>>36893886
Since Nee-chan has already left, home is definitely not the place where you will achieve any progress in your quest. Whether you will try to find the perfect present or find out what is troubling her, your first step will have to be leaving the house. You rush out of your room and down the hallway, when a very specific scent catches your attention. Christmas means cookies, and that's exactly what you smell!

Reaching the front door, you make a quick u-turn to instead burst into the kitchen, finding your mother in the process of pulling a fresh batch of cookies from the oven to be replaced with another. The kitchen table however greets you with a far less cheerful sight, an empty bowl, a glass of orange juice, and a box of cereals having already been prepared for you. And it's not even the tasty kind of cereals!

>Eat the breakfast prepared for you, as the good girl you are?
>Beg for a cookie, or maybe two, or..?
>Write-in

>Christmas Cheer: 14/24

>>36893890
>Eat the breakfast prepared for you, as the good girl you are?

>>36893890
>Eat the breakfast prepared for you, as the good girl you are?

>>36893890
>Eat the breakfast prepared for you, as the good girl you are

>>36893890
>Beg for a cookie, or maybe two, or..?
Cookies are worth it.

>>36893890
>Beg for a cookie, or maybe two, or..?

>>36893886
Good to see you again Nee-san, hope you have better time today!

>>36893890
Beg for cookie, get moe points.

File: Nina.jpg (31 KB, 480x920)

31 KB JPG

>>36893890
You want one so badly! The wonderful scent freshly baked cookies rush through your nostrils, quickly filling every inch of your body with Christmas cheer. Catching a glance before the precious treasures are placed out of your reach, you marvel at the perfect and delicious brown of the cute little gingerbread men, adorned with bright red and white hats, big smiles and sweet little eyes on all of their faces. Your mouth is almost running over as you dream about biting into the crispy treats, slowly chewing away as you suck every last bit of Christmas out of them, only to be quickly replaced by yet another bite of wonder.

And you can't have one!

You've been a good girl all year, so you can't stop now, even if you really really want to. Reluctantly, you sit down by the table, digging into the dull and nutritious meal containing everything you need to keep your body growing and your mind sharp and ready to learn. Boring!

[-1 Christmas Cheer]

A boring and uninteresting amount of time later, you're fully fueled up for another day of excitement, and, granted the amazing powers associated with having food in your belly, remember that you're still wearing your PJs so instead of rushing out of the door (that would have been embarrassing!) you head back to your room to quickly change into your favorite white dress. Naturally you have the common sense to wear a jacket and a scarf over that, otherwise you'd be freezing outside!

1/2

>>36894338
Now, finally prepared to embark on your Christmas Quest into town, you are faced with a decision. Where should you go?

You were hoping to find the perfect present to cheer Nee-chan up with, but you're still not sure what to get her. You had been saving up to buy her that backpack you've seen her looking at all year, the one with all the pockets. Way more pockets than any of your bags. Sadly, it's a little expensive and even though you've tried to save up, you only have thirty dollars. Actually, thirty is more than you've ever had, but the bag costs sixty dollars!

You could also try to look for Nee-chan instead, maybe you can cheer her up again by talking to her, or talk to her again to find out what to get her.

>Look for Nee-chan?
>Head to the stores to look for something else to give her?
>Head to the stores to try to find a way to get the bag anyway?
>Write-in

>Christmas Cheer: 13/24

>>36894350
>Head to the stores to try to find a way to get the bag anyway?
Maybe we can work for it!

>>36894350
>Look for Nee-chan?
I'm worried for nee-chan.

>>36894350
>Head to the stores to try to find a way to get the bag anyway?
We must get her the best present.

>>36894350
>Head to the stores to try to find a way to get the bag anyway?

>>36894350
>Head to the stores to look for something else to give her?
As long as it's picked with love, it's alright!

>>36894350
>Head to the stores to try to find a way to get the bag anyway?

>>36894350
Stepping outside, you clench your hands into a pair of fists and give yourself a determined nod. Last night's failure doesn't matter because you're simply not going to settle for anything less than the best, no matter what that's going to take. Even if you have to beg, or be in debt, or even work, you will get Nee-chan the perfect present!

