Chapter 2: Character Creation
‘What the hell is this nonsense?’
The voice rattled off words like sothing a ga master in a TRPG would say, and soon after, a white screen appeared in front of my eyes.
‘This is… a character sheet?’
The screen displayed a docunt format used in TRPGs for writing down a character’s information.
Whether it was a hologram or sothing else, the sheet couldn’t be touched no matter how much I waved my hands through it.
‘There’s no device projecting light nearby… More importantly, where the hell am I?’
Thanks to years of experiencing lucid dreams, I could clearly tell this was reality.
“What’s with this all of a sudden? Who are you? Are you the one who sent that note earlier?”
[Notice. This is the campaign I planned, as explained in the note. Remaining questions: 4.]
[Notice. I am the ga master. Remaining questions: 3.]
[Notice. That’s correct. Remaining questions: 2.]
I nearly exploded with rage in that mont, but I barely managed to hold it back.
‘Remaining questions? You didn’t even bother telling my questions were limited! And now, more than half of them are gone just from those few things I said earlier?’
If I opened my mouth carelessly again, I would surely waste the last two chances I had left.
‘They kidnapped without even realizing it, and now they’re trying to run so life-or-death ga. Is this one of those insane rich people’s gas you see in movies?’
It sounded like pure delusion, but I couldn’t explain it any other way.
I had thought about death many tis before, but now that it had shown its real face and was closing in on , my body trembled.
But I quickly took a deep breath and began to observe myself from a distance.
‘I’m just… playing the character nad Daisu right now.’
The trembling in my body stopped imdiately, and I felt as though I was looking down on myself from a quarter-view perspective.
I quickly narrowed down my questions to two.
“What are the ways I can safely return to my original everyday life?”
The most important things were survival and escape, of course.
So I frad the question in one sentence to find out whether there was a way and, if there was, how many options I had.
[Notice. If you complete the campaign without receiving a failure judgnt, the ga will end with a special reward, after which you can safely return to your original everyday life. Remaining questions: 1.]
‘Second-worst.’
The reason it wasn’t the worst-case scenario was because it didn’t involve outright murder and destruction.
Of course, that’s only if the ga master was telling the truth.
“How can I et the other party mbers?”
The last question was designed to infer the campaign’s progression.
On top of that, it could also clarify one of the most important yet puzzling elents of completing the campaign.
The idea of gathering my previous characters—with all their mismatched levels and backgrounds—into one party had felt far too vague.
[Notice. The campaign is divided into several chapters. Except for the first, each chapter takes place in a specific character’s background setting. You must find and recruit other characters as party mbers. Remaining questions: 0.]
‘Another second-worst.’
The reason it wasn’t the worst was because I could tackle it in sequence.
Leading multiple characters that all appeared at once with a newly created level 1 character was simply impossible.
Lastly, just in case, I threw out one more question.
“What kind of special reward is it?”
[Notice. You have used all your questions. Please ask again next ti. Remaining questions: 0.]
That was an unexpected gain.
Since they ntioned “next ti,” the chances were high I could get more question opportunities later.
Sowhat satisfied, I began to think seriously about my character’s direction.
Objectively speaking, the characters that appeared in my replays were far from normal.
So if I wanted to run a campaign with a party made up entirely of such characters…
I needed to create a versatile character who could handle all internal and external communication for the party while also possessing excellent adaptability.
“My character is a 70-year-old male elf.”
I didn’t know how to input it directly on the sheet in front of , so I simply spoke my idea out loud for now.
Imdiately, the corresponding field on the character sheet was filled in.
Elves originating from the World Tree had higher charm stats than other races, and they were specialized in the “nature” attribute and ranged weapons.
Since an elf’s life expectancy was about 500 years, I set his age to 70, the equivalent of a young adult just starting out in society.
This was also a build-up for the background setting I would introduce later.
“His class is a cleric serving the World Tree.”
In the AaA world, clerics were a blend between the priest and summoner classes found in other gas.
They were described as cultivating their spirit to commune with divine beings, spirits, and beasts, and receiving aid from them.
The next step was to distribute 10 “bonus points.”
Every character sheet for each character had categories for stats, traits, and skills.
“Bonus point distribution” referred to allocating bonus points gained during character creation or level-ups to these categories.
For efficiency’s sake, I would choose the traits first.
Choosing normal traits consud bonus points.
However, there was also a system where choosing penalty traits would grant additional bonus points instead of consuming them.
“I’ll choose the penalty traits , , , , , , and , and add the normal trait .”
