showed the current occupant’s name and the simulation they were currently in. There were also buttons to communicate and pull the user out of the simulation in case of emergencies.
The display told him that his mom was inside the sim-box playing as a level 1 character in the Shattered World Online. After double-checking what he saw, he was taken aback. He pressed the button that allowed him to talk to her while she remained in the game world.
“Mom? I’m home,” Eli said.
“Oh, be right out, sweetie,” her voice came through the speaker. A few seconds later, the light on the side of the sim-box turned off, and it opened with a beeping sound. His mom was lying inside in her pajamas as if she’d gotten out of bed only moments ago.
“How long have you been playing?” Eli asked, spotting her attire.
“Oh, you know… I thought I’d try it out this morning on my day off to see what it was like. And wow, is it incredible! You can eat the food and actually taste it, and ride a horse—it all felt so real. I must’ve lost track of time. How did your interview go?” she asked as she sat up and got out of the sim-box.
“Terrible. More fanboys.”
“And you talked badly about him again? How many times have I told you not to talk badly about your father?” his mother scolded as she headed down the stairs toward the kitchen.
“How can I not?” Eli grunted, trailing behind her. His mother began preparing dinner, and he jumped in to help by getting the utensils out but paused midway. “Mom, why were you playing that game?”
“I know you hate it. It’s just that a bunch of my coworkers are playing it, and I was starting to feel like an outsider. I promise it’s nothing to do with your father. And I actually had fun, surprisingly. I never knew horseback riding could be so exhilarating. You should try playing it.”
“Not you, too,” he groaned. “No thanks.”
After eating dinner and making small talk about her day and the interview, they made their way to the living room. The moment the TV flicked on, an endless stream of advertisements and media about Shattered World Online bombarded them. Fortunately, it didn’t bother his mother much, despite the repeated mentions of the highest-level player, Makaroth.
“I think I’m going to go upstairs and study,” Eli said after the fifth one.
“Alright, sweetie, don’t stay up too late,” his mother replied.
Eli grabbed his school bag from near the front door and headed upstairs into his dad’s office. He approached the sim-box and tapped the screen on the side of the device to turn it on. It displayed a simple menu.
Registered Calibration Settings:
[] Jillian Winters – (Selected)
[] Eli Winters
[] David Winters
[] New User
He clicked on his name, and a menu popped up indicating that the system was recalibrating. He heard a few electronic noises from inside the sim-box until it was completed.
Load Simulation:
Recent:
[] The Shattered World Online (VR-MMORPG) <-
[] Office Environment
[] Surgery Simulator
[] Sports Stadium Online
[] Tourist World Simulator
[] All Programs
[] Program Shop
[] Promoted Programs
He hovered his finger between ‘Office Environment’ and ‘Surgery Simulator’ for a moment, eventually deciding on ‘Office Environment,’ and a new menu loaded up.
Office Environment 2090
[] Start Simulation
[] Input Material Manually
[] Download New Material
[] Delete Material
[] <- Back
He pressed the ‘Input Material Manually’ button, and a small flat tray extended out of the side of the sim-box. As it did, he reached into his school bag and pulled out a large textbook on rare medical diseases. It had a small label on the front that indicated it came from a library. He placed the book on the tray and pressed another button, which caused the sim-box to fire off a green grid-like light over the book.
Scan Complete: The new material will be loaded into your office.
The small tray retracted into the sim-box. Once it had, he touched the screen and pressed ‘Start Simulation.’ The sim-box made a few more noises before the top opened up, revealing the interior. It contained a padded blue seat with armrests, tilted back.
Eli took off his socks and climbed inside, settling into the seat as comfortably as possible by placing his arms on the armrests and pressing his head down on the back of the seat. Once he had, the sides of the sim-box gently closed in, shutting him inside. Once closed, a message appeared on a small screen in front of him.
Please select the desired simulation speed
[] Current: 4 (Max) (1s Realtime = 4s Simulation Time)
Information: Simulation speed is the rate at which the sim-box will speed up your neural activity, changing your mind’s perception of time by improving the rate at which it can take in information and output actions.
[] <- Exit Sim-box
[] -> Begin Simulation
He pressed ‘Begin Simulation’ quickly, as if by habit.
Confirming User: Eli Winters… Confirmed.
Confirming Backup Power Supply… Confirmed.
Initializing Neural Connectors. Do not move during this process…
Initialization Complete, Loading Simulation…
Once he saw the final message, his vision temporarily went blank. When it returned, he found himself standing in a small office. The room had plain furnishings, with several bookshelves lining the walls and a desk with a computer and chair.
