Project Daily Grind (Mirror World Book #1) (26 page)

I entered “property to rent” into the Search box. Oh. The search came back with posh villas, imposing mansions and any number of luxurious hotel suites. The prices were outrageous. One night at the Pearly Castle Hotel cost twenty thousand gold. Its screenshots hurt your eye with its rooms’ regal splendor. But twenty grand!

I sorted the search results by
Price: lowest first
but failed to study the outcome. Someone kept tugging at my sleeve, gently but insistently. Excuse me? I looked down. What did we have here?

Two huge blue eyes. A tousled head of ginger curls. A smattering of freckles on the child’s nose. He was about six years old, dressed in a funny pair of shorts and a dark green singlet. When he saw that his tugging had finally forced me to look down, he began explicating politely, pointing his plump little finger,

“’xcuse me mister, but my ball it’s dropped in the fowntin over there and Mom don’t let me get my feet wet...”

I smiled and ruffled his hair. “Your Mom is right. You should listen to her. Where is she?”

“”She’s gone to fetch some ice lollies,” he said.

“Well, ice lollies are important business indeed. Where’s your ball, then? Show me.”

The kid darted off to the nearby fountain, skipping and hopping, all the while pointing his finger at it.

The “fowntin” wasn’t deep at all. The water didn’t even reach my knees, so fishing the orange ball out of it presented no problem. As I climbed out, I noticed that the area was truly busy with players. What had prompted the kid to approach me of all people? I’d been standing at least ten paces away for the fountain. Had he asked everyone around but hadn’t got anyone help him? Hardly. Never mind. No skin off my nose. The kid was happy, that was all that counted.

“Thank you, Uncle Olgerd!” the kid shouted and bolted off, skipping and hopping down the boulevard.

A 3D message unfolded before my eyes,

Congratulations! You’ve just completed a hidden quest: The Unsinkable Ball.

Reward: +5 to your Reputation with Mellenville

Congratulations! Your reputation with the city of Mellenville has grown 5 pt.!

Warning! The forces of Dark never sleep! Their spies are everywhere! You must swear a solemn oath that you will never tell anyone about the origin of your reputation! In the name of the forces of Light, vouch to never disclose anything you know about Mellenville!

Do you swear: Yes/No (Obligatory)

Oh wow. The further it goes, the messier it gets. Mechanically I pressed
Yes
. There was no other way, really.

Immediately the system treated me to another message,

Warning! If you break your oath, you’ll lose all your Reputation points with Mellenville already gained. An oath-breaker will find it very hard to regain respect in this city.

While this new fact was sinking in, I overheard a happy child’s voice not far away,

“Mommy! Mommy, look! Uncle Olgerd has rescued my ball for me!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“G
ood morning, sir!”

A young woman in a pale blue dress stood a few paces away from me. My young friend was clinging to her hand while devouring his “ice lolly” with abandon. The family resemblance was obvious. A shock of unruly ginger hair escaped from her cute lacy bonnet. Her large bright blue eyes shone with gratitude.

“Good morning,” I said. “Sorry I don’t know you na-”

“It’s Mila,” she offered, smiling. “I’m so happy to meet you, Olgerd. Tommy has already told me about your valorous deed. I’d like to thank you for your patience and apologize for my little rascal.”

Congratulations! You’ve just completed a hidden quest: Good Deeds.

Reward: +5 to your Reputation with Mellenville

I watched as the woman and child’s names appeared on the tags over their heads. So that’s how it was here, then. Apparently, wherever you turned, you might walk into some hidden quest or other. Couldn’t have been better. Ten points Reputation in five minutes, how cool was that?

“It’s all right, Mila,” I smiled. “Nothing to apologize for. I have a daughter too. I really enjoyed helping your little boy.”

“Still, I apologize. I hope you weren’t too busy with more important things.”

“Nah,” I shrugged. “I was checking the property market, that’s all.”

“Are you considering settling down here?” she asked, immediately interested.

“Sort of. Just looking for something temporary.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “If you haven’t decided yet, I suggest you go to my cousin Ronald. His inn is only two blocks away. It’s very clean and quite affordable.”

“Perfect,” I said with a smile.

She was rather naïve, this one. I still had some leveling to do before I could attempt approaching NPCs’ establishments. It would be great though. According to Dmitry, signing into an NPC hotel gave one +30 Reputation every 24 hours. Automatically, mind you, just for the pleasure of living there.

“That’s sorted, then,” she perked up. “It’s called the Footworn Traveler Inn. It’s quite easy to find. Tell Ronald that I sent you. He might give you a discount.”