The first step, finding the bag, is easy. You already know where to look, the sports store has them in stock. It took you hours of searching earlier this month to realise, of course. Unlike Nee-chan, you don't do any sports, and you never thought that bags were supposed to go in sports stores but they definitely have them, so that's where you'll have to go.

But even then, you're left with the issue of how to actually buy one. You need another thirty dollars to match their price, so what can you do to get it anyway?

You know you can sometimes get things you want if you use the puppy eyes and beg really hard, but you're not sure you'll be able to convince the clerk to give you the bag at half price just by looking cute and sad.

You could also try to get money. You've been saving up really hard, but if you're lucky maybe you can do some chores really fast and earn enough money?

Or maybe you could go through all the stores again and try to find someone who's selling the bag cheaper than in the sports store?

>Go to the store, beg as hard as you can?
>Try to find someone who needs you to do some chores?
>Search for a sale?
>Creative write-ins?

>>36894641
>Search for a sale?
If there's none we can do chores.

>>36894641
>Try to find someone who needs you to do some chores?
Seems like the kinda morally upstanding thing that always works out!

>>36894641
>Try to find someone who needs you to do some chores?

>>36894641
>Try to find someone who needs you to do some chores?
We work for Nee-chans present by the sweat of our brow.

That terrible feeling when you realise this is the bag she used when running away and leaving her behind.

>>36894690
Anon pls, I don't need emotions right now.

>>36894641
No-one else gonna do it? Alright, I will.
>Just take it, shoplifting can't be that hard right? If you leave the 30 dollars they will probably understand!

Rolled 1, 6, 1, 5, 5, 6, 6, 2, 3, 4 = 39 (10d6)

Searching for chores!

Please roll 13d6, outcome determined by degrees of success compared to an opposed roll of 10d6.

Reminder for anyone who missed last thread or just forgot:

>About Christmas Cheer and Christmas Dice

For the duration of the Christmas Special, dicerolling will be conducted differently. Any time dice are rolled, I will ask you to roll Xd6 each, with X being your current level of Christmas Cheer. The result of your roll is the highest number of identical rolls in your set. So if for example you rolled [4,4,3,2,5,6] your result would be 2 because you rolled 2 4s.

Additionally, if the largest number of identical rolls is made up of 1s, for example [1,1,1,3,5,4], the roll is considered a critical failure. If the largest number of identical rolls is made up of 6s, for example [5,6,3,6,6,2], the roll is considered a critical success. Yes, that's a 1/6 chance of crit fail and 1/6 chance of crit success. Don't worry too much about that though, it's meant to be fun, not serious.

To beat a check, your best roll must surpass an opposed roll using a number of dice determined by the difficulty of the action. Yes, everything that involves rolling dice has an opposed roll even if nothing is actively working against you because the fates are just fickle like that!

Your Christmas Cheer naturally increases with cheerful actions and events, while the opposite decreases Christmas Cheer. The more cheerful you are, the more succesful you are!

Rolled 3, 5, 5, 5, 2, 2, 4, 1, 5, 2, 6, 2, 6 = 48 (13d6)

>>36894828
DICE!

Rolled 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, 6, 3, 5, 5, 6, 4, 3, 5 = 50 (13d6)

>>36894828
Oh geez oh no.

Rolled 1, 2, 5, 1, 5, 2, 5, 6, 1, 2, 2, 6, 2 = 40 (13d6)

>>36894828

Rolled 2, 5, 4, 6, 3, 6, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 5 = 55 (13d6)

>>36894828

>>36894846
For a split second I almost thought you'd managed to critical fail us again, anon.

Rolled 2, 3, 6, 6, 3, 3, 5, 6, 2, 3 = 39 (10d6)

>>36894828
Opposed roll: 3x 6, opposed rolls can't crit for obvious reasons.

>>36894833
4x 5

>>36894837
3x 5

>>36894846
5x 2

Best roll is 5x 2. Degrees of success: 5-3 = 2

Looks like fate is kind to hard-working imoutos today.

