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Mikhail Atamanov
Dark Herbalist
Game scenario tester
Have you ever played Endless World? The interview started with the most uncomfortable question for me.
In the corporation's requirements for applicants, this item was clearly spelled out: "Never played our game before." I suspect if I had answered differently, my interview would have ended on the very first point.
Have you played other popular online games, er... Timur? - the middle-aged employee of the personnel service interrogating me, obviously tired by the end of the working day, finally deigned to look at my resume and considered the name from the screen.
Oh sure. For six years I was very active in the Kingdoms of Might and Magic.
Hung ... - the slang term, it seems, my interlocutor did not like it, the man wrinkled his forehead with displeasure. - And what was your success in the competitive game? What have you been able to achieve, Timur?
Should I tell the truth? Or is it not worth it to give out to a complete stranger? I decided to take a chance:
For five years I fully provided for myself at the expense of the game. Not a luxury yacht and a villa on tropical islands, of course, but enough for bread and college.
Why "certainly not a yacht"? My interlocutor suddenly laughed. - Top players of "Endless World" can afford more in real life than just an ocean yacht. However, as far as I know, KMM does not allow the withdrawal of play money. Do you have anything to say about this, Timur?
Still, I was wrong, I shouldn't have told you about it. Everything? Am I going to be sent home now? But the interlocutor suddenly did not insist on an answer and asked a completely different question:
Why did you leave KMM? Well, let's skip this question of the questionnaire, since the answer is clear - online has fallen, the players have flowed into a more realistic and interesting "Endless World", there is no longer enough money.
I just nodded silently, because there really wasn’t even anything to add. Long gone are the days when our clan gathered five or even seven thousand players in PVP - raids on foreign territory or on superbosses. Yesterday, to storm the enemy castle, we barely - barely scraped together fifteen players, of which three were week-long noobs. And while we ... took the castle! The only defender still remaining in the enemy clan, it seems, was even glad to get rid of this burden and, wishing us Have a nice game, at the same time tried to sell us his account, as he was going to leave for the "Endless World".
Then I finally decided - it was time to make legs out of a dying game that could not stand the competition. Insanely sorry was invested in game project a lot of money - once, for the treatment of my sister, I had to sell the apartment I inherited after the death of my parents, and I invested a significant part of the money in virtual land near one of the capitals of the "Kingdoms". Then the daily online "Kingdoms of Might and Magic" grew, the number of players increased every day, and the acquisition seemed to me a profitable investment. Who could have imagined that literally two weeks after that risky purchase, the unknown company "Boundless World" would launch its game servers? And what is this new company in just three years, will it become the largest and richest corporation on the planet, drawing hundreds of millions of gamers from all over the world into its eerily realistic world? Now the value of my virtual real estate in the "Kingdoms" has fallen so much that it would not even justify the time spent on its implementation.
The HR officer spent a couple of minutes reading my resume, and then looked up at me and said with a smile:
A paladin is a human of level three hundred and ten, an archer is a drow of level two hundred and seventy, a mage is a half-elf of one hundred and ninety... Not bad, not bad, of course. Timur, have you been informed that in the Endless World a player can have only one character, and it is impossible to change or delete him? This is the only way to achieve the proper level of fusion and empathy in order to perceive the game world as a full-fledged reality.
I just nodded silently. How not to know... It was this feature of the "Endless World" that confused me the most from the very moment I saw an ad on the network about available vacancies for testers. The fact is that I have already tried to play "Endless World". It just happened more than three years ago, the project was then still at the stage of open beta testing and seemed to me very, very "raw". There was no training, no guides and game tips then. The drawing of the area where I ended up turned out to be only schematic, no “bewitching alluring horizons and colorful magically realistic sunsets”, as modern advertising posters say, did not exist even close in the “Endless World” at that time.
Yes, I played for only about seven minutes - I created a first-level barbarian for myself, took a two-handed ax, left the nubo - location and right next to the village nose-to-nose I ran into bats - vampires of the seventieth level. They leaked me in a second, it took an hour to wait for the resurrection at the respawn point, and therefore I spat on such an imbalance and removed the raw unfinished product. Now I really hoped that that unsuccessful attempt would not affect my ability to work as a “game scenario tester”, as the vacancy offered by the corporation officially sounded.
