C18 Trash NPC

Eddie was eating a trash panda skewer in the reception while Frank was setting someone up with a room in the Trash Stop Motel.

“So you want to set a down payment for nine days?” Frank asked a player.

“Uh, yeah, whatever. And the map?”

“That’ll be ten silvers on top.”

“Alright, here you are.”

Frank scooped up the coin and handed the man a map. “Your room is 412, please remember that if you don’t pay after those nine days then you will have seven days to remove your belongings before we take them.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.”

The man then scurried through the open door and a notification popped up for Eddie.

Player UWUDaddy13 has been situated in room 412 in Trash Stop Motel.

Inn Manager

Receptionist: Frank

Rooms available: 591

Rooms occupied: 589(+1)

Eddie stretched. He had been working hard to make so many rooms. He could recite the exact method to create any item in them by the second. It was tiresome but he was making roughly ten bucks per room and he could do ten an hour without breaking his back. The daily charge of the residents generated 591 silvers which in real currency is $6,000 a day so far which was absolutely ridiculous. Even at his old mechanic job, he was earning roughly $580 a day as a senior. Right now, he could just sit back and wait for an early retirement. Although the $6,000 a day wasn’t set in stone the money right now was more than good.

As Eddie devoured the last of the gourmet food, he heard a loud zap that echoed across the Trashlands. It was accompanied by a dull purple flash.

“What was that?” Eddie asked Frank as he looked back.

“I have no idea, Sir.”

Eddie rushed out of the side door, through the main and into the outside. He couldn’t see much as players were blocking his view. They were also staring off into the Trashlands as they saw it too.

“What was that?” one asked.

“It reminded me of a high tier space mage.”

“No player has reached that level yet.”

“No player.”

“Oh snap, you think it’s an NPC? Like a grand mage or something? What would they be doing down here?”

Eddie curiously overheard the conversations as he weaved in and out of people, trying to get to the front. Finally, he popped out behind some people and stood at the front. Frank later joined him as people often moved out of his way.

“Sir, what is it?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie responded as he squinted his eyes across the rolling hills of trash.

“I heard some rumours of high tiered space magic, could it be a grand mage?”

“Again, Frank, I don’t know. Somethings going on and I’m interested.”

“I see two people!” someone shouted out.

Eddie stayed still as the described came into view. He squinted his eyes even further to see a man and a teenage girl. They were dressed in ragged, dirty clothing.

“That’s not a grand mage,” Eddie said.

“You’re right,” a person next to him agreed.

Soon, the tags above their heads came into view.

Human, Level 9 (NPC)

Human, Level 5 (NPC)

“I’m so confused,” Eddie stated. “What in fudge is going on? Why are there homeless people down here?”

“Sir,” Frank said. “You look homeless.”

Eddie looked down to his shirtless attire and dirt stained body. “Yeah, fair enough… Wait, how did they get in?”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanna know, how can two NPCs get down here without dying?” a random player added.

The two NPCs looked scared as the man held onto the female teenager. They were trudging through the piles of trash very slowly, it seemed there was a problem with the teenager. Suddenly, she dropped down to the floor.

Eddie immediately whistled for Robo and started running over to them, accompanied by the other players too. They were all intrigued by what was going on. Eddie stopped dead a few metres away and slowed down his pace.

“Please, do you have any food?” the man croaked.

Eddie pulled out some cooked trash panda meat and handed it to the man. “Is she okay?”

The teenage girl opened her eyes slowly as the smell of food invaded her nose. She freaked out when she saw thirty people all staring at her.

“What’s going on?” she questioned in fear as she started eating the food.

“You’ll be fine, darling,” the man said. He appeared to be her father.

Eddie whistled and Robo came next to him, freaking out the father and the daughter. “Don’t worry, he’s friendly. Let your daughter ride on him. Come with us.”

“I thank you for your food but what do you want with us?” the man asked, slightly fearful.

“I don’t want anything, I just want to know why you’re down here.”

The man gulped as he looked at the surrounding players. “Please, take my life, but not my daughters.”

Eddie took a step back confused. “What? We’re not savages.”

“But the man, h-he told me that you all are bloodthirsty players that would kill or enslave us.”

“We’re stuck down here, we’re all- they are all normal players like up above. You don’t need to worry,” Eddie comforted.

