––––––––

I wish I could say that the four days in the agate mine had flashed by. True, man has a general tendency to want a lot but somehow his abilities tend to fall short of his expectations.

Today was my fifth day in the mine. I'd developed a strong allergy to the sight of agate. The terminal's system messages were already coming out of my ears. The only thing that still made me happy was the constant rise in my skill and abilities. They were the ones I looked forward to with an almost maniacal anxiety. And it was this anxiety that made me dig my pick into the rock time and time again. And again. And again!

Instead of adapting, my physical body kept deteriorating. Dmitry was only shaking his head: like, I was working myself into an early grave. Each day I raised about fifteen hundred stones—peanuts but I was making some progress.

Yesterday my secret fears had come true as the ghost of Pierrot had raised its ugly head. Once the system informed me that Shrewd Operator had grown to 59 pt, a new message appeared below,

That's it, noob! End of the free ride!

The message blinked and disappeared. With it, True Heroes Take Devious Routes also disappeared from the characteristic menu. A very real chill ran down my virtual spine. It felt as if I’d had a truss rod removed from my back.

Dmitry spent all evening trying to talk me into discarding my char and starting afresh. The developers' offer was still there, he said.

“Why don’t you choose a Gnome?” he kept saying. “Its characteristics are quite decent. You have some experience in distributing them now so you can do it wisely. Didn't I tell you that Pierrot was a nutcase? You have any idea what might happen next? Eh? Cat got your tongue? What's that smile on your face for?”

The secret was, as I'd listened to Dmitry I'd mechanically checked my bank account. Just out of habit.

“What are you smiling at?” he repeated.

Without saying a word, I turned the laptop to him, still smiling.

Dmitry whistled. “So! Ten grand! Have you sold a kidney or something?”

I shook my head. Dmitry leaned toward the monitor. “Look, there's a message here. With compliments from Rrhorgus the Dwand. So it looks like he did appreciate the tip. Still I don't think it's enough. Not for that kind of idea.”

I shook my head. “I kept asking myself why he'd never thought about it himself. But apparently, both the Dead Clan and their site only existed for a short while. I'm pretty sure he monitored other sites and forums and sold them an occasional item. But it was a drop in the ocean. There aren't that many chars that need them. And I introduced him to an entire site that was doing just that. He would have found it sooner or later, with or without my help. I just happened to be the first. He had a field day there for the first couple of days. Then other vendors started coming which dropped prices considerably. Honestly, I don't know all the details nor do I want to. It's the outcome that matters. And I have to admit I'm very happy with it. Another good mensch I’ve met on my travels.”

“And ten grand on your bank account,” Dmitry laughed. “Still I don't think he paid you enough. I can only imagine how much he's made this week... and how much more he's yet gonna make.”

I shrugged. “You know, I don't think I'm going to change my char. I'm used to this one. Pierrot was right, by the way. That's exactly what this second ability was: a free ride.”

“You should have invested all thirty points into it straight away. That way you might have leveled your first ability better.”

“Possible,” I said. “Very possible.”

“How many points have you got now?”

“Thirty-three.”

“Which means that tomorrow Mirror World will be one Seasoned Digger richer!”

* * *

I DID THE LAST TWO points by the skin of my teeth. It had been nine hours since I'd entered the mine. I was about to give up and drink a second elixir when I finally saw a new system message,

You've received a resource: Agate.

You've received +1 to your Skill.

Congratulations! Your professional level has grown! You're a Seasoned Digger now!

I'd done it...

I sank to the ground. The first stage was over. To tell you the truth, I'd been all nerves, expecting that nutcase Pierrot to offer me a new surprise. Luckily, there'd been none. According to Dmitry, there was no way the disgraced programmer could have changed the main profession's characteristics. They were the same for everyone. Now the individual racial settings, that was different.

Once I’d got over the initial shock caused by the ability's disappearance, I had to admit that so far nothing had been done to harm me. On one hand, I'd lost it but on the other, it had allowed me to level the rest up quite nicely.

In any case, if my brother were to be believed, nothing could be done to strip me of my skill level. So even if Shrewd Operator had followed suit and left me, it would be annoying but not too serious. I was already a Seasoned Digger anyway; if push came to shove, I could always command an hourly wage in some malachite mine and just keep raising skill. I'd have a word with Shantarsky—he wouldn't say no. But even if he did, I could always go to the dwarves. I'd done the first level already. Admittedly it meant losing time, changing the module center and moving in there.