Well, Timur, gaming experience you really have, there are no health problems, and the behavior seems to me quite adequate. I don’t see any formal obstacles to working in our corporation,” the man smiled at me again, handed me an electronic tablet with some kind of questionnaire and directed it towards a small hall where testing and subsequent briefing were to take place.
I went into the hall, took out my phone and, pretending to be photographed against the backdrop of a colorful advertising poster with a blue water dragon, sent a message:
« The interview went well."
Almost instantly, the phone vibrated barely perceptibly, and the answer came:
« Give the initial conditions and take your time. I'll try the forums"
And now I was already sitting in an armchair and on the screen of a tablet given to me by an employee of the corporation, ticking the boxes, answering numerous questions about health, marital status, criminal records and bad habits. In the second part of the questionnaire, the questions turned out to be of a completely different type, clearly aimed at finding the path of development of the game character that is closest in character.
Next to me, other applicants diligently pored - mostly the same young guys and girls, although there were also older ones, and even older ones. I quickly built for myself an idea of the assembled team. Students expelled for absenteeism and academic failure, office workers who were made redundant, bankrupt brokers, hopeless gamblers, pensioners who despaired of finding a normal job ... To summarize, there were losers sitting around me who did not find themselves in real life - this is how I would characterize the audience.
I didn’t consider myself a loser, although I was ready to agree that I fit in very organically with the assembled team - I’m already twenty-two years old, but no job, no permanent girlfriend, no money, not even my own home. And it's not even clear what I'm missing? The mind seems to be present, I graduated with honors from college with a degree in research chemist. I know how to conduct a conversation, nature did not deprive girls of an attractive appearance, and gymnastics was not in vain. I easily met girls, but for some reason all my girlfriends sooner or later went to other guys. And if they found out that I had a disabled younger sister in my care, then the moment of parting happened immediately. It was embarrassing, but I wouldn't agree to trade my little sister for those painted dolls.
My sister Valeria was eleven when a hijacker trying to break away from the police crashed into a flyer driven by her father at full speed. In a collision and subsequent fall broken car mother and father died from a thirty-meter height, and the younger sister lost both legs and received multiple fractures and injuries. And although the police found my father not guilty in the accident, it didn’t make it any easier - in order to pay for Lerka’s treatment and other expenses, I had to sell my inherited apartment in a good area of the metropolis.
For my sister, I replaced not only my parents, but also friends, psychologists and the rest of the world. The hardest thing was immediately after the accident - the crippled Valeria did not see the point in her existence, she repeatedly asked me to get her a potent sleeping pill in order to fall asleep forever. I did my best to dissuade my sister from suicide and day after day I found new incentives for her to live. At first such small pleasures were walks on the street. We lived near the central park, and it was good there. But after, due to lack of money, we were forced to move from the center of the metropolis to the outskirts, the walks stopped at the request of Lerka herself - it was unbearably painful for my sister to endure the ridicule of the neighboring children, who teased and threw stones at the crippled girl.
Called? I knocked politely and walked through the wide open doors of my new boss's office. At the same time, I slowed down for a second, reading the copper plate with the name of the owner of the office, which the worker was just screwing on the front door:
Max Turner. Director of Special Projects
This is the fourth director in this position in a month. Indeed, a cursed place. Although the new head of the department of special projects did not look doomed at all and, on the contrary, demonstrated confidence, solidity and power with all his appearance. When I appeared, he nodded curtly and pointed to the guest chair.
By the way, this is not how I imagined my new boss after a night conversation with the Guardian. Then at night, by the voice and behavior of the luminous winged figure, I assumed that a rather young man, almost my age, was playing for the Guardian. But in the immensely wide director's chair, left even after the fat man Mark Tobius, sat a medium-sized fifty-year-old man with noticeable gray hair in his once dark brown hair and a huge receding hairline almost to the back of his head. And I was also struck by his eyes - whitish, cold, with a very bright iris. Some are not human, but rather snake or fish.
You already know my name, - Max Turner pointed to the front door with a sign, - yours to me too. So let's get straight to the point. Timur, what character class are you playing for?
Goblin Herbalist, - I answered in surprise, not understanding such ignorance of the director.
How can he not know this?! After all, he met me in the “Endless World”, saw my eared Amra with his own eyes and probably counted the race, profession and level displayed above the character! Have you forgotten? But, as it turned out, it was not ignorance or forgetfulness that caused this question.
