NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: The reward is a punishment
My house is a short fifteen-minute walk from school.
Thinking about it now, it's probably located in a neighborhood with high property values.
This house was passed down from my grandmother, on my dad's side of the family.
It's a single-story house, seven meters wide and fifteen meters long.
Out back, there's a small fish pond that my dad built. It's still in pretty good shape.
Unfortunately, ever since my dad had a heart attack, nobody's had time to take care of it.
Mom's been too busy looking after him.
"You're home already, Dit?" Mom greeted me, glancing over.
A hoe and a small machete were lying next to her. She was still out in the yard, pulling weeds.
"Yeah, Mom," I said, walking over to her. I took her hand and kissed her palm, but she quickly pulled it away.
"Don't, honey. My hands are dirty."
"Your dad's working late tonight. Why don't you go ahead and shower and eat? I'll wait until he gets home."
I nodded.
I took a good look at my mom. She seemed so different. Her face was still firm and youthful.
Her hair didn't even have a single gray strand, or at least that's how I remembered it.
Even though she's aged, her eyes still have that same warm, comforting look.
I wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but if this was real, I was determined to make my parents happy this time around.
"Thanks, Mom," I whispered.
She didn't hear me. I turned and went inside to take a shower and grab some dinner.
I checked out my old phone, and there it was - a weird app with a logo that looked just like Emperor Quest.
It was an old Nokia, one of those with 3G.
It was strange, but the game ran perfectly fine on it. 3G wasn't exactly known for its speed.
It was 2009, so most phones were pretty slow because the internet wasn't that great yet.
I opened the app and went straight to my profile in the top right corner.
Username: Aditya Warman
Age: 16
Missions: [Active: 1] [Completed: 0]
Points: 0
Cash: $0
The last mission I'd accepted was creating a PayPal account.
The payouts were way better than the other games I'd played.
They both gave out real money, but the most I'd ever gotten for a mission was a dollar, and that was only for the really hard ones.
"This seems too good to be true," I thought.
All I needed for PayPal was an email address and some basic info. I signed up right there on my phone.
As soon as I finished, I got a notification from Emperor Quest. I tapped it without thinking twice.
[Mission Complete!]
You've earned $1000 and 100 points! You also get a random bonus for finishing so quickly.
Want to open it now?
[Yes] [No]
I tapped "Yes".
A bunch of icons popped up and spun around before landing on a picture of a muscular arm.
[Congratulations! You've unlocked the Magic Arm ability!]
Description: Your arm is now 100 times stronger than normal.
Activate this ability now?
[Yes] [No]
"What the heck? Is this for real?" I wondered.
I was curious, so I tapped "Yes" again.
[Ability Activated!]
Suddenly, my arm felt like it was on fire. My muscles tensed up like they were being tied with rope.
"Ow!" I yelled.
Veins bulged out all over my arm. I bit down on my pillow to keep from screaming.
"Damn it!"
The pain finally started to fade away. My arm went back to normal, and the veins disappeared. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
I checked my status in the game.
Username: Aditya Warman
Age: 16
Missions: [Active: 0] [Completed: 1]
Points: 100
Cash: $1000
Withdraw your cash?
[Yes] [No]
"Not yet," I thought.
If I really had gone back to 2009, this money could be a fresh start for my family.
This was before the tech boom. There were so many things I could take advantage of - smartphones, Bitcoin... I wasn't going to let these opportunities pass me by. I went back to the mission menu.
[Missions Available]
[Win the National Math Olympiad]
Reward: $15,000 and 250 points
Time Limit: 60 days
Penalty: You will be ridiculed by your classmates.
I accepted the mission without hesitating.
[Mission Accepted!]
You have a side mission available. Want to accept it?
[Yes] [No]
Emperor Quest had side missions too? I tapped "Yes" again.
[Slap Vivian Halim's Butt]
Reward: $500 and 100 points
Time Limit: 7 days
Penalty: Vivian will hate you forever. The Halim family will blacklist you from all of their companies.
Bonus: Vivian will slap you.
"What the heck kind of mission is this?!" I yelled.
"And what's with this bonus? Do they think I'm some kind of masochist?!"
I went to the help menu.
I looked for a way to cancel the mission, but there was no such option. Here's what I learned:
1.You can't cancel main or side missions. You either complete them or fail.
2.Rewards and penalties go hand in hand. If you finish a mission early, you might get a bonus - extra cash, special treatment, etc.
3. The app is tied to your phone. If you lose your phone and get a new one, the app will magically transfer over.
4. The bonuses are real. They can be physical, mental, or even magical abilities.
5.You can spend points in the shop to buy items that will be delivered straight to your house. They've got everything from spellbooks to weapons.
I was confused at first, but then it hit me. This game had sent me back in time. It was all real.
I thought about the mission again. Who was Vivian Halim?
All I knew was that she was the youngest daughter of the Halim family. She was living in this city with her grandmother.
The Halims were a huge conglomerate. They used to live in the capital.
Vivian would go back to Jakarta after high school and then head off to college overseas.
The Halim family owned half the businesses in the country - banks, airlines, plantations, restaurants, mines... you name it.
I'd met Vivian once, years later, when I graduated from college. It was at a job interview.
My previous job was at a Halim company.
"Who in their right mind would mess with Vivian Halim, let alone slap her butt?!" I thought.
The penalty was way too harsh.
If I got blacklisted by the Halims, I'd be out of a quarter of the jobs in the country.
"This is insane!" I yelled.