New quest alert: Searching for an Inn

Reward: Unknown

Accept: Yes/No.

What did I say? New quests everywhere you turned.

I pressed
Yes.
You never know. Something might work out.

I bid my new friends a warm goodbye and hurried to the inn. These were the first NPCs I’d actually interacted with here. Mirror Souls, as they were called. Artificial Intellects. But as far as I was concerned, they were perfectly human. The constantly popping system messages had considerably ruined the pleasure of meeting them. The announcements seemed to remind me I was dealing with pieces of software.

Actually, everything seemed too simple. I’d completed two quests without even breaking into a sweat. I’d done a bit of reputation leveling. Now I was on my way to complete a third quest. It might just work, you never know.

I imagined the expression on Dmitry’s face when I told him about my Mellenville feats. He had actually warned me to be prepared for a long and boring climb through the ranks. According to him, initially I’d have to run errands for the so-called “admin NPCs”: all those gate guards, pompous clerks and the like. But somehow his advice disagreed with what I observed around me. What a shame he had no access to any information on Mellenville. This wasn’t his prerogative, apparently. Oh, well. The proverbial company policy.

The Footworn Traveler Inn proved easy to find. The building was rather nice: a four-story with a pale yellow stone façade. You couldn’t miss the burgundy of its window frames and roof tiles. Okay, let’s see it from the inside. Provided they let me in, of course.

The front door was guarded by two players: Brand and Tyx. Warriors, judging by their gear. Levels 88 and 90. Guarding the door must have been their job.

I was only a few paces away from the front steps when I heard the level-88 one, Brand, speak calmly,

“Hey, man. I don’t think you need this place. It takes a thousand Reputation to stay here. You can try of course but-”

The other one, Tyx, poked his fellow guard in the ribs by way of stopping him. “Let the gentleman try,” he said with an affable smile. “You can see he needs to get in.”

I hated his smile. It wasn’t nice. I could see he was lying. It was the kind of smile that promised nothing good.

Brand shook his head, apparently disapproving of his comrade’s behavior just as much as I was. “I shouldn’t if I were you,” he warned. Then, seeing me take the stairs nevertheless, he added, “You can do what you want, I don’t care.”

I nodded my gratitude. As I walked up the steps, I caught a glimpse of Tyx’s nasty smile. What was he so happy about? What was going on in here? It felt as if I was about to enter a dragon’s lair, not a freakin’ inn! And another thing. How did they know I didn’t have much reputation yet? Could it have been my clothes? Doubtful. My account? Somehow I didn’t think so. Lots of questions, and not an answer in sight... yet.

Followed by two pairs of watchful eyes, I walked in. Immediately a system message popped up, offering me a free download of the inn’s floor plan, the restaurant menu and a list of the services available. I pressed
Accept
.

I turned around and saw two dropped jaws. Another question to add to my list.

Actually, I received an answer to this one almost straight away. “What the hell’s going on?” Tyx demanded. “Is it a bug or something? Brand, what d’ya think? How could a yellow tag cross the barrier?”

“A yellow tag,” I repeated. “Meaning?”

“You see?” Tyx vented his indignation, completely ignoring me. “He’s a flippin’ noob!”

I couldn’t agree more with him.

Finally Tyx glared in my direction, furious. “Mind my word he’s a cheater! I’ve had these freebie lovers up to the eyeballs! You spend months busting your hump to add a few crummy points to your Reputation and then a yellow noob comes and walks in as if he owns the place!”

Brand had already overcome his initial surprise and was grinning at the scene. Apparently, he found the sight of his furious partner much more entertaining than the appreciation of my failure to enter the inn. He laid an assuaging hand on Tyx’s shoulder,

“He’s not a cheater, no way. Had he been one, d’you really think he’d have been so overt in front of us? Aha! I can see you get my point.”

“In that case...” Tyx mumbled, sounding confused.

“In that case he probably has a quest,” Brand finished his phrase for him. He turned to me. “No offense, man. He’s about to log out soon, that’s why he’s all screwed up like that.”

I shrugged, turned around and headed for the reception desk.

True, the two guards’ name tags were dark green. I studied mine. I wouldn’t say it was
yellow
, more like a lighter shade of green. It probably did look yellow from a distance. I needed to check it out once I was back in a public place. Apparently, for some reason of their own, the game developers wanted the city dwellers to differentiate between old-timers and newcomers.

A
barrier
, was it? That could explain Tyx’s nasty smile. Most likely, the “noob vs. Reputation barrier” encounter held a promise of free laughs for the onlookers.

