Identity and Change

(Matt’s POV)

What am I even doing right now? I look ridiculous. I stop posing in front of the bathroom mirror. Sure I might look more “feminine” now, but I’m still far from being a woman, thankfully.
I’ll admit when I first heard my new voice I was very distraught, how will people judge me? Will my friends and family still recognize me?

I spent a few hours thinking about it yesterday night after going back to my room.

I haven’t seen Alex in months, my dad cut contact years ago, and everytime I call my mom, she yells at me because I haven’t started a family and live with a roommate when she was already pregnant at my age.
John is the only person I see often, and he knows about the app, so I guess it’s okay?

Fudge Matt! Do you really care that little about your identity? Is the possibility of getting laid with your roommate enough to just give up on being a man?

Maybe it is, I like having a di- a willy, but is that all? It’s just that it’s comfortable to stay what I alway was, I actually don’t mind the look I have now, and I’m not blind, John can’t stop looking at my butt.

I should be clear about my feelings for John too. The truth is that I’ve never been interested in girls, sure I find them pretty, but I don’t want to spend intimate time with them.
That’s why, when John asked me to come to the city with him, I accepted. Alex was also there at the time, but he moved out since then and we’ve been living just the two of us for at least a year and a half.

I really enjoy spending time with John, and I’d love our relationship to get better, but I’m not good enough to even be his friend. I’ve been lying to him for three months now, I’ve been out of work, and he still thinks I have an IT job, but all I do all day is stream, trying to make it big enough to pay my part of the rent before my economies run dry.

And my new voice helped, sure I didn’t want it to sound girly, at first I was imagining a deep confident voice, but if I want my streams to get big, why not deceive everyone? If people think I’m a girl on their own, that’s their fault, they deceived themselves. I’m just a little scared people will listen to my past streams and notice the change.

I open a stream I made a week ago where I beat a FromHard game without levelling up, and I can’t believe it, I was expecting to hear my old voice, but instead I hear the sweet voice I unlocked yesterday. Are the change retroactive?

I look at an even older stream where my webcam was on, and it’s still the old chubby me, but with my new improved voice.
From this discovery, I can deduce that perks apply retroactively but rewards don’t.

The first thing I do, is private all the streams where my webcam is on. I don’t think anyone had backups, I am a very small streamer after all.
This discovery makes the perks more appealing, it means no matter how I change, nobody will notice.

But John noticed, certainly because he has the app too. I wonder how many quest he did? He doesn’t seem to have changed much yet. I hope he won’t change too much, I like him as he is… But I wouldn’t mind if he bulked up a little.

You received the quest : “Cook breakfast”

Reward: Cooking I perk

A new quest, and the reward looks ok, I should hurry before John leaves the house, I start by going to his room, now that I can enter without asking, I don’t knock.

“John do you want breakfast?” I say as I freeze. I entered right as John was in the process of putting his boxer on, still completely naked.

I close the door in embarrassment, and he answers calmly.

“Sure, I’ll be there soon.”

It seems the Unrestricted Access perk is the best, not only did I get to see him in his full glory, he doesn’t even sound angry.

I start cooking eggs, but as I look down, some of my hair gets into my eyes, I didn’t know I was due for a haircut yet.

I put the breakfast in two plates and I want to sit down, but I look back at the sink, I need to wash first.

---

(John’s POV)

When I enter the kitchen, Matt is over the sink, and two plates sit on the table. I sit down, and wait for him as I discreetly check his big ass.

When he finally turns around I can see the change worked perfectly. I won’t be able to touch his profile for 24h, but I magically gave him straight bangs that stop just before his eyes and I’m impressed with the result, it doesn’t fit his masculine face, but now I know how strong the Character Editor I perk is, and I almost want to check out it’s upgrade.

Breakfast isn’t too bad, but I had better before. Matt tells me he’ll try to stream some more with his new voice today, and I leave before I’m late for work.
I arrive in time, and even get some time to check the app.

