Mostrando resultados por autor "Vasily Mahanenko" en Todas las categorías

I was the greatest mage of chaos of my time, spending sixty years defending the world from rift creatures. If there was a mission—I completed it. If there was an enemy—I destroyed them. I was loyal to the Empire to my bone, until it decided to wipe out the Chaos clan and every last one of its members.

What would happen if our world turned into a computer game? It might sound tempting at first, but there's one small detail you should know: in this game, people are nothing but non-playable characters, useful only for the service they provide to the real players. Experience, development, loot, levels—none of that is for us. Our role is merely to dance to the tune of our masters, who have come to our world to turn it into a character farm and a space for their own entertainment.

A product of the latest technologies, Barliona is a virtual world brimming with fun and entertainment. The government has become the guarantor for the in-game currency, allowing its free circulation. As a result the population floods Barliona in pursuit of easy money. It doesn't take long for the game developers to discover a source of free labor: real-world prison convicts. While their bodies are locked in special auto-maintenance virtual capsules, the prisoners' minds are released into Barliona's virtual mines.

What can a game clan accomplish without a castle? The answer is obvious: nothing. Therefore, the main objective of any leader in a game world is to acquire a base of operations. Finding himself in exactly this position, High Shaman Mahan, leader of the Legends of Barliona, accepts an offer from the Emperor and the Dark Lord to vanquish the army of Phantoms that has inhabited Altameda, the phantom castle.

The law of the jungle declares: it's every man for himself! This principle applies not only to the human world, but also the domain of their greatest adversaries—the demons. Their world's Tier Zero differs little from the Tier Zero of the human world. The resources are just as scarce, the creatures just as vicious, and the absence of law just as blatant. Yet the Heavens show no mercy when the push comes to shove. When it's time to conquer the Tier Zero of an alien world, retreat is not an option. For the privilege of ascending to immortality is reserved only for the strong.

Not long ago, Daniel Mahan, known to everyone as Shaman Mahan, thought that he had taken his sixth and final step in the Barliona gameworld. Yet life has other ideas. The Corporation decides to resurrect the Lord of Shadow and his entire host. The Corporation's CEO personally pushes the reset button. Geranika and his Dragon of Shadow spring back to life as, meanwhile, the Corporation makes an offer the Shaman can't refuse.

There are whole anthologies of stories out there about what humankind does when a game enters their world. But what about when they're living in one where a game arrived thousands of years before? What if they're the survivors of a bloody struggle, having fought for and earned their place on the planet? Tailyn Vlashich was a young nobody far away from all those grander issues. All he cared about was one thing: making his way through a harsh world where the emperor, evil foes, and an impartial god held sway.

Daniel Mahan, the legendary Shaman of the Barliona game world, has served his sentence in virtual reality. Eleven months of adventures and battles in exchange for eight years in prison isn't a bad trade-off. And yet Barliona refuses to relinquish its grip on the Shaman so easily, erasing the boundary between his two realities. It turns out that it's not so simple to leave the capsule - the Way must be completed....

The offworlders are defeated. The Lithoids have been destroyed. It seems like a long-awaited peace is about to befall Hearth, but the servants of Chaos have their own designs. They're eager to destroy the trouble-maker and control him like some kind of puppet. Once a doomed soldier, always a doomed soldier.

World of the Changed completely modified human consciousness. The incredible graphics that worked even on the simplest of phones. The intuitive interface that made the game accessible for absolutely anyone. The aggressive marketing campaign that put news about the game on every TV, every phone, every tablet. By the time the launch was a few days away, an entire army of fans was out there waiting for just one thing: Hour X. That was what the mysterious developers were calling the release time.

The virtual world of Barliona is a place of rest and entertainment - but not for everyone. It has become a survival arena for Daniel Mahan after he was sentenced to eight years in its virtual jail. Mahan has been through it all: the back-breaking work in the mines, betrayal by other prisoners, and finally, the retrial which has released him into Barliona's common world. What more could one want? Mahan could have kept a low profile and enjoyed relative freedom while serving the rest of his time.

Barliona: a virtual world jam-packed with monsters, battles - and, predictably, players. Millions of them come to Barliona, looking forward to the things they can't get in real life: elves and magic, dragons and princesses, and unforgettable combat. The game has become so popular that players now choose to spend months online without returning home. In Barliona, anything goes: You can assault fellow players, level up, become a mythical hero, a wizard, or a legendary thief.

Hi, my name's Max and I'm one of the Selected. What's the first thing that pops into your head when you read those words? A great hero, chosen from among all the billions of people on Earth? A lucky man who has ended up on an unknown world and gained superpowers? An explorer of new worlds who has discovered his destiny? Well, that's all true, but there is one but . . . Actually, if I'm honest, there are a whole load of buts. And there are rules. And the first rule of the Selected is: "Try not to die. It is expensive and impractical."

Might is right. This is the primal law of the jungle, and this creed not only rules the animal kingdom, but also shapes the lives of men. Having harnessed the elusive Qi energy, humanity has divided the world into zones and mastered the creation of extraordinary artifacts, edging closer to immortality. Yet, this evolution has only entrenched the fundamental law: power grants privilege. The strongest claim the finest resources as well as the right to rise above others. What chance does an ordinary youth from the neglected zero zone have in such a world?

Death is not the end. Maximilian Valevsky was slain, but rune magic has returned him to this reality. There are still enemies to destroy and evil forces to expel from this world. The only question is: what will he do with the person who finally did him in? Will he forgive and forget, or take action to ensure his killer can never pull of such a trick again?

The dark "doomed soldier" Max, formerly Baron Maximilian Valevsky, has committed an act of heroism. The emperor wants to personally reward him, and a meeting with the leader of the empire means only one thing: Max will regain his former name. But the mysterious forces circling the throne of the Zarask Empire have their own opinions about how best to utilize Max and his abilities. Their task is simple: bend our hero to their will and force him to do their bidding. But will Max agree to dance like a marionette with someone else pulling the strings?

What can be better than attending a magic academy? New friends, new knowledge, new emotions. All you have to do is study, close rifts, and not think too much of anything else. I also had two students, who needed my time and experience, which took a lot of my time. No time to get into any trouble, right? Wrong! Especially when you are a chaos mage and an entire squad of assassins is hunting you down. They even took the place of some of the best students at the magic academy just to get closer to me. Let them try! A chaos warrior never runs from trouble!

Maximilian is the last of the noble Valevsky lineage. His entire family was put to death for an alleged attempt on the powerful Duke of Odoevsky, who had his eye set on the Valevsky's land. The young man managed to avoid execution, but not punishment. From here on out, he's condemned to life as a doomed soldier. The front line in the fight against the dark god Skron's mutated creatures. "Do or die"—that's the doomer motto that has been drilled into the last of the Valevsky's head. The Duke took everything from him but his honor and a thirst for revenge.

The law of the jungle is straightforward—all means are justified in one's pursuit of ascension. After all, it's the result that matters—not how you achieve it. And yet the end doesn't always justify the means—especially when the ascension of one requires the suffering of hundreds. The Heavens do not take kindly to such acts. And so it came to pass that the Seekers have been forced to take matters into their own hands, bringing light to places where it had never shone before. However, the Bohao Cult has turned out to be far stronger than initially thought.

What would happen if a professional rock musician joined a virtual MMO in search of inspiration among its game world? What would happen if she decided to play as a biota bard, a brand-new race of humanoid flora as well as a new class? Whatever would happen, it would surely be fun....