The mean pink princess

(John's POV)

I open my phone and start looking through the perk tree for what to buy next now that I have more points.

Additional Slot I (1 perk): Unlock an additional target slot.
Quest Designer II (1 perk): Allows the creation of simple two and three step quests.

Given that my xp needs have been going way up, finding ways to boost my gains definitely seems like a good idea. Additionally, it would be good to have the ability to give out more complicated quests without employing clunky workarounds.
I also briefly look at the reward perk that I had previously skipped over.

Reward Designer I (2 perks): Allows the questmaster to create a basic reward.

It’s definitely a tempting option, but I want to keep some points available in case I need to buy the ability to remove a target or their perks.
Figuring that there was no harm in more small purchases, I buy the first two perks and look at my updated profile.

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 10 (0 / 30 xp)
Class: Multi-classer
Perks: Quest Designer II, Recommended Reward II, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor I, Additional Slot I
Perk Points: 2

Still sitting in the break room, empty coffee cup on the table across from me as I think about who to take on as my next target. I quickly rule out my boss Mr. Newman, trying to design quests for him that he might complete promises to become as tough as the other 3 targets combined.
Brad is another obvious choice, although as much as I’d love to get a bit of minor **** on him I’m not ready to stoop to his level just yet.
This is difficult, I think to myself as my eyes wander back to Cotton’s discarded coffee cup. I hadn’t liked the way she treated me, and from what Maria said she’s been a bit of a bitch to her too. Still, the idea of subtly pushing her to be a nicer person did have its appeal. I scroll to find her name and tap on it.

Select Cotton Newman as Target 4? Yes / No

I press yes and bring up her profile

Name: Cotton
Surname: Newman
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Level 1 (0 / 10 xp)
Class: None
Perks: None
Perk Points: 0

I’m a little surprised to see that she’s so young, from her confident aura she came across as closer to my age. It does explain her bratty attitude.
Wanting to not wait too long to assign her a class and get going on quests, I start scrolling through the list. Half the options seem like they will just make her even more awful, while the other half are too demeaning to give to someone I’ve only just met.

• Mad scientist
• Bully
• Gym rat
• Princess
• Nice girl

Wait a second, the last one there seems perfect to accomplish what I’m after.

“Excuse me, I was hoping you could help me with a book recommendation” a quiet but unexpected voice causes me to almost drop my phone before I quickly hit the lock button and turn around.

“S-sure thing ma’am” I turn around to find myself staring at Rita. She’s gone for a bolder theme to her makeup today and it really compliments her normal shy girl aesthetic. “What kind of book are you looking for today, Rita?”

“Is there anything in here on cosplay, I’ve just gotten started and am really looking forward to learning more about it. Maybe some hands-on learning with the right person.” Her voice drops down to an almost seductive level with that last line, was this her new perk?

“We most certainly do, and it seems you’re off to a great start. I love your new look.”

“Thanks John, I made extra effort for you today” she flutters her eyelids at me.

“u-uh thanks Rita, you didn’t go to all this trouble for me did you?”

“Well, that depends handsome”, her voice still with that sultry tone.

We’re nearing the section with the book she is after now, and I’m too stunned to do more than let out a small chuckle in response. As I pull down a book on cosplay makeup and styling, I can see her face has gone beet red in embarrassment.

“um, actually maybe I don’t need the book have a great day John” she babbles out as she goes to run out of the library.

“Rita wait!” I call out but she is clearly far too embarrassed to come back today. What was that all about I wonder.

Maria walks over from the front counter looking confused and a little annoyed.

“What did you say to her John? I’ve never seen her look so distraught”

“I didn’t do anything, we were just talking about cosplay books and then she called me handsome and ran away”. As the words come out of my mouth Maria’s expression shifts from mild annoyance to amusement.

“Young love huh” she giggles to herself, and isn’t she only 2 years older than me? “How about I do you both a favour and invite her to the gym tomorrow?”

“A favour? What?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake John don’t make me spell it out, did your mother teach you nothing about girls?” she hadn’t really, so I was still confused. “That girl clearly has a crush on you”

“A crush on me? Rita?”

“Yes. Her”. Shaking her head, Maria opens her phone and starts typing out a text. “what’s her number?”

A short while later, I manage to get the last few returns put back on the shelves. Maria has informed me that Rita will be joining us at the gym tomorrow so I was glad to have a few minutes alone to digest what she said earlier. It’s at this point I remember that I’d added Cotton to the app and hadn’t given her a quest yet.
Opening her profile I see that I’ve accidentally given her the Princess class instead of Nice Girl. While it wasn’t what I had hoped for I’m envisaging a fairytale princess who is loving and kind, and I can always give her another class at level 10.
Entering a simple quest to test things out “Give a stranger a compliment”. Strangely this prompts a warning to appear.

Warning, “give a stranger a compliment” is not themed to target’s class, no bonus xp will be earned. Continue? Yes/No

That’s weird I think, maybe princess is more focused on beauty and elegance than kindness? Still wanting to keep it simple and achievable, I rewrite the quest “Get dressed up”

Cotton will receive the following quest: “Get dressed up”

Select a reward from these three choices:

- Beauty I perk

• Makeup applied becomes permanent for 24h
• New outfit

When in doubt give a perk has been my philosophy so far, and the choices didn’t seem to indicate anything wrong with my theory on the class, so I go with the perk.

