Alpha Agent: A Post Apocalyptic LitRPG

Dan let his HUD mark the directions to the armory. He followed the blue circle, turning around corners and walking down the repetitive hallways before finally making it to the same armory where Jane had given him his starting gear.

He placed his hand on the panel beside the door and gained access. Dan stepped through the sliding doors and saw the same female attendant behind a glass wall.

“Ah, Dan ‘Arctic’ Orion, I presume?” the lady said.

“Yeah, that’s me. I earned some more credits from my first mission. I wanted to see what gear you guys have.”

The lady gave him a half-hearted smile. “I’m afraid you’ll find your options very limited. Much of the gear here is either expensive or requires an agent to be at a certain level. May I give you a list of what items are available to you filtered by your current level and number of credits?”

“Sure, but first, are you okay with me browsing?”

The lady shrugged. “Not a problem. Though keep in mind that what you see in this armory is not the full arsenal of the Alpha Corporation. There are some items that are unique to certain facilities that others may not have.”

“I see,” Dan said.

The next set of doors to Dan’s side slid open to allow him into the arrangements of guns and armor. Dan walked down the short hallway before he saw the entire armory divided into two halves. One half was weapons and the other was armor and other items.

Admittedly, Dan hadn’t paid much attention during his first visit to this armory. It had been simpler to just follow the waypoint marked by his HUD and Jane’s instructions.

Dan took in his surroundings and saw racks of rifles, pistols and shotguns along with a few special variants of rifles slung high up on the walls. Every single one of the guns were models he didn’t recognize. Staple, conventional brands that had existed for centuries such as Glocks, M4s and AKs were nowhere to be found. The only model that vaguely resembled anything that Dan had seen previously was the ZK-77 assault rifle, which bore a resemblance to the AK and was the rifle some of the rioters had used during his first mission.

He saw the two variants of the ZK-77 hung on the wall, one silver and the other gold. The most standout part of the rifles was their dual bayonets. The sharp and pointed blades jutted out the front of each rifle like the tusks of an elephant.

ZK-77 Spec Ops (Gold Edition)

Manufacturer: Emissary Armories

40 round magazine

7.62 x 57mm depleted uranium rounds

40mm incendiary grenades

Description: A specialized variant of the base ZK-77 assault rifle. Upgraded to a 40 round magazine and a grenade launcher attachment that fires deadly incendiary grenades. The incendiary grenades are specialized in draining energy shields of agents.

His ears picked up loud and crunchy footsteps from behind, and he turned. To Dan’s surprise, he saw it was Allen.

“You’re admiring the good old seventy-seven, I see?” Allen said.

“Yeah, it looks pretty cool. I wonder just how sharp those bayonets are.”

“That silver variant has a smaller magazine but bigger rounds that pack a harder punch. As if 7.62 depleted uranium wasn’t enough. With the semi-auto mode, it makes a deadly marksman rifle. Still, we call it the basic bitch rifle for a reason.”

“Wait, what? How can you call such a badass gun garbage?” Dan asked.

“It’s because you haven’t seen anything yet. The seventy-seven is as basic as you can get for a gun. The Alpha Corp has weapons that make that look like a pea shooter,” Allen said.

Dan continued looking around the armory and checking out the other guns. So far, he hadn’t seen any heavy weapons like rocket launchers or the minigun that Allen had.

“Where’s the heavier shit?” Dan said.

“The lady at the front said the armory is awaiting another shipment,” Allen said. “Lucky for me, I took the last minigun.”

“Lucky,” Dan said.

Near the middle of the room, Dan spotted a strange rifle floating inside a fancy display case.

Name: Crack Shot Cannon

Manufacturer: Emissary Armories

12-shot capacity per battery

Concentrated plasma beams

Description: The ultimate high-risk, high-reward weapon. A heavily modified variant of the particle shot. This weapon fires a high-intensity beam and had a much faster fire rate. No agent can withstand a direct blast. Must be vented after every two or three blasts.

“Ah, that rifle,” Allen said. “I went on a mission with Jane about four years ago and stole a prototype in Kodak territory. This cannon right here is the result of all the research and reverse-engineering.”

