Chapter 1: Chapter 1.1

World of Souls Online

Chapter 1.1.

 

It was hot and noisy in the manufacturing building, despite the open windows. It has been a very hot summer this year. The temperature rose above thirty degrees in the daytime. It was even hotter in the building. There were two ovens for heating the steel bars and dozens of machines and anvils. After the steel bars were heated up, the forging presses gave them their preliminary shape. Processing then continued manually.

"Boom-Boom-Boom," the heavy hammer struck the workpiece on the anvil. Sheaves of sparks flew in all directions.

"Melinda," heard a gruff male voice.

"Boom-Boom-Boom."

"Melinda!" He shouted once more in a loud voice.

The banging stopped. The young girl put the hammer away and turned to him.

"What's up, Brigadier?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

"The boss wants to see you."

"I'll finish up now, and I'll go see him," she said and got ready to continue her work.

"He said it was urgent."

"Okay," she sighed. Wiping her dirty hands on her apron, Melinda headed out to find her boss.

This was Melinda's second year working here. The job was physically tough. The unbearable heat was also very troublesome. Only in winter was it relatively comfortable. The only good thing about the job was the fairly high pay. And it was half an hour to walk from her house.

Melinda didn't have an easy life. In middle school, she had been interested in basketball. She was tall, which gave her an advantage. But then in high school, she gained weight and her breasts began to grow. At 16, her breasts were a size C. Now, at 27, she had a size DD.

After quitting basketball, Melinda decided to try weightlifting. She was advised to do so by her fitness trainer, thanks to the fact that she was not lacking in physical strength. Surprisingly, she succeeded. She even participated in regional competitions and won prizes. She also met her future husband there.

Everything was going well for her; she had a loving husband and a favorite job. But one day she had an accident at training and got her leg broken. The doctors did everything they could for her. However, Melinda had to give up weightlifting. It took her more than six months to recover from her broken leg. Still, she had been limping a little on her right leg ever since.

Scandals with her husband began. At first, the verbal quarrels one day escalated into a physical confrontation. One day it ended with her husband's broken arm. Her marriage was over. Her husband even sued her, demanding that she leave all her property to him. And he won.

Melinda had to find another place to live and a new job. Housing was easy. She rented a small studio in a cheap neighborhood. The job was more difficult. She tried dozens of jobs, from unloader to waitress. None of her jobs lasted more than a couple of months. Her only consolation was playing online games in the evenings.

One day she saw an employment offer for a Blacksmith at a local factory. Melinda decided to give it a try. When she came in for an interview, they didn't believe her at first. A young girl, though physically strong at such a job? She had to prove she could work as a blacksmith. The twenty-kilogram hammer in her hands was like a feather, how easily she handled it. Of course, she had to learn the job, because swinging the hammer alone wasn't enough. Melinda learned quickly. At first, she was an apprentice, but after half a year she was already taking orders on her own.

Melinda knocked on the door.

"Yes?" A man's voice was heard behind it.

 She opened the door and walked in.

"Boss, you called?" She asked.

"Yes, Melinda," he confirmed. "Have a seat," he pointed to a stool. " We need to talk."

Melinda sat down on a simple wooden stool beside the desk. The stool creaked unpleasantly under her, not a small weight.

"I'm listening," she said.

"I hate to say this," the boss began. "But, we're going to have layoffs."

"So?"

"Our factory will be closed."

"Closed?" She gasped in surprise. The work was stable. Orders were coming in regularly.

"You know there's a crisis in the country right now," the boss began to justify himself. "The price of electricity has gone up. And there have been complaints about our factory for a long time because of the noise. Anyway, our owners decided to close our factory."

"I'm fired?" Melinda asked bluntly.

"Yes, from tomorrow," the boss confirmed her fears. "But given that you have a talent for blacksmithing, the bosses have agreed to transfer you to our factory in the nearby town."

"But that's 60 kilometers away!"

"You don't have to accept the offer. But that's all I can do for you."

 

On her way home, Melinda stopped at a local bar. The half-dark room was crowded and smoky. She sat down in a vacant chair near the bar. The bartender approached.

"Hi Melinda," he said hello and then asked. "What can I get you?"

"A large goblet of dark and one glass of something stronger," she replied.

"Problems at work or with a boyfriend?"

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"At work," replied Melinda sadly.

"Will you tell me about it?" He asked, pouring a colorless liquid into a glass. The bartender placed it in front of her and began pouring the dark beer into a tall goblet.

"If you want," Melinda answered him and waited until he had filled the goblet with beer. She took the glass, stared at it for a few seconds, and then drank it in a gulp. Someone nearby whistled admiringly. Melinda hurried to drink her beer.

