Showing results by author "Pavel Kornev" in All Categories

A game is only a game if you can quit. This is something I learned the hard way. I just wanted to let off some steam in virtual reality and ended up getting murdered and imprisoned in the body of one of the undead - slow, clumsy, and cursed to die at the hand of other players over and over again. The only way out of this awful predicament was to find the legendary Scroll of Rebirth, but the helpless plague-ridden corpse would need to be turned into a real killing machine. If only people knew what it was like to level up a dead rogue....

Instead of enjoying the game, I found myself trapped inside my character's dead body. Now the only way I can save myself is by procuring the Scroll of Rebirth. The problem is my chances of getting it are slim. I'm an undead: an outlaw with no friends, only fickle allies and plenty of enemies. Who are only waiting for their chance to strike. My undead hangman character has to tread a razor's edge, with only the support of his fellow players preventing his imminent plunge into the abyss. But are they who they claim they are?

Getting stuck in virtual reality isn't fun, but being trapped in an NPC's dead body is really the pits. Still, there might be a way out-provided John can find the Scroll of Rebirth. The problem is, finding it is only half the hassle; knowing how to use it is another bag of worms entirely. Several months of full VR immersion may have turned the cumbersome walking deadman into a swift killing machine, allowing him to earn the patronage of the Lord of Chaos and even acquire his own crypt - but John is still a long way away from reaching the coveted level 100.

In virtual reality, nothing is for real. Fake orcs pretend to fight phony elves. Priests go through the motions of casting blessings. Wizards defeat their enemies with digital illusions of combat spells.

Dying in virtual reality isn't fun, but facing bullets from real-world criminal overlords is really the pits. In such a desperate scenario, their demand to render them a service in VR doesn't sound like such a bad alternative. The problem is, the games played by spook agencies follow much harsher rules. For them, the absence of choice doesn't sound like a good excuse - not if you end up in the grindstones of their undercover schemes. 

This fast-paced collection of novellas and short stories from leading Russian LitRPG authors sheds new light on their signature worlds. You're in Game! features works by Vasily Mahanenko, Andrei Livadny, Alexey Osadchuk, Michael Atamanov, Pavel Kornev, and Andrew Novak. Expect your favorite heroes to play second fiddle to an array of new main characters, once-minor plot lines to lead you in unexpected directions, and familiar story events to take surprising new turns.

Once, this world was dominated by the fallen, but humanity cast off their tyrannical rule and created a mighty empire with colonies spread out across the globe. The power of the metropolis is stronger than ever before, but its past is dark and its future cloudy. Old secrets are capable of destroying in one moment what took years to create. After all, nothing can save it from treason, not armadas of battleships nor bomb-laden dirigibles.

New Babylon is the capital of the mighty Second Empire. Dirigibles drift over the city, steam trains race down its tracks, and the factory chimneys never stop billowing smoke, even for a moment. The hegemony of science is unquestioned, and yet magic hasn't disappeared from the world. It remains dissolved in the blood of those who are called Illustrious. Hardline reductionists find that hard to accept, but it is not in their power to change the longstanding status quo.

In this world, steam and electricity are the favored sources of power. Science has taken the place of religion, while magic is unknown by all but peculiar outcasts. But the border between reality and the underworld here is extremely thin. Thankfully, the adepts of scientific knowledge have found success holding back the onslaught of infernal creatures. Electricity is stronger than magic, but even it is not all-powerful. A former detective constable for the New Babylon Criminal Investigative Police, Leopold Orso is illustrious.

In this world, science took the place of magic. Meanwhile, the transition from the era of steam to the epoch of Sublime Electricity is already underway. But magic hasn't simply disappeared without a trace. It still exists, concealed in the blood of the illustrious. Detective constable Leopold Orso of the metropolitan police counts himself among their number. He was bestowed a talent that allows him to bring others' fears to life. Leopold didn't go looking for trouble.

Прошлое не отпускает. Если полжизни резал глотки во имя интересов Короны, от него не укрыться, какую личину ни нацепи. Себастьян Март теперь известен как Себастьян Шило, один из заправил преступного сообщества Акраи. Но проблемы, как и прежде, ходят за ним по пятам, а невинные просьбы старинного приятеля иной раз чреваты куда более серьезными неприятностями, чем самые опрометчивые приказы главы тайной службы. На этот раз все началось с таинственного ограбления королевского казначейства.

