"I am a first-year student without any spells. I would like to know if there are any missions that I can take?" Kai asked the fair-skinned receptionist.
"Oh! Sure. There are currently three of them. Pick whichever you want. However, remember that food, accommodations, and any other expenses you face will not be handled by the Sect. You will only be given the reward, and only after your task completion has been confirmed."
"Sure," Kai nodded as he looked over the three options he had.
Mission – Investigate the rumours about God at…
Reward – 20 Mana Crystals
Mission – Investigate the rumours about the undead at…
Reward – 30 Mana Crystals
Mission – Investigate the rumours about the immortal beings at…
Reward – 50 Mana Crystals
"Why are the rewards varying?"
"Because each one of them is further away from where we are now, and thus will take that long to get there and back safely. It has all been calculated, so you can choose either of them based on your preference."
"Alright then, I'll that the one with 50 Mana crystals"
"Please hand over your ring."
"???"
"You ring."
"Ah!" Kai belatedly understood which ring she was talking about and took off the Bluestone Sect's ring, and handed it over to her.
"Alright. It is done. Kai, you have now accepted this mission. You have 4 hours to make your preparations and leave the Battle Hall. You also have 1 month to complete the task and return back here. For each day you report late, a Mana crystal will be deducted until 10 Mana crystals remain. Your destination is the town of Jird, in the northernmost region of the Bluestone Duchy. Good luck… and stay safe."
The receptionist muttered the last bits under her breath. Being part of the same sect, she naturally did not wish anyone harm and hoped that everyone returned safely from missions. However, the reality was harsh, and often disappointing as the survival rates for Rank 0 apprentices who had just grasped a single spell is just over 20%.
'Thankfully, this disciple had not learnt a spell yet, so he should be able to return safely.' The receptionist hoped in her heart as he tended to the next in line for accepting or completing missions.
…
Going back a few days, on a brownish-grey planet called Earth…
"Non-Player Entities have been initialised into their backgrounds."
"Current Run Time for the Player Interface has been set to 2 weeks in-game."
"All systems are a go!"
"Haha! Mark, it seems as though everything is ready?" An aged man with a surprisingly sturdy build laughed while taking a tip from his vintage, pre-war era whiskey, his military green uniform bearing no kinks or folds as though it had just come out of the press.
"Of course, Angus! You spent all that time and money to get me the mental samples of ten million individuals within just 5 years. Considering today's strict monitoring, this must have been quite the task since each individual sample would mean another body to dispose of."
"Oh, don't mention it, Mark. I owe your father at least this much." The elderly man named Angus laughed the compliment off as though it was nothing, but if this conversation were to get leaked to the outside world, the repercussions would be immense.
"But thanks to this, I was able to create the perfect Artificial Intelligence Algorithm."
"You have never actually explained to me what all of this would be used for… in simple words, please. I'm not a man of science like you."
"True, but you are a man of your word, and for that, I would like to give you 30% of this company. If nothing else, think of it as my father's last memory."
"… Sigh, alright."
"Anyways, with the mental samples, I was able to create a program which is able to create artificial intelligence on its own. Not the ones which are used to track humans on Earth, or calculate impossible solutions, but the kind that is reactive, able to store as much data in their minds as us humans, able to rationalise based on morals they develop with time, and are fully self-aware! I created Humans in a game!"
"The only downside is that I can no longer control the Ais within each human, and they will continue to grow, evolve, reproduce, and die based on a set of natural laws. These laws are based on our reality, with just a few changes to add a more fantasy theme to the game. Anyhow, we will now begin Alpha testing for this game, and if it is successful, we can begin our advertisement campaigns, which of course includes Beta testing, and finally, we will release the game, earning money not just from the individual sales of the product, but also of a continuous subscription fee and in-app purchases."
"So…?"
"It will take at least a month or two for us to earn anything from the pre-release sales of our game. That should be around 5 years in-game time if we include the 'time warping' which will accelerate its time by a lot when nobody is logged into the game."
"Without further ado, let the Alpha testing begin!" Mark spoke into an earpiece.
"Beginning Alpha Testing."
"Well, I guess there is only one thing left to do… Goodbye," Angus raised his glass, while also raising a small cringe filled with a strange yellow liquid, and thrusting it onto the neck of the second person in the meeting room.
"Cheers- Wait What!???" Those were Mark's last words as his life ended then and there.
"You think I spend all those resources for you to make a game? Do you even know the worth of what you have created? A Game? Is that all you could think of? I am truly disappointed little nephew… just like your father, too narrow-minded to see the real opportunities in life."
"Alright, come in and take over everything. However, make sure you do not touch any of the electronics until the tech support arrives. Apparently, this world cannot be recreated without a certain factor who is currently dead. Also, make sure to keep as many programmers and engineers alive as you can…Over."
"Copy that! Operation Badger is a go!"