Nexus Runner [EPIC Progression Fantasy litRPG]

While Tomas and Jane excitedly talked about ways to test out his new class spells and abilities, the rest of us wandered to the living room.

"Steve, where's Susan?"

His smile faded. "At the Expanse."

"Doesn't she work at Sam's tavern?"

He sighed. "Not any more."

"What's going on?"

I dropped into one of the couches and Ruby sat next to me. Steve took a nearby chair, his fingers digging into the soft arms harder than he probably realized.

"She's joined the Drama Club to win VIP points."

"Well, Sydney," I swore softly.

He shrugged, but couldn't conceal his worry. "You've been busy, Lucas, so you might not have noticed she's been falling behind. She doesn't earn enough experience working at the tavern. Her class isn't right for it, but she doesn't want to fight monsters."

"She does seem to get hurt a lot."

Ruby said, "Really? Don't be a spanner, Lucas. This is serious."

"I was being serious. She's a terrible fighter. I get it."

"Yeah, well, her options weren't looking good," Steve said. "Now Elizabeth, the highest-ranked woman, rolls out a plan where people can gain tons of experience while having some fun. Sounds like a great plan, and like a lot of people, Susan can't resist checking it out."

That fit with what Elizabeth said about her clientele. Sure, I'd seen that a lot of people were struggling. Without the windfall of experience gained by helping the zombies, many folks wouldn't have made it to level 25 and probably would have died when the second stage collapsed.

Now they had to double that experience again, but this time in half the time, while each level would prove harder to earn. Did Elizabeth actually know what she was doing?

That was a disturbing thought.

"There has to be other ways to level up on this stage without fighting," Ruby said.

Steve spread his hands. "Perfect. Point me in the right direction and I'll take Susan there right now."

"We'll find it," Ruby promised.

"I hope so," he said softly. "I really do, but in the meantime, how can I tell her not to explore every option for surviving?"

Surprisingly, I got a chat message from Steve. I smiled and opened my mouth to ask why he'd bother, but he shook his head slightly and said, "Sometimes you just have to read."

Okay, so I followed his lead and opened the message, which was to both me and Ruby.

Steve: "It's very important that you don't share what I'm going to say in this chat out loud. If viewers get wind of what we're doing, Susan will miss out on the points she needs. So out loud we need to keep talking about how this is a terrible situation for me even as I explain the truth to you."

Ruby: "What's going on, Steve?"

Steve: "I'm going to help Susan win those VIP points without cheating on me."

"What?" Ruby exclaimed, then winced. Steve gave her a disgusted look.

I said, "Don't be too hard on him, Ruby. Hear him out."

Steve: "I just barely finished telling you not to react to these chats out loud."

Ruby: "Sorry. I wasn't expecting that."

Steve: "So you've been assuming Susan would instantly throw herself at other guys?"

Ruby: "No, I mean, I wouldn't—"

Steve: "Chill. I'm teasing."

Lucas: "Teasing is hard in chat. Too easy to miss the tone."

Out loud, I added, "Are you two still together?"

"Sure," Steve said with a hint of a smile. "We never pretended we were exclusive. I have no claim on her beyond what she's willing to give, and she still wants to bunk with me here."

Steve: "She needs points, so she has to play Elizabeth's game. I have a new clone no one has seen, so they won't know he's mine. If I can get him embedded in the club, he can 'seduce' her and we can create all sorts of drama between us to hopefully get her some levels."

Ruby: "Um, are you sure this is necessary?"

Steve: "We haven't come up with a better idea. If you do, please tell me. No way she wins 25 levels in the next week, and I will not lose her."

Ruby started to smile, then remembered we were holding 2 conversations at once and leaned forward. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Steve."

He shrugged again and managed more of his usual smile. "Looks like I might have more time on my hands to tease you and Lucas."

"I'll talk with her," Ruby said immediately, and Steve's smile widened. Then he seemed to deflate back in his chair. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

His acting skills were way better than I'd expected. Thankfully our high Intelligence stats helped with holding 2 very different conversations at the same time.

"You're not planning . . ."

"No. Not my type of place. I thought of getting a bartending gig to keep an eye on what's going on in there, but I don't think I could watch her flirting with anyone else."

Lucas: "So, what's the plan? Get your clone hired at the Expanse?"

Steve: "Yes, preferably as a bartender, or something, so he can avoid the wider 'activities' that Elizabeth is pushing everyone to participate in. It's hard to get a good spot."

Back in the public conversation, Ruby grimaced. "I've talked with enough folks who visit the Expanse. Most lack mana crystals, so if they want to spend much time in there, they have to accept a service contract from Elizabeth, which just drags them in deeper."

"Does she have a point? Can people get enough VIP points to level?" I hated to ask the question, but how could I not.