"They're closing our plant," she finally said, setting her beer goblet down. "And they want to move some of the people to the next town."

"But that's sixty kilometers away!"

"That's what I mean," she sighed.

They chatted some more until the bartender was called to another customer, and Melinda slowly drank her beer and watched the end of the basketball game with the other visitors. Judging by the angry remarks, a local team was losing.

She hadn't taken much interest in sports lately, but she kept in shape. In the mornings and sometimes in the evenings she would go for jogs. And on the weekends, she would go to the fitness center, as long as it didn't interfere with her online games.

Suddenly Melinda felt a hand on her ass. She mechanically grabbed the cheeky man's hand. It turned out to be a tipsy, middle-aged man.

"Belle," he said with a slurred tongue and a grin to his ears. "Do you want to continue our encounter?"

Melinda smirked. She squeezed his hand hard and pulled him close to her. The man lost his balance and fell with his head on her chest. Immediately he sobered up and looked at her.

"Do that again, and I'll break your arm," Melinda said with a smile and looked him in the eye.

"Is there a problem," the approaching bartender asked. Melinda pushed the man away, and he was caught by his friends, keeping the man from falling.

"No, nothing," he said. "I'm on my way out."

Melinda turned to the bartender.

"Another goblet of dark," she told him.

The basketball game was over. The local team had lost by a huge score. Curses could be heard throughout the room.  Next, commercials came on the screen. One of the commercials caught her attention.

The video advertised a new MMOGs (Massively multiplayer online survival game) online survival game with virtual reality technology. At first, a young executive spoke, colorfully promoting their technology. Promised an unparalleled sense of immersion in the game. He talked about advanced artificial intelligence in non-game characters, little distinguishable from real people. Free relationships, including sex and murder.

Next, in the background of the speaking voice was a demonstration of the game's graphics and engine. First, a bird's-eye view of nature was shown, with a couple of epic views of thunderstorms and storms on the coast. A nighttime volcanic eruption was shown, as well as a dense forest where the light could barely penetrate.

Then they switched to fauna. Started with cute bunnies hopping around the meadow, and ended with a big black dragon burning down the forest as it flew over it.

Showed the races in the game, of which there were many. There were the classic races such as humans, elves, and orcs, but there were also more exotic such as Naga or Harpies. Promised the opportunity to play for any race.

Showed settlements in the game, from small villages of steppe nomads to the imperial capital of humans with the emperor sitting on the throne.

Finally, the battles were shown. First showed a duel between two swordsmen. It ended with the beheading of one of them and a fountain of blood. Then was shown the duel of two mages, which also ended with a lot of blood. The developers showed an attack of robbers on a caravan of merchants. Merchants lost, and the robbers, cheering, dragged their loot, and a couple of women. Showed a group of players fighting a boss in a dungeon. The boss lost and the players got a gold chest. In the end, we're shown an epic siege of a large city with impregnable walls by a horde of demons. But this didn't stop the demons from taking over the city.

The commercial ended with a promise to release the game to the public by the end of the year and a call to join them on social media.

 

After finishing her glass of dark beer and paying the bartender, Melinda headed home. Good thing it was literally around the corner. It was already dark outside, and the streetlights didn't illuminate the entire road. Footsteps were heard approaching from behind.

"Give us your wallet," said a young voice.

Melinda turned around. Two boys in their early twenties approached her. One of them she recognized.

"Jose, is that you sneaking around back there?"

"M-Melinda?" The man was surprised. "We're just… There's…"

"What are you babbling to her," interrupted the other one, whom she didn't know. "Hey, gorilla girl, give us all your money and your phone!" He said and pulled out a knife.

"Gorilla girl?" Melinda sighed. "Today is clearly a bad day."

An unfamiliar guy stepped closer and started threatening her with a knife, even though she was a head taller than him. Without thinking, Melinda punched the guy in the face with her fist, heartily, and without controlling her strength. It went straight to the jaw. There was a crunch, and the guy flew sideways against the wall, dropping the knife and not moving again.

"I don't want to see him around here again," she said to Jose. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, Melinda."

"Good, or I'll tell your brother."

"No! Don't," Jose pleaded.

Melinda turned around, waved goodbye, and walked away. And Jose rushed over to his friend to check his condition, bless his moans were heard.

The studio Melinda was renting was on the second floor of an apartment building. There was a letter in the letterbox on the door. It came as a surprise to her. Without thinking, she took the letter and opened the door to the studio. The small room had not much comfort and was three meters by four meters with a door to a small bathroom with a toilet and shower stall. That's where she went. The beer she'd drunk was rushing out.

After freshening up a bit, she went back into the room. She set the bed down by the wall and fell face down on it without undressing. In a minute she was asleep.

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