Working(out) hard and hardly working

(Rita’s POV)

Oh man, what an awful day I think to myself. I thought that Flirty perk would give me the courage to finally ask John out and instead I’ve only gone and embarrassed myself.
Rushing through the dorm hallway to my bedroom I fling myself onto bed ready to bawl my eyes out. Before I can start my phone rescues me from my pity party with a text from a number I don’t recognise. It’s Maria from the library, and she wants me to join her and John at the gym tomorrow. I hesitate as I’ve never really gone to the gym before, and John is going to be there. But I trust Maria knows something I don’t, so I reply to her that I’ll be there bright and early.
Phone already open now, I go to the Life Quest app to buy some new perks to help me feel a bit better. Photogenic II sounds like it will help me look my best in photos until I can get into top cosplay shape to impress John. Speaking of John, his reaction to my basic makeover pushes me to grab the second level of that perk Makeup II.
Eager to view the effects of these, but frustrated at not having a new quest to do anything with them, I head to the bathroom to take some snaps, maybe I should start a social and make some money from this cosplay thing?

(John’s POV)

Cotton completed a basic permanent quest. [+3 xp] [+3 bonus xp]

Huh, I didn’t think I’d wake up to that. Did she get dressed up fancy every day or was the wording too vague and it counted her normal routine for completion. Either way, it opened up the opportunity to give her a new quest and make some progress on getting her a 2nd class that I could actually choose this time.
I decide to expand out a little bit while hopefully keeping her next quest on theme as I’m curious to see how far I can go with this.

Warning, “Plan a costume party” might be too complex for target current level, success isn’t guaranteed but will grant more xp. Continue? Yes / No

Interesting, maybe she isn’t much of a planner/hostess? Rewriting it slightly and thinking again that maybe a princess doesn’t plan her own parties, I rewrite it.

Cotton will receive the following quest: “Have someone plan a costume party for you”

Select a reward from these three choices:

• Hostess I perk
• Guests invited to the party must accept
• Target planner will be more likely to accept tasks given by you in future

I didn’t want to **** anyone to do anything against their will, and the third option was straying a little too close to more of that, so I selected the perk.

Reward: Hostess I perk

Moving on to the rest of my targets:
For Matt I want to build his confidence a bit more and it felt like a housewife should try to have a partner to keep happy. I hesitated briefly before sending this one as being successful would mean he might move out at some point, but I want him to be happy, and it would be months before moving out is likely to happen.

Warning “Ask a crush out on a date” might be too difficult for target, success isn’t guaranteed but will grant more xp. Continue? Yes / No

Select a reward from these three choices:

• Flirty I perk
• Target will not react negatively to invitation
• Self-Assurance [S] perk for 7 days

I’d already done the flirty perk for Rita, and while ensuring no negatives would probably increase the chance of success, the option for a time-limited S tier perk for too tempting to pass up.

Reward: Self-Assurance [S] perk for 7 days

Remembering the gym session today I want to help Rita achieve her goals faster and give her “Attend the gym with John and Maria for 1hr”, which doesn’t seem like it should be too difficult.

Warning “Attend the gym with John and Maria for 1hr” might be too complex for target, success isn’t guaranteed but will grant more xp. Continue? Yes / No

Strange, I thought she wanted to come. Regardless, I hit enter.

Select a reward from these three choices:

• Immediate recovery from every workout for 48hrs
• A date with John
• Training Efficiency I perk

It’s not the first time I’ve seen the 2nd option there, and while it’s a little boring to give her the same perk as Maria, I know she’ll appreciate the boost.

Reward: Training Efficiency I perk

Since Maria will be leading the training she gets the easiest quest.

Maria will receive the following quest: “Train John and Rita for 1hr”

Select a reward from these three choices:
- Training Efficiency II perk

• Bring anyone to the gym once
• Increased affection from training partners for 24hrs

Not interested in being **** to the gym, I give her the level 2 perk.

Reward: Training Efficiency II perk

Content with my work, I flop onto the lounge to watch TV until gym time.

(Matt’s POV)

What the hell, I stare at my phone in shock at this latest quest.

The Questmaster sent you the quest: “Ask a crush out on a date”

I’ve only just come to terms with my new voice and it already is trying to send me to go out on a date? I think I’m just going to hit ‘give up’ on this one, it’s probably too much effort and I only have two people who fit the bill. Asking out John would be weird as he’s my roommate and if he reacts poorly I’ll never live it down, and Robert was living 2 hours away.
As my finger hovers over the button I pause, maybe Robert was the solution, if he didn’t take it well I would be unlikely to see him again, and he didn’t seem like the type to spread it around on social media if he took it poorly.
I resolve to wait until after my stream today, if I can manage to get through a stream with CutieAlexandra then surely I can send a simple text. I did have to admit I was curious to find out what Self Assurance [S] would entail, it might give me the confidence to follow through on the date if he says yes.

(John’s POV)

While waiting for the bus to the gym I get another notification.

