Showing results by narrator "Annie Ellicott" in All Categories

During her first weeks in the deeply immersive VR game, Relic Online, she’s hacked out a home from a choking jungle, gathered a tribe of loyal followers, and earned a wisp stalker who insists she’s some kind of champion. But Relic Online isn’t some wussy kids game, and there will be no easy-street cruising for Devon. Like a monk racking up combo points, the system opens a fresh offensive by crippling her most powerful ability. Following through, it strangles the village food supply, sends demons bursting through rifts in the Earth, and delivers a final, devastating throat punch.

Through the Monster Hunt app, Chase Knowles becomes the Alpha of two powerful Huntresses: one a half-dragon female fond of combat and banter, the other a cute warrior fond of reading spell books and wielding two killer blades. Their goal? Hunt these mythological creatures in the parks, rooftops, and back alleys of New York City; build a fighting party to compete in brawls and tournaments in the city and beyond; earn money; and try their damnedest not to get arrested.

Everyone wants to be the chosen one. The job's perks often involve overpowered abilities, world-breaking equipment, and an eager line of bodacious partners. But due to a goddess' clumsy meddling, a struggling musician named Perry ends up accidentally transmigrated alongside her true chosen one with none of the above. Demanding a portal home or reparations for his bereaved family doesn't win him respect either. Instead, he finds himself thrust into a world of magic, monsters, and a wisecracking System.

As a particle physicist, William Jenkins is as unsuited to survival on an alien world as any normal 30-something post-doc could be. Thankfully, he’s not alone. With an AI, magic, scientific curiosity, and, most improbably, a deity on his side, Will must come to terms with his new reality before otherworldly terrors forever extinguish the light of hope on this new world.

Gideon Caldwell is a less than successful indie author barely making ends meet in his crummy basement apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, when a beautiful woman mysteriously appears at his doorstep.

As Qube and her companions reach the end of the now thoroughly broken game, they must come to grips with the nature of their reality, and the world beyond. Interested parties from the real world clash with our heroes as they scramble to defeat the Evil Emperor in time and reveal the secrets they’ve been keeping from one another. In an increasingly relevant dilemma, these video game characters, born of AI, must decide what it means to be free.

Alex/Xeal tried to let things come to him and in doing so things escalated quickly almost ending in disaster for him. Now it’s time for him to make his will known and assert himself on those who wish to assert themselves on him. As forces from both reality and Eternal Dominion try to manipulate Alex/Xeal for their own designs, will he succeed, or will he find himself overwhelmed and bogged down by the plans of others?

In the Halow system, one of Earth’s three sister star systems, tek and magic - humans and fae - are at war. Kesh Lasota is a ghost in the machine. Invisible to tek, she’s hired by the criminal underworld to carry illegal messages through the Halow system. But when one of those messages kills its recipient, Kesh finds herself on the run with a bounty on her head and a quick-witted marshal on her tail. Proving her innocence should be straightforward. Until a warfae steals the evidence she needs.

You know, sometimes it would be nice to catch a break. Devon, a professional gamer, has a settlement to grow into a city, a character she'd love to focus on leveling, and some kitchen cabinets that really need restocking. Unfortunately, the fate of the Relic Online game world is at stake, torn asunder by battling creator AIs. Demons rise through planar rifts, rampaging across the physical realm. The ancient city of Ishildar holds power that might turn the tide. If only Devon, the brave heroine chosen as the city's champion, could finish her epic quest line to gain control of the place.

Qube was designed to die.... As the cheerful childhood NPC companion who helps the [Player] learn the world during the start of the game, it was only natural that the big bad would kill her at the end of the tutorial, kick-starting the [Player] on a quest for vengeance. The only thing is, no one told her that.... And this particular [Player] doesn’t like to play by the rules. Being a chaos-loving gremlin, he glitches her out of her programming loop and drags her on various adventures. They'll grapple with friendly sharktopuses, evil emperors, and what it means to be a person.

On the cusp of entering the prestigious Lumina Deck-Building Magic Academy, the young mage Alistair harbors a dark secret: within him dwells Ghost. A reborn master assassin hellbent on revenge. Bound together by fate and magic, Alistair and Ghost embark on a dual journey of vengeance and discovery. As Alistair navigates the arcane halls of the academy, mastering battledeck spells and summoning skills, Ghost seeks to unravel the mysteries of his untimely demise.

Virtual Dive technology is coming out of the workplace and into homes. Nigmus Online is the first MMO to use this new device. The only caveat to the game: There is no manual. The only instruction the player gets is how to interact with the user interface. That's it. Nobody is going to hold their hand or give out rare items. Players begin life as a level-zero commoner. It's entirely up to them what class they become.

I never believed in superheroes. I certainly didn't believe I'd become one, or that strategically forming a harem of hot chicas and getting down with them to unlock my superpowers would be the key to my survival. Did I say my survival? I meant the universe's. No, really.... That's exactly what happened when I was taken to a galaxy of supers, thrown into a prison ship full of villains, and told it was up to me to stop them all.

Year 2286. Alex Bell has put in 20 years of work in the VR game Eternal Dominion, a full dive fantasy VRMMO game that accounts for around 20 percent of the world's economy. He had risen to the top as a vice guild leader, and thanks to his work, his guild was steps away from truly standing with the other top guilds. Only fate decided to rip it all away at the last moment. After his fall, Alex awakens to see his 18-year-old self looking back at him in the mirror. It's 2266, and Eternal Dominion is set to launch in a matter of hours; this time, things will be different.

Gun Meister Online is a recently released virtual-reality combat simulator. Players assume the role of a Meister; fighting in matches and ranking up into higher divisions. Within the game, weapons take on human shape. These NPC's use a new Dynamic Distributed Personality System recently implemented, and many are excited by how life-like the AI characters are becoming. Charlie has only just begun to play, and he struggles to grow as a Meister. At the same time, he starts to take charge of his real-life outside.

Tennegan Felter (Ten) is a humble servant in Epoch Sol, a beacon of light in a world full of darkness. Her deepest desire is to serve the city she loves and defend it from the creatures of the Dark that live all around. The only way to do that is to join the Dragon Guard. There’s one big problem, though. She is a mere servant and faces near insurmountable odds just to get in.

The unseelie - banished by Oberon long ago - are stirring awake, and there’s one name on their dark lips: Nightshade. Kesh is beginning to settle into her role as Halow’s messenger, saving people from the fae with the help of Kellee, Talen, Arran, and Sota, but if she has any hope of making her wrongs right, she must trust those around her. Without them, there is no messenger.

"The Swamp Massacre." That's what the media dubbed it. A family on a boat tour through the Florida Everglades become abducted by the infamous Roy family and is forced to endure hell. Five years later, an aspiring filmmaker and her friends are keen on making a documentary about the incident and to venture into the isolated wilds of the Everglades in hopes of capturing footage that will stun the world silent. They're going to get their wish.

The game has changed. After receiving a mysterious message from a famous Proxima developer, Chase Knowles takes a step toward an incredible future. With an important tournament coming up, everything seems to be working in his favor. But there are other forces at play, even if some of those forces are internal. Wanting more from his relationship with Lady C., Chase goes to extreme lengths to bring her digital form to New York City through an android shell.

Xeal and friends continue their journey to the top of Eternal Dominion. However, as Xeal searches out potential leaders for his guild and bolsters its ranks, others are moving as well. Will he and his guild weather the storm, or will they lose their footing and be stopped before they can even really begin?