Slam… Slam… Slam…
The repetitive sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the small building. A burly man that was covered in sweat and muscles swung his hammer countless times to bring shape to his newest work of art.
This man's name is Tunir. He is the number one blacksmith in the city of Renevault.
Tunir, like many others around him, is an NPC in the game called "Imagriso Online."
Imagriso Online is a massively multiplayer online role playing game that was released earlier this year. The game boasts seemingly infinite quests and a dynamic storyline which changes from day to day. The non-playable characters in this game are designed with state of the art artificial intelligence which enables them to act in a manner that makes them indistinguishable from real human beings.
The plot of the game revolves around a rift opening and an alien force coming to attack this fantasy land. An unnamed deity has begun bringing in heroes from another world to battle the threat that attacks their land. These heroes are called "Players."
Players are not immediately capable of vanquishing the foes that they face. They must prepare, and that is where we get back to Tunir.
Renevault is the city that every player begins their journey at. Fortunately for them, Tunir is capable of making the finest weapons and armor for anyone, so long as he has the materials.
Today is a day like any other for Tunir. As always, he is working on the forge.
"Haah…" He let out as he wiped the perspiration on his brow away. "The sword is just about done…"
Tunir turned around and saw a man standing on his countertop and staring off into space. Though something like this would frighten him in the past, now it was a standard sight. This person before Tunir is the player that requested this sword.
"Thank you, Tunir." The player stated in a robotic tone as he took the sword that was handed to him and gave Tunir 50 gold pieces in return.
"Come back any time!" Tunir shouted out, but it doesn't seem like the player listened to him as they immediately sprinted out of the door as soon as they received the sword.
"Phew…" Tunir sighed. Ever since the first player appeared in his shop and received one of his works, Tunir has been inundated with requests from hundreds of different players. Tunir has received so many requests that other blacksmiths in town have begun to give him a hard time by saying that he is stealing their business.
Before Tunir had any time to contemplate his situation, someone else entered his shop. This person looks fairly nervous and is walking around slowly.
"Hello, I saw you had a quest for me?" The person that entered asked in a monotone voice which heavily contrasted with their appearance.
"Yes! Recently in the foothold hills mine there have been a few kobolds that have been bothering some miners. That mine is where I get most of my metal from so the miners being bothered is preventing me from creating any items!" Tunir sadly stated. Tunir has no idea why he says this every time someone asks him about a quest, but it's automatic. He's pretty sure he should go to visit a priest or a doctor to get this fixed.
"Understood. What will I receive in return for doing this?" The player asked in a monotone voice once more.
"I'll give you 20 gold, 50 experience points, and a single item of common quality from my shop!" Tunir declared. He doesn't know where the item or the gold comes from, nor does he know what "experience points" are, but whenever someone completes a quest the money and item that the person wants appears beside him, as if magically.
"I accept the quest." The player flatly stated before running out of the store. Despite the fact that Tunir didn't even touch this person's map, he's almost entirely certain that this person will know exactly where to go. Every person that has done this quest prior has also gone to the exact same location. Now that he thinks about it, why are there still kobolds in this mine? They've been exterminated hundreds of times at this point so they should be gone for good!
Once again, before Tunir could collect his thoughts on the matter, another person quickly entered the shop and inspected every item on the shelves with incredible speed before finally jumping on the counter in front of him.. Tunir has never seen this person before either, but he made the educated guess to say that this person is a player.
"Quest." The man stated flatly.
Tunir repeated the same line that he told the person prior to this one.
"Rewards." The person demanded.
Tunir explained the rewards as he had before.
"I'll accept this quest." The player on the counter declared flatly.
Above this player's head, a strange speech bubble appeared and read out a single sentence.
"Lmao this quest is garbage!"
Driven by frustration and the constant work that came from these players, Tunir decided to do something he hasn't been able to do yet. Tunir slowly looked up and made eye contact with the player that was standing on his countertop.
"No… I don't want you to take this quest…" Tunir quietly said.
Suddenly, a translucent brown rectangle appeared in front of the player and read out the words "Quest Failed!" on it.
Another speech bubble appeared above the players head.
"Woah what? This old guy just denied my quest! This game sucks, I'm leaving."
With that, the player disappeared like a bubble that had just been popped.
Tunir stared in awe for a moment. He has no idea what just happened. What was that screen that appeared in front of him? Where did the player go? What did he mean by "game"?
As Tunir had begun to contemplate, someone that was not a player entered his smithy. This person was a youthful looking woman that was wearing a thin brown dress. She comes to this shop at exactly noon every single day to talk to Tunir. Her name is Jeresa and she is the daughter of one of Tunir's lifelong friends.
"Good afternoon, Tunir. How has your day been so far?" She asked.
"Ah… Today has been the same as usual. Players have been coming from left and right to get into my shop." Tunir replied.
"That's good! It means you're popular!" She shouted out while giving a thumbs up.
"Well, that's one way to see it. I see it differently…" Tunir trailed off.
"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Jeresa asked.
Tunir placed a hand on his chin and began to speak. "Lately they've just been rushing through the conversations to get to a quest or something lately. I don't even have time to think anymore!"
"Ah, but that just means they're trying to become strong! It is our duty as inhabitants of this world to help the players that were summoned by the great deity in any way we can!"
"Well… about that…" Tunir began.
"Hm?" Jeresa tilted her head slightly.
"Today, I denied a player the opportunity to go on a quest and he just disappeared! It was like he evaporated into thin air! I wouldn't believe it happened if I didn't see it for myself!" Tunir shouted out.
"Wait, you… denied a player a quest?" Jeresa opened her eyes widely.
"Yes. I just said I didn't want him to take the quest and then this weird screen appeared!"
"I didn't know you could deny players their ability to receive a quest from you! This changes a lot of things…" Jeresa trailed off as she cupped her chin.
"What do you mean by that?" Tunir asked.
"Well… I appreciate what the players have been doing for us, but don't you think they could be a bit more respectful?" Jeresa began.
"Yes, I agree with that." Tunir replied.
"Well… What if we only gave quests to people that were respectful when they were asking for the quest? Players can't give each other quests so they'd be forced to be respectful to us!" Jeresa slammed her fist into her palm with a cunning smile.
Before Tunir was able to reply to Jeresa, another player ran into the smithy and asked in a monotone voice "Quest?"
Tunir could not stop himself from giving the quest explanation to the player, nor could Jeresa.
"Reward?" The player lifelessly asked.
Before he could say anything, a desire came over him.
"Don't bother. Try being nice and we'll give you a quest." Tunir stated out loud.
Suddenly, two of the translucent rectangular boxes appeared in front of the player. Both of the boxes read out the same words: Quest failed.
A speech bubble appeared above the player.
"Wait, I have to be nice to the NPC's? That's dumb. I'm just gonna assume that's a glitch and come back later."
With that, the player sprinted out of the smithy.
Tunir and Jeresa quickly locked gazes before Tunir finally spoke. "Jeresa, I think this could work!"