“Why would he lie, frighten us like that?”

Eddie shrugged. “Well Frank’s a bit bloodthirsty but I’m not.”

“Sir.”

“Yeah, sorry, come with me. I have a tonne of questions.”

Eddie took the two NPCs back to his land and into the stall where Frank laid down mattresses for the teenage girl. Eddie instructed the father to sit down on an old leather chair. As Eddie was about to speak, Mira and her team arrived at the stall. The rest of the players were watching from outside the stall, eagerly waiting to hear what the man had to say.

“So how did you get down here?” Eddie asked.

He gulped as he looked over at his daughter. “We-we were taken from our homes in the southern district. The guards told us we were being relocated to a better place.”

Mira started sneakily recording.

“That’s the slums,” Denzel explained.

The man looked at the giant african american man and his eyes took to the floor. “Yes, we did live in the slums. It’s not the best place to raise my daughter but it was what I could manage. Anyway, we were taken from our home and said we were going to a better place. Then we were taken under the city and placed in cages.”

“What the fudge? Who put you in there?” Eddie questioned.

The man shrugged cluelessly. “I don’t know. The council or the government or someone. Then a mage of the High Temple came down and performed a spell on us.”

“High Temple?” Eddie questioned.

“You go there to learn more magic. It doubles as a magic university for the NPC nobles and stuff,” Mira explained.

“Ok, and then what?”

The man motioned his head down to the floor. “We’re here now. The guards were telling us that the place was full of savages, that they were going to imprison us and-and-”

“Well, we’re not savages, we’re just trying to make light of our situation,” Eddie remarked.

“Right, sorry. I may not have been an honest man but I only ask you to let us leave.”

“You can’t go back out there,” Eddie stated. “You’ll die.”

“Where else can we go?”

“You can stay at my inn.”

“We have no money,” the man said, emptying his pockets.

“Sir,” Frank said. “We cannot let them stay at the inn, it would break the rules. I mean no disrespect.”

The man gulped as his hands started to shake. “I-I am offering myself to you, even my daughter.”

Eddie was mortified, all the male players looking in were nodding enthusiastically.

“Right, go away you guys, you’re all disgusting,” Eddie declared as he rolled down the shutters on the stall much to the dismay of the players. He switched a light on and brought a chair over to sit down.

“No, we’re not like that here. Frank, can you think of any place where they could live.”

“Well, Sir, they could take up an area in the basin.”

Eddie nodded in consideration, he had no other areas available. “But then what after? We can’t have random NPCs running around.” He turned to the father. “No offence.”

“I can work!” the man exclaimed. “I’ve been a labourer, a waiter, a shop clerk, I can do anything. My daughter can work too.”

Frank immediately perked upon hearing this. “How about a receptionist?”

“Frank,” Eddie said angrily.

“What, Sir? He will be paid.”

“You do not need to pay us,” the man said. “I will work for free as long as we have shelter and food.”

“That’s a good deal,” Viktor said, puffing away at his cigarette. “In motherland that is.”

“Woof,” Robo joined in.

“Please, Sir,” the man pleaded. “I just want me and my daughter to be safe.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Eddie said. “You guys will be safe, and be paid… Are any more of you coming?”

The man shrugged honestly, he didn’t know. “There were hundreds in cages, starving like ourselves. I don’t know what will become of them.”

“Ok,” Eddie said, hand on chin. “Frank, could you take Robo and carve them out a place in the basin. Give them food and clothes, the best ones.”

The man crawled over to Eddie’s feet and started crying. “Oh, thank you, I will live to serve you for the rest of my life. Thank you so much, I will work to my absolute best of abilities.”

Eddie didn’t know how to react, he just awkwardly petted the guy on his head. “Uhh, yeah, no worries.” By no means was Eddie a bad person. Even if they were just a bunch of zeros and ones, they still felt real and he wasn’t going to treat them any differently than a human being.

“Please, follow me,” Frank said.

“I didn’t get your name by the way,” Eddie said.

The man crawled over to his daughter and helped her up. “My name is Jimmy, this is my daughter Rose.”

“Well, welcome to the Trash Dump, Jimmy and Rose, where the smell is worse than the food,” Eddie said with a warm smile.

The man bowed his head to Eddie and his daughter weakly did too. Frank and Robo led them out of the stall and towards the basin.