Cotton completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]

Hostess I: 50% bonus to charisma while hosting an event. (Hidden: Small compulsion to host regular parties)

Wow, Cotton was smashing out these quests in record time, and that last reward was an interesting one. Given how quick she completed that must mean she has experience in getting someone to plan things for her, a theory which was quickly confirmed by a text from Mr. Newman.

[John, I’ve arranged for a costume party at the Library this coming Friday, you and Maria will host my daughter and her friends. You may invite 1 friend each.]

Great, just what I needed, running around at Cotton’s beck and call all night. At least it came with the option to invite someone along. Maybe if I can get her to complete enough quests by then I’ll be able to give her a second class before it starts.
Part of me feels like I should slow down a bit and give her more time between these quests so she doesn’t become suspicious when they inevitably slow down, but the part of me that wants to get her to level 10 wins out.
Coming up with another themed quest that I’m sure she can complete quickly isn’t too hard.

Target will receive the following quest: “Buy a costume with a tiara for the party”

Select a reward from these three choices:

• Wealthy I perk
• Regal I perk
  - Aura I perk

What the hell, I’ve never seen three perks as possible rewards. And with no way to check what they do I need to make an educated guess. Wealthy seems like it could be safe but the hidden compulsions have been hard to predict. Regal carried the same risk that it might compel people to treat her as royalty.

Reward: Aura I perk

(Cotton’s POV)

Stretching as I awaken in my luxurious pink sheeted poster bed, I slip my feet into the waiting slippers to walk to the bathroom to start the day but as I do, I feel a compulsion to open my phone and check on that silly game that had installed itself.

The questmaster sent you the quest: “Get dressed up”

Reward: quest becomes permanent with reduced xp

What a lame app, only the 2nd quest and it’s already a repeat. But if there’s one thing I know how to do everyday its look hot as fuck. Showering takes me the better part of half an hour as I give every inch of myself the attention I deserve.
Drying myself off, I don my fluffy pink dressing gown, slip into matching pink slippers and throw a towel on my hair to prepare for breakfast.
As I enter the kitchen to the smell cooking bacon, another notification from the app appears.

Basic permanent quest completed [+10xp]

Level Up [+1 perk point]

Name: Cotton
Surname: Newman
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Level 3 (0 / 10 xp)
Class: Princess
Perks: Beauty I
Perk Points: 2

Wow, the way it counted that quest was even easier than I thought it was. Although taking a glance back at the mirror in the hallway I did have to admit even in this casual getup I was looking like a star at a spa day. More awake now I wonder if that Beauty I perk has taken effect, I did feel like my breasts were just a bit fuller, and had my nose always been quite that shape?
Pushing the thoughts from my mind I walk over and reach up on my toes to give Daddy a kiss on the cheek while I steal the plate of breakfast out of his hands.

“Good morning sweetie”, he says with a look at the plate, “I’ll just make another one for myself I suppose…”

“Thank you daddy, you’re the best!” it’s always been easy to get what I want from him.

I sit down and take my time to work through my meal, unfortunately work makes my dad quite busy at times and he eats his quickly before rushing off to work.
Shortly after I finish breakfast another notification comes in.

The questmaster sent you the quest: “Have someone plan a costume party for you”

Reward: Hostess I perk

I giggle to myself as I read it, what a ridiculously easy quest, and I had been thinking lately that I should have another party. Sadly as daddy has gone off to work already I have to text him and wait until he can organise it for me. Maybe I’ll invite that halfway decent looking loser at the library to come.

(John’s POV)

I didn’t know it was possible to feel this way, every part of my body is aching and I can barely stand up. Maria has barely broken a sweat and Rita is looking ready to collapse at any moment now. Speaking of which, I was really glad she had agreed to come today, lately she seems to be coming out of her shell and is finally a bit more comfortable around me.

“So Rita”, I ask as we leave the gym “there’s a costume party coming up at the library this Friday…”

“omigod yes I’d love to go with you” she blurts out before covering her mouth with both hands.

“Wonderful Rita, I’m really looking forward to seeing you in costume”

Maria facepalms and shakes her head “you two are lucky you’re cute because you are both so bad at this”.

Back at home I find a note left by Matt:

[John, I’ve got to head out of town for a couple of days, the fridge is stocked and I’ve left you enough homecooked meals to last till I get back xoxo]

It’s unexpected but sweet of him. I guess his crush is out of town? At least this suggests they said yes.

Matt completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Matt levelled up [+1 perk point]
Rita completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Rita levelled up [+1 perk point]
Maria completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Maria levelled up [+1 perk point]
Cotton completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Cotton levelled up [x3] [+3 perk points]
Advanced questing: have all targets complete an advanced quest in one day [+10 xp]
Level up [x2]
Double double: two levels gained in one day [+2 perk points]

Name: Rita
Surname: Torres
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Level 7 (0 / 20 xp)
Class: Cosplayer
Perks: Makeup II, Photogenic II, Modelling I, Flirty I, Cosplay II, Training Efficiency I
Perk Points: 2

Name: Matt
Surname: Weaver
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Level 8 (4 / 20 xp)
Class: Housewife
Perks: Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice I, Cooking I, Small Talk I, Self-Assurance [S][7 days]
Perk Points: 6

Self-Assurance [S]: Feel self-confident in every situation (Hidden: reduced desire to do tasks for others).

