The Rules of our camping experience.

“Well, I will start by explaining the structure of our game show. All of our contestants -those sitting in the camping chairs- will be competing for your place in the Master's harem. There are two possible outcomes. First, you score 100 victory points or VP. You retain your free will, will be a whole person and can live your own life whilst remaining in the harem. The one with the most VP gets to make a wish with significant guardrails. Second, if you score less than 100VP, you will become a pet, a maid, or a toy for the master to play with without any free will, and you will be considered eliminated. This can also happen to you at the end of the round as long as you have a score below 0 VP.

Now, how does one gain or lose VP? Losing you do so by saying mean things to Master, otherwise actively harming him, doing egregious things we can not abide, or by losing challenges. The first challenge, you might lose a little, but each round, the losses go up.

You can gain VP by doing things that improve Master’s opinion of you and increase intimacy with him, such as sexual things, and winning challenges. These points scale somewhat with your previous relationship with the master, what you have done, etc. For example, there are first-time bonuses. Sexual and romantic things get you easier rewards than basic social things. I might give minor rewards for things that are good for the season's ratings, emphasis on might there. You will be notified if your points change, not by how much, but whether it was positive or negative. I believe William has gotten a message of such a sort.” Syl explained.

“Yeah, you said I did after a chest noise from Zelda.” The coach replied, double-checking if that was the sound.

“The sound might differ depending on the person. Your subconscious picked the sound, William. The sound is based on what you have positive or negative associations with. Now, with this explained, I hope it is safe to let Missy speak without her eliminating herself by insulting the master or otherwise verbally abusing him.” She said, hoping no praying for it to be true.

“Good, you finally let the true star of the show shine. Not this loser...” Missy said, whilst pointing and thinking of Chris. Before she could finish the sentence, a notification of losing points sounded.

Insulted master: -2 VP (Missy)

“Ahh, why the nails on a chalkboard sound bitch.” She said in pain.

Syl, with her hands in her hair, frustratedly responded. “Did you not listen? You lost VP. You are currently at -2 VP. Each of you will be given a phone and some other extras to help you with camping. The phone allows you to call or text each other, me or Alex. It also has an app that tracks your VP as well as your BP, which I will get to later. It also has a copy of the rules, more detailed than what I will end up telling here. Other basic features include a camera and voice recorder app, as well as a clock and alarm. You can upgrade it with BP.”

“Gimmy, gimmy,” the person on the chopping block cried out.

“After the transformations,” Syl noted and zipped Missy's mouth again. “Now that I mentioned BP. I will explain it quickly. BP stands for bonus points, but don’t mistake them for useless garbage. They actually are quite helpful. These points allow you to purchase bonus features for your phone, upgrades for the contestants' tents, transformations and their upgrades, which I will get back to, upgrades for facilities of the campgrounds, stuff for your dates with the master, and plenty of one-time usage items. You gain them from the best contestant poll and a small amount at the start of the round by default. We also have a notice board with tasks that each of you can do. Master can even participate with these points and will get a stipend equal to the contestants to spend on items, upgrades for his stuff and transformations. Any questions about BP?”

Everyone shook their head, minus Missy, who was cursing a storm in silence. Syl continues, “How is a round structured? We start the first day after a transformation section, then each one of you will have a date with the master. The order is determined by selection starting from the lowest popularity from our popularity poll. Last chooses first whatever day they want, then second last can choose any day the first didn't choose and so on."

Ryan interrupted, "Doesn't that give the loser an advantage? They can pick a day they are comfortable planning around. It isn't much of a loss then, is it?

Syl quickly answered before continuing, "It is a catch-up mechanic.

After everyone has had their date, the next day is a challenge day. The challenge can be anything; if I need a subjective opinion, the audience will help us with that. After that is a transformation to end the round, where lower-ranking contestants will get worse transformations.

We will repeat rounds until both of the following are true: we have had five rounds and at least three people with 100 VP each. The one with the highest amount of VP amongst them gets to make a wish. You could, in theory, have all six of you be above 100; it’s not unheard of. Should there be eliminations after the challenge before the transformation, I will replace them with other contestants. These replacements will have the same number of transformations as the losing contestant.

