Showing results by author "Vasily Mahanenko" in All Categories

Hearth—a unique autonomous city existing outside the bounds of any empire. Neither light nor dark. A city-state that has been declared a free economic zone, home to the only portal in the land of the Light capable of communicating with the dark lands.

The game has devoured Earth. Players have gotten down to business as usual—farming, taking out monsters, leveling up their items, and wiping out dungeons. All the NPCs can do is accept their unenviable fate and try to survive in this complicated new world. But will they all be content to sit on their hands and accept it? Michael, a Universal Combat Mage, is one of a number of people who refuse to let fate lead them passively along. He wants to decide his own fate.

Maximilian Valevsky quite unexpectedly finds himself with spare time on his hands-time he can even devote to studying. Learning all the intricacies of runecraft, becoming Magister Meram's best pupil, and making his statement to the world! It all sounds like a dream, but reality is quick to put him in his place. Padishah Bayazid the Third wants to personally meet with Maximilian and our hero will have to do unprecedented things just to survive. But could a former doomed soldier do it any other way?

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.

These were dark times for Tailyn Vlashich, the 12-year-old alchemist. He'd been banished from the empire. The academy had summarily dismissed him. A deadly killer had been dispatched to hunt him. He'd been dropped all the way down to level one. But while there weren't many adults who would have been able to cope with the litany of problems Tailyn was facing, they weren't him. And he had help - two mentors, his girl, and a friend.

Twelve players set off through the online world of Galactogon, lured by the game owners' promise of an enormous payoff. The question is, who will survive to tell the tale? Which of the 12 is a potential hero - or a traitor in the making? Which of them will defend the weak, and who will become the ultimate evil overlord? A knight or a coward? Each of the 12 will have to choose his or her path.

What does it feel like to have the whole world know they owe you their salvation? Is it pride? A realization of your own greatness against the backdrop of anonymity? There are lots of possibilities, only none of them describe what actually happened. Instead of becoming the savior, Leg Ondo was made a mockery. The being governing the planet forbade his totems and chosen people to talk about the battle. And that left the world confused. What did the Brown Bear Clan do to deserve the goodies that came pouring down on it? Should they be knocked off the pedestal they recently climbed atop?

The Game is in turmoil. All the players' strength and resources are invested in preparing for Restart: only 20 percent of the players will make it to the next era. Murders are becoming commonplace; bribes and nepotism are at their height. Betrayal is becoming an inherent part of everyday interactions. The Game has spread its perfidious influence to the farthest corners of the Universe, affecting every sentient being. Will the Dark Judge reach the right verdict? Will he follow the ideals of his class to the end or will he reject them, becoming an ordinary player?

Surviving in a tough situation is not always the best option; sometimes dying is much better than staying alive. The Academy showed Paladin Yaropolk what makes the world go round: pragmatism and personal gain. Restart was set in motion, but it only makes players more frantic. Now everyone plays only for themselves. Yaropolk faces the same dilemma: be like all of them, or keep his humanity and be known as an odd duck. Because there is only one rule in this world: kill or be killed....

The Bohao cultists have just got their noses bloodied—it was hardly fatal, but humiliating all the same. Their leadership has now turned their attention to the Seekers, baffled at how such insignificant pests could have managed to sting them so painfully. Moreover, they couldn't punish the Seekers for their impertinence—those pesky gadflies had already slipped into the demon realm. The Seekers are intent on fighting this infection, and so they mean to track it to its source.

What are you supposed to do when the whole world joins forces against you? Give up, find some hole to duck into, and beg for your life to be spared? But even despite how obvious the answer to that question might be, many an adult had been dashed on the rocks 12-year-old Tailyn Vlashich was supposed to climb. Ahead of him lay a secret laboratory belonging to the ancients; behind was a horde headed by his sworn enemy. But through it all, Tailyn had those who loved him, those who believed in him, and that support was enough to carry him to the ends of the Earth.

The development of a clan is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Enemies strive to play dirty tricks, friends strive to gain money for their own development, and "locals" strive to provide endless impossible tasks. It would be possible to somehow cope with all this, were it not for one "however": two mighty clans yearn to pass through the portals of Altameda, and quite by chance, Kvalen knows how. It remains to decide with whom to pass through the portals, to learn where they lead, and most importantly, what is to be gained by doing so.

The whole world is falling apart. Bashorg, the demon, and the Beast, a dragon, are summoning all their power to rage against the Abyss, the prison their divine essences have been trapped in. Leg Ondo and his team must pull off the impossible once again. But how are they going to save the planet with Beatrice Shiv, a beautiful young girl, causing problems for Liara Slick, Leg's betrothed? How are they going to save the world if they can't even get along? The time has come for Leg Ondo to remember his true past as a valg.

Death had only ever been a small misunderstanding for the high mage. After his seventh reincarnation, he'd begun thinking of it differently, viewing it as nothing more than a slight hiccup in his plans. But he'd forgotten one thing: When those plans get in the way of those higher up the ladder, punishment is soon to follow. And one more death brought faint consolation.

"All or Nothing" is the Seekers' life motto, and they intend to face their final battle guided by the very same principle. Everybody's fates have become woven together in a single point in space and time—the Seekers', the cultists', the demons', and the Taoists' alike. The upcoming battle has the very existence of two worlds at stake, and only Zander and Vyllea can decide what happens next. After all, they embody the Heavens' will. They simply have no right to err.

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.

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.

Modern times. Genius physicist Artyom Kuchaev found himself facing the darker side of the world we live in. Integrity is met with a laugh, the rat race instead full of people out to grab whatever they can. Where big money is on the line, no betrayal, even of loved ones, is a bridge too far. But Artyom couldn't bring himself to conform. Instead, he decided to make a change in himself if not in the world around him. His work, surroundings, country.... 

I hope that by now you've lost any illusions you had about the Selected being some kind of elite force of intelligent civilization, chosen to fight against Universal Evil. So far, the only evil I've seen is the buggy System and the lack of basic sanitary facilities while we're adventuring. Also, it would be a real stretch to describe my companions as "elite". As for all the problems that come with being Selected—well, we can handle them!

The Law of the Jungle is clear about one thing—if you cross the high and mighty, you're courting disaster. But even when the Grim Reaper comes knocking for Vyllea of the Urbangos tribe, Seeker Zander isn't going to surrender her without a fight! And for someone prepared to do anything for the one you love, no law in the world can stop you from saving their life. Thus, our Seekers are back in action, facing the First Tier ahead—alluring, brimming with energy, and rife with cultists and ascension schools.