Chapter 08
Karl placed his phone on the small table next to the couch and let out a long sigh. The smell of instant noodles cooking in his tiny kitchen snapped him out of the thoughts swirling in his mind about the quest he'd just completed.
"Only 12 more to go," Karl muttered as he stirred the noodles in the pot. "But doing stuff like this makes me feel like a clown. How am I supposed to take this seriously?"
Even so, his curiosity kept pushing him forward. The system, as absurd as it was, had brought a bit of excitement to his otherwise monotonous life. On top of that, the promise of a huge reward at the end of the tutorial kept him going.
After finishing his cooking, Karl carried a bowl of noodles to the small table and started eating. The notification sound from his phone broke his moment of peace.
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[Tutorial Quest 9/20]
Objective: Make someone believe that counting down from 5 before drinking water enhances its freshness.
Reward: +10 Uncommon Points
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Karl raised an eyebrow and nearly choked on the noodles he was chewing. "Seriously? Now I have to count down just to drink water?" he chuckled. "Is this system trying to turn me into some kind of weird behavior influencer?"
Before tackling the quest, he decided to finish his meal first.
A while later, Karl placed the empty bowl in the sink and glanced at his phone again. He reread the quest that had just appeared on the screen.
"Make someone believe that counting down from 5 before drinking water enhances its freshness."
Karl scratched his head and smiled faintly. "Why do I always have to find another target? What if I tried this on myself instead?" he thought, feeling a spark of curiosity. Up until now, he had never used the app to manipulate himself.
He grabbed a glass of water from the dispenser and walked to his room. Sitting in front of the mirror, he stared at his reflection with a serious expression. Opening the Common Sense Manipulation App, Karl started typing:
"Target (Karl) will believe that counting down from 5 before drinking water enhances its freshness."
He hesitated for a moment before pressing the [YES] button, as if double-checking whether this was a good idea.
As soon as he pressed it, a strange sensation, like a small wave, washed over his mind. Karl felt something shift, like a tiny voice in his head suddenly telling him that counting down before drinking water was a brilliant idea.
With a silly grin, he held the glass and began counting.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."
He took a slow sip and paused, furrowing his brow.
"Wow," he said quietly. "It actually tastes… fresher?" He stared at the mirror, trying to make sense of what just happened. Was it the app's effect? Or just really strong suggestion?
Karl tried again, faster this time. "5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." He took another sip and nodded. "Yeah, it really does feel fresher. This is ridiculous... but also kind of fascinating."
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[Tutorial Quest Progress: 9/20]
[Uncommon Points: 90]
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Karl stared at the notification, chuckling. "I just tricked myself and completed a quest. Amazing." He sipped the rest of the water with an amused smile on his face.
But his satisfaction didn't last long. Questions started flooding his mind. If the app could manipulate him, how far could it go? Could he change his perspective on other things? Fix bad habits? Or even alter beliefs that had been holding him back?
Karl stopped for a moment, his phone still in his hand. He looked at the app's screen, which had just displayed a new quest. But his thoughts returned to what had just happened.
"Why didn't I experience memory reconstruction?" he muttered to himself. "When I manipulate others, they always end up with some reason or memory that makes it feel natural. But just now, I was fully aware that it was manipulation. Why?"
Curiosity tugged at him. He opened the app and searched for a help menu or explanation. Nothing. Just a simple interface with quest lists, stats, and activity logs. Frustrated, he sighed—until the phone screen flickered, and a new notification appeared.
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[System Notification]
"Question detected: Why doesn't the Player experience memory reconstruction?"
Answer:
"Player (Users of the Common Sense Manipulation App) do not experience memory reconstruction because the app is designed to provide full control to the user. Memory reconstruction is only applied to targets to ensure the manipulation feels natural and avoids suspicion."
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Karl read the message, raising an eyebrow. "So… I'm an exception?" he murmured, trying to process the information.
Before he could dwell on it further, another notification popped up.
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[System Notification]
"Do you want to get a memory reconstruction to enhance the experience?"
[YES] - [NO]
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Karl laughed nervously. "This system really reading my mind," he said. He selected No, knowing that his awareness of the manipulations was a unique advantage others didn't have.