What are the minimum requirements for a date? You and the master have entered his cabin by nine in the evening and don’t come out before eight in the morning. Alex will play a diddy to indicate it is past eight. Anyone who entered the cabin with you after nine will be assumed to be part of your date and must follow the rules, which do include sleeping in the bed at the same time. No shenanigans where one of you sleeps on the couch. You can leave for your date as early as eight in the morning, should you so please. Do whatever you want, as long as you enter the cabin by nine in the evening. Exceptions to this rule can be made on request as long as you have a clear plan. For the first round, I do want you to remain in the camping grounds and not explore beyond it for safety, acclimatisation, and to make sure you can find each other more easily. Questions thus far?”

“So, if I wanted to have a double date with Ryan, Chris and Becky, that would be okay?” Heather asked.

Syl nods in response, “As long as you guys include Master in whatever you are doing, it is fine. Oooh, already thinking spicy, are we?” The hostess started wiggling her eyebrows as she said that last part.

“No, just checking if I understood the premise of what you said,” The world traveller responded, blushing, embarrassed by the implication.

With no further questions, Syl was free to continue. “Now, on to the most interesting bit, the transformations. Transformations can be selected by our lovely audience members out of four options I provide for them, or bought by you in the store. They range from boons to horrible punishments, with most falling in between. The runner-up from the votes will be put up for a new vote in the next round. I have one veto per six active contestants. I can change the results if I think it would make for a better narrative. The master has one veto per eight contestants. Both of us are rounding down to a minimum of one. The master's veto can only be used to make minor modifications or break ties. Any ties are resolved by a cast vote or by the master or me using a veto. The tied transformation will be moved over to the next round's vote, along with the runner-up. Before I move on from transformations?”

“So is Missy going to get a negative Exit transformation as soon as we enter that part of the pre-round one transformation you mentioned?” Chris asked, suddenly realising this, or was he only now allowed to think about it?

“Yeah, as it is, yes. Do you want me to do something about it?” Syl asked as if she were going to ask for his firstborn, knowing that might be on the table if she asked.

“Yes, please do. I don’t think she should be eliminated for calling me a loser out of instinct.” He replied, determined not to make her get off so spot-free.

Syl looked between him and Missy. She knew neither had fully realised the horror of elimination transformations. “Two options, option one, Missy does something that makes her gain points before we transition to telling people the transformations. Option two, she makes a deal with me.” The elf looked between the two of them. She unmuted Missy so she could talk. Chris was determined to just let her do an act, kiss him or something.

The cheater had different plans. “Fine, knife-eared bitch I will make a deal,” Missy responded, determined not to deal with Chris right now.

“You understand that it is temporary? You will need to get out of the red anyway.” Syl asked, making sure the woman knew what she was asking for.

“Yeah, I know it will only get me past this round, but I am not up for doing stuff with Chris. Definitely not in front of everyone.” Missy confirmed feeling insulted that Syl would imply she doesn’t understand the consequences.

“Good, I will make your starter transformations worse, and you will receive the top two instead of just the winner. That means third place will be considered the runner-up for whoever is wondering.” Syl offered and explained to the audience.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Chris protested out of a feeling of moral obligation rather than care.

“She could pick a more permanent solution and actually try to dig herself out of her hole. She is actively choosing not to, which I respect. She will need to pay for that choice, though. Might be good for ratings.” The hostess explained, knowing full well that a bit of meta commentary during the rules wouldn't harm a fly. The elf in the ranger uniform hoped it would deter the producers from forcing her to give the woman a harsher punishment.

The one with the death sentence evaluated her options. “Fine, I accept that deal. I will get worse transformations and get an extra transformation.” Missy agreed, frustrated on one hand but liking the frustration she caused Chris by not solving it permanently.

“Can I go over some more of the location rules?” Everyone nodded. “Okay, our contestants will be sleeping in tents that they pitch themselves; you are allowed to help each other. The groups for this round will be Jessie with Ryan, Heather with William, and Missy with Becky. We will have meetings at nine in the morning, where I might give announcements, bonus BP or VP, those kinds of things, as well as reminders for who is going on a date with the master. Dinner is served from seven until nine, breakfast is eight till ten, lunch is twelve till two. Doing dumb stuff leading to Alex or me needing to save you will reduce your VP. Questions before I move to the transformation vote?” The elf said in rapid-fire pace, as this explanation has gone on for way too long anyway.

“How did you come up with the grouping for tents?” asks Jessie, holding up their hand.

“Minimising cliques mainly. Heather and you are the only ones without a connection to William. Ryan has connections with everyone except for you and Becky. I wanted to promote the new connections with the shared struggle of putting up a tent." Syl explains, whilst not commenting on the clear and unnecessary violence that might occur if she were to place Missy with either William or Ryan. That was good for ratings, not for the future cohesion of the harem.