I had a funny feeling that Mr. Shantarsky wasn't one to ignore any potential gains. From what I'd sussed out by listening in to forum conversations, Lord Shantar regularly rented his emerald fields out to the Stonefoot. He simply didn't have his own workers of the same level. Once I became a Seasoned Digger, I could be allowed into the fields with a team of porters. Why not? Okay, a wage was a wage, as long as they agreed on the loan I needed.

In any case, what was I doing sitting here? I had to visit Rrhorgus and thank him—and probably check out any new gear. Compare his prices with the auction, too. You never know, he might have something interesting there... something not listed in his catalog.

Having declared the last forty stones, I waved goodbye to the terminal and hurried over to the miners' settlement.

It didn't take me long to get to the shop. You could say I skipped all the way there, impatient to choose some new gear and log out. I couldn't wait to give Sveta a call and hear her news—and share my own. Yes, I wanted to boast a bit, why not?

Rrhorgus met me standing behind the counter as usual. “Why are you beaming like a new penny?”

“What do you mean, why? Can't you see?”

He grinned. “No, I don't. Guess why?”

“Oh,” I slapped my forehead, then switched off the private stats setting.

Rrhorgus applauded, smiling. “Congratulations! You are persistent, aren't you?”

“Thank you, Rrhorgus the Dwand,” I said with a smile.

He chuckled. “Ah, so you've received it, then. Don't say anything. It's me who should thank you. You couldn't have appeared on my doorstep at a better time. Didn't I tell you I knew how to be grateful? Oh, one more thing. Wait a sec.”

He dove into the storeroom. After a short while, he reappeared with the familiar carved box in one hand and a smallish pick in the other. I focused on it.

Name: Infallible Pick

Effect: +5% to your chances of finding an additional resource.

Restriction: Seasoned Digger

A runic script snaked along its blade,

Name: Pit Rune

Effect: +100 pt. to Durability

Restriction: Seasoned Digger

He chuckled, watching me. “I can see you're interested. I don't think you've ever seen anything like it at an auction, have you?”

I shook my head.

“I'm not finished yet,” he laid the box on the counter.

I prized the lid open. A set of malachite runes nestled inside.

“Once you decide on your kit, you can choose seven of them, one for every item of your gear. Plus the pick. It's a gift. Have you decided what you want to choose?”

“Yeah,” I said, studying the carved green tablets. “I need a Hardy Digger kit. It has a bonus to Speed plus an excellent rise in both Stamina and Strength.”

“Good decision. I'll tell you more: this is the most popular kit of all. If you distribute the runes wisely, that will allow you to stay in game up to forty-eight hours. You can check out all sorts of instances.”

As I'd studied the game's sites, I'd discovered that my rise in profession offered me quite a few interesting opportunities. Apart from working in the mine, I could now visit the so-called “instances“—locations inhabited by mobs. Swarming with them, in fact. Being a Grinder, I couldn't fight them—this pleasure was saved for the players with paid account plans. But apart from smoking monsters, these locations were excellent farming sources.

Mirror World had developed its own practice of completing instances. The paid players entered them first and mopped the location up from all sorts of nasty critters. Once the location's boss was killed, the location—a cave or some abandoned castle—stayed deserted for a few days. Two or three days normally. That's when Grinders stepped in and farmed whatever resources were available.

There were certain rules, of course. You couldn't enter an instance alone, only as part of a group of five players. Secondly, to make the experience as realistic as possible, the admins had decreed that once inside an instance, a player could neither log out nor quit the group. If you got fed up and decided to go home, you either had to exit the location or ask the group leader to delete you from the group. And normally, picky players like those didn't get a repeat invitation to join. Naturally, things happened—a leader could even disband the group by mutual agreement when all group members would be moved to the exit. There were lots of little rules like those.

The beauty of group farming was in the fact that instead of using the bag, the farmed resources were placed into special trolleys that could hold up to a thousand pieces. Which was why normally, a group consisted of diggers and haulers who pushed the trolleys to the exit. The profits were either shared equally between the group members by default, or distributed by the group leader according to prior arrangements. As a rule, the player who quit both the instance and the group could lose all of his or her earnings.

As for the resources themselves, for me this was especially important. The level-one stones farmed in instances cost about the same as sapphires. That looked very promising.

Now that I'd leveled up a bit, I had the right to use another very important in-game feature: the auction. Naturally, it had some level restrictions. Also, according to my contract, I couldn't sell resources I'd farmed in my employer's mine. Which meant that had I wanted to sell, say, some malachite myself, I couldn't do so—neither at auction nor via Rrhorgus or whoever else. The system was ruthless about that. Special filters had been installed to combat any pilfering. On Lord Shantar's estate, all resources belonged to its owner alone.

