Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (phonics readers .txt) 📕

“Oh, but that is unfortunately impossible,” TJ replied. “You see, there are a lot of hidden costs to what we’re doing.”

“I understand,” I said. “I don’t want to waste your time. I’m afraid this kind of pricing is beyond what I’m willing to pay.”

“I’m still very much open to a counter-proposal,” the man said. “It ain’t over till we’re both happy with what we’re getting. And that’s our goal here.”

“Thank you, but I think I’ll take my business elsewhere,” I said in a last-ditch attempt to make him drop to what I was willing to pay.

“Once an application is denied, the applicant can’t file a new one for the next one hundred days,” he said, his demeanor now changing along with a cold, informative tone to his voice.

“That’s preposterous,” I retorted, not even being able to remember the last time I used the word “preposterous”. But it felt right now.

“Oh, I am sorry, young man,” TJ replied, wearing his wide smile again. “It seems that you weren’t properly informed by the person who referred you to this program.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. Punching TJ wouldn’t bring me any closer to my goal.

“Wait a second!” the man interjected and for the first time, his brows furrowed. “It says here that Leonardo DiFiore is your referral contact for the DEM.”

“Correct. He gave me a tablet and vouched for me using the DEM’s free crafting program. But the point is that now I’d like to—”

“I’m sure you’re going to be the next Apocosmopreneur of the year,” he interrupted. “How well do you know Leonardo DiFiore?”

“Leo? He’s my colleague and… and friend for some years.”

“Do you consider yourself close to him?”

“What is this all about?” I asked, not liking this sudden interest in my relationship with Leo. “What’s with all the questions? Can we do business or not?”

“Perhaps we can reach a different sort of agreement. I will let you import steel from the Cosmos and clear it for use in the Apocosmos.”

“In exchange for?”

“Well this is kind of embarrassing,” the man said, and he did indeed actually look embarrassed. What could possibly make this sales king feel like this? “You see I’m an avid player of the game Dungeons & Dragons. I’m sure you know it?”

“I’ve heard of it, yes.”

“And your friend, Leonardo DiFiore, runs a table that’s streamed live in the Apocosmos.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it,” I said, a bit stunned at the idea that lots of other people might have seen it too.

“If I could get around that table, you’d never have to worry about Apocosmos customs again. At least not for steel,” TJ said and flashed his teeth. This time though, it looked like the most forced smile in the history of smiles.

“I can’t promise you that,” I said honestly, but also enjoying myself a bit. “I don’t decide who plays on that table.”

“How about this then? You talk to Leonardo DiFiore about a person who would like to join his table and you won’t need to pay me.”

“That can certainly be arranged,” I said, happy we were finally reaching an understanding. “But am I to understand that I will be cleared of customs regardless of what Leo decides?”

“Well,” the man said, thinking it over it. “I suppose if you’re honest about recommending me to him, then yes. But if I get to play at his table, you’ll get a much longer-lasting deal.”

“I had no idea Leo’s games were so popular.”

“His table is one of the most popular in the Apocosmos,” the man said, seemingly shocked that I wouldn’t know that already. “It’s been broadcast for quite a few years.”

“I see. Then we have a deal. How soon can I expect the clearing documents?”

“I’ve already sent them,” the man said, his voice now having returned to its natural, cool, melodic, default tempo and tone. “You should see them shortly.”

“Thank you,” I said. But I didn’t want to hang up until I got the answer to another question. “Can I ask you something? How do you keep your rating so high?”

“Well, try rating me with a low score,” he said and leaned ever so slightly closer to his camera, “and see what happens to your imports.”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” I said, not wanting to tempt my luck any further.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” the man said and ended the call as he’d initiated it, with a wide smile.

I realized that the deal meant that at some point I’d need to speak to Leo about this, but the amount of steel I’d already cleared for use was more than enough for what I wanted to do. Now all I was missing was someone who was able to craft level 3 recipes. Once again, I turned to the thing that had become an absolute necessity over the past couple of months: the DEM tablet.

I tapped on the Looking For tab and then on the Services subsection. A large list of professional services appeared on the tablet, ranging from divinations and buffs to resurrection insurance and emergency teleportation contractors. No matter how fascinating all of them looked, I still had my mind set on getting back at the guy who thought it wise to stand in my way. I typed “craft” and then tapped on the first available autocomplete result, which was “Crafter”. Another very long list rendered on the screen, though this time, it must have been millions of rows long since the scrollbar on the right side became so tiny as to be almost invisible. The initial view consisted of seven columns.

Name, Level, Max Recipe Level, Realm, Area, Available Recipes, Rating.

Each of the available categories held information on a professional offering their services. There were many exotic names and some I couldn’t even read since they used alphabets I couldn’t recognize at all. Their levels varied greatly and when I tapped on the level column, the results were sorted from