The Quest of Evolution debuts the World’s First NFT Crypto-Novel: An evolving, on-chain story anyone can contribute to
The creative writing collective, The Quest of Evolution, has announced the launch of one of the most exciting and innovative non-fungible token collections ever conceived. It’s called “The Oracle’s Verse,” and it introduces the concept of the “crypto-novel” with a series of multimedia NFTs that give owners a chance to contribute to an ongoing story before passing the baton onto another writer and earning perpetual passive income for doing so.
Write-to-earn
It’s an intriguing concept that essentially makes it possible to “write-to-earn” by contributing to a gripping story told by multiple persons. Each NFT in the collection represents an unfinished novel, and by acquiring it, one can unlock the ability to add a set number of words to the ongoing story. So each time the NFT is sold on, the buyer gets the right to add the next chapter to the story.
The Quest of Evolution said writers wouldn’t be left entirely to their own devices. Anyone who acquires one of The Oracle’s Verse NFT novels will gain access to an exclusive Discord channel for that specific novel, where they can discuss their ideas for continuing the story with previous contributors.
The Oracle’s Verse is a collection of six novels, and each one will tell the story of a specific character through the minds of the NFT owners, collecting unique inputs from each one as the story evolves. The novels will continue indefinitely, with each new owner inheriting the unfinished novel and assets such as music, images, and text.
They will be entitled to add up to 200 words to the story, written directly to its underlying smart contract. Once done, they can put the NFT novel up for sale on the open marketplace, sell it on, and help contribute to an indelible and eternal story that’s forever recorded onto the blockchain.
One of the clever aspects of this process is the royalties element. The smart contract is programmed in such a way that the proceeds of each subsequent sale are split between all previous holders, enabling every contributor to profit on an ongoing basis as the story evolves.
Interactive Storytelling 2.0
NFT storytelling is designed to provide an alternative to the rigid and centralized paradigm around novel writing. The ownership rights and royalties from future sales wouldn’t be possible without the underlying Web3 technology that supports crypto-novels.
The Quest for Evolution explained that The Oracle’s Verse NFTs are multichain, compatible with EVM-based networks like Ethereum, Moonbeam, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism. The collective’s native $QEV token is issued on Moonbeam and provides the incentive mechanism, with royalties paid in MATIC.
In many ways, the crypto-novel concept mirrors the evolution of NFTs themselves. NFTs have come a long way from their original purpose of providing ownership rights for digital avatars, with creative storytelling just the latest example of the novel applications the technology can be applied to. Like the novels themselves, NFTs are an ongoing, evolving story that is sure to see many more plot twists and turns.
The Quest for Evolution will follow up the launch of The Oracle’s Verse with a set of scientific essays authored by PageDAO creator, philosopher, and scientist T. Dylan Daniel. The first essay will be sold via auction on OpenSea on May 1. In addition, the collective is also planning to launch a crime fiction-style crypto novel conceived by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer Joseph Nassise and the musician Zep.
