Chapter 004

  Realizing Purpose

  Ethan nodded his understanding to Raymond. The man’s response had been a simple enough reminder he was just a NPC.

  He wanted to ask him more about Mr. Gallagher's business, but decided against it. For starters it seemed like he was already supposed to know these things. Second he wasn't sure he wanted to know more just yet. And third, he knew it wasn't making for good entertainment.

  Instead, he went back to the basics. Assuming their boss had just recently been there, he asked, "By the way, you see the boss man lately?”

  "Oh, yeah. He said he had business with a couple of tenants upstairs. Didn't stay long, then left. None of my concern, honestly."

  "You didn't find that strange?" He asked, looking at his watch, "the landlord coming to visit tenants at 6 a.m.?

  "It's what I seen, that's all I can say, young man."

  Ethan nodded. He had a suspicion that asking Raymond all sorts of questions wasn’t the best way to advance. In the end, he had one more that was fresh on his mind.

  "How do I unlock the mini-map?"

  The man acted confused. “What kind of map?"

  He shook his head, explaining, "A small map on my view screen showing me important game elements I need to know about. How do I get it?"

  Raymond stood, concern etched on his face. "Mr. Jones, you’re talking some gibberish words. You’ve been drinking that illegal whisky you brought home the other night, huh? It's got you poisoned in a bad way.”

  Ethan backed off, trying not to laugh. He hadn’t thought of it from that perspective, but it made sense. Why would a doorman know or even care about mini-maps?

  Raymond watched him, waiting for a response. Part of Ethan wanted to know how long he would simply stand there. The more cautious part of him didn't want the man any more suspicious than he already was.

  "Sorry, Raymond." he said, answering his concern. “You're right about that whisky. It did a doozy on me."

  Raymond relaxed, but he could tell the doorman wasn't fully convinced.

  "Usually does, sir. Of course that's my opinion. The Green Fists make a lot of money from bootlegging. Don't like it none, but I don't bite the hand that feeds. That said, you shouldn't be spending your money on their poison even if we both work for one of their guys."

  He nodded, figuring the code was trying to steer him back towards the storyline. "You're right, Raymond. Sometimes I just don't know the old me after a little too much, you know? Sorry for asking so many questions."

  Raymond chuckled. "That makes sense why you're acting like you don't know anything. The past can be fuzzy after whisky."

  He smiled. “Exactly.”

  Guessing that prohibition was in full effect in the city, Ethan realized he'd been the one breaking the law.

  "Well," he said, "it was good chatting with you, Raymond."

  "Likewise, Mr. Jones. And please take it easy on the alcohol. It's really not good for you."

  The old man moved to sit back down on the stool. At some point Ethan figured he could ask more questions. Right in that moment he didn't think it would help.

  He took two paces towards the front door and it was Raymond's turn to act funny. The old man reacted to Ethan's presence as if he'd just walked up.

  It felt like another scripted event. There was a very natural flow to it, but he could tell Raymond's actions were programmed to happen as soon as Ethan had finished his first conversation with the man.

  "Mr. Jones!" the man said, reaching for a mail slot on the wall labeled Ethan Jones, Unit 403. "I almost forgot! This came in the post for you during the day, sir."

  He took the letter. "Thank you, Raymond."

  "No problem at all, young man. Enjoy the rest of your night."

  He held a thin envelope in his hand, feeling stupid about having not even looked at the mail slots previously to see if he he’d received anything. Ethan had played tons of games in the past that had some type of postage system.

  On the envelope, the names and addresses were handwritten.

  Before opening it, he looked at his watch again. It was 6:09 a.m. He had spent at least fifteen minutes just talking to the NPC.

  This was a good lesson for him. He learned not to try so hard and instead he would just go with the flow and move along.

  If Ethan had simply greeted Raymond and then pressed forward, he could have had this letter in a matter of seconds.

  So much for starting off strong.

  Looking at the postage in his hand, he admired the old-timey handwriting. After a few seconds he decided not to wait any longer and opened it, expecting to receive his first quest or mission or goal within the game.

