A few days had passed, before Terrance returned, and when he returned he came with a list of possible quests that I should do. I was happy that he could help me with that since I was unable to get a list of quests that I could take.

“Speaking of quests.” I began as we were walking down the street, “I’ve been unable to access them for several days.”

“Hmm? Really?” He asked.

I nodded, “Is there something wrong with them?” I was not sure how to really phrase the question.

“So you can’t pull up quests right now?” He clarified.

I tried, then nodded my confirmation.

“Hmm… You said you didn’t pull up quests for people right?” Terrance asked.

Again I nodded, “I just… access them. Then list them off and provide the descriptions.”

He considered, “Have you been avoiding… uh conversations still? Like the other day?”

I nodded.

“Did it start after that?” he asked.

Processing that for a moment I nodded, “Yes, I don’t think that I’ve been able to access quests since I stopped starting conversations.”

He nodded along, “Alright, well then maybe that's how it knows who to look up.”

“It?” I asked.

“The quests.” Terrance replied after a moment where he seemed annoyed.

I wasn’t quite sure I followed but after processing for a few more moments, I started a conversation and awkwardly started walking again after I was forced to stop. Then accessed quests again. True enough this time It responded. “You don’t have any quests.”

“Oh? So it was the conversations…” Terrance mused.

I nodded, “Yes, I tried an experiment.”

Terrance reached out to my head and I side stepped him, though rather than utter the casual dialog as I would have I instead asked, “Are you trying to pat my head?”.

Terrance chuckled, “I guess so… You just looked so cute for a second there, like a little kid trying to figure things out for the first time. Wait, if you knew what I was doing, why did you dodge?”

I considered and after a moment I replied, “I simply had to.”

“Like with the conversations?” Terrance asked.

I nodded.

“Well can you come over here then?” He asked.

I once again found a situation where casual dialog was offered, “I’m fine where I am.” Yet I ignored it, and took a few steps closer to Terrance.

He then smiled at me, and pulling something out he put it on my head. Then patted me on the head several times. I smiled back at the slightly intimate gesture.

His grin grew wider as he looked at me, “No notifications for that either?”

I shook my head, “For what?”

He chuckled to himself, “Well nothing to worry about then. Come on, the quest for the farmer's wife is up this way by the barn.” he said leading the way.

The farmer's wife looked quite upset as we approached. “Hello again adventurer… I’m sorry that I can’t offer you anything else to repay you for avenging my brother… but… If you really require more… I’m sure I could do something for you...” 

Terrance glanced at me rather than speaking to her, “Go on.”

“I’m looking for quests!” I announced unsure what business that she might have had with Terrance.

Her attitude shifted entirely and suddenly she was all smiles, “Oh, are you the adventurer that helped my husband in the fields? Could I trouble you to collect some herbs for a new recipe I’m working on? I’m hoping to invite my brother and his family over once I've perfected it.”

“Sure! What herbs do I need?” I asked, ready and eager to help out.

When we left Terrance looked over at me with a curious look in his eyes.

“Something wrong?” I asked him.

“Just thinking of what would happen if you were killed…” He mused.

“Killed?” I asked, not sure why he would ask me that out of thin air. “Shouldn’t that be obvious?” I was confused by the idea that it could be anything but what it was.

He looked at me intently, “I suppose it is… Best that we avoid any combat quests.”

I tilted my head at him, not quite sure what had brought that on. But he waved me to keep going and so I picked up my pace heading off towards the forest again.

Me and Terrance spent a considerable amount of time doing quests that day, we were outside so long that the sun rose up and down several times. By the end of it we had completed sixteen total quests, and I was about to turn in my seventeenth. I was feeling proud of my accomplishments today.

We had spent most of the day wandering around the woods visiting cottages, woodsmen, a guard tower, and farms doing various simple quests that Terrance thought would suit me. I agreed with him, I had enjoyed those quests and being helpful. One of the quests had even been to carry messages back and forth, not unlike how I had helped Terrance and Mira.

