Sicora Online: The Ringer: A LitRPG Adventure by S.W. Clarke

Author:S.W. Clarke [Clarke, S.W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-08T22:00:00+00:00

When Roundtree had gone, the light fading from the cell, Galen pushed himself to a seat against the wall. “You said I’m your heart?” he said.

“Makes me seem human,” Prairie said from the side of her mouth, her lips holding the cigarette in place. “Just an FYI: dinner’s about to be served and I have the best access to the food slot, so you should start thinking now about what you’re going to barter.”

Galen stared at the spot where the sheriff had been. “Does he seem familiar to you?”

“Who?”

“Virgil Roundtree.”

She shrugged. “He’s every wannabe-cool western sheriff trope rolled into a single NPC. So yeah.”

Galen shook his head. Prairie was right, but there was also something else itching at him that he couldn’t articulate. “Could beating the level be as simple as catching this Frenchie?”

Prairie exhaled smoke through her nose. “Probably not.”

“Are you going to try to kill Roundtree when we get out of this cell?” Galen asked.

Her head jerked up, eyebrows lifted at the center. “You think I’m that cutthroat?”

He raised his shoulders. “Well, you did put two arrows in one of the saloon guys.”

“Cole.” Prairie took a last long drag on the cigarette and dropped it from between her lips. She toed the remnant paper and tobacco into the cell floor. “What do you think of me, really?”

“What do you mean, think of you?”

“Do you think I’m a liar?”

His gaze traveled around the cell. “Uh.”

“Let me put it another way.” Her chains clanked as she folded her legs. “When people meet you, do they ask you what you are?”

“No,” he said. “Well, sometimes they ask me if I’m Chinese.”

“Nobody wonders what I am. You could find my entire DNA structure in a millionth of a second online. They don’t suspect I’m a liar—they know I’m one. They don’t suspect I’m soulless—they know it.”

His eyes finally settled on her. “Are you a liar?”

She was silent, staring at him. “Sometimes. Almost never with the people who matter to me. Are you?”

“Sometimes. I lie to my family when they call and ask whether I’ve finally found a better job and stopped wearing a VR headset.”

“Because you haven’t?”

He nodded.

She smiled faintly. “Let’s play a game, Cole. We can ask each other three questions, and we have to tell the truth.”

He shrugged; his head throbbed anew. “Okay.”

“All right,” she said, rubbing her hands together separately above her head. “First, are you a virgin?”

He rolled his eyes above his warming cheeks. “I’m twenty-one.”

“And a gamer, which means yes. Your turn—”

“I’m not,” he said.

“Not what?”

“I’m not a virgin.”

Her eyebrows went up, and she tossed her head a little, a small smile appearing. “Okay then. Your turn.”

He leaned forward. “Why did Pyro pick you?”

“Oh, you know. Security dupe, amazing physicality, perfect critical judgment.” Her head rocked from side to side. ”How better to test a roguelike game than with a clone that’s 100% effective?”

“100%? I thought clones couldn’t get past—”

“99%? Yeah, we can. My turn: who’s Callum?”

He felt a pang, pushed it aside. “He was my younger brother.

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