The following two weeks turned out to be an upheaval in Murphy’s life. He had never taken off such a long time off social media and the internet. He found the experience strangely soothing, and for his first time in years his mind laid still.No dopamine to chase after. No comments or new shiny headlines drawing his eyes left and right. Just the silence of his own mind, and Blinkie, I suppose. Though, even the latter was more subdued as of late. As long as he completed his daily routine, she had little to nag about. As such, they didn’t converse until the very end of their challenge.His brother had never stopped ringing him since the second day, overly enthused about the small gains he was making. When they crossed the 100 grand threshold, he was outright spooked and thought Murphy was in some trouble. How else would he know what pump and dump scheme would fail or rise to the moon?After a million, he even forgot he’d been sworn to secrecy and shared the news with his family. As a
Ellie wasn’t joking about taking things seriously. If the first three quests were about empowering him and getting his life in order, the fourth was a major first step towards eroding his nightmare.To prevent his dream from repeating, he had to steer reality as far away from it as possible with his limited resources. Naturally, he couldn’t do anything against billion dollar companies, even if he had money. Some interests went beyond money. If someone had a vision they believed in, only power could topple it. For now, he had neither strength nor enough money to make a difference.So, the system steered him where he could make a difference — writers. They were the free thinkers in a healthy society. Beggars though most were, their ideas would illuminate others and brighten their lives. Their stories later birthed movies and shows that slowly but surely shaped entire generations. Not to toot the horn too loudly, but their role was indeed pivotal.« Quest #4 has been issued: »Conditio
« I believe it is a sound plan, Murphy. The hard part will be acquiring enough credibility and the means to contest QiE-Novel in court. But, you are on the right path. » “Hm, you’re right. It only sounds simple on paper…” Whipping out a stack of papers, Murphy proceed to jut down his ideas. While he was much faster on a keyboard, he found himself much more easily engrossed while penning things down the old fashioned way. Each stroke required a conscious effort, allowing him to sink into the mirage of words without anything holding him back. In that hypnotic rhythm, he wrote and discarded paper after paper, each new plan a little more viable than the rest. « Reminder, you have a pending sub-meeting with Elend. It starts in five minutes. » “Hm? What the hell is a submeeting?” Rotating his wrist, he noticed only now how sore it felt. His eyes required some rest too, so he resigned the work for latter. « Two weeks ago, you decided to share with her your dreams in exchange for her
With the nucleus of his plan as well ironed out as he could make it, Murphy immediately reached out to ‘old friends’. There were in fact people he never met or spoke with in his life, but they used to be reputable authors on QiE-Novel in the future. They were just as confused as you are when Murphy slid in their private messages with the offer of a lifetime. To begin with, some of them hadn’t even signed contracts yet.If there was one good thing about his generation, it was that they had a low tolerance for bullshit. Unfortunately, their attention spans were just as low, so few gave him the time of day. Out of the fifteen or so people he reached out to, at least a dozen blocked him immediately.Looking back, he also thought Elend to have been a bot once upon a time. Now it was his turn to be misunderstood. ‘I’m basically giving free money… Why won’t you listen!?’« Your offer is too good to be true, which in their view is no different from a scam. »“Yeah, but they can do their du
Murphy spent the night entangled with his muse. When dawn came, he finally obeyed his tired body and took a break. Though, while his muscles protested, his mind had never been more acute. He felt refreshed, and savored his tea with a renewed taste for life. One could even go as far as to say he was happy.‘Me? Happy?’ The thought gave him pause, “For the life of me, I can’t remember the last time I felt like this.”« That’s nice and all, but we have a problem. Check your emails. »“Another love letter from QiE-Novel?” « Indeed. I would take this one a little serious, though. »Curious, he read through and laughed, “Just empty threats. It’s Europe we live in.”Seeing as Murphy didn’t relent even after his ads were taken down, they took the next step any reasonable entity would. Death threats.Next to his address, they attached a few other tidbits they scoured about him on the internet. He didn’t take them seriously, though. Their doxing didn’t pick up any more than he would have ma
By he time he ended his shopping spree, Murphy was a reborn man. He wore a fancy new black suit — one of them expensive Italian ones. He knew nothing about suits, of course, but the lady at the counter said he looked very presentable. Paired with the new haircut and well trimmed beard, he stood out positively in the crowd of middle aged men. That’s as high a compliment as he could get, anyway. Having been worked to the brink of collapse for several weeks in a row, his frame developed as if on steroids. Well defined muscles adorned his body, and he was almost uncomfortable with the differences it made. Tickling the fancy of a few ladies, he even earned himself a few not so subtle eye invitations. Sadly, with a nefarious chip in his head, he didn’t feel like starting to date now. « Good choice. Do bear in mind I can control your bodily functions. Even down there… » “Sheesh, I got it…” Almost choking on his desert, he was left to wonder why the system would go as far as to cock
Like a past illusion, the flames searing his flesh vanished. Unsure if his nerves were fried or if he was dreaming, he squinted his eyes open, then closed them back up in fright.‘I’m still burning!’« Open your eyes, Murphy. The flames can no longer hurt you, but you will definitely choke to death if you linger there. »‘What do you mean they can’t hurt me? What did you do?’« It’s best if you felt it on your own. »He was choking and wouldn’t be able to hold much longer anyway, so he could only trust her and open his eyes again. This time, he took reign over his fear and stared into the depths of crimson hell. Then, he realizes he wasn’t burning. The flame was merely embracing him, shrouding him in warm and amiable comfort. Like a return to one’s home, he felt strangely at peace in their midst.Only when his lungs protested again did he snap out of his reverie and jump to the floor. « Congratulations on unlocking Pyrokinesis I. Other than heat resistance, it will also allow you to
« You’re all alone now. I can’t do much more. »“Can’t you alert the cops? Send them the location and all that?”« They might dispose of you before the warrant is ever signed. Mind you, this is Romania. Everyone is on some payroll or another. »“Well, shit. What can I do?”He tried to twist out of his bindings, but whoever tied him was surely a professional. Even the blindfold refused to come undone, no matter how much he turned his head.« Use your brain, Murphy. »“Yeah, why not pour salt on my wounds… I’m not miserable enough as it is. I bet I look like a butter fried cousin of Frankenstein, too.”« I meant that advice literally. You are not a mere human. Use your Numen powers — mind over matter. Your Pyrokinesis isn’t for nothing. »“Oh…” he blushed in embarrassment, “Fine. Here goes nothing.”Squinting his eyes, he focused back to his feelings when he’d unveiled the second code. Other than a lot of panic, he also felt the flames. The intimacy he felt then was now absent, but he s