A cup of coffee

Once the library is open, I grab a book that just came in and start reading it. Maria does the same on the chair next to me and we simply read in silence.
I like those slower days where we just wait while nothing happens. I arrive at chapter 3 when I hear the bell ring for the first time today, and see that Brad and Jessica came in.
Great, why is brad even here? Doesn’t he have a job now? Or is his job clinging to his girlfriend 24/7?
When he sees I’m at the counter he decides to avoid me altogether, and I’m not against it at all. They stay pretty far from the entrance and out of my view behind a shelf as they sit down on two computers next to each other.
I reopen my book and notice Maria was staring at me.

“Is there a problem?” I ask.

“I guess there isn’t, but it’s not the first time you act weird and stressed when this guy comes here.”

“What do you mean? I’m not stressed.” I answer, as I look down at myself.

“Come on John, I noticed your habits, when you’re stressed you freeze and you do this thing with your hands. You know, the pinch gesture.”
I’m really confused, I look at my hands that are now resting on my book.

“I… I don’t think I do that. That would be weird.”
She laughs out loud at my answer.

“John, that’s okay, that doesn’t make you weird! Everyone has a weird habit or two.” She says as she calms down.

“But you’re the first person to ever tell me about it.” I tell her.

“Maybe I’m the only one to notice, or maybe others have used that against you.”

I try to think of my friends using this weird habit against me and instantly think about Alex, of course this guy wouldn’t tell me, but it doesn’t mean he would have noticed, it’s not like he won a strange number of poker games when we play together…
Fuck! Alex I hate you. You cheater!

“Anyway John, if you feel like this guy is too stressful to handle, I can hold the fort and you can stay in storage for an hour until he leaves.”

“Thanks for the sentiment, but he won’t do anything today.” I say, half sure of myself.

---

(Matt’s POV)

That’s pretty much it. I know the design document was pretty small, so I added in pictures for reference, that’s better than text at explaining what I would want.

I really tried my best, because it will cost a lot more money than I’m comfortable with.

I contact the artist I was recommended to, and they answer immediately.

[I would love to help with your rig, have you seen my commission rate?] They start.

[Yes, here is the design document.]

[Okay, just a minute.]

I wait for a little while, stressed as I wait for an answer.

[That’s a pretty simple and bland design, I hope you don’t mind if I add a few things to make it pop more?]

[No problem, whatever you think would improve it.] He didn’t talk about the breast size so I guess it wasn’t that big after all.

[Then, I’ll take half the payment first, and the other half once the rig is done.]

Giving away 300$ hurts quite a lot, but I know they’re a confirmed artist, so at least I won’t be conned out of my money.

I transfer the money, and let out a tear at the sight of the money disappearing from my account.

[I received the transfer, since Phina’s the one who recommended you, I’ll start working on it right away, expect it in a few days at most.]

That seems very fast, isn’t it supposed to take weeks or months? What if my heart isn’t ready for it yet? I don’t know if I can handle becoming a vtuber like that.

I hear my phone ring and see that the quest is complete.

You completed a hard quest. [+20 xp] [+15 bonus xp]

Levelled up!

Reward : Vtuber Sync [S] perk

Bonus Reward : Reduced wait for commission

I see, so the bonus reward must be because I also filled in the optional step then.

Name: Matt
Surname : Weaver
Gender: Male
Age : 23
Level 13 (11 / 30 xp)
Class: Streamer Housewife
Perks : Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice II, Cooking I, Small Talk II, Beauty I, Charisma I, Empathy I, Streaming I, Popularity Boost I, Femininity II, Vtuber Sync [S]
Perk Points : 1

I still have to level up twice to get the next upgrade of femininity so I guess I still have some work to do.
Well, now that that’s all done, I’ll clean the house and I might stream later today.

---

(Cotton’s POV)

I enter the library, and I can see John and a girl talking behind the reception desk. I kind of remember her face, right, she’s the girl that was working here alone a while ago. She feels a little different though, she has visible muscles and looks really good and I remember her being too thin and her skin being a pale unhealthy glow.

She really improved those last few months then. Whatever, I go meet John and as he notices me, his smile disappears.

What’s his fucking problem, I’m Cotton Newman! He should beg for a chance to see me and that’s how he reacts?

He freeze as he sees my expression, so I take a deep breath, daddy told me I shouldn’t yell at his library so I try to calm down.

“H-Hello miss.” He says while stuttering.

“Yes, yes, stop with the miss, call me Cotton.” If I don’t tell him to, this idiot will never call me by my name.

“Okay Cotton, what can I do for you today?”

I grab the book from my bag and put it on the desk. The girl next to him makes a smirk when she sees the cover.

“I came to return the book I borrowed last time.” I say as I see the girl still has that shitty smirk. What does this bitch want? My daddy can fire her at any point. But that would be an overreaction and she doesn’t deserve it.

“Sure, do you want to borrow another book? We also have the sequel to this one if you’re interested.” Is he making a sales pitch? I don’t care about books, I don’t even know why I borrowed one to begin with.

Anyway, I want to serve him coffee, so I head to his break room.

“I want a coffee and you’re too slow, come with me.” I say, and he follows, it looks like he wants to say something, but I’m the daughter of his boss, I do whatever I want.

As I enter the room, some childhood memories flash my mind. That’s pretty much the same room it was when I was a kid. Daddy often brought me here on the weekends while he worked because he didn’t have the money to pay employees at the time. I spent a lot of time here, playing on my DS, It’s been so long I wonder where I put it. It must be at daddy’s home I guess.

I see the coffee machine and start it, I grab two cups and wait for the coffee to fill it’s tank. John seems surprised I’m doing it myself, but I want to thank him this time.
Once the coffee is done I pour some into the cups and hands one to John.