I turned my stare away from the runes. “I really appreciate it, Rrhorgus.”

“Call me Ruslan.”

“I'm Oleg.”

We shook hands. It felt as if we'd only just met.

“Every cent is vital for me at the moment,” I said.

“I know.”

I sighed and looked at the pick. He pushed it toward me. “Oh by the way, what are you going to do with your Goner’s kit?”

“Actually, I was thinking of selling it to you. Would you be interested?”

“Six days ago I would. Would have made a nice profit at your expense.”

“What about today?”

He grinned. “Today I can't. My conscience won't let me. Take my advice. Auction the whole lot off and sell it separately. Set a starting bid at twenty-five gold on your runic items—you have four of them, don't you? You might be in for a pleasant surprise.”

“But how about the “no-pilfering“ rule?

“No problem. The kit is your property. It may have been a free gift but it's yours anyway. Now: the Hardy Digger. A seven-item kit will cost you forty-five gold. You already have the runes and the pick. We'll kit you out like a dream.”

He beamed, exposing his sharp teeth. “Another thing. The Strength runes give you ten points each while the Stamina ones give you nine. I'd suggest taking four Strength ones and the rest as Stamina.”

“Why? Wouldn't it be better to invest into energy?”

He shook his head. “No, it wouldn't. It'll create a misbalance. How are you going to sustain these levels of energy without Strength? You'd have to drink elixirs non-stop. I should even take five to Strength although four to three is a good enough ratio too. I also suggest you check the auction for any second-hand Hardy Digger items. Players sell them all the time. And you'd better dump both your bag and the belt. You can buy new Seasoned Digger ones—either from me or also at auction, even though they're likely to have lower Durability there. They might also have runic bags and belts too, but you can't get them at the moment. You still need to level up your guild Reputation first.”

“Yes, I think I read about that somewhere.”

“It's a good job you're such a diligent reader,” he grinned. “When are you planning to celebrate?”

“How about tomorrow after work?” I said.

“Will do. Leuton has a few decent places with nice food and drink.”

“Excellent. Actually, do you mind if I invite another couple of peop- er, Horruds?”

“What, Greg and Sandra?” he smiled. “Absolutely not. They're nice kids.”

“Good,” I said with relief. “They helped me a lot in my first few days.”

“That's settled, then.”

We shook hands again.

“Talking about gear,” I returned to the subject. “I actually might do as you suggested. I'll check out the auction first and if I don't find anything good there, I'll get back to you.”

“Good decision,” he agreed. “You're not working today anymore, are you? So you can auction your Goner straight away.”

“I'm not sure I want to use the malachite runes with second-hand gear.”

“You never know, you might not have to. They do have runic items in the auction as well. If you like the prices, you might go for it even if it means the items have lower durability.”

I smiled. “I really should visit you more often. You've given me all sorts of tips already. On my own, I'm sure I'd have messed it all up.”

“Come and visit me then, don't just say it!” he jokingly threw his hands in the air. “If you find any decent runic items in good condition, I suggest you auction off the malachite runes too. Waste not, want not.”

“It actually looks pretty promising,” I murmured.

“You bet! You've left the hardest stage behind you now. And you did it in record time, I must say. Talk about workaholics.”

“That's what my brother calls me,” I said. “That's when he doesn't call me an idiot or suicide case.”

Rrhorgus guffawed. “He might be right. But you're still alive, aren't you?”

“I'm obliged to be,” I said firmly.

“Excellent,” he rubbed his hands. “Come on, accept my gifts.”

Rrhorgus has offered you a Wholehearted Gift.

Accept: Yes/No

I smiled. No need to ask me.

You've received a Wholehearted Gift!

Name: Infallible Pick

Name: A Malachite Rune of Strength, 4 pc.

Name: A Malachite Rune of Stamina, 3 pc.

We bade our goodbyes, then I walked out onto the street. A light pick snuggling in my hand, a boxful of malachite runes rattling in my bag—I was definitely making some progress! The main thing was not to get into any more trouble. And if their Pierrot kindly forgot all about me, that would be even better.

I stopped by a miniature fountain and took a lungful of virtual air. It tasted almost like the real stuff, the bastard! I opened the chat window. Greg was online—excellent.

Hi there Greg!

He replied straight away. Howdy noob! Are you still alive?

Looks like it, I added a smilie.

