Showing results by author "Michael Atamanov" in All Categories

Countdown: At long last, an extraterrestrial civilization reached out and made the First Contact. The end of their message showed humankind how to access a mysterious game. But as people figure out this mysterious game, the countdown timer ticks away. And no one can say exactly what will happen when Earth's safety is no longer guaranteed.

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.

When our protagonist, Andrei, discovers that his girlfriend has cheated on him, he finds himself with an unexpected choice to make: a quick death or a new life in another world he knows absolutely nothing about. Andrei chooses life and sets off alongside his pet, a ginger cat with a limp, for a primeval world fraught with danger. The trouble is...who is whose pet becomes entirely unclear; the man's consciousness is split between both creatures, and the little cat gets a far greater share of intelligence and wit than his hulking master.

When Timothy finally found work as a tester for a popular online MMORPG, his lifelong dream was fulfilled. And now, he earns money (and pretty good money, at that) just for doing what he loves - playing a beautiful and realistic computer game. But he isn't some typical run-of-the-mill player, like the millions of others. Timothy is truly capable and talented, and stands out from the crowd. In fact, the faceless masses consider him far too lucky and successful.

We put an end to the war with the Dark Faction, but still humanity's problems are far from over. More than half of the game's promised tong of safety has elapsed, and yet humankind is no closer to forming a unified front. We've just begun building one of the 12 planetary shield generators necessary to give Earth complete protection, but we don't have enough construction materials, players, or time. Should we ask the parallel magocratic world for help? After all, an invasion from outer space would hurt them just as bad. The mages, though, have plenty of problems of their own.

Would you be prepared to work for free? How would you like to bust your hump for a large corporation 60-plus hours a week without a wage or a single day off for the vague promise of some mysterious perks in the distant future? You'd refuse point blank, wouldn't you? But what if the job in question was playing a state-of-the-art fantasy MMORPG game? And what if this was the only thing you're really good at? Especially considering that your in-game partner is someone really special to you - and this person already lives a virtual life?

Space is a dangerous place. Here, you're either a predator or soon to fall prey to a ruthless neighbor. And if you aren't tough enough to make it on your own, you'll need the backing of a formidable power to keep you safe from bigger fish. Earth used to have such protection—the great Geckho race. But unfortunately, the Geckho fell to an enemy onslaught, leaving planet Earth to fend for itself. And now, Earth humanity has precious little time to prove to their galactic neighbors that they are not to be trifled with.

Earth seceded from its suzerains' state and declared independence. Naturally, such a bold move did not go unnoticed by its powerful neighbors in space, who had aggressive plans for the inhabitable yet overly self-reliant planet. With black clouds gathering and the term of safety growing ever shorter, positive lines of the probable future for Earth's humanity and its allies were nowhere to be seen despite all Gnat the Devourer's efforts and unique abilities.

The aggressive invaders from another galaxy cannot be stopped. The Composite keeps capturing system after system wiping out everything in its path, and there is no sign of a force capable of standing up to it. In the search for allies, Gnat embarks on a long journey aimed at uniting the various branches of the human race. And though the potential for alliance is there, how can he convince them to set off to fight a suicidal war with such a disastrous balance of forces?

The Army of Earth is being sent on its first tour of duty. Its 50,000 proud and valiant troopers are the best of the best, full of hope for brilliant victories and spoils of war that can help Earth's humanity along in its development. There's just one little problem, though. The operation's Geckho commanders view their human vassals as mere cannon fodder, good only for plugging up holes in their defensive line and shipping out to the space war's most punishing hotspots where the chance of surviving is practically nil.

A strange body that refuses to obey you; a weird game you can't quit until your contract expires; a world teeming with powerful and very real enemies. The game in which your reputation and faction relationship are the only things that matter. These are the conditions of the agreement Ruslan signs without reading. The only thing he remembers is that he's been contracted to command a space fleet in a brand-new game he knows nothing about. Objective: to survive for six months.

To be on a starship that's just sustained serious damage in a space battle and lost its thrusters and to find yourself in a totally different galaxy.... You might think that would be cause for panic or, at the very least, despondency, right? Not at all! Gnat maintains optimism, gradually gets his space frigate back in working order, and even finds upsides to what happened.

Gnat the Devourer is becoming a more prominent figure in grand space politics. Sure, he may not be totally independent yet, but he has enough leeway to be able to differentiate Earth's interests from those of its Geckho suzerains and act exclusively for the good of his own kind. Gnat must balance obligations to his almighty suzerains against a desire to advance humanity's position in space, and his home planet's search for ever more allies.

What is it like for a small flap-eared goblin herbalist to play the role of the Dark Sovereign, the main antagonist for Boundless Realm's hundreds of millions of players? What is it like to find one's self the standard bearer for an army of man-eating giants, cyclops, skeletons, ghosts, and other hellspawn, who don't give a damn about their modest little ruler? Our hero didn't desire such an unenviable fate, but there is no way back now. But the longer he plays, the better he understands that he is just a pawn in someone else's game.

At long last, an extraterrestrial civilization reached out and made the First Contact. However, no one on Earth took their communique for the genuine article. In a similar vein, very few people appreciated just how little time our new suzerains had promised to keep our planet safe. Regardless, the end of their message showed humankind how to access a mysterious game. The objective of this game is unclear. No one can say where its servers are located, and its inner workings are beyond comprehension.

The enemy's at the gate, the situation getting worse by the second, and Ruslan's employer hasn't done a good job (to put it mildly) of securing his successes. Now the star system Unatari is under threat from the Aliens. It's high time Ruslan came back in order to rescue everything he holds dear from imminent destruction and save Perimeter Defense - the game that has become his life.

The great hunt is over. In the end, Timothy managed to keep his invaluable prize. A victory? Perhaps. But glory and adrenaline are very powerful narcotics, and tolerance builds quickly. Once deprived of them, life immediately becomes gray and bleak. What's more, his beautiful lover is beginning to transparently hint that she could find herself a more interesting beau. What is a talented player to do in this case? The solution suggests itself: rush headlong into the most dangerous adventures, taking risks and walking the blade of a knife.

In his attempt to delay his appearance in Emperor's court, Crown Prince Georg triggers an alien invasion of his own star system. The whole of the Empire watches the live broadcast with bated breath as his fleet battles the awesome invaders. The Iseyeks - gigantic sentient praying mantises - are suitably impressed too, so they promptly remind the Crown Prince of his allied duties. The Sector Eight Fleet hurries to the Swarm's aid...but sadly disregards the insects' hive mentality.

Gnat is on his voyage with the Shiamiru, all the while trying to find backup for humanity among the great spacefaring races. After all, based on what he's already seen, he knows not to count on the good sense of his own kind. Even facing an external threat, the people of our Earth cannot see past their internal squabbles and come together to fight as one. Gnat does not expect gratitude from his leaders for taking such matters into his own hands, but when have laws and rules ever stopped our intrepid hero before?

Ceasefires have one big downside: They eventually come to an end. And when they do, once again game nodes are set ablaze, and platoons of Dark Faction soldiers threaten our customary world with destruction. The enemy has grown stronger and more numerous. To make matters worse, they also got their hands on even deadlier weaponry. They have learned painful lessons from previous encounters and adjusted their tactics accordingly.