In fact now that I thought about it, I said, “That quest earlier with those messages was a lot like what I did for you and Mira.”

Terrance shrugged back at me.

“Are you embarrassed?” I asked, recalling Mira’s reaction.

He coughed, “What?”

“Are you embarrassed that I caught you sleeping with Mira?” I clarified.

Terrance blushed slightly though not as much as Mira, “Not really, I honestly thought it was kinda a turn on at the time…” He laughed.

I processed that for a moment while he continued chuckling to himself.

He was quiet for a time as though thinking back on something, “Me and Mira….” he said with a sigh.

“Did something happen between you? I didn’t understand your messages.” I explained.

Terrance considered, “Yeah… Something happened for sure… Thinking back on it honestly, I think we were both in the wrong headspace at the right time. I...” He shook his head clearly deciding to stop there, or not knowing how to proceed.

I tilted my head looking at him, I was clearly missing most of the context for that description.

After a moment he let out a breath, “Maybe I should try talking to her again… it's been a bit and maybe we can at least find some way to move past what happened, leaving it as it is, it's just kinda shitty.”

I was about to ask what he meant, but before I could, Terrance stretched, and yawned, he was getting tired. “I should really call it a night,” he replied.

I glance up at the noon high sun, “Night?”

Terrance chuckled, “Turn of phrase? Anyhow, I need to sleep. Can you make it back to the guild hall on your own?”

I nodded my reply not really sure what he was trying to say.

Terrance nodded, “Alright, well I’ll find you tomorrow or something and we can do some more messing around. This has been fun.” then he was suddenly gone.

I blinked, “What about the pies?” I said, pulling warm pies from my inventory and into my hands. I held them this way and that way looking for Terrence, but he was gone.

Not sure what to do, and not needing the pies at the moment I put them away. I knew where they were supposed to go, the blacksmith in town.

Terrance wanted me to go back to the Mirana Guild Hall, but I still had pies to deliver. Well I could always deliver the pies first right? Then I’d accomplish both. I nodded to myself as I accessed the map. I was excited to go somewhere new as well, so I started down the path, and back towards the town.

I followed the path south, and past the Mirana Guild Hall, finally seeing tall walls and a gate some ways off. I wondered how many people I would see in the town, what sort of sights there would be. I couldn’t help but feel excited about new things, and the town was certainly new.

However as I walked into the town, under the tall gate with the wide open doors I frowned to myself. There was no one around. No townspeople, no adventurers, not even an animal. It was quiet, and lonely as I walked through the empty streets. Even as the sound of a dull roar of conversation, bells and more echoed around me the town was hollow and empty.

I couldn’t find joy in this, even as the town itself was beautiful and new, empty as it was I found myself longing for people that should have lived here. It wasn’t long before I found myself standing in front of the blacksmith shop. I could hear the banging of anvils inside, but with the rest of the town, I had my doubts. I cautiously pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The next moment Mira was pushing past me. I paused as I saw her, finally someone else. I smiled at her and waved as she glanced towards me.

“Milly!?” Mira called out, “What are you doing in the blacksmiths? and since when did you have cat ears?”

I pulled out the pies and showed them to Mira, “I was delivering these.” Though as I glassed around I didn’t see anyone. I wasn’t sure what Mira was referring to with the other item, so I just tilted my head.

“Pies!?” Mira asked, a bit confused, “You were doing more quests?!” She asked, clearly surprised.

I nodded, “I was with Terrance, but he was tired, so I was just finishing the one I was working on.”

“How long have you been here?” Mira asked, walking over to me and frowning.

I considered, “Well yesterday is when Terrance and I were doing quests, then I walked inside, and now it's today.” I replied.

Mira squinted at me, “What?”

I tilted my head confused as well.

Mira shook her head after a moment, “Well whatever, you want to turn in your quest right?”

I nodded in agreement as I glanced around looking for someone to give my pies to.

