NOVEL NEXT (Chpt. 1) A girl.
…
[Relocated.]
[Be careful what you wish for.]
…
My consciousness returned. Something was touching my face but I could not tell what it was. It was soft. I could smell and feel the grass beneath me. I could hear rustling from leaves being swayed by a gentle breeze.
“urgh…”
I groaned, while I slowly opened my eyes and I was met with the sight of a wolf with a white snow fur. Equipped with golden bracelets on each of its legs. They had intricate rune patterns that were engraved into them. It looked like the guardian of a God of some sort. His fur looked fluffy and soft. I did not panic because I recognized said wolf. It was my only tamed beast Fenri.
I got up. My body was strangely light for some reason, I felt nimble and my senses were heightened. White hair covered my eyes. I spoke in confusion.
“White hair?” What came out was a high-pitched voice, not my usual raspy voice… Something was wrong… I could not see the sky but the sun pierced through the foliage of the leaves, as I was looking around I saw a lake in the myriad of trees. I needed to know what I looked like, I did not have white hair nor have a childish female voice.
I decided that I had to head towards the lake. When I looked at the reflection. I saw a girl that looked 14 years old or so, I froze for a second. The girl also froze, I started moving my arms, the girl did so too... That girl was me. I had white silky hair that reached my shoulders it shimmered in a myriad of colors under the sun. Heterochromatic eyes light blue for the right and hazel for the left. My favorite colors... That was unexpected but made me quite happy. A slender body build. My face... Beautiful eyes filled with curiosity, a small button nose, and a charming smile; small chin and round cheeks. And a pair of cat ears and a tail?! The problem was.
‘I am a guy…’ I muttered in defeat as my legs gave up on supporting me, my body hit the cold soft ground. How does this even happen… I have cat ears and a tail, I do not mind it because it was the effect of the item, but how do I even turn into a girl…
Fenri sensed something was wrong and approached me. I petted him; he slowly closed his eyes like a cat. My appearance is completely different yet Fenri still recognized me. It made me somewhat happy.
“Thanks…”
I muttered in a lifeless voice. After lamenting my appearance on the ground endlessly I stood up.
I was in a forest and could not tell where I was and more importantly everything felt real. VR was amazing however it could not completely mimic the real thing or so I was told. VR was my only reality. There was no HP bar, no anything.
“Status!”
I decided to try saying it to see if I was in the game or not. Nothing happened. I was thinking about how could I open my status. When I thought about it. It happened... An image flashed inside my head.
Name: “Kuro”
Race: Beastkin [Cat’s charm (Permanent)]
LVL.120
Title(s): [Wish upon a star] [Relic user] [Relic forger] [Legend] (51 others)...
Karma: -500 [Wish upon a star (Permanent)]
HP: 85650/85650(+ 50%)
MP: 34590/34590(+ 50%)
ST: 50420/50419(+ 50%)
Luck: 5000 [Cat’s charm (Permanent)]
STR: 80920(+ 50%)
AGI: 79010(+ 50%)
CC/CD: 300%(+ 50%)
Classes: [Tamer lvl.40.] [Summoner lvl.40.] [Master Craftsman lvl.40.]
Special skills: [Translation] [Alchemist] [Smithing] [Enchanter] [Cat’s eye]
“Is this because of my karma?!”
I asked in surprise seeing my karma in -500, I wasn’t expecting a reply, yet...
[Karma: A point system that evaluates good and bad actions going from -500 to 500. Having bad karma can only affect you in negative ways. Bad karma effects include: Fear towards the user. And multiple curses. Karma increases from good and bad deeds which are judged by the system.]
And what is with my luck stat?!
[Luck: A mostly useless stat. Can lessen the curses from bad karma if the stat is high enough.]
“…”
This is bad... I decided to open my inventory and decided to equip a night-blue cloak with thin white borders to cover my ears. The cloak should also cover my tail. Even if it is not the game completely. Being a beastkin is problematic. Negative karma makes it worse, NPCs are hostile towards you for almost anything. I hope I do not have to deal with that. On a positive note. I still had all my items and in-game currencies. However, all of my clothing turned into the female counterparts including the one I was wearing. My beautiful gearset turned into a white sleeveless top, a dark blue skirt and long socks. My boots looked more feminine but they still looked mostly the same. All of my gear… I struggled to keep my composure seeing all of it turn into woman clothing. After regaining my composure I checked the special skill I did not have before.
I had a new skill named [Cat’s eye] after inspecting it. It was basically an Appraisal skill with the bonus of being modifiable. I did not really understand how it worked at all aside from the Appraisal effect. At least I figured out how to use the skill.
Just as I was thinking about that. A smell reached my nose. It was metallic and sweet, took me a few moments to figure it out. It was blood. I ran in the direction the smell was coming from, swaying through the trees and rocks on the ground like it was nothing. I was strangely quick. I started hearing metal clashing against each other and battle cries? It did not take long for me to reach the edge of the forest.