Cyberserk

Chapter 4 - Dan Berserk

Dan Raven cautiously approached the crowd of the dead. How to lure one zombie out of this vile company? Beneath his feet was a flat surface covered with grass. The weather was warm in this place. Dan stopped and thought he should go back to the river bank and find a rock. There are always rocks in the river! A rock could be thrown at a zombie to cause one dead person to be aggressive.

Dan turned around and walked over to the phantom who was sitting on the river bank.

"You chickened out? I didn't expect you to," said the clone.

"I want to find a rock in the river and throw it at one zombie. Challenge him to a fight!" Dan was content to show his intelligence.

"You chicken-hearted and useless piece of fear and stupidity," muttered the phantom. "What are you afraid of? You have 100 points of life to spare. A dead man's strike does two points of damage. You can take five hits before they reach you! You can always run away in case of danger. I was ready to come to the rescue and divert their attention to myself. But you're making me feel contempt!" Phantom rose to his feet and punched Dan in the shoulder with his fist. "Go and fight like a man! Who is the first sword of the kingdom? You are the champion of the kingdom!"

"I am the champion of the kingdom," muttered the young man.

Dan was ashamed of his behavior. There was no way he could accept the terms of this Game. There is no danger of death in any game. If your character dies, it's not a disaster. But there is no resurrection in this game! Dan clarified this point and questioned Resurrection in outer space. No messages appeared in front of him with information about the possibility of Resurrection after death! This moment frightened the young man. He realized that this wasn't a Game at all, it was a new life with new game elements!

"I'm a champion, I'm afraid, but I'm a champion," whispered Raven. "I have 100 points of life. They can't kill me suddenly. I'll run away. I'm a champion and I'll run."

Suddenly the young man leapt from his seat and sprang toward the crowd of dead men in a few leaps.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Boom! Bang! c***k! Crunch! Knock!

The man looked wild and ridiculous. The sword in his hands was striking at great speed. The player was pounding on all the dead, half-rotten hands that reached out toward him. No composure or cold reaction of the skilled swordsman. The savage with the sword in his hand pounded his sword like a club, trying to do a lot of damage to his enemies.

The red numbers of damage -3, -5, -4, -3 were flying into the sky.

Suddenly one of the dead exploded like an inflatable hideous doll. The player got his first loot! But Dan paid no attention to the loot.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Bastards! That hurts! Take that! Ouch! I'll kill you!" Raven spat out a stream of extraordinary emotion with a loud scream.

Dan Raven was an orphan. But his life was quiet and peaceful. He received an early adoption. His adoptive parents were quiet remarkable people. The boy grew up in warmth and never faced aggression as a child. School turned out to be a comfortable and peaceful place. Dan saw little troublemakers, but they didn't pay him any attention. As it happened, the boy was an ordinary kid. He didn't encounter any incredible sudden aggressive attacks from the naughty boys. The naughty girls didn't try to hurt him, either. Nothing had changed at the university. He was surrounded by normal, decent students.

Dan Raven allowed himself to be independent and rented a one-room apartment. He met some unpleasant neighbors. But these neighbors were in no hurry to be aggressive.

His first fight with the dead was the first fight he ever took part in.

And Dan Raven showed the full force of his frenzied and wild temper. He fought like an ancient Viking warrior!

The ancient warriors from the north of Europe were terrible rivals for all civilized nations. The Vikings came in their fearsome ships and plundered every nation. The Vikings feared no one in Europe! The Vikings were only afraid of the Gods and Berserks.

A Berserk is a Viking who fights like a beast. The berserk loses his mind. Pain and wounds feed the Berserk's strength. The warrior loses his composure and kills all enemies like a furious animal. The berserk does not distinguish between allies and enemies. Any armed man near a berserker becomes a target for attack! Creepy and terrifying Viking berserks were the strongest and most terrifying part of the robber army from the North of Europe.

"Dude, you're as badass as Ragnar Lothbrok from the Vikings TV series!" Phantom saw that his partner had completely lost his head. He wanted to get the player's attention with his words.

Raven paid no attention to the exclamation from outside. He wasn't even distracted by reading the messages that appeared before his eyes! Dan blinked and easily got rid of the first message from the system that distracted him from the fight.

"Go away to the chat and stay out of the way, you stupid b***h!" Raven expressed his negativity with the first words that came to mind. No more messages appeared before him and distracted him from contemplating the disgusting nasty and smelly zombies.

The dead men stretched their bony and half-rotten stinking arms toward the man. Zombies and skeletons tried to grab or scratch the living. The man did not see that the dead had already begun to surround him.

"Dan you're a funny guy. I won't be bored with you," whispered the phantom with a sense of cheerful admiration for his partner's desperate fighting.

The phantom quickly ran up to the scene of the fight and kicked Dan hard in the a*s! The fellow did not respond to the first kick. The clone kicked his partner hard again. This time the phantom barely had time to bounce back from the sword blow.

Dan Raven turned on the spot and slashed his sword horizontally. The wide swing did no damage to the nimble phantom.

"You? What are you doing? Freak!" Dan quickly turned toward the dead men and struck the nasty outstretched hands.

"Save your a*s! Dan they're surrounding you! Run after me! Danger!" The clone yelled at the top of his voice.

"Oh, s**t! Mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Dan Raven jumped away from the crowd and quickly ran toward the portal. 

"Freak! You switched their aggression on me," shouted the clone and ran after his partner. "Don't go into the portal!" The phantom shouted at the top of his voice.

But Den Raven didn't hear his trusty helper's warning. He saw the portal. An association appeared in his mind. A portal is a way into a familiar world. The familiar world is safety. He must run to the portal!

***

Mr. Goodwin was an experienced lawyer. He was doing important work on an expensive contract.

Suddenly the electricity in the office went out. The lawyer grabbed his hands over his head. He had not had time to save the last notes on an important document!

An unusual phenomenon appeared before the lawyer's eyes.

Mr. Goodwin waved his arms and whispered prayers and curses. He could not believe the reality. But the lines of the message did not disappear!

[Welcome to the Game! Please read the user agreement]

"What agreement? What kind of nonsense is this?" Mr. Goodwin whispered.

And at that moment he saw a new column of text before his eyes. It caused a new burst of panic and unpleasant emotion. Mr. Goodwin tried to call the security of the law company. He wanted clarity and didn't understand what was going on.

Suddenly his eyes caught the opening lines of a strange document. The lawyer's mind instantly assessed the quality of the unknown contract.

Mr. Goodwin looked more closely and calmly at the text. He was struck by the professionalism and some peculiar subtlety in the wording of the document.

"Great point! I should write it down. It will nicely complement my work," whispered the lawyer as he assessed the well-written contract.

Mr. Goodwin carefully read the contract to the end and froze.

If this is a manifesto of the new reality he did not like that reality! He will not take part in this abomination! Where is the government looking? Where is the electricity?

Mr. Goodwin rose from his chair and cautiously walked toward the exit of his office. He wanted to get back to his family.

The text of the user agreement hung before his eyes. The letters had lost their density and allowed him to see through the text of the agreement.

"This can't be real. This is some kind of evil enemy attack," the lawyer whispered. Suddenly he understood everything. He made the closest guess to the truth. "It's cyber terrorists! The bastards have cut the electricity to parts of the city! It's going to be all right. I have to hurry home!"