>>36894886
Pfft, go away dice. You're not needed anymore.

>>36894896
They must really love you the way they keep sticking around!

>>36894951
They just want to cuddle with nee-san.

>>36894828
Thirty dollars is a lot of money to a nine year old. You're not sure how you could possibly get that much money in the few hours you have left until the stores close for Christmas. Maybe you could just... maybe you could just take it when they're not looking?

No no! Bad thought, go away bad thoughts! You're a good girl, and you would never do that. Nee-chan would be so disappointed if she found out, she might never smile again!

No, you'll be a good girl and do this the honest way. When good girls need money, they do chores. You take a moment to consider your options. Who do you know that might need your help? None of your neighbours spring to mind, they all either have a lot of visitors or they're out of town visiting family for Christmas. Your friends are all your age, so they don't have that kind of money to give you. And your parents wouldn't give you anything, they already give you your allowance!

Left at a loss, you simply begin walking, hoping that you'll see the solution to your problem. The walk to the shopping district is brief, taking you through the few streets of identical houses with identical lawns situated between your house and the shopping streets. You've always wondered whose idea it was to make all the houses here the same. You think they'd look a lot prettier if they had different shapes and colors, but instead they're all the same. At least when it's Christmas they're decorated differently.

1/2

>>36895216
You like the center of the town a lot better. The buildings here are much bigger and come in different colors and shapes, even if they're all just different kinds of square shapes. There are a lot more people here too. Your mom seems to think it's dangerous, but that's stupid. All the people here are always super nice to you.

This part of town is also where all the shops are, which only makes it even better. Even if you don't have enough money to buy much, you can have a lot of fun just looking at all the exciting things you find. But your favorite is definitely the book store, just a little further down the street on the corner. You go there a lot, so maybe the owner will understand your problem and give you some chores?

But fortune smiles on you and you spot even more opportunities to find some chores. Opposite of the book store, the town's post office currently has a pile of sacks lying in front of it, the postman staring helplessly at it. He might need help!

Lastly, in the alley on your left you see the cook from the pizza place chasing rats and trying to hit them with a broom, but luckily he's not hitting any of them. That'd be mean! Maybe you can help him find a better way to deal with them?

>Try the book store, the owner likes you!
>Ask the postman if he needs your help!
>Offer your help to the pizza guy!

>Christmas Cheer: 13/24

>>36895234
>Ask the postman if he needs your help!
We should have gone in and reserved the bag, if it's gone I'll have you know I called it.

>>36895234
>Ask the postman if he needs your help!

>>36895164
As long as they're not d4s...

>>36895234
>Try the book store, the owner likes you!

>>36895234
>Offer your help to the pizza guy!

>>36895312
d4s need love too! Just imagine the poor little angular loli that everyone hates, clinging to a shred of hope that nee-san, friend of all little girls, will still love her! Can you throw her out? Can you?

>>36895234
>Try the book store, the owner likes you!

>>36895234
>Try the book store, the owner likes you!
>Ask the postman if he needs your help!
One of them.

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>36895415
You're intentionally avoiding breaking the tie, aren't you? It's up to the dice then. Do your best now, d4-chan.

1-2, book store.
3-4, postman.

>>36895536
Book store it is!

Good job, d4-chan.

>>36895549
You just made a little point loli very happy!
Let's hope there's something for us to do in there then.

>>36895536
Books are good, they make you smart! Or lewd, or a bunch of other things. What kind of bookstore is this?

>>36895234
You've loved books ever since you learnt to read. All kinds of books, fiction and non-fiction, big and small, you like them all. Nee-chan sometimes calls you a little nerd, but she always gets a funny blush on her face when she says it and then she ruffles your hair playfully so you don't think she's trying to be mean about it. You know it's not a nice word, but you don't really mind when she says it that way.

The books in the library are always really torn and a lot of the pages are all smooshed over so you can't read them, but the owner of the book store is a super nice girl and she lets you read the books in her store as long as you're really careful not to get them dirty or rip a page. And you're always careful. She even put a little chair in the corner for you to read in. She says she enjoys watching you reading and that you get her more customers, but you don't know why anyone would like that. You've never had fun watching anyone else read, it's much more fun to read yourself.

