Buying perks and levelling up

I end up buying Target Perk Tree first, it should let my targets buy their own perks, which will make my work easier.

I hesitate about taking Perk Toggle, It’s pretty cheap and a good safety, but the only reason I want it is to block Matt’s last perk and he might stop doing quests if the perk he just received was blocked. So instead I decide to invest into something else.

I take Character Editor I because I want to try and modify someone’s character info, which leaves me with one perk I’ll simply keep for now, it’s good to have one just in case, I could buy a new slot with it if I wanted to, and if the Perk Toggle becomes really necessary I can still buy it.

Steady Learner : Unlocked five distinct perks. [+15 xp]

Quest Master : John
Surname : Moore
Gender: Male
Age : 25
Level 7 (16 / 20 xp)
Class : None
Perks : Quest Designer I, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor I
Perk Points : 1

I’d like to give another quest to Matt and Rita, but I hear Maria and she’s the last person I want to find out about this app.
“John, do you mind eating together again? I keep making too much food.” She asks as she locks the computer and grabs her bag.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” I say as I follow her into the break room.
Okay I gave her a pretty hard quest so I should help her if possible, she must be thinking of a way to hug me without looking very weird.

---

(Maria’s POV)

What the hell do I do? Is it even worth it? The quest is to hug a male friend, does John count as a friend at this point?

Not only are the quests becoming harder, but I’m not even sure I really want to do them anymore. The full recovery was incredible but since then? I had to subscribe to a gym, I exercised for like an hour, and apart from hurting like hell it doesn’t seem to have done much for my body. I hate the fact my body is asking for more. At least I don’t hate the cooking one, I was already cooking for myself before and I saw the clear improvement from the perk, my food just magically tastes better now.

Am I trying to find a reason to give up right now? I look at John as he bites into the omelette I cooked for him, and he doesn’t seem to hate it.
Right, I’m trying to hug John, I shouldn’t stress so much, what if it’s awkward? John always is and he survives, he’s even enjoying an homecooked meal from a hot girl right now!

“You know, we were talking about going to the gym this weekend, but I think I’m going tonight.” I say, setting up and totally not listening to my desires.

“I see, did you plan out what kinda exercise you’ll do?” He asks.
You were supposed to ask to come with me! I need to push more.

“Well I really wanted to try some exercise that needs someone to come with me…” Fuck if I at least knew what the exercise were called I would be credible.
He looks confused for a little while.

“I see, did you meet someone that can help you with that?”

“Not really no…” God I sound so bad. Fuck it, I’ll be blunt like. It’s not like me to agonize like that. If I’m cringe, then I’m cringe whatever.

“Forget about that. John, can I ask for a favor instead?” I say as I get up and come closer to him.

“Huh, sure? What is it?”

“I’ve been touch depraved recently, can I have a hug?” I feel my cheeks warming up, why is this so embarrassing! This quest is not worth it!

“I-If you want.” Thats enough, I refuse to let this awkward discussion last any longer, I grab him by the shoulders as he stands up, and I pull him into a hug, his head naturally resting on top of my shoulder as mine rests on top of his.

At first, I hate it, why the hell do I need to hug someone, what kind of quest it that. But my thoughts are interrupted by my phone beeping, and soon after, the hug feels way better.
I maintain the hug, and without thinking, I start slowly petting his hair with my right hand. This would be even better if I was taller than him.
I’m sure he’s single, I might be the first woman that hugs him since his mother. I don’t really know how long the hug lasts, but it feels great, and when I finally pull back, John seems different.

Before he just looked like an awkward guy, but now he looks like a cute guy and the embarrassed face he makes as he looks at me makes me want to hug him again.

---

(John’s POV)

That was incredible! I really enjoyed Maria’s hug, I had no idea I was so starved for human touch. Honestly I kinda just want to hug her again. And she’s not very expressive, but seeing the bright smile on her face I knew she enjoyed it too.
Now that I’m alone at the desk, I have the time to at least check her profile.

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

Level Up!

Name: Maria
Surname : Finocci
Gender: Female
Age : 27
Level 4 (9 / 10 xp)
Class: Yoga Mom
Perks : Training Efficiency I, Cooking I, Motherly I
Perk Points : 3

Motherly I : People that look younger than you naturally trust you and want to listen to you. (Hidden: Compulsion to dote on anyone you like that looks younger than you.)

