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

I wasn’t sure why he’d do that. Casual hugs weren’t something we usually did and I definitely wasn’t going to change this tradition now. However, I quickly realized the invitation wasn’t directed at me when Louie jumped in his arms.

“Hey, buddy!” Leo said and scratched Louie as he jumped in and out of his lap as he knelt down. “How’s our dwarf friend treating you? Are you getting loads of bacon?”

Louie looked around and seeing that quite a few people were walking around us, simply barked instead of replying in words. Leo smiled and let him go over to the tree to do his business.

“Hey, Leo,” I said and nodded at him. “Thank you for the leg thing. It’s nice to know I won’t lose my job.”

“Don’t worry about it. They’d be fools if they let you go. It’d take months to onboard a newcomer.”

“So can I work from home forever then?”

“I doubt they’d ever allow that, man,” he said with a smile. “Everyone wants to work from home and it makes sense for most of us, but management is dead set against it. Why would you want to work from home though? Are you enjoying Rory’s place so much that you don’t want to leave?”

“Don’t get me started on his place,” I said and grimaced. “Especially its connection. Sometimes I swear the building is still running on ISDN.”

“Then why would you want to work from home on a more permanent basis?”

“I’m thinking of moving. Somewhere far away. Somewhere safe.” I whistled at Louie to follow us as we started walking our usual round of the block.

“Well, I can help you with that,” Leo agreed. “I guess you’re looking for an apartment in a different area?”

“I don’t think a different area would cut it, Leo,” I confessed. “I was thinking more along the lines of a different continent.”

“What? A different continent?” he asked, surprised. “Why? Where?”

“I really don’t want anything to do with the Apocosmos anymore, and I don’t want to put Louie or myself in danger again. I might not have enough money for all of our plans but I’ve paid back the hospital bill I had, and I’ve got enough for my student loans and then some. I could definitely make a fresh start in the UK or in Spain. Maybe even Germany.”

“Dude, you don’t have to do that,” Leo said and stopped walking. “Look at me. I know you want to be safe, but leaving your whole life behind isn’t the answer.”

“And what is the answer, Mr. DiFiore?” I asked sarcastically.

“A new apartment with wards for hiding you, and staying away from the marketplace,” he replied seriously. “There’s no reason for them to attack you, especially if the apartment is leased through our family. This is what I wanted to talk to you about actually.”

“What do you mean leased by your family?”

“My family owns a few apartments in New York,” he explained. “They’re all warded and are mostly used as safe houses or when we get visitors that value their privacy. I am sure my father wouldn’t have a problem leasing one to you. And if you also stop trading in the DEM, you should be fine.”

“Should be?”

“Well, I mean, no offense… but if you stop messing with their market, you won’t be worth the money they’d need to spend in order to find you.”

“So I guess Louie told you everything?” I asked. I certainly hadn’t mentioned I was messing with their market.

“Pretty much. It was quite a clever thing to do. Very few people source materials from the Cosmos because of the import fees, and also because most of them don’t know enough about this world.”

“They don’t know enough about the Cosmos? About this whole world?” I said surprised.

“Well, look at it this way. Do you know about the country of Burundi?”

“I mean… I’ve heard of it. It’s in Africa, right?”

“It is. It’s a small country next to Congo, and most Americans don’t know much about it at all. It’s the same thing with the Cosmos.”

“You mean this world is Burundi in the Apocosmos?”

“Close, but not exactly. This world is much, much, much smaller. A better comparison would be one house in Burundi compared to the whole planet,” Leo explained. “But you should have let me know what you were doing. I might have been able to give you a few pointers.”

“Have you traded as well?”

“Hells no. Too much stress. And as a family, we’re quite fortunate financially. I meant pointers about how to proceed, how to protect yourself, and that sort of thing.”

“Well, it’s too fucking late now, isn’t it?” I said and looked at Louie who was leaving his mark on the wheel of a rusty-looking pickup truck.

“So you’re not thinking of taking over?” Leo asked after a couple of seconds of awkward silence.

“Taking over? You mean retaliating?”

“Yes. They failed to take you down. I know it probably sounds cruel to you, but that’s how this world works. Such an error is usually fatal in the Apocosmos. You have the upper hand now. I can help you with locating them.”

“Are you crazy? We almost got killed, Leo. All because of my avarice.” I realized I was almost shouting so I lowered the tone of my voice to what sounded like a stage whisper. “I put Louie in danger.”

“It was about time we had a change,” Louie said once he’d made sure nobody else was around us.

“Not this kind of change,” I snapped at him. “We can have a change in a new country. Somewhere where we won’t have to constantly look over our shoulder.”

“Look,” Leo interjected. “Just give it some time before you make any final decisions.”

“Oh, I’ve had quite some time to think about it in my new apartment, alright,” I reassured him. “I lost our home, man. Nothing’s keeping me in this city.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I took in a sharp breath as if I’d be able to pull them back.

I didn’t mean to say that.