Beers and Beards-Chapter 82Book 4, : Winning the Game?

Back upstairs I was surprised to see that Rumbob and Whistlemop had been replaced at the table by a few other faces I recognized.

“Val! Berry! Joseph! Um, Lord Yi.” I gave a cheery wave and then a cautious bow.

“Master made it!” Mirelda said with joy, reaching out to fill his glass back up to full from a bottle of Soju.

I winced, watching the soju rapidly disappear. “Is that from my personal – of course it is.”

Mirelda grinned. “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is –”

“Your Master’s, how could I forget,” I grumbled pulling up a chair and joining the group.

“This… space of yours is very interesting, Peter.” Yi said, looking around. “The chi in it is quite strong and… new? It’s an odd feeling, like a child’s chi, and yet it is the land itself.”

“It was just created by the Gods in the past year, Master,” Mirelda explained.

“That could be it.” Yi nodded. “And this Inn is as grand as any pagoda in Murim. It makes me want to have a good old fashioned duel while jumping between the levels. Ah, those were the days.” He sighed contentedly as he drank his soju. “My apprentice was just telling us of your adventurers in South Erden.”

“Not everything, I hope.” I smirked. Mirelda’s ears turned red and she hit me in the shoulder.

“Gods, you two are worse than me an’ Jo.” Berry rolled her eyes.

I crooked an eyebrow at her in disagreement. “Oh really? Do you know what rumours I was hearing about you two from Val?”

“No. What!? What rumours??”

Val whistled a little tune and tried to hide behind Yi as Berry turned an angry glare his way.

I grinned maliciously. “There was a bit about a hot-tub, and some chocolate, and –”

“Anyways!” Joseph coughed, his face betraying not a single emotion other than smooth contentment. “We were talking about how everyone’s influence quests are doing. See if we can guess who’s going to win.”

I gave a wary look at Yi. “Does… it matter? I mean does anyone here really care?”

Yi snorted. “I’ve never even looked. I don’t care, and dislike being reminded that the Gods are watching my every move.”

“He’s just mad that he’s losing.” Val tittered.

“I’m not losing, I just refuse to play the game.” Yi ground out.

“I’m at level eight for gnomes, level seven for dwarves, and level five for everyone else except for dragons,” Berry chirped. “I think I have a good shot.”

Mirelda sighed. “I haven’t gotten an update on my quests in a while, so I’m clearly not in the running. But Pete, you’ve been doing well, haven’t you?”

I pulled up my quests and status sheet with a snap of my finger and considered them. “Hmmm…

Status: Provided by the Firmament

Name: Peter Roughtuff

Age: 55

Conditions: None

Race: Dwarf

Blessings: [Flesh of Stone], [Flash of Insight x 2], [Strength of All: Held], [Regeneration], [Map], [Refine Brew], [Lesser Crafter’s Eye], [Lesser Mana Crafting], [Dimensional Dungeon], [Discerning Palate], [Yearn’s Dungeonwalk], [Fetch Monster].

Title: [Yearn’s Dungeon Tender]

Milestones: [Power Pick], [Basic Slash], [White Lie], [Mental Maths], [Thick Skin], [Friend: Gnomes], [Long Stride],[Sense Poison],[Spot Clean], [Unbending], [Rapid Aging], [Wayfinder], [Project Voice], [Friend: Humans], [Friend: Monsters], [Friend: Beastfolk]

Strength: 23.3

Vitality: 22

Agility: 16.7

Dexterity: 17.6

Wisdom: 19.6

Taken from novelbuddy, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Intelligence: 22.1

Perception: 19.4

Charisma: 24

Dwarven Influencer Part 10/10

The dwarves need your help. Influence 10,000,000 dwarves with your otherworldly alcohol knowledge.

Dwarves Influenced: 4,233,454/10,000,000

Rewards: 1 x [Deific Advent]

Gnomish Influencer Part 9/10!

The gnomes need your help. Influence 4,000,000 gnomes with your otherworldly alcohol knowledge.