She doesn't seem to need your help getting customers today though, because you can already see from the street that she's talking to one right now. You wonder what kind of book they're buying as you pull the door open, prompting the little bell above to ring, catching the attention of the owner and...

"Nee-chan!"

[+1 Christmas Cheer]

She quickly snaps a moderately sized blue book out of the hands of the owner, stuffing it into a bag and handing her a few bills before quickly walking to the exit, paying you only the slightest of attention.

"Hey sis, sorry, gotta get going, see you later!"

You try to ask her what she was buying, but she shifts into a sprint away from you.

>Follow her, you wanted to talk to her!
>Go ask the owner what she was buying!
>Go ask the owner if she has any chores for you!
>Write-in

>Christmas Cheer: 14/24

>>36895802
>Go ask the owner if she has any chores for you!
Be a good girl, buying books is a safe activity so nee-san must be alright!

>>36895802
>Go ask the owner if she has any chores for you!

>>36895802
>Go ask the owner if she has any chores for you!

>>36895802
>Go ask the owner what she was buying!
Curiosity!

>>36895802
>Go ask the owner if she has any chores for you!

File: Christina.jpg (276 KB, 750x750)

276 KB JPG

>>36895802
That was unexpected and curious, but your eyes are firmly locked on your goal. You need to get Nee-chan the perfect present, and for that you need money. Hopefully, that money is right here. Remembering to close the door behind you and wipe your feet on the doormat, you run straight up to the counter to greet the owner, Miss Christina.

The book store isn't very big, but you find it super cozy. The walls and the floor are all a kind of dark wood that absorb light of the lamps and from the streets outside comfortably instead of reflecting it right into your eyes so you can't read as well. You're pretty sure this is close to what an old study in a mansion lit by a fireplace would look like, except probably bigger! To top it off, Christina keeps a row of candles on the counter that cast a gentle scent over the store, unlike the library that smells of paper and chewing gum.

Christina is very young to be owning a store, you know, but she says she inherited the store from her father so that makes sense to you. You've wondered if you should ask her about her father, but she always seems to happy when you're here and you don't want her to remember sad things. Especially not today!

Christina is wearing her green frilly dress today, the you told her last week is your favorite. But she already wore it often, so that might not be the reason. She's still staring confused toward the door before her attention is turned to you, returning your greeting with a smile.

1/2

>>36896549
"Nina! Always glad to see you here! What an odd customer, huh? I've never seen anyone in such a rush to leave. She didn't even want her change!"

You laugh in response, Christina doesn't even know Nee-chan.

"She's not odd, she's my sister!"

"Oh!" A sly smile forms on her face. "I see how it is..."

You have no idea what she's talking about now, but that's not important. You're in a hurry, so you should skip straight to the point.

"Miss Christina! I want to buy a present for Nee-chan, but I don't have enough money! Do you think you have any chores I could do to make some?"

She giggles at you, still amused by something you're not seeing.

"Chores, huh? Sure, I could think of something, but since you're such a great friend stopping by almost every day, how about I just buy you that present? Think of it as my gift to you!"

She would do that? Well that would certainly solve your problem! But, the present is supposed to you, does it still count if Christina buys it for you?

>Of course it counts! She would give it to you because you've been good, so you earned it on your own!
>Maybe... maybe you should make a compromise and pay as much as you can, and she can pay the rest?
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!

>Christmas Cheer: 14/24

>>36896570
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!
It's the way of being a good girl!

>>36896570
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!

>>36896570
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!
That would be the same thing as the present their parents buy. That won't do at all.

>>36896570
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!
But thank her for the offer.

>>36896570
>No! You have to earn it yourself, ask for the chores!

>Players hivemind to refuse letting me take shortcuts

As expected of good girls.

>>36896856
This is the way to that rewarding feeling of accomplishment!

>>36896570
No, no that doesn't count. If Christina bought it, it would be her present, not yours. And why would Christina give Nee-chan a present, she doesn't even know her! It's a bad idea, even if it is sweet of her. You'll have to be careful to turn down the offer politely though.

