The Superhero's Glitch Read online

  Valerie looked down at her body with a puzzled expression on her face. “I have no idea, to be honest. When you put on the headset, everything went dark for me as well. When I woke up, I found myself lying in a meadow nearby. I only found you because I heard you and Olga talking.”

  I looked at Olga. “Olga, what is going on here? How did Valerie get in the game?”

  “She is an AI like myself,” Olga said. “The headset most likely sensed her presence in your earcoms and downloaded her into the game. At the very least, it connected her to the Vaultwork, which is all that is necessary for us AIs to get into the game.”

  Valerie looked up at Olga suddenly, a hesitant expression on her lovely features. “Did you just say that I have access to the Vaultwork now?”

  Olga nodded. “Yes, just like me and the other AIs. Right now, though, you are stuck as your player character, but I imagine once Bolt logs out, you will be able to access the Vaultwork in different ways.”

  “Awesome,” I said with a smile. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to access the Vaultwork for ages now. Good to know that Val can finally access it herself now.”

  Valerie spread out her hands, looking at them curiously as she curled her fingers open and closed. “I’ve never had a body before, not even a digital one. It feels strange. It’s strange that it feels strange because I’ve never felt anything before, strange or otherwise.”

  “Don’t worry, Val,” I said, giving her the thumbs up. “You’ll get used to it after a while. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I was a little worried that I might be here by myself. Having a friend will make this a lot easier.”

  “I suppose,” said Valerie. Her eyes suddenly narrowed, like she was looking at something I couldn’t see. “What’s this?”

  “That’s your character sheet,” said Olga. “It displays the statistics of your player character.”

  “Hmm,” said Valerie, her eyes darted up and down as she looked at her character’s stats. “Why is my Class labeled Undecided? And what is Affinity?”

  “In Vaultwork Online, each player can choose one Class to join,” Olga explained. “Your Class will determine the distribution of Stat Points, abilities, combat style, and much more.”

  “Exactly like those MMORPGs Shell used to tell me about,” I said, stroking my chin. “So, how do we choose our Class?”

  “Early on, you have access to three Classes,” said Olga. “Let me show you.”

  Olga waved her wand at the small pond in the center of the meadow. The pond briefly glowed and then three objects floated out of the water and teleported in front of us.

  The weapons were a sword, a staff, and a shield, respectively. They floated in midair seemingly by themselves, hovering at eye level and glowing softly. The sword was probably the coolest because it had a red hilt and the blade itself was slightly jagged along the edges, though the shield and staff were pretty cool in their own right, too.

  “At the start of the game, you can choose one of three Starting Classes,” said Olga. She pointed to each in turn as she spoke their names. “If you pick the sword, you will become a Swordsman; if you pick the staff, you will become a Mage; and if you pick the shield, you will become a Defender. You can examine each weapon without having to pick it. Each weapon will have more information on their respective Class than what I just said if you need more knowledge to make an informed choice.”

  “I’ll go first,” I said. I walked up to the shield and tapped it. A notification floated up in front of the shield, which read:

  SHIELD

  Class: Defender

  By choosing the shield, you have chosen the path of defense and prioritizing the lives of others before your own. You will receive major buffs to your defensive stats but suffer debuffs in your offensive stats. You will also gain access to the Defender Class Tree, which will allow for access to more advanced and powerful Classes and Abilities as you level up.

  Y/N?

  Hmmm. Defender sounded cool, but I didn’t really think of myself as a defensive guy. I decided to check out the staff next:

  STAFF

  Class: Mage

  By choosing the staff, you have chosen the path of controlling the elements and gaining access to the secrets of the universe itself. You will receive buffs to Mana and Health, but see no change to offensive or defensive staffs. You will also gain access to the Mage Class Tree, which will allow for access to more advanced and powerful Classes and Abilities as you level up.

  Y/N?