The reception was staffed by a blonde girl in a stern navy suit. “Hello,” she said. “How can I help you?”

“Hi,” I said. “I’d like to have a word with the owner of this excellent establishment.”

“Oh!” a male voice boomed behind my back. “I’m flattered by your high opinion of my modest guesthouse!”

I swung round. A large ginger-haired man stood not two paces away from me: at least six foot four, with cheerful blue eyes and a generous smattering of freckles all over his face. Little Tommy was bound to grow into his carbon copy—provided that NPCs were capable of growing up, of course.

“Not at all,” I answered. “I’m telling the truth. Your place is exactly what Mila told me it would be… Sir Ronald.”

Okay, so I’d dressed the truth up a bit, so what? It was for a good cause.

“Do you know my cousin?” he asked.

“Yes,” I nodded. “It was her who sent me here to see you, Sir Ronald, when I happened to mention I was looking for a room.”

Congratulations! You’ve just completed a hidden quest: Searching for an Inn.

Reward: +15 to your Reputation with Mellenville.

Twenty-five points already, excellent! I’d only been here for less than an hour, but my Reputation points were mushrooming like crazy. It might actually be easier than my brother had imagined.

The innkeeper’s name appeared in a tag over his head. Grinning, he offered me his hand. “Welcome, Olgerd! I hope you’ll like my Footworn Traveler.”

Congratulations! You’ve just completed a hidden quest: Invitation to Check In.

Reward: +150 to your Reputation with Mellenville

Reward: 5% discount to all services provided by the Footworn Traveler Inn

Trying to look impassive, I replied with a courteous smile, “I’d be delighted.”

A hundred and fifty rep points and a discount! I couldn’t believe it! I just prayed I could afford it. If only I could afford it…

Ronald gave me a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Excellent! I assure you, Olgerd, you won’t be disappointed. Now, unfortunately, I’m forced to bid you my farewell. You can discuss all the details with my assistant.”

He gave me a wink and walked out, leaving me in the care of the blonde receptionist.

“So what kind of room do you have in mind?” she asked, smiling.

“The cheapest,” I blurted out, then hurried to add, “I live and work away from family, see. In my case, simplicity and affordability are key.”

She nodded her understanding and began leafing through a thick tome. Soon she raised her head. “A one-bed, second floor. Very minimalistic. Breakfast and daily cleaning. Do you need a residence registration?”

“Yes, please,” I said trying not to betray my excitement.

“That’ll be twenty gold a night.”

I suppressed a sigh of relief. I could have done much worse. “Excellent. I’ll take it.”

“Duration of stay?” she asked, all businesslike, as she began entering something into her book.

“A month,” I said. “I’ll pay upfront.”

That was something else Dmitry had taught me. A month’s stay was the minimum requirement in order to apply for a hotel residence registration. And it had to be paid in advance.

“Minus the 5% discount that’ll be 570 gold for the whole of this month.”

Once I confirmed the transaction, I received a new system message,

Congratulations! You’ve just rented a hotel room and received a month’s residence registration in Mellenville!

Reward: +200 to your Reputation with Mellenville.

From this moment on, you’ll be receiving a daily bonus of +30 to your Reputation with Mellenville.

There you go! You help a kid to get a ball out of a fountain and in less than an hour they shower you with 400+ rep points. By the same token, I’d managed to spend more than two thousand dollars over the course of the same morning. I had two hundred ten gold and thirty silver left on my virtual account.

“Enjoy your stay,” the girl smiled, offering me the key.

A name tag materialized over her head:
Miranda
.

* * *

Dear Olgerd,

We’re sorry to inform you that you cannot view the Loans page of the Reflex Bank site. Viewing it requires 1000 pt. Reputation with Mellenville.

Enjoy the game!

I reread the terminal’s message, swung round and headed for the exit. The Reflex Bank HQ reminded me of one of those Las Vegas slot machine halls, only instead of one-armed bandits it was lined with row after row of the already-familiar “parking meters”. These terminals decided who would get the loan. They also determined its size. All they were interested in was the user’s personal information and gaming history. I didn’t even have enough Reputation to check out the Loans page. That was the way they did business here, sending me a clear message: if I wanted to get what I needed, I’d have to immerse myself into the game long-term. Another thing I’d realized was that I’d have to get a grip and try to remain sane.

According to Dmitry’s and my plan, I still had one last port of call before returning to the market town of Verdaille: Mellenville’s city hall. That was where players could get repeatable reputation quests.