Dan walked over to the other half of the armory and saw various versions of the Alpha armor encased in glass boxes. Each box had a holographic readout that detailed materials and purpose of each armor set.

The one that immediately caught Dan’s eye was the white variant of the Alpha armor, the same set that Jane Sunheiser and Michal Cynosa wore.

Now he could get a good look at this majestic-looking armor set. He would try to steal glances at Jane’s armor, but didn’t dare stare at her armor for long, fearing she might horribly misinterpret it as something other than curiosity about her armor.

The coat wasn’t anything too special. It was essentially a white version of his current coat. Upon reading the holographic readout on the side, it stated that this long coat had the highest durability rating, offering protection from light gunfire and even stabs from sharpened knives.

“That white armor is reserved for tier threes only, kid,” Allen said. “It won’t be too long before I finally earn my set.”

“That’s fair,” Dan said as his heart sank. Tier three sounded so far away. “But answer me this, how does a coat protect you from gunfire? Isn’t it just fabric?”

“These long coats we wear are deceptively tough, Dan. That white variant is especially durable, made of nano-fibers and layers of flexible plating beneath the cloth itself. Because of that, the white coat that agents like Jane wear weighs about ten kilograms.”

“Ten fucking kilos for a jacket?” Dan said, dumbfounded.

“Yup.”

Dan looked back at the readout. The actual bodysuit itself was a marvel of engineering. Somehow weighing just as much as the coat, the sleek armor was tough enough to survive a few direct hits from the ZK-77’s depleted uranium rounds.

But what truly made this armor shine was the built-in energy shield module.

This particular variant had the most durable energy shields an Alpha agent could get. Energy shields at full charge would allow an agent to withstand direct hits from rockets and point-blank explosions from grenades and mines.

“Fucking wow,” Dan said. “I need to keep training if I ever want to get gear like this.”

“You’ll get there, kid,” Allen said, putting his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “But just know that only tier two agents and higher are allowed shielding like this. Just make sure to keep up the hard work.”

Dan looked back at Allen then saw the attendant walk towards both of them. “I’ve prepared a list of items you can buy, Dan. Please take a look.”

The attendant handed a glass tablet over, and he began scrolling by dragging his finger across the surface. He didn’t scroll too far before the menu of items stopped.

“The hell, where’s the rest of the list?” Dan asked.

“That’s it,” the lady said.

Dan blinked twice. “What do you mean? Are you saying this is all that’s available to me?”

“I’m afraid so,” the lady said. “At this moment, you are still too low-levelled and lack the funds.”

Dan double-checked the listing and filtered down to the only items he deemed worth getting.

Smoke grenades. 200 credits each.

Impact grenades. 300 credits each.

Black cosmetic spray paint. 50 credits per can.

Initiate pistol. 1000 credits. Akimbo option available. (2 free magazines upon purchase / 10 credits per mag)

Sunglasses. 50 credits.

Dan unfortunately didn’t have much to pick from. As much as he hated it, he just simply wasn’t levelled enough to afford the better stuff.

“Something is better than nothing, kid,” Allen said. “Unless you’re saving for a specific item, I would avoid hoarding your credits for too long. You might die on your next mission and not get the chance to use them.”

“Oh that is so reassuring,” Dan deadpanned.

After a few more swipes with his finger, Dan purchased two of each grenade type along with a single can of black spray paint. He also reluctantly bought another pistol so he could at least double his current firepower.

“Well, better than nothing I suppose,” Dan said, handing the glass tablet back to the attendant.

“Thank you, I’ll prepare your items,” the lady said. “Please wait outside the armory.”

Both Dan and Allen walked out of the armory and Dan leaned against a wall to wait.

“So what did you get for your first haul?” Allen asked.

“I don’t know if ‘haul’ is the right word,” Dan said. “Just a few of each grenade, a can of spray paint and another pistol.”

“Not bad. The impact and smoke grenades will come in handy. A second handgun wouldn’t hurt. But why the spray paint?”

“Dude, I can’t even buy a cosmetic skin for my pistol,” Dan shot back.

