The beta test team took a few days to arrive, leaving Keylynn’s team with little to do besides wait for their arrival. They avoided the farm as much as they could get away with. The food or coffee provided by the inn didn’t improve in the slightest.

  When the third-party guild members arrived, they were entirely not what they were expecting. They arrived with a series of heavy black containers filled with foam moulds to protect the various pieces of film equipment inside. They had countless cameras, microphones, and spools of cables. The beta test team was a party of four prospective adventurers and had over a dozen support staff.

  They met Keylynn’s team just outside of the farm, as expected. They couldn’t very well test a quest if they started inside of it.

  “Who’s the one in charge here?” The leader of the beta team asked. She wasn’t dressed as an adventurer. She was dressed in black slacks and a teal silk blouse. She had a headset on and a radio clipped to her hip. She had her curly copper hair pulled into a loose bun at the back of her neck.

  Everyone in Team Mushroom pointed at Keylynn. “She is,” they said in unison.

  She shot them a scowl before facing the producer. “Salutations. I’m Keylynn, and I am the one who requisitioned a beta test team for this quest. I thank you for not only accepting the assignment but also for your prompt arrival.” She held out her hand to shake the other woman’s. After a long moment of holding her hand out awkwardly, she retracted it.

  “We had the opportunity to get first rights to a unique quest; it’s the nature of Televised Adventuring Guilds.” Was the woman’s only explanation.

  Keylynn frowned. What was a Televised Adventuring Guild? Who did Lark hire for the beta test?

  Tsunami appeared beside her, his skin alive with waves. “Wait, hold on. Does that mean you make shows like Trapped in the Vampire’s Tomb, Vampire’s Prison, Waring Fangs, Ballad and Daggers, and Dice and Dragons?!”

  “Oh great, I love it when we work with fans. No autographs, and no, you cannot make an appearance on camera,” she listed off bored, turning her attention back to Keylynn. “All of you need to sign NDAs stating that you won’t speak a word regarding our cast or crew. I also need the beta test contract signed. It states that you give consent to our filming and give us complete ownership of all footage that we film. You and your team are to observe with my assistant producers. I’ll not have any interference of any kind,” she explained briskly. With a snap of her fingers, one of the younger assistants handed Keylynn a stack of clipboards.

  Keylynn accepted them gracefully and glanced through the one on the top of the stack. It read like a standard non-disclosure agreement. The repercussions for breaking it included paying fines and losing one's job. She nodded and handed them out to her team members. They were free to refuse to sign them, but then her team wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the quest throughout their beta test.

  “I expect you to read and sign quickly; we have work to do,” she stated impatiently, staring at them.

  Keylynn shot her team a stern look, and they began to read through their non-disclosure agreements before signing them. She read through the beta test agreement before signing it as well. If she didn’t sign it, they would pack up and leave.

  “I need a pen. A mimic ate mine,” Ragna grumbled from behind her.

  Demetra scoffed incredulously, handing Keylynn her signed NDA. “When did that happen?”

  “I think yesterday when you wanted to check mimic positioning,” he grumbled. “I loved that pen.”

  Demetra handed him her pen. “Here.”

  Ragna grimaced. “Thanks.”

  “What? Is my poor people pen not good enough for your smooth, supple fingers?” She inquired with a glare. “Then you can give that back and sign in blood or go back to the inn.”

  “No, no. That won’t be necessary.” Ragna signed his NDA before handing her back her pen. “Thank you. I just might buy you a good set of pens for Yule.”

  “Goodie, whatever girl dreams of, pens.” She intoned dreamily.

  Keylynn raised her eyebrow but said nothing as she signed everything that she needed to. Pens for Demetra could make a good Yule present, whenever it came around. She would have to check the calendar later.

  The producer read through the contracts thoroughly. “Everything looks good on my end.” She whistled loudly. “I want my cameras up and running ten minutes ago! Full monitoring station for our friends!”

  All around them there was a flurry of activity. People were shouting orders or asking for help. Floating camera stands were built, and cameras were fixed to them. Large microphones were attached to the floating camera stands and swivelled under the control of a small mechanical creature. Each of the adventurers was given smaller cameras and microphones that were attached to them.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Slowly a mountain of monitors was assembled on a cluster of tables. Keylynn and her team were motioned to stand there, joining a couple of the producers' assistants. They each wore headsets matching their bosses.

  The camera feeds played on each of the monitors; at first it was overwhelming to see so much all at once. Each of the adventurers was preparing for the task at hand with vocal exercises.

  Each adventurer stood in front of a camera and began making ridiculous poses attempting to highlight their skills. To Keylynn it seemed that their only skill was making ridiculous faces and poses.

  One by one they introduced themselves to the camera and their presumed audience. The first to introduce herself was one who was lean and tall with pale hair and skin. Her eyes twinkled as she said, “I’m Luna Sky. There isn’t a dungeon, and I can’t crawl while looking divine.” She gave the camera a wink.

  The next was a man who wore little except his glistening muscles. He constantly positioned himself to give the camera a good view of his muscles. “They call me The Boulder, for I’m bulging like one. I’m going to conquer every dungeon I can.”

