Chapter 4

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There are pleasant moments in the life of the courier.

I mean, besides the free munchies from canceled orders.

For example, in the morning I decided that I couldn't give a shit about this job.And remained in bed for an extra hour. It was a real pleasure.

In the evening, while other hostel dwellers were explaining to me exactly how to fry the chicken and why carrots must be cut in straws rather than circles, I suddenly started chatting with the people around me. It turned out that, for the most part, they were quite decent people, and some shared my hobbies. It's a bit unusual to discuss the plot twists of Morrowind in the middle of the night with someone who was playing it before I was born. If he was sober at the same time, I'd love to have him on the stream as a guest. By the way, can we do a stream from the life of a courier?

However, I over-salted the rice anyway. That's okay, you learn from your mistakes.

Since I was given a new category, it makes sense to try new "quests". There are more bonuses out there, but it's worth figuring out how hard the work itself is. In theory, the better worker you are, the more you get loaded, and I don't really like that. It might even be worth it to be late somewhere or to take some days just for regular delivery so I don't stand out.

The idea that I actually wanted a room and to sit quietly at the computer didn't seem so obvious anymore. Of course, having my room is cool, especially when one of the neighbors is poisoned by something and farts uncontrollably in his sleep.

But...

There's something about this running around. I guess after all these years spent pumping out new and new characters, it makes me feel uncomfortable if I don't develop at least something. And the process itself - you kind of wander mindlessly, people, houses, clouds floating by. But at the same time, you know exactly that you are needed, that they are waiting for you... ...hoping... ...swearing... even though they gave you the wrong address.

It was all a morning thought, and in the evening I would object to it with indignation, and the weather was only nice for now, but it would change in the fall, but that would be later! I opened the plastic curtain separating the seventh counter from the general hall, as usual, without hesitation. Oh, here's the main character. What else could a disheveled, bespectacled, skinny, and slouchy man be? Only a future Marty Sue.

Delivery Courier - 1 lv.

A newbie. And he is already being introduced to the business.

"Hello, everyone!"

Brute distracted himself for a moment with a wave of his hand, Abstinence either nodded or shuddered again, you couldn't see under the hood, and the Old Man only looked up from the newspaper and back down.

The lecture, meanwhile, continued: "The main thing is not to take too many system quests. Yes, you'll get stuck in them deeper, and although the rates are higher there, believe me, it's not worth it! Did you take the warranty?"

The kid with the glasses nodded: "Of course!"

"Then you have two ways..."

If you're the protagonist, they explain everything to you and give you wise mentors. But if you're a "story-supporter," then sit back and pretend that you've known everything for a long time. The main thing is not to move your ears so obviously.

"First of all, you can just go B1, B2. Three at most! Three you will be given with a box, all newcomers are given it, it also runs the application. There's not much of it Unreality, the warranty works, all right, if you watch yourself. Or you break the seal and start grinding points. It's every man for himself, you can do as this romantic," he nodded at Abstinence. "You can get to E without any gadgets. But then don't whine, it's all your fault."

"Where do they pay better?"

"In Google and the Presidential Administration. This is a Delivery service, where are the big bucks coming from? There are opportunities, but don't be a fool, unreal is a suck-in. Before you realize it, you've got a tail, tentacles instead of arms, and eyes all over your body! You work a bit and jump off when it's not too late"

Eh, maybe I should switch to sidekicks, or become a henchman altogether? Then you're almost guaranteed to survive the story... although that's if the genre is defined correctly. In tragedy, the sidekick can still survive if the hero has to be killed - someone has to return the family gold watch to his son, right? But in horror...

I glanced at Abstinence, who was swaying dejectedly on the floor against the wall. He was working so hard that he'd made it to the fifth grade, wasn't he? And I'm rushing up there, too. A bit of such life, and then we'll be sitting together.

Shaking it off, I pulled out my phone and noted the start of my shift.

Then I asked out of nowhere: "Does anyone know about employee accommodation? Is it a worthwhile topic?"

Brute picked up the phone, looked at me through it, and replied with a grim grin: "For you, condemned, maybe. And you," he turned to the kid with the glasses. "You'd better stay out of it. You might get eaten there."

I objected out of a sense of contradiction: "Oh, come on. I live in a hostel, it's certainly not worse. And anyway, easy work. take it and deliver it. Legs hurt in the evening, but you can buy a bike. Then it will hurt not only legs, but also back, arms, and ass! But you'll have time to go everywhere!"

Old man, turning the page of the newspaper, suddenly falsely sing: "In Madagascar, in Colombo and the Sahara, I've been everywhere, I was around the world!"

Brute nodded: "Baron is definitely one of ours. There are Unrealityt reeks of his adventure."

Baron, it's MC of Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia.

The eyeglass man tried to catch up: "Are folk tales from here, too?"

