Loner (Kosh)

Arktania is a virtual game with a steampunk style. It's a place where magic spells, enchanted artifacts, steam-powered machines, firearms, and mechanical golems are a part of everyday life. Gamer Andrew Falk begins his journey in a small village on the border of Orcish territory. The locals are the keepers of many secrets, but their behavior is too realistic for characters in a game, so realistic, in fact, that Andrew starts to treat them as if they were real people. Maybe because of the way he plays, or maybe just thanks to good luck, he becomes one of a mysterious class of people known as "sliders," allowing him to control electricity and earn the favor of Elenia, the goddess of fate. But as he advances through levels, the pain threshold in his character settings gradually begins to drop, making the game increasingly more dangerous. Andrew is facing a hard choice: either to keep on playing, risking eventual death by pain shock, or to abandon his gamer pod altogether. Still, his digital adventures just won't let him go, immersing him ever deeper into VR...

Gamer Andrey continues his travels through the world of Arktania, mastering the ability to handle electrical energy and developing his unusual profession, glassblowing. Having received an epic quest from Elenia, the Goddess of Fate, he discovers to his shock that her power is not constrained within the game. Now the virtual Goddess follows Andrey in real life as well, threatening his life if he should fail to complete the tasks she assigns him. There's no turning back. More than that, to be honest, he's beginning to like Arktania with all its residents, its puzzles, and its adventures. Alas, completing the Goddess's tasks is not so simple-necessary artifacts are hidden in high-level locations, and the Loner curse means that Andrey will never be able to gather a group around himself and share his burdens. His only option is to seek help from his acquaintances in the Steel Rats clan-but how, as a low-level player, will he be able to pay them back?

Thanks to the treachery of the Steel Rats clan, Falk never obtained the first of the five swords needed for his divine quest. Naturally, the new owner of the sword-the head of the Unnameables clan-has refused to sell such a valuable artifact. However, he is willing to give it up in exchange for Falk performing a little task for him in real life. All that's required is committing burglary by breaking into a secure location and stealing a well-guarded item. Fortunately for Falk, this won't be too difficult for him, since in today's world the ability to control electricity makes a lot of things possible. Meanwhile in Arktania, Falk has been accused of murdering his brother. Now, accompanied by an Imperial Necromancer (who also happens to be his virtual uncle, Renick Fudre), he finds himself on his way back to the village where he first began his life in Arktania. He'll have to prove his innocence, let the residents of Kelevre in on the secret of his curse, and-finally-dig deeper into his mysterious class. He'll have to survive not only in the real world, but in the virtual one as well.

Andrey has finally obtained the first of the five swords he needs to complete the Goddess of Fate's quest. Now his path is taking him to the subterranean city of the Gremlins, Arkem. Gremlins are unpleasant, rascally creatures, with a twisted system of logic and a penchant for limitless chaos. So trying to negotiate with them is always fraught with danger. Fortunately, they happen to worship the mechanisms of the Ancients, which are somehow, mysteriously, connected to Andrey's hidden "Slider" class. This means that Andrey has a chance of recovering the second sword after all. Everything gets complicated, however, when a breach to the Inferno opens in Arkem, through which comes an invasion force headed by none other than Lamia, the Succubus who dreams of shredding Falk into tiny little ribbons. And the real world is full of problems, too-mysterious people keep trying to kidnap Andrey, and he's forced to use his newfound abilities to protect himself. As if that weren't enough, the game menu is now popping up in real life, which is making him question his own sanity. But the main question is: are there other people who've acquired powers from the game like he has? And what will it all lead to in the end?

Falk has managed to obtain the second of the five swords he'll need to complete the Goddess's task, and now his path is taking him to the lands of the Elves. Time is limited, but before starting a new quest, it might be nice to wrap up his business in Arkem. Which will mean using the Mechanisms of the Ancients to defend the Gremlins' city from an attack by an army of Demons. That's all in the game, though-in the real world, meanwhile, Andrew's met his first "colleague," another person whose in-game powers have transferred over to the real world. Who is he? A friend, or an enemy? And how much progress has he made in completing his divine quest?

Falk has only a few days to obtain the Wood Sword in the Lands of the Elves. And he also has to make a trip to the capital to report the successful completion of his quest, and find out why the Empire needs a specialist who can control the Mechanisms of the Ancients in the first place. In the real world, meanwhile, more and more emissaries from Arktania's Gods are appearing all the time, and the confrontation between them is only getting more intense.

Falk has only a few days to obtain the Wood Sword in the Lands of the Elves. And he also has to make a trip to the capital to report the successful completion of his quest, and find out why the Empire needs a specialist who can control the Mechanisms of the Ancients in the first place. In the real world, meanwhile, more and more emissaries from Arktania's Gods are appearing all the time, and the confrontation between them is only getting more intense.

It's time to set off for the lands of the Orcs in search of the fourth sword, but first Falk and his friends have to bring someone back from the dead-another friend, who recently died in the real world. Henceforth, Artyom will become the Emissary of the God of the Dead in Arkatnia, while the virtual God migrates over into the real world. To make this happen, though, Artyom's girlfriend (who's never played a computer game in her life) will need to search the coffins that fly over the capital until she finds the one that contains a copy of Artyom's character. And then she'll need to bring him back to life. As if that weren't enough, Katar is under the control of the "Spirit of the Hunt" Clan, which represents a serious threat both in the virtual world and in the real one. Long story short, conducting the necessary ritual is most definitely not going to be easy.

Falk and his friends have pulled it off. Artyom has come back to life in Arktania, in the body of his game character, by becoming the Emissary of the God of the Dead. But Falk himself is now locked inside the game, trapped in a pocket dimension created by Hotei, where he has to repeat the first few days in his start location over and over again. His life is in danger, but that danger comes with many new opportunities, and he knows it would be foolish not to take advantage of them. After all, this strange dimension offers him the chance to regain all his lost levels and prepare for his quest to obtain the fourth sword.