That's right, you have an Herbalist, not a Pirate, not a Wolf Rider or an Animal Master! Meanwhile, your Herbalism is the most flawed and neglected of all skills! You haven't even gotten your first specialization yet, even though your character has already reached level forty! This is a form of disgrace! The corporation hired you to do a specific job - to show our users all the benefits of playing as a Goblin Herbalist. You do anything but do your own work!!!
With each new phrase, the boss kept raising his voice, and at the end of his accusatory speech, he completely switched to shouting. I tried to justify myself by reminding the director with a smile about the big hunt for my Amra and the need to constantly run away, because of which I was somewhat not up to picking herbs.
But I'd rather not say anything...
The boss took my inappropriate cheerfulness extremely painfully, as well as the attempt of a subordinate to argue with him. A whole stream of reproaches and abuse poured on me, mixed with selective obscenities. I was accused of disrespect for elders, violation of subordination, boorish behavior, negligent attitude to work and almost betrayal of the interests of the Endless World Corporation. Only at the very end of his angry monologue did Max Turner calm down a little and rightly remark in a more or less normal tone:
Timur, there has been no big hunt for you for several days. But you missed several work shifts, and in ten whole hours of your last game session, your goblin didn't get a single level in Herbology at all! And there was no character development either. You just flew for your pleasure over the night desert and had fun instead of work.
I really had nothing to say to the last words. Having upgraded the Royal Forest Wyvern to the ability to support the weight of a small rider, I really forgot about everything in the world and just enjoyed the flight while a file of my orcs trudged through the Great Desert. But apart from the aimlessly lost gaming session, there were enough accusations. I was in shock and did not even know how to behave in this situation.
I haven't been "sanded" like this in a long time. Perhaps the last time I received such a scolding was about ten years ago from the principal of the school for skipping my annual final work in algebra for no good reason. Then I was really badly prepared for an important test, and therefore I decided to cheat and skip test citing severe chest pain.
Then I was only ten years old, and I naively assumed that they would just let me go home, and then I would be able to write this test in a day or two, having already learned examples from classmates and found the correct answers in a calm home environment. However, everything went wrong - my clumsy attempt at a simulation was quickly discovered by the emergency doctors who arrived, and instead of the maximum scores for the test, I received a call to the irate principal of the school ...
But then ten years ago I at least guessed in advance that the director of the school would not say anything good to me, and I was mentally prepared for a stream of sharp emotional phrases. Now, the new Director of Special Projects of the Endless World Corporation took me by surprise with his overly emotional criticism. I did not know how to behave in this situation - whether to demonstrate to my boss humility and agreement with his accusations. Or, on the contrary, to express to this boor in the face everything that I think about such methods of communication with subordinates and write a letter of resignation right there in the office.
After all, life doesn't just focus on the Infinite World Corporation. I'll find another job with better management. And the half million credits I earned on a big hunt allowed me to look to the future with optimism and not worry about being fired. But I still did not rush into such an irreversible decision. The boss has already spoken out, blown off steam and become more adequate, and he really said the right things.
In addition, I noticed that the boss looked tired, not getting enough sleep, and apparently all the roots of his excessive irritability came from this. Surely, after all, Max Turner today received an emotional "cheat" from his superiors to give due zeal in a new place and therefore broadcast his anger on his subordinates.
However, I still counted on a completely different assessment of my game. After all, Amra kept a beautiful flying mount, acquired a unique mythical dog in the Gray Pack, got away from the big chase and generally acted interesting and non-trivial, since my videos were a huge success among the audience. Taking advantage of a pause in the headmaster's flow of phrases, I reminded him of my progress.
However, the authorities had a completely different point of view on this matter:
Timur, I do not see any of your merits in this sudden popularity. You just got lucky once with getting a unique forest wyvern. I don’t know all the details of what happened, but I heard rumors that not everything was clean with that quest that made you famous, and the directors of special projects were removed precisely because of that muddy story. And then you just went with the flow, and the popularity of your videos among the audience is not at all caused by your brilliant game, but by the banal interest of the players in the valuable trophy of the big hunt. Soon your fleeting glory will pass, and there will be a bare remnant - a wretched Goblin Herbalist who has not revealed his professional skills at all.
