Showing results by author "Vasily Mahanenko" in All Categories

Might is right. This is the primal law of the jungle, and this creed not only rules the animal kingdom, but also shapes the lives of men. Having harnessed the elusive Qi energy, humanity has divided the world into zones and mastered the creation of extraordinary artifacts, edging closer to immortality. Yet, this evolution has only entrenched the fundamental law: power grants privilege. The strongest claim the finest resources as well as the right to rise above others. What chance does an ordinary youth from the neglected zero zone have in such a world?

Barliona: a virtual world jam-packed with monsters, battles - and, predictably, players. Millions of them come to Barliona, looking forward to the things they can't get in real life: elves and magic, dragons and princesses, and unforgettable combat. The game has become so popular that players now choose to spend months online without returning home. In Barliona, anything goes: You can assault fellow players, level up, become a mythical hero, a wizard, or a legendary thief.

Maximilian is the last of the noble Valevsky lineage. His entire family was put to death for an alleged attempt on the powerful Duke of Odoevsky, who had his eye set on the Valevsky's land. The young man managed to avoid execution, but not punishment. From here on out, he's condemned to life as a doomed soldier. The front line in the fight against the dark god Skron's mutated creatures. "Do or die"—that's the doomer motto that has been drilled into the last of the Valevsky's head. The Duke took everything from him but his honor and a thirst for revenge.

I was the greatest mage of chaos of my time, spending sixty years defending the world from rift creatures. If there was a mission—I completed it. If there was an enemy—I destroyed them. I was loyal to the Empire to my bone, until it decided to wipe out the Chaos clan and every last one of its members.

What can a game clan accomplish without a castle? The answer is obvious: nothing. Therefore, the main objective of any leader in a game world is to acquire a base of operations. Finding himself in exactly this position, High Shaman Mahan, leader of the Legends of Barliona, accepts an offer from the Emperor and the Dark Lord to vanquish the army of Phantoms that has inhabited Altameda, the phantom castle.

The virtual world of Barliona is a place of rest and entertainment - but not for everyone. It has become a survival arena for Daniel Mahan after he was sentenced to eight years in its virtual jail. Mahan has been through it all: the back-breaking work in the mines, betrayal by other prisoners, and finally, the retrial which has released him into Barliona's common world. What more could one want? Mahan could have kept a low profile and enjoyed relative freedom while serving the rest of his time.

Twelve players set off through the online world of Galactogon, lured by the game owners' promise of an enormous payoff. The question is, who will survive to tell the tale? Which of the 12 is a potential hero - or a traitor in the making? Which of them will defend the weak, and who will become the ultimate evil overlord? A knight or a coward? Each of the 12 will have to choose his or her path.

A product of the latest technologies, Barliona is a virtual world brimming with fun and entertainment. The government has become the guarantor for the in-game currency, allowing its free circulation. As a result the population floods Barliona in pursuit of easy money. It doesn't take long for the game developers to discover a source of free labor: real-world prison convicts. While their bodies are locked in special auto-maintenance virtual capsules, the prisoners' minds are released into Barliona's virtual mines.

Is it easy to survive in the game world? You could say yes, if you didn't know what the additional conditions were. They are unusual: it's the real world in which you have lived all your life. The enemy, craving to destroy you. Your own class who couldn't care less about you. Are you still sure that survival is easy? Then welcome to The Game! It will prove you wrong.

There are whole anthologies of stories out there about what humankind does when a game enters their world. But what about when they're living in one where a game arrived thousands of years before? What if they're the survivors of a bloody struggle, having fought for and earned their place on the planet? Tailyn Vlashich was a young nobody far away from all those grander issues. All he cared about was one thing: making his way through a harsh world where the emperor, evil foes, and an impartial god held sway.

Is there anything better than a quiet life? Well, there's a quiet life surrounded by people you care about, people who love you in return, of course. But Tailyn Vlashich knew nothing of the kind. His parents had died years before, the townspeople stayed well away from the god's favorite, and his guardian just wanted to be rid of him. That was the setting when Tailyn was again placed on the road to uncertainty, beset by terrifying lixes, and hounded by a harsh trainer it was impossible to please.

Max, formerly Maximilian Valevsky, begins to understand what it means to exist in a dark world dominated by light. People hate him, exploit him, fear him, and try to kill him the first chance they get. But our hero is willing to endure all trials and tribulations in pursuit of his goal: killing Duke Odoevsky and avenging his family. And he'll let nothing stand in his way.

Reality is cruel. The rising level of technological development has led to a rising level of unemployment. They're laying off everybody, from teachers to technical servicemen. What's the point of holding onto a person if they can be replaced by an advanced mechanism? But what are the people to do? How are they to live? Where are they to get money from? There is only one answer - Barliona. The official government project is gathering steam, luring more and more people into its net.

What would happen if a professional rock musician joined a virtual MMO in search of inspiration among its game world? What would happen if she decided to play as a biota bard, a brand-new race of humanoid flora as well as a new class? Whatever would happen, it would surely be fun....

Surviving in a tough situation is not always the best option; sometimes dying is much better than staying alive. The Academy showed Paladin Yaropolk what makes the world go round: pragmatism and personal gain. Restart was set in motion, but it only makes players more frantic. Now everyone plays only for themselves. Yaropolk faces the same dilemma: be like all of them, or keep his humanity and be known as an odd duck. Because there is only one rule in this world: kill or be killed....

What could be better than space adventures? Captain Surgeon knows the answer to this question - space piracy! Loot, pillage, plunder, and sell all the lucre - that's the motto of the Galactogon pirates, and Surgeon is doing his best to join their number. But what is to be done when the enigmatic Uldans do not want to leave our swashbuckler in peace and keep laying new mysteries in his path, distracting him from his main goal?

The Magic Academy...an institution shrouded in mystery and secrets. People from all over the different empires want nothing more than to enroll, get their hands on the knowledge stored there, become those most respected in the world - mages. Tailyn Vlashich was one of the lucky few admitted without going through the entrance exams.

Hi, my name's Max and I'm one of the Selected. What's the first thing that pops into your head when you read those words? A great hero, chosen from among all the billions of people on Earth? A lucky man who has ended up on an unknown world and gained superpowers? An explorer of new worlds who has discovered his destiny? Well, that's all true, but there is one but . . . Actually, if I'm honest, there are a whole load of buts. And there are rules. And the first rule of the Selected is: "Try not to die. It is expensive and impractical."

A check for a billion credits. The prize seemed lost forever, and here it glittered again with all its colors, drawing the couple like a magnet. The pirates, the Uldans, the Zatrathi - none of it mattered now. The final goal was so close. All they had to do was reach out and grasp it. Alas, fortune refuses to land in Surgeon's hand just like that, without a fight. Fortune only comes to those who can prove themselves. Will Alexis and Eunice find their inner strength and go to the end - or will the obstacles in their way force them to give up their search?

Daniel Mahan, the legendary Shaman of the Barliona game world, has served his sentence in virtual reality. Eleven months of adventures and battles in exchange for eight years in prison isn't a bad trade-off. And yet Barliona refuses to relinquish its grip on the Shaman so easily, erasing the boundary between his two realities. It turns out that it's not so simple to leave the capsule - the Way must be completed....