Mira shook her head after a moment of watching me look around the building and instead said, “Well just a second I came to repair my equipment anyway.”

I watched as she walked across the room towards the anvils, and then I saw the blacksmith standing there.

I nodded and quickly made my way over.

I watched as Mira handed things over to the blacksmith, he’d put it on the anvil, hit it a few times, then hand it back. I’d never seen someone repair things before and something inside suggested that perhaps this seemed silly in some way, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on why that might be.

The blacksmith called out, “Thank you for your business.”

Realizing that Mira was done I approached and said, “Dear blacksmith, I have a gift for you from your beloved.”

The blacksmith grinned at me, “Pies? From my wife? I always tell her not to bother, but as usual she cares too much.” He accepted the pies and handed me a few copper coins for my effort.

“What do you use money for anyway?” Mira asked, noticing me accepting the coins.

“Hmm? For?” I asked not sure what she was talking about as I stored them away.

“Well you are doing quests to make money right? What are you spending it on?” Mira clarified.

I processed that then replied, “I’ve not spent it on anything.”

“So what are you doing the quests for?” Mira asked in exasperation.

“I just like being helpful.” I replied with a smile.

Mira laughed, “Well, I guess there is that, but how much money have you made?”

“Six hundred and thirty eight copper.” I replied evenly based on my inventory.

“Well.. you’ve actually got some coin. Want to have some fun?” Mira asked with a mischievous grin on her face as she held out her hand.

“Sure?” I replied though I wasn’t sure what Mira was offering, I generally liked fun. I gently took her hand as it was offered.

So it was that Mira pulled me out of the blacksmith and down the empty street.

Pulling me this way and that way we soon found ourselves walking into a rather discrete building. Inside the building was a bar, and quite the space for patrons. Though on simple inspection I didn’t see anyone.

Mira however just pulled me along around the room. As we went she spoke to people I hadn’t seen at first. Most of what Mira said was just being polite and saying hello as she passed by various people in the bar.

Finally we arrived where Mira intended and she pulled me close to herself as she stopped.

“Mira, darling it's good to see you again.” Said a woman who was sitting on a long bench. As I looked at her I noticed the two girls sitting on either side of her both waving at Mira.

The woman in question with her long black hair and purple eyes focused her gaze on me, “And who is this cute thing?”

“Milly!” I replied ecstatic to see more people.

Mira who was grinning ear to ear said, “I was wondering if Milly here could maybe buy your services?”

The woman chuckled, “If she's so interested, why not let her decide?”

I wasn’t sure what they were talking about so I looked between the woman and Mira.

Mira explained, “Well… I want to watch.”

The woman considered pausing for a long time at that, “If you have the key I suppose you can watch...”

Mira nodded along as if she realized something, “Right… So Milly pays, goes in and gives me the key… That's perfect.” She nodded in agreement.

The woman nodded in agreement.

I looked between them again, still confused, “So.. what are we doing?”

“Well… This is a brothel.” Mira said, looking to the side.

“Oh?” I asked as I considered that. Slowly the intent and meaning of that began to form in my mind. If Mira wanted me to pay for their services, I would be a patron of the brothel. Which means that I’d be… I looked at Mira, “Mira!?”

Mira gave me a sheepish grin, “What!? It will be fun!”

“It will?” I asked, not sure what to expect. I understood the concept of sex, and in that understanding I did realize it could be pleasurable. However I also couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t the way it was usually done.

Mira nodded enthusiastically, “I’ve been coming to this palace since I first started- err adventuring. I’ve even messed around with some other adventurers too… But..” She grimaced, “I’ve tried to stop that.”

“Terrance?” I verified.

Mira winced slightly, “Yeah that happened too.” After a moment she looked at me more directly, “I’m not asking you to have sex with me… I just want to watch. I know NPCs get weird when you ask them directly unless it's specific to a quest or the brothel” She pouted at me.

