“You do realize how absurd this sounds, right?” I said and pulled Louie back into the center of the couch as he almost fell over the edge trying to reach the wooden box.
“If you think this is absurd, wait till I make an after-midnight order and Razil, our vampire delivery person, comes.”
“Vampires exist too?”
“Vampires, werewolves, the whole twilight family. Though they’re much bloodier than they’re portrayed in Cosmos culture. There are also dragons, hydras, giants, basilisks, and a lot more. Most of them, however, are either too dumb of a monster or too proud of a class to do this job.”
“What about this then? When I scanned him, I could see almost as much as I can see about myself. What’s up with that?”
“All DEM delivery people are forced to keep their stats visible for everyone,” Leo replied. “That is both so that people feel safer around them, but also so that ambitious thieves don’t attack them.”
“What about the XP stat then? And how come his disposition is shown, but I can’t see that for any of the people I’ve come across so far?”
“Well having a disposition stat for people would be stupid, wouldn’t it? Interpersonal relationships are never quantifiable. The fact you can see Freddie’s disposition, and the XP value, is one of the ugly truths of the Apocosmos. The same reason that no personal name is displayed on his status screen, only the name of his species. Freddie, like many others, is what we would consider in games to be a monster. Their XP stats are public so that everyone feels safer in the knowledge that these are monsters that can be killed. Just like any other monster that’s killed for XP.”
“That’s… shitty of them,” I said, surprised at how casually he laid out that last bit of information.
“Well, it is one of the biggest corporations in the Apocosmos. They didn’t get there by being nice.”
“I guess not.”
Well, what do you know? Corporations in the Apocosmos treat their employees just as shitty as corporations in our world. I would have said it was part of human nature to be shitty, but I wasn’t sure if there were any humans there and didn’t want to make any more assumptions.
“In any case…” he said and picked the box off the table. “Happy birthday, man. I’m sure you’re going to love this.”
“Thanks.” I barely managed to take the box from his hands because Louie had his nose firmly stuck on its side.
The wooden box was warm to the touch and looked like a small rectangular chest. I pulled the lid open and picked up its contents: a white hard-paper scroll tied with a red ribbon that held an intricate key on its end. Two small windows of text appeared in front of the items.
Name : Best friends scroll
Type : Quest Scroll
Durability : 1/1
Rarity : B Grade
Weight : 2st.
Description : A scroll containing an invite to a realm of friendship and greater understanding.
Name : Best friends key
Type : Quest Item
Durability : 1/1
Rarity : B Grade
Weight : 6st.
Description : A key that opens the way to a realm of friendship and greater understanding.
“This looks beautiful,” I said between Louie’s excited barks, honestly describing the craftsmanship, though I kept the fact that I thought nice things were redundant to myself. “What is it though?”
“Open the scroll,” he replied with a smile and petted Louie so he would quieten down.
As soon as I removed the ribbon and unfurled the scroll, a new text box appeared in front of me.
Quest Name : Man’s Best Friend I
Availability : Single
Rarity : B Grade
Description : Dogs are man’s best friend. Dogs and people shouldn’t be limited in their communication. There is so much more love to be shared if they could understand one another.
Success : Use the Best friends key and reach the center of the forest.
Failure : No failure conditions applicable
Status : 0/1
Time Left : Unlimited
Reward : ???
Do you accept the quest? Yes No
“It’s giving me a quest that will help me understand Louie better,” I said, turning my head to face Leo.
“Well, accept it already!” he said, almost frustrated at my hesitation.
I mentally reached out to the word “Yes” and the outline of the text window flashed before disappearing.
“Okay, I just did,” I said. “What now?”
“Well you’ve got a key, don’t you?”
“A key, yeah. But no idea where the door is.”
“Which is why I told you about planes being created by items.”
“I can use this key in any door?”
“On any surface,” he added, “though I wouldn’t advise on using it on the floor. You know, physics can be… a bit confusing.”
I stood up, key in hand, and moved toward the closest wall. I touched the tip of the key on the red and gold wallpaper and initially nothing happened. Once I pressed it a bit, the key was submerged into the wall with a flash and as soon as I turned it, flashing lights formed the outline of a door. I pushed it open and the key remained in my hand.
Beyond the door were lush green fields. The sun was setting over a thick forest on the horizon. Not giving me much time to take in the beauty before us, Louie sprinted off through the door to make the best of the landscape.
“Louie!” I shouted and ran after him. Leo followed right behind me.
As soon as I crossed the threshold, my worry for Louie faded away. I was suddenly standing in the open, the warm rays of the sun on my skin, and a gentle wind brushing my freshly shaven head. Louie was having a blast as well, running up a gentle slope and rolling over on the grass, only to run back up and do it again.
“This is… Wow,” was the only thing I could say as I looked at the fantastic
