Project Daily Grind (Mirror World Book #1) (33 page)

Would you like to summon your pet: Yes/No

Aha.
Yes!

Before I could blink, the lithe black body materialized out of thin air and dumped itself onto the bed. Was it my imagination or did I glimpse a slightly bewildered expression on its face? Still, the first shock hadn’t lasted. Three minutes later, the grison had already inspected the whole of my room. I had the impression he’d sniffed every corner at least twice.

“That’s right, buddy,” I chuckled. “I’m afraid we’ll be stuck here for a while.”

While he’d been prancing around the room, his stats chart had appeared in my mental view. So! This little fellow was actually a char in his own right!

Main Characteristics:

Name: [ … ]

Race: Black Grison

Type: Relic

Level: 0

Satiety: 50/50

Experience: 0/50

Now that was interesting. Relic, you say? I wondered if common Grinders like myself were even allowed to have a pet. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around all these latest developments! Let’s check his settings.

Abilities: None (Available from Level 1)

Experience received: 10% of the owner’s combat experience without detracting from it.

Nourishment: The owner can feed his pet at any given time by sharing some of his Energy with it.

Warning! A pet’s level can’t exceed that of its owner!

I scratched the back of my head. This looked like a Catch 22 situation. You, my little critter, are doomed to remain an ordinary animal. Seeing as my type of account wasn’t entitled to receive combat XP, my pet’s level wasn’t going to grow any time soon. So basically he was a nuisance and a liability. Even though if the truth were known, I was happy to have the company—even the company of such a restless and ill-mannered little brute.

So should we give you a name, then? Judging by what Adkhur had said, this little monster was a male. Oh. Actually, I did have an idea. We used to have a tomcat, just as black and just as big a lover of cheese, too. When still a kitten, he used to raise a hell of a lot of mischief. Over time, he’d sort of grown out of it. He'd lived in our country house. All the neighborhood dogs knew better than to mess with him. To be fair, he’d never provoked anyone. He was a very laidback animal. But still his early-life escapades had earned him the name of Prankster. Later, no one could understand what had ever possessed us to give such a name to this calm and civilized cat. That’s irony for you.

Oh… it felt like another life. Had it really been me then? The university... The slim engagement ring I’d presented Sveta with... Her emotional
Yes!
Our modest wedding, followed by years of traveling the world. Her sweet round little belly, followed by the birth of Christina.

I sighed and closed my eyes. As if sensing the state I was in, the grison jumped onto my lap, his moist nose nudging the palm of my hand.

“So, buddy?” I whispered. “Mind being Prankster for a while? Why not? At least it suits you... for the moment.”

The grison lifted his head and pricked up his ears. Two beady black eyes watched me intently.

That’s sorted, then. I entered the name:
Prankster
. The system zoned out, then presented me with the acceptance message.

I smiled. “Christina would have been on top of the world now. I’m sure you’d have liked her too. Actually, you must be hungry.”

I opened his interface. There! The
Satiation
characteristic. When I’d summoned him, it had been at 50 points. I checked the clock. It had been almost fifty minutes ago, and Prankster was already 10 pt. down. That sounded like a lot for a tiny critter like himself. But considering the fact that he’d never stopped bouncing around since, it was probably normal. What was 10 pt. for me, with my Strength and Stamina readings? Peanuts.

Right, let’s try and feed you, then. I searched for the Nutrition tab. Got it.

Would you like to feed your pet?

Energy required: 10 pt.

Accept: Yes/No

I chose
Yes
. His Energy bar began growing until it filled to its limits. Had I read gratitude in his beady black eyes? Couldn’t be. Must have been my imagination.

The system addressed me again,

Congratulations! Your pet is well fed!

Warning! Make sure you feed your pet regularly!

You might simplify the feeding process by synchronizing it.

Would you like to synchronize the feeding process: Yes/No.

What was that now? Synchronization? What about it? Actually,
simplify the feeding process
sounded rather reassuring. Very well, then. I pressed
Yes.

Once again the system zoned out, then reported,

Synchronization successful!

Congratulations! From now on, the feeding process will proceed in automatic mode. Check your interface for changes.

I followed its advice and opened my profile. Found it. There was a smaller Energy bar just under mine, with Prankster’s tiny cheeky face next to it. I see. So every time he got hungry, the system would feed him out of my resources. Admittedly, for me it was a drop in the ocean. It also saved me quite a bit of time. Which was becoming more of an issue with every passing day.

Chapter Thirty-Three

T
he morning promised no surprises. A cold shower. A breakfast downstairs in the inn. Doing my daily quest runs. The epitome of Groundhog Day. Just like actor Bill Murray, I was stuck in a time loop.

Still, I shouldn’t grumble. I kept advancing toward my goal—slowly but surely, as with every passing day my knowledge of Mellenville kept growing. Of course, it had been the bot that controlled my char most of the time but I had disabled it on occasions, too. And this morning, I’d forgotten to activate it at all.