That's good news.

Whatcha doing tomorrow after work?

Nothing, why? Wassup?

Just a bit of a party for my Seasoned Digger.

No! No way! You're not a noob, you're... you’re...Way to go! Count me in!

I grinned at the flow of emoticons. I wonder if you could invite Sandra for me. She's not on my friend list and I won't be able to see her today. I still need to go to Leuton.

No prob. She keeps asking me about you.

See you tomorrow, then!

See ya, Mr. Seasoned Noob!

Still smiling, I quit the chat. Tomorrow we'd talk about everything. Shame Sveta couldn't be with us. I missed her already. How was Christina doing?

The thoughts of my family made me double my pace. It took me fifteen minutes to get to Leuton. What a difference! I remembered my first journey. Today's trip felt more like a walk in the park rather than the perverted form of punishment I'd had on my first day. And once I got my Hardy Digger kit, it would be even better!

Guards stood watch by the town gate, talking, just like on the first day. This time no one paid any attention to me. Admittedly my Goner’s kit made me look less of a noob, even though I must have still been a sight.

First things first: I had to pop into the guild and pay my weekly dues of twenty-five gold. It gave +50 pt. to one’s Reputation with the Mine Diggers Guild. Ten such payments would earn me an Order of Recognition. Five hundred Reputation gave a player access to the guild store. For the time being, all I could get there was some Capacity Runes, but it opened up some interesting perspectives for the future. So today I was going to get my first 50 pt. Reputation. Shame you couldn't pay all of it at once: you'd shell out 250 gold and they'd present you with your brand new Order of Recognition. But Mirror World had its own rules geared up to keep players in the game for as long as possible. Which meant that if I paid my twenty-five gold every week and not a second earlier, it would take me two and a half months to earn my first Order. From there it got even more complicated. If the second step—the Order of Friendship—took you two months to achieve, the following ones—the Orders of Respect, Merit and Veneration—cost a thousand points each. Which in total meant four thousand points. A year and a half of playing! That was crazy. I had a funny feeling that this was the developers' way of sugar-coating the in-game charges.

Naturally, the guild store had all sorts of cool stuff like jewelry, cloaks, runes and tools. Then again, all of them had profession level restrictions. So it was really a Catch-22 situation. Still, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Admittedly Mirror World was known for its abundance of various reputations, and every year they introduced something new. The game kept evolving. As the players' levels and demands grew, so did the game.

The Guild's reception was predictably packed with queues of zero-level workers snaking from the entrance. I joined one of them and prepared for a long wait. Still, as the novelty of the motley crowd had worn off a little, I noticed a few empty teller's windows. I took a closer look and noticed signs that said, Seasoned Digger, Experienced Digger, Master Digger and Expert Digger. Oh! That was where I was supposed to go!

I left the mass of waiting players and headed tentatively for the window that said, Seasoned Diggers. The players who'd a moment earlier given me looks of contempt worthy of my noobish Goner attire followed my progress with sarcastic anticipation. They probably expected the noob to venture to the window “just to ask a question“ and looked forward to my receiving a good dressing-down. I'd made my stats private, hadn't I? So no good staring at me or my Shrewd Operator like that. In all honesty, their smirks didn't add to my confidence.

A skinny ginger-haired she-dwarf was peering at me from behind the locket. She flashed me an open smile. “Greetings, Sir Olgerd! Congratulations on your new profession level!”

“So!” I was taken by surprise. “So that's how it is, then.”

“Of course,” the lady dwarf nodded her ginger head of hair. 'What did you think? We're a serious organization. By joining the Guild, you automatically put your name on our lists. This way a special program can monitor our workers' progress.”

“All right...” I managed.

“Don't worry, we have no access to your characteristics—only your profession level.”

“Well, I suppose it's good news.”

“It is,” she flashed me another smile as she nodded at the line of players. “I don't think you had time to kit yourself out?” she asked knowingly.

I shook my head. “It can wait. I decided to come here first thing. Seeing as I have a couple of matters to settle with you.”

“Which are?”

“Firstly, I need to pay my weekly dues. And secondly, I'd like to make an application for a level-appropriate instance.”

She nodded her understanding. A system message popped up,

Would you like to pay the Guild dues of 25 gold?

Yes, I would. I had forty gold on my gaming account. This was the little cache I'd made from the money I'd earned in the agate mine, to pay for elixirs and other emergencies. It was already good news that I could make do on what I earned. The rest was forwarded to the in-game bank then further into the real world.

