World Keeper

Chapter 38: Systems Update

I talked a little while more with Aurivy before I let her go back to watching shows with Terra. When I tried to call Terra to talk with her, she just smiled knowingly to me. “Don’t worry, Dale. I’ll let you know if I want anything from the system, trust me. Worry about what the others want first.”

I could only smile, nodding my head to her as I went to talk with the only god left. Though, I had only talked to Tryval recently, so I didn’t expect there to be much he’d want to discuss. Nonetheless, I sent him a message to come to the Admin Room to chat.

Moments later, I heard hooves falling onto the floor of the bedroom behind me. Turning around, I saw Tryval standing there, his face a calm mask while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. “My liege. You requested to see me?”

“That’s right. I had something I wanted to ask you.” He gave a slow nod for me to continue. “Is there anything you think would help with the system to manage the centaurs, or things that need to be changed?”

Tryval’s eye twitched, but a slight smile appeared on his face for a moment. “Yes, yes there is. This quest system you’ve created, seems to be causing more chaos in the day it has existed than anything else.”

My eyes went wide as I heard that. “What? What’s been going on?”

“People promising absurd things as insults, and then being forced to carry them out against their will, without even a chance to deny issuing the quest that caused it.” This seemed amusing to him, but to me this was big news! I mean, having a purely verbal contract is one thing, but having that contract formed from everything you say is entirely different!

“I-I see. I’ll have to take a look at that, then. Anything else?”

Tryval nodded again, making me worry that even more upsetting news was coming. However, his request seemed to be something else entirely. “I would like permission to interact with my people again, on some scale at least.”

“Tryval… you do know why I stopped you from doing that before, right?” He gave another slight nod. “We can’t have you radically advancing the centaurs’ level of power like that. It was fine when they really needed it, but now they have to be left to fend for themselves.”

“I’m not sure you entirely understand, my liege.” Tryval spoke calmly. “We are a social people by nature. A lone centaur is nothing without the herd. Even if I do not interact with many, it is still best that I am allowed to meet some of them.”

“You just miss having sex with them, don’t you?” I asked bluntly, watching as Tryval twitched slightly from that statement, then looked away guiltily. “I’ll make you a deal. You can have one concubine at a time, but you have to follow certain rules.” He quickly looked back at me, both interested and concerned with where this was going.

“First, you can’t have children with them, without permission. It will probably happen later on, but there have been enough demigod centaurs for a while. Next, either your concubine will be away from the other herds, or you will restrain your power to prevent anyone from identifying you as a god. See the previous reasons, they need their own chance to grow. Now, aside from that, you can visit the afterlife as much as you’d like, with Irena’s permission, and meet with the women you used to know.”

Tryval seemed a bit despondent that he could no longer freely have kids, but this was ultimately for the good of the world. And, it would save me headaches later on. “Very well, my liege. I will follow your command.”

Without waiting for me to dismiss him, Tryval vanished from the room. Well… at least he was the last one. I gave a slight sigh, but furrowing my brows and sitting at the computer. I now had a new mission, before I could even give Bihena a personality, or the karma system. I had to fix the quest system! Why did it have to be broken that badly?

Opening up the notepad program on my computer, I thought back to the complaints that Tryval had mentioned regarding this system, and ways that I could counter them. I wanted to allow some freedom for creativity with the inhabitants, while also creating a fair system. In the end, I listed a few bullet points for the rules that I wanted to use for the new quest system.

I looked through the list once, then twice, making sure that there wasn’t anything too obvious I was missing. I already knew that this system could be abused, but this was as strict as I could make it, while still allowing the inhabitants freedom to be creative with it. Satisfied with this, I submitted it as a system to the market.

Quest Contracts

Using this system, it is possible to create a binding contract. This contract holds the details of the quest, as issued by the quest giver, as well as the potential rewards. Upon completion of the quest, the quest taker receives the reward directly from the contract, whereas the quest giver is refunded the reward upon a failure. The reward may be anything the quest giver describes, so long as it is within their power to provide.

Game Setting required

125 points

I was a bit shocked by the drastically increased price of the system, but it was also reasonable. The mistakes from the original system likely dropped the price down, while this was a more complete version. I was annoyed at how the market never fully describes the rules of the systems listed, but there wasn’t really much I could do to change that.

Now, the next problem… Furrowing my brows, I got up to consult Terra again, who was sitting on the couch with Aurivy still. “Got a second?”

She looked over to me, nodding, and patted the seat next to her. Aurivy was sitting on her lap, eyes glued to the screen. They seemed to be watching some anime that I was unfamiliar with. “What’s up?”

“Well… I wanted to know if it was possible to delete or refund a current system?”

She smiled knowingly. “Wanting to upgrade the quest system?” When I nodded my head, she answered. “You can refund a system at any time, but only for half price. The only way to get all of your points back would be to do a full reset. Otherwise, people could just constantly buy and refund the same system to give free royalty points to the inventing Keeper.”

I gave a sigh of relief when she said that, smiling slightly. “Good. Was afraid I might be stuck with this.” She giggled lightly when I said that, and I closed my eyes to refund the old system, before buying the new one. “Guess I’ll have to write up another announcement to let people know how this works, now…”

Terra grinned wickedly at that. “Well, you could just be vague, and let them figure it out themselves.”

“No… Well, I’m not going to tell them everything, but I won’t just say something like ‘hey, there’s a new quest menu, have fun’. That would be a bad idea, even to me.” I shook my head, standing up from the couch. “I’ll be back to join you two after I finish this.” Terra nodded as I left, and I had the feeling Aurivy never even noticed I had entered the room.

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Introducing the third major update, providing an overhaul of the previous quest system. Now, anyone can access a new quest menu to create quests. The specifics of the quests themselves are similar to what was previously allowed, though there is now more freedom for both parties. Everyone is again encouraged to do their best to obtain greater power, and contribute to the advance of their communities!

The voice, it came again. No more than a day had passed since the world stood still for its last announcement, and now people were already reminded of it. Those who had experienced firsthand the horrors of the previous quest system felt a new sense of terror overcome them.

Those who already had quests issued to them, either knowingly or not, found a strange bundle of pale leather in their possession covered in unknown scribbles. It was only when they tried to figure out what it was that their own voices appeared in their minds, reminding them of their previously issued quests. Many of these people tried in vain to destroy the leather bundles, either with strength, or fire, or even cutting it. Some even tried to hide it away, or give them to others to escape their inevitable punishment.

All of it was in vain, as the quest contracts would always find their way back to the one who issued it. The lucky ones were released from their burdens when the person who held the matching contract destroyed their own, but many found themselves still bound by their prior words. For such people, the previous day became a nightmare, the first dark holiday. To them, it would forever be the Day of Promises.

Many more people were concerned with this voice’s increasingly common appearance. Until recently, it had never before spoken to the world. Would this voice continue to plague them with its shows of power?

In the underworld, people began to gather around the courtyard of the Goddess’s palace. However, they were not here to see her. Rather, they would stare at the monument that had appeared between announcements. Without exception, each person was looking at the pillar between the deities. To them, that faceless pillar was the true master of the heavens, the one who passes down the laws of the world.

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You have earned a personal achievement!

For solidifying your position in the eyes of your people as an almighty being, you have earned the Godking achievement. +15 points and Aura of the Almighty

“What the hell?!”