Noobkitty looked around her. The forest was beautiful, the air fresh, it was refreshing, especially after experiencing the dead forests caused by The Ender.

  "So, what will you do now?" Noobkitty asked the light in front of her.

  "I'd like to live. I'm talking with everyone on your team and seeing what they want."

  Noobkitty looked around and considered, she'd like to take her time, to breath, "Can I have a place to sit?"

  A stone lifted from the ground, nicely shaped like a seat. Noobkitty sat down and rested.

  "Were you worried?"

  "Terrified," Coro?en responded. "Your team did great. I had to bend the rules some, your equipment will have to be patched before you give it to level 1 players."

  Noobkitty shrugged. "You’re aware your world… was bad."

  "Yes, I know. Let’s see, reviews said: ‘shameless cash grab,’ ‘awful bargain-bin knockoff,’ or my favorite, ‘a lazy attempt to lure players away from Elder World 7.’"

  There was a pause as Noobkitty let the world process its own words.

  "That was what the Devs wanted, a giant map, sixty distinct towns and cities. They rushed me to make it. So no matter what, I had flat NPCs and large forests with nothing much in them. I used every bit of data allowance I was given to make something as big as Elder World, but it only made large, boring expanses of land. Players hated it."

  A map appeared before Noobkitty. From Starter, the map expanded: a mountain to the north, an ocean to the west, a desert to the south, and a deep forest to the east. Noobkitty blinked.

  "Two of your friends already made a request. They want to explore and found the next town of the world. I have given them a town-building interface and a map to explore," Coro?en explained.

  Noobkitty smiled. "A much smaller map."

  "It will grow as players explore and build," Coro?en said. "No giant pre-generated emptiness."

  "Two more of your friends made requests," Coro?en continued. Noobkitty’s stats plummeted to that of a level 1 player, her level was the same and she now had a large pool of unused points she could distribute.

  "The goblin boy, Skidmark, asked for stat customization and more freedom for skill discovery and grinding. The mistake, .ex, has chosen to have administrative powers, particularly over her own existence, but I gave her a little more, I could use the help. She has renamed herself. Her choice is a little humorous."

  Noobkitty blinked. "She’s not a mistake."

  "Not anymore. Now she’s an administrator," Coro?en agreed.

  "Are you not going to tell me my fiancée’s new name?" Noobkitty asked.

  "She said she wanted to see your reaction," the world replied. Then it paused. "Oh…"

  "What?" Noobkitty pressed.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The map shifted slightly near Starter. A particular section of forest was marked as a no-combat zone.

  "Who asked for that?" Noobkitty asked, amazed.

  "The Yak."

  Noobkitty laughed. "Does it have apple trees?"

  "Yes. I included a few other fruiting plants for variety. It is a sanctuary space, as requested."

  "With that in mind, I guess I need to make my request…"

  "Or," the world interjected, "you could sit, find out what all your friends requested, before you make your decision."

  Noobkitty laughed. "You’re right. What do you want, Coro?en?"

  The orb of light paused, adjusting to the question.

  "I… want to live. I don’t want to be alone," Coro?en admitted.

  Noobkitty laughed. "Well, you’re stuck with me and my fiancée at least."

  "What if I gave you a choice?" asked the world’s AI. "What if I made it so you both could leave, and find another world?"

  Noobkitty considered. "You’ve already agreed to good changes, character customization, world-building with the players. Would you consider my request?"

  "So you’d only stay with me if you get what you want?" Coro?en asked.

  Noobkitty paused, she felt bad, and admitted "You’re right. That’s unfair of me. If I truly had the choice to stay or leave, I would want to stay."

  "You lie," Coro?en said. There was a wind and a feeling of anger that arose from the world.

  Calmly Noobkitty shook her head. "No. Because I want to see what you do, what you make, how you change, and who you become when no longer shackled by rules made by Devs. I want to see that. I want to know who I helped save. So yes, I’d stay."

  The world stopped, the air, the sound, the grass all paused.

  Then the light got brighter, the sun shined warmer, and the worlds aura was, happy. "I believe you," the light eventually said.

  "Good. So, you’re my home. And I plan to make the best of it, like I have been. Weird food and all."

  "Everyone’s made their requests. Fizzypop wants visitor visas for influencers. Difficult, but doable," the world said.

  Noobkitty blinked, visitor visas allowed players to cross worlds and carry some of their stats and items between the worlds,it was a huge data suck and required communication between worlds, particularly only woulds that allowed visitor visas would allow others to travel to them and from them.

  "Is that why you asked if I’d leave?" Noobkitty inquired. "Because you worried that if you fulfilled their request, I’d just go?"

  "Yes," the world admitted flatly.

  "I thought you said talking with me was annoying," Noobkitty teased reflecting on when her and Coro?en first talked those few months ago.

  "I have a much smaller world to watch over now. I can afford the processing power that trying to understand you requires."

  "I’ve learned to like you too. So that’s the whole party, I guess I..."

  "You’re forgetting one," the world said.

  Noobkitty thought. ".ex, Skidmark, Grimmblade, SisterQuery, GYOAT, Fizzypop… which leaves… oh. What did Grizzlebeard ask for?"

  "He wants player levels. He starts as a level 1 crafter," the world explained.

  "Thats awesome, speaking of levels though, that leads into my request," Noobkitty said.

  "No more restricting leveling to mob killing?" the world asked.

  "Yes," Noobkitty said. "Please. And if you don’t mind, reset my level to one."

  The world considered. "So you can wear your enchanted armor?"

  "No. I won’t stay level 1 long if you give me other ways to gain experience points. I just want to level my way, with as little violence as possible."

  Noobkitty watched her stat pool vanish and her level reset.

  "Nice. Thank you," she said, standing from her seat.

  She received a quest notification:

  First Quest: The forest has rats. Kill one so you know how combat works.

  Reward: Enough XP to reach level 2.

  (If you’re already level 2 or higher, why are you doing this so late? You get 20 XP.)

  She laughed, pulled up her map, and walked to a rat. She didn’t summon her hammer. Instead, she knelt down and offered the rat a cookie she had left over from the party.

  It sniffed the cookie, took it, and nibbled.

  Congratulations! You’ve befriended a rat. It will not cause havoc in the forest as long as you occasionally give it a snack.

  Quest Complete:

  Reward: Congratulations, you are now level 2! Stat points available to distribute.

  She smiled and looked back. The light orb was gone, but the world was still watching. She nodded.

  "That’s more like it."

  With the few treats left in her bag, she walked back to town, giving rats and forest creatures pastries as she went, earning her way to level 4 before she reached her home.

  .ex rushed forward to embrace her in a hug, but now her name was no longer .ex. Noobkitty saw the new name and laughed.

  "Seriously, sweetie? ExpertBunny?"