Drinks and confessions

Okay, I have my game plan, I’ll buy both Public Unawareness and Recommended Reward II, this will bring me to 0 perk points for now.

It’s kinda obvious now that I tought about it some more, Public Unawareness is a really good perk and I admit I want Recommended Reward II because it seems more fun, I’m not complaining about previous rewards, but it feels better to have a choice. It’s also on the road to unlock the Reward Designer perk that I’ll definitely want at some point. I’m just wondering how much I’ll be able to push the rewards if I write them myself.

Quest Master : John
Surname : Moore
Gender: Male
Age : 25
Level 4 (0 / 10 xp)
Class : None
Perks : Quest Designer I, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness
Perk Points : 0

My profile has already evolved a lot since I received the app, I’m now level 4 and I have 4 perks, it seems higher ranked perks replace the lower ranked ones. I’m okay with that, it makes the screen slightly less cluttered, but I wonder if it means Reward Designer would replace Recommended Reward II since it seems like a straight upgrade too.

I want to give Maria a new quest before closing the app, but I admit I have some trouble thinking about what to write. I want something to do with her class if possible for the bonus xp. I don’t really know how to exploit the mom part of her Yoga Mom now that I think about it, a few ideas go through my head.
First I think about making her dote on me, but I’m still scared of putting my name in a quest, I’m pretty sure I would become very suspicious if I did. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to place myself as her child or as the person making them with her to begin with.

Let’s think about that some more, I have another idea instead which might work well.
Before sending the quest, I notice a new check box, "Public unawareness" that I decide to leave unchecked because I won't need it with this quest.

Maria will receive the following quest : “Cook someone a meal”

Select a reward from those three choices:

• Cooking I perk
• Increase affection of meal recipient
• Full fridge refill

I look at my choice and I’m slightly disappointed, maybe because the quest is too easy, but the rewards aren’t that great and I feel like the perk is the only worthwhile reward.

Reward: “Cooking I perk”

Now that I think about it, I was also planning to make Matt cook for me right? I feel like my two target’s class are overlapping slightly. I don’t think that’s a big problem because Matt is a guy so I don’t plan on doing anything with him apart from his part of the house chores but I have to choose something completely different with my 3rd target.

I put my phone in my pocket, and I go help Maria handle the very loud class as they jump around instead of listening to their teacher.
When I get closer they quiet down for a while, but it doesn’t take long for them to understand I can’t really do much, and the class gets louder again.

“Kids are louder than I remembered…” I say quietly to Maria.

“They sure are. But I think they’re cute too.” She says as she looks at them.

I’ve been in a hurry since this morning so I didn’t really notice, but it looks like making her eat full meals already had an effect on her body.
She’s still unnaturally thin, but she doesn’t look like she’s going to break from a touch anymore. Her skin has definitely gained some color, and her belly is starting to actually look like one.

It’s thanks to this app, I know but I still feel proud of having helped her, between her body becoming healthier and her getting a full sleep multiple nights in a row, she’s looking the best I ever saw her.

She seems to notice me staring at her as she rolls her eyes playfully before crossing her arms.

“You know mister, if you’re not here to watch the kids, maybe you should go back to work. I think there’s still some books in the return box to sort through.”

I nod as I feel my face heating up, I turn away and get back to work. At least she doesn’t seem to take it badly, maybe because she doesn’t even see me as a potential partner? Whatever, that should make me sad, but I have a magic app and I won’t hesitate to use it.

I finish the day and prepare to go home but I receive a notification, at first I panic, did Matt finish his quest by talking to someone else?
But I calm down as I see that the text is from Alex, he’s sending me the address of the bar we’re supposed to meet at soon, I forgot about that.

The bar Alex invited me to supposedly just opened, which isn’t a rare occurrence as they open and close all the time around here. I open the door and he’s sitting alone at a four person’s table, the farthest one from the speaker blasting loud pop music I don’t recognize.

Alex is a handsome man, with blonde frizzled hair and a big build. He’s wearing an open shirt and I can see his chest hair, I told him I found this disgusting once, and I don’t think he ever closed his shirt since. He’s a smug guy and loves to tease me but he’s also my best friend and I know I can always trust him when I need someone to talk to.

“Jooohn! What a good surprise!” He says as everyone turns around from his yelling.

“Please stop doing that! It’s embarrassing everytime!” I tell him as I take the seat facing him.

“So, what’s good? Personally I got really good news, and I wanted to tell you in person.” He tells me as he makes himself comfortable, laying back against his chair.

“Really? What happened?” I ask genuinely.

“I’m getting a promotion! Nothing official yet, still need to sign the papers but it’s a done deal.” He explains.

“So what will you end up doing then?” I ask.

