October 21st, 2023
8:51 PM EST
Alastar
“What’s done?” Alastar asked the exuberant researcher, handing over the small Styrofoam clamshell that held the burger he asked for.
“I finished my first quest.” Dexter said, waving a hand in the air. “Oh, thanks.” He greedily grabbed the burger, his obvious hunger belying his lithe frame.
“Yeah, what is this about quests?” Alastar asked, looking around. “I don’t get it, what possible proof could a quest have that makes you sure this is real and not some… figment of my imagination.”
“Well.” Dexter said between bites of his food. “My quest was pretty simple. I had to find an easter egg.”
“That’s a pretty loose quest description.” Dale said, pointing his fork at the nerdy looking guy.
“Yup, but I figured it meant video game easter eggs. I mean, this is basically a video game right?” Dexter asked with a gesture around the room. “Video game easter eggs are something I’ve done a lot of research on. I wrote a paper on it.”
“If you are writing papers on video games, what possible use could you have for that… contraption upstairs?” Alastar interrupted.
“Oh that’s pretty simple, I’m a graduate student now and I have to work for my advisor. That’s how Academia works these days.” He grinned. “But see, I happened to have my mini Atari with me.” He waved his weird little handheld device. “I played Atari’s Adventure, it’s the origin of the word Easter Egg. Admittedly, it’s not the oldest easter egg by more than half a decade, but it’s pretty famous.”
“Yeah, I get it, I’ve read ready player one.” Surprisingly this wasn’t Alastar speaking, it was Shai. They were the other Janitor, and also a student. It seemed that most of the people who were willing to work at a museum overnight were nerds of one kind or another.
“Yup. In any case, I now get my reward!” Dexter said excitedly. He tapped the air a couple times and blinked with excitement. “Ohhh, nice. I love helpful NPCs.” He said as a magical glow emanated around him. With a raise of his hand, a small red glowing orb appeared above it.
***
“Oh fucking nine hells, what have I gotten myself into?” This abrasive voice wasn’t one of the gathered museum employees and researchers, no this voice was emanating from the orb that floated above the table. The orb itself pulsated brighter and darker along with the words that it spoke. “What kind of dumbass master are you that you decide to bring your guide out, for the first time, in front of a bunch of strangers.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“Well… at least it’s not Navi.” Dale said, trying to make light of the whole thing. For Alastar, it worked, making him crack up.
“Uh…” Dexter said, clearly taken aback. “Are you… not going to be helpful?”
“Oh, I’m gonna be helpful.” The light said. “I just don’t like giving away free information.”
“Well, it’s fine.” Dexter said, waving the light off. “These are my friends after all.”
“Friends? You met most of them in the last hour. Is that your definition of friend?” The being’s tone was sarcastic. There was something about his voice that Alastar couldn’t figure out, that made him more abrasive. “I guess I’m your best fucking friend, and I say you need to do more work. Chowderhead.”
“He’s got a Boston accent!” Alastar said, apropos of nothing. “Er… Sorry, that was gonna bug me if I didn’t figure it out.” Alastar tried to ignore the glares that everyone else around the table was sending his way. It seemed they didn’t appreciate the interruption of the odd drama play across the table.
“Okay, fine, so maybe friend is a strong word. Just say what you have to say.” Dexter said before shoving the burger into his mouth and sulking.
“Okay, so get this. This whole tutorial thing is one of the best boons in your life. Don’t ignore it. It’s gonna change based on your actions, your desires, and the events around you. If it tells ya to do something, you should do it. It has the weight of the greatest supercomputer in the multiverse behind it, the system itself. You fuckers don't know how lucky you’ve got it. This tutorial is a grace period, which gives you the ability to increase aspects of yourself before gaining a class. That means so much, as it can increase the options that you get.”
The group was stunned. The light’s abrasiveness was still there, but none of them really cared. Instead they just stared off into the distance, presumably checking the very quests and notifications that the light described.
Alastar watched everyone else as they stared off into space, clearly doing things with objects that didn’t exist. It reminded him of when he was a kid, back in summer camp when all those who had attention problems were put together. Some of the others daydreaming looked just like this, and he supposed he too looked ridiculous. It would only look worse as an adult he was sure.
Really, he didn’t want to. He just knows he’d be on some punked show, or some viral youtube channel dedicated to testing his sanity for likes. Still, with resignation, he finally looked at the blinking red light in the corner of his vision, allowing him to pull up his quest log.
> New Quest!
>
> Tutorial (1/10): Teachings of Chiron (SAGITARIUS)
>
> Difficulty: COMMON
>
> Description: The legendary teacher of heroes taught that one must always carry a weapon. Hold true to this, find a weapon to wield against the MONSTERS, BEASTS, and other denizens of the multiverse.
>
> Reward: Weapon Technique
Alastar wasn’t sure where he could get a weapon at this hour. Sure, he knew that Singh wore one at all times, it was a part of his faith. It wasn’t like he could just ask for that knife, and he doubted the system would like him giving it back immediately anyway. If this was anything like the stories he’d read and games he’d played for the last few years… the System was almost certainly alive in some sense, and Alastar did not think angering anything with that kind of power was a good idea. Let sleeping elder gods lie and all that.