As Matt made his way back home, he took his phone out of his pocket and checked the time.
[2:05 PM]
'It's later than I thought. But, I guess I did sleep in.'
He put his phone away and finished the walk to his apartment complex. It was a large tan building fairly close to downtown. His apartment resided on the 3rd floor of the building which had an old staircase leading up to it.
The apartment had an elevator but Matt hated how it rattled and was afraid that it would fall one of the times he used it. So he always used the stairs. It was probably the only thing that kept his physical stats from being even lower.
Matt unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. It was a mess with clothes thrown around and empty soda cans on the floor. He never had anyone over so he couldn't find an excuse to clean up. He definitely wasn't the most disciplined person you could find.
He headed over to his PC chair and sat down before recalling the system messages that showed up after the running quest.
'So it said that new quests were available but they always showed up as a small menu. I don't see any menus now. Should I just open it the same way I do stats?'
Without holding off any longer, Matt shouted "Quests!"
__________
||General||
(NEW) Take a Shower [Reward: +4xp]
(NEW) Pick up Laundry [0/14] [Reward: +6xp]
(NEW) Wash Dishes [0/23] [Reward: +8xp]
(NEW) Clean up Trash [0/43] [Reward: +12xp]
(NEW) Do Pushups [0/100] [Reward: +2 Strength, +20xp]
-
||Daily||
*Daily quests not available in beta*
__________
'...'
'Are you my mom or something!? Why is it all chores? Also, what's with 100 push-ups!? Is this system trying to kill me?'
He sighed and took a second to calm down. The quest window flashed in front of his face while he wore an ugly expression.
'The last quest already wore me out enough. Why are all these physical? Am I just unlucky?'
Matt eyed the screen in front of him and noticed something strange.
'Daily quests aren't available? Apparently, this is some sort of beta. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter right now. I have other problems.'
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He complained as he picked up an empty soda can from the floor. Just as before, trash and clothes covered the floor but there was also an assortment of used plates and other dishes on his desk. He tossed the empty can he was holding into the trash and as he did, he noticed a change in the quest.
Clean up Trash [1/43]
'This is going to take forever. Fine, I'll play your game system. I'm used to grinding quests.'
After making up his mind, he got to work collecting the trash around his room first. He decided to take the quests one at a time just so that it would be more rewarding. He would receive the XP from the quests he finished first and it would motivate him to continue.
After gathering the trash into one spot, he dumped all of it into the trash can next to his desk. He then checked his progress again.
Clean up Trash [21/43]
'Ok, two more rooms to go.'
Matt made his way to the kitchen/living room area of his apartment and started picking up trash again. He managed to dump most of it into the kitchen trash but some of it wouldn't fit which made him take out another bag and dump the rest inside it.
Clean up Trash [38/43]
He entered his small bathroom and collected any trash he could find. He then took it back out into the living room and stuck it in the extra bag.
__________
[Quest Complete]
Clean up Trash [43/43]
+12xp [XP 46/100]
__________
'Nice, one quest done. Now, which one should I do next?'
Matt looked through the quests again for a moment.
'I don't want to take a shower before I finished cleaning or else I'll just get dirty again. So maybe I'll try the dishes.'
Matt headed into the kitchen area of his apartment and got started on the next quest. It didn't take too long since he didn't have too many dishes anyway.
__________
[Quest Complete]
Wash Dishes [23/23]
+8xp [XP 54/100]
__________
'Nice, I'm already past halfway in XP. I'm kinda wondering what leveling up will be like.'
He made his way back to the main area of his apartment, but just as Matt was about to start on the next quest, he heard a loud knocking at his door.
The banging echoed through Matt's apartment, followed by a booming voice.
"Matt, are you there? It's me! Open up."
Matt flinched before unlocking the door and looking up at the bearded man standing there with his arms crossed. "You were supposed to drop off your rent in my office yesterday," Mr. Bensen said in a calm but firm tone.
Matt backed up slightly as the large man looked down at him. "Uh, I can explain, Mr. Bensen," he said.
"Then do it," Mr. Bensen said as he tapped his foot quickly.
"Look, I promise I'll get the money soon. I've just been busy lately."
Mr. Bensen sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "You said that last time and the time before that."
Matt was trying to figure out how to respond when Mr. Bensen spoke up again. "I've about had it with you and your excuses, Matt. I let it slide the last two times, but if you miss another month of rent, I'm going to have to evict you." He hesitated to get the next words out. "I'm nice, so I'll drop the last two months you owe me. But you better get me this month's rent by the end of the week or you're out. Got it?"
"I'll get it. I promise I won't miss the payment," Matt said.
"You better not. No second chances. If you miss it again, you're gone," Mr. Bensen said before sighing one more time and heading back down the hallway, leaving Matt alone again. A ding quickly sounded in the room.
**[New Quest Available]**
'Huh? Don't tell me...'