Eddie collapsed onto the chair as he breathed out a long breath. “What in the fudge is going on?” he asked the team.

“I feel like crying,” Denzel said, emotional, contrasting his huge, overwhelming frame.

“BLOOD IS GUSHING OUT OF THE FAIRIES BUTHOLE! THERE IS PANIC AT THE DISCO AND I DON’T WANT TO DANCE!”

“Yeah,” Mira said while chuckling. “I’m glad you didn’t speak when they were here.”

“Guys,” Eddie said. “They were teleported down here by some people. We have to know why and if there’s more coming. Why is this even happening in a game?” Eddie was clearly panicking, he didn’t know what to do.

The team took some seats around the stall to get to the bottom of what was happening.

“So you think the king of Arindought is sending the poor NPCs down here? Why?” Eddie questioned Mira.

Mira shrugged. “Same thing that happens in real life. If some real estate developers want an area but there’s old houses on it, he’s going to call up people that can help remove it. In this case, it’s way more brutal.”

“I agree with Mira,” Viktor declared. “I expect hundreds of NPCs to be teleported down here.”

“Ughhh,” Eddie groaned, he couldn’t catch a break. Well he did over the past three days, but now it was back to problem solving.

“Can’t you just let them build houses on your land?” Denzel offered. “I don’t think we should care about how it’s happening but how to solve it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Eddie agreed. “But, like, is my land going to turn into an underpass?”

The team looked at him in disgust.

“I’m sorry for being selfish,” Eddie said, realizing what he just said. “But you have to understand where I’m coming from.”

“You could put them all to work, couldn't you, or they could look after themselves,” Mira offered.

Eddie pouted. “Yeah, I could.”

“Wait,” Denzel said. “Don’t you need for it to be a settlement before you can have NPCs actually live somewhere.”

“Huh?” Mira questioned.

“I was watching a video on base-building,” Denzel explained, “And they said that you need it to be a settlement before NPCs can actually live there. Yeah, you can have an Inn, market, whatever, but if it’s not technically a settlement then they can’t live here.”

“A settlement?” Eddie questioned. “Like the old timey places.”

“Exactly like the old timey places,” Denzel explained. “There’s only been a few settlements formed in the other cities and they all said that’s the requirements. Look it up yourself.”

Eddie cleared his throat. “System, what do I need for a settlement?”

Settlement Requirements:

-20 NPCs who are willing to live there

-At least 3 T1 Buildings of Function

-T2 Relic

-Down payment to system of 300 gold

-Basic Food and Water services

-You know, land too

-Good luck, you’ll really need it this time

Eddie foamed at the mouth. “T-t-three hundred gold,” he whispered to himself in horror.

“Show me,” Denzel instructed.

Eddie slowly swiveled the notification and Denzel grimly smiled. “I urm… Forgot about that part.”

“We might be able to help you,” Mira said. “It really depends though.”

“Mira,” Viktor said. “The guild is in enough financial problems as it is. I am sorry Eddie, but you are on your own with the coin situation.”

Eddie breathed out as he enlarged his belly. “UHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Oh,” Denzel commented as he reread the notification. “And a Tier 2 Relic.”

“What’s that?” Eddie asked as he stared at the ceiling without blinking.

“I don’t think I want to tell you,” Denzel plainly put.

“A Relic of any kind can sell for upwards of 10,000 gold,” Viktor kindly explained without remorse for the psychological damage it was going to cause.

Eddie felt his soul leave his body. That was it, he was dead- gone, going to visit Michael Jackson in heaven. He felt his soul be sucked into the clouds and there was a bright white light that expanded all around him. He opened his eyes to see blue skies in front of him; there was not a single piece of trash in sight, only MJs smiling face in front of him.

“Eddie, you’ve arrived, finally,” Michael Jackson said. “HE! HE!”

Eddie smiled as he looked down at the clean white shirt and trousers he wore. His bare feet were touching the comfy clouds and he wiggled his toes around them. He opened his arms out to feel the warm embrace of the sun.

“Come, Eddie,” MJ said. “Frolic with me.” MJ spun around, sourcing a black fedora from thin air and simultaneously grabbing his crotch with enough force to end all controversies. He flipped the fedora skillfully on his head and extended a hand out towards Eddie.