§§{Traits}
Nature Affinity Lv.1
Frail
Insensitive
Slow Learner
Short Stature (Elf)
Center of Attention
Non-lethal Lv.1
Trauma Manifestation Lv.1
Speechcraft Lv.2
Bonus Points: 25 §§
The things I said were written in the traits section of the character sheet.
Most of them were insane penalty traits, but they didn’t pose much of an obstacle to .
Because—
‘I know the true nature of these traits, unlike others.’
The additional bonus points gained from selecting traits ended up totaling 15.
Next ca the stats.
Considering the direction I had in mind, I set Intelligence, Constitution, and Mana all to 12, and invested Charisma to the level 1 character limit of 27.
§§{Stats}
Strength: 6
Perception: 6
Intelligence: 12
Constitution: 12
Mana: 12
Dexterity: 5
Charisma: 27
Bonus Points: 6 §§
Thanks to the penalty traits , , and , so abnormal stats were born.
In other words, I had efficiently redistributed points from unnecessary stats.
Now only the skills section remained.
The more skills that used MP, the higher the total MP, but for a level 1 character, the efficiency wasn’t worth it.
So I ended it by investing all the points up to the class-level cap into , the class-exclusive basic skill obtained when choosing a class.
§§{Skills}
Ranged Weapon Mastery Lv.1
[Sponsor] World Tree
Plant Summon Lv.3
└ Lv.1 Tree Vines
└ Fertilizer Supply
└ Lv.1 Celestial Fruit
Languages
└ (Unselected)
└ (Unselected)
└ (Learnable)
Bonus Points: 4
Learnable Skills §§
“I’ll choose Common and Elvish for the languages, and leave the last slot for later.”
In AaA, characters started with two languages by default, with one recomnded to be Common for smooth campaign progression.
Along with an extra language granted by the effect of , I decided to save the remaining 4 bonus points for the future.
The next step was to set the na, appearance, values, and background.
These helped imrse your character into the ga world, which in turn helped you and the other players get more invested.
This was one of the core elents and purposes of the TRPG genre, and the ga master encouraged it by awarding “imrsion points” during play.
By spending these imrsion points, you could gain positive modifiers to dice rolls, allowing players to literally get more imrsed in the ga.
“My character’s na is Dicendel Lio.”
It was a na I had thought of a long ti ago.
I then began describing an appearance that matched the stats and traits.
“My character, befitting his high Charisma, has softly wavy silver hair, green eyes that hold the forest within them, skin so pale it’s nearly transparent, and a high-bridged nose…”
This was my ideal vision of an elf’s appearance.
“Applying the trait, his height is 177cm, well below the male elf average of 200cm. Considering his low Strength, moderate Constitution, and high Charisma, he has a lithe but slightly thin build weighing 62.5kg.”
Amazingly, as soon as I finished the description, the image of a beautiful elf matching my words appeared on the character sheet.
Next, it was ti to decide his values.
Values included moral alignnt, the purpose of the adventure, and behavioral patterns.
In my case, I had to incorporate the penalty trait I had chosen earlier.
“His alignnt is ‘Neutral Good,’ and he holds the belief that he must not kill directly. However, he’s fine with violence and indirect killing through summons or allies, which makes it rather shallow. The purpose of the adventure is…”
After roughly writing Dicendel’s background, I added one last line.
“…He enrolled in a seminary that trains high-ranking clerics serving the World Tree.”
According to the rules the ga master had explained earlier, the first chapter would be tailored to my character.
Thus, I aid to make this chapter into an “academy story.”
This was also a setup for showcasing the Rule-chicken play I had been planning for a long ti.
The final step was “choosing starting possessions.”
You began with 100 capital points, with any leftover converted into currency for your starting background location when the first session began.
Recalling the list of available items in my head, I picked out the appropriate ones.
§§{Possessions}
[Equipped] Worn Clothing Set ( 0.2kg)
[Equipped] Tough Leather Armor ( 4kg)
[Equipped] Shabby Robe ( 0.4kg)
[Equipped] Steel-hide Gloves & Boots ( 2kg)
[Carried] Sling ( 0.2kg)
[Equipped] Crooked Deadwood Staff ( 4kg)
[Equipped] Rotten Oak Shield ( 10kg)
[Equipped] Worn Travel Backpack (-10kg)
└ Beginner’s Adventure Kit ( 13kg)
└ Miscellaneous Junk ( 10kg)
Currency: 17 points ( 0kg)
Carrying Weight: 33.8kg / 35kg §§
My character’s low Strength ant the carrying limit was almost at its peak.