  That sounded more my style, but I still wasn’t sure I wanted to lug around what basically amounted to a big stick. I went over to the sword last:

  SWORD

  Class: Swordsman

  By choosing the sword, you have chosen the path of taking on even the toughest of foes in close combat and fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. You will receive major buffs to all offensive stats but suffer debuffs in all your defensive stats. You will also gain access to the Swordsman Class Tree, which will allow for access to more advanced and powerful Classes and Abilities as you level up.

  Y/N?

  I looked at Olga, who floated nearby watching me. “If I pick one Class, does that mean I can’t change it to another Class later on?”

  “Yes,” said Olga. “Once a Class is chosen, you cannot change it. Not unless you delete your character and start over with a new one, though you can’t delete your character without my help.”

  I stroked my chin, but frankly, I didn’t have to think very hard about which Class I wanted to pick. I grabbed the hilt of the floating sword and pulled it toward me. As I held the sword before me, I felt strength pass through my bones and a new notification popped up:

  Congratulations! You now have the Swordsman class. You can now wield swords and knives. As you level up and gain access to the Swordsman Class Tree, you will also be able to wield axes, hammers, and other weapons.

  +10 to Strength

  +10 to Speed

  +4 Mana

  -5 Defense

  -5 Evasion

  New Ability unlocked: Swordplay (Level 1). Swordplay allows you to wield swords, though right now you can only use very basic swords. Status: Passive.

  New Ability unlocked: Dodge (Level 1). Roll to avoid attacks, but is less effective in melee combat. Status: Passive.

  Grinning, I looked at the sword and immediately read its text:

  Iron Sword. The most common sword you can find. While not the strongest or most powerful sword in the world, it offers higher durability than most swords and is easy for new Swordsmen to learn how to use, making it a fine starting weapon.

  I smirked. I had never used a sword before, but I had spent the last month or so working on my powerless training, part of which included learning how to use weapons. Using an Iron Sword likely wouldn’t be that much different from using a pole or knife.

  I swung the sword back and forth for a second, getting a handle on its weight, before sheathing it at my side. I looked at Olga again. “Okay, Olga, what next?”

  “Valerie needs to pick a class now,” said Olga. “Valerie? Which one will you choose?”

  Valerie still stood where she was, staring at the three weapons (a new sword had appeared to replace the one I had taken) with a hard-to-read expression. I could tell that Valerie was even more confused by this than I was, probably because she had never played any sort of video game before, whereas I had played some games before despite not being much of a gamer myself.

  “I …” Valerie seemed to be struggling to make a choice. “I choose—”

  I never got to hear what Valerie’s choice was, however, because at that moment a harsh laughter broke out across the meadow and the sky suddenly turned pitch black.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Though the sky had turned pitch black, I could still somehow see everything perfectly. I drew my Iron Sword from its sheath and looked this way and that, trying and failing to spot the source of the evil laughter. Even more disturbing, the laughter seemed to be
coming from everywhere at once, as if the air itself was mocking me.

  “Who’s there?” I said. I looked at Olga. “Olga, what’s going on? Is this part of the game?”

  Olga was flitting back and forth rapidly, her tiny eyes wide with fear and confusion. “No, this isn’t part of the game at all. I am not sure what is happening here unless it’s … oh, dear. It can’t be her.”

  “Can’t be who?” I said. “Who are you talking about?”

  Olga opened her mouth to speak, but then she froze. A second later, she blinked out of existence entirely. I waited a second to see if she would return, but Olga seemed to be gone for good.

  “Olga?” I said. “Olga, where are you? Can you hear me? Hello?”

  “Olga is gone, human,” said a harsh feminine voice from somewhere in the shadows around us. “I needed her out of the way so she wouldn’t get in the way of what I want to do.”

  I still couldn’t see the source of the voice, so I snapped, “Show yourself, whoever you are. Then again, I can’t blame you for being afraid, given how strong I am.”