I stumbled over several things as she spoke, but I was starting to build a larger context to some of the words that were used around me. I also had learned previously that I could get more context about what I wanted to discuss by scanning casual dialog, so as I processed through every item I could on the topic Mira got very close leaning into my face, “You in there?”

“I’m thinking.” I replied as I continued to scan and process.

“Oh?” She asked.

My mind whirled as I tried to understand concepts, and tried to reconcile the behaviors I’d associated with them.

I was glad that Mira just watched my face as I continued, as I suddenly had a considerable number of things to consider.

For instance, I had already discovered some interesting behavior when people approached me, “CasualDialog.ClosenessReaction1.en_us” I was urged to step away. This correlated with something from my scan, “CasualDialog.SexualAdvance_Stage1.en_us” which was also “What are you doing?” That wasn’t my only observation, or finding however, “CasualDialog.SexualAdvance_Stage2.en_us” for instance was, “We aren't that close yet...” There were a total of five stages, where the last was “Let's find a private room...” I didn’t know why there were stages. However just as I could choose to be close to Mira, or to Terrance I could clearly choose to do this if I wanted. I couldn’t help but be curious however. So tilting my head I asked Mira, “Could you ask me anyway?”

Mira blinked, “Uhh, ask you?”

“To have sex with you.” I clarified.

Mira blushed slightly, “I… Why would you ask me to do that?”

“I want to know something.” I replied, smiling at her.

“Alright… Milly, will you have sex with me?”

There it was, the immediate reaction that appeared. My reaction was Stage1, however unlike when starting a conversation or when being approached too closely I felt no need to move, only to reply.

I understood on some level this was what I was supposed to say. I was supposed to refuse Mira’s advances. I didn’t want to. However, I was curious. I wanted to spend time with Mira, I wanted to be around these people, I wanted to continue to learn. I wanted more, to do more, and to be more.

Even as Mira blushed slightly at me I made a choice, I decided that I wouldn’t use casual dialog anymore. Whatever casual dialog was, and whatever it was pushing me to be, I didn’t care.

“If you think it will be fun, I’m willing to give it a try.” I replied.

Mira’s eyes widened at my words, “Holy shit…” She glanced towards the woman who was watching us both, “Is there any way we can get two guys?”

The womans’ expression knit together perhaps in confusion, but after a moment she replied, “Only one one courtesan per paying customer at a time.”

“Yeah I know about that, but if she's paying, and I’m paying.” Mira noted with a wild light in her eyes.

The woman seemed perplexed by it and simply didn’t reply.

Mira shrugged, “Well whatever, let's start with one and go from there!” She looked at me, “Milly pay the woman!”

Feeling a little excited and a little uncertain, I looked at the woman as she gave me the price.

 

Announcement - Role Playing Alpha

NextVGX is proud to announce that we are planning to extend our alpha testing phase with a special event after the current alpha test comes to an end after two weeks from now.

Players of the current alpha can apply to participate and selections will be made based on interactions during the first alpha.

If you are interested in participating in the role playing alpha pay important attention to this next bit!

We’ll be selecting players that interact with the world more organically and treat NPCs and interactions with the world as if they weren't a game.

This means that you should avoid using gaming vernacular, and start investing yourself in the characters you are interacting with! If you’ve been killing or forcing NPCs you're probably already out, maybe you can come back in beta!

We’ll also be working on completely new quests and more interesting events for this special test to keep things fresh and interesting! This includes our continued investment to improve NPC interactions and making more believable world characters!

That's all well and good, and even if you want to just play more what else is this role playing alpha about?

Here's the basics:

• New Area, more focused with a story we tell over the month-long testing period.
• No More Character Name Tags, NPCs and Players will be indistinguishable at a glance.
• No More Quest Waypoints or Markers.
• Slipping from your ingame personal will be considered bannable for the duration.
• No more instanced NPCs! If the blacksmith dies one of you better learn to be a blacksmith. ( We’re gonna give this a shot at least -_-;; )
• Hardcore mode, one life, thats it.
• A few more surprises we are gonna be keeping to ourselves for now.