I wanted to object and even opened my mouth, intending to speak out, but still kept silent and lowered my head. Perhaps, in this case, I was ready to agree with the director. Max Turner continued:
If you were an ordinary player, no one would have said a word to you about the weak leveling of skills. But you are an employee of the "Endless World" corporation, and everyone knows about it! You must serve as an example for the rest, show the advantages of playing as the Herbalist, reveal the potential of such a path, and at least not be inferior to other colleagues in the profession. Now the situation is just awful. For a level forty herbalist, the average Herbalism skill level is around forty-two to forty-three. You have only the fifteenth ... This, I'm not afraid of such a word, is a shame for an employee of the game developer corporation. How much time do you need to correct the backlog? Is a week enough?
Fantastic novel by Mikhail Atamanov “Dark herbalist. Save the Wings continues the story of Timur's adventures, who lives in reality and in virtual space at the same time. Writer develops storyline It's getting more and more interesting to read. Here are added interesting moves, unusual tricks. The author will send readers on a sea voyage, which will bring a wave of new experiences. The book combines well the game world and real life, descriptions of the work of the protagonist, the device of the game and the pumping of his character inside it.
It would seem that Timur's life is wonderful - he does what he loves and gets good money for it. All his life he dreamed of being a tester of the popular network game, and now also at the same time is its player. In the game, he is a goblin herbalist named Amra. He started, of course, small. But now he is not some ordinary hero, he is skillful and talented and knows well how to use cunning in the fight against an enemy that is many times superior in strength. He noticeably stands out among others, seems too successful and lucky. And it's not always in his favor. But Amra knows how to decide challenging tasks, find non-standard solutions even in the most complicated situations and know who to turn to for help if needed.
The work was published in 2017 by the Eksmo publishing house. This book is part of the LitRPG series. On our site you can download the book "Dark herbalist. Save the wings" in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format or read online. The rating of the book is 3.57 out of 5. Here, before reading, you can also refer to the reviews of readers who are already familiar with the book and find out their opinion. In the online store of our partner you can buy and read the book in paper form.
The green beauty laughed into the phone, obviously pleased with the effect it had on me:
Amra, you yourself showed me how it's done! And he called his number in front of me when he called the Rescue Service. Have you forgotten?
No, this is not forgotten ... I perfectly remembered that very terrible moment in my life when my frightened and confused lop-eared goblin was holding an unconscious forest nymph in his arms, and at that time my sister Valeria was dying in the real world ... Then I really called directly from the game and called the Rescue Service employee his address, as well as his phone number. But the last thing I thought in that tense moment was that my NPC fiancee would remember this information and then begin to call me at real world.
But Taisha needed to answer something. I tried to calm and cheer up the thief NPC by promising to log into the game right after sunset, when my goblin vampire would no longer be threatened by the sun's rays. I also asked Taisha to convey an order for my first assistant Zyabash Zhivuchy to continue moving. The Great Desert had to be crossed, no matter how difficult the path through the hot sands was. Taisha promised to pass it on and hung up, I lowered my hand with the mobile phone.
Timur, what kind of girl called you just now, and what language did you speak with her? - Kira was tense at the door of the kitchen, not too lazy to get up from the sofa and come to figure out who I was talking to on the phone.
What does "what language" mean? - I answered with a smile ... and suddenly froze. But for sure! I just spoke not in my usual native language, but in ... What was that all about? Goblin language? I could not find any other explanation, and this was exactly what the landlady answered. As well as the fact that an NPC thief called Taisha, a computer character from the game "Endless World", called me.
Are you kidding me?! Do you think I'm such a naive fool that I would believe in this fairy tale?! Tell me the truth right away, or I'll be terribly offended at you! - boiled Kira.
But I continued to persist, repeating again and again that this was exactly the way it was - I was actually called by a computer character and asked when exactly I would enter the game. My red-haired friend hissed like an angry cat and said through tightly clenched teeth:
Of course, I will give you a chance and check your version with the specialists of the corporation, even though it sounds frankly delusional. But if all this turns out to be a lie, and you make me look like an idiot in front of serious people, I... I...