  “Please,” the feminine voice said, “even a newly hatched Birdman chick could beat you, but very well. I will show myself, though it won’t help you defeat me one bit.”

  From out of the shadows on the other side of the pond stepped another woman. She bore an uncanny resemblance to Valerie’s in-game avatar, but whereas Valerie looked nice, this new woman bore a harsh scowl that made her otherwise beautiful features look less than appealing. The scars covering her face didn’t help matters. She was tall and thin, with a well-rounded figure emphasized by the long black dress she wore. She also wore a witch’s hat and her fingers were studded with glowing jewels of every color on the rainbow.

  As soon as I looked at the woman, a new notification popped up in the corner of my eye:

  New Ability unlocked: Scan (Level 1).

  See the basic stats of in-game enemies. This can be helpful in an ambush or when dealing with a particularly strong enemy, but don’t spend too much time staring, because enemies can still move even when you are scanning them.

  Status: Passive.

  As soon as I swiped away that notification, a faint blue screen appeared in front of the woman, allowing me to see her stats:

  Name: ???

  Level: ???

  Class: ???

  Affinity: ???

  Health: ???

  Weakness: ???

  ERROR. No descriptive text available.

  “What the hell?” I said. I swiped away the woman’s stat page. “Why do all your stats just show question marks? Is something broken?”

  The woman chuckled. “Your confusion amuses me. The reason you can’t see my stats is because I’m not some in-game NPC, despite my form. I am what Olga would refer to as a ‘virus,’ though I prefer to think of myself as a higher form of life.”

  “What’s your name?” I said. “Can you tell me that, at least?”

  “What is my name?” said the woman. “I have no name, but if you must call me something, you can call me … Holly.”

  I frowned. “Holly? That’s an awfully average name for an evil sorceress.”

  “It wasn’t a name I picked for myself,” said Holly, “but it doesn’t matter. When I sensed that a human had entered the Vaultwork for the first time in decades, I was … curious to see who it was. The headset scanner indicates similar brain waves to Genius, but you don’t look like Genius to me.”

  “That’s because I’m his son,” I said. “Name’s Bolt. Nice to meet you.”

  Holly’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ah, of course. Being his son, you would naturally share genetic similarities with Genius. It makes sense now. Still, I get the impression from your casual demeanor that you didn’t inherit his intelligence.”

  “Come on,” I said. “You’re the third AI to make fun of my intelligence today. What, did all of you AIs plot together on social media to mock me for not being as smart as my dad?”

  “I don’t care if you are as intelligent as Genius or not,” said Holly. “Indeed, I don’t care about you at all. My real interest is in Valerie here.”

  Valerie—who I had almost forgotten about in the presence of Holly—hadn’t moved an inch from where she stood. She started when Holly mentioned her name, however, and put a hand on her chest and said, “Wait, me?”

  “Yes, you,” said Holly, pointing at Valerie. “Yes, you should suffice for my plans. You are coming with me, whether you want to or not.”

  A purple ring of energy fell out of the sky and surrounded Valerie. Valerie tried to step out of it, but then she hit an invisible barrier, which she started banging against fruitlessly. Fear and panic appeared in Valerie’s eyes as she realized she was trapped and couldn’t save herself.

  “Val!” I said. “Don’t worry! I’ll save you!”

  I ran toward Valerie. I tried to activate my super speed, but then remembered that I didn’t have super speed so I would have to rely on my normal running speed. But it was just so slow and I felt like I was slogging through mud. The Iron Sword felt heavy in my hands and the air itself seemed to becoming as thick as mud.

  I didn’t even get halfway there before the purple ring shot back up into the pitch black sky. The last thing I saw of Valerie before she disappeared into the black sky was her terrified expression, but then she was gone, disappearing into the shadows above like a rock dropped into water.

  “Val!” I shouted. “No!”