  Dear Mr. Jones,

  We know you were present in The Green Yards on the night of June 10th, 1926, about one week ago. A few second-hand witnesses arriving at the scene provided your name, stating you witnessed the murder of Owney "The Owl" Johnson.

  We know you work for one of our own men, Thomas Gallagher. You are not to communicate with Mr. Gallagher about this summons. He is unaware that we are reaching out to you and it should remain that way.

  The detective agency is located at 1128 Whitaker Street, Grimsborough Heights. You should meet with us by the end of the week, otherwise we will conduct the interview with you when you least expect it.

  We trust you understand the gravity of the situation, and that you are smart enough and man enough to step forward without further encouragement.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Private Detective,

  Samuel Donovan

  Ethan put the letter in his pocket and tried thinking through it. The opening scene was proving to be quite important.

  His character's understanding of his situation before he was plugged into him had clearly overwhelmed the man, but for good reason. If The Green Fists knew Ethan Jones was a witness to the murder, they would either want him dead or they would want his full cooperation.

  The video game Ethan had taken to a whisky bottle instead of manning up. The new Ethan would actually figure out how to handle the situation.

  Before he could let his mind get carried away with imagination, multiple notifications appeared in the bottom left field of view.

  Achievement: On A Mission - You have received at least three missions. The road is unending, but you will always have a goal in mind!

  He had already come to understand the achievement system didn’t provide anything of real value. It annoyed him in a mosquito kind of way. Did he really need to know about something if he wasn’t gaining items, experience, or skills, or if he wasn’t being alerted in some way?

  He could ignore them, but why should he have to? While he was busy considering whether he would disable achievement notifications, he received a new unlock.

  Unlocked Missions - You have received multiple missions, and you now have access to your mission screen to better keep track of your storylines.

  +100 XP

  You have 200 XP total

  You need 800 more XP to reach level 1

  Receiving a new unlocked screen drew his attention from the other notification, and he quickly opened it simply by thought.

  The screen itself had three columns. One each for primary missions, passive missions, and achievements. Ethan was surprised to discover he actually had three missions already listed.

  The passive one was simple enough.

  Explore Grimsborough Heights

  Get to know your starting district by exploring everything it has to offer.

  Current Progress: 1%

  He figured the passive mission would take a while to complete, since he'd seen the sheer size of the city from above. It also stood to reason that it was passive because it didn't directly involve a NPC or a specific storyline.

  In other words he could work on it over the course of time and it probably wasn't worth as much experience or wealth as the primary missions. A classic time-sink goal.

  He found no way of expanding any further details, nor did he see any rewards or time limits listed for any of them.

  Looking at the achievements column, he saw only the five he'd already received. Without a list of unobtained achievements or even a number, such as five out of three thousand or something, he had no idea how many existed.

  Regardless, having them easily accessible, it only made sense to turn off the notifications unless they started proving beneficial for some reason.

  More important in the moment, he needed a stronger sense of direction from the game. The letter from Samuel Donovan had implied he needed to respond quickly regarding the murder, while Mr. Gallagher's scripted opening had implied that he quickly needed to get back to his handyman duties.

  Both of the primary missions listed in his screen reflected those situations.

  Meet With Samuel Donovan

  You were summoned by postage letter to meet with detective Samuel Donovan regarding your knowledge of what happened the night Owney "The Owl" Johnson was killed. You are aware that Samuel Donovan is a member of The Green Fists, and that he has a reputation of crooked injustice. His detective agency is a farce that has deep connections with local police, and he employs hardboiled private agents and rogue informants that work throughout the city.

  Current Progress: 0%

  He exhaled, letting the mission details fully cement in his mind. In order to complete the thing, he would need to find 1128 Whitaker Street and have a discussion with Samuel Donovan.

  It was fairly obvious from the tone of the letter and from the mission listing that he had to complete it timely, otherwise something bad might happen.

  Since it was a mobster outfit, he could only guess at the outcome if he didn't do it. He'd seen enough mafia films to know they always had at least one member who loved to inflict torture.

  Knowing that Mr. Gallagher was one of the killers, and that Samuel Donovan had explicitly stated not to tell the man, it implied to Ethan they at least suspected as much. The only way it made sense was if the gang needed Ethan to rat the man out before they could take any action.