Kira never finished her sentence, she just turned around sharply and went into the room, finally slamming the door loudly. That is why I did not understand what exactly the red-haired fury was going to do if the call of the NPC thief was not tracked by the corporation's services. Break up with me? Kicked out of the apartment? Complain about me to his powerful grandmother? If not this, then obviously he will do something unpleasant for me.
When a few minutes later I went out into the hall with two cups of fragrant freshly brewed coffee in my hands, Kira was no longer in the apartment...
I did not find Lerka in the hospital room, and her wheelchair was also missing. Maybe she went out for a minute and will be back soon? But a nurse walking down the hall told me that she had just seen my sister in the downstairs hall talking to other children. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. My shy and unsociable Valeria, on her own initiative, went for a walk and communicate with her peers? I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes!
But the nurse was not mistaken. Even from the stairs, I heard cheerful children's laughter and gambling cries, and Lerka's voice was also present there. I stopped abruptly. For a girl who just a few days ago tried to kill herself because "the real world is unbearably gray and boring" positive emotions needed like air. And it certainly wasn’t worth it now, at the moment of active children’s fun, to pull the sister out of the general company and burden her with her problems.
Therefore, I did not interfere with the children's play and returned to my sister's hospital room. Time was running out, it was time for me to go to work soon, so I just put a bag of fruit and a gift for Lerka on the bed, and left a short note on the table:
“I talked to the new director. Received a task to improve herbalism. When the time comes, see what you need to do to raise this skill by thirty levels in a week. See you at the game at nine o'clock."
In the morning I promised the new director at exactly eight in the evening to report on my final decision about the trip to the headwaters of the Styx. It was already almost eight o'clock, and I was really afraid of being late for my own appointed time, which would be a sign of extreme irresponsibility and disrespect for superiors. And so, just in the soap, I took off up the steps of the building, ran to the elevator and stood at five minutes to eight at the door with a sign “Max Turner. Director of Special Projects.
But the door was locked... Didn't the director wait for me?! Here the cell phone beeped. Called Max Soshna, my friend Naiad Merchant.
Hello Timur. Have you talked to the new director yet?
I felt some kind of catch in this seemingly ordinary question, and therefore, before answering, I asked a friend to explain the reason for such interest.
Yes, ten minutes from the director. I'm sitting, streamlining ... If he hadn't been called to some urgent meeting, I'm afraid he would have simply bitten me. Leon is sitting at the table next to me. Pale all over, his hands are shaking, he sits and smokes right in the corporate building.
Yes, I got everything, and if I get fired for smoking, then to hell with this job! And so with great difficulty I resisted not to turn the jaw of this bald old man with an uppercut!
I admitted that in the morning I had about the same feelings during a conversation with Max Turner. I'm out of the habit of the fact that someone can so frankly yell obscenities at me. And that I'm standing in front of the locked door of the director's office and I don't know whether to be glad or not that the second part of the difficult conversation is being postponed.
That's it, I understand! Max Soshne laughed. - Go down then down to our floor of testers. Leon and I are sitting in a corner near the vending machines, waiting for you. Much needs to be discussed.
Exactly three minutes later, I got off the elevator on the testers floor and went to my friends. Both Leon and Max Soshnet stood up when I appeared, and we greeted each other warmly.
Friends, the new director is just a fierce beast, - the former music teacher raised a vital topic. - He yelled at me and threatened almost with a prison just for the fact that I cashed out the money from the character's game account. I really converted thirty thousand in-game coins into real three thousand credits - I planned to replace my old electric car with a more modern model.
And what's criminal? I frankly didn't understand. - You are an employee of the corporation and, if the employment contract allows, you have every right to withdraw money.
That's what I thought too! Max Soshne was indignant. - But not everything turned out to be so simple! The financial department complained to the director about me. Like my character Naiad the Merchant keeps with him the money of clients and borrowed large funds. And our boss would not understand the situation and calm the financiers. Instead, he began to yell at me that such a withdrawal of money from the "Endless World" can be interpreted as illegal "cashing out", which violates the rules of the corporation and in general tax laws. This is some kind of wild surrealism - I cannot receive my own salary without the invitation of an auditor specially appointed by the corporation, who will check the legality of the withdrawal of money every time! I am a trader and I will always have other people's money received as an advance. Why should I sit without a salary because of this at all?!
Yes, complete nonsense turns out, - I agreed. - And what if we change the form of payment in the labor contract to a fixed salary?
