A Quest.
A purpose.
This was why he played videogames so much back on earth. When he was attending citizenship harmony training courses, when he was collecting his basic income check, when he put food in his mouth to keep from starving… those things were just the grey dreary requirements for his continued existence. What he truly lived for were the occasional beer or three every night and the videogames that gave him Quests.
When he was on a Quest, life had meaning.
Although his life here hadn’t been dull like his real-world existence (it was anything but dull!), it had been marked by mere survival. Running around, training, trying to survive the patrols of armed baddies that always seemed to find them.
Now he was taking the lead.
Or, more precisely, he was taking Krystyna’s Quest.
“I’ve been doing the best I could out here,” she said, “but it’s been hard. Even without the requirement of food, well… you’ve seen the level of comfort I have. But it isn’t comfort I’m worried about. There are three items that you can buy in town that would greatly increase our survivability.”
Surviving. That sounded good. “What are they?”
“The first two are scrolls of Refill HP and Refill SP. I know you have those skills, but basic healing is useful for everyone. I fight up close, in a way that eats through SP and exposes me to damage, so they’re especially useful to me.”
“Got it. I need to get the two scrolls. What’s the next item?”
“I want a bag of holding. You stick something in and the item disappears to some netherworld, only to reappear again exactly when you want it. Handy thing to own if you have to carry all your belongings with you. If you can score one of those, then we’ll be living much better. Maybe I’ll even get a crossbow for fending off stray ptau.”
He wanted to ask what the ptau were, but the message across his screen distracted him.
Would you like to accept the quest “Survival Gear”?
Conditions: Give a Refill HP Scroll, a Refill SP Scroll, and a Bag of Holding to Krystyna.
Rewards: 500 XP for each item.
1500 total XP! That would get him to level 5 and halfway to level 6! Wow! In addition, Krystyna would get way stronger and they would both have a much better chance of surviving.
“I’ll do it.”
Quest Accepted.
One thing, however, didn’t make sense. “You’re not an NPC… how did you give me a Quest?”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
She laughed at that. Why had her demeanor around him picked up recently? Was it because he had increased his stats and put on muscle? No, girls weren’t shallow like that.
Maybe it was the general mood since the battle. He hadn’t complained much because things seemed to be going pretty good. When he complained that meant things were bad, and she showed her agreement by putting on an exasperated air.
Or maybe… yes, it was the third option. It was because he’d accepted her quest. He was on his way to another round of saving her and she sensed that in her womanly manner.
“This world,” she explained, “it’s game-like… but it’s not an actual game. Who knows why it resembles RPG games so much. Maybe Gygax had a scrying vessel into this world and created a game out of it. The point is, the things that many RPGs use seem to be bastardized versions of this world’s mechanics.”
“Such as Quests.”
“Exactly. Here Quests are just the product of focused intention. You decide what you want, focus on it, create the conditions for the quest, and then go for it.”
He suddenly got very excited. His days of hard work were over! He would just create super easy quests, collect the EXP, and level up in peace.
Would you like to accept the quest “Pick Flower”?
Conditions: Pick a flower, any flower
Rewards: None, you lazy bastard. You call this a quest?
Rats.
“How do I determine the EXP? I created a quest but it didn’t offer me any EXP as a reward.”
She looked at him quizzically. “What was the quest?”
“Picking a flower.”
She was even more quizzical now. If she wasn’t careful, she’d get downright examical. Midtermical, even. “Why would you want to pick a flower?”
“To get EXP.”
“That’s not good enough. To make a Quest worth it you need two things: purpose and difficulty. Picking a flower has neither of those. Walking along the hillside picking flowers isn’t a Quest, unless you’re just learning about Herbalism. Climbing the highest mountain to pick a rare flower… you can make it a Quest, but since the purpose is lacking you won’t get full EXP. Climbing the highest mountain to pick a rare flower to save your dying mother… now that is a Quest!”
Huh.
Jerome tried to create Quests called “Rule the World” and “Earn Krystyna’s Love”, but the system rejected them as ill-formed. Aside from that and survival he couldn’t think of anything he wanted, so he just nodded along to Krystyna’s explanation.
“Guess it’s time for me to get started, isn’t it?”
“That it is. Here are the crystals I dug out; hopefully they’ll sell for enough that you can get the items. Now go touch a gnoll. And… try not to kill anyone if you don’t have to. They may hate us, and we’ll do what we must… but they’re not evil.”
She hugged him, filling up his nostrils with her scent. Beauty, sweat, and blood. “Now you’ve got my powers again,” she said. “Only use them if you’re already found out.”
He turned away, happy at a newfound purpose, happy at the shift in her behaviour towards him. “I’ll fulfill this mission,” he said in what he hoped was a solemn voice.
She giggled. A good giggle though. “Godspeed.”