Gnomes influenced: 1,924,456/4,000,000

Rewards: 1 x [Deific Intervention]

Elven Influencer 7/10

Dunno how well this gonna go with just beer, to be honest.

Maybe some wine?

Elves Influenced: 523,412/1,000,000

Rewards: [Friend: Elves]

Human Influencer Part 8/10

Giants have giant tastes, and I’m looking forward to a beer that can satisfy them!

Humans Influenced: 35,124/2,000,000

Rewards: 1 x [Karmic Reversal]

Beastfolk Influencer Part 5/10

Aaron thinks that giving you credit for this by using the Spiritual Nectar is cheating. Your other Meads count for certain though. Too bad you have so much competition.

Beastfolk Influenced: 39,244/100,000

Rewards: +0.5 Wisdom

“I’m at level ten for dwarves, level nine for gnomes, level seven for elves, eight for humans, and five for beastfolk. My level ten dwarves quest has slowed down a lot recently, so I’m pretty sure it’s not going to finish before the end of the game.”

Berry’s face fell. “Oh.”

“I’m at level ten for elves and level eight for everyone else.” Joseph said with a cool smile. "Except dragons, of course." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“What!?” We shouted together.

I chortled. “Jinx!”

“How!?” Mirelda demanded.

“Easy. I’ve been the one distributing all your changes. So anyone you all influenced was naturally influenced by my goal to ‘spread different cultures possessions’.” Joseph laughed. “Oh, and I got several laws changed, which gave me big boosts all at once since it instantly influenced everyone in the country.”

“That’s cheating,” Berry harrumphed.

Joseph leaned over and gave her a kiss. “If you want the wish dear, I’ll let you have it.”

“What about Marco?” Mirelda asked.

“He’s probably influenced every beastfolk in the North, but I don’t think much more than that. I know they’re really busy dealing with the fallout from the war.”

Mirelda nodded. “So… Joseph’s the winner then?”

Val coughed, and we all looked over at him. He held up a hand with an embarrassed look on his face.

“I’m at level nine for everyone but dragons.”

We stared as he continued. “I’m also at level eight for trolls, beaven, goblins, orcs, kobolds, beedles, sprites, centaurs, pandars, and… quite a few other monster races as well. My quest was to influence people with the new monster races, and… well… they’re kind of impacting everyone right now. And my numbers are going up fast. I’ll probably end at level nine for most of them by the end of the Game. It helps that there’s less of them, too.”

“How did you get to so many dungeons!?” I asked. Berry was rapidly counting on her fingers trying to figure out how many actual people that was.

"Teleportation circles." Val’s smile was dazzling. “And Yi’s been helping me get around. He thinks it’s a noble goal, and he’s able to fly without causing any commotion with my Abilities.”

We all turned disbelieving eyes on Yi, who ignored us while drinking his soju.

“We can get influencer quests for monsters? Why didn’t I get an Influencer quest for the beaven!?” I muttered angrily. “What the Nether, Barck??”

I was willing to bet it was some bullshit technicality like ‘I owned the dungeon and therefore it didn’t count.’

“I feel like this is unfair…” Joseph said, his voice calm but his eyes shooting daggers.

“Says you!” I snapped. “But whatever, do you even really care?”

Joseph looked down at Berry and sighed. “No… not really.”

“If you win, what are you going to wish for?” Berry asked.

Val looked over at where Jacques was waiting tables. The little beaven seemed to be quite popular, as people laughed and joked with him. “I… have some ideas that may help the new monster races. Keep them from butting heads with everyone else. That’s all I’ll say on it for now.”

“Are you having fun?” A familiar voice asked sweetly behind me. I turned my head slowly, dreading what I’d see.

A smiling, but harried looking Aqua was standing behind me, her beard frazzled and a tray of drinks in her hand.

“Hi Aqua!” Mirelda said brightly.

“Hi Mirelda! Can I borrow Pete? The wedding’s about to start, and I need him for a few things.” Aqua said, sweetly, though her eyes promised murder.

“Sure! Have fun you two. See you out there!” Mirelda said, waving goodbye as Aqua carted me away as I protested my innocence.

Dammit, this was all Balin’s fault!