The end of the world is not such a bad thing for Russian weapons engineer Vlad Nardoir. Really his world ended six months ago when his wife died, and ever since then, things have been downhill. Soul-crushing medical debt. Favors to the Russian mafia. Now, asteroid. For Vlad, this is life in a nutshell. But, in a wild twist of fate, he has found a way out. A chance to start fresh in a brand-new ultra-immersive MMORPG called Viridian Gate Online. Making the leap might kill him, but again, death is not such a bad thing for a man with nothing to live for. Even in the virtual world, however, old grudges burn true, and the past is not as far gone as it seems. He must use his quick wits, rugged persistence, and peculiar set of skills as a weapons engineer to make a place for himself in this new world, or be forcibly dragged back into the very life he fought so hard to escape.

A Russian weapon engineer's work is never done. Not while the Imperial Legion marches. After dying, losing his soulmate twice, building elemental cannons, and knocking down more than metaphorical walls for the Crimson Alliance, Vlad is looking for a place to call his own: a crafting guild that will be able to produce the most overpowered loot the world of V.G.O. has ever seen. Gathering his personal guard, Vlad sets off across the monster-infested Storme Marshes to find the perfect power source, hidden away in the guts of a mysterious sunken ruin. Unfortunately, the mob from old Earth hasn't forgotten him, and Vlad isn't the only one with a thirst for forbidden inventions. He has less than a week to overcome enemies new and old, or his dream of a guild hall for all crafters will be lost forever. From James A. Hunter—author of Viridian Gate Online, Rogue Dungeon, War God's Mantle, and the Yancy Lazarus Series—and author N.H. Paxton, comes an epic new entry into the Expanded Universe of Viridian Gate Online that you won't want to put down!