  He didn't know much about the mafia, but again, the whole loyalty thing popped back into Ethan's forefront. It was immediately apparent that ratting out his boss to the gang could go in one of two extreme directions.

  They would either like that he knew and spoke about it, or they wouldn't. Either way it went he was sure there would be heavy implications.

  Moving on, he read the other mission listed as primary.

  Regular Mr. Handyman

  Your work for Thomas Gallagher is always incomplete. Things need repair over the course of their lifetime, regardless of why. You were hired by Mr. Gallagher to fix things, and for some reason you slacked off for a full week. It's time to catch up. You can start with the broken window at Bluebird Court Apartments, Unit 3B. The new pane is already there and waiting.

  Current Progress: 0%

  Reading the mission reminded him once again of Mr. Gallagher's recent visit. It was certainly worth doing if he wanted to stay alive, but then so was the other.

  Realizing the game was forcing him into early choices, he decided to go ahead and consider them before having to make a decision on the fly. Being prepared was half the battle, or at least that was what he'd heard somewhere before.

  If he went to see Samuel Donovan first he would either need to lie and say he had no idea his boss and landlord was involved, or he would need to rat the man out. Not knowing which option The Green Fists wanted from him, he had to at least be prepared to swing either way when it came to an answer.

  Lying and minding his own business in the matter was probably the best thing he could do if he didn't want to get involved.

  The only problem with staying out of that drama was the entertainment value. Where was the fun in staying clear from what appeared to be the very purpose of the game?

  Sure, he would probably keep living, but he was a poor, alcoholic handyman with no real future ahead of him. That was no way to garner any type of audience from the many billions of viewers undoubtedly attempting to choose a handful of players to follow.

  Ethan knew he needed to find his own personal balance between taking risks and entertaining. In many ways it was just like the real world. People rarely made great leaps in their lives without some form of risk.

  This was one such example. If he was too quick to tell Samuel Donovan he'd seen Mr. Gallagher shoot one of their own, he might just get killed himself simply for knowing.

  But under the right circumstances? Telling the truth might prove the best course of action. As soon as they killed Mr. Gallagher for having no loyalty to their own, Ethan would most definitely lose his handyman job and also his apartment, but he might get something different in exchange.

  At the moment he needed both of those things. It was a tough choice, for sure, but he decided to err on the side of taking risk. Unless new information came along, he would meet with Samuel Donovan first and tell the man what he knew.

  He had no reason to be loyal to his boss. He'd only just met the man, and he wasn't all that nice of a guy. He didn't care if Mr. Gallagher died. It was just par for the course, like an eye for an eye or something. The man was a mobster, and Ethan would rather have one bad man dead than an entire gang that wanted him dead.

  Having made up his mind, he closed the translucent screen out and prepared to leave the apartment building. Before he could, another notification appeared, surprising him.

  Unlocked Profile - By earning 200 or more total XP and also unlocking the missions screen, you now have full access to your Personal Profile.

  +100 XP

  You have 300 XP total

  You need 700 more XP to reach level 1

  He let out an audible sigh of relief and said, "interesting."

  He'd already opened his profile screen once, but it was previously blank except for a picture of himself, his level being zero, and him having no affiliations or titles.

  This time when he looked, it was filled with multiple blocks of information. He was still listed as neutral without any titles, and of course he hadn't leveled yet, but below that was a summary with an asterisk and fine print.

  Profile updates in real-time. Check back often for up-to-date clues and summaries of recent events that may be important to you.

  He nodded, understanding the tip well enough. Reading on, the asterisk disappeared since the screen realized his eyes had scrolled down.

  You are a friendly, down-to-earth average young man. You moved to Grimsborough Heights from out of state a few months ago and found a district plagued by poverty and crime.

  Finding no work at nearby factories, you were hired as a handyman by landlord Thomas Gallagher. Despite knowing the man was a mobster, you had no other options.

  You have kept your head down, mouth shut, and worked quietly until one fateful night last week when you accidentally became involved in their business.