Matt completed a basic quest. [+3 xp] [+2 bonus xp]

Name: Matt
Surname : Weaver
Gender: Male
Age : 23
Level 6 (1 / 20 xp)
Class: Housewife
Perks : Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice I, Cooking I
Perk Points : 3

Maria completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+2 bonus xp]

Maria is level 5 [+1 perk point for target]

Maria bought the Motherly II perk for 2 point.

Name: Maria
Surname : Finocci
Gender: Female
Age : 27
Level 5 (11 / 20 xp)
Class: Yoga Mom
Perks : Training Efficiency I, Cooking I, Motherly II, Flexible I
Perk Points : 3

Flexible I : Body becomes very flexible. (Hidden: Relaxing effect when using body flexibility)

Motherly II : People that look younger than you naturally trust you and want to listen to you. You can read their basic emotions. (Hidden: Strong compulsion to dote on anyone you like that looks younger than you. You perceive yourself older than you truly are.)

I didn’t think Maria would buy an upgrade of Motherly on her own. I guess she really wanted people to listen to her more.

I am also one quest away from level 10, I’m pretty sure the level up cost will increase again, but that’s fine, I write a quest for Rita this time.

Rita will receive the following quest : “Send a photo to John”

Select a reward from the three choices:

• Flirty I perk
• A date with John
• +100% self-confidence for 24h

Again, pretty easy choice, I know I’m boring, but if Rita really wanted a date, she wouldn’t need the app, and would just ask.

Reward: Flirty I perk

I start working, but I get interrupted pretty quickly when I see two people enter together. It’s Brad again. It feels like an eternity since I last saw him, but no, it was a week ago. Things change when you get a magic app.
He’s with his girlfriend Jessica, and he smiles brightly as they talk while holding each other’s hands.

“Hey! I’m not stupid, I’m just easily distracted!” He playfully says.

“Sure, am I your distraction then? Remember Brad, my dad already doesn’t like you.” She says trying to be serious, but failing to stop smiling at him.

“He doesn’t because he’s afraid I’m stealing you away, and it’s not my fault I’m bad at fishing.”

“You could have at least tried, he’s old fashioned, he likes giving the ‘talk’.” She explains.

“Well if he wanted to give me the ‘talk’, he should have done that years ago, you can’t expect me to have that kind of discussion with him when I’ve been living with his daughter for a year already.” He says as he grabs her shoulder and pull her close to his chest.

“Okay, I’ll talk to him, but next time, please act like you want to go fish with him. Or he’s going to complain again.”

“Fine babe, I promise.” He says as he kiss her.

They’re installed at a table far from where I stand, but him being here stresses me out.

“What is it John? Why are you so anxious?” Maria asks as she comes back from storage.
Did I look anxious or was it her perk reading my emotions for her?

“I’m not anxious, I was just wondering when the boss was coming today.” I lie, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, the boss is not coming today, his daughter is sick, and he’s staying at home.” She answers.

“Did you ever meet his daughter? Because I never did, does she even exist?”

“Oh yes John she does… And you’re pretty lucky you haven’t met her. She’s a brat! She still acts like a kid when her dad does everything she asks.”

“I can’t see mr.Newman like that at all.” I say as I try to picture him not looking like he’ll kill me at my first mistake.

“I swear he’s a different man when she’s around. Anyway, I have to take the new arrival, so I’ll leave the library to you for an hour or so.”

I nod, and she leaves.

I grab the book Rita recommended me and start reading it.

---

“I guess this is the perfect job for your lazy ass.” I look up, and brad is looking at me. I didn’t hear him, too focused on my reading.

“What is it?” I ask trying to remain polite.

“You know I never actually beat you up before, maybe you should keep to yourself if you want me to keep it that way.” He says, as his expression gets serious.

“What did I even do? You’re always the one trying to pick a fight!”

He grabs me by the collar, but as he pulls me over the desk, he lets go.