  “I think I know what show this is for, Dungeon Crawlers,” Inferno whispered. “I think this might be a spinoff, like the B-team to their A-team.”

  “That explains their attempts at audience appeal.” Ragna snorted.

  A thin man with dark hair and bright green eyes smirked at his camera as he tossed a dagger in the air before catching it. “Name’s Ryder. I’ll crawl any dungeon, any time.”

  The last introduction was made by an ethereal-looking woman with long pale green hair with pink flowers woven into it. She must have dryad ancestry in her lineage somehow. She sang her introduction in a soft, lilting voice. “I hail from the long-forgotten forest of the dryads. They gifted me with this harp and my magical fingers. They named me Lilliana.”

  “Can one of you explain this insanity?” She whispered to her team as the adventurers assembled at the ‘Welcome to the Mimic Farm’ sign.

  “You don’t watch televised adventuring teams?” Tsunami asked, shocked.

  Ragna let out a sigh. “Of course she doesn’t; I doubt she has a TV.”

  “I do not have one,” she answered. “So explain.”

  “It’s people who are adventurers, but for entertainment. People all over the realms can watch. For some shows the audience can vote for their favourites to remain in the show. There are often extra trials and tests that the shows add on top of the quests. They have access or licensing to some of the most dangerous quests, quests that we’ve had to decommission,” Ragna explained in a whisper.

  “It’s completely stupid and moronic. They risk the huge possibility of dying just for a small chance at fame.” Demetra scoffed. “Trashy TV at its finest.”

  It was appalling to hear that adventurers agree to go on unsanctioned lethal-grade quests for the fun of it. That was the stupidest thing she has ever heard of, and that includes the many ludicrous things that Gwen says, like a jolly old man who delivers presents to everyone once a year.

  “People watch these programs?” She watched as the four adventurers stood around waiting while cameras got themselves into position.

  “Oh yeah, loads of people. There’s an office pool about who ends up facing the Vampire King in the Vampire’s Tomb. They started with four different teams all in the same quest with the goal of killing the vampire king and ending his curse,” Tsunami explained excitedly. “I have my money on team Greyscale. They have the paladin, cleric, fighter, and barbarian team. That’s a winning combo. Two of them can heal, and the other two are damage-dealing machines. I mean, one of them can keep fighting after they die until their battle rage subsides. It was tragic when the team found out. The cleric is definitely in love with him and didn’t know until he collapsed after a major fight. They got ambushed by werewolves. Real lycanthropes!” Several heads turned to look at him, the adventurers included. He blushed and looked down.

  “I said silence! If you can’t keep it quiet, you can leave!” The producer snapped at them.

  The adventurers began selecting the armour and weapons they wanted. Keylynn was shocked to see only one chose armour, and he chose lightweight leather armour. With the looks they kept casting each other, she doubted that they were a traditional party. They weren’t a team.

  “Someone get me better lighting!” The producer bellowed. “The cameras aren’t seeing things clearly! Yes, the farm is muddy and dreary, but no one wants to watch shades of grey!”

  Several people jumped into action, setting up floodlights on floating stands and setting them around the adventurers. Someone set up remote control drones fixed with lights to allow them to follow the adventurers and remain out of the camera’s view.

  “Better,” the producer said, nodding as she glanced at the tower of monitors. “Sound check, then we can get rolling.” She ordered.

  After a couple of minutes, she gave several people a thumbs up. “Can’t have sound feedback from the monitors being picked up by the cameras. If you need to hear anything, grab a headset.” She gestured to a few headsets sitting on a table.

  Keylynn picked one up and pressed one of the earpieces to her ear, and it was a cacophony of noises from the adventurers. They were deciding who was going to win. They each thought they were going to win naturally. She moved the headset away from her ears, deciding she will only press it to her ears when she thinks she needs to hear what’s happening.

  “Mics are hot, cameras are rolling!” She bellowed, and the adventurers began to walk up to the mimic farm as casually as they could manage. All the bravado they each had about winning faded instantly.

  They had weapons raised and spread out across the road as far as they could manage. Watching their tentative steps makes Keylynn regret not having a mimic sign right at the entrance of the farm. But she was liking the building paranoia in each of the adventurers. With every step it was clear they were getting more and more anxious. Ryder almost dropped his dagger as Boulder kicked a rock.

  As soon as the road widened, the four split up.

  “What are they competing to do exactly?” Keylynn asked in a hushed voice.

  One of the two assistants looked up and answered her. “Oh, they each have to find and kill the biggest mimic that they can find. We thought it should be simple based on how simple the quest is. I mean, find the old guy? Survive the farm? That’s a baby’s first lethal quest.”

  Keylynn resisted the urge to scoff. What did they know about quality quest design or Cleatus? If they had to deal with the old farmer, they would understand the simplicity of their quest design.

  The monitors showing Boulder caught Keylynn’s attention. He was walking directly to Lucille. Well, if he wanted to win, she would be the mimic to kill.

  “Well, you’re in luck. It seems Boulder is about to find the largest mimic on the farm,” she stated, gesturing to the several monitors showing his approach.

  Their faces grew pale. “The only thing in frame is the windmill.”

  “Say hello to Lucielle.”