“T-Thanks, but I take my coffee with two sugar.” He complains.

Obviously a loser like him doesn’t drink his coffee black. Fine, I take it back and put in the sugar before handing it back to him.
As he grabs it, a weird sensation builds in my body, I squeeze my legs together as I try to understand why it feels so good.
It’s like the better part of sex, my nether regions warm up and I have to grab the table to make sure not to fall.
John panics and comes to my help, one hand on my shoulder and the other at my waist. The sensation fades away as fast as it came and I try to stand up properly again.

“I’m fine. I just… It’s nothing, I might have been tired.” I say as I try to comprehend where this sensation came from.

It wasn’t an orgasm but it felt good and the unexpected nature of it caught me off guard.

“Do you want to rest here for a while? Until you get better?”

I don’t really need to, but I like when men want to take care of me so I nod, and I sit down.

For once we both have a cup of coffee as we start our conversation.

“Does this happen often?” He asks concerned.

“Nope, first time. I’m okay though.”

We don’t say anything else for a minute, quietly sipping from our cups.

“Did you like the book you borrowed?”

“It was okay, better than I thought it would be, but still pretty mediocre, the main character is terrible though.” I explain.

“You thought he was bad?”

“He has lots of pretty girls around him, all trying to get in his pants and he simply doesn’t notice it and doesn’t choose anyone.”

“Ah, well that’s because that’s the best way to write a harem, if he was aware of the girls feelings he would have to choose one to not be an asshole.”

I see, I guess guys wants to be surrounded by girls.

“Do all guys want a harem?” I let out without thinking.

“I guess. That’s the ultimate fantasy isn’t it? To have lots of girls who like you and fight for your attention.”

Do I have a harem? Men fight for my attention all the time and I sleep with whoever I want. Yeah, I can see why guys would want the same. Too bad for them, they aren’t me.

I finish my cup, and John does the same.

“Bring me volume 2, I’ll try it out.”

He nods and leaves the room searching for it.

I take the time to stand up, nope no weird feeling… I leave the break room too, and I see him going through the shelves.

“Why are you smiling you creep? Get the fuck away!” I hear a loud voice from John’s direction, so I head there.

“Brad…” I see a girl tell a big muscular guy.

He’s standing up in front of John and trying the simplest intimidation tactic, standing close and staring down at him.

John looks scared and apologies. Is this fucker seriously bullying my looser right now?

I go in there and the sounds of my heels take the big guy’s attention as he takes a few steps back.

“John, hurry up, I don’t have all day.” I say as he goes back to the shelves while I look at the giant in front of me.

“Brad stop it right now.” I hear the girl say, and he seems to calm down.

“Whatever.” He says before sitting down again.

John finds the book and we go to the entry desk.

“Do you have a card?” He asks.
Do I need a card? Fuck no I don’t. He looks at my face and sighs.

“Here is your book Cotton. You have a week to return it.”
I nod and leave.

---

(John’s POV)

Did Cotton help me? On her own? I don’t know how to feel about that, but I’m a little happy.

I check my phone.

Matt completed a hard quest. [+15 xp] [+15 bonus xp]

Levelled up!

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

Name: Matt
Surname : Weaver
Gender: Male
Age : 23
Level 13 (11 / 30 xp)
Class: Streamer Housewife
Perks : Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice II, Cooking I, Small Talk II, Beauty I, Charisma I, Empathy I, Streaming I, Popularity Boost I, Femininity II, Vtuber Sync [S]
Perk Points : 1

Vtuber Sync [S] : When streaming with your avatar, act perfectly in character. (Hidden: Slowly change into your avatar when you stream as them.)

This S perk is again stronger than I thought it would be. I might have to toggle it off. What if Matt’s avatar had dog ears? Would he start growing them too? That’s a scary thing I’ll have to monitor closely.

I also check Cotton’s profile.

Name: Cotton
Surname : Newman
Gender: Female
Age : 18
Level 4 (4 / 10 xp)
Class: Secretary
Perks : Regret I, Reading I, Servicing I
Perk Points : 3

Servicing I: +50% efficiency doing tasks to service someone. (Hidden: Grants proportional sexual pleasure to task accomplished.)

Wait that’s what happened with Cotton then! That’s bad, but also kind of hot. Maybe she’ll end up liking rewarding people if it gives her that much pleasure.

Quest Master : John
Surname : Moore
Gender: Male
Age : 25
Level 20 (40 / 50 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 Sharing II
Perk Points : 5

High Level : Get to level 20. [Access to the relationship graph]

What’s this relationship graph? I go on Matt’s profile and press the Relationship Graph button.

A new window open with Matt’s name in the middle, from his name, arrows leave towards other names, of people he knows and talks to.
I’m the first, followed by his mother, then there is Alex, and a woman’s name I don’t know. I can move around the graph to people he knows less and less.
Above each arrow is a word or two, like mother, best friend, neighbor.

I press the one that points to me and a dropdown menu appears, letting me select from multiple choices.

The first one is husband, followed by best friend, brother, neighbor. It’s a pretty long list and I think I understand what would happen if I selected anything. It would surely change the way Matt sees me.

I notice an Apply (0 perk point) button on the bottom right, which means changing our role to each other would cost perks.
I don’t think those relationship are immutables though so I’m pretty sure quest could change them as well.

I turn off my phone and get back to work as I avoid thinking too much about the implications.

---

Author's Note : That's it for today, hope you enjoyed. Finally unlocked the Relationship Graph, like every one of John's tool, he won't **** it, but he might use it once in a while if he has perks. For example to set is relationship with Cotton to make her his secretary.