Ruby's grimace deepened to a scowl. "Unfortunately, it seems like maybe. That manky club might be the last hope for people with poor class choices or who are falling behind."

So no firebombing the Expanse. At least, not yet. I marveled at their cunning plan. Susan was beautiful, and no doubt a lot of guys would happily hook up with her, but the initial fling she'd started with Steve was turning into something special. Unattached folks had less to lose by jumping all-in with the adult entertainment option for gaining VIP points, but not someone in an existing relationship.

This way, she could appear to be cheating on Steve, but with one of his own clones. Thinking about it brought up all kinds of questions I didn't know the answer to and would never ask, but it was a choice she and Steve were making together. And no doubt they could develop some wonderful, if fake, drama through the process. It might just work.

And I got an idea how I could help him set the plan in motion and add another twist. I sat forward and smiled. "I might be able to help."

"You find a level-up potion or something in that vault of yours?"

"I wish. Nothing that easy. Elizabeth asked me for a loan to repair and upgrade the Expanse."

"At what cost?" Ruby asked, eyes hard and tone cold as ice.

I held up my hands. "I'm not getting dragged into that cesspit. I haven't agreed to anything, but I just got an idea. As much as I hate to admit it, it sounds like the Expanse might be a path for leveling that some folks desperately need."

"What a twisted world we're in," Steve muttered.

"Yeah, but we can't let it break our will now. We've got 1 week to beat this stage and get everyone to at least level 50. Elites need to be over level 75 at minimum, or we'll get slaughtered. The question is, will Elizabeth's path of debauchery help some folks survive another week?"

"What will that buy them?" Ruby asked. She folded her arms and shivered. "I mean, I hate to sound cruel, but folks who barely make it won't be much good fighting Queen Marisara."

Steve said, "No, but many of them are town crafters and support folks."

"Or people like Susan with fighter classes who realized too late they're not fighters," I added.

Steve sighed. "Yeah. We have access to Sythrak through you, but most people don't. Town crafters are putting out some pretty good stuff. Look at the haul you just shared around. They do make a difference, even if they're not front-line fighters."

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"And I don't want to leave people behind to die," Ruby added softly.

"I don't like Elizabeth's plan, but I can't think of another way to leverage VIP points better. Not yet, anyway. Until we figure it out, maybe they deserve to at least get a shot at winning points."

"So, are you going to give her the loan?" Ruby asked.

Nodding felt gross, like I was somehow participating in the nastiness, even though I was just an investor. I'd rather kill 500 monsters and wade through blood and gore, but most people couldn't do that.

"I'll offer to give her a bit more than she asked for, but on the condition that she take on another bartender and give him full access."

Lucas: "I'm thinking that clone you mentioned."

Steve: "Absolutely. He's perfect. Inspired by a mixture of Fabio and Tatum Channing. Susan helped design him."

Ruby: "That didn't make you feel insecure?"

Steve: "Not at all, not the way Susan appreciates my new bod. Supernatural stats lead to supernatural abs. Clone's name is Matthew Dolce."

Lucas: "Won't Identify give away the fact that he's a clone of yours?"

Steve: "Nope. When I create a fully-corporeal clone, I have to invent a person who's real enough to exist as a separate entity. Matthew is his own man, he can interact with folks without direct supervision, at least for a while, and I can access all his senses and see his memories. That last spell level unlocked a lot of cool new aspects."

That was an even better spell than I realized. Steve had turned a single-use scroll into an amazing permanent spell that was evolving into a legion of one.

Out loud, I said, "I know a guy, a friend of Sam's. Name's Matthew. He owes me a favor and I know he's looking for more work. I'll make him my contact inside the club. He can work the bar, or security. He'll be able to keep an eye on Susan for you."

Steve hesitated long enough to message, while looking like he was mulling it over.

Steve: "Brilliant! We slip him in without connecting him with me. Then when he and Susan start their fling, I can get mad at you for putting that cretin in her life. Even more drama."

Ruby: "For the first time, that twisted mind of yours is coming in hand. Probably."

Steve: "Your faith in my abilities keeps me going every day, Ruby."

She snorted out loud, then quickly covered by saying, "You think Elizabeth will take any terms you dictate?"

Lucas: "Good recovery."

Ruby: "This is all insane! But it might work for a little while."

Steve: "Hopefully it helps until we find a better way."

I shrugged. "She will if she wants the money, which she's desperate to get. I'll give her the loan, Matthew gets hired and can warn off any guys who get too close, and Susan can have a little fun without getting dragged into things she wants to avoid. Is that good enough?"

Steve said, "I'd appreciate it, Lucas. She needs to explore it, at least a bit, and this way we'll have someone watching over her."

