School, family and even Tissa, of whom he dreamed as he drifted off to sleep, disappeared into background. All his plans centered on Disgardium. He spent days and nights studying materials online. He delved into the mythology of the world, tinkered for hours with spreadsheets and damage calculations, dug through stories of success, trying to figure out which playstyle would bring him to victory.
In the end, he decided to be a thief. Unlike the adjacent classes — assassin, rogue, bandit, pirate, ninja and so on, — the thief not only dealt great damage, but also helped the group with useful combat techniques. But the most important aspect of the class was in its name — the thief could successfully steal. ‘Successfully’ was the key word; anyone could unlock the skill of Thievery, but only Thieves had the innate talent and the right bonuses to properly use it. Why spend days on end completing routine social quests for a few silver pieces when you can steal whatever you need from a merchant stall?
After choosing his class, Malik listened to all the free podcasts by famous thieves of Disgardium (he couldn’t afford the paid ones) to try and figure out the exact playstyle that would get him the right class at level 10. He had to avoid ranged weaponry, or better still, use only knives and daggers; try to attack from behind; run away after losing half health; and, of course, steal at every opportunity, even when the item was unnecessary.
He spent more than one day thinking of his game name. Saghir, like he was used to? No! his pride snapped. He was no Little One. In the game, nobody would dare call him that! He spent a long time going through the options, then finally chose. Infect, because he knew that whatever he was going to do, his ideas would be so good, they’d infect others. Malik imagined himself as Infect and smiled. Yes, that’s exactly who he’d be!
Soon after, he made friends with — who’d have thought it?! — Hung and Ed. His knowledge of Disgardium helped him. Now under the wing of the two most popular (although the teachers wouldn’t have said so) boys in the class, his spirit soared. Now he could walk to the toilet without lowering his eyes. The kicks to his behind, the legs stuck out to trip him up in the cafeteria, the pranks and bullying, it all stopped. In mere days, it was like Malik had gotten +500 reputation with the entire school. Even the girls started showing interest in him… Well, at least they didn’t turn away when they saw him, and answered when he said hello.
It was important to fit in. At home, Malik threw a tantrum over having to sew yet another patch onto his trousers. His howling was so loud that it reached grandpa Yusuf. The old man learned that one of his dozens of grandchildren was getting bullied in school because of hand-me-downs. Blood is thicker than water! Yusuf exploded. Nobody will dare laugh at the Abdualim family! Saghir was bought new clothes.
A year later, Malik turned fourteen. Visitors came to offer insincere congratulations and cheap gifts in colorful paper, but the main prize awaited Malik in a corner of the living room separated off by a partition — a standard immersion capsule that had arrived the day before! With a sour smile, Malik sat at the table for the minimum socially acceptable time, then, once the adults had had enough of him and his cousins dispersed, he rushed to the capsule. He had to wait for his heart to settle before the complex device allowed him to finally log into Dis.
Infect unlocked the Thievery skill only in his second week of gameplay. Nagvalle and Bomber were already exploring the sandbox, but he spent his first days in the Tristad city jail, imprisoned for an attempt to steal a dagger from watchman Malone.
His second try went better. Infect crept behind Nergal’s temple (although there was no point in stealth; the place was empty) and, looking around in fear, picked an unripe Furious Pepper. The system’s cogs turned: on the one hand, the pepper was useful in potion-making; on the other, it was city property, which meant Infect had committed theft. Two notifications came up: the thief took the Thievery ability, but refused Herbalism. It didn’t suit him to go around picking flowers and herbs. Archeology, on the other hand, now that was tempting!
Stealing little things — bread from the bakery, candles in the library, mugs in the inn, — allowed Infect to level Thievery up to 10 and gain the Lockpicking skill. He sought out locked boxes and chests, practiced at night on the doors of townspeople and achieved what he wanted, leveling up Lockpicking to 10. Now he could prepare for more serious ventures.
It worked on the first try! Infect got a merchant talking, and while he was rooting around for an item beneath the stall, a dagger went missing from his display. The weapon was ordinary, with no bonuses whatsoever, but the boy was happy.
He got a taste for it. Leveling up Thievery helped him find gear not only for himself, but for Bomber too. Nagvalle had been missing all this time, and it later turned out that Ed’s character was a Threat! By depriving him of his status, the friends got an unimaginable reward — ten thousand gold! Infect also got a scalable epic dagger, and Dis was like it took on new color — it got easier to kill mobs, and soon they even started doing instances.
Summer began, and Tissa joined them. Malik lost his cool; he was one step closer to his dream. They were clanmates now, and naturally, they spoke every day. Now all he had to do was achieve something that would make Tissa leap into his arms all on her own. But what?
The girl
