Showing results by author "Zachary J. Lorang - translator" in All Categories

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm a pretty unique guy. I have golden blood flowing through my veins. There are only about thirty people like me in the entire world. Yes, golden blood is a real thing. Google it if you don't believe me. My blood has allowed me to join a group of test subjects, eventually becoming the proud owner of an AI neural chip best known as Alisa. My blood has allowed me to be reborn after death: reborn to a new life in a world governed by magic, a world where humans are locked in mortal combat with monsters. Reborn—into the body of a terminally ill young guy who has but two days left to live.

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.

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.

The Treasury of Amaterasu was inaccessible even to the Goddess's own descendants, but it opened for me. But what will I find inside? Did Amaterasu leave something in there for me, as a sign from our past? And if so, what could it be? A message? A warning? The truth? Or perhaps some kind of artifact?

I woke up alone, adrift in the ocean. Behind me, Freedom Island is still smoldering. In front of me, there's nothing but the endless expanse of the ocean. I don't know whether any of my comrades survived. I don't know what kind of forces have been tasked with finding me. The only option I have left is to keep moving forward, into the unknown....

My arrival in the capital saw me accused of murdering the little Prince, and being taken into custody. Now I'm facing life in exile on Freedom Island—a prison island, where the most horrible criminals in the entire Empire end up: from Faceters and Black-Bookmen to murderers and rapists. An island from which, according to rumor, only three people have ever managed to escape.