(Cotton’s POV)
I still don’t know why daddy asks me to go to his library so often, although it is fun to boss around the workers there, and I had to admit, that John guy while a bit scrawny wasn’t too bad looking.

It was still early in the day and having just had my coffee I’m eager to go and hang out with my girlfriends before class starts. Halfway from the library to the university quad my phone makes a sound, certain that it’s just another horny loser not worth my time trying to ‘slide into my DMs’ I’m about to ignore it when it occurs to me that I don’t recognise the sound.

Unlocking my phone, I find a weird new app called Life Quest has been installed. Curiosity piqued, I open it and find my profile:

Name: Cotton
Surname: Newman
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Level 1 (0 / 10 xp)
Class: None
Perks: None
Perk Points: 0

I’m not sure how or why this app knows so much about me but another notification disrupts my thoughts.

You have been assigned the Princess class.

Well, this app has got one thing right. I’m a motherfucking princess. Sadly, there is no quest at the moment so I return my phone to my handbag and continue on to the quad.
Spotting my two besties, Victoria and Julianne, I wave and head over to gossip until class starts.

(Matt’s POV)

As I sign off on my stream for the day, my phone goes off with another Life Quest notification. Opening it up, I find I’ve received my second permanent quest. “Cook someone a meal”. Well, half xp isn’t great but now that I have two dailies levelling up should be a breeze.
I grab my wallet and head to the store to kill two quests with one stone, daily shopping was starting to get expensive, but this voice perk had already gotten me enough in donations to cover the shortfall.
It’s easy enough to pick out a range of fresh ingredients for a simple but elegant carbonara dish. I also pick out a red wine to go with it. I’m not sure how much to tell John about how these changes just feel right but that’s what the Small Talk I perk was for. And the wine will be a good backup to loosen my lips.
I’m just about done cooking dinner when John gets home.

“Hey John, I decided to cook something for both of us tonight” I tell him.

“Wonderful, what’s on the menu tonight chef Matt?” he asks me.

“Nothing too fancy, just a simple carbonara with a bottle of red to go with it”.

“More challenging that I can manage, I’ll leave the expert to it, unless you’d like some help”

“No thank you, I’ll have it to the table in just a few minutes”.

Dinner comes and goes, with John acting a little off but I’m not able to extract anything from him besides that he finally met the boss’s brat of a daughter today.
I also didn’t manage to tell him about myself either. It may just be too hard for me to tell him I’m hoping this app can get me all the way to womanhood right now…

(John’s POV)

Today had felt exhausting with meeting Cotton, discovering Rita’s crush on me, the weird protectiveness of Maria, Matt seeming like he was straining to tell me something but couldn’t muster up the courage to say it. I briefly consider giving him a quest to divulge the information before deciding that it’s best to let it come out in his own time.
I check the app which has become a bedtime ritual for me at this point.

Rita completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Rita bought the Photogenic II perk for 2 points.
Rita bought the Makeup II perk for 2 points.
Matt completed a basic permanent quest [+3 xp] [+3 bonus xp]
Matt is level 7, advanced info now contains mental traits.
Matt completed a basic permanent quest [+3 xp] [+3 bonus xp]
Rita completed a basic permanent quest. [+3 xp] [+3 bonus xp]
Cotton completed a basic quest. [+3 xp] [+3 bonus xp]
Level up!

Name: Rita
Surname : Torres
Gender: Female
Age : 22
Level 6 (6 / 20 xp)
Class: Cosplayer
Perks : Makeup II, Photogenic II, Modelling I, Flirty I, Cosplay II
Perk Points : 0

Looks like she is going all in on the looks side of things and spending big with not just one but two level two perks.

Photogenic II: You’ll always look your best on photos, the angle and lightning showing your best self. (Hidden: Strong compulsion to take photos of yourself and small compulsion to share photos of yourself)
Makeup II: Apply makeup with +100% efficiency and speed. (Hidden: Moderate compulsion to put makeup on.)

I check the other’s profiles too.

Name: Matt
Surname: Weaver
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Level 7 (10 / 20 xp)
Class: Housewife
Perks: Cleaning II, Unrestricted Access, Sweet Voice I, Cooking I, Small Talk I
Perk Points: 5

Not sure what he’s banking his points for but I’m curious to see what he does.

Name: Maria
Surname: Finocci
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Level 6 (8 / 20 xp)
Class: Yoga Mom
Perks: Training Efficiency I, Cooking I, Motherly II, Flexible I
Perk Points: 4

Looks like no new perk purchases for my other usual targets. Moving on to Cotton who has already completed her quest.

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

Perk Points: 1

Beauty I: Makes your body more conventionally attractive. (Hidden: Receiving compliments on your appearance increase arousal slightly)

Wow, Beauty I seems like a strong perk to get. As I’m too tired to dream up any creative quests right now I quickly give her the “Get dressed up” quest again and choose the permanent quest reward for her.
I also see that I’ve leveled up.

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 13 (8 / 30 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: 3

I don’t feel like I need to make any further changes for now and put my phone down. Groaning as I realise I’ve got my first gym session to look forward to tomorrow I close my eyes and let my exhaustion take me to sleep.

Author's note: Feeling inspired by the incredible work of pseudoless, I started writing this as a branch to explore a different direction for John. Have got a direction planned a couple of chapters ahead but happy to take on board any feedback