Begrudgingly go to work

I head to work, overcoming my stiffnes best I can. Arriving there, I am greeted by a cheerful Alicia. "Ready for your second day pretending to be me?"

"No, but I will need to be to win this bet and see you in a sexy maid outfit," I grumble back. "I overworked myself yesterday in the gym whilst thinking of how to best handle your clients."

"How much did you overdo it?"

"Planned on going for an hour at most, did 2... so a lot. Autopilot is nice, but damm it backfires so badly." She chuckles. My hyper focus moments are notorious. I once worked from 8 to 9 the next morning because no one stopped me. I had a really long weekend that week. My hours are flexible as long as I can explain them; my boss doesn't care.

Most of my colleagues from other departments are less socialised and have a bigger manual. Kevin walks in with one of the R&D people. "Alicia, will you have lunch with me today?" He does this each day. I am fed up with it. They went to university together, I believe. Kevin is a lanky 2.10m man with short hair, attempting to grow a beard with all his might, but unable to do so. Always wears anime shirts. I believe I saw him wear an ahegao shirt once. Creepy. If anyone here has a user manual, he does. But he is mostly harmless. You tell him what he does wrong, and he will fix it. Except for one thing, he doesn't respect that people might not like him.

"Alicia, didn't we have something planned for lunch?" I say with a wink.

Relieved, I hear. "Yeah, all week meetings about clients, right. Private sales only. We value privacy and integrity here." She nods as she does. I nod along. Thesqueaky-cleann Kevin wanders out. A few minutes after he leaves, I hear a sigh of relief. "That does mean you need to have actual lunch with me, Bart. This entire week, or he will catch on to the lie and make a stink."

"You know I have only 36 hours, and I hate overworking."

"Fine if you come on Friday to cover for me. I will actually give you pointers on how to deal with my clients."

"Deal!" I think I gained more than I lost there. In the long run, if I can make it to after lunch on Friday, I will have won, and she will be my maid for a month.

I deal with the I idiots... the dick pic message from HR. Maybe if I emulated a kind hero, this is easier... my mind goes to Spider-Man, other male heroes. But no, I need a female kind perspective. Wonderwoman? Nahh to dominant, Pretty Cure seems like more my style. I go to the toilet. To do a cutesy pose after they transform. After this, it goes better for a bit, but it has worn off. Doing that pose might be a good way for me to deal with the worst of them. I continue until lunch.

I fetch Alicia and me lunch, and we go sit in a meeting room designated for us. She booked the room for our lunches all week. If we were to be sticky and sweaty afterwards, HR might have a conversation about it. But for now, it is fine.

I try to learn which clients are the hardest to deal with. "First and foremost is anyone who ever sends a dick pic if they stay on. Followed by the I know better crowd. And then it blends, and is there not a great criterion to tell if they are hard? It is personal. Wait, insistent idiots. I am soooo used to Kevin, I forgot. Kevin is worse than anyone you will encounter over email. Also, tomorrow afternoon I have a meeting with people from Nvidia's R&D Australian branch on specs. Can you make sure they have received it?"

I nod: "Who do I contact for that?"

"Jim should have sent an email yesterday about it."

"Jim O'Flaherty? He sent me a dick pic, nothing else."

"Yep, fack.... team lead... Dandilion Wiliams... email here." She hands me a card with contact info.

"Do you know their pronouns?" She shakes her head. "If you do it is your fault if I make a fopa." She nods, and we talk a bit more about hobbies. My phone buzzes. We spend some time talking about non-work things for sanity.

I look at the notification, 'New quest', here I thought it was one per day. Then again, yesterday I did spend quadruple the time on it; I could have smashed it out in an hour.

Name: Bart

Surname: Erikson

Gender: Male

Age: 32

Level 5 (4/ 14 xp)

Class: None

Perks: Powerstance I, Training Efficiency I, Popularity Boost I

Quest:

• Answer at least 20 work emails. (0/20)
• Send out at least 20 inquiries. (0/20)
• Spend at least 15 minutes talking to Alicia (25/15)

Reward: better understanding of the female colleagues' perspective on the world

Perk points: 5

Fuck you, that reward is shit. Wait 3 at leasts! I can try to upgrade it by multiplying the desired result by 4. I can't stall by talking to Alicia, I think. So I need to schedule all the emails. 20 inquiries? What would that mean that isn't my job? I try sending an email to Dandelion Williams. I first googled them, nothing... cool.

'Dear Mr/Mrs Williams,

Sorry,y I am unaware of your pronouns, so I will do my best this way. I hope you have received the spec details from Mr O'Flaherty. If not, I hope you receive the ones I enclose with this email. Could you confirm that everyone has them?

Sincerely yours,

Alicia Martinez, (She/her) Sales ASML.'

Fak, I am doubting myself. I checked with Alicia, and her name is under it. She looks and tells me it is to agressive. I decide to think it over before actually asking for the rewrite. Dammit how.... I go pretty cute pose in the bathroom whilst thinking it over. And as I do, I slap my face; that is the passive-aggressive bit.

'Dear Mr/Mrs Williams,

Sorry, I am unaware of your pronouns, so I will do my best this way. I hope you have received the spec details from Mr O'Flaherty. To make sure everyone has had the chance to review the documentation, I included it here as well. Please let us know that everyone has seen the documentation or at least has had access.

Sincerely yours,

Alicia Martinez, (She/her) Sales ASML.'

I show Alicia she hits send immediately. "Probably better than I could have written after a dick pic, good work. Choosing the correct verbiage." And gives me a pat on the back.

I look at the app, wait, it counts as an inquiry. Asking questions counts. I write 80 questions and have them sent out at the same time.

"Alicia, you up for a drink?"

She nods, and we talk for another 20 minutes about a show she likes, GTST. Cool if I can get 5 more minutes than I meet that requirement. I go sit and look at my emails. Review the answers. And start writing responses.

I ask Alicia for another break she nods. I smile, this time we talk about my latest obsession. Shojo anime romcoms and how cringe they feel. Ohh, I can go on for hours, but I won't. I tell her to set a timer, or else I would ramble for an hour or more. She did, she knows that if one of our colleagues says that it is a promise that they will.

Notification: The quest has been completed at least 4 times; the quest is counted as super advanced. 10XP per step is equivalent to the amount of class XP given normally. Select one

of the following reward increases.

• additional perk: Femininity I

• Upgrade reward to perk: PR Management I

• In addition, you get a date with Alicia, who pays for.

• ---

Author's note: I am planning on giving Bart his class in the next chapter or the one after, depending on how long I make the next chapter. You can give ideas here or in any other chapter you want to be fair. Feedback is always welcome.