"We're a team. We help each other. This loan gives me the chance to add a couple other conditions too."

"Like what?" Ruby asked.

"Like appointing the old council back onto her new council. Elizabeth will be so focused on her club, I worry she'll forget to keep the rest of the town running."

Besides, Paul and Crystal needed the experience. They'd bet their classes and progression on being town leaders. Tony and Burns would be fine either way, but the rest of Elizabeth's council seemed pretty useless.

"Good idea," Ruby said.

Of course, I'd also demand a share of experience from the club. I didn't want to participate, but I couldn't ignore alternate experience streams. Elizabeth might be a deviant, power-hungry psycho or she might be an actress playing a part to best help her struggling compatriots. Either way, she was sitting on enormous streams of experience as both mayor and owner of the club.

I needed more experience. Plus, I didn't want Elizabeth gaining so much that she left everyone else behind. She posed enough risk. Would she become a tyrant if she shot 10 or 20 levels above any of the other elites? I'd even throw in another 500 bottles of alcohol to sweeten the deal.

Elizabeth wouldn't like it, but she wanted that upgrade. She'd lose out on some council experience and some experience from the club, but she'd win even more. Plus, no doubt, she'd find ways to ensure she won more VIP points than anyone else through her Drama Club.

"Hey, Cyrus, can you help me with a contract?"

"Of course!" the AI answered, his cheery voice booming through the room, making Ruby jump. I'd half expected him to ignore me again.

"Clever twist that will no doubt add lots of wonderful drama. Viewers are already commenting on how much they approve the move."

Could he see our messages? Was he commenting on that too, or just the spoken conversation? He could probably see everything, but hopefully viewers couldn't read private messages, or the plan would fail before it got rolling.

"Really?" Ruby asked, looking around. Of course, we couldn't see the viewers or their comments.

"You'll get access to real-time updates eventually, but comments are not shared with players, unfortunately."

I glanced at my counts and blinked. My Views had jumped to over 150 million, my followers had topped 25 million, and my Favorites jumped all the way to nearly 5 million. Those numbers were insane. They might not be real-time, but seemed to update very regularly.

Even my VIP points had continued to climb, despite not fighting recently. Was that because folks were retroactively accessing my previous boss battles? I'd hit over 85 million VIP points. From what Cyrus had said when he first rolled out the program, that was an important number.

As if reading my thoughts, Eva interjected. "Congratulations, Lucas! For earning more than 80 million VIP points, you receive an experience boost that pushes you to level 42. Stat points allocated, plus 6 free points. You also receive a sapphire Godzilla loot box."

Yes! A bonus level already? I needed every one I could get. I wasn't too far from level 50, but I had to earn a whole lot more before I'd feel confident facing Queen Marisara and her overpowered marshal. One more reminder that I needed that extra experience stream from the Expanse.

I dumped my 6 free points into Strength, bringing the final calculation of that vital stat up over 100. Apparently, only I could hear the that last announcement because when the huge, glowing blue sapphire loot box popped into view in front of me, Ruby gasped with delight.

Steve just looked over with a raised eyebrow and asked, "Really? You get a loot box for agreeing to give someone a loan?"

"Not hardly. This is a bonus box for getting a ton of VIP points."

Ruby laughed. "Of course you did. Who wouldn't want to get into the life of the killer of bosses?"

"Some lucky souls are already in pretty deep," Steve commented with a sly grin. Ruby flushed, then suddenly faded out of sight.

"Neat trick," Steve said.

"Be careful how much you tease Steve. Remember, I've got new potions you're tempting me to test out."

Ruby's voice came from the empty space above her chair. I could still see her with Wolf Sight and Spellseer's Gaze, but to anyone else, she'd probably be totally invisible.

Steve's grin widened. "Stop teasing, Ruby. I'm not the one tempting you."

She slipped out of the chair, jumped, and ran 3 steps through the air before landing behind Steve. She made no sound, and the movement was slow enough that it didn't break her Huntress stealth ability.

The air flickered a bit, but Steve couldn't see where she went. I'd totally forgotten about her air walker boots. The move was clever, silent, and unexpected. Ruby was getting as boss in her own way as Steve.

"Want to see what my latest potion can do to a man?" Her voice purred close to Steve's ear. He yelped and dove out of his chair before catching himself.

I laughed. "That's a good trick."

"Not for me," Steve said, grabbing at his chest theatrically. "Have a heart attack healing potion in that Med Kit of yours?"

Ruby appeared and gave him a dazzling smile. "You're fine. You like playing the muppet. It's fun to see you jump like a muppet on a string."

Steve gave her a deep bow, but his mischievous smile returned and he rubbed his hands together. "The game just got more fun."