Eddie smiled brightly with wide eyes as he leapt in slow motion while grabbing MJ’s hand.

“EDDIE!”

“EDDIE! ARE YOU THERE!” Eddie suddenly jolted up from his seat. “MJ! NOOOO!”

“I think he is suffering from a childhood trauma,” Viktor stated, rolling a cigarette around his mouth.

“Michael Jackson didn’t abuse me as a child,” Eddie stated, turning to look at Viktor with a hardened gaze.

Viktor had seen those eyes before, the mean look of a murderer. The cigarette dropped out of his mouth as he stood up from his chair and backed away in fear. Just who was Eddie?

“Urm, Eddie, are you ok?” Mira asked.

Eddie cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He leaned forwards in the comfy leather chair and massaged his face. “I’m fudged, I really am.”

“You’re not fudged, Eddie,” Mira comforted, rubbing his shoulder. “We can help you, you helped us so we’ll return the favour.”

Eddie nodded while raising his cheeks. “Tch, I thought gaming is meant to be fun. I've just had three heart attacks.”

“That’s a part of the fun,” Denzel remarked. “We had to crawl through a lost jungle at the start of the game to get enough experience to join the guild. You’ll get there.”

Eddie nodded his head to the side and back in dismissal. The Trashmancer had bitten off more than he could chew. “Would you guys mind leaving me for a bit?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mira said, getting up.

Once the team had left, Eddie laid back in the chair and contemplated everything. It just all felt pointless. He just wanted to play the game and not worry about a horde of refugees coming into his country base; it was just way too much for him to handle.

“Do you have any great ideas?” Eddie asked the air in front of him.

It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

Eddie buried his hands in his face. “That’s just a rocky quote,” he said, almost in tears. He really thought about quitting. Just finding another mechanic job somewhere else; cashing in on the money he had already made and leaving. But deep down, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Frank and Robo; Mira and her team.

“System, contact moderator Socks.”

“One of our support teams will be with you shortly . Your queue position is 144,031. Estimated wait time: 33 hours, 34 minutes and 9 seconds.”

“CONTACT SOCKS RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL END THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE AND NOW!”

End of Trashmancer Book 1

Woah, woah, ok, contacting GM S0CKS now.

The floating man flashed into existence and gave Eddie a cool head nod. “Sup, dude. Jeez, what’s up with you?”

“Your stupid game,” Eddie spat. “A bunch of NPCs are going to be coming down here and I have no place to put them. I need to build a settlement or whatever that’s going to cost me 10 million dollars to even make.”

“Hey, dude, you need to relax.”

“How can I?” Eddie angrily questioned. “Can’t you just stop them?”

Socks rolled his eyes as he brought up some info screens in front of him. “Ohhh, damn that’s unfortunate. That’s really fudged up, what an asshole,” he commented as he read the scripts zooming down at a fast pace.

“So can you help?”

Socks started laughing. “No, dude, I told you before: We cannot influence the game at all.”

“Can you tell me something that might help?”

Socks debated on it for a moment before replying. “Take each step of the requirements as a singular quest.”

Eddie let out a long sigh.

You have received a joint quest: Migration Crisis

-A wave of immigrants will be at your door very shortly and some are already on their way. Create a settlement to house and busy them.

2/20 NPCs Willing Settlers.

⅓ T1 Buildings

0/1 T2 Relic

91/300 Gold Coins

1/1 Basic Food And Water Supply

1/1 Minimum Land of 20m^2

Rewards:

+4,000 Experience

Rare Item Of Your Choosing

T2 Pre-Built Building Of Your Choosing

Title- Savior Of Lost Souls (UNIQUE)

+50 Gold Coins

A Whole Bag Of Jelly Beans (Not just a few, the entire bag!!!!!)

Time Limit: 7 days

Eddie’s mouth dropped. “Holy fudge balls! Did you just do that?”

“Do what?” Socks asked as he started checking Eddie’s logs. “Is that a joke? What did you do? How did you do whatever you just did?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Eddie calmly replied. “It just happened.”

Socks started grumbling to himself. “I need to go fix something with her code. See you later, Eddie, good luck.”

“Wait-” He was already gone; disappeared in a flash of white light.

Suddenly, Mira just burst into the reception. “Eddie! What just happened?! The entire guild down here just got a quest!”