"Uhm, Miss Christina... I want the present to be from me, and it wouldn't count if I didn't earn it myself! So it's super nice of you, but I want to do the chores and earn it myself!"

She doesn't seem sad from you saying no at all, instead she's holding both hands to her chest and closing her eyes while making a funny sound.

"Alright, you want a chore, then I've got just the thing for you. But I'm warning you, it really is a chore! Are you sure you wouldn't rather ju-"
"No!"

She laughs again. Miss Christina really is in a good mood today. It's definitely rubbing off on you.

[Christmas Cheer +2]

She pulls out a stack of papers held together by a paper clip with lots of words and numbers scrawled over them.

"This is a list of all the books in the store. I need you to check if any of them are missing."

This sounds hard. She leans over the counter to point at the paper now in your hands.

"This is the title of the book, the section it belongs in, you know them all by now right, and that number... well, that's the price, so you don't need to worry about that! Do you think you can do that for me?"

It's a very long list... This might take you a long time, and you have to make it to the sports store before they close!

>You can do it, you're a smart girl!
>Maybe you could do some of it now and promise to do the rest after Christmas so you can buy the present?
>It sure would be a lot easier to just let her give you the present...
>Write-in

>Christmas Cheer: 16/24

>>36897197
>You can do it, you're a smart girl!

>>36897197
>Maybe you can do some of it now, and then go to the shop to buy the bag and then come back to do the rest?

>>36897197
>You can do it, you're a smart girl!
I'm sure it'll be fine!

>>36897197
>Maybe you could get the pay in advance, buy the bag now and then do the work afterwards so you don't have to worry about closing-times?
Really now.

>>36897197
She is a smart loli, she can do this.

Rolled 1, 1, 6, 5, 6, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 4, 1 = 45 (13d6)

>>36897237
>>36897285
>>36897426
3 for believing in yourself.

>>36897255
>>36897322
2 for not believing in yourself.

Boldness wins. I'll need another roll here, 16d6.

Opposed roll: 13d6

Rolled 4, 5, 6, 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 6, 2, 3, 2, 4, 6, 6, 1 = 58 (16d6)

>>36897555
Oo-ra!

Rolled 6, 2, 2, 6, 5, 3, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 1, 6 = 69 (16d6)

>>36897555

Rolled 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 4, 2, 2, 6, 5, 1, 3, 3, 1, 2 = 40 (16d6)

>>36897555
I take offense that doing the smart thing is not believing, after all someone could easily buy the bag while we're doing our thing even if we finish in time.

>>36897579
Nice roll anon!

File: Happiest.jpg (134 KB, 383x617)

134 KB JPG

>>36897555
Opposed roll: 4x 1

>>36897566
4x 6, critical success!

>>36897579
6x 5

>>36897582
5x 1, critical fail!

Critical fail cancels critical succes, final result 6x 5, beating the opposed roll by 2.

However, since it's becoming clear I won't finish this tonight except by staying up so late I'll probably die at work tomorrow, I'll leave you with this cliffhanger. Instead, I'll try to find an evening in the Christmas days so we can conclude this little Christmas story. It'll be a little awkward to do so on the other side of Christmas Day, but I'm sure you guys will be understanding as always.

Thank you for your continued interest, and I hope you will join me for the happy conclusion when it happens!

>>36897757
Thanks for running, and have a happy Christmas.

>>36897757
But >>36897579 has seven 5s, not six.

>>36897757
Thanks for the thread!

>>36897582
Taking precaution is smart when you're thinking rationally. When you're running on the power of belief and cheerfulness, precautions indicate that your belief in yourself is less than absolute. That's why it's an important distinction in this case, whereas if you were playing as Nee-chan it would be irrelevant.

>>36897800
And a merry Christmas to you too!

>>36897832
Well that's embarrassing, now I can't even count. Thanks for the correction!

>>36897757
Thank you Nee-san! I love your quest.

>>36897757
Thanks for running.

>>36897953
Then I hope I can continue to provide you an enjoyable quest, even as my schedule becomes increasingly slim.