“So you bought black spray paint for your pistols that are already black?”

“No, the smoke grenades aren’t black. I’ll just use the paint on those.”

Allen stared at Dan for a few seconds before squinting.

“What? What’s wrong?” Dan asked.

The snickering that eventually led to full-on laughter gave Dan the answer. Allen began laughing so hard he slapped the wall behind him.

“That’s sad and funny at the same time,” Allen barely managed.

“Fuck you, Allen.”

Another minute passed and the lady brought a small container with the items he’d bought.

“Here are your purchases, agent,” she said.

“Thank you,” Dan said. He sighed while listening to Allen’s continued laughter.

“Please take them quickly. I need this container,” she said.

“The hell? You don’t have extras lying around?”

The lady shrugged. “You would be surprised where the Alpha Corporation cuts corners.”

Dan didn’t press further and simply opened the lid of the container and grabbed his items. He took the two metallic gray spheres that were the impact grenades first, and a message from his HUD popped up in front of him.

Impact grenades.

Press the small red button along the rim to arm the device and simply throw it at the desired target. The grenade will explode on impact.

Dan rolled the two impact grenades down into the inner pockets of his long coat. He grabbed the pistol next. Now, he had two of the same handgun to use in an akimbo configuration to maximize his firepower. Or his cool factor. Either way, he had to make do with this until he could afford a better gun.

He grabbed the can of black spray paint along with the two smoke grenades last.

“Okay, that’s it,” Dan said.

“Thank you. Enjoy your purchases.”

“Don’t worry, he will,” Allen said, barely containing his laughter. “He’s gotta cope somehow since he can’t afford any good skins for his pistols.”

“Shut the fuck up, Allen,” Dan snapped.

Dan looked back at the attendant, and his heart sank when the lady grinned before putting her hand over her mouth. She turned around and walked back into the armory.

Putting the two smoke grenades down on the floor, Dan quickly got to work and popped open the can of spray paint. A hand gripped his shoulder, startling him.

He turned around and saw Allen.

“What do you want?” Dan asked.

“You’re going to customize your smoke grenades here and get paint all over the floor?” Allen said. “That lady might not look like much, but she’s not afraid to chew you out for ruining her floor. Just remember, she is the one who sells you your guns, after all.”

“Shit, you’re right. That’s my bad.”

Dan quickly grabbed his smoke grenades and stood back up. He walked out of the armory and set a waypoint to lead him outside of the facility. After walking down numerous hallways, he finally found the exit and walked outside into the facility’s courtyard.

To his annoyance, Allen followed him, most likely to continue laughing at him for trying to customize the color of his smoke grenades. Dan crouched and put the two dull silver smoke grenades on the concrete. While not exactly flashy, the black can of spray paint was all he had.

He ignored Allen’s snickering behind him and began spraying his smoke grenades. Dan found nothing wrong with what he was doing. He was simply working with what he had.

Another set of footsteps came out of the exit and Dan heard a familiar bubbly voice.

“What’s our new recruit up to?” Kate asked. “And why are you laughing so much, Allen?”

Allen was wheezing and had to take a few deep breaths. He pointed at Dan. “Look at what he’s doing and tell me that ain’t funny.”

Dan turned around and saw Kate and surprisingly Jane as well. Kate walked up to him and bent over to get a look at what he was up to.

“Hey Dan, what’s going on here?”

“I went to the armory earlier and couldn’t afford much of anything. I didn’t have the funds to buy any cosmetic skins for my pistol, so I settled on a can of black spray paint.”

“The poor son of a bitch is spray painting his grenades to cope with that sad reality,” Allen said, ending the sentence with a wheeze.

Dan didn’t think it was that funny. Unfortunately, Kate disagreed as even she began laughing, resorting to covering her mouth as her laughter became as obnoxious as Allen’s. Dan looked to Jane to see if she would say something about his two laughing teammates.

To Dan’s shock and disappointment, Jane didn’t tell the other two to shut up. Instead, she dogpiled on Dan in her own unique way.