“Well I was the advertising specialist, and I’m going to become a manager, which means I’ll be the one directing the ad campaigns you see on social media, and maybe even the ones on road signs. And dude, the pay upgrade is good.” He says excitedly, as he makes a sign for someone to bring us drinks.

“That’s great, congrats dude, I know you worked hard for it.” I’m happy he’s climbing the ranks, even if it hurts to compare him to me.

“What about you dude? Still writing your book to hit it big? Two beers please!” He says as the server leaves.

“Yeah, I mean I was… busy all week so I didn’t write, but I try to when I have some time. I talked about it with my literature teacher from uni, and she agreed to look at it a while ago, but I didn’t change what she told me about yet.” I feel like I’m just finding excuses.

“No worries bro, you got time! I know it’s hard to do anything after work, my girl is always scolding me because we aren’t going out like we used to.” He looks lost in thoughts for a while, but the sound of the drinks touching the table gets him out of it.

He gives the guy a generous tip and starts sipping his drink.

“You found a girl yet? Or still keeping yourself for Sandra?” He grins knowing how to push me.

“Shut up dude, I already told you I’m not into your big sister!” I yell as if it would make me look any better.

“I dunno man, you looked like a puppy in love the last time you saw her. Not that I would let you come close to her anyway.” His grin transforms into a smug smile as I try to look unbothered.

Yes I did have a crush on Sandra around 10 years ago. When I was younger, we often played at Alex’s house, and Sandra was the stereotypical tomboy at the time, never wearing anything other than a t-shirt and jeans, she had a cute face filled with freckles and short light brown hair.
I never really thought much about her until the night she came back from prom in a flowy dress and her hair all styled up, my brain blew up trying to process it.
From that moment, I couldn’t be in a room with her without turning red. I haven’t actually seen her since her brother and I moved to the city to study years ago, but that doesn’t stop him from teasing me.

I finish my beer before answering.

“Anyway, I’m not dating right now, the only girl I interact with on a regular basis is my co-worker.”

He slowly loses his smug smile.

“Man, maybe I should actually help you get a girl, you know I’m good at this right? You want me to set you a date with one of Molly’s friend? They’re a little plain, but they’re all pretty good people.”

“That’s okay dude, maybe I’ll take you on your offer another day, but I’m not looking right now.” I have a magic app, so I don’t think I need Alex’s help to get laid.

He looks at his expensive watch and sighs.

“Sorry dude, but if I don’t go home soon I’ll get in trouble. Make sure the one you choose isn’t too jealous, it gets tiring.”

I nod and he leaves after passing by the bar. I go pay my beer, but the bartender tells me my friend already paid for me.

I remove my shoes, and I expect to see more dirty plates in the sink, instead, Matt is waiting for me in the cleaned kitchen.

“Hey John, how was your day?” He asks slightly anxious.

“Good, what’s up Matt? You aren’t playing?”

“I thought we could watch a movie together, I just downloaded a new one, we just need pizzas.”

I nod and grab my phone, I’ll admit it’s been a while since we last watched a movie together, and I’m always happy to spend some time with Matt instead of just living adjacent to him.

Pizza in hand and laying on the sofa we start the movie, supposedly the fifth of a very popular franchise where a guy kills many other guys going after him while they explain how unkillable he is.

The movie isn’t a masterpiece, but it is entertaining. The guy does kill his target, but everytime he’s put in increasingly harder ambushes that he somehow always gets out of.
When we finish our meals, Matt pause the movie.

“Sorry man just a second.” He says as he gets up and grab both of our cardboard box and brings them to the kitchen.

I wonder why we couldn’t have done that after the movie, but I shrug.

The movie ends in a climactic scene where the bad guy reveals he was in fact, the guy that helped him all along, and that he was only leading him to the different ambush he set up in advance. Then they fight and the bad guy dies.
All the while I’m just thinking the bad guy should have stayed hidden instead of stupidly revealing himself, but what do I know.

“John, you know, I’m sorry for being a less than perfect roommate.” He starts as the credits rolls.

“Don’t worry Matt, nobody’s perfect, and I saw the effort you put in, the kitchen is spotless.” I answer, kind of knowing where the discussion is heading.

“Right… I should have cleaned more often than that though…”

I can’t really say he’s wrong there, he did avoid most of the house chores for months now.

“The truth is…” He starts.

“Yeah? You’re having trouble with something? Just tell me if you want to okay?” I feel like a manipulator, and I don’t know if I like it.

“So, yesterday, I got like, a life management app? It’s called Life Quest.”

“Okay?” I try to feign ignorance as I absorb the info.

So my targets do get their own app, that makes more sense, if they’re supposed to get access to their own perk tree later.

“And the reason I cleaned up the kitchen, was because I wanted to finish a quest on this app not because I actually wanted to help with the chores. I’m sorry.”

I don’t know how I’m supposed to react, but before I can say anything, both our phone rings as we receive a notification.

Fuck