"No, that's different," Brute didn't take a joking tone. "It's more like the prophets. The stove rides itself, the water goes to the house itself, the pies bake themselves - clearly a retelling of the realities of the twenty-first century by a medieval mystic. A stove is a machine, the water, understandably, the pies are from fast food. The mirror, aka a saucer with an apple on it," he picked up the phone. "Yemelya himself is a typical delivery man. Found his point, bombed to the full, without getting involved in the lower ones, finished the unreal and got out in time."

Tomboy didn't show up, and they didn't pay any attention to me, so I went to the issuing office first, to get the first "quest" packet. The storekeeper, in response to my question about housing, pointed a "thermometer" at me again, and then everything miraculously worked and another tab popped up. Today's technology scares me.

I was delivering "meat" again, and judging by the shape and weight of the roll, it was a tenderloin. The package was securely packed, although I don't understand why they give out both the household goods and fresh products from the same window. Something's going on here with the orders, there's no consumer watchdog on them!

I didn't delve into the delivery, the terms of the "quest" were average idiocy, much more interested in the available list of bonuses for "C1".

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

To begin with, accommodation turned out to be paid for and was paid in double currency, that is, I could choose what share to pay with money and what share with Delivery bonuses, but bonuses of at least ten percent were mandatory. That is, at least one quest every three days had to be done. I tried to combine everything so that to pay not much more than in the hostel, but also leave bonuses to develop. Sadly convinced that in any case housing will cost twice as much like a bunk with a curtain, I considered the proposed options.

They were like copycats, and some person with a bad sense of humor had put all the pictures through a filter, which made it look like a room... Yes, yes, in the crappiest RPG tavern, at the beginning of the game, when you only have five coppers for the rats you killed.

"Mo-ortal!"

"Your order, thank you for using our Delivery, have a nice day."

I did not take my eyes off the phone, comparing the two pictures, and I did not listen to what the client was wheezing about. Another epidemic, no time for him. Here we need to understand why the variant, which differs only in the presence of a pot with a flower on the window sill, is twice as expensive?

Realizing that, I marked the delivery and almost immediately received the order. As I drove along, I also got into the description of the location... I mean, the lodging. It turned out that the cheap option was booked by someone, and I would have to move out as soon as the main tenant arrived. Makes sense in some ways, he left the shift home, his place was immediately rented to a new tenant. Did they at least change the linens?

The list of services was almost the same as what was offered in the hostel. But there was an important difference - they were free! What does that mean? To be realistic, the iron is probably broken, the washing machine is dead, and so on. However, everyone winged the two pluses. Separate housing and location - almost downtown! Plus an hour of sleep in the morning, plus an hour for personal business in the evening. If it's okay with the security, then you can put a computer and right after work gets a little fun for the benefit of the purse. That is to pump reputation and the level in the real world and do the same thing for less money but in the game.

That didn't sound very interesting. I was eager to get back to my old life, wasn't I?

"Delivery, please open."

Oh, a tip. It makes sense, the order is all mineral water and juices, how I would carry them without a bag - I can not imagine. For delivery quite reasonably dump either the heaviest or what takes a long time. As has been said: Study, Ivanushka, or else you'll be like a fool with a bag traveling through towns and villages.

Apparently, because of the "quest package" I had taken, the orders piled up one by one, not a minute of idle time. I finished the last of the mandatory ones after five hours, then returned to the "quest hub," picked up another package, and went to finish my shift. Luckily, the list of stupid "go here, bounce here, cackle there" ended with the banal "leave at the door, leave without looking back".

It seems that the "quests" are also part of the training so that newcomers are not intimidated by the demands imposed by customers. Although it may be part of the brainwashing so that we lose our minds and our will, relying on the app for everything. Or in general, a fiction of a world evil that sits in the center of the web and delights in my torment. Laugh while you can, unknown owner of Delivery! I will avenge my humiliation yet!

The money was transferred as soon as I closed the day. The unreal, you say? Such timely payment is really unreal! Even thought to take another slot for a couple of hours, but what if I need to buy something in the room, and it's evening? I'll have my room, right? Go ahead.

I had to look for a house with service accommodation by a complicated trajectory, almost like in the "quest. After wandering through the alleys and passing by the right alleyway three times, I still turned and was surprised to find that behind the huge pompous Old-buildings there were two or three-story dilapidated houses. I headed for one of them.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Who? You?"

The guy looked so much like a storekeeper that I automatically presented my phone with the app open. The guy didn't disappoint, took out a "thermometer" and counted something, then nodded and moved silently toward the stairs. Hey, he didn't even ask me what number I'd chosen...

"This is the only one left. Are you moving in?"

"I will."

"Fourth floor. Let's go."

Isn't the house two floors? Probably an attic, and a basement count.

The corridors are dark, the doors are shabby. But the smell is nicer here, it smells like chlorine. So they clean regularly, that's a plus.

"Is there a bathroom here?"

"Common."

I'm depressed, but what do you want for that kind of money? A view of the Eiffel Tower?

"Here."