“Dan, this is a sad sight,” she said. “You should have just swallowed your pride and saved your credits until you could buy additional firepower. Only then would it have been acceptable for you to indulge in the cosmetics of your equipment. Whether this was your own misjudgment or the attendant manipulated you, the black spray paint was a poor purchasing decision.”

“Flamed,” Allen muttered.

“Oh fuck off,” Dan said.

This only drew out more annoying laughter from the other two. And since Jane didn’t stop it, that meant she agreed with them. This was a humiliating bonding experience with his teammates, to say the least.

Dan finished up spraying his smoke grenades black. He allowed another ten seconds for the paint to completely dry before he scooped up both grenades and rolled them into his inner pockets. “I’m taking a walk to cool off.”

“Alright then. Dismissed,” Jane said.

Dan walked away from the two laughing hyenas and through the opening in the perimeter wall of the facility. He kept going until he reached the bustling streets of the city. Not knowing which direction to go, he just simply walked, letting his mind take in the sights of this new city.

This was the first time he ever felt the willingness to walk the streets of any city in such a casual manner. To see regular people going about their business was alien to him. Back in his hometown, he would be lucky to see a few groups of looters and scavengers a day. The people of this city gave him a wide berth, mostly because he was an Alpha agent walking along the streets.

Dan didn’t mind, as he wasn’t too comfortable striking up a conversation with complete strangers. For someone to walk up to a stranger with any intentions other than killing or mugging them wasn’t even a concept during Dan’s upbringing. So he assumed these people would rather be left alone.

The hairs on the back of Dan’s neck stood up as his ears picked up rapid footsteps behind him. He spun around and sighed when he saw Kate catching up to him.

“Hi Dan. Sorry about laughing at you earlier,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dan said, brushing it off. “I knew it was silly as shit. It’s no fun not having money.”

Kate smiled and stepped in front of him, a little close for his liking. “Allen is usually the serious one, just like Jane. I think it was impressive you got him to laugh so much.”

“Well, I’m glad I made someone’s day funnier at my expense,” Dan said.

“You’ll get over it,” Kate said, caressing Dan’s cheek. “Besides, if you keep up the hard work and go on more missions, you’ll rank up and earn more credits in no time.”

Another person making any physical contact with him aside from his mother was weird. The only physical touch Dan had been used to was exchanging punches with gangsters. Having a tall, pretty blonde casually touching him was alien on many levels. Dan resisted the urge to clock her in the face, knowing she meant him no harm. Likely, Kate would effortlessly dodge such a punch from him anyway, as she’d demonstrated during training.

Dan turned around and kept walking forward. He looked around and found himself on a busy sidewalk on a street that had many vehicles driving by. Everything was brighter and more neatly maintained compared to the streets of his hometown.

“Where are you going?” Kate asked.

Dan shrugged. “Nowhere in particular. Just walking around trying to see more of the city.”

“You won’t be able to see the whole city in one day. Take it a little at a time. How about we stop by for a bit of ice cream and then I can take you back to your address?”

Dan gave Kate a look. “You know where I live?”

“Of course I do! Agents in a team all know where each other’s area of residence are located.”

“Huh, come to think of it, I think Chad forgot to send me my address. I’ve been too busy training” Dan said.

“Not to worry, I can send your address to your HUD,” Kate said.

As promised, Dan received a notification and his HUD splashed an address in front of his eyes.

1090 Blackwell St., Suite 410

“Nice. Thanks, Kate,” Dan said.

“No worries,” Kate said with a beaming smile. “I’ll take the lead. Don’t get lost.”

Kate cut right past him, grabbing his hand. Instead of a peaceful walk, Dan was essentially dragged around the city with a bunch of people looking in their direction. It seemed that agents would regularly draw the attention of the general populace. It must have been strange for them to watch one agent drag another like a lost child.

“I feel embarrassed,” Dan said.

“Relax, I’ve done it with all the previous newbies,” Kate said.

Dan wondered what exactly she meant by that, but she yanked his arm with such surprising force that he forgot to ask. In that moment, he was more concerned about keeping up with Kate’s pace or else she might accidentally rip off his hand.

