Chelsea let out a long sigh after completing the game, glad to see that her strategies had been enough. She was still not confident as to whether or not she had planned well enough to defeat an Origin, but looking back… the game was never going to throw one at her to begin with.
The game has to be fair for all players. That means that the difficulty is adjusted based on the world that the players come from. If a first ranked Keeper were to play this game, let alone Origins, they wouldn’t know how to deal with memetic monsters and Fallen Gods.
Given how the system balances these games, the threats should all be things that could theoretically appear in their worlds. That was why I was allowed to use world creation technology only at the end, because it is a cutting edge research that we are just now developing. A lower ranked Keeper might receive their first god at the final level.
Although this meant that she had more leeway than she had expected, she wasn’t entirely satisfied with that. After all, it meant that her planning was good enough ‘for now’, but she still lacked a frame of reference for greater threats. I’ll need to come back and check on this game again next year.
“Yo.” A familiar voice called out to Chelsea, and she turned to see James approaching, a smile on his face. “Finally got out of the game, huh?”
“Yeah.” She nodded with a bright smile, seeing a bag of colorful snack foods in his hand. Without her even saying anything, he passed the snacks over to her. “How long was I in there?”
“Hmm? About two and a half days. I don’t think I need to ask, but, did you win?” James asked in a playful tone, and Chelsea nodded her head, causing him to chuckle. “Knew you would. That game was basically made for you.”
Chelsea nodded her head again, before hesitating. “Have you seen any of ‘them’?” Chelsea asked. Although she didn’t elaborate, James nodded his head.
“Yeah… real hard not to go up and chat like old times.” He answered under his breath, and Chelsea reached up to pat his currently-furred arm. Their situation was both unique and not at the same time.
Using the System Companion, it was of course possible to recreate a previous Keeper as a Companion, similar to how Dale created this version of Chelsea. Some Keepers would have surely done this as a way to get advice from an experienced senior, especially if they knew that Keeper in their past life.
The problem here was that this isn’t what had happened with James. He was not a Companion. He was still a mortal, and could theoretically become the Keeper again. This was unheard of in Keeper history, and they couldn’t afford to let it slip in casual conversation. Otherwise, there could be people that used this to their advantage, specifically sending people in an invasion that would try to entice James in one way or another into taking over again.
“Have you played any interesting games while I was gone?” She asked, changing the subject with a smile. James thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head.
“Not really. Just the usuals. Oh, apparently Lifre started a new live streaming service. She seems to be really enjoying it. So… don’t be surprised if she asks for you to make something similar when we get back.”
Chelsea’s brow twitched when she heard that, and she let out a long sigh. “Did she, now? Alright, go ahead and tell me what it’s like, and I’ll see if it is something that I can make.”
James chuckled, describing the ‘Adventure Stream’ to Chelsea. The more she listened, the more dumbfounded Chelsea was by the concept. Or rather, by the thought of recreating this game back in the mortal world. “How could… no, wait, maybe with the right divinities and code, but still…”
She lowered her head in thought, before looking up at James. “How long has it been since she started streaming?”
James thought back when she asked that. “She started around the same time that you entered Keeper Defense Protocol.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened, and she grabbed James’s arm to pull him out of the gaming space. “How many people have been watching her stream? And have there been any big spenders?”
James blinked as he was dragged along, mentally opening the stream in the corner of his view. “There are eighty-three people watching it right now. And the Bad End counter is at twenty-three. So, there have been twenty-three cases where she’s died, whether through donations or her own accidents.”
“This is Lifre we’re talking about.” Chelsea said in an almost urgent tone. “Unless she wanted to die for fun, none of those deaths were her own fault. As silly as she is, she’s an incredibly skilled fighter, capable of learning the skills of others by simply watching them. That’s what it means to be a mimic for her, after all. It’s why she and Lena get along so well. She just doesn’t like to use those skills as freely as Lena does.”
“So?” James asked, not sure where Chelsea was going with this.
“So, that means that there have been twenty-three instances where other people, most likely Keepers or trusted subordinates that have been given their own allowance, have paid enough points to cause her to die. Even if we assume that some of them were repeat spenders, that’s at least a dozen people with that level of authority watching her stream.”
James still didn’t entirely understand, until he noticed where Chelsea was pulling him. It was a building not often used during the meeting, because it held little purpose during the span when time was frozen. This was the Keeper Market, a place where Keepers could review items on the market and submit their own entries, even during this frozen period. For a small fee, that could even receive counseling from a System Administrator, one of the many entities that ran the meeting space.
This counseling would allow the Keeper to iron out any details of their desired system, preventing any unforeseen problems that could arise. Alternatively, a Keeper could use the counseling to learn aspects of an existing system that didn’t appear in the market description. This counseling was typically the only reason why the market ever appeared in the meeting to begin with. However, now that James saw Chelsea dragging him here, he let out a sigh. “Someone probably beat us to the punch, huh?”