"Don't get too distracted." I willed my new loot box open. The giant floating sapphire exploded in a starburst of blue laser beams and a rising drumline. It left 2 scrolls floating in the air.

"Upgrade scroll. Randomly upgrade 1 spell by 5 levels."

"Excellent." I instantly read it. Maybe it would upgrade Energy Ward. That was my highest-level spell. What extra defensive perks would I get with another 5 levels?

"Congratulations, Lucas! Your permanent spell Harvest upgraded to level 8. Chance of successful Harvest increased to 80% and unlock a third harvested spell slot. You may now choose which harvested spell to replaced when harvesting a new spell with all current slots full."

I whistled and raised a fist in triumph. A third slot! And getting to choose which spell to replace by new ones would make life a lot simpler. The second scroll was one I'd never seen before, made out of a shiny silver parchment with glowing golden letters.

"Faction-wide perk. All Earth contestants will now receive extra VIP points whenever a Follower watches their team's Earth movie."

"Hey, this is cool." I explained the scroll to the others.

Cyrus added, "That perk usually gets unlocked, but not so early. You'll also get bonus loot boxes, depending on how popular your team's movies end up being with fans. Followers have to pay a small fee to access the full movie experience."

"So who gets the royalties?" Ruby asked. "Or are they used to purchase those loot boxes?"

"An outstanding question. Hanging out with Lucas has been good for your mind."

"He has nothing to do with it. I helped manage royalty clauses sometimes. It's a big deal."

"Too bad, or you could have gotten a loot box for a great question."

"Hey, just because I know what I'm talking about doesn't take away from the fact I asked a good question," she protested.

"I do love your enthusiasm."

Eva announced, "Congratulations, Ruby! For negotiating like a pro, you receive a gold Bohemian Rhapsody loot box."

Ruby smiled with satisfaction when the glowing gold box appeared in front of her. Instead of a flash of light when it opened, this one played the chorus to the rock band Queen's hit song, "Somebody to Love."

As the song rang through the room, Ruby glared up at the ceiling while Steve chortled, laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. The box did drop a couple things. The first looked like a cheap pair of Hollywood heart-shaped sunglasses, covered in rhinestones.

"Glamour glasses. They're sunglasses with poor UV blocking. Not the best choice for a stage stuck in a perpetual downpour. They do make you look glamorous, though."

The second item was a fortune cookie. Like a normal, stale cookie with a thin slip of paper. When Ruby broke it open, she read, "You will make an important decision soon."

Yup. Authentic Earth fortune cookie.

"Thanks," Ruby said dryly, then donned the sunglasses.

"You look ridiculous," I laughed.

"That's because she didn't put them on with the hand wearing all those rings you keep giving her," Steve said.

Cyrus interjected. "Back to your excellent question, copyright laws from Earth do not extend to the multiverse."

"But since you have those nameless investors paying for loot boxes, why not share some of that price with the teams? Those royalties could add up fast."

"What investors?" Steve asked.

"Exactly."

"What?" Ruby asked.

I shrugged. "All I know."

"You don't know anything," she exclaimed.

Cyrus said, "I like the idea. I'll look into it. By the time I'm finished with all of you, we could rack up trillions of new viewers for Earth video entertainment."

"Trillions?" Ruby breathed, eyes wide.

"You all keep working on your command of Earth cities," Cyrus added.

"We're not working on them at all. You're changing our words," Steve objected.

"With the right attitude, any swear can be a growth opportunity."

Ruby frowned and said, "Wait, if we're going to get paid by how popular our movie gets, I'd pick a bigger grossing movie for our team."

"What's important is not how many viewers on Earth wanted to see anything, but how many of your followers will want to watch the movie too," Cyrus said.

I got back to the contract for my deal with Elizabeth. In moments, Cyrus produced another golden contract with all the conditions I requested, including a 40% stake in the club. Just as we wrapped up the process, Jeeves popped into the room.

"Sir, Master Sythrak requests your presence. The representative of the Elaris elven clan is ready to meet."

"Perfect." I rose.

"Can't wait to meet an actual high-tiered elf," Ruby said as she and Steve rose too.

"My lady, I regret to inform you that unfortunately, master Lucas is the only person allowed to attend," Jeeves added with a bow.

"Damascus," she swore softly.

"Such language," Steve teased.

I wasn't surprised by the limitation. Getting a meeting with me alone was pushing the limits already, and probably costing the clan a small fortune.

So I turned to Ruby and held out the contract. "Will you deliver this to Elizabeth, and finalize the deal?"

She took it, and Steve looked on with mixed emotions. This world was making us do some pretty sketchy things.

"Steve, will you contact the full team and make sure everyone's ready to head out at first light? We're going to do some underwater exploring and hopefully hit the flying fish secret base."

"We'll be ready," Ruby promised.