She eventually let go and they began walking side by side. As they kept going, Dan looked around and admired the ambience. To Kate and many others here, there wasn’t anything special to see. In fact, Dan was already getting used to how unoriginal and copy-pasted every building’s design looked.

Still, just the fact that nobody had gotten stabbed or shot and people could just go about their regular lives without worry seemed like a utopic society to him.

“Are you alright, Dan?” Kate asked.

“I’m fine,” Dan said. “You probably read my file already, but where I used to live, crime was the norm. It was suicide walking on the sidewalk in the open. I’ve been on the run from gangs since I was eight years old. Compared to that, I’m in paradise right now.”

Dan never claimed to be an expert in reading people, and he couldn’t quite read the look Kate gave him right now. But it was a blank expression with a slight frown. But then she smiled again and said, “Hey, let me buy you something.”

The two stopped at a small truck selling ice cream. While Kate walked up and conversed with the seller inside the truck, Dan tuned out their conversation. Back in his hometown, trying to sell drugs or other illegal goods on the street would either result in getting robbed or shot.

Instinctively, Dan kept his hand his pistol resting on the side of his long coat as he scanned his surroundings.

A tap on his shoulder almost startled him. He turned to see Kate with her hand stretched out beside him.

“Here you go. I didn’t know what flavor you wanted so I stuck with vanilla,” she said.

Dan looked down and saw the ice cream cone in her hand. “Uh, thanks. That’s good enough.”

Frozen goods were a luxury when Dan was growing up, but he kept that detail to himself as he didn’t want to be too negative around Kate. He licked the ice cream, and after that barely resisted the urge the gulp the whole thing down.

“How about a walk home?” Kate giggled.

“Sure. Lead the way,” Dan replied, still licking his ice cream.

As they both continued walking, Dan noticed that ever since he had stepped off Chad’s private jet, he hadn’t slept. And he was still completely energized and alert. He was no longer battling sleep deprivation like he did back at home.

“Hey Kate, is it weird for me to be awake for three days straight and not feel tired?”

“Not at all,” she said. “As part of the enhancement process, an agent can operate for longer periods of time without sleep. My record was seven days and nights without even a nap.”

“Holy shit,” Dan said.

Dan continued to stare at buildings and people around him for another few blocks. In that time, he had long finished his ice cream. Kate had actually bought two cones for herself but didn’t finish the other. So she gave it to him, to which Dan had no objections.

Rapidly munching on his second cone, Kate finally led him to an apartment complex. Before entering the front, Dan looked up and saw the building was around twenty floors tall. It lacked color, consisting of just dull grays and whites along with excessive reflective glass.

They both stepped into the apartment building. As Dan looked around, he saw a suspiciously clean interior. While the colors were are as drab as the outside and even the interiors of the Alpha facility, he appreciated there weren’t rats crawling around or blood stains on the walls and floors.

The two walked into the nearest elevator. While waiting, Dan looked over to Kate, who in turn looked at him with a smile. When the doors opened, he and Kate stepped out and walked towards suite four-ten.

“Well, not that you would need it, but get some sleep tonight. Jane talked about another mission coming up and we’re all going, including you,” Kate said.

“Yeah sure. If I don’t, I’m sure Jane will lecture me on the importance of rest for an agent.”

Kate winked at him. “Now you’re catching on. Well, see you in the morning, Dan.”

Before turning around and leaving, Kate stepped into Dan’s personal space once again. She gave him a small peck on the cheek and smiled at him before turning and walking away.

Thinking back, the only times Dan had been kissed by a woman were either his mom or women as pretty as Kate who had tried scamming him out of valuables.

Dan looked at the door to his apartment and noticed the panel on the side. Assuming it was the same system as the Alpha facilities, he placed his hand on it. The door made a beep sound and opened.

He stepped into his apartment and to no one’s surprise, he was greeted by clean and pristine interiors with a distinct lack of color or personality. Dan wanted to get some decorations eventually, but for now, he decided for the first time in his life he was going to sleep right in the middle of the day.

He walked down another short hallway before he found his bedroom. He tossed his long coat on the floor before melting into his new bed.