NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Character Creation
"Welcome to Nightmare Fantasy Online."
A black creature greeted me in a fancy throne room. How should I describe it...a black fog in the shape of a man with a goat head? He's wearing a tuxedo for some reason, but his head and the other parts of his body that shows underneath the tux are made of a dark mist.
"...hey."
"My name is Support AI: D1-696. While it may be for a short while, I am pleased to be serving you." - D1-696
"...sure."
"Now, esteemed Player, please input your name in this world before we can continue." - D1-696
A keyboard appeared at the AI's command, who ignored my lack of drive. Okay, a name...let's use something from an old novel I read once...
"Garami...checking for duplicate names...no duplicates can be found. Esteemed Player, do you wish for "Garami" to be your name in this world?" - D1-696
Wow, it's really old, that novel...or maybe it never was as popular as I believed.
"It may be for a short while, but I am pleased to serve you, Master Garami. Now, please create your avatar that is required if you want to explore the world of Nightmare Fantasy Online." - D1-696
The AI produced a huge mirror that showed my real-life appearance as a default. A young woman with albino skin, hair, and eyes. The developers were kind enough to remove the bags underneath my eyes that I'd developed recently for staying up too many nights in a row.
A ton of appearance-changing options was then presented for me, not that I've ever been good at designing characters, so let's not make too many changes. I got a nice figure anyway, even if it has given me more pains than gains...okay, there are more personal gains than pains, but you get what I mean.
I simply altered the length of my hair, from shoulder-length to it reaching my calves. It's a fantasy game after all. I swapped the albino-red eyes with something more indigo-purple and added black stripes to the white hair. I also gave it a more glossy appearance. As a bonus, I added a beauty mark under my left eye.
It turned out a little princess-ish. Maybe I was born in the wrong era? Not that I can see myself surviving in an age without cup noodles and microwave dishes.
"This is quite the lovely lady." - D1-696
"Shut up." - Garami
"A lady with thorns, I see," replied the stupid AI. Who designed its personality? And why does it need one in the first place?
"Now, let us move on to the selection of your avatar's race. Remember that your avatar's appearance will be altered to fit that of the race of your choice." - D1-696
"I know..." - Garami
"Great. Now, there are three methods in how you can select your race. Manual where you go through the list over all possible races, Semi-Auto that forces you to answer a questioning of questions to find a race to your liking or Auto which randomly chooses your race out of all your alternatives." - D1-696
"...Semi-Auto, then." - Garami
Just reading the website was enough to kill one hour, so I'm not keen to read about all the races. And a random selection isn't exactly how I wanna start the game either, so Semi-Auto it is.
"Then, let us start the questioning." - D1-696
A glowing screen appeared in front of me with the following words written on it:
Question #1: What do you find interesting?
...no yes/no questions? Alright, ehm..., an interesting story?
Question #2: What is your favorite animal?
Cats, if I have to choose.
Question #3: Do you have any loved ones?
What's up with the random heavy question!? My parents are dead, so I'm forced to say; none.
Question #4: Do you believe in magic?
Mhm, I would say that I only believe in what I can see.
Question #5: Do you want to use magic?
Sure, why not? Who doesn't?
Question #6: ...
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Question #500: Between men and women, which one do you prefer in a sexual meaning?
W-w-women...
"Thank you for your patience, master Garami." - D1-696
The AI finally announced the end of the questioning...finally. Whoever at Terra Sol AS decided to make this the most preferable method for choosing races must have some real black humor...