“Probably, but let’s check.” She nodded firmly, making her way into the building. There were a fair few people inside, more than Chelsea would have expected in a normal meeting. Her face fell, before trying to relax.
A worker approached the two of them with a smile. “How may I help you?” He asked in a gentle tone, though Chelsea didn’t miss the slight amusement in his gaze.
“How many versions of the Adventure Stream game have been placed on the market?” Chelsea asked, shaking her head. She wasn’t going to bother asking if it was there, just how many, and how complete they were.
“Currently, there are five versions that have been added since the meeting began.” The worker said, gesturing for the duo to follow. They walked towards a private booth, where the worker sat down and looked at them. “The privacy filter is on, so feel free to speak normally. It’s been some time since the two of you were last at a meeting.”
Chelsea nodded her head, massaging her temple. “Right, sorry about this. I know our existence must be a headache for a lot of you.”
“Mostly his, but yes.” The worker agreed with a playful smile. “Now, you were asking about the Adventure Stream?”
“That’s right. What is the most complete recreation, and how much does it cost?” Chelsea asked, James furrowing his brow at the conversation.
“The most complete version is recorded as ‘Interactive Stream’. I believe that you will find that it has recreated the game to a striking level of detail. Its price sits at thirty-thousand points.” The worker informed them, smiling wider. “If you wish to inquire for more details about this system, the price will be one thousand points.”
Chelsea sighed, but nodded her head. She had earned far more than that in the defense game, so she was fine with paying the fee. Once the transaction was settled, the worker placed his hands on the table and spoke. “This system was created to be adaptable to any world system, not requiring the game world feature.”
“The Keeper that purchases the system may define what currencies may be used, as well as guidelines for the pricing of viewer purchases. Once this is done, mortals may at any time choose to begin streaming, and they will be taken to an independent world. In this world, they may spend their own funds to apply different system settings to their adventure, or load a premade world.”
“Once their stream is live, it will follow the Keeper’s settings. Either it will be viewable in the minds of any in that Keeper’s realm, like it is here, or it may appear on a network location for viewers to find. During the streams, the viewers may submit changes that the system automatically values, and if they are willing to pay, these changes will take place in the stream world.”
James pursed his lips as he listened. “What real-world benefit is there to the streamer, aside from the money contributed by viewers? Can they take anything out of the stream itself?”
Chelsea glanced over, surprised at that question. However, the worker offered a wider smile in return. “Not directly, at least not with this version of the system. Though, there are still benefits. For instance, let us say that Chelsea here was conducting a stream to her research staff, where she was focusing on developing a breakthrough in one of her technologies. One of her staff could donate a significant sum for an expert NPC to appear and educate her on the process.”
“That’s why it costs so much.” James said with a sigh. “Although there is no real-world benefit other than currency, there had to be something else. And let me guess… the Keeper isn’t able to stream, is he?”
“Quite right, sir. As expected of a veteran.” The worker responded in a teasing tone. “Because of the isolated world that the stream takes place in, it would be an unfair advantage to any Keeper if they were allowed to simply hide in a stream world. Though, at the same time, if they did so, their enemies could simply pay for a cataclysmic event. Still, given that the Keeper can adjust the rates at which such things can be purchased, or disallow them entirely, it was deemed to unbalanced to allow the Keeper to have access.”
Chelsea nodded her head in understanding. “You said that this version didn’t let you take anything out of the stream… does that mean that there is a version that does?”
The worker nodded his head again at that. “Of course. The ‘Treasure Hunter’ system is a new streaming system that functions in many ways similarly to ‘Interactive Stream’. The key difference is that the streamer may enter the stream with any of their real world belongings, and may exit the stream with anything that they had in their inventory. This system is priced at two hundred and fifty-thousand points. Do you wish to hear additional details about it?” The worker asked with a grin, though Chelsea and James both shook their heads.
They could already infer several details from what was said. This system would work similarly to the Digital Conversion system, except that there was no need for a base file. The donor would simply describe the item that they wanted to give the streamer, and that item would be created in the stream. It wasn’t clear if the currency that was used on an item would still go to the streamer or not, but that was a relatively unimportant detail at this point.
Chelsea did have one last question, however. “For the Interactive Stream system, where does the money go that the streamer uses to design their stream world? If it vanishes into the ether, then that will create a sinkhole for money that simply leaves the economy.”
“Of course, this was taken into account with the guidance of our administrators.” The worker assured her with that same, professional smile. “The Keeper, when establishing the settings, may determine a location for the money to be sent. They may also set a processing fee for any transactions made for a stream. For instance, using your divine currency as an example, your Keeper could choose to send the funds directly to Olympus’s account, or he could even have the divinity absorbed into himself.”
Chelsea’s brow twitched again at the blatant reference to their world, but she nodded her head. It made sense for an entity of the system to know these things, and she had paid for the counseling, after all. Though, it was unfortunate that they missed the chance to get the royalties from this system.
