[Quest Update: Village Sustenance Secured]

Congratulations, Scott! The quest to secure food for the village has been marked as completed. Your leadership and efforts have contributed to the welfare of your community. However, it appears the direct actions taken to fulfill this quest were completed by another, Gavrin. As a result, the experience points and direct rewards for quest completion have been allocated accordingly.

Quest Completion Details:

Task: Secure a stable food source for the village.

Status: Completed by Gavrin.

Reward Allocation: Experience points and rewards have been granted to Gavrin.

Scott's Current Status:

Leadership Recognition: Increased.

Experience Points (XP): See individual accomplishments for updates.

Next Steps:

Engage in direct actions to contribute to village welfare for future quests.

Consider forming alliances or delegations with capable individuals like Gavrin to enhance community efforts.

Additional quests may become available that align with your skills and position within the community.

Scott had spent entirely too long reading the prompt he received when he woke up. On one hand, Scott felt a sense of relief and gratitude that the village’s immediate need for food has been addressed, thanks to Gavrin’s efforts. The recognition of his leadership role, even in a situation where he wasn’t the direct actor, reinforced his position with the community and the trust they had placed in him.

On the other hand, Scott also felt a sense of frustration that he wasn’t the one to fix it. Scott had a nagging thought that to be a true leader, he must not only delegate and oversee but also be directly involved in the actions that benefit his community.

Scott spent some time reflecting on the quest update. He needed to speak with Gavrin. Perhaps with working together they could find a way to maximize the experience gains. Scott wasn’t much of a fighter and hadn’t been gaining levels. There was very little activity in the small town that actually counted as ‘merchant’ activity. Scott was at his wits ends.

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Scott walked up looking worried. The early morning sun was casting long shadows across the ground, bring the promise of heat later in the day.

“Gavrin, do you have a minute?” Scott asked me as he neared. He tried to sound calm but I could see the mana writhing around him in response to his worry.

I had been growing some grass in the in the central field of the village. Not the smoking kind, the regular green kind. I was trying to grow the grass out to make cordage. I really wished I had paid more attention to those videos I watched all those years ago.

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“Sure, my main man. What you got?” I answered him.

Scott took a deep breath before speaking. “I woke up to a system prompt today. It said the quest to secure food for the village was completed, thanks to your efforts. But,” he hesitated, “it also said that I didn’t directly contribute, so the experience went to you.”

I nodded. “I wondered where that extra experience came from.” I mused, while scratching at my chin. “But honestly, Scott, I don’t think it matters who gets the experience. What matters is that the village is safe and has food.”

Scott looked down at the ground and scuffed at a small stone. “It’s not just about the experience, Gavrin. I feel like I’m not doing enough as a leader. I need to be more involved, to contribute directly. But I’m not a fighter like you or some of the others. My class is geared towards non-combat and what we are doing around here isn’t giving me experience.”

“What’s your class again?” I forgot what he was, or I never bothered to learn.

“I’m a merchant.” Scott answered.

“Aww.” I said after a moments thought. “And everyone is trading and bartering. I mean, value for value should work.”

“Well, it doesn’t.” Scott answered.

“I got the experience from your quest last night because I provided the most?” I asked. “What about Kim and little Maya? They did cooking and I could have sworn I saw you washing dishes. Why didn’t that count?”

“I don’t know.” Scott answered slowly. “Wait a minute! I didn’t see you at all. Where were you?”

I grimaced. I walked into that one. “I have very high stealth and was chilling up top on the roof.”

“May I ask why?” Scott answered more than a little confused.

“I don’t really like people, and just being close and watching was enough to recharge my social batteries.” I explained.

“That’s weird as hell dude.” Scott answered.

“Whatever, man.” I told him.

Scott decided to get back on track. “But how can I lead effectively if I can’t protect us from physical threats? How can I gain experience to help more?”

“You’re a merchant. Why don’t you have a store?” I asked. “Almost seems like your class does what it says on the tin.”

“What would I stock it with?” Scott asked. “I don’t feel right selling stuff we are scavenging. And we don’t even have money. Well, we have the old dollars but no one seems to want to take those.”

I nodded my head in understanding. “I can understand that. But listen, I might have a solution to your issues.”

Scott shook his head. “I can’t take any more charity, Gavrin. That’s what got me stuck in the first place.”

“It won’t be charity.” I explained. “I have metals I can make into coins. I don’t like the idea of just handing money out, that way lies madness and lazy people. But what if I set up my home here and offered quests for gathering materials for me. Sort of like a proto-adventurer’s guild. The rewards will be in coin. Once money is injected into the economy, it will begin to flow and will begin to create more trade. And if outsiders come here, they will have to trade in kind. I have been seeing a lot more people showing up lately.”

“That might work.” Scott admitted. “But that still doesn’t answer how I will get a store.”

“I’m getting there. Hold your horses.” I told Scott. “Remember how I hate people?” I waited until Scott acknowledged my previous statement. “I don’t want to run it. I will need a manager. And I will being taking the money back out of the economy as well. I can craft shit. And last night wasn’t the first time I got experience for non-combat related tasks. I made that hammer that Derek is using. I went back over my logs the other day and realized I am getting a portion of the experience he gets from killing enemies. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it will add up.”

“So I would be a manager?” Scott asked. “Do I get paid?”

“Yes?” I answered. “But the real payment will be using your skills to manage the people coming into the store. If that doesn’t work out, we can continue to experiment with the system to see what triggers its experience gain.”

Scott was silent for a long minute. “Okay, I’m in. What do you need from me?”

“I plan on setting up my shop in the middle of this field.” I told him. “As the de facto leader of this community, I bet you can get everyone to agree to me living here. And you gotta keep Carlos off my back. He bugs the shit out of me.”

“What is up with that anyways? Do you and Carlos have a history?” Scott asked.

“No.” I answered truthfully. “There is something about him that just rubs me the wrong way.” I shrugged. “It happens sometimes. And the stress and changes that have happened lately have really amplified my instincts in matters like this.”

“I think I can handle that.” Scott replied. “So how long will it take you to set up your shop?”

I paused to think about it. “Probably a couple of days, but I can probably start giving out quests today or tomorrow. I need to take stock of what I can craft and what the community needs. I was trying to make rope with this grass but the growing process is taking longer than I would like. And it is costing me more in mana than I think it is worth.”

“Ok. This sounds like a plan.” Scott eagerly rubbed his hands together. “I’ll spread the word you might have jobs available for money. Do you have of the coins ready?”

I shook my head. “No, this was something I was just thinking about, but seeing and talking to you crystallized my feelings."

"Alright." Scott turned to walk away with a new spring in his step.

I needed to step up my plans. I knew just who to talk to. I bet Queen Seraphina had some ideas on how to help run this place. I was thinking about officially making her my manager of the dimensional shard. She was practically doing it now anyways.