Ok, this perk is a big step forward. I just hope the trust effect isn’t too strong.

I’m Level 8 (5 / 20 xp) and I now have 2 perk points.

Matt bought the Cleaning II perk for 2 points.

Matt bought the Sweet Voice I perk for 1 point.

It seems Matt noticed the perk tree, and bought perks on his own.

Name: Matt
Surname : Weaver
Gender: Male
Age : 23
Level 5 (4 / 20 xp)
Class: Housewife
Perks : Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice I
Perk Points : 2

Cleaning II : 50% increased speed when cleaning. (Hidden: strong cleaning compulsion)

Sweet Voice I : Voice becomes melodious and attention grabbing. (Hidden:Censored swears and dirty words)

I’m not sure why he decided to buy those two, but I’m curious to hear him talk when I finally get home.
Actually, I don’t think I even need to wait that long, after all, he does stream games sometimes, and I have a magic app.

Matt will receive the following quest : “Stream for one hour”

Select a reward from the three choices:

• 20 new viewers
• Collab with bigger streamer
• Sweet Voice II perk

I could choose the perk, but I think I should be kind to him, I think 20 more viewers would make him happy as well, but he would love streaming with a bigger streamer.

Reward: “Collab with bigger streamer”

Since the perk was level II, I’m guessing this is an advanced quest, and I didn’t get the usual warning, meaning that Matt is now high enough level that advanced quest will always succeed.

Since I have some time, I also write a new quest for Rita.

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

Rita will receive the following quest : “Post a selfie online”

Select a reward from the three choices:

• Photogenic I perk
• 100 likes
• A date with John

I still don’t know how the recommended rewards are generated, are they actually things the target wants? Because it almost looks like actually likes me even though just talking to me was an advanced quest yesterday, the app is giving me mixed signals.

Reward: “Photogenic I perk”

I look around, and apart from an old man looking at mystery novel, I’m still alone, so I also start writing Maria’s next quest.

Maria will receive the following quest : “Take a Yoga class”

Select a reward from the three choices:

• Flexible I perk
• No muscle pain for 48h
• A month of free Yoga classes

I’m sorry Maria, but I’ll take the perk, you’ll have to spend your money.

Reward: Flexible I perk

I close the app and get back to work.

A few hours later, and Rita didn’t come today, I guess she was too busy studying. Since I’m thinking about her, I also borrow the book we talked about, I’ll take the time to read it. It already is an author I’m familiar with, but I haven’t read her most recent books since I’ve been focusing on slice of life books while reworking my story.
I also text my ex-teacher, telling her the latest rework of my chapters are on the google drive and I’d be happy to get feedback from her when she has some free time.

Soon after, I check Matt’s stream and he is online. He turned off his camera this time, and currently has 30 viewers. I put my headphones on, and I hear his new voice.
Damn, how to describe it… First I can still recognize him, but if I didn’t know, I would think this was a sister he hid from me, actually it sounds like a woman trying to take a male voice and failing. The perk talked about it being melodious and that’s a pretty appropriate descriptor, even as he describes his game strategies, and explains why he chooses a card instead of another, it sounds like a professional guide would.

At first he sounds anxious, but as he gets more and more into the game and sets back into his now natural voice, he sounds like a confident woman.
At some point he messes up and gets angry. “What is this poopyhead doing!” I laugh as I hear his word choice.
I look at the time, it’s already been 10 minutes, I need to go back to work. I can see that he’s now at around 60 viewers. I’m happy for him at least.

The rest of the day is pretty boring, I clean up the unused desks, put back the books in the return box. I even think I saw Maria staring at me, but it might be my imagination.

---

The first thing I notice as I enter the house is that it looks very clean, the floor has been washed, and as I explore I see that every room has been at least tidied up.

“Matt I’m home!” I say, curious to see if he wants to see me.

“I’m coming!” I hear back in a sweet voice.

He opens his door, and he looks pretty happy. He then remembers his voice changed and looks down.

“What happened to your voice?” I ask.

“I-I got access to the perk tree and I messed up… Did you unlock it yet?”

Right I’m supposed to also have his version of the app.

“No, I didn’t yet, so that’s how you use your perk points right?”