While that was a useful perk for him to get, I was glad that it was time limited since that hidden effect will reduce how often he’ll clean the apartment for me.

Name: Maria
Surname: Finocci
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Level 7 (2 / 20 xp)
Class: Yoga Mom
Perks: Training Efficiency II, Cooking I, Motherly II, Flexible I
Perk Points: 5

Cotton bought the Regal I perk for 1 point
Cotton bought the Wealthy I perk for 2 points

Welp I guess that not choosing them didn’t matter when she just buys them anyway.

Name: Cotton
Surname: Newman
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Level 5 (14 / 20 xp)
Class: Princess
Perks: Beauty I, Hostess I, Aura I, Regal I, Wealthy I
Perk Points: 2

Aura I: Makes you stand out in a crowd more easily. (Hidden: People will be more likely to move out of your way even if they can’t see you)
Regal I: People who perceive themselves as beneath you will respect you more. (Hidden: People will be more likely to do what you ask if they perceive you as above them socially)
Wealthy I: +20% passive increase to all wealth sources for you and your family. (Hidden: Small compulsion to wear more expensive clothes and jewellery)

Ok, none of those were things I wanted a bratty young girl with attitude to have, and those hidden drawbacks barely even seemed like an drawbacks. Sadly it feels like there’s not much to do other than continue pushing on to get her another class at level 10.
I mean, I could always just try and back out now or give her some mental changes, but as the questmaster I feel compelled to see where this leads.

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 15 (6 / 40 xp)
Class: Multi-classer
Perks: Quest Designer II, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor I, Target Unawareness, Additional Slot I
Perk Points: 7

I think about what Matt had said earlier about feeling like his changes were right and decide to help speed it up a little with the character editor upgrade. I’ll give him some bigger changes and might even get him all the way to womanhood in just a few weeks. It also would let me make Cotton a bit nicer but I’m still not interested in mental changes as it feels wrong.
It would also be nice to get finally get some benefits from my targets perks and I’ve finally got enough points banked.

Character Editor II (1 perk): Enables medium changes to character info every 48h.
Perk Sharing I (2 perks): Enables perks of target to affect you.
Perk Sharing II (2 perks): Enables perks of target to affect you without compulsions.

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 15 (6 / 40 xp)
Class: Multi-classer
Perks: Quest Designer II, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor II, Target Unawareness, Additional Slot I, Perk Sharing II
Shared target perks: None
Perk Points: 2

Nothing immediately seems to change except that I can now see a field for shared target perks. Scrolling to Rita since she seemed to have the most beneficial perks without any like sweet voice that I’d rather not have, I tap on the new option that has appeared to share perks. To my surprise, I don’t get to choose which ones I want, instead getting everything she had.

Shared target perks: Makeup II, Photogenic II, Modelling I, Flirty I, Cosplay II, Training Efficiency I

Thankfully I don’t feel any compulsion to put on makeup or take photos of myself, so there didn’t seem to be any harm. Training efficiency might be nice to have but I’d rather just have that one for now.
I try to stop sharing perks with her and am presented with an error.

Error: cannot stop sharing perks for 24 hours after selecting target

Well that was annoying, I was stuck with these perks for now. I briefly consider also grabbing the perks from Cotton but until I knew I could manage the change I didn’t want to be stuck with Beauty if it had any undesirable effects for guys.
I go back to my perk store and find new options have opened up.

Perk Sharing III (3 perks): Enables selection of individual perks of targets to affect you without compulsions.
Recommended Reward II (2 perks): Create a list of four recommended rewards for quests and lets the Questmaster choose two. (Offered rewards may be higher level than Reward Designer I perk allows.)
Automatic Questing (5 perks): Each target will be given an automatically generated quest and reward each day in addition to their other quests. Questmaster may veto quests before 6am.

Annoyingly I would need to wait for at least 1 more perk point to get Perk Sharing III, and while I still wanted to keep the option of Perk Toggle available in case anything got out of hand, the idea of giving out two rewards at once was too interesting to pass up. I hope I don’t regret it.

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 15 (6 / 40 xp)
Class: Multi-classer
Perks: Quest Designer II, Recommended Reward III, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor II, Target Unawareness, Additional Slot I, Perk Sharing II
Shared target perks: Makeup II, Photogenic II, Modelling I, Flirty I, Cosplay II, Training Efficiency I
Perk Points: 0

Author's note: I have the next few chapters prepared but am still working on slowing down the pacing a bit. My idea is that John has screwed up and wants to rush to level 10 to fix it with another class, while Cotton (mostly) just finds the quests too easy and the rewards too good not to complete.