My avatar in the mirror started to transform. It went from a human to something resembling a grey-colored spider with no abdomen, strange claws on the end of each leg, a weird mouth with sharp teeth, a long tongue, and eyes that look more like pieces of coal. A new window was floating beside the mirror, probably the information about this...whatever it is.
| Name: | Grey Demon |
| Racial Rank: | G |
| Race-type: | Demon |
| Attribute: | --- |
| Traits: | Demon |
| Description: |
One of the seven Color Demons and the demon who represents the Sin of Sloth. The Grey Demon has low physical- and magical strength, but it is gifted with status ailments. It has a spider-like shape as if to demonstrate that. Be careful where you step when hunting down one of these. Some individuals may have great intelligence to lay tricky traps for their adversaries. |
"...are they trying to be mean?" - Garami
This is one of the inhuman races. One that the site said is for the people with questionable sanity. And worst of all, a demon representing sloth? Are they calling me a lazy bum? They're not completely wrong, but it still hurts being called as such.
"I wouldn't say so. The questioning should produce the creature that matches Master Garami the most based on your answers. If it does not fit your taste, it simply means you didn't answer the questions truthfully." - D1-696
Tch. And worst of all, I feel deep down in my heart that he's right.
"...how many demon races can the players choose?" - Garami
"Only one of the seven Color Demons." - D1-696
If the other demons are like this then, you would have to be pretty masochistic if you want such a racial start...
"Okay, I'll take it." - Garami
Being among the rare players using a demon race sounds kinda attractive, so why not?
"Excellent. Now, allow me to present your options for your Main Class, Master Garami." D1-696
With a snap of his fingers, the AI changed the image inside the mirror into four different copies of my monstrous self.
The left-most me was wearing some sorta cheap armor and holding a sword in one of its legs.
The next me to the warrior's right was wearing a wizard's pointed hat, robe, and was holding something like a grimoire in its hands.
The third me was dressed in leather armor and had several daggers at ready. It looked like a rogue or some bandit.
And the final me was wearing a blacksmith's leather apron and holding a smithing hammer.
"These four are your options for your Beginner-rank class. Warrior, Mage, Scout, and Crafter." - D1-696
Your typical RPG classes then. I asked the AI if I could get more specific information about them and he produced windows that explained the classes:
| Class: | Warrior | ||||||||
| Rank: | Beginner | ||||||||
| Stats: |
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| Description: |
One of the four Beginner-rank classes. The Warrior is about front-line combat, as they accept any enemy head-on while protecting their allies or work on defeating their enemies themselves. It grants access to skills that improves weapon mastery, Combat Arts, and other skills that can save a warrior's hide. If you like a close-up brawl, take this class. |
| Class: | Mage | ||||||||
| Rank: | Beginner | ||||||||
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| Description: |
One of the four Beginner-rank classes. The Mage likes to stay in the back rows and cast magic to either damage the enemies from afar, or to support the front-line warriors with support magic. It grants access to skills that allows them to cast magic or to simplify the use of magic. They are also experts in using and controlling MP. If you feel like overwhelming your enemies with incredible firepower, then this class may help you in that way. |
| Class: | Scout | ||||||||
| Rank: | Beginner | ||||||||
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| Description: |
One of the four Beginner-rank classes. The Scout wishes to stay in the shadows during their adventurers, and will only strike when they see the enemy show a weakness. It allows one to obtain skills that one can use to hide from monsters and players, as well as skills to discover hidden enemies. Ambushes are their specialties. If you feel like cutting some throats and not being hit with attacks at all, the Scout will be a glorious first step to that future. |
| Class: | Crafter | ||||||||
| Rank: | Beginner | ||||||||
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| Description: |
One of the four Beginner-rank classes. The Crafter steers clear of combat and rather use their time to create new items made from the valuable materials they discover when they so rarely decided to leave town. This class unlocks crafting-type skills that allow you to produce new items by following a recipe and appraisal-type skills that allow you to discover rarer materials with higher quality. If combat is not your thing and you would rather create tools and items to sell or give away, then Crafter is the class for you. |
"...what do all these stats do?" - Garami
Without wasting a second, the AI took out a list that describe the stats...which I had forgotten to look at while waiting for the game to be ready. That's a little embarrassing...
- HP: [Health Points]. Having this value become 0 will result in your character's death.
- MP: [Mana Points]. Consumed to use magic and certain skills. Having this value reduced to 0 will result in your character fainting until its MP has recovered to 10% of its original value.
- SP: [Stamina Points]. Consumed to perform combat arts or other movements with your body. Having this value reduced will make your character powerless until its SP has recovered to 10% of its original value.
- STR: [Strength]. Increases the damage inflicted with physical attacks and allows you to equip heavier items.
- VIT: [Vitality]. Decreases the damage you take from attacks and lowers the consumption of SP.
- MAG: [Magic]. Allows usage of higher-tier magic and increases the damage inflicted with magic attacks.
- RES: [Resistance]. Reduces damage taken from magic attacks and reduces the odds of being inflicted with status ailments.
- SPD: [Speed]. Increases movement speed and makes it easier to dodge attacks.
- DEX: [Dexterity]. Improves accuracy for attacks and the creation of items.
- INT: [Intelligence]. Allows usage of complicated and mysterious items. May also provide hints when solving puzzles.
- LUC: [Luck]. Increases the drop rate for rare items. May also improve accuracy for attacks and increase the odds of dodging attacks.
Oh, I see. This is simple to remember.
"...what is my race strong with, again? Not stats, but regular stuff." - Garami
"I would say that traps and tricks are its specialties, Master Garami." - D1-696
Traps and tricks. Yeah, that sounds about right. Then, my best class would be Scout. Being a Crafter demon may also be possible, but I doubt I can build anything with those claws. Especially since I suck with DIY-works even in real.
"I'll start with Scout." - Garami
"As you wish, Master Garami. Now, what five skills do you wish to start your adventure with?" - D1-696
A large list of skills appeared before me, some skills being of the General-type that anyone could take, some related to my newly acquired Scout class, and some racial skills that you need to be a demon to get. However...
"I only want [Identification] and [Auto-Map] for now," - I told the AI, who then proceeded to take the two skills out of the General tab.
| Skill: | Identification |
| Skill Type: | Perception Skill |
| Skill Tier: | General |
| Element: | --- |
| Effect: |
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| Skill: | Auto-Map |
| Skill Type: | Passive Skill |
| Skill Tier: | General |
| Element: | --- |
| Effect: |
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"While you are capable of obtaining the last three skills from the system menu later, are you fine with just these two skills?" - D1-696
"Sure. I'll need to find out exactly what else I need before I can choose the last skills." - Garami
Mapping has always been a pain for me, and even the website encouraged players to pick up [Identification]. That's why I want those two skills taken as fast as possible so I don't forget about them later. Then after arriving in the game world and taking skills that would give me levels and AP as fast as possible based on the situation there.
"As you wish. But might I remind you that skills with Element require the corresponding Element skill to be used?" - D1-696
"Got it covered." - Garami
"That is promising. And for the last bit, the system settings." - D1-696
The AI showed me all the settings and asked what they should be placed at. I could do it later on, but boring stuff like this is better to finish right away.
- Markers above character's heads, ON.
- Sexual Guard, limit it only to "exceptions" made in the friend list.
- Gore settings: R-15G, which changes the color of the blood and puts mosaics on the more dreadful wounds,
- Secondary voice for players of races with no voice: ON.
- Pain setting: on the standard 20 out of 100.
"And finally, where would you like to start your journey?" - D1-696
- Seira Chaos: The main capital. Starting town open for all the races
- Umbral: One of the sub-capitals. Starting town for those related to the Darkness Element.
- Racial Start: For Inhumans who want a tough start. Based on your race.
Let's go with a Racial Start. Better than being bullied for being a G-rank. And a "tough start" can be flipped to a "start with tough enemies with high EXP" if I act smart.
"As you wish, Master Garami. I hope that your journey in this realm of hope and nightmares will leave you satisfied." - D1-696
The AI took a last bow as the world around me starts and I could feel the sensation of my avatar changing.
Now starts the fun!!