14 Taking it Slow

     Veronica ended up waking me up. She took the liberty of having an alarm set for 8:30 after she closed the blinds while I was asleep. The smell of sizzling bacon would lead me to the kitchen, where Veronica stood in as she prepared breakfast. 

     There was the previously mentioned bacon, eggs, and even some hash browns. 

     I was surprised to see all this. As I rubbed my eyes, I said, "Smells pretty good. I'm surprised, though… you're still here."

     "Of course I'd still be here. Why would I leave?" She asked. Her attention was stuck to the pan of hash browns. "I…" I paused, I really didn't know why. She saw me as a friend, so…

      "I've never had someone over before… or be lucky enough to see them when I wake up to at least hang out for a bit." Because of my shitty luck, girls were off the table when it came to having them stay the night. I wasn't all that charismatic. High school ended up being the worst years of my life. I started to become a shut-in after a while. Veronica poked my forehead and slammed a plate full of food in front of me. She sprinkled the right amount of salt with a bit of pepper on the eggs. I sat down with her on my bed and pulled out my phone. 

     She stared at me, her brow furrowed and she leaned over my shoulder. "What're you looking at?"

     "Information. Knowing more and more about Royal Star inside and out is far more beneficial than going in blind." 

     "Anything new?"

     "Yeah. Normal Quests, Event Quests, and Unique Quests. The three major types of quests in the game." 

     "Something is special about them, I'm guessing?" She asked many questions, and luckily I had the answers.

     "All three are possible for all players. Normal quests are standard and can be completed by multiple people even after someone already completed it. It resets all progress back to zero for a new player trying to complete it. Event Quests are issued periodically by the administrators, and are basically raids. Giant monsters that are too strong for just a standard party of four. You'd need at least one hundred players or so." I paused as I looked at the information given for Unique Quests.

     "Unique Quests… are entirely new quests that have never been thought of by the administrators. In essence, they are constantly evolving quests after they diverge from the set path in the game's code. The first quest we went on? It became a Unique Quest as soon as the Ogre broke down the wall. It would have started if we ended up following it." 

     "One last thing… Unique Quests can become event quests after a month of not being completed. Not real time, but in game time. So, we need to level up fast and find it."

     Veronica seemed to be having trouble understanding all the information, so she returned to eating her food. She finished her entire plate and looked at me once more, saying, "But, that Ant Warrior…" 

     "If it was able to evolve and level up from killing monsters… then the same can happen to the Ogre…" 

     It does make me think… 

     How did they code a game that is capable of making events on the spot?

〈◇◇◇〉

     "Sir!" One man yelled out across a long table, one stretching across most of the board room. Atop it would be a number of tablets, with one person each in front of every single one of them. Fifteen people sat in their chairs, all circling the table. The man who blurted out stood up with his hands slamming on the table. He looked directly at a man sitting at the very end of the table, his feet on the table with his thin-rimmed, rectangular glasses tucked in one of his pockets. He wore a different set of glasses, ones with barely tinted lenses. His brown hair was slicked back while he wore a black suit and tie with matching pants and shoes. The tie itself was loosely tied around his neck, almost coming undone.

     "What is it now? Quit yelling and just tell me what you wanna say." He was incredibly nonchalant, like he was hardly listening in to the board meeting happening in front of him. 

     The rest of them also wore suits with ties, but appeared far more professional. The room fell silent after the outburst. He sighed heavily, readjusting his glasses.

     The man standing grew visibly angry. "How can you not see the reports of a user playing with an unstable account? He has no class! How can you stand by and let this happen!?"

     "Because I want to see how this plays out, dumbass." He took his feet off the table and stood up. "This game is set in a world with infinite possibilities, meaning an infinite number of things can happen that not even the game's code can comprehend. It is why we made it an evolving code. One that we let marinate in the sun for a few days just to see what happens when it experiences the outside world." He pointed at the other man, his hand mimicking the shape of a gun. 

     "The people made it what it is! As such, it understands people! It understands their desires! Maybe some kid had something that the code found meaningful? Do you really want to rid it of what it desires as well? I say we watch and see what happens!" 

     "But Mr. Chairman!" A young female stood up as well, her eyes glaring at the man.

     "How many times do I gotta say it?"

     He slammed his foot onto the table, shaking it violently. "If anyone else has an objection, feel free to speak out. But know that I ain't letting you stay here for any longer." He turned and exited the room. 

     As he walked down a busy hallway, he opened a door with the words "Chairman's Office" written on it in a gold plated font. He flicked a light switch up to turn on the chandelier hanging above his desk. It was silver in color with one burned out bulb. The rest were functioning well, however. He glanced over at his nameplate that was at the front of his desk. The name "Christopher Phos" written upon it. He sat down in his chair and picked up a headset. It was not the original helmet-esque design that was given to the public. "Phos" was written on the back of it and it took the appearance of a pair of goggles. He placed them over his eyes and pushed a button. 

     He was sent into Royal Star, and he logged in with a character he already made. "Let's just see what has been going on in the world."

〈◇◇◇〉

     "Can you please explain to me why I'm getting all this stuff? Who the hell needs two rice cookers?" I asked Veronica, who was making a break for the food court. Her and I ended up going on a shopping spree despite my protests against it. The entire place was as populated as usual. It didn't help that it was a Sunday, either. On a day like this, people try and shop like it's the end of the world. I just buy the essentials to get it over with. If it's a good day, then I'll try to get a new game. I usually save up to get whatever new console is out on the market because I'm more neutral to this kind of stuff. I like what consoles bring to the table. 

     Veronica turned around with a big smile on her face. She said to me, "One for you, one for me!" 

     I sighed. She seemed to be completely fine with buying crazy expensive stuff. On the way here she constantly talked about how her parents are incredibly rich. She always paid them back so they let her buy whatever. If only my parents were like that. I had one of the rice cookers under my armpit and she held hers in her arms. As she turned around, she accidentally bumped into someone. She made a yelping sound before taking a few steps backward. She looked up and saw a man wearing thin glasses and blonde hair. It looked like it had been freshly cut. The guy raised his hand and waved at Veronica, and then looked at me, and waved again. 

     "No. You've got to be kidding me…" I said in disbelief. I wanted this interaction to be in some kind of dream as soon as I looked at the guy in the eyes. He smiled at me and Veronica. 

     "Hey guys! Betcha anything that you didn't expect me to be here of all places!" 

     This guy happened to be the idiot we met in Royal Star… 

     "Have you guys forgotten me already?"