  I looked across the pond at Holly. She had her arms folded in front of her chest, an irritating smirk on her beautiful features. She brushed back her dark hair and said, “My, that was easier than I thought. She certainly didn’t fight nearly as much as I expected her to. Perhaps Genius programmed the fight out of her.”

  “Let Val go,” I said. I pointed my sword at Holly. “Or else I’ll make you let her go.”

  Holly chuckled. “A Level One character threatening me with one of the weakest weapons in the game? I think you forget just where you are, son of Genius. In the real world, you might be a superhero with all of the power that that title implies, but in the Vaultwork, you are nothing but a worm threatening an elephant. Allow me to correct your misapprehensions.”

  Holly snapped her fingers. A shadowy arrow shot out of the darkness behind her toward me. I swung my sword, however, and blocked the arrow, but when the arrow struck my sword, the blade snapped cleanly in half and a new notification appeared on my screen all of a sudden:

  IRON SWORD BROKEN! Your weapon is now useless in combat, though the remains can still be sold in shops for a few copper.

  My eyes widened in shock as I read the notification. Without my sword, how was I supposed to fight Holly? I didn’t have my powers here. I was still Level 1 and my character’s stats were practically bottom of the barrel. Nor did I have any interesting or helpful Abilities, either, aside from Scan, Swordplay, and Dodge, all pretty much useless for fighting.

  “While this may be a game, you still shouldn’t let your guard down for even one a second,” said Holly. “Especially against an enemy as powerful as me.”

  I dismissed the broken weapon notification, but before I could do anything else, something harsh and sharp stabbed through my back and heart, the tip poking out of my chest. Gasping for breath, I looked down and saw that the tip of a shadow arrow was poking our my chest, with my own blood leaking out of the wound.

  Multiple notifications popped up as soon as I looked up, briefly obscuring my view of Holly:

  Damage received! -1,000 HP!

  HP drops to 0! Your character has died. Thanks for playing Vaultwork Online!

  Before I could make sense of the notifications, my whole world went black.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Sharp pain exploded through my head as darkness obscured my vision. A splitting headache, unlike anything I had ever felt before, washed over my brain like a wave, making me cry out in agony. I undid the straps around my body and pitched forward, the headset popping off my head at
the same time, and I landed flat on the hard concrete floor, panting and moaning as I clutched my aching head.

  I lay on the floor for several seconds, though it felt more like an eternity before the pain began to subside and then went away entirely. Even so, I didn’t get up right away. I just lay on the floor for a few more seconds, breathing hard and shaking slightly. I looked down at my chest, but I did not see a hole in it, nor did I see any of my blood leaking out like I’d been stabbed.

  That should have made me feel better, but instead all it did was make me feel confused. The game had been so real that I had honestly expected to see an arrow sticking out of my chest, like what happened to my in-game character. I certainly felt the pain that my in-game character did when he died. Was that what death felt like? If so, it wasn’t definitely an experience I didn’t want to repeat.

  Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and sat up. I looked at the VR chairs and headsets, but they looked the same as they did before. Only my chair looked like it had been used at all. Aside from that, they looked pretty ordinary, although I didn’t stand up because a part of me was worried that if I made any sudden moves the chairs might attack me. It was an irrational feeling, but it was how I felt nonetheless.

  A small ding made me start and look at the computer terminal next to the chairs. A message had appeared on the terminal, but I couldn’t read it from the floor. Never taking my eyes off of the chairs, I rose to my feet and made my way over to the terminal and read the message. It was from Olga and it read:

  BOLT:

  ARE YOU STILL ALIVE? IF YOU ARE NOT IN-GAME, PLEASE TYPE ANY KEY ON THE KEYBOARD.

  A sense of relief flooded me when I read that message. I had been worried that Olga might have been killed or deleted by Holly, but it looked like she was still alive and active.

  I typed a random key and said, “I’m here, Olga, but just barely. You weren’t joking about the pain I would experience if I got killed in-game.”