“Don’t ever talk to my girl again! Who do you think you are? Stay the fuck away.”

“Brad!” As he hears the voice, he turns around to see Jessica standing there.

“Babe I-”

“Brad! Stop!”

Apparently that’s enough as he grabs his bag and leave.

“I’m sorry John, I don’t know why he acts like that with you.”

“That’s okay, he was always like that.” I answer, as she looks down.

“I’m sorry, I need to go.” She says, as she runs after him. Leaving her textbooks spread on the table she used.

I clean it up and keep her bag behind the main desk to avoid someone stealing it.

Before I can think too much about what happened, my thoughts are interrupted by Maria coming back with a big cardboard box filled with newly printed books.

---

Alex invites me to watch a movie at his house on sunday night, so I’ll need to ask Matt if he also wants to come. It’s already thursday, so I also have my first gym session with Maria the day after tomorrow.

I also receive a message from Rita.

[Hey John, How are you?] She wrote.

[I’m fine, how about you?]

[I’m good, do you mind telling me if you like my new clothes?] She says, but before I can answer, a photo also arrives on my phone.

She’s cute! I wasn’t expecting that, but she really improved her look in two days, her makeup really hides her face’s imperfection, and with that angle she seems to perfectly frame her face.

Her clothes are still very conservative, but they fit together, and don’t put emphasis on her strong body shape.

I try to compliment her, but she just answers with a “thank you”.

Rita completed a basic quest. [+3 xp] [+2 bonus xp]

Level up!

Name: Rita
Surname : Torres
Gender: Female
Age : 22
Level 5 (1 / 20 xp)
Class: Cosplayer
Perks : Makeup I, Photogenic I, Modelling I, Flirty I
Perk Points : 3

Flirty I: Finding the words to tease and flirts becomes 50% easier. (Hidden: Compulsion to flirt with love interests.)

This is an interesting perk for Rita, I can’t imagine her flirting with anyone though. Anyway, what I really want to check is my profile, I just got to level 10 and wonder if that’ll change anything.

Quest Master : John
Surname : Moore
Gender: Male
Age : 25
Level 10 (0 / 30 xp)
Class : None
Perks : Quest Designer I, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor I
Perk Points : 4

I really need 30 xp per level now, I guess that will slow down a lot then.

Level Grind : Attain level 10 [unlock Quest Master’s Class]

SpeedRunner : Get to level 10 in a week [+1 perk point]

Warning : Once a Quest Master’s Class is chosen, it can’t be cancelled. Class will give additional passive effect.

This is pretty exciting, I’ve been looking at my profile for a week now wondering when I would unlock my own class. I finally press Add Class to look at the list on display.

Master Editor : Divide Character Editor I and Character Editor II cooldowns by 4 and Character Editor III becomes available in the perk tree.

Multi-classer : Allows to assign targets a second class when they get to level 10, class bonus xp is now equal to quest xp.

Reward Addict : Targets will now receive two rewards per quest. And quest rewards cannot be perceived as negative.

Stealth Master : When adding a target, you can select Stealth Mode. The target won’t know about their quests or the questmaster, and will simply be convinced they act by their own will. They won’t notice their change until you disable Stealth Mode. (Stealth Mode can’t be reactivated afterward.)

Hierarchy : You can select a sub-master, their LifeQuest app will be upgraded and they’ll be able to write quests to your targets for you. (They won’t be able to add new targets or buy perks with your points.)

Catch&Release: You can remove a target now, and they’ll forget about the app and their changes until you add them again. (Their slot will be locked for 24h after removal.) Each new target added will give you 15 xp.

---

Author's Note : Writing Matt's monologue was very hard, I know what he's thinking, but it's hard to make a line of thought where he explains himself without repeating himself a lot.
Once again you can also suggest your own classes, but I feel like those are pretty cool. Personally I would take Multi-Classer, but maybe you'd prefer Stealth Master to trick Brad?