Looking over his shoulder, I compared it to the picture on my phone. The bunk on the left is there, the closet on the right is there. The washbasin to the right of the door was a pleasant surprise! Table, chair, rug on the floor. All old and kind of boring. Exactly for five coppers from the quest...

I went in and looked in the closet just for the sake of interest. A messenger bag and a cape.

"Somebody's stuff is here."

"Throw it out."

"Why don't you take it?"

"No way I'm going in there."

And the guy quickly left down the corridor. I only had time to pop out with a question: "Where is the key?!"

He poked silently at what I thought was a light switch on the wall next to the door. Look at that, they didn't have money for repairs, but they had the money for a non-contact key! I put my phone to the panel, and the Delivery app flipped through the pages:

Payment for the room with points is available...

Domestic magic, as it were. Strictly by Clarke.

After thinking about it, I decidedly jerked the slider toward money. The points would come in handy. After I confirmed, I received a new message:

Service room paid for (С1, entry-level, "tavern") Term of validity... Possible payment in advance...

I'll make some money and think about it but for now, I'll stop for a day. Maybe they have ghosts here, huh!

I collapsed on the bed with pleasure, and it creaked, but without threat. It apparently wasn't going to fall apart. I put the phone to charge - the socket was not so much Soviet as maybe even Imperial-era. There were a twisted cord and porcelain holders. Vintage! Good thing I didn't have to pay extra for it.

From my bag I took out a package with a towel and rags - yes, it's kind of against the rules to carry it there, but I don't have anywhere else to go. Excuse me, dear customers, I have everything laundered. I stuck my toothbrush in the glass on the washbasin. What else? Find out where the bathroom and kitchen are. Get a thermos and an inexpensive kettle. The room will cost me a third of a day's "lazy" earnings, and in general, I don't even care about anything else, I can live here for a month or two. But after all, Daddy's going to start "pretending"! How can you, fall to the bottom and not bounce back! Flounder and whip the butter with your paws!

In frustration, I sat up on the bed and pulled up my bag... Oh, it wasn't mine.

Apparently, the unknown colleague left all the System items here, fleeing from this paradise. Didn't Brute say everyone gets a bag? Uh, I thought I was special.

I examined the bag, then opened it. In the "file compartment," that is, in the back pocket, was a notebook and an oblong box. It was strange, everything around me was dull and wiped clean, but the bag, though it was in the closet, was dusty.

With doubt, I held the box in my hand and looked around, then shook it over my ear. Nothing rattles, no ticking, no swearing, and no asking me to put it back. Well, I am not a rat, I just want to see what could be necessary for the work of a colleague. Maybe I should get one, too?

Come on, who am I lying to? Ever since I was a kid, I loved going into other people's houses, opening drawers in cupboards and desks, pulling out books from shelves. Behind every hairpin or coin is a real story. Let it be written by no one, but it's real!

People are nowhere near as interesting as their stuff. Weird, isn't it?

The box, the size of an eyeglass case, opened with a palpable, but inaudible click. Inside is a dark velvet surface with slits. And in one of those slits was a simple silver bezel.

I see, the delivery lady lived here and this is her costume jewelry.

I took hold of the ring - smooth, weighty. Silver?

In the notebook, all the pages are handwritten in incomprehensible writing. Probably a girl from somewhere in Central Asia, writing a diary. That's how you live and work, and then only a bag and a raincoat are left of you.

I put the notebook and the case back in the closet and took the raincoat to try it on. In theory, it is sizeless and if no one needs it, why not carry it? By the way, the bag the app counted and gave an increase in rating, but what happens if I put on a raincoat and take a picture before the shift?

Apparently, the game moment was processed more thoroughly than the work. Because for the introduction to the system raincoat was enough to take a picture of it without putting it on and it immediately popped up:

Branded cape (all-weather)

Would you like to equip?

Yes/no

I dragged the icon over to the little man, and he wrapped himself with pleasure and began his usual bouncing in the rain. It turned red, then blue, and again.

My status was immediately changed to "C2".

I remembered about the ring when it bumped against the plastic of the phone. It turned out that I had already put it on. However, my predecessor had mighty paws, if the ring fits loosely on my wieners. Or vice versa, it was loose and that's why she left it on? Or is it some sort of award, like "for a thousand deliveries on time"? And that's why it's sizeless...

Click, what do they tell us? Right:

Teleport ring: 178/200

Would you like to activate it?

Yes/no

Hmm, what can such a ring do in the in-game Delivery System? I do not know, maybe somehow change the time of delivery? Like, take away penalties or something?

I clicked "yes" and almost immediately a red message popped up:

Attention, activation of D-rank and above items is not possible with an active warranty.

Not quite sure what this has to do with it, but went to the settings, for a minute there among all sorts of incomprehensible stuff, finally found the checkbox and tap it.

Oh...

I gingerly fumbled for the floor beneath me, sat down, looked around again, and then screamed.

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