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

“Alex?” Louie shouted from inside the bathroom and then started barking loudly. “What’s wrong? Open the door!”

I tapped on my settings and there it was. Staring at me as if this was the first account I had ever made on any platform. My address and name were set to public.

“Alex, open the door now!” Louie shouted even louder, and I heard a thump come from the bathroom.

He was probably trying to break down the door.

“It’s fine!” I shouted back and rushed to open the door. “I’m coming buddy.”

Before I was able to put my hand on the door handle, another thump shook the door. Before Louie was able to charge at the door for the third time, I opened it and fell to my knees. He came running to my lap, looking around to see what all the commotion was about. His heart was beating rapidly, his teeth were bared, and he was breathing shallowly.

“It’s okay, buddy,” I said, rubbing his chest and trying to calm him down.

“Damn it, Alex!” Louie said, his voice colored with a mix of anger and relief. “I was about to blast the door down because I couldn’t reach the handle. What happened?”

“I found a level 3 recipe for arrows—”

“Why would you—”

“I’m going to source steel from our world, but I need a crafter,” I continued, not giving him the chance to voice any further questions. “I contacted one and he’s on his way here now because I stupidly left our address public.”

“Should we be worried?”

“I don’t know, buddy. He’s at least level 43.”

“Oh. So we can’t even ask for Leo’s help. Perhaps we can ask for help from Leo’s family?”

“And he’s a dwarf,” I added, while I thought about asking for help from the DiFiores.

“A dwarf?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Like Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur?”

“Is this really the time for jokes, man?”

“First of all, I’m no man. I’m a dog. And second, isn’t crafting what dwarfs do best? And aren’t they honorable and all?”

“Well, I don’t want to make any assumptions,” I said half-jokingly, a bit relieved that Louie didn’t seem to be feeling threatened by the situation. “He has a lot of awful reviews from some years ago.”

“You mean that his latest reviews are good?”

“Yes. Five stars every time, for quite a few months now. But his old reviews still drag his average down.”

“Well then, I don’t see a reason to worry about it. He sounds like a professional. But perhaps you should make the apartment a bit more presentable for a business meeting?”

“Like, clean it?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m just a dog,” he said and jumped up on the couch again. “Oh, and didn’t you say you weren’t going to do anything to get back at your competitor?”

“Well I’m not taking over the bone arrow market,” I said in my defense.

“No. You’re trying to take over the E, D, and C-grade arrow markets.”

“Will you help me clean then?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Please give me the device. I need to do something else first,” he said and pointed at the DEM tablet. “And I’ll need some kind of allowance.”

“Allowance?” I asked, surprised, as I started gathering empty cans of energy drink from the living room table. “What do you need money for?”

“I have my needs as well, Alex,” he said and he dropped his eyes to the tablet’s screen as soon as I placed it in front of him. “We can talk about the amount later tonight after I’ve done my research.”

“Your research on the average corgi salary?” I teased as I picked up a shirt from the floor.

He didn’t reply to me verbally but he did swing his tail softly a couple of times, a sign that he’d enjoyed my jest.

I prepared the apartment as best I could, considering the limited time I had. This mostly meant pushing everything into the spacious bedroom, which hadn’t been used for more than three years, and shutting the door. Having nothing more to do while Louie browsed on the DEM tablet, I started to get anxious about letting a stranger into our apartment. But seeing Louie’s tail wagging lazily as he tapped away on the tablet helped to lessen it somewhat.

He wasn’t looking at me and I couldn’t resist pulling his fluffy tail while he was concentrating. I grabbed the tip and pulled it softly, more so to surprise him than hurt him. He turned around immediately, his eyes focused on my hands, growling playfully.

“I’m gonna get you!” I said, eager to play with him the way we had done so many times before.

Our little chase was interrupted before it even began by a knock on the door. Not the doorbell from downstairs, but a knock on the apartment door. Louie, who still hadn’t shed all of his old habits, immediately started barking, pausing only to jump down onto the floor and run to the door. I moved behind him and put my hand on the handle, my heart beating faster in my chest.

Should I just not reply? No, it’s too late now.

The knocking on the door resumed and Louie’s barking intensified. There was no turning back now. I pulled the door open and was greeted by the toughest son of a bitch I had ever seen.

“Took yer fuckin time, didn’t ye?”

10

Diggy diggy hole

The man was all I had imagined dwarfs being like and more. He had a heavy Scottish accent and was significantly shorter than me but extremely sturdy. Despite the years I’d spent in the gym, the widest part of my biceps was still probably only half as thick as his wrists.

I stepped to the side as he stepped forward, barely fitting through the doorframe while walking straight. Worried that someone else might have seen him, I hastily closed the door behind him. He definitely was a sight to see.

His head was completely shaven apart from a long fire-red Mohawk that bounced with every step he took. His beard was of the same color, braided and separated