“Y-Yeah, and you know how I’ve been streaming when I finish up my work? Well I don’t get many viewers so when I looked at the perks, I bought one to improve my voice. I just didn’t expect it to sound so…”

Sexy, but that’s not what I say.

“Girly?” I answer, and he nods.

“Yeah, and I learned you can’t refund the perks you don’t want… I know it sounds dumb since it’s my fault and the app already did so much for me, but it almost looks like it wants me to become a girl.”

I laugh at the idea, as if it was possible. But then I think back to Matt’s earlier change, and that sure looked like he was becoming more feminine.

“Yeah, maybe you should be careful then, if you really become a girl I might make advances on you!” I joke, but I don’t get the reaction I want as instead of laughing he just looks at me eyes wide open.

“I’m sorry, that was a bad joke…”

“Right… A joke…” He starts a forceful laugh, if I closed my eyes, I’m sure it would sound convincing.

“So do you regret taking the perk then?”

“I did at first, but I actually streamed, and I got so many new viewers! I even got a collab planned out with CutieAlexandra !”

I’m surprised, I actually heard of her before she’s a pretty big streamer that’s mostly popular for playing party games with her friends.

“That’s great! What is it going to be?”

“Supposedly, we’re going to play a big Mario Party game with her friends tomorrow night.” But his smile slowly disappears.

“What’s wrong Matt? Isn’t that what you wanted?” I felt like he would like a collab.

“The truth is… I don’t really deserve this collab, it was the reward for a quest…” He looks ashamed.

“Isn’t that alright though? If it was a reward, that means you earned it! And most streamers only get discovered by luck anyway!” It seems my consolation works.

“Yeah, okay, I guess. But she also thinks I’m a girl because I didn’t put on my webcam.”
Ah, okay this is a little worse.

“Does she have to know? You’re only playing online right? It’s not like she invited you to come in person!”

“Y-Yeah you’re right, I shouldn’t stress out too much.” He smiles, and I return it.

“Ah, we also didn’t talk much about Life Quest, did you get a class yet?”
Normally I would panic right now, but I actually thought about it a few nights ago and I have the perfect story prepared.

“Yeah I did, I got the sexy librarian class.” I lie, I actually checked while looking for Rita’s class and it does exist.

“My quests are often pretty boring though, and it only has to do with my job, and I get perks to do it better.”

He nods, seemingly convinced.

“Okay, if you ever need my help to complete a quest, just ask, I know how hard it can be.”

I nod, and just as I’m grabbing my bedroom handle he continues.

“By the way, since I cleaned the house today, I also did your room, I hope you don’t mind?” He looks down like a kid caught doing a mess.

Before I can think of an answer, it comes out of my mouth for me.

“Of course not, this is your home and you can go anywhere you’d like.” I want to object, but that’s true, my room is part of the house, so why couldn’t he go in as he wants.

I enter and it is clean, maybe even too clean, my floor has been washed, and all my laundry as been picked up.

As I lay down on my bed, I relax. It’s great when someone else takes care of the chores.

Matt completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp]

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

Level up!

Rita bought the Modelling I perk for 1 point.

Not only did Rita finish her quest, she also bought a perk. I check her profile, to read her new acquisitions.

Name: Rita
Surname : Torres
Gender: Female
Age : 22
Level 4 (4 / 10 xp)
Class: Cosplayer
Perks : Makeup I, Photogenic I, Modelling I
Perk Points : 2

Photogenic I: Automatically take a good looking pose when a photo is taken. (Hidden: Small compulsion to take photos of yourself)

Modelling I: Clothes adapt slightly to fit your body better. (Hidden: Small compulsion dress in skimpy clothes)

She’s getting closer to being a cosplayer, I didn’t think her progress would be this fast too.

I decide I’m going to wait until tomorrow before I send them another quest, because the two of them might already be exhausted with two quests done the same day. Maria didn’t finish hers yet, which means she’s either still in her yoga class, or she simply didn’t go to the gym tonight.

I prepare myself a simple meal, and watch a bad romance movie in the living room, before going to sleep. Dreaming about the changes I’ll make next.

---

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, this was a long chapter to write, handling 3 targets means having lots of levels and perks to keep track of and double check. You can suggest quests you'd like to see, I already planned Rita's next quest, but the more options I have the better.