Congratulations! You've received +50 to your Reputation with the Mine Diggers Guild!

The lady dwarf smiled at me again. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” I flashed back.

“Now, your instance application. Any resource preference?”

“Not really. As far as I know, prices are all more or less the same.”

She nodded, staring into the monitor on the desk in front of her. “You're going to dig, aren't you?”

“Exactly.”

She spent a minute entering the data, then turned away from her monitor. “That's it. Your application has been filed. The contract you'll make directly with the group leader. Once we receive a suitable request, we'll send you an email. Anything else I can do for you?”

“That's it. Thank you. Have a nice day.”

“It's been a pleasure. Enjoy the game!”

As I walked toward the exit, I caught a few envious glances from the zero-level players. Sorry, guys. No circus show for you today!

Now I only had to pop into Leuton City Chamber of Commerce, then I could finally log out. Actually, the auction dealings didn't require a building as all transactions were made online. I didn't yet know how exactly it was all supposed to happen but I fully intended to try it. But in order to participate in the bidding, I first had to register with the Chamber of Commerce. No idea why they called it such because in my opinion, the place was none other than a tax office. Somebody at the forum had suggested that this name would have evoked unpleasant sentiments in players. A taxman sounds a bit—how can I put it—a bit too real-world, if you know what I mean. But a “Chamber of Commerce representative“ was supposed to elicit different kinds of emotions... having said that, it was still a bit too real for comfort. Never mind. What was the point in pondering over it? I had too many other problems to worry about.

The building looked least of all what I'd expected it to be. It was a miniature Disney logo castle replete with little towers and weathercocks. It was begging you to walk in and investigate. I couldn't help smiling as I remembered the forum member's comment: this was the proverbial witch and her gingerbread house.

In we go, then! I just hoped they weren't going to fatten me up for the witch's pot.

Forty minutes later, I'd finalized all my financial affairs in this “gingerbread castle“. I'd only had to sign a tax agreement on 1% of each transaction. They’d also given me a list of resources banned from the auction and another one of various helpful—or so they thought—services they provided. As an example, the Chamber of Commerce could act as a guarantor and contract witness in case of particularly large transactions—and that's considering that Mirror World was packed with all sorts of lawyers and notary offices.

I reached the park and looked for a large enough tree. Hiding behind its broad trunk, I began to undress. This was a good place. No one was going to interfere. As I removed the last piece of my Goner’s kit and stuffed it into the bag, I discovered I was once again dressed in my decorative start-up zero-level kit.

It felt as if something invisible was pressing down on me. I had trouble breathing. The absence of the kit's characteristics showed. These things got you hooked really quickly. Never mind. This was only a temporary measure.

I had to sit down. As my back leaned against the giant tree's powerful trunk, I heaved a sigh.

I opened the auction menu. The runeless clothes would be the first to go. I was going to price them slightly lower than they were in the shop. I didn't want to risk it: I'd have to pay the tax even if I failed to sell the item. The admins always wanted their pound of flesh.

Now, the four runic items. I set the starting bid at twenty-five gold apiece. Done. I ticked the “pay tax after completing the transaction” box. All ready.

Then I began checking the auction for a Hardy Digger kit. Most of the items were quite worn-out. Not a single one had more than 50% Durability. But quite a few had runes on them. Actually... how about these gloves? They had a rune on them, too. Only minus 10 Durability but the price was way too high. No idea who would buy them. If you worked it out, you could easily see the item would still be cheaper than if you had to separately buy the rune and the item new from the shop. But me, I already had the runes, that was the problem.

After delving into it a bit more, I finally worked it out. I had to go for Durability. The next morning I'd have to buy some new gear from Rrhorgus, apply the runes to it and stop pondering over it. Still, I was curious what else they might have.

I set up the search results filter to “zero level, seasoned digger“. Picks, clothes, elixirs. The picture was pretty clear. I left the level filter on but removed the elixirs. Strangely enough, here they were ten times cheaper than in the shop. Apparently, everybody was interested in crafting professions. The scrolls were prohibitively expensive... Stamina and Life stones... everything way too dear. But if I wanted to do the instance, I'd have to buy them. At least that was the forum members' collective wisdom. My level was too low to hope for any jewelry. Having said that... I ran a quick search...

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I blinked to make sure I was actually seeing it. The park was quite warm but I felt a cold chill run down my spine.

A single offer hovered on the screen,

Type of item: Ring

Name: Truth Will Out

Effect: unknown

Restriction: Only Ennan Race

Mechanically I shifted my gaze to the vendor's name.

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