Rewind: A Grimdark LitRPG Series (Pyresouls Apocalypse, Book 1) by James Callum (reading tree .txt) 📕

A pleading look at Marissa had his direct supervisor offering him a sympathetic smile and a shrug of her narrow shoulders. She was just as powerless as he was.

“Tell us, Mister Johnson,” one of the Board spoke, but he couldn’t tell who. “Were you the one in charge of the Burgon Beast’s origination?”

“Yes, sir,” Johnson said, nodding woodenly.

I’m dead, I’m so dead, they hated it.

“And were you also the one who went outside corporate guidelines to add in the Incomplete Vessel?”

Sweating profusely, Johnson nodded again. “I am, yes.” And before they could continue, he added, “I did it alone. Please don’t punish Cameron. He didn’t know what I was doing.”

The Board looked at each other and nodded, then another speaker turned to Johnson with an intense stare. “If we were to give you an entire team to yourself, do you think you could improve upon the next phase of the Pyresouls Online competition? We would like to see how you do as a Lead Developer.”

His voice stuck in his throat. Johnson couldn’t fathom what he was hearing. He wasn’t in trouble? He was being promoted?

The Boardmember raised a finger at Johnson, catching his attention. “Purely on a trial basis at first, you understand.” That received several assenting nods from around the table. “But I see it as nothing more than a formality. With proper resources allocated to your work, we see no reason you won’t create something truly fantastic.”

Just then, an intern came in bearing a rolling cart full of pastries and a carafe of hot coffee. The young man set it all up, clearly sweating bullets just as Johnson was by being so near to the Board.

Trays set out, coffee cups circling the silver platters full of baked goods, Johnson still couldn’t believe his fortune.

“O-of course, I won’t let you down,” Johnson said, eyeing the coffee cup several feet away.

Without thinking, he summoned a black inky tentacle and slithered it across the table. A grin spread across his face as he wrapped the thin tapered tip of the tentacle around the hot cup and brought it to his lips for a celebratory sip.

The intern let out a squeak of alarm at the sight.

Marissa was there in an instant, arm around the intern’s slender shoulders. A black tendril wormed its way out of her pretty red button-up top and locked the door behind her to the glass office room.

Another tentacle slithered through the air and turned the glass opaque. “Now, Johnson,” Marissa scolded playfully. “I know you’re new to the family, but we can’t keep losing interns like this.” She placed a hand on the intern’s lower back and shoved him forward toward the table.

Johnson understood. “I’ll be more careful, boss,” he promised as he stalked around the table to the stunned and frightened intern. A dozen or more black inky tentacles sprouted out from behind Johnson as he walked toward the doomed man. They wriggled and snapped in the air. “Terribly sorry about all this,” he said. “It’ll be over quick. I don’t play with my food.”

The man’s screams never made it out of the soundproof box.

Jacob’s Final Stats

Jacob Windsor

Covenant: Phoenix

Race: Kemora - Fae-touched (Human/Fairy)

Level: 26

Health: 132

Stamina: 94

Anima: 0

Souls: 35,000

Required Souls: 4,581

Parameters

VIT: 4

AGI: 8

END: 7

TMP: 15

STR: 10

DEX: 10

INT: 8

FTH: 3

Curse: Fractured Sight

Curse Level: 0

Spell Gem: Heat Blade (3/3)

Spell Gem: Flame Blade (1/1)

Afterword

Whew, that was a bit of a bittersweet ending, huh? I’m so glad you stuck with it to the end! Thanks for reading Pyresouls Apocalypse: Rewind, it truly means a lot to me. This is the first book in the Pyresouls Apocalypse series, and my second novel in the LitRPG genre.

I wrote Pyresouls alongside writing my other series, Beastborne Chronicles, and working full-time as an EMT. Needless to say, it has not been easy. But through the support of readers like yourself, and my Patrons over on Patreon, I have been able to pull it off.

My goal is to become a full-time author. If I can write two series concurrently, not just one after the other with a delay for each, imagine what I can do when I’m writing full-time!

With your support, I am one step closer to realizing my dream. Whether you read this on Kindle Unlimited, purchased the ebook, the paperback, the audiobook (or all 3!), or support me on Patreon, your generosity is greatly appreciated.

But did you know you can immensely help me to write more of these books that we love so much (and it doesn’t even cost a cent!)? If you liked Pyresouls, please leave a review and rating to let others know what you thought!

Share it with friends, recommend it to others who aren’t as well-read as you, mention it on social media, shout it from your favorite rooftop! None of those things costs anything (though the last one might, depending on your city ordinances!), and they are the very thing that keeps an author like myself writing.

And if you’re asking yourself how you can help even more, you could hop on over and check out my Patreon! You’ll find constant updates for all my books there, as well as early releases of ebooks, advanced chapters of everything I’m writing, and much more. At the same time, you’ll help my books to be released faster as new goals are hit.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Lormar as much as I loved making it. Soulsborne games are some of my favorites, and it was an absolute delight to pay homage to those games.

My goal is to continue writing Pyresouls alongside Beastborne for many years to come. I have a lot of plans for Lormar, Jacob, Camilla, and of course, Fire Oppa. Hopefully, you’ll come along and join them on their adventures!

About the Author

My name is James T. Callum, and I’m not going to talk to you in the third person or make it seem like I’ve got some publisher or editor who has a bio on me.

This is just me, talking to you, the reader. I’m no different than you,