“Tactical leader, for sure,” I muttered, “No mistaking it. But this seems kinda small for a bestiary...”
“It’s not complete,” came a barely-audible voice. Bask was stirring again. “Information. The list of monsters... It’s behind a paywall, you can buy more...”
“Where?”
“Any info point. Only for halflings and higher ranks...”
“Damn!”
“Thank you, Elb.”
“For what?”
“You know what.”
“Forget it. No need to thank me. Just, if anything happens, I’ll expect you to pay me back in kind.”
“Absolutely. I’m gonna go back to sleep now...”
“Hold on! About our group. Are you sure?”
“I’m ready.”
Add Thirteen as a permanent group member?
Yes / No.
Of course.
“You’re part of the group now, goblin!” I said cheerfully to my prostrate companion.
He said nothing, but gave me a thumbs-up. He was pleased. Then he mumbled something else, but I couldn’t hear him, so I leaned in closer.
“What?”
“I’m not a goblin.”
“What are you, then?”
“A zombie. Bask the zombie.”
“Fantastic.” I rolled my eyes in delight. “Elb the goblin, Yorka the goblin, and Bask the zombie. What a team!”
No more words from Bask — just another thumbs-up. But a sudden realization hit me, and I hissed in frustration like a crushed snake, jumping into my interface.
No... I wasn’t wrong.
Job: Wipe markings. (Party).
Description: Procure sponges from chemical vat 14B (CLUX-17) and wipe the wall and floor markings in adjacent hallways 1 — 12.
Job location: Hallways 1 — 12 adjacent to CLUX-17.
Deadline: Evening end-of-work alarm.
Compensation: 30 sol.
Completely ignoring our physical condition, the system had gleefully scaled our job up for three people. I looked at my legs covered in glue and bandages, then frowned, bit my lip, and looked up.
Get it done…
What a goblin I was.
Dangling my wounded legs, I sat injured and sick, with my even more seriously wounded teammate lying next to me. I had sent Yorka to get that operation. Yeah, our chances of getting this work done sure looked great...
But it was too early to start panicking — it wasn’t even eight in the morning yet. There were still twelve hours until the evening alarm. So for the time being, I was going to do what was most important: take a nap, one eye open, and wait for Yorka to come back. I shifted into a more comfortable position and checked to make sure Bask was still breathing and his wounds hadn’t opened again. Then I closed my eyes, folded my hands over my stomach, and relaxed as much as I could, hoping my overstretched muscles would unknot themselves and slowly start to take in the water, nutrients, and vitamins they’d shot into me. As my mind sunk into slumber, visions of our recent battle flashed through my mind.
What had I done right?
What mistakes had I made?
How did the gray pluxes move?
Did they tuck their paws underneath their body before they jumped?
Somewhere between the tenth question and answer, my mind gave up and demanded calm. The last thought I had was that I hadn’t finished reading my system messages. But I would do it later. Right now I had to rest...
* * *
