Loner

Arktania is a virtual game with a steampunk style. It's a place where magic spells, enchanted artifacts, steam-powered machines, firearms, and mechanical golems are a part of everyday life. Gamer Andrew Falk begins his journey in a small village on the border of Orcish territory. The locals are the keepers of many secrets, but their behavior is too realistic for characters in a game; so realistic, in fact, that Andrew starts to treat them as if they were real people.

Gamer Andrey continues his travels through the world of Arktania, mastering the ability to handle electrical energy and developing his unusual profession, glassblowing. Having received an epic quest from Elenia, the Goddess of Fate, he discovers to his shock that her power is not constrained within the game. Now the virtual Goddess follows Andrey in real life as well, threatening his life if he should fail to complete the tasks she assigns him. There's no turning back. More than that, to be honest, he's beginning to like Arktania with all its residents, its puzzles, and its adventures.

Thanks to the treachery of the Steel Rats clan, Falk never obtained the first of the five swords needed for his divine quest. Naturally, the new owner of the sword—the head of the Unnameables clan—has refused to sell such a valuable artifact. However, he is willing to give it up in exchange for Falk performing a little task for him in real life. All that's required is committing burglary by breaking into a secure location and stealing a well-guarded item.

Andrey has finally obtained the first of the five swords he needs to complete the Goddess of Fate's quest. Now his path is taking him to the subterranean city of the Gremlins, Arkem. Gremlins are unpleasant, rascally creatures, with a twisted system of logic and a penchant for limitless chaos. So trying to negotiate with them is always fraught with danger. Fortunately, they happen to worship the mechanisms of the Ancients, which are somehow, mysteriously, connected to Andrey's hidden "Slider" class. This means that Andrey has a chance of recovering the second sword after all.

Falk has managed to obtain the second of the five swords he'll need to complete the Goddess's task, and now his path is taking him to the lands of the Elves. Time is limited, but before starting a new quest, it might be nice to wrap up his business in Arkem. Which will mean using the Mechanisms of the Ancients to defend the Gremlins' city from an attack by an army of Demons.

Falk has only a few days to obtain the Wood Sword in the Lands of the Elves. And he also has to make a trip to the capital to report the successful completion of his quest, and find out why the Empire needs a specialist who can control the Mechanisms of the Ancients in the first place. In the real world, meanwhile, more and more emissaries from Arktania's Gods are appearing all the time, and the confrontation between them is only getting more intense.