"Oderzhimost'" - fantasticheskij rasskaz Pavla Korneva, vhodit v cikl "Put' Kejna", zhanr boevoe fjentezi. Kejn roda Lejmi ne samyj luchshij chelovek na svete, no i ne samyj plohoj. Prosto on oderzhim - oderzhim strast'ju unichtozhit' vseh demonov i nepremenno sobstvennymi rukami. Dejstvie rasskaza proishodit za neskol'ko let do sobytij, opisannyh v romane "Povjazannyj krov'ju".

Prigranich'e. Nemnogo ognja" - fantasticheskij rasskaz Pavla Korneva, zhanr boevaja fantastika. Provincial'nyj gorodok byl vyrvan iz nashego mir, no ego obitateli sumeli prisposobit'sja k novym uslovijam i vyzhit'. Magija izurodovala odnih i nadelila neverojatnymi sposobnostjami drugih, i Napalm iz ih chisla. No ognennyj dar piromanta horosh tol'ko v bor'be s ischadijami Stuzhi, edva li on pomozhet spravit'sja s predatel'stvom i obmanom.

In der virtuellen Realität ist nichts echt. Pseudo-Orks fechten Scheinkämpfe gegen falsche Elfen aus. Magier besiegen ihre Feinde mit der digitalen Illusion eines Kampfzaubers. Doch hinter jedem Spiel steckt etwas Größeres. Der Mensch kann nicht aus seiner Haut und wird immer versuchen, andere zu übervorteilen oder gar zu verletzen — selbst wenn das echte Verluste bis hin zum Tod in der realen Welt zur Folge hat.

Niemand stirbt gern in der virtuellen Realität, aber Todesdrohungen von echten Gangsterbossen sind noch weitaus schlimmer. Die Alternative, für sie in der VR einen Auftrag auszuführen, klingt in dieser aussichtslosen Lage gar nicht so schlecht. Allerdings gelten in den Spielen geheimnisvoller Auftraggeber weitaus strengere Regeln. Ob man eine Wahl hat oder nicht, spielt hier keine Rolle – ihre verdeckten Pläne kennen kein Erbarmen.

Декабрь девяносто второго. Первая годовщина независимости России—страны, от большинства граждан которой не зависит уже почти ничего. В любой момент могут подойти крепкие ребята в кожаных куртках, а дальше, как повезёт, вплоть до пары выстрелов в упор и неглубокой могилки в лесополосе. Одиночке не выжить.

Es ist wirklich kein Vergnügen, in der Virtuellen Realität gefangen zu sein, vor allem, wenn man dabei im Körper eines toten NPC steckt. Noch ist nicht alle Hoffnung verloren - sofern John die Schriftrolle der Wiedergeburt findet. Doch das allein reicht noch lange nicht, denn wie man sie benutzen kann, ist eine ganz andere Frage.

Кто-то сколачивает первоначальный капитал, кому-то сколачивают гробы. Перескочить из первой категорию во вторую ничего не стоит, ведь всегда найдётся тот, кому нужнее чужой кусок пирога. Твой кусок пирога.

Was könnte es Schlimmeres geben, als in einer virtuellen Welt festzustecken? Statt das Spiel zu genießen, bin ich im toten Körper meines Charakters gefangen. Jetzt kann ich mich nur noch retten, indem ich mir die Schriftrolle der Wiedergeburt beschaffe. Leider stehen die Chancen dafür nicht gut. Ich bin ein Untoter, ein Gesetzloser ohne Freunde, mit ziemlich unzuverlässigen Verbündeten und jeder Menge Feinde. Die nur auf die richtige Gelegenheit warten, um endlich zuzuschlagen.

In virtuellen Welten herrscht grenzenlose Freiheit. Man kann sich nach Lust und Laune in einen Elfenzauberer oder einen unsichtbaren Schurken verwandeln, sich einem Clan anschließen und auf Raubzug gehen, kämpfen, den eigenen Charakter weiterentwickeln und vor allen Dingen dem Alltagstrott entkommen. Ein Spiel ist allerdings nur dann ein Spiel, wenn man jederzeit aufhören kann.