Admittedly, I was beginning to understand why they needed all these Reputation quests. They introduced a player to Mirror World, allowing him of her to take the plunge into this weird and wondrous world that followed its own rules.

Over the last eight days, I’d already built up a certain circle of NPC acquaintances. For the most part they used me as an errand boy, and even that only within one particular block. The program might soon move me to a different area of the city. No idea whether this was good or bad. I seemed to be getting used to it. Besides, I also seemed to have a good relationship with local NPCs. No more surprise quests, though. Which was a shame.

By 11 a.m., I was already freed up. You could say I was lucky: the lawyer had called in sick. I just hoped I’d still get the credit, so I’d reported to his office just in case. A failed quest was the last thing I needed. Now, in principle, I could head for the mines. But before doing so, I felt like treating myself to a coffee. There was a nice cozy tavern on the corner of Theater Street I sort of frequented whenever I could. It wasn’t that their coffee was the best, but it was definitely the cheapest.

I entered the already-familiar tavern as usual and headed for the bar. There you could always find a pile of newspapers and magazines reporting on the NPCs’ life and news. You might think that this was just a bunch of virtual scrap paper, but for long-term players who found themselves stuck in Mellenville it was a veritable treasure trove of information. Most Reputation quests relied on players’ reading them. A couple of days ago, my lawyer had issued me a task I’d have had no chance of completing had I not checked one particular article in the local rag. He’d sent me to deliver some paperwork to some old baron or whoever. When I’d arrived at the address, they wouldn’t even let me in. So I went back to my lawyer and explained the situation. He didn’t want to know: according to him, I had to deliver the papers and that was that. And if they didn’t want to talk to me, they’d better give a good reason.

So I went back and was shown the door again. By then, it had been two hours of me running to and fro; I was quite tired so I decided to have a quick coffee in this very tavern. And what did I see but this newspaper on the bar. Apparently, the old baron had kicked the bucket and his brats were busy sharing out his money. That’s why they hadn’t let anyone in. Armed with this intel, I hurried back to my lawyer who was more than pleased with the news and dismissed me for the rest of the day.

So you see. These days I tried to pop in and check the papers whenever I could. Just in case, you know.

I was about to place my order when I heard someone in the room call my name. A woman’s voice. I’d heard it before.

I turned round. Of course. This was Mila—Tommy’s mom. Remember Tommy, my innkeeper’s nephew? She stood by the staircase smiling wearily, all pale and red-eyed—either with tears or from lack of sleep.

“Hi, Olgerd,” her voice was tired, lifeless even.

“Morning, Mila,” I said. “Great to see you. I’ve just popped in for a coffee. Would you like to join me?”

She shook her head. “Thank you, Olgerd. That’s very nice of you. But I’m in a bit of a hurry. Tommy’s sick. He’s at home now. Ronald’s wife is looking after him. And I still have to rush to the other end of town to see the pharmacist. There’s an herbal doctor who lives above the inn but he doesn’t seem to have the medication I need.”

“Is it serious?” I asked.

Her eyes filled with tears. “My boy gets worse by the hour. The medication is very, very rare.”

“Can I help you? Tell me what it’s called. I’ll go look for it and you go back to Tommy.”

Hope glistened in her stare. “You might be right. I can use all help I can get, that’s for sure. The medication I need is Millefeuille Tea.

New Quest alert: Searching for a Rare Medication

You must locate a serving of Millefeuille Tea and bring it to Mila.

Reward: Unknown

Accept: Yes/No

I clicked
Yes
and assured Mila I’d do everything possible. Having double-checked her own address, I hurried in search of the nearest pharmacy.

If my satnav was to be believed, I was already within a ten-minute walk from it when I froze in my tracks and slapped my forehead.

“What am I doing?” I mumbled. “What’s the pharmacy got to do with it?”

I opened the auction tab. Hah! There it was! Millefeuille Tea wasn’t at all rare—nor expensive. Two gold. I clicked
Buy
. My inbox flashed with the confirmation message.

That was it. Off I went to save the kid. Rare medication, yeah right!

It took me about fifteen minutes to get to Mila’s. She looked genuinely surprised when she answered the door. I’d done it in no time as I’d promised.

Once I handed her the medication, the system showered me with 100 Reputation. Excellent. Wish it happened more often.

Mila didn’t want to let me go just like that. She asked me to wait for her in the lounge. While she was busy giving the medication to Tommy, I studied their family pictures on the wall. So strange. These
Glasshouse NPCs
really had lives of their own. Just like in the real world. The funny thing was, I was already getting used to it.

One of the pictures showed Mila and Tommy, accompanied by a military officer in a crisp uniform. Broad shoulders. Tall but not burly. He looked more like a gymnast: all sinew and muscle. Serious face. A stern but strangely happy smile. Sharp cheekbones. A firm chin. A scar ran across his right eyebrow and cheekbone. His eyes weren’t damaged: an enemy sword must have missed them by a hair’s breadth.

I took a closer look. Tommy bore a definite resemblance to the man.

“That’s Tommy’s dad,” Mila’s voice said behind me.

I turned around and smiled to her. “Like father, like son. Where is he now?”

She sighed. “He’s serving on the border.”

“I see. How’s my young friend?”

“The fever’s almost gone,” she nodded gratefully. “He’s fast asleep now.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Let him sleep. He needs to recuperate. I’ve got to be off, actually. I need to get to work.”

“Thank you so much, Olgerd. I’ve no idea what I’d have done without you.”

“That’s nothing. I’m happy if I can be of help.”

I bade a warm goodbye to two other women—Ronald’s cousin and his wife—who too came out to thank me for my help, then walked out onto the street. For today, my Groundhog Day was over. Something new had just happened. Why hadn’t I thought of befriending the inn keeper’s family? Was it real-life inhibitions kicking in? Had I been wary of intruding or being in the way? And now the game had blatantly pointed me in the right direction. I had to meet Mila’s husband too. You never know, all this might result in surprise quests happening more often.

I’d barely taken a few paces when a new system message popped up before my eyes. Judging by the way everybody flinched, I wasn’t the only one who’d received it.

Denizens of our glorious capital!

Yesterday’s victory over the forces of evil fills our hearts with joy.

To honor this undoubtedly outstanding event, the administration of Mellenville have decided to offer every city dweller a free gift to remember this day!

Congratulations! You’ve received +300 to your Reputation with Mellenville!

Congratulations! You have seven days to acquire any item from the city treasury depending on your Reputation ranking! Hurry to claim your 15% discount!

Attention all those who opted for repeatable Reputation quests! Mellenville administration considers this category of players worthy of a special offer. For the next 24 hours, the reward for accepting such quests doubles! All players who’re still considering this type of quest—now is the time to accept it!

I reread the 3D message, then looked around me. Other players all seemed to be scurrying off somewhere, grinning happily. Wow. I opened my stats. I had 1160 Reputation points! Yes! I could go to the bank!

I flew off to the Reflex Bank building. Hope gave me wings. I looked for a free terminal and opened the Loans page.

Greetings, Olgerd!

Would you like to apply for a loan: Yes/No

I pressed
Yes
.

Available services by Reflexbank:

Express Loan:

Maximum 3000 gold for up to 10 months.

Medium Term Loan:

Maximum 20,000 gold for up to 6 years

Long Term Loan:

Amount: negotiable

Term: Negotiable

I held my breath and selected
Long Term Loan
. The system replied straight away,

We’re sorry to inform you that you can’t view the Long Term Loans page of the Reflex Bank site. Viewing it requires 5000 Mellenville Reputation points.

All my attempts to view the other types of loans failed, too.

I left the bank with a heavy heart. Where was I supposed to get 5000 Reputation in one month? This was a terrible blow. And that was simply to view the page! What would they ask me to do next? And my tribulations might only start there. Had everything been in vain—this stupid registration, these ridiculous quests? All that errand-running I’d done...

Calm down, I told myself. Keep your hair on. I still had the contract which, once extended, offered me the chance of getting a loan in a real-life bank. Now of all times I was quite ready to face the Steel Shirts leader in order to be shoved back into the pen, as Doryl had so eloquently said.

This wretched, disgusting frustrated feeling. How I hated it! Could I ever do something on my own? I closed my eyes. Think, man, think. There was some very important detail in there somewhere that kept eluding me. Some tiny little fact, very butterfly-like: the harder you tried to catch it, the easier it fluttered away from you. But the moment you stopped thinking about it, it would alight onto your shoulder, soft and gentle.

Wait! I found it!

I swung around and dashed for the administrative building. Today it was especially packed. No wonder: everyone was in a hurry to cash in on repeatable quests. Lots of sour faces around: apparently, their missions proved too much for them.

I finally grasped the thought that had kept eluding me. I remembered my system message and the city administration’s promise to increase rewards for completing repeatable quests.

Go to the Maragar Citadel. Objective: seek out Captain Gard and offer him your services defending the Maragar Pass from the powers of the Dark. Become a Citadel guard!

Duration: 90 days.

Reward: +2500 to a guard’s Reputation with Mellenville every 30 days and an additional +2500 bonus in commemoration of our victory over the forces of the Dark.

Warning! In order to complete the quest, you will have to temporarily lodge in the Maragar Citadel barracks. Those players already registered in Mellenville retain their right to receive their daily 30-pt. bonus to Reputation.

Warning! The quest must be completed in full. The failure to do so will result in losing all points already earned.

Warning! In order to receive a new quest, a player must complete the previous one.

I accepted the quest. Didn’t they say that all roads led to Rome? In my case, all roads seemed to be leading to No-Man’s Lands.

End of Book One