I had 17 capital points left over.
Now, if these points were converted into currency, it would probably amount to about six months’ wages for a laborer working in a dieval-level city.
For reference, equipping gear was done automatically, so the elf’s appearance on the character sheet had also changed.
‘I thought they’d just run a campaign, but no—they went as far as kidnapping and turning into their plaything. They’ll regret doing this to . I’ll make sure they choke on that so-called impressive Rule-chicken play of mine.’
With that resolve, my vision went dark.
Once I filled in all the blanks on the character sheet, the bright glow faded, darkness swallowed everything, and that familiar voice returned.
[Notice. Beginning the first chapter.]
At the sa ti, I felt a strange floating sensation before the surroundings brightened instantly.
‘The environnt just changed suddenly. Looks like so sort of set… Did the floating sensation just now co from the set moving?’
The space around had transford into a spacious, simple room with a high ceiling.
Green sunlight, fragnted by leaves, poured in through a large window. A long staff leaned against the windowsill, bathed in that light.
On a desk against one wall, piles of books were stacked beneath a robe and a shield. On the bed opposite, a large backpack and all sorts of clutter were strewn about ssily.
‘I thought it had turned into a set with a table for running the campaign… but what’s with this large room? So sort of waiting area? And these items are definitely…’
They were the starting possessions I had just chosen.
But even if I assud they had prepared these props for the set in advance, the gap between just now and this mont was far too short.
As I looked at them, the vivid sensory feedback I felt made glance down at my own body in confusion.
‘Sothing’s wrong!’
At so point, the pajamas I had been wearing were gone, replaced by worn clothes of coarse material and a polished leather armor.
Clothes exactly like the ones my newly made character would wear.
“Ha, what the fu— No! This doesn’t make any sense!”
In a rush, I reached up to touch my ears, then quickly shook my head to dismiss the first thought that ca to mind.
But the silky hair swaying beneath those pointed ears, and the faint silhouette reflected in the bright window, forced to accept it.
‘I’ve turned into an elf—or rather, into the character I made, Dicendel. Exactly like the one I saw on the character sheet just now—huh?’
§§{Character}
Na: Dicendel Lio
Total Level: 1
Race: Elf
Gender: Male
Age: 70
Class: Cleric (World Tree) Lv.1 [0]
Experience: 0 / 100
HP: 260 / 260
AP: 46 / 46
MP: 184 / 184
Attack: 28 ( 0)
Willpower: 70 ( 0)
Defense: 25 ( 12)
Resistance: 15 ( 2)
Turn Speed: 9.7s ( 0)
Movent Speed: 0.8m/s ( 0)
Vision: 30.8m (×1.1)
Range 1: 0.33m (×1.1)
Range 2: 7.01m (×1.1)
Height: 177.0cm
Weight: 62.5kg
Status: --
Eye Color: Green like the forest
Hair Color: Silver
Build: Slightly thin
Alignnt: Neutral Good
…§§
When I thought about Dicendel’s appearance—or more precisely, the character sheet itself—a semi-transparent display appeared before my eyes.
I could instantly tell it was the sa character sheet I had just filled out.
I reached my hand out, but there was nothing to touch. When I moved my gaze, the semi-transparent display followed along.
It still couldn’t be touched, just like during character creation, but this ti it followed my line of sight.
And it didn’t even show up in the reflection of the window.
There was no way sothing like this could be possible.
A mix of confusion and disbelief hit , but as ti passed, fear began to overwhelm both.
It wasn’t eccentric rich people with twisted tastes who had kidnapped —this was the work of so transcendent being.
To resist such an entity was unthinkable, and it was obvious that escape would be impossible.
I squeezed my eyes shut in fear from that realization.
But the character sheet, as if acting directly on my retina or brain, remained “visible,” so I couldn’t even turn away from this reality.
I couldn’t understand why sothing like this had happened to of all people.
Slipping into panic, I just blurted out whatever words ca to mind.
“End ga! Log out! Status window! Let out! Ga master, you bastard! If you want to pull this crap, you could’ve picked soone else instead of ! Get rid of all this, I said get lost!”
For a mont, the character sheet seed to flip over before disappearing completely.
‘Huh? Did I just imagine that? Character… sheet.’
The character sheet reappeared, and I slowly repeated the words I had rushed through earlier.
“End ga, log out… You could ‘change’ it, right?”
At last, the character sheet flipped, revealing its “back side.